Can what? [ she swallows, considering rey with a neutral look before biting into her burrito again. there's a delay before daisy connects the dots. ]
Oh, read? Yeah, I'm not, like, a vegetable or anything.
[ physical injuries, yes. mental trauma or brain damage? not so much. she knows strange would have been far more demanding with his medical care if it was something to that extent.
this burrito's really good, though. she's going to take another bite, and remind herself to thank rey again for bringing it. ]
I've mostly been surfing the net. [ very retro, much 90s slang ] And sleeping.
[ she doesn't want to worry rey with how bad she aches or how much being in the hospital sucks. she doesn't want to think about it, either. sleeping all day and hoping people will think about her and come see her is a pretty low feeling, but she's too prideful to ask for people to come either. ]
How are you doing? [ don't think she didn't notice the careful walk and talk. ]
[ she doesn't ask if that's a smart move. she gets it. you have to do what you have to do, even if it sucks. one of the many fall-outs they share of a not-so-easy starting life. ]
Don't overdo it. [ but she does care. she doesn't want rey to hurt herself ] These beds suck, you don't want to be stuck in them.
[ an arch of a brow, a bite into a burrito. there's a brief pause as she chews and swallows. an opportunity to elaborate that daisy doesn't honestly expect rey to take her up on. ]
They'll probably stop when they find out I'm getting delivery.
[ and, in all fairness, daisy can afford to have food brought to her. some of the refugees here are newer arrivals, and they don't have the cashflow yet. she'll likely stop accepting handouts sooner rather than later. ]
The point remains. [ They do it when they need to. That's worth considering. But then, Rey's always been a Morningstar stan. ] At least you're in good company. [ A beat. ] I don't mean me.
[ daisy shrugs. she agrees and doesn't at the same time. ]
I mean, maybe. I'm sure on the people level, yeah. But I'm not really willing to put down flags for an org in the shadows.
[ she doesn't really want to fight rey of all people about this. she doesn't want to tell rey what to believe or what to do, and she hopes that the other girl feels the same. they can agree to disagree, she hopes. ]
You saw those UNA soldiers. They don't have a choice but to work in the shadows if they want to live.
[ It's an unfortunate thing. She's not necessarily digging her heels in or trying to start a fight -- just point it out. Rey has made her own life difficult by projecting her own Resistance onto Morningstar. They're not the same, necessarily, and she knows that, but ... it's important that she try. ]
[ She gives a little nod. It's the argument that she rolls over in her mind the most often. Their unwillingness to take the displaced as also being decent people hurts.
But not all of them were, after all.
Those thoughts start with the men who'd been jailed, and end on Ben Solo. It's uncomfortable to consider. What would Morningstar think if they knew what he'd done? ]
I know. [ She digs into her burrito, leaving it at that. There's really not more to say. Rey wants to believe in them. It's their best shot. Better to hope for that. ]
[ they eat in comfortable silence for a while, long enough for them both to finish off their meals. it says something about their friendship that daisy feels comfortable enough to avoid filling the silence with idle chatter.
eventually, though, she finds something she wants to talk about. ]
So what's the story with you and platonic dick pics, then.
[ Rey swallows the last bite of her burrito and spends a silent moment probing her tongue into the corners of her mouth to clean her teeth. She crumples the foil and takes Daisy's. It's a blunt question, one made more complicated by --
She remembers his hands on her. Rey gets up and hastens to the corner to throw the foil away. ]
There's no story.
[ She swallows thickly as she sits back down. Keeps her voice flat. Knowing Daisy won't be satisfied with that, she tries instead: ]
[ there's a beat in which daisy just stares the other girl down, as if daring her to continue. when rey doesn't, she takes advantage of the fact that she's currently pathetic-looking in a hospital bed and tries again. ]
I got that much already. If my random neighbor from grade school showed up here, I don't think he'd send me platonic nudes. [ at least, daisy hopes not ] You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'm really not buying the whole 'stranger from my homeland' story.
[ probably because, as strange pointed out to her, it's pretty illogical to have two random people show up from the same universe. that's how he first guessed bobbi's ruse was just a cover. ]
[ Rey says this in a faintly disgruntled tone. She's been trying very hard not to think of them. There are more important things to focus on than Ben Solo's cock. ]
I had no part in that. I didn't ask for them. [ She leans hard on that defense, and not for the first time. ] And I never said he was a stranger.
My point is, he didn't send them to me because he wanted me to have them. He said you'd know if they were real.
[ which begs the question: how? ]
I just — look. If this guy is a serial killer or something, give me a heads up, please. [ she considers mentioning that she's had his skull between her legs, and then thinks better of it. it wasn't like that, and she kind of feels like rey will assume it was, for better or for worse. ] I'm supposed to meet up with him to work on some projects, and I don't really love the idea of getting brutally murdered immediately after narrowly escaping death.
[ Rey opens her mouth like she means to answer, but no words come out. Only a faint, croaking noise which further punctuates her speechlessness. The room feels too small, suddenly. The air too thin. Daisy says it like a joke, but it's not, is it? He's a killer. All he's done is double down, reaffirm that he is. And she'd let him put his hands all over her in spite of it.
So no. She can't give a heads up, and she can't articulate why she knew those pictures were him, and she can't ... make words because it's too complicated and she's not any good at any of this. All she can do is shake her head, not in response to Daisy's question, but as if in apology for her own inability to formulate a meaningful answer. ]
[ Yes. It's a fair assessment. She's still figuring it out. Eventually she will. When that happens, maybe Daisy will get more than this tension and confusion. But for now, Rey doesn't have more to offer. She pushes through it because Daisy has a more pronounced point than what Kylo is to Rey. ]
He's tried to kill me. [ She pushes that out with certainty. ] But if he wants you dead, he won't hide it. He's not going to -- to lure you out somewhere and get you alone. He'll just do it. [ Rey says this practically, not as though she's trying to make excuses -- a clearer picture, not a justification, not trying to lessen the severity. ] He's a killer, but not a liar.
[ And even then, he was a killer who lashed out in pain. A cornered, wounded animal. None of those who caused him pain are here -- none but Rey herself. ]
[ daisy is quiet for a moment. they share a back-and-forth of quiet contemplation, careful consideration of what to say and how to say it, debating between raw honesty and measured meters of truth.
being told that the awkward, unsure, unreasonably tall man she's interacted with a handful of times in passing has attempted murder under her belt phases her probably less than it really should. she's surprised, but the surprise lacks a moral response — though perhaps that's, in part, due to the fact that daisy doesn't exactly have much of a moral high ground to stand on here.
has she tried to kill people in the line of duty? yes. has she succeeded? also yes. there's been both acceptable losses and unavoidable casualties on her hands, too, and it's perhaps those that weigh the heaviest on her.
so to rey, daisy offers a thin purse of her lips, a careful exhale through her nose, and a shift in weight from one foot to the other. ]
I'm not, [ she finally settles with. ] Afraid of him, I mean.
[ maybe she should be, but daisy's never been particularly good at doing what she should do. ]
[ She looks like she means it, but not in the good way. Not in the way that is relieved that Daisy sees him differently, that she sees him as soft, but in the way that acknowledges that Daisy recognizes the danger and is simply self-assured in spite of it.
If Daisy were afraid of him, Rey's guilt for engaging him would be greater. If Daisy isn't, it means she understands how it can be complicated despite that. ]
You should still train him. [ She rolls up her hoodie sleeves then to reveal bracelet-like burns, pink bands around her wrists, stretching up a few inches on her forearm. ] He needs it.
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She fights to keep a level tone as she notes, ] You can though, right?
[ Read still? No neurological damage. Nothing serious. She's trying to make it sound like she's asking after the weather. ]
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Oh, read? Yeah, I'm not, like, a vegetable or anything.
[ physical injuries, yes. mental trauma or brain damage? not so much. she knows strange would have been far more demanding with his medical care if it was something to that extent.
this burrito's really good, though. she's going to take another bite, and remind herself to thank rey again for bringing it. ]
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Good. That's good.
[ And what ultimately matters, in her opinion. Whatever else is in the chart is secondary. ]
Do you have something to keep you occupied? A game or a book or something?
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[ she doesn't want to worry rey with how bad she aches or how much being in the hospital sucks. she doesn't want to think about it, either. sleeping all day and hoping people will think about her and come see her is a pretty low feeling, but she's too prideful to ask for people to come either. ]
How are you doing? [ don't think she didn't notice the careful walk and talk. ]
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[ Said around a mouthful of meat. ]
Back at work.
[ Shouldn't be, but is. Bills wait for no woman. ]
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Don't overdo it. [ but she does care. she doesn't want rey to hurt herself ] These beds suck, you don't want to be stuck in them.
[ look, dry humor. ]
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They'll probably stop when they find out I'm getting delivery.
[ and, in all fairness, daisy can afford to have food brought to her. some of the refugees here are newer arrivals, and they don't have the cashflow yet. she'll likely stop accepting handouts sooner rather than later. ]
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[ because now, she's curious. ]
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Morningstar. They're good people, you know.
[ That's up for debate, apparently, but Rey insists upon it. ]
They never had to do any of this for us.
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I mean, maybe. I'm sure on the people level, yeah. But I'm not really willing to put down flags for an org in the shadows.
[ she doesn't really want to fight rey of all people about this. she doesn't want to tell rey what to believe or what to do, and she hopes that the other girl feels the same. they can agree to disagree, she hopes. ]
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[ It's an unfortunate thing. She's not necessarily digging her heels in or trying to start a fight -- just point it out. Rey has made her own life difficult by projecting her own Resistance onto Morningstar. They're not the same, necessarily, and she knows that, but ... it's important that she try. ]
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[ obviously. hello, hospital. ]
It's hard for me to really trust a group that very obviously doesn't trust us as far as they can throw us. [ is she bitter? a little. ]
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But not all of them were, after all.
Those thoughts start with the men who'd been jailed, and end on Ben Solo. It's uncomfortable to consider. What would Morningstar think if they knew what he'd done? ]
I know. [ She digs into her burrito, leaving it at that. There's really not more to say. Rey wants to believe in them. It's their best shot. Better to hope for that. ]
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eventually, though, she finds something she wants to talk about. ]
So what's the story with you and platonic dick pics, then.
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She remembers his hands on her. Rey gets up and hastens to the corner to throw the foil away. ]
There's no story.
[ She swallows thickly as she sits back down. Keeps her voice flat. Knowing Daisy won't be satisfied with that, she tries instead: ]
We come from the same world.
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[ there's a beat in which daisy just stares the other girl down, as if daring her to continue. when rey doesn't, she takes advantage of the fact that she's currently pathetic-looking in a hospital bed and tries again. ]
I got that much already. If my random neighbor from grade school showed up here, I don't think he'd send me platonic nudes. [ at least, daisy hopes not ] You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'm really not buying the whole 'stranger from my homeland' story.
[ probably because, as strange pointed out to her, it's pretty illogical to have two random people show up from the same universe. that's how he first guessed bobbi's ruse was just a cover. ]
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[ Rey says this in a faintly disgruntled tone. She's been trying very hard not to think of them. There are more important things to focus on than Ben Solo's cock. ]
I had no part in that. I didn't ask for them. [ She leans hard on that defense, and not for the first time. ] And I never said he was a stranger.
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[ which begs the question: how? ]
I just — look. If this guy is a serial killer or something, give me a heads up, please. [ she considers mentioning that she's had his skull between her legs, and then thinks better of it. it wasn't like that, and she kind of feels like rey will assume it was, for better or for worse. ] I'm supposed to meet up with him to work on some projects, and I don't really love the idea of getting brutally murdered immediately after narrowly escaping death.
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So no. She can't give a heads up, and she can't articulate why she knew those pictures were him, and she can't ... make words because it's too complicated and she's not any good at any of this. All she can do is shake her head, not in response to Daisy's question, but as if in apology for her own inability to formulate a meaningful answer. ]
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Okay. [ not super reassuring. but this also is way outside daisy's realm of friend-therapist expertise. ] Well. When you figure it out, let me know.
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He's tried to kill me. [ She pushes that out with certainty. ] But if he wants you dead, he won't hide it. He's not going to -- to lure you out somewhere and get you alone. He'll just do it. [ Rey says this practically, not as though she's trying to make excuses -- a clearer picture, not a justification, not trying to lessen the severity. ] He's a killer, but not a liar.
[ And even then, he was a killer who lashed out in pain. A cornered, wounded animal. None of those who caused him pain are here -- none but Rey herself. ]
I don't think you need to be afraid.
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being told that the awkward, unsure, unreasonably tall man she's interacted with a handful of times in passing has attempted murder under her belt phases her probably less than it really should. she's surprised, but the surprise lacks a moral response — though perhaps that's, in part, due to the fact that daisy doesn't exactly have much of a moral high ground to stand on here.
has she tried to kill people in the line of duty? yes. has she succeeded? also yes. there's been both acceptable losses and unavoidable casualties on her hands, too, and it's perhaps those that weigh the heaviest on her.
so to rey, daisy offers a thin purse of her lips, a careful exhale through her nose, and a shift in weight from one foot to the other. ]
I'm not, [ she finally settles with. ] Afraid of him, I mean.
[ maybe she should be, but daisy's never been particularly good at doing what she should do. ]
But thanks for the heads up.
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[ She looks like she means it, but not in the good way. Not in the way that is relieved that Daisy sees him differently, that she sees him as soft, but in the way that acknowledges that Daisy recognizes the danger and is simply self-assured in spite of it.
If Daisy were afraid of him, Rey's guilt for engaging him would be greater. If Daisy isn't, it means she understands how it can be complicated despite that. ]
You should still train him. [ She rolls up her hoodie sleeves then to reveal bracelet-like burns, pink bands around her wrists, stretching up a few inches on her forearm. ] He needs it.
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