garbageship | That's no moon... Wait, no, it's a moon.

She smiles a little brighter at the effect that had. She shouldn't, but she's already accepted the mistake if it's going to be one. "I guess it does." She's not going to deny it.

He is way too old to be this thrown off by mild flirting. Are his ears red? They probably are. Don't even look at him.

The next blaster bolt misses, but less spectacularly. Let's consider this an exercise in keeping cool under pressure. "Now you know why the mask was necessary. I needed to be taken seriously."

That was a straight-up joke. Don't let the serious delivery fool you.

Okay, that gets a full laugh. She has to take her hand off the trigger for a moment. "It's all starting to make sense." Can you feel the fondness?

He can, and making someone laugh is a novel experience. Not entirely unpleasant, even though it's not something he's going to make a habit of doing. He doesn't really know where to go from here, either.

Practicing seems like the only way to go. There's only so much dignity he can sacrifice in the name of humor in one day.

More laughter and more smiles are very, very welcome if he can see his way fit to bringing them to her. She looks over from her own practice to see how he's doing from time to time. "Do you want me to try throwing stones for you again?"

Eventually, maybe. Can't push for too much in one day.

He's getting the hang of hitting targets that don't move, so giving moving targets another go is the next logical step. "It won't be impressive."

It's definitely already been a big day.

"You wouldn't need the training if it would be." Do you really think she's going to judge you for that?

She bends down to pick up a decently sized rock and then looks at him for confirmation that it's okay to throw.

Um, yes? He didn't become the feared nightmare that was Kylo Ren by being unimpressive.

He settles into a stance, raises the blaster, and nods. No force this time.

She also doesn't like him for the nightmare Kylo Ren thing. She does appreciate competence, but he already has that in other areas. She doesn't expect people to be good at everything all the time. It's brave to learn new things and be bad at them, but still try.

She gives the rock a nice hard throw.

Funny. He feels idiotic, not brave.

None of the three shots he gets in before the rock lands hit. On the bright side, he kept himself from using the force. Also? He's about as good as the average stormtrooper.

He scowls at the rock because it has personally offended him. He does not crush it with his mind like he would like to since this is just as much about control as it is learning to use a blaster. "If I used the force, I would be able to hit it blindfolded."

"You did okay without it. Better than you would have done an hour ago. Your target will probably be bigger than a rock I can throw."

But...

"You could always show me the blindfolded shot with the force." Maybe he could use a little win and she's curious.

He gives her a skeptical look even if he can't deny that there has been improvement. Not enough, but the support of both his father and Kitty has made patience slightly easier to come by.

This, though... the chance to show off at something he knows he excels at just about makes him smile. "I'll close my eyes. Throw as many rocks as you like."

"Okay. Just remember you don't want to shoot me." She stoops to gather several rocks including some quarter-sized ones. "Ready?" She looks over to see his eyes close and then throws three up into the air at the same time for starters.

"I won't shoot you." Geez, it's not like he's a rampaging killer who would just go and—oh.

Eyes closed, he hits all three rocks with no wasted bolts and no hesitation. He won't admit that using the blaster did make it more challenging than he had anticipated and more than three might have been beyond him. If manipulating energy wasn't something he had practiced so much, he probably wouldn't have been able to live up to his boast.

"And I didn't hit you."

"I especially appreciate that last part." She didn't really think he would if it helps. It was mostly teasing. But it is a guy with his eyes closed using a blaster, okay?

"Nice shooting." She resists the tiny urge to give him a congratulatory kiss on the cheek.

They're being extremely careful, just like Dad told them to be.

"Thank you." That's a nice change from the agonized screaming that showing off usually gets. Maybe that's just the light side talking. "It was easier than suppressing my abilities."

"I know. Now back to it, kid." She throws a rock up a few inches and catches it like she's playing with a baseball. "You have rocks to smoke without the force."

Yes, kid.

How Han Solo of her to use terrible endearments. That man has been a bad influence on her.

He reaches out with the force to bat the rock away; the scowl that accompanies the action clearly isn't heartfelt. "I'm older than you."

What's age got to do with it? The response gets a sigh. "I was just teasing, but you're not exactly proving me wrong."

Any reply he has to that is only going to bring his estimated age down further, so he does the wise thing and shuts up.

He raises the blaster again. "I'm ready to smoke rocks."

Don't teach the child slang, Kitty.

God help her she finds it cute even if she isn't exactly done being annoyed that he was annoyed. She throws a rock for him and watches his form. She'll keep it up. Just throwing another as that one drops or gets blasted whatever may come first.

"How old are you?" Just sounding curious by the time she asks, not judgmental or annoyed. Years spent alive don't mean that much to her anyway, but it's not a detail she knows about him.

He's getting better. Still not great, but progress is being made, he isn't using the force, and he's not getting mad and storming off when most of his shots fail to connect. Talking is going to throw him off further. It's good, though, learning to shoot while there are distractions. In a fight, no one is going to be quiet so he can concentrate.

"Twenty-nine." The fourteen years spent with Snoke didn't do much for his maturity. A fifteen year-old boy is more easily provoked and manipulated than a man who has learned some self-control. "And you?"

She has noticed the improvement and not just in his shooting. Every day he feels like he's become more than he was the day before. Better with control and contact. Of course some of it could be her perceptions too. How much did Reid change as she started caring for him? How much of that was him and now much was just the way she saw him?

As much as she wishes Ben and Rey could get along she's also glad for her objectivity. Well, okay, she may not be objective either, but if they just assume reality is somewhere in the middle...

"Twenty."

Objectively speaking, he's probably improving in all kinds of ways. Going downhill from where he had been immediately after Starkiller Base would have been next to impossible. The environment has been helpful, too; he had to struggle to keep the light side at bay when he was surrounded by the dark side, and now he has little but light around him.

Still, Kitty probably sees more improvement than there actually is.

"I would have guessed older."

"I feel older. Fifty-sevenish? But you know, hot for my age." She's lived a lot of hard, dense years and done more than you should reasonably be able to cram into twenty years.

She is a genius which is never more noticeable than when you're among non-genius kids your age in grade school. It led to her feeling more comfortable around adults as a child and then as things fell apart she had no real choice in the matter. She was the youngest X-Man for awhile. Even put in charge of training students barely younger than herself. It seemed like somewhere along the line everyone forgot she should have been a kid. In a different world she would have been at least a little longer.

It catches up with her sometimes. A childish outburst here and there. The jealousy over Rey.

"How old did you think?" Should she be offended? Then again, she won't be. She's comfortable with how she looks.

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