( video - un: blacksquadron ) all the stars are laying at our feet

[xwings]

[ the video clicks on to a soft beep that ends in a worried trill, the sound mechanical and still managing to seem hushed. for a moment, the camera swings around, then it steadies, showing poe dameron in workout gear, hands and ankles taped, pummeling a punching bag. it's clear he knows what he's doing. it's equally clear that he's unhappy about something.

poe is clearly unaware of the video; this is bb-8's way of trying to get poe some company and comfort. there's a series of beeps that indicates as much, to anyone who understands binary.

eventually, poe stops, steadying the bag (and himself) and then glances at bb-8 -- and the comms device bb-8 is still pointing at him. poe runs a hand through his hair. ]

What're you doing that for, BB?

[ another series of noises from bb, i'm worried and maybe you shouldn't be alone right now. poe shakes his head, crossing the distance to bb-8 and holds out a hand. ] I'm all right, buddy. Give that here.

[ when bb-8 does, the video cuts off. ]

Comments

[learned_to_die]

[That ... cleared up absolutely nothing, Poe. Ned relies on torches and fire to light up rooms, ravens to send scrolls of parchment, and swords to best his enemies. Everything you just said is a bit outside of his realm, and the blank expression on his face is a clear indicator of such.

Until the proverbial lightbulb (or lantern, in Ned's case) goes off, and his eyes widen for a moment.]

A spaceship is what I came to this planet on, I believe. We soared through the skies, higher than birds could imagine?

[xwings]

Yeah. Those.

[ good job, buddy!! you're totally getting the hang of this whole thing. ] Not exactly like those, because I've never flown a ship before that required an emotional connection, but the idea's the same.

[learned_to_die]

[How primitive Ned feels, speaking to all of these men and women who come from lands in which these 'spaceships' are as commonplace as the sea-faring ships with which Ned is familiar? He exhales a self-dissatisfied puff of air through his nose.]

How is it that it manages to - [He gestures with his hand something like a flight trajectory.] - without crashing down to land again?

[xwings]

Landing gear and the right angle.

[ poe lifts a hand to sketch an alternative flight trajectory, one with a smoother landing. ]

[learned_to_die]

I only understood half of what you said, but not in this context. [He lets out a bit of a laugh before returning to a more somber expression.] Forgive me if I overstep my boundaries, but - are you all right? You seem as though the weight of this world and the next are on your mind.

[xwings]

[ ah. yeah, well --

poe sighs, shaking his head for a moment. he doesn't want to put this on anyone else, but at the same time, he knows bb-8's got the right idea: he needs to share this, let it out. ]

A friend of mine went back into stasis today.

[ a beat. ] I'll be fine. [ but right now, he isn't. right now, he's angry and he's sad -- at the loss of rey's presence, at the loss of his galaxy. ]

[learned_to_die]

[Ned nods empathetically. The corners of his lips tug downwards.] I've only just arrived myself, but I found out that four of my six children are in stasis, as is my wife. Two of them only just returned prior to my arrival.

[There's a certain sadness in his gaze.] They tell me that there is no safer place for them, but it is a dagger through the heart to be separated from them.