WHO: Kylo Ren + Eliot Waugh WHEN: Late August/Early September, After the Funhouse Stuff WHERE: Eliot's Bedroom @ the Cottage WHAT: Kylo and Eliot essentially play twenty questions and talk about their answers. There's some in depth conversation about childhoods but neither really like that topic so it is minimal. WARNINGS: None, really. There's minor references to previous experiences but nothing worthy of a warning. It's mostly just cute and brought on by a buzzfeed quiz while they snuggle Millicent the cat.
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Kylo worked more mornings than he worked late nights, although every time he worked a late night, he wondered at the possibility of changing it out so that he worked nights. He wasn't particularly a morning person, although if he were fair in the past he hadn't slept well at all. There had been a lot of nights he had meditated rather than really slept, and he'd used to draw on the Force to make him stronger.
All that had changed.
These mornings he preferred to stay in bed if he could. For starters it wasn't only himself in the bed, and that was surprisingly more comfortable than he'd anticipated that it would be. Beyond, comfortable even, it was something he wanted to hold onto and keep, and it did have the effect of making him not want to get up for early shifts.
Of course on those nights where he worked late and pulled himself back to the cottage smelling of coffee, knowing that Eliot would probably have already made his way to his bedroom, Kylo found himself wishing that he was already back so that they could be in the room together. It wasn't as if people bothered them if they hid out in one of their rooms together, but at night it was generally expected that they would be there together, and they didn't get disturbed.
Kylo entered the cottage and headed straight for Eliot's bedroom tonight. Millicent would likely already be there - she had gotten used to the routine anyway - and so he didn't stop to look for her along the way. If she wasn't there, she would come and paw outside the door demanding to be let in, as she typically did, so she would be there soon. He rapped his knuckle on the door as he pushed it open without waiting for a response, his eyes looking for Eliot as soon as he opened it. He offered a quick grin, something that Eliot got to see more and more these days, and he pushed the door closed behind him as he entered.
"I should probably shower," he said as way of greeting. "I think I smell like coffee." Actually, he knew he did. And his hair was pulled back from his face in a series of small braids that kept it from falling into his eyes while he worked. But, despite that acknowledgment, he didn't make any move to actually go and shower, instead stepping across and away from the door in the first place.
At twenty five years old, Eliot hadn't really ever had a steady relationship nor a live in boyfriend. There'd been the very brief period where he was considering such with Mike, though he went back and forth with himself as to whether he should really even count that relationship given the circumstances, but prior to that, Eliot hadn't considered sharing his space with another person. Margo once had an open invitation to enter his room whenever she liked; especially if she was bringing someone in tow for her and Eliot to get more intimately acquainted with. But his relationship with Margo wasn't a romantic bond and she didn't come to Eliot's room every night back at Brakebills. She had her own space and so did Eliot. And while he'd slept with a large portion of Brakebills students, it was not always a guarantee that they were welcome to stay the night or would desire to.
With Kylo, however, things were changing rapidly. Eliot was finding comfort in the concept of being a couple and the notion that he could turn to find Kylo lying at his side on most evenings. It was a change in routine but it wasn't an unpleasant one. They both still had their own spaces but Eliot knew that when the evening settled down, he'd go to bed with Kylo, and be able to lay close to him. It was a comfort altogether new for Eliot. In fact, on the one night Eliot had tried to sleep while Kylo went to visit his Grandfather, he'd found that he'd been unable to peacefully do so until he knew Kylo was home.
It was different but not in a bad way.
Presently, Eliot was up in his room after spending almost all of Kylo's shift with Quentin. He had a lot of worries about how Quentin was managing since Alice had left the cottage and tried to give him attention when he could. They'd mostly just watched television that afternoon. Most days, however, when Kylo was at work, Eliot would be found working on his own magic. And hopefully soon, he'd settle into more of a routine with Megan, who he was planning to tutor in exchange for use of the X-Mansion facilities.
Eliot was sitting with his back against the headboard, with his phone in hand and idly scrolling through nonsense, while his other hand was situated just above Millicent's head so she could rub her fur against his fingertips. He was letting her dictate his petting for the time being. But as soon as he heard the rap of knuckles, his eyes glanced up and his disinterest that had been displayed moments earlier went away. He shut the display of the phone and dropped it on the night stand, letting his free hand move to rest by his side, as he returned the grin to Kylo.
"Probably, but not just yet," he agreed. There was still plenty of space for Kylo on the other side of Millicent. "You should join us first," he then suggested, still beaming. "Plus, I like the smell of coffee."
Kylo knew he should probably persist in the shower notion, as he knew very firmly that once he sat down with Eliot it would be difficult for him to get back up again. Eliot had that way of pulling him in and making him not want to get up or leave. It wasn't a bad thing at all, and in fact, it was largely a first in his life. But despite knowing this, he crossed the room and flopped (gently) onto the bed next to Eliot and Millicent, leaning over to plant a kiss gently on Eliot's lips by way of greeting.
Millicent shifted, a twitch of her ears and her tails showing her brief displeasure at the motion and shifts that were being requested of her, but it was brief displeasure, more a reminder that she was there and demanded respect being paid to her being than anything else. Kylo reached a hand over to pet her absently, his focus remaining on Eliot.
"When you're tired of smelling coffee, I will remind you that you asked for this," he teased with affection. "What were you doing?"
Eliot retracted his hand from hovering above Millicent and shifted it to brush against Kylo's shoulder when the latter leaned in for a kiss. Then, he offered a warm and content smile as Kylo got comfortable on the bed. Shifting, he slid down the top of the comforter just enough that his head was resting upon his pile of pillows.
"Well, when that does happen, I'll push you in the direction of the shower," he chuckled before shrugging his shoulder nonchalantly. "Buzzfeed quiz," he said, as if that was enough, but then he caught himself. He was good about trying to explain something ahead of time he might not have introduced to Kylo yet. "It's pointless and a waste of time but, you know, entertaining for little pockets of time. This one was basically pick your favorite color and season and it'll tell you which decade you belong in," he went on.
"And they are nearly always wrong since there is no real merit behind them."
Kylo reached for the phone as if looking at it might explain to him something about what Eliot was talking about. A quiz that didn't really tell you anything seemed like the sort of thing that was a waste of time, but there must be something enjoyable about it if Eliot were doing it. Or maybe Eliot was just really bored waiting for Kylo to come home. Kylo had to admit that the idea made him smile.
He slid in beside Eliot, displacing Millicent just slightly further, and offending her completely. She pulled up, walked down to the foot of the bed and started licking her paws. He shot her a glance, smirked, and leaned his head against Eliot's shoulder.
"I don't know what your favorite color is," he said, looking at the next question on the phone. "What is it?"
He glanced down to Millicent once she had made her way to the foot of the bed, and gave a quiet chuckle, before tilting his head enough that he was able to press a kiss against the top of Kylo's hair. And then his attention shifted back to the phone as he read the next question.
"It's not on that list," he began. "The closest on the list is pink but my favorite is bright maroon." Glancing down to Kylo, he raised an eyebrow. "What about you?"
Kylo selected the pink option with a raise of his eyebrow. Of course the quiz could not be accurate if it did not allow for accurate responses. Before he looked at the next question though, he turned his gaze up to Eliot's.
"Dark red," he responded almost automatically, but then he hesitated, his fingers still over the phone, and he glanced back at the screen. It wasn't a choice on the quiz either, but that didn't particularly matter here. The thing was though, that it had felt like the obvious choice only because it was the color the First Order used - the only color. But that also made it feel like the First Order's choice, not Kylo's. He frowned slightly. "No. Blue. But a really dark blue, like that color you get sometimes in the night sky right before moonrise. That sort of blue. I think I could surround myself with it."
The automatic answer was the one he'd expected though it didn't necessarily register in his mind as the color of the first order. At least, not initially. He was vaguely aware that it was associated with it but in his mind it was associated with Kylo first. And while Eliot himself preferred the brighter, more vibrant shades of pink; he had an appreciation for darker reds and maroons too. His room was done in shades of maroon.
The correction, however, to blue made Eliot smile warmly. "We ought to go out and try to spot that type of shade, sometime. Get away from the light pollution so we can see it properly," he suggested. He paused for a moment after having said so. "But, only for a little while," he added, because this did mean that they'd likely have to go towards the desert, and Eliot had no desire to spend a large length of time in the desert again any time soon.
Kylo glanced up, a smile on his lips as he did so. The idea of getting out of town with just Eliot always the sort of idea that he could get on board with. Really any idea that started and ended with him doing something with Eliot was probably an idea he'd like, and he was beginning to admit this fact to himself far more easily.
"We could take some wine with us," he mused. "And not stay too long. After it gets dark what's the point? There's no blue then, just the night sky, and it's more black than blue. Not that I have a problem with black," he laughed.
"All right, what book series will occupy your shelf - wait I know this one: Harry Potter," Kylo looked over, guessing that he was right although he supposed that one of the other five choices might have been preferred over Harry Potter. But Kylo knew nothing about Fifty Shades of Grey or Lord of the Rings, and did happen to know that Eliot had loved Harry Potter as a boy. He'd shared that love with Kylo when they'd been young, and friends."
"Wine would be nice. If we wanted, we could take dinner as well, and have an evening picnic. If it was a clear night, it would still be enjoyable to be out, even once the sky was black," he added on before dipping his head with an amused chuckle. "I'd be concerned if you said you had a problem with black," he teased. It'd likely make him think that there was something strange going on with magic and there being a different version of Kylo. It had happened to others before after all.
Then he smiled wide, his eyes shifting to the small bookshelf he had by the door. It was mostly books from brakebills that were useful in his varying plots but situated near the bottom of the shelf were seven brightly colored spines that were clearly well worn.
He glanced back at the list. "It's the best choice," he agreed. "I skipped the Lord of the Rings and watched the movies instead."
That idea appealed to Kylo and he kept his thumb hovered over the phone even as he looked up to give Eliot a fond look. It was the sort of thing he would have done back when they were stuck in the cave had they only been able to get out to New York and bring back actual food. That had been… frustrating, to say the least. He glanced down at his own ensemble, mostly black even now and shrugged. "It would have been cliche to say that black was my favorite color."
He sat the phone down, more interested in Eliot's answers than really the outcome of the quiz. Especially as he wasn't even certain what this particular quiz was supposed to come back with an answer for. For a moment his mind wandered down the path of what he would say if the question were turned around and asked of him. Were there books that he'd read over and over as he knew Eliot had read Harry Potter? Was there anything that had so shaped his life when he was younger? He could think of some cheesy holovids that he knew well, and he'd made his way through galactic classic after galactic classic, including a fair number of Alderaanian stories, because his tutors had persisted in it. But had any of them been favorites, really? Rather than dwelling on his own lack of an answer, he focused his gaze on Eliot.
"What would your favorite film be then - the Lord of the Rings? Or something else?"
When Kylo set the phone down, Eliot shifted just enough so that he could link Kylo's hand with his own, before nuzzling closer to the man. With the question now being asked of him, Eliot responded first by shaking his head lightly in a 'no' type of way. But the question gave him pause. When he'd been asked that question by others, usually in school, he opted for a more pretentious answer. A high caliber foreign piece that would align better with the persona he demonstrated to his peers. That was not going to be the way he handled it with Kylo. For one thing, he didn't feel a need to hold up a pretense with him. He felt like he could be just a bit more honest with Kylo than he was practically anyone else, becoming even more so than he was with Q or Margo. And, for another, it wasn't as if Kylo had seen many films.
"I'm not sure have one singular favorite," he then replied. There were favorites in different genres and different time periods. "An Affair to Remember, Dirty Dancing, Singing in the Rain," he listed, which were all certainly favored ones. Eliot didn't have many movies on DVD. He didn't even have a television in his bedroom. But, the sparse amount of movies that he did own? They were among the number and he'd already shared Dirty Dancing with Kylo.
Still thinking on it, however, he finally spoke again. "The Little Mermaid." He let his gaze shift back to Kylo and he gave a vulnerable smile. "I think that would be the closest." Then he breathed in and lifted their hands up, so he could press his lips against the back of Kylo's hand. "What was your favorite story? From home?" He wanted to know. He wasn't sure if they had movies in the sense that they did here, but they had to have stories. Every culture did.
"The Little Mermaid," Kylo didn't know if he could place it, but there were so many things he didn't know yet and Eliot certainly knew more of them. "Can we watch it?" he asked, even as his mind started over on Eliot's question.
The books were out. Most of those had been forced on him after a certain point, and there weren't really ones that he'd fallen into with any sort of love. And truly it had been a very long time since he'd watched anything or had time for it. The films he'd watched with Eliot were the first fictional storytelling of any kind that he'd had in a really long time. He frowned, pushing back beyond the First Order, beyond Jedi training to when he was still a teenage boy. After a moment his expression shifted, as he settled on a choice. "The Knights of Taris," he offered, sliding his fingers out of Eliot's so that he could slide the back in again, reveling in the feel of skin against his.
"It was, don't laugh, this serial holovid they used to play late at night. It was ridiculously cheesy. It was probably old before my parents were born, but it was… an easy way to escape when being who I was felt overwhelming. These knights would go around the galaxy helping people, adventuring - they weren't Jedi, but they had abilities and it was always implied they used the Force…" He considered, wondering if the Knights of Ren would have been as appealing to him without the title? Possibly. "At some point I think that I realized I'd never be a Jedi Knight, but I still wanted to be a knight, which is a bit ridiculous."
"Whenever you want," Eliot agreed with a slight nod. He wondered momentarily how it would be received by Kylo once they did watch it. It wasn't a profound film by any means and it was certainly for children, even if all ages could appreciate it. Thinking about it, he doubted Kylo would think any lesser of him for it once they did get around to it. Other might. Kylo wouldn't.
He obviously didn't know what 'the Knights of Taris' was but a smile grew when Kylo told him not to laugh. Eliot had no intention of laughing and instead was eager to hear the synopsis. He didn't personally think age was an issue when it came to most entertainment. Sometimes the age would show, especially when there was a cultural shift in opinions or topics, but usually things had a way of standing up and being enjoyable regardless of the passage of time. If nothing else, for the sake of historical interest. Nothing gave a better window into the past than older media.
He shifted, slowly so that Kylo's head wouldn't fall back as he pulled his shoulder away, and then repositioned himself so that he was able to prop his body up with his elbow and look down at Kylo. "I don't think it is," he told him in earnest. "It just shows how you want to help people, if you ask me," he added.
As far as Eliot saw it, Kylo did have some desire to help the galaxy as a whole. He just had a different viewpoint on how to do so. "There's plenty of stories about Knights here we could look into."
Kylo leaned back on the pillow, his gaze coming up to look at Eliot's and a smile crossed his lips. He'd been so used to people not understanding that about him, that Eliot's extended hand when it came to believing that he did want to was a breath of fresh air that he couldn't deny wanting to just keep breathing. He'd realized way earlier than he'd admitted to himself that his views on the matter and his parents views on the matter were very different. His mother seemed to worship freedom even if it meant people were injured and hurt. And Kylo just wasn't certain how that was worth it. Sometimes having a secure system would mean people not being able to do exactly what they wanted.
But that was philosophy for another time and right now he was drowning in Eliot's gaze. "Plenty huh?" He mused with a smirk on his lips. "But none of them are going to include mynocks or rancors are they?"
He gave a confirming nod of his head. He was already cycling through all of the stories he remembered from his high school and undergraduate years. Obviously, King Arthur sprung to mind, in his many varying forms, accompanied by Beowulf and Ivanhoe. He even thought, briefly, of Monty Python, though that fell back into the Arthurian catalogue still. "We might have to dive deep into the internet but it could be possible. Unlikely, but possible," he said.
But, really, it'd all feel sort of like a substitute. Eliot wished there was a way that Kylo could obtain pieces of his culture and childhood with ease in the way that Eliot could. It seemed vastly unfair to Eliot that this realm was practically identical to the realm of his own; while people like Kylo had to assimilate and wouldn't be able to have things he took for granted like a favored book.
"Maybe, if we're successful with opening our subconscious' to one another, you could show me the Knights of Taris." They'd discussed this before, not long after they'd been released from the magic of the funhouse and were once again adults. Eliot hadn't ever opened himself up to such raw exposure, and he knew once he did that Kylo would possibly be able to see everything, but he was willing. It didn't frighten him enough to, at least, to back away from the idea. It was a new feeling, being so confident in another person that he was willing to let them into such an intimate degree. "Though, I think I'd rather you show me the galaxy as you traveled it first." He wanted to see the places Kylo treasured. "Do you have a favorite? Planet or homeworld?"
The fact that Eliot was willing to look brought a warmth to Kylo that was unexpected, yet not unwelcome. Truth was, most of what he experienced with Eliot seemed to fall into that category. But there were things that were becoming more expected, and that was a different sort of warmth all its own.
"That's an idea," he mused thoughtfully. It would probably require him actually remembering enough of an episode to present it like that, but he'd always been good at using the Force with the mind, and Eliot seemed to be receptive to it in his own way. Kylo slipped his fingers through Eliot's and squeezed them.
"I suppose you didn't get to see any more than just Coruscant," he said. "At least that was the impression I got, and I was so newly arrived on Coruscant that I didn't really have time to do much there except pick up a cat." Millicent seemed to know that she was being discussed and her ears twitched accordingly and Kylo was half certain that she gave him a warning 'watch it' along with that twitch. "I don't know though," he considered. "I suppose if we were there and I had my own shuttle back, we could travel some, and I don't know where I'd take you first. Chandrilla is where I was born, but I'm not certain I have any particular love for it. It is pretty though. It makes Coruscant look rural. Corellia makes Coruscant look elegant and refined. Dac is incredibly damp, but it has excellent sea food, which almost makes it worth feeling as if your hair will never be dry again."
Eliot did wonder just how a holovid would have looked. He kept alternating between just a standard television program and the holographic video of Kylo's Mother asking for assistance. It was a mild curiosity but he was largely more interested in the stories that Kylo may have enjoyed in his younger years.
"Barely any of that, even," he confessed. He'd kept that piece of information to himself when he'd recounted, briefly, his adventures on the space cruise to Quentin. He didn't need a lecture about missed opportunities. And Eliot certainly felt as though it were a missed opportunity, now, in retrospect. Of course, how was he to know he'd yearn to see more of the galaxy that Star Wars inhabited back then?
Eliot let his gaze shift down to Millicent at the mention of her joining Kylo's side on the planet and gave the feline a warm smile. "I'd want to see places you enjoyed visiting," he affirmed, as he shifted to lay back down at his side, returning the squeeze of the hand from moments before. "You know, I have a deep love for seafood, so that might be worth the repercussions."
"Does Dac have beaches? Or rather the kind worth seeing?"
"Not exactly," Kylo grinned despite himself. "There's not much in the way of land on the planet. So, instead the cities are built largely under the ocean, or in some cases on top of it and that's where you'll find most of the non-native species. There are some fairly impressive views from those, however. And some fairly impressive places to relax if you want such a thing. Just not much sand - which isn't the worst thing."
Where would he take Eliot if he could take him anywhere? Probably not Coruscant, even if he could see Eliot fitting in on the metropolis easily enough. Eliot had the style and the interest in cultural things to manage Coruscant at its height. If Hux hadn't destroyed the Hosnian system with his ridiculously overpowered super weapon then they could have possibly gone to Hosnian Prime. Somehow he could see Eliot liking that location as well.
"Maybe Naboo," he offered suddenly coming to the planet almost by chance. "Apparently it has family connection, although I wasn't aware of that so much when I was a child, but it's a beautiful planet. Beautiful lake countries, gorgeous estates, healthy forests, and they've got good wine."
That description summoned a very vague memory for Eliot. He thought of the first film, when Obi-Wan as swimming with Jar Jar, and how they'd gone through a bubble to an underwater city. He didn't remember much else other than that, since it hadn't been one he'd watched even with complete interest once, but he supposed that might be close to what Kylo was referring. Or at least close enough. He wondered how non Natives would traditionally get to that enclosure. He supposed there would be something akin to submarines. "If we ever get to space again, I'd like to see that one," he commented, with a warm smile. "And we should mark it as one I'd like you to show me memories of, too."
"I remember Naboo," he then chimed in. "Or, rather, the name Naboo." It had been incredibly important in the prequels and his brothers had been into them. "I'm pretty sure it is the one with the fruit that looked delectable," he then added, as he sifted through his memories. But that was just a screenshot of a memory. It was nothing of the territory itself. He'd want to go in fresh to experiencing that so he could really let it wash over him. "It is your Grandmother's world?" He asked, not because he remembered, but because of simple deduction. If Kylo hadn't known of the connection as a child, that likely ruled out the Organas having ties to it. He supposed it could have been a connection to Han, but there was no reason Kylo wouldn't have known about Han's lineage, was there? And even Eliot was pop culture savvy enough to know that Anakin was from Tatooine. That left Padme.
"Lakes and wine. That sounds like the ideal date," he beamed. "You've been to Naboo, though?"
Kylo glanced up and a smile crossed his lips. "Yeah, it's where my Grandmother is from. She was Senator from there, and Queen for a while as well."
He sighed out, it had been ages since he'd been there and for some reason his mother had given off a low-grade anxiousness most of the time they'd been there. Maybe she'd known something about his Grandmother and the connection to it at that point. Or maybe not… Kylo had never come back to ask. And he supposed it wouldn't be quite the same to ask the Leia that was here. Had she gone on that trip with her kids?
"See, I know you," Kylo added, and there was some pride in the simple statement. But lakes, food, wine, it all did sound precisely like the sort of date Eliot would like, and thus Kylo really wanted to give it to him. "But yes, I've been there. It's been a while, but I was there when I was eleven maybe? Twelve? I don't remember exactly. Old enough to remember the place. Leia was there for politics, but Han thought we could have an adventure, so we all went." It hadn't been the most delightful of family vacations, but it had been beautiful. "It would be more enjoyable with you I think," he admitted softly.
Eliot thought about that for a moment. He'd known Leia was a Princess, and likely that title came from the Organas, but he'd forgotten about Padme being a Queen. He had an idle thought to Fillory now, of how Margo had told him he was in preparation to marry King Idri of Loria. He supposed the rule that allowed him two spouses, one of each gender, didn't necessitate that he marry at least one royal. Fen hadn't been royalty, after all. And he didn't really think of Kylo as a Prince. But, well, did this mean that in technicality he was?
The very casual, almost innocent thought of, finding his very own Prince crossed his mind and Eliot's cheeks flushed. He didn't care if Kylo was or wasn't, but well, every kid used to dream of it, didn't they? Regardless of title, just having Kylo was something that made him happier than he was used to being. He tried to stamp the color out of his cheeks by forcing a more casual smile but it didn't work too well, so he just averted his eyes and allowed the color to remain, as he cleared his throat.
"I had no doubt about that," he replied. Kylo was easily becoming the one who knew him best. His peers from Brakebills might know more facts and events, but Kylo knew him better, and that was entirely different. He gave Kylo's hand another squeeze as he looked off towards the walls. "I'd like to go there with you," he agreed.
Then, quietly, he added, "We never went places. My family. My Father went once to a conference about John Deere tractors, looking into buying a replacement, and he took my Mother but not us." He paused and exhaled as if it didn't matter. "We didn't go on vacations. The closest I had was a couple fishing trips and I hated those. And we didn't leave state."
Something about the thought of him being a Prince caught Kylo's attention and held, and he smiled slightly, barely aware that it wasn't anything Eliot had vocalists out loud. Curled as they were together, and focused as Kylo was on Eliot, it seemed easier to pick up ideas than it might have been otherwise. Kylo almost wanted to revel in that notion for a while longer even if it was ridiculous. Well, it wasn't entirely ridiculous as he'd spent most of his childhood believing he was the heir Prince to Alderaan or would have been in a different lifetime, along with heir to any number of things. He wasn't a King like Eliot, but he wasn't exactly not royalty either.
He glanced up at Eliot, admiring the lines of his face for a moment before he ran his fingers up then down Eliot's wrist gently, resting them back into his hand as the thoughts settled into something slightly more serious.
Kylo didn't feel like he knew much of Eliot's childhood although that was changing a bit. A few things had come up when they'd both been children, but it really only left him wishing he knew more - with Eliot he found himself wanting to know everything, but to be gifted it by Eliot. His hand squeezed Eliot's. "What was it like where you grew up? The land I mean? Was it like here?"
Eliot's gaze panned down to Kylo and, for the briefest of moments, he remembered the flippant lies he'd tell when asked that back at Brakebills. He rarely opened up about the truth and it was held tight away from people. It was so important that he keep it secret that it'd been the truth that undid his binds during the truth ceremony, so for a period it had been solely known by Margo. Others had learned in time, of course, but it wasn't ever offered up easily. Of course, he wasn't going to give a flippant answer to Kylo, or lie to him. Especially since his younger self had been so open with answers not too long ago.
He focused on the feel of Kylo's finger tips against his wrist. It was a comfort to hold onto as he focused. "No," he said, since that was easy enough. "Indiana is further East, so it is cooler here, temperature wise. Of course, the summers are still humid as hell. But we get actual winters. Though they aren't nearly as bad as they would be more along the upper east coast," he explained, though he was well aware he was focusing intently on geographical elements. But Kylo had asked about that, hadn't he?
"We had a farm," he then added, taking a moment to gaze back at Kylo. "Mostly leafy greens, though we did do soybeans for a spell. Government came in and asked that we stop. Funny, that," he commented. "My Father initially did it because it wasn't common in our state to grow them but he was more than willing to give it up for a check every year."
Perhaps Kylo had focused on the land on purpose, sensing that the lack of conversation about Eliot's youth, like his own lack of conversation about his own youth, likely indicated an unwillingness to talk about it. Whether it was for the same reasons - pain and feeling utterly out of place in one's own family - Kylo didn't know for certain, but he did wonder sometimes and he had gotten the impression that yes, perhaps, if the reasons for why they felt so out of place might not be the same.
"Winters are nice," he said aloud, his fingers finding motion again against Eliot's hand. It was something to do that felt calming in its own way. "We had winters on Chandrila, although they were fairly mild. But really the entire climate was reasonably temperate. Not nearly so ridiculously hot as here."
Kylo knew nothing of farming other than it happened and people did it. People who were not him, and that was good. He was happy to spend money to support the output of people who did and bring it home to make food from it, but he would have known nothing of how to make things grow if he'd been required to. He suspected Eliot was also perfectly happy to allow other people to farm, even if he might know more of the process than Kylo did.
"Too many soybeans?" Kylo raised an eyebrow, presuming that was the obvious reason for a government to stop someone from growing something. A sort of market control that some worlds tended to invest in more than others, and the sort of practical policy that Kylo was happy to leave to others. "Did you help with it a lot? It's difficult for me to see you as a farmer. If I were guessing I would have believed you more at ease on Coruscant than Nakadia," he mused, looking up at Eliot fondly.
"I didn't enjoy winter when I was younger," he commented, as he thought about how snowfall would cancel school and force him to remain home. Not that he found much solace at school, either, but it at least gave him the opportunity to escape. He used to spend a good deal of time walking just to stagger getting home late. "Once I was in New York, though, I began to really love it," he added, as he remembered fondly how snow rarely put a stop to the happenings in the City. They could move above as they pleased thanks to the underground trains. He looked to Kylo. "Did you all have a way to move around easily if it snowed? That was the major issue with winter in Indiana. You got snowed in. It happened sometimes in New York, too, but it wasn't as big of an issue since it was a city instead of rural."
That and the fact that he liked the people of New York more.
He gave a light chuckle. "Too many," he agreed with a nod of his head. It made sense to Eliot, of course, if you looked at it in one light. When you consider it from another, though, it was ridiculous. He then nodded his head and shifted so he could curl against Kylo. "When I was younger," he said. "Once I was in school, I started trying to find ways to get out of having to help, and my Father didn't want my help anyways. Got 'in the way' more than I helped, according to him."
He glanced back to Kylo and smiled. "I think you're right." He knew well enough now that Coruscant was filled with cities. He'd have done well there even if he couldn't quite imagine the full workings of that planet. But it seemed to be a social sector and that would be where he'd long to be. People and commotion made Eliot happiest.
"It didn't snow terribly much, but yes, in general. You either retrofit speeders or air taxis, or some of them are made for it. If you're in a planet where it tends to do snow a lot, that's usually what's prominent, but Chandrilla mostly just had seasons, usually one or two snows a year, unless you were up in the mountains."
Kylo considered that, his mind drifting to his own memories of Ben's childhood. He'd heard something along those lines from Han multiple times. "Yeah, I've heard that. Not about farming, but usually ship stuff or mechanics," he offered quietly. "I'm not so good at that, but it was one of the ways Han wanted to bond so…" His fingers tightened around Eliot's hand.
"We should go to New York," he looked up at Eliot.
"We've got some vehicles on our world that are made to deal with snow but it's more to get it out of the way so other vehicles can begin to pass. Maybe one day they'll have the technology to make something similar to the speeders your worlds had," he commented before nodding his head. He'd prefer that. Actual shifts in seasons helped him feel as though time were moving forward. The weather in Texas wasn't quite that way.
He was in turn quiet when Kylo referred to hearing similar remarks. He wondered if perhaps both parents were trying to just be kind when they'd rejected the aid, as though they thought they were giving the son's an out, but not realizing how it felt for them. Then, almost immediately, his memories kicked in of how his Father had said it in his case and he knew it wasn't likely. His Father didn't like him and he'd meant it in frustration. Or on better days just exasperation. He wouldn't say it was identical for Han and Ben's interactions but he suspected it was similar enough. It at least comparable emotions tied to the memory. He didn't say anything else on it, however, just nodding his head. He understood all of this. His Father wanted to bond over what he'd known. He didn't show an interest in any of Eliot's hobbies or interests. His Father began ignoring any of that fairly early on.
He didn't like thinking about this so when Kylo mentioned New York, his eyes seemed to light up. "Yes," he replied without hesitation because he longed for his city. "We should go as soon as possible. Do you think Espresso Pump will give you a few consecutive days off?" He knew Kylo has his ways to ensure that and he didn't really have issues with it. Influence wasn't a bad thing, per say.
"I'm guessing that they'd prefer it if I asked for them in advance of disappearing," Kylo mused dryly. The comings and goings of the past in both the sense of Texas itself, and his own younger self, had not made for happy Espresso Pump owners, but fortunately he was good at being persuasive, both in the sense of the owners, and in the sense of regulars whose coffee he was getting particularly good at remembering.Was that persuasion entirely ethical? Kylo wasn't going to spend much time worrying about that.
He shifted in the bed, all thought of going to take a shower somewhat forgotten in the nearness of Eliot with him. "Let's plan it, and I'll ask," he told him, as he propped himself up on an elbow so that he was looking down just a little at Eliot. He leaned forward and kissed him. "Once we have a date, I can begin the process of making certain it happens."