#let your imaginations run wild as to what else may have benefitted from some centripetal force

[kirynt]

how about "don't be an ass" for reylo?

What an absolute load of fluff this one turned into! Thank you for the ask, @briony-larkin! It’s a bit of a mess but I hope you like it XOXO

What a garbage day, thought Rey. She stepped under the pounding hot water of the large refresher unit, her muscles tight and skin grimy with oil and grit. It had been a long morning working on ancient x-wings, and an even longer afternoon meditating and trying to figure out how the kriff she was going to construct a new lightsaber. The longer she went without one, the more exposed she felt, thinking about the next time she would have to see Kylo Ren. How would it feel to face him, knowing she had no weapon with which to defend herself? Would she even need to? What a mess.

She had no idea where they stood, other than that she missed him. More than she missed Han or Luke, if she were honest. His appearances through their bond were intermittent and short, barely leaving enough time to speak after they’d stared balefully at each other for a few minutes. She would find herself telling him about her day before she settled onto her bunk, just to pretend, to feel what it would be like to share something with him again.

Rey turnedher face up to the water and let it run through her hair. Stepping out of thespray, she grabbed her little bar of soap and started to scrub herself down.Grey suds slid down her legs as she used her nails to try and move some of themore stubborn stains on her arms. The water in her ‘fresher unit was socomforting and warm, sending steam up around her. She leaned back under thewater, resting her head against the tiled wall. As she felt her muscles relax,her mind drifted back (it always did) to Kylo Ren. Ben Solo. What were theygoing to do?

She broughtthe soap bar up to her hair, trying to rub away the grease she’d somehow gottenthere as well. She was careful – Chewie had told her once not to get the soapin her eyes. Tipping her head back under the hot stream of water, she closedher eyes as sudsy rivulets ran down her face.

Ugh, shemust have gotten water in her ears the wrong way again. Her hearing was goingfunny and the water sloshing over her was sounding muted … but also amplified?Almost like another ‘fresher was raining down heavily close by. Rey turned awayfrom the water, eyes firmly closed against the soapy water, reaching out for awall to steady herself on … only to feel something much softer than tile underher outstretched hands.

“Stopmoving, please,” a low voice pleaded close to her ear.

Oh. Herfingers twitched, slipping against what she now realised was – oh! Oh.

Rey’s eyesflew open to stare up at Kylo Ren, just as naked and wet as she was, frozen wide-eyedand stock-still with his hands by his sides. It seemed Rey had also seized upin surprise, because her eyes now darted to where her fingers were now tightlygripping Kylo’s glistening pectoral muscles.

“You’renaked – we’re naked,” Rey babbled. Kylo seemed so huge and muscular in front ofher.

What wasshe doing? She couldn’t move, looking desperately back up at Kylo, whose eyeswere wide but reflecting none of the alarm she felt at being completely nakedin front of him. He was certainly surprised, but not panicked. He was …something else.

Reysimultaneously wanted to cover her eyes and look at Kylo’s smooth skin forever.In her flustered confusion, she took a short step backward into the refresher’sspray, forgetting about the soap residue still in her hair until it randirectly into her eyes. She hissed, slamming her eyes shut and rubbing at theminstinctively.

“Wait,stop! You’re making it worse!”

“Don’t bean ass,” she bit back. “I’m getting this kriffing soap out of my eyes, how elseam I supposed to do it?” She huffed and rubbed her knuckles harder into her eyesockets.

Then Reyfelt gentle, large hands tugging softly at her wrists, guiding her fingers awayfrom her stinging eyes. Then the same hands moving her face slowly away fromthe stream of water. Her heart pounded and her eyes burned, but she tried tobreathe and tried not think about what she would see when she could get hereyes open again. Oh stars, she wasn’t deliberately trying to look before butshe had definitely seen –

“I need youto open your eyes slowly so I can rinse the soap out,” Kylo murmured, hisfingers already wiping what must have been suds from her forehead, eyes andcheeks. Rey could feel fleeting little touches where their wet bodies were barelyslipping against each other, her sense of touch so sharp with her eyes closedtightly.

Shesniffled and took a deep breath, starting to pry her eyes open again. Kylo wasstreaming little handfuls of water over her face now. Her eyes still stung alittle, but her vision was clearing. He was being so careful, she could tell. Hisface swam back into sight, clearer with every blink, while his hands stayed onher face as his thumbs stroked lightly under her eyes.

Sherefocused on his face, tracing his (her) scar, before nervously meeting Kylo’seyes with her own.

“I don’tthink I like soap anymore,” she breathed. Rey watched with shock as Kylo’s lipstwitched upward into a little smile. Her chest filled with warmth at the sight,and she returned his smile as she slipped her hands up to rest gingerly on hissides. She felt him take a deep breath, and their nakedness seemed to be meltingaway like so many soap bubbles. Her panic had long since subsided under theweight of comfort and closeness she could feel radiating from her unexpected ‘fresherpartner.

The fond warmth in her chest was morphing intosomething more golden, purer and of the Force. What she had felt in Kylo’spresence before this had been powerful enough – vision-inducing, even – butthis was different. It was centripetal; it pressed inward from all angles whilethey smiled dazedly at each other, warm steam wafting around them.