we just have a few questions.

[blacklisle]

The Interrogation Meme

Your crimes were unspeakable, your lies were innumerable, but finally you've been caught. They bring you in, sit you down, and chain you up. No matter what power you have, no matter how strong you are, you're not going anywhere, so get comfy.

It's going to be a long night.

Rules

1. Post with your character, canon, and any prefs. Note whether captor or captive.
2. Tag around to other characters.
3. Roll for an option.

RNG OPTIONS

1. Truth serum: You know this person isn't going to confess easily, but you've got a surprise for them. This serum ought to loosen their lips a little.
2. Torture: The old-fashioned way might work best for this particular subject. How about those thumbscrews?
3. Bargain: You've got something they really want, or really need. If they fess up, if they tell the truth of the matter, they'll get it.
4. Blackmail: So, remember that night about ten years ago...? You know something they don't want the rest of the world to know and you're going to use it.
5. Seduction: Just because they're tied to a chair doesn't mean you two can't have a little fun, right?

Comments

[hadthehighground]

“Part of being a Jedi is learning to let go.” He said this as he put his pot away. Walking over to a lamp to turn it on as the light was fading. The twin suns hanging low in the sky and would soon be gone. The temperature already starting to drop.

Taking the lamp he walked further into the cave. Coming to a large empty space with the exception of a makeshift bed on a sloping floor.

[ezra_of_lothal]

"Yes," he glances up, with a faint smile. There is a glimmer of Master Kenobi, he thinks to himself. Maybe just a glimmer, but real.

"But that's just one part, isn't it? There's learning to distinguish between what we want to hold onto or let go. And what we need to. The difference between all those choices. To try to see them clearly."

[hadthehighground]

“Nothing is quite so clear anymore,” he says quietly, sitting down the makeshift bed and setting the lamp aside. He then works on taking off his boots. Grimacing as he pulled a foot free and taking a moment to rub the soreness from it. Doing the same to the other food shortly after.

“All there is, is darkness.”

[ezra_of_lothal]

Ezra closes his eyes, takes a slow, shaky, breath in and lets it out. "No, Ben. The galaxy is more shadowed than it once was, yes. You're in pain, and drawn into yourself. But that is not all there is."

[hadthehighground]

“What would you know about that,” he says skeptically. He couldn’t see it, perhaps even refused to see it. The light of his life, everything that gave him purpose and hope, was taken from him. Worst of all it was his own fault.

[ezra_of_lothal]

"Hmm. I'm getting out my cloak," he warns, before reaching for his small pack and going digging through it."

"I know it was harder for me to see before I learned I was connected to everything. And I know it was there, all along, even when I was hiding and more guarded. All the little acts of kindness, and love, and courage, that people do every day, to make things bearable. The basis for any hope at all for anything to be better."

[hadthehighground]

Ben doesn’t seem to much care what Ezra us doing and doesn’t react much as he goes digging through his pack. He meanwhile pulls off his poncho and holds it away from his bed to shake the sand from it.

Ezra said some nice words and once upon a time he believed such things. However there was no denying the cloak of darkness that had settled over him. Making it harder to see the things he was talking about. Tatooine is also a harsh place with equally harsh people or those who were down on their luck much like he was. He fit in quite well.

[ezra_of_lothal]

The lack of response is admittedly not encouraging. He wraps himself in his cloak, and backs up the cave walls, in a position to see by the entrance and Ben's bed, before he folds on the ground. He quiet a while, before the circles back to questions.

"Why this cave? I can tell you've been here a while, but I think I put more effort into finding someplace well out of the elements and making it comfortable, by the time I was nine."

[hadthehighground]

“It’s because nobody would think to live here that I decided to.”

It was secluded, out of the way, but still close enough that he could watch Luke. Only the Lars really knew that he was out here.

Ezra seemed to be making himself comfortable at least. He wouldn’t recommend leaving after dark anyway. Though the boy would have to find something to do with himself when he left for work in the morning.

[ezra_of_lothal]

"Ok, that's basically why I picked my comms tower," Ezra admits. "But it had, you know, a door, and a roof, and I scavenged to spruce it up a little," he mutters, waving around a hand. "You could carve out actual rooms, further into the rock and down, I bet, with the right tools."

Maybe not. He hasn't gone poking structural integrity with the Force or anything. But it's a thought.

[hadthehighground]

Ben rolls his eyes. “It doesn’t rain here. Ever. So long as it keeps me out of the suns and wind it’s fine. And I don’t need to spruce it up or add rooms.”

He huffs a bit and then tucks himself into the sleeping bag of a bed. It didn’t look terribly comfortable but it didn’t need to be.

“Now if that’s all, I would like to get some sleep.”

[ezra_of_lothal]

"Dust storms," he mumbles under his breath, because he knows those happen here and just traveling out to this spot, he's seen enough houses to begin to have an idea of how residents build to stay a little cooler and a little less sandy.

He won't argue about sleep, though. "I have something for you, in the morning. Good night, Ben."

[hadthehighground]

“Good night.” A note of relief that he’s being allowed to rest. The lamp getting turned off and the darkness surrounding them. Though he is left with his own thoughts as the familiar silence descends. Thoughts he didn’t much like entertaining these days as he ruminates over the conversation.

Eventually though, Ben drifts off into sleep. Though even then he would find no reprieve as the nightmares then come. The man tossing and turning at various points in the night. Occasionally muttering to himself along with a whimper now and then.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Ezra jerks awake at that much noise, of course, too much on guard and uncomfortable to be sleeping very deeply.

He knows that nightmares sound like, the feeling in the Force of a nearby sleeping mind in distress. Everyone on the Ghost had them sometimes. Everyone but the infant twins, the little complex he'd more recently called home, too.

Usually, he woke him and he had the wherewithal, he'd push some calm and warmth into the Force. It couldn't fix everything, but it couldn't hurt either, had been his thought process.

Except, here and now, it just might do more harm than good, if he spooked Ben badly. He shifts and stares up at the cave's ceiling, deeply disliking how much he feels like he's flying blind.

[hadthehighground]

Likely a wise move on Ezra’s part to leave him alone. Any sort of intrusion with the Force could easily frighten him and get a bad reaction. The nightmare continues for awhile, but eventually he awakes suddenly. Sweat beaded on his brow as he takes a few deep breaths. The fact that he’s closed himself off and that sleep still clung to him causes Ben to forget that Ezra is even there. The man sighing as he drapes his arm across his forehead. Staring up at the dark ceiling.

“Master Qui-Gon…” he calls brokenly. His barriers dropping just enough to let just a little bit of the Force in. Ben reaching out as if wanting someone to save him from drowning. “Are you there master?” But after several moments of silence he gave up. Yet again there was no answer and he just turned over, the gates closed again, as he tries to go back to sleep.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Now that was new, to Ezra. Not the name. He can even call up images of the man, in his memory, from that shared meditation in the Coruscant Temple that had spiraled out of control. He knows how Master Qui-Gon died.

But he doesn't remember hearing Obi-Wan call out to his master before. And Ben might be...confused, but he'd been awake, let his guard down enough for his presence to flash in Ezra's sense of the Force.

Luke had said in his time Ben came back as a ghost, that his father had too, but stayed silent. And Ezra had believed him, in part because he'd felt when Kanan's spirit moved on, after he destroyed the Lothal temple.

Luke hadn't mentioned Qui-Gon Jinn appearing.

Ezra shifts around restlessly, wide awake now, trying to fit together all these bits of knowledge, to work out what might be going through Ben's head.

[hadthehighground]

Whatever is in his head, Ezra won’t find out, at least not right now. Ben just sighs as he starts to drift off again. Completely unaware of a slight shift in the Force, like a gentle breeze that blows through the cave and settles on the troubled Jedi. Reflexively Ben’s body relaxes and he manages to slip into a dreamless sleep. Perhaps someone was looking out for him after all.

The rest of the night would be uneventful. It wouldn’t be until the suns started to rise that Ben would stir again.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Ezra feels the shift, but aside from a feeling of benevolence, he's not sure if it's distinct enough to be called a presence - or maybe he's just not attuned to it. He doesn't reach to try to find out more, either, lest he risk disturbing Ben or chasing the whatever it is away. It's just another bit of possible hopeful information to file away.

Ezra's had a lot of reason to rise early over the last few years, and it doesn't seem like he's going to be getting more sleep, so he gets up at the first sign Ben is awake. First things first, go to the entrance, and shake out his cloak. Then he goes sorting through his pack again, and comes up with a sealed tin of tea leaves. Not the fanciest, not exactly what might be found on Coruscant, because he's been traveling through the Outer Rim on what credits he could discreetly eeks out. But it's a good substitute for a blend he remembers Obi-wan liking.

Not quite willing to break the silence, he shyly goes to set it on the 'kitchen' table.

[hadthehighground]

Ben is a bit startled when he realizes Ezra is there and it takes him a moment to remember all of that from yesterday. However that doesn’t stop him from going about his daily routine. Which meant cooking himself a meager breakfast and getting ready for work.

As he’s preparing his food, he looks over at the object Ezra sets down. The man finally breaking the silence between them as he gives the boy a confused look. “What’s this?”

[ezra_of_lothal]

"Tea." Ezra shrugs awkwardly, watching the older man. "It's just tea I thought you'd like."

He almost adds, 'you still drink tea, right?', but swallows that impulse down.

[hadthehighground]

Ben blinks at him for a moment before looking down at the tin. Picking it up he takes off the lid and inhales. The fragrance of the leaves bringing a soft smile to his face.

“It’s been a long time,” he admits. Tea was a luxury out here. Water was precious and leaves are expensive in a place like this. It’s a thoughtful gift. Only someone that really knew him would do something like that. His gaze going back to Ezra, thoughtful and curious again.

Setting the tin aside he proceeded to rummage around his collection of belongings. Which wasn’t a lot admittedly, but he managed to pull out a dusty little teapot. Cleaning it off, he also went over to the vaporator. Turning the machine off he pulled out the large collection container that was about half full. It was with that he filled the little pot and set it on the heating element.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Ezra lets out the breath he'd been holding, when he sees Ben smile. He's drunk enough tea at this point in his life that his guess had been sort of educated, but it's nice to see he picked out something ok.

"I know it's not, like, the best," he says, self deprecatingly, anyway, and adds, as a joke, "We can just agree between ourselves there's no implied shade on wisdom, yours or mine."

[hadthehighground]

“Don’t be ridiculous. This is very nice. … Thank you.” The words are sincere as he takes the tin and pours a small amount of the leaves into the pot’s basket. Ben’s eyes having lit up at the opportunity to actually have tea in… he didn’t know how long. Because of that he had no business being picky.

Though there is a bit of a pause, and another thoughtful look is passed to Ezra. “Well… I must admit I’ve not done much to maintain my own wisdom.” A little bit of a sad smile ghosted his features as he turned back to the pot. Ben reaching for a couple cups as well.

“You… heard me last night, didn’t you?”

[ezra_of_lothal]

"You're welcome," Ezra replies, meaning it, and smiling brightly for a second before his expression sobers, and nods slowly, eyes still bright, but shifting to sympathetic.

"I...did. Still, far from the worst night's sleep I've ever had," he tells Ben, which is true, because he's had some doozies.

[hadthehighground]

“I’m sorry,” he apologizes. Wincing a little bit at the thought even as Ezra tried to make him feel better about it. “I’m not used to having anyone else here.” That was part of the appeal of this place. There was no one around for miles and he could deal with himself in complete privacy.

“But… maybe that’s why you’re here. Perhaps he sent you.”