Ben's breath hitched in unison with her own, the electric crackle of her touch startling him more than he usually allowed it to. It was the ghost of a touch, somehow both less and more than a physical encounter, more real and more elusive. It was something they shared with each other and no one else, a balance of the force that belonged to them equally, and to them alone.

Snoke, once, had tried to make them believe that the bond was something he had orchestrated, a trick to lure Rey to the dark side. Ben, even at his most uncertain, had known differently. Even before he'd had a name for it, he knew that they were something unique.

"This might be a bit awkward, otherwise," he said wryly, an unable to stifle it, a brief, hopeful smile flickered across his face.