Finn (eight_seven) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2017-12-11 12:17:00 |
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Entry tags: | finn / fn-2187 (cl), poe dameron |
Who: Finn & Poe
When: November 23
Where: The ranch and things
What: REUNITING
Warnings: Naaaah.
Finn had been wrong about 48 hours. It had been excruciating. More in that he’d run out of things he felt like watching on Netflix, which left a lot of sleeping and staring at the walls and dealing with a very bored dog. He noted that it probably could have been worse, but it also felt like it had gone on for forever. The minute he’d been released, he stole a very long hug from Rey. It had been entirely too long since they’d been able to hug each other. Even if it was really only 48 hours of waiting. It just seemed like a very long time. He was pretty sure they hadn’t hugged in a couple days back home, too. Not because they couldn’t, but because they weren’t thinking about the fact that they might not be able to. Poe had been the next to get a hug, something that Finn had felt was a very long time in getting there. He was just glad that both of his friends were there.
Pilot was also very excited because of the whole ordeal. After a few pointed looks from Rey, which were met with his own looks, she took the dog and went off on her own. He wasn’t sure how much of those looks would be understood by Poe, but he shrugged as she walked off. “Um. Guess she really missed the dog.” Which he knew was true, but it wasn’t really the whole thing.
“So...this is where you guys have been staying? I didn’t know you had a ranch before. Unless I did. I mean, I might have. Maybe I forgot.” He was strangely nervous, but only because he hadn’t really had time to think about things since quarantine and he hadn’t felt nervous then. Just happy to see both Rey and Poe, impatient to get out of quarantine, bored out of his mind. When he’d first gotten out, it was a flurry of excitement at seeing both Rey and Poe and he’d had the dog to distract him from most everything. Now, however, there wasn’t any real distraction. Just a new place to call home and Poe in the same space as him.
“It’s nice.” A smile. “I heard there was leftover food.” That was easy to deal with.
Seeing Finn again had been, frankly, amazing. Poe felt as if it had been forever since he'd seen the former stormtrooper. And maybe that was because it had been months. Rey had been here for a long time without Finn, and Finn had been gone for a while before Rey had arrived. But he was here now. He was here now and Poe hoped that he could manage to hold onto him this time.
"There is leftover food," Poe practically beamed, and he reached out to reach his arm around Finn's, pulling him in easily, warmly. "You like spice loaf? We've got some of that. We've got some pie too. One of Rey's friends didn't want to celebrate traditionally, so we had our own thing." Poe paused and reached out to the door to push it open so they could go into the kitchen. "I'm kind of assuming since you were in Chicago you know about Thanksgiving," he added.
He led the way through the living space to the small kitchen where he quickly started busying himself with putting a plate together for Finn. "This is the ranch I grew up in when I was a boy," he explained in response to Finn's earlier question. "Straight from Yavin IV I guess. But it's been nice to have it here. Enough space for people to stay with me, and it's a little piece of home. I'll show you the room you picked out before - hopefully it'll be good for you now too."
Finn smiled as he was lead toward the food. Being close meant being more aware of Poe’s presence, but then again, Finn had a feeling he’d have been aware even if they were in a crowded room together. He didn’t say anything about it, though, choosing to focus on the food offerings. “I’ll eat just about anything.”
The question was met with a quick nod. “I know Thanksgiving, yeah. I mean, the general idea of it.” It was one of those things that just existed for the most part. Not that he minded holidays centered around food. Christmas was nice, too. He liked the chance to get something nice for his friends. He didn’t really know much about religion or care enough to learn anything about it, but the holiday was a nice one all the same.
“It’s nice,” he said again, wondering if he sounded stupid. “Besides Chicago, I don’t really remember a home.” He didn’t remember his family either. He’d been too young. There weren’t familiar scents that made him remember his mother or father, no situations where he felt that he should remember things. All he remembered was The First Order. It was all he had. Chicago had been a different experience because he’d developed a family of sorts that consisted of Rey and Poe. He’d made friends and gotten a job. It had been pretty normal compared to everything from before. “I’d like to see the room. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” It was fine for him before, so there was no reason it wouldn’t be now. At least he didn’t think so.
"Maybe after we get some food in you then," Poe chuckled. "But let's get the food warmed up first."
He turned while he waited for the stove to heat up to look over at Finn. Truth was, he didn't know exactly where they stood. He knew he'd supposedly been in Chicago, but he didn't remember much of it, and Finn and Rey had both been here with the displaced before, but at different times, and they'd come and go. They hadn't really pulled together anything - more than friends that was. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe he and Finn had managed that in Chicago. He was pretty certain that if he and Rey had, it would have come up.
"It's nothing too special, but it's comfortable I think. I guess you can let me know," his eyes twinkled and he couldn't help the grin spreading wider across his features. "It is so good to have you in this kitchen. You've no idea. So tell me about Chicago, huh? Rey filled me a bit in on things from her point of view, but I'd love to hear yours."
Finn was trying to act like things were normal. Surely they had to be normal. He knew what happened in Chicago, but that didn’t really mean anything if no one else remembered. Well, no one but Rey. So he didn’t do anything. He just offered Poe a smile in return for his. “I don’t really need special. I just need a bed. It’s the people around that matter.”
Chicago. “Well, I guess we all showed up. I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen, but we got an apartment together. All three of us. I learned how to do laundry and cook a little. You were always the more reliable cook, I think.” Not that that mattered exactly. Finn preferred washing the dishes to trying to cook anyway. But sometimes he’d cook if he needed to. “I worked as a trashman. It wasn’t glamorous, I guess, but I really only had sanitation experience, so it was hard to figure out something to do. I guess I could have been a school janitor, but everyone knew the movies and I didn’t really want a lot of questions.”
Strangers were always coming up to them to ask them about something. Things about Kylo, things about them. One girl even had a t-shirt with him and Poe on it once. “Let’s just say people knowing everything about you is weird. Have you heard of fanfiction? A girl once explained it to me in a lot of detail and wanted to send some to me to read, but it just seemed a little strange, so I didn’t...agree to that.” He didn’t know what to say about some of the things, however. “We got the dog and I thought Pilot seemed like a good name. It was better than just calling him Dog. That was our only other option. So...you know. You left shortly after that.” Finn frowned at the ground for a moment before he forced himself to smile instead. “But you’re here, so that’s what matters.”
"I couldn't agree more," Poe grinned, turning to get a plate out and dishing up some of the warmer food for Finn. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's been nice to have this place here, but I'd be just as happy in a tent as here. Actually that's more or less where we were first time around. I don't know if Rey said, but when I first arrived… well away from home, we were on the middle of this island and we couldn't get off it. Wasn't much there, so you, Rey, and I all kinda built our own shelter. It was pretty intense. We were there for a while, then we came here to Tumbleweed. You guys came and went a couple of times, but I've been here all along. We were in our galaxy for a while on a space cruise, and then a bunch of other places I didn't recognize, and then back here. Mostly we've been here though."
He handed over the plate to Finn and nodded towards the table. "You know, I've heard of it, but mostly I've tried to avoid the Internet and whatever may come of it. But it's a good place mostly," he paused as he sat down.
He figured he should probably tell Finn that Kylo Ren was there even if he wasn't going to like that particular piece of news. Poe didn't much care for it either, but better Poe tell him than he just stumble onto him on his own. "You should probably know Kylo Ren is here also."
It was strange to think of them being on an island, but then he guessed that most things were going to sound unusual. They’d had a lot of strange things happen back in Chicago. People were always coming from the future or changing ages. Sometimes even people became the opposite gender. It could be a little much at times. “I’m trying to decide whether or not I miss home,” he said quietly. Meaning before Chicago. If he could really call it home. “Sometimes I guess it’s nice to have familiar settings, but mostly I don’t think I do.” He shrugged. “But it sounds like this place is even more unusual than Chicago. People changed ages and genders a lot, but we never went to other worlds or galaxies.”
Finn carefully took the food and made his way to the table, sitting down. “It’s weird from what I know of it.”
He’d started to eat, but the moment that Poe mentioned Kylo, his body tensed and he looked up. “He’s here? With people? And they let him be?” Not that villains hadn’t lived among them in Chicago, but few of them ever stuck around. They usually arrived, wreaked havoc, and left. A few, he supposed, might have stuck around, but Kylo...he couldn’t remember him coming through.
Poe wondered if he should have poured himself a drink. Maybe he should have, but for the moment, he just leaned forward. "I guess I never really thought about it. It's where I grew up, so it's home more or less. It's been nice having it here, but I think yeah, we move around lot more. I guess if you think about it, if you can move from one place to another, why not keep doing it?" He'd always enjoyed wandering around to different places in the galaxy - this wasn't much different from that.
He leaned forward. "He's been here for a while, and yeah, he's just walking around. I worried about him quite a bit when he first got here, but he's not, done anything - thus far. And to be honest, he's not the only person around here with powers and questionable morals. Vader's here too. And others from other worlds. It's probably a wonder we've not had more problems than we have had."
“So it’s like traveling all over, but having somewhere to come back to?” He hadn’t traveled much, but he’d missed space and the fact that they’d traveled and gone through so many things before. Adventures sounded nice as long as he had Poe and Rey with him.
Finn frowned a little. “We don’t have to interact with either of them, do we?” Because he had exactly no desire to interact with Kylo. He didn’t really know Vader, but he was pretty sure he had no desire to interact with him either. Really, he would be happy to keep to Rey, Finn, and the General, but he knew that was probably unlikely. Socializing with others was something he should do. Even if he wasn’t really sure who the majority of the people were. There were a few people he’d met in Chicago, but he wasn’t sure that any of them were here, too.
"I feel like that's more or less exactly what it's like," Poe nodded. "People say we were in a mountain before the island, but so far after that Island, we've always ended up back here. All I can say about it, is I wish they'd give some warning. The first time we left it was like we came back and nobody missed us, but the second time we came back? We'd been gone for that same amount of time. It was… strange to say the least, and a little inconvenient."
"I'm getting a drink you want one?" He asked as he walked back towards the kitchen, quickly gathering a bottle before he turned back. "I don't think anyone's going to ask that you interact with him. And I think, or rather maybe it's I hope, that he knows he's on watch."
Finn didn’t really mind having somewhere to call home. It wasn’t often that he found somewhere that he could call home. His home tended to be people. Specifically Rey and Poe. Chicago was home, but now he wasn’t there anymore. Here would eventually become home, but at least he had Rey and Poe to make the transition less sudden.
“That sounds unusal,” he commented, wondering what changed to make people notice. “It would be a pain if you had a job and had to explain your absence and why you didn’t at least call in and let them know.” He couldn’t imagine that. Of course, in Chicago strange things happened, but they always had people to explain for them. “We had people to explain our strange absences for us and those really only happened when the veil messed with us.” Which could be anything, really.
“Yeah. A drink sounds good.” He had had more to drink since getting to Chicago than he had his whole life prior, but he tried to avoid too much. Still, at least it didn’t taste as weird to him anymore. “And that’s good. I don’t really want to. Especially since I still remember the fight. He ruined yo- my jacket.”
"The veil?" Poe asked, setting the drink down in front of Finn and then taking his own seat again. It felt better to have something in his hands so that he could have something to fidget with, although he didn't know why he was nervous exactly. Finn was back where he should be, and all was right in Tumbleweed again.
"It was really a pill though," Poe sighed. "I'm hoping if we're away again, it won't be a 'disappearance for several months' sort of situation again." Not that he'd have much control over it if it was. They'd just have to deal, and in all honesty, it was not the worst thing Poe had ever been required to deal with.
"Yeah I remember that too. You came back to the base all beat up," Poe reached over and put a hand warmly on Finn's arm. "Don't worry, he won't try anything here - least if he does he'll have to go through Rey and myself." Not that he'd be so much of a fight against Kylo Ren, or at least he hadn't been much of one before, but he knew Rey could do it. And if he wasn't alone, Poe suspected he could help - provide back-up anyway. "You have the jacket with you?"
“Yeah. It was this invisible magical thing. Everyone was trying to figure out what it was and why it did what it did. I don’t know if they ever figured it out.” Finn was trying to act casual, which was not exactly easy. Especially when he understood the way he felt at that moment. But he couldn’t expect it to be the same for Poe, so he’d just...wait. Maybe later he’d tell him. It probably wasn’t the thing to lead off with immediately.
“I’m sorry you all had to deal with that.” He was glad that he hadn’t yet. Especially if he was going to find a job. He didn’t want to deal with the long disappearance that was noted by others either, but it was probably out of his control. Everything the Veil did was out of his control, too.
Poe’s hand on his arm was warm and he found himself relaxing just a little. It was easier to feel safe around Poe and Rey. He’d always been safe with them...even when he’d been in danger. “Don’t get hurt.” He glanced up at Poe then. “If you don’t mind.” Because he really didn’t want him to end up injured because of him. He didn’t want Rey to be hurt. “Yeah. I have it. I got it back from before it met a lightsaber.”
"I don't think we've got a real notion what's going on here, there were pods originally, and they were able to keep people from using their powers with those - that's why they can keep people like Kylo Ren in quarantine despite typical abilities." Poe supposed that was one good thing about all this - if someone really did cause trouble they could be locked up, presuming you could get them in there in the first place. But there were ways to mute those powers. Even Ren's.
"Not planning on it, man," Poe shook his head. "While this place lacks the excitement of fighting a war, I can't say I'm terribly upset by not being put in mortal danger every day. It's a little strange getting used to it though, but if you've been somewhere other than home you may be more accustomed to that already."
He dropped the hand, although part of him wanted to leave it there. Poe had always been an affectionate sort and one of the things he'd liked about Rey and Finn both was that he was allowed to be and they seemed to return it easily enough. He took a drink. "That's good then, we won't have to try to track it down."
“I don’t think they did either. They just knew that it was the thing that powered everything and brought us through.” At least that’s how it seemed. He might have been wrong. It was hard to tell. “Pods? Huh. I don’t remember anything about pods. And I didn’t realize there was a way to keep people from using their powers.” Not that he had powers to take away.
There was a small smile. “Yeah. I’m used to there not being anything to fight...except for when there are. But it’s still kind of strange a little. I remember what it was like at first.” He remembered a lot of things that happened. He stilled for a moment as Poe’s hand moved, but he didn’t ask him to put it back like he’d wanted to.
“We won’t. I’ll make sure to wear it more.” He studied Poe’s face for a moment before moving to sit next to Poe instead of across from him. It felt less separated and he didn’t figure the other man would actually complain about him sitting next to him. “Do you have any favorite shows? We used to watch some things together in Chicago. You, Rey, and I.” He shrugged. “It’s nice to pile onto a couch together with snacks and something to watch."
"The pods were - well, apparently they had them back at the mountain, but I don't remember that. People who have been with us for years, they'll talk about the pod god, because the pods would show up with stuff in them sometimes, but also frequently with people. I never set much store in their being a deity - I figure there's a better explanation - but it's what it was called. Then we were on an island, then here, then - after we were here for a while we ended up back in pods but also back in time. And those pods, those definitely kept powers tamped down. I don't know that any of us understand it exactly though."
He took another drink and shifted slightly so he was facing Finn, his eyes watching the other man's face for a moment. Poe still couldn't quite believe Finn was here.
"I've been working my way through versions of The Christmas Carol," Poe chuckled. "I've got a part in the play they're doing here in the town. I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present, and I'm pretty thrilled about it. It's been fun, although I'm a little worried if it'll all come together, but hopefully. Have you seen that one? We could watch it tonight maybe, cause that snack thing and the couch thing and the watching thing? That sounds like a great way to spend the evening."
And it really did. Poe honestly couldn't think of anything he'd prefer to do. He had his people back with him and Leia could join them too, with her dog if she wanted to, or if not, it'd be just the three of them, but it'd be good either way.
Finn listened quietly as Poe spoke about the pods and whatever a pod god was. He wondered what it must have been like to show up in a pod somewhere. He preferred the ‘showing up wherever he ended up’ portion. Even if it did sort of end with him being picked up by strangers and suddenly being taken to places to be looked over. Though, the quarantine part was new.
“Oh. I think I’ve seen a version of that.” He couldn’t remember exactly what it was, but it was definitely possible that he’d seen it. He’d know once they watched it again. “You’re in a play?” He hadn’t expected that, but if Poe was in a play, then Finn was going to be there to watch it. “I think we could watch it again. Then I’ll know what’s going on in the play and won’t have to ask a lot of questions when Rey and I go to see it.” Because obviously Rey was going, too. It made the most sense to him.
"Yeah, I mean, it sorta makes sense that if you were in Chicago you might have," Poe nodded, taking a drink from the bottle. "There's a Chicago in this planet and it seems like the place you and Rey were isn't dissimilar to this place so much. So it makes sense. There's several different versions though, and they've all got their unique quirks. I'm playing the Ghost of Christmas Present - I get to tell Scrooge that everyone in the present hates him, it's good fun," Poe grinned, sort of teasing, although truthfully he was enjoying the theater experience. "But we could watch one of them tonight, I've got one of the older ones I was going to sit down with. I started with theater this past summer, a play called Romeo & Juliet, and I didn't get a large part in that one, but this one I've got a larger piece, and I am enjoying it. Hopefully you and Rey can both come."
Finn listened quietly as Poe spoke about the theater and his part. It sounded like it could be fun, but he wasn’t much one for being on stage. There had been some theater in Chicago. He remembered them putting on a couple plays and musicals. It had seemed like fun, but then he didn’t really want a lot of people staring at him, which made being very well known difficult. It was easier when Poe was there because he could distract most of the attention.
“I’d like that. We can text Rey if she still has her phone. I think I still have mine somewhere. Or I guess we could wait for her and Pilot to come back from wherever they are.” Which could be anywhere and take however much time it did. Depending. “And I’m sure we’ll both come. I don’t see why we wouldn’t. Damerons-” He paused, frowning for a moment. Would he know about the fact that he and Rey had taken his surname for the purposes of being able to get employment and other things? “Always have our support. Is what I mean. Damerons always have our support.”
Poe looked up, eyes twinkling. "Did you do the Dameron thing too?" The idea gave him a bit of a thrill. He remembered that Rey had, and it made some sense. Existing in this world without a last name was difficult. People didn't really do one names here, so having a last name made sense, and there was something really flattering about them taking his.
Finn nodded at the question, a slight fluttering feeling in his stomach. He knew, which meant it was already out there. “I needed a name and I figured you wouldn’t mind too much if I borrowed your name. I guess my whole name is yours, though. You chose Finn.” He was okay with that, too. It felt right. He and Rey didn’t really have family to speak of. So why not be Damerons?
“It made the application process easier.” A pause. “I hope you don’t mind.”
"Mind?" Poe shook his head, a grin spreading across all of his features not just twinkling in his eyes. "I don't mind a bit, I'm flattered, really. I was when Rey mentioned it. Like - you guys - you could have picked anything, but it makes sense. We're family. And you're here, at the Dameron Ranch, which is exactly where you should be." He clapped his hand on Finn's shoulder, holding it there for a moment. It felt right, and this was where Finn did need to be and Poe was really glad that he was here. It felt as if he'd been waiting for him to show up for far longer than it actually had been.
He pushed his chair back. "I think we've got some cookies in the kitchen. Let me see if I can find'em, then I'll show you the films we could watch for later if you want. I'm glad you're here, man."
At least that was a familiar thread. “Well, we could have, I guess, but what other last names did we know, really?” Skywalker and Solo were about it and he didn’t think he could claim either of those last names all things considered. When Poe got up, he got up himself. Cookies sounded good and looking at movies. Really anything to be around Poe for a little longer.
“I’m glad you're here, too.”