“Buddy, I can’t get ready if you’re going around me beeping like crazy,” Poe told the droid as he finished getting ready for his date with Erin. He had to admit he was a little nervous about the whole thing. He really liked Erin. And she seemed to like him back, especially after the other night.
Once he got ready, he went to pick her up, so to speak since they lived in the same house and he only had to knock on her room to see if she was ready. But still, he was sort of picking her up. He knocked on her door lightly and waited for her to answer.
Erin shouldn't be nervous, but she was. After the other night, things had felt a little bit different but still comfortable. Erin was ready a good 30 minutes before they were set to leave, she wasn’t sure if she should wait in the living room or what. She asked Trip which dress she should wear and with his help ended up with a green one. When she heard the knock she took a deep breath and headed to the door opening it.
“Hey,” she greeted a little nervously.
“Hey... Wow. You look amazing,” he said as he looked at her in that dress. She looked better than amazing, he had to admit, but he couldn’t find the right word to describe it at the moment. “You ready?” BB-8 rolled around them, telling them to have a great night and not to worry about him or the dogs.
Smiling she looked down blushing before looking back up at him. “So do you,” she meant it too nodding as she grabbed her coat slipping it on and heading out into the cold with him. As they walked the butterflies were a lot more intense in her stomach.
He placed his hand on the small of her back as they walked out of their home. It was rather cold and zipped his jacket. It didn’t take them long to get to Stone, where it was much warmer and nicer than outside. He talked to the host and he took them to their table.
Once they were both seated, Erin looked over to him smiling, “you were telling me about your Mum the other day,” she opened with, she might have researched good first date conversation topics as well, but she wasn’t going to admit that.
He nodded. “I was,” he said. “I didn’t get to see her much when she was a Rebel pilot. I spent the time with my grandfather until her and my dad retired to Yavin 4. That’s where I grew up. It’s a beautiful planet.” He wouldn’t mind going back home sometime, just to see it again. He wondered if the Force-sensitive tree was still there. “My mom used to take me in the cockpit, like I did with you the other day, as she flew and taught me how to use the controls.”
“What is Yavin 4 like?” Erin still was struggling with the idea of so many people living on so many different planets, she understood it, it just took time to sink in. “That was a lot of fun,” she really did enjoy it although she wasn’t sure it was the flying or spending time with him that made her enjoy it so much.
“Very green. There’s jungles everywhere. I’ve been told it’s similar to the Amazon on Earth,” he said, hoping it meant something to her. “So I’m definitely not used to this cold,” he chuckled. Even after all these years, he’d rather be somewhere warm. “We can repeat it anytime you want,” he said with a wink.
“I’ve never personally been to the Amazon, but if Yavin 4 is anything like it, it is really beautiful,” she always had wanted to go to the Amazon, the timing just hadn’t worked out yet. “You probably wouldn’t like London very much, it’s chilly and rains a lot.” It was a bit of an understatement but she figured London wouldn’t be his favorite place. “I look forward to it,” she said biting her lower lip and picking up the menu that was in front of her out of nerves more than anything else.
“I wouldn’t mind the rain too much, but I have to admit I like warmer climates. Are there warmer places in your country?” he asked curiously. He couldn’t imagine everything would be that London she talked about.
“Not really, I’m from Ireland though, I just had been living in London for the last few years,” Erin explained. “It’s rainy pretty much everywhere.” Erin didn’t mind it, probably because it was just home and what she’d grown up with. “The summers can get warm, but not that warm.”
“That sucks. I wouldn’t mind going to the Amazon one day, just to see if it really is like my home planet,” he said as he looked at the menu for a moment. It was kind of amazing there were more planets and universes than the ones he knew of. It made him want to get to know each and every one of them someday. “Why were you living in London? Work?” he asked.
“Have you been to the jungle here on Atlantis?” Erin really hadn’t been, but she’d only been here in winter thus far and hadn’t had a reason to go. “Work, I worked at the Ministry as the Foreign Affairs & Sports Dept Senior Counsel.” Erin knew it didn’t sound as exciting as being a pilot, but she liked it. “Should we look at the menu?”
He shook his head. “I wanted to go, but for some reason life kept getting in the way until it was just too cold to go out in the middle of the day to go to the jungle. Maybe I’ll go once the weather warms up,” he said. “That sound like the longest job title I’ve ever heard,” he chuckled. “Sure,” he nodded.
Erin smiled, she had to try not to picture walking through the jungle with him. Laughing she shrugged. “It’s a really fancy way of saying I am, or I was, a lawyer.” She didn’t do that anything and part of her did missing. The waitress came up about that time asking for their orders, Erin mentioned they hadn’t had a chance to look yet and let them both order.
The rest of dinner went smoothly, a few moments of silence here and there but nothing too uncomfortable or awkward. Erin told him a little bit more about her family, he told her more about his life and by the time they’d finished Erin felt those same butterflies start to come back as he helped her put her coat on. Pulling her hair out from under her coat she stood by the door out of the restaurant as he put his on.
Poe was happy with how the dinner went. He learned about her and her life, and felt he liked her even more once dinner was over. She was interesting, fun and intelligent, and made his lips curl in a smile all the time. He opened the door for her and waited for her to walk out before he followed her. “I’d say if you want to go for a walk, but we might freeze,” he chuckled. “Home?”
The crisp air felt like a shot of caffeine to her system, the comfortable warmth of the restaurant behind them. Erin looked over at him nodding, she agreed, it was too cold to go for a walk as much as she didn’t want the night to end, she didn’t really want to be outside much longer. “Home,” she agreed taking the rare bold move of reaching for his hand as they started to walk.
He was pleasantly surprised when he felt her reaching for his hand. It made his smile widened and he glanced at her as they walked, his hand now holding hers. He walked in silence, enjoying the physical contact with her.
Erin’s mind was racing as they walked, she was disappointed when they made it to their front door, she almost wondered how it would work, they were housemates, it wasn’t like he was dropping her off or they would go completely separate directions once they got there. As their footsteps slowed she didn’t let go of his hand as she started to open the door.
Erin wasn’t the only disappointed when they made it to the front door and their little walk was over. He didn’t want to let go of her just yet. He wasn’t ready for the night to end, but they were already home, so there was not much he could do about it now. He let her walk into their house first, not letting go of her hand yet. “So...” he said, and chuckled a little nervously.
Blushing just a little she turned looking up at him when they were safely in the warmth of the house. She didn’t know, and she didn’t know what to say either. “So…” she repeated.
“I guess this is goodnight,” he said reluctantly, looking at her. “Unless you want a beer or something,” he added, not wanting the night to be over just yet.
“Yeah, I could go for a beer,” Erin said before the words were even out of his mouth, she almost worried if she was a little bit too eager.
Her quick reply made him grin. “Okay, I’ll go grab them,” he said before he brought their hands to his lips and pressed them against her skin gently before letting go of her hand for the first time since the restaurant.
Erin’s heart sped up a bit as he kissed her hand, sliding her coat off she hung it up as he went to the kitchen, sliding her shoes off she headed to the living room taking a seat on the couch. As he came back handing her the beer she smiled up at him. “Thank you,” she spoke softly. “And thank you for dinner.”
He took off his jacket on the way to the kitchen and placed it on the back of the couch when he made his way back to the living room. “It was my pleasure,” he smiled softly. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“I really did,” she said pausing to take a sip of her beer. Erin wasn’t good with these sorts of situations, they weren’t natural to her, toss her into a complicated problem and she was great, but this, this wasn’t where she shined. She took another sip of her drink and put it down on the coffee table, willing every single piece of strength she had in her she reached over and took his beer putting it down too. Her heart was racing as she looked up at him, taking in a breath she leaned forward nervously as she finally let her lips touch his.
Poe watched her with curious eyes as she moved and took his beer off his hand. He was hoping something like that would happen, but he had settled for a kiss on the cheek when the night eventually ended. So he was pleasantly surprised when she went for the kiss. A kiss he returned, of course. He placed his hand on her hair and kissed her back.
It was really easy to get lost in kissing him, everything about it felt intoxicating, she let herself get lost in the moment. Erin didn’t really know how much time had passed but eventually, a natural break came and she leaned back blushing. “I think I should say goodnight.” Erin wasn’t really the sort to be ready for much else that quickly. She smiled though leaning forward kissing him softly for a moment. “I look forward to the party on Sunday.” She added, even though she knew she’d see him tomorrow.
He tried not to deepen the kiss too much, not wanting to go to fast and scare her away, but it was hard when she was so addictive. A soft smile was on his lips when they broke the kiss. “Okay,” he said softly, nodding lightly. His lips met hers in the middle, not wanting their first kiss be the last one for the night. “Me too,” he smiled.
It took her a moment to stand up from the couch, she reached for her beer and smiled softly before forcing herself to head to her room, yeah, she was pretty sure she’d sleep well tonight, or struggle to sleep. Either way she smiled glancing at him one more time before quietly starting to get ready for bed.