Poe Dameron is a bad liar. (helluvapilot) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-04-13 21:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, finn, poe dameron, rey |
Who: Rey, Finn, & Poe.
What: The (new) trio go for dinner.
When: April 1.
Where: A Mexican restaurant.
Rating/Warnings: Low / Adorable nerds.
Status: Complete when posted.
It was only a matter of time before the three of them got together to officially meet. Well. To officially met Rey, Poe supposed, since he and Finn weren’t strangers. And Poe didn’t even had an inkling of her beyond the network, though she existed somewhere on the edges of his own dreams. They’ll meet each other there eventually, he figured. An in person meeting was much more important, much more interesting.
A little bit of talking back and forth had made them all come to a consensus. Who didn’t like Mexican food? He seemed to be the first one there so he got a table, claiming a spot before the busy dinner and weekend rush began. And maybe it was technically considered rude to order before the rest of his party got there, he ordered a margarita anyway, content to sip away until they showed.
Finn rushed into the establishment a few minutes after Poe. He’d gotten stuck in rush hour traffic and was worried he’d made an ass of himself being late for the very place he’d suggested! He looked about the bustling restaurant that had the buzz of expectations of it being busy and crowded shortly, and found Poe’s familiar visage. Making a beeline for the table Finn sat down, a little flustered. “Hey sorry, got stuck in traffic.” he apologized before stuffing a warm, crispy tortilla chip into his mouth. “She here yet?” he said around it.
Rey hadn't had the chance to meet either of them, though she'd become well aquainted with Finn thanks to her dreams. She wasn't sure she looked forward to his experiencing getting sliced up by a lightsaber. But she'd be there if he needed her. And she kind of hoped he'd need her. As for Poe, she hadn't had the pleasure yet, but she thought it would be inevitable.
She loved food though. For a girl her size she could put away food like a trucker. She worked it off easily enough. That and her metabolism helped, probably.
Her motorcycle rumbled and sputtered as she parked and got off of it. She smoothed her hair down from the trip, then headed inside. The smell was divine, but her attention was drawn to Finn and Poe and her eyes ... well it was probably dust. She rushed over, a megawatt smile on her face. "Finn! Poe!"
Poe set down his drink when Finn showed up. He was about to say something along the lines of does it look like she’s here, when, suddenly, there she was. Poe couldn’t help his own grin as he stood up. It felt like meeting an old friend.
“Rey!” Poe stopped himself from hugging her, but he gave her a clap on the shoulder. “It’s good to see you. At last.”
Finn stood also at the sound of his name coming from an unfamiliar voice. He let Poe greet her first, quickly finishing chewing the chip so he could manage a smile. He stood by mutely, taking in the sight of a woman who knew him from the dreams but he had as of yet to meet there. She was cute. Both in an ‘aww’ and in an attractive way; bright eyed and with a helluva smile, she was his height but had a light, slim build. He was puzzling how she had kicked his ass in the dreams (something he had yet to dream but she had relayed to him) and hoping he got more dreams soon of their adventures when he realized it was about to be his turn to speak.
“Hey,” Finn’s uncertain smile turned into a true one as he held out a hand in greeting. Poe might have dream familiarity with her but Finn wasn’t sure how to approach Rey just yet. Still he couldn’t help but be enthused by her bright demeanor. “Glad you could make it.”
“It’s good to meet you, Poe! BB-8 and Finn told me a lot about you though I’m not sure quite how much matters here.” Flushing, she threw her arms around Poe for a quick hug, then turning to greet Finn. It was...surreal, and there was much more in her eyes. “...hey.” He got a hug too, one that was just a little longer.
Oh, well, then. Poe was all too happy to return the hug, clapping her on the back. He decided to let her and Finn have their moment - it was a lot for him not to just grin and go aww. Instead, what he did was sit back down. “Sorry, I ordered a drink while I waited. That’s fine, right?”
Finn gathered if she was hugging Poe he might be due a hug as well, but all the same he wasn’t prepared for it. He was glomped, and tentatively hugged her back. Okay. She was cute and super friendly.
And still hugging him. Finn wondered what that meant. What exactly had happened in her dreams that she hadn’t posted about? He pulled back from the embrace to look at her and saw something in her eyes aside from recognition - relief? Sadness? Joy? It kind of looked like a mix between them all. He would have asked if Poe wasn’t there. The man’s voice jolted Finn out of his thoughts and he broke eye contact with Rey to look over at him. He looked back to Rey. “I just got here, so.” And he shrugged a little. He was wearing Poe’s jacket, he figured if they were all going to be meeting, might as well, right?
Much had happened, and she could only wait to talk about it when he really understood. Until then, though, she should probably temper her enthusiasm. “That’s fine. It just means you have to buy us drinks too.” She smiled, all cheeky. And the jacket, something they’d all worn. Which Finn would remember, eventually.
Don’t think Poe hadn’t noticed the jacket. But it was Finn’s now, the dreams had given it to him, so that was that. Some day Poe would get something from the dreams - and if he didn’t, well, then he’d steal the jacket back. In the meantime, he rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, I guess I can do that. Only because I like to think I’m a nice guy, and I don’t want you young kids thinking I’m old and uncool.”
Finn was blushing a little from the extended hug, knowing Poe would tease him about it all later, and distracted himself with the conversation about drinks instead. He sat down in the seat opposite Poe and smirked.
“Well, ’old man’,” Finn teased, despite the fact Poe was probably only a handful of years older than them, “I’ll take a Sangria. Best I’ve had anywhere.” He glanced over at Rey, with her oval face and bright eyes and enigmatic grin, then over at Poe with his trademark smirk and his drink. Somehow deep down Finn knew this felt right, the three of them together like this. There was a sort of energy between them, an excitement of shared dreams and friendships to be.
“Did you have traffic coming here?” The question was aimed at Rey since she and he were both ‘late’. “I got caught up in some nasty rubbernecking that turned out to be nothing.” Just too many people merging and trying to get the hell home all at once.
“Old man, you’re hip and cool,” Rey assured Poe. Then she flushed a bit as she ordered her own drink. The topic of age had reminded her she wasn’t exactly drink legal in the US. “Sangria too. Just...without the wine and brandy.”
Right. Conversation. Quickly turning to the conversation, she replied. “There was a teensy bit, but I never saw what caused it.”
“Phew, I can go on living another day.” But Poe did have the decency to give Rey a sort of sympathetic look. Drinks were ordered - sans wine and brandy for the baby of the bunch - and Poe munched on some chips of his own. “I had none, coming from my place. Maybe you just have bad luck, Finn.”
Finn chuckled. “Would explain why I still haven’t found a job.” He popped another tasty chip into his mouth. “I may have to crash on that couch sooner than I thought.” It might’ve been a bit of too much info for the new kid on the block, but Finn didn’t really mind. He wasn’t ashamed after months leaving the service he couldn’t find anything; he was just frustrated. “I thought about maybe checking out the ranges and seeing if they need instructors there.” The thought then occurred to him; he’d never gotten out of Rey what she did here. They’d talked about their dream world jobs, but not real world. “Hey Rey, speaking of jobs, remember when we were talking about Jakku? I never did catch what you do here.” He pushed the basket of chips closer to her side so she could indulge as well.
“What do you do here?” Rey countered, raising her eyebrow at Finn. She hadn’t stopped to think what a man who dreamed about being a stormtrooper did for a living. She winked then replied, “Mechanic. I fix cars. It’s mostly been freelance work lately, but I’m hoping to find a nice shop that needs an extra hand. Steady work is better than no work some weeks.”
She snatched a chip and popped it into her mouth.
“Really? Here I thought a mechanic would be the sort of job that always has demand.” Poe raised his eyebrows a bit. “Have you asked around the network? I bet you could build up a pretty steady client base. Maybe someone knows someone.”
Finn smirked back at her. “Navy SEAL. Or I was. Transitioned out a couple months back, been looking for steady work myself. Being a mechanic sounds like a good gig though. Guess I’ll know who to call if I have any problems.” He grinned.
At Poe’s suggestion, his face lit up a little. “That’s a good idea, actually. Why the hell didn’t I think of that?”
“Just steady enough to eat, but not everyone trusts some random bird off the street.” Rey shrugged, eyeing the menu with all the elegance of a woman who would literally eat everything on the menu. Possibly in one sitting.
She looked at Finn and nodded. “That’s how I got some jobs! And got someone who’s having me show her how to do things, so that’s fun. People seem to be really friendly online.”
“People around here are pretty great. I guess when you all go through the same stuff, dreaming and living through an apocalypse or two, you sort of band together.” Poe scans the menu, but he’s really feeling tacos. Like, really feeling them. “I definitely didn’t expect to meet as many people as I have.”
Finn for his part was torn between picking something off of the menu and stealing glances at Rey as if she might disappear at any given moment. Poe showing up in his dreams was surreal enough, considering they already knew each other in real life. But she had dreamt of him and Finn was hoping perhaps seeing her here might trigger some memory buried deep inside himself. He hated having to wait to dream everything!
Finally making a decision on Nachos Grande Finn closed the menu and waited for the others. “I definitely didn't expect to run into your sorry backside.” Finn teased Poe. “This guy?” he said suddenly turning to Rey, “Is a terrible cheat at cards. Any game. Poker especially. Never trust a Zoomie.”
“I’ve always been such a loner, it’s really nice to … talk to people. Connect with them. I’m still so surprised that I’m an actual people person!” Rey laughed. She finally settled on some kind of monster burrito with all the works. “It could just be pilot’s intuition.” She sounded almost defensive, though in a not-so-serious manner. After all, she was a pilot too.
Poe looked offended. All the same, he laughed even as he put a hand defensively to his chest. “I’m a bad liar. If I didn’t cheat, I’d never win!” Food ordered and out of the way, Poe was glad now the menus were gone and they could all just focus on each other. “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Finn smirked at his buddy, then settled back in his chair. More people were starting to stream in, and he knew within fifteen minutes or so the place would be hopping, including the in house singers that roamed the place with guitars, singing classic Mexican songs. “So, how’ve the dreams been treating you guys?”
“I don’t have a poker face, so I wouldn’t even try,” Rey said. And really, she didn’t. Her face was too expressive and she wasn’t that good at hiding her emotions. She tapped her fingers on the table. “Mine slowed to a trickle, but I don’t think it’s the end yet.”
“Yeah,” Poe nodded, “I haven’t really dreamt more beyond getting off of Jakku. Again. And the First Order pulled that stunt with The Republic.” He shrugged and sipped his drink. “These dreams like their cliffhangers.”
“Seriously,” Finn agreed. His brow furrowed and he frowned a moment when it sank in Poe had mentioned something unfamiliar. “Wait….what? What did the First Order do to the Republic?” Finn’s dreams were way behind Poe and Rey, so everything they mentioned were like spoilers he desperately wanted to hear.
“A stunt. That’s...one way to pull it.” Rey grew somber. She’d felt something that she hadn’t been able to understand since she’d been in the middle of a break down, though in hindsight she realized all those people dying had...she’d heard it.
“They destroyed the system that was the seat of the Republic.”
Finn nearly choked on the chip he was chewing on. Swallowing quickly he stared at the two, wide-eyed. “What?! They actually used the weapon on Starkiller Base and blew up the Republic?” A hand went to his face, covering his mouth as he slowly shook his head while trying to let the news sink in. “Dammit I need that drink, stat. Where’s the waiter?” He flagged down one and asked where their drinks were. A moment later they were hurried to the table. Finn nearly chugged his sangria, refilling his glass with the pitcher. “I knew they were planning on using it, but...I didn’t think it’d be that soon. I didn’t know it was ready! I was assigned to Starkiller for a while but that was before the cannon was finished.” Finn looked absolutely horrified and ashamed all at once, as if somehow he were a part of it.
"I don't even know the full fallout of it yet," Rey replied. "But it's...probably bad." She chewed on her lip, unsure of what else to say, or to tell him he'd come for her. "I was taken to the base after Ren...after I was captured."
Poe feels bad for Finn, he does. It had taken a bit to get the younger man to accept what was going on in the dreams and then realize that it wasn’t all it seemed, so, yeah, there was some sympathy there. Even if Finn had no reason to feel guilty at all (and Poe himself felt a vague hint of guilt over fraternizing with the enemy here in the waking world). “None of us could have prevented it,” he said, giving Finn a raise of his eyebrows. “But I don’t think any of us are gonna sit back and do nothing about it.”
Finn was trying to process this. Escaping the First Order was the best thing he’d ever done, and he’d made fast friends in the process between Poe, Rey and even BB-8. But that didn’t mean the things he’d seen and the propaganda he’d been raised on didn’t fill him with guilt all the same.
“I dunno about that. I was First Order. Either way I’m sorry I couldn’t have helped stop them in time.” He said soberly. He sighed. A part of him wanted to ask Rey how she’d been captured, as he knew she’d posted about Kylo rooting around in her brain much as he had with Poe, but he wasn’t sure he wanted any more bad news. If she’d been taken and he hadn’t, then somewhere along the line he and Solo and Chewbacca had failed to protect her.
“Well, here’s to hoping our next dreams are kicking the First Order’s ass once and for all.” Finn suddenly said, raising his glass in a toast.
Rey smiled, a little knowingly and a little sadly, and lifted her glass in a toast as well. It was a little bit of a pun, but she really couldn’t resist. “May the First Order also be the Last order.”