InsaneJournal

Who: Leia Organa and Poe Dameron
What: Just some fluff
Where: Their apartment
When: This morning
Warnings: see the what
Status: complete


It was quiet, Leia thought, in this Vallo, in this apartment she and Poe were sharing, especially now with Rey gone. Leia felt connections here with some of the others - to Siri, to Kenobi, though both were subtler than the connection she'd shared with Rey. So now, Leia's life felt quieter. She knew she wasn't going to be able to stand too much longer without finding something to do, but after even only a month in that darkness that was that other Vallo, she needed a break. She wasn't as young as she used to be, after all.

She carried a mug of tea, steaming hot and smelling sweetly like a flower she couldn't quite place, like the edge of a memory, to the balcony of the apartment and sank into one of the two chairs sitting out there. She breathed in the scent of the tea and exhaled out over the city view. How bright and normal it was here, nothing like before.

Back inside the apartment, she heard Poe moving around, and she called to him, "Out here." She twisted to look inside at him. "Caf's waiting for you, too, if you want it."

*

Rey’s abrupt departure from this new, peaceful Vallo affected Poe a lot more than he was willing to let on. Knowing that people could just disappear left him on edge, concerned that he’d wake up some morning and Leia would be gone. Living through losing her once was bad enough, Poe knew he couldn’t handle going through it again.

A wave of relief washed over him when he heard her call out to him after emerging from his bedroom in the morning. He wandered over to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee and then headed out onto the balcony to join her. The sense of peace in the air was unfamiliar and welcome.

“Thanks,” he said, lifting his mug to indicate he was thanking her for the coffee. “You’re up early. Big plans today?”

*

"Just can't sleep late," she said, smiling at him. It was true, but she also had very few times in her life (excepting her childhood) when she was ever afforded the privilege to sleep late. She supposed she could now, and yet she still found herself rising before the sun. "No plans. I might go for a walk. I might look into figuring out something to do to occupy my time, too." She tilted her head to the side and gestured to the other chair on the balcony. "You got any ideas for me?"

*

Poe sat in the empty chair and looked over at her. “Hmm, well, I’d advise against joining the Defense Department,” he said. The last thing he wanted was her out patrolling the forest and fighting potential threats. “Maybe you could join the welcoming committee or something.” That would be safe enough. “If you want company for your walk, you can take BB-8.” He knew that he couldn’t hover too much or she’d get mad at him, but he was determined to do whatever he could to keep her safe here.

*

Leia sipped her tea and waited a moment before responding. "I don't know why I asked you," she said, her tone laced with teasing even though she meant it. If she wanted to join the Defense Team, she would damn well join the Defense Team. In fact, she was tempted to join up just because Poe was being like this.

"Honestly, I'm done with all that now," she told him. "It's nice to not have to fight anymore." She reached over and patted his knee. "Maybe you should think about doing that too."

*

All she got in response to her comment was an eyeroll from him. Poe was never going to apologize for wanting to keep her safe so she may as well get used to it. “What else would I do?” he asked. It wasn’t like he had any kind of experience that could be applied to getting another job. There wasn’t much need for pilots around here and he was pretty sure they didn’t have Spice. Nor did he think she would approve if he wanted to get back into that.

“It’s not the same kind of fighting,” he added.

*

"No, it's not," she agreed. "But my point is, there are other options here as well." Leia was about halfway through her tea. "Have you thought about anything else? Or are you dead set on sticking with the defense thing?" Leia leaned back, relaxed a little bit in her seat. "Because I could see you, oh I don't know, slinging drinks behind a bar?"

*

“Honestly, no, I didn’t really think about anything else,” Poe admitted. The idea of being a bartender was interesting, though he wasn’t sure if he would really like it. He bet that Hannah would hire him if he wanted to give it a shot. Maybe he should think about it. “Maybe I will.”

He took a sip of his coffee. “This place is so different from everything I’m used to,” he said. It meant he was feeling a bit unsettled.

*

Leia could sense his feeling of unsettlement, and she gave his knee a comforting pat before pulling away. "Yes, it is. We have been to the far reaches of the galaxy, encountered countless beings, and yet something like this can still be surprising and lead us to more discoveries. It's pretty incredible, if you ask me."

If you ask Leia, too, she would have said that she had begun to think that her next great adventure was going to land her beyond death, as it had Han and Amilyn and Luke. She knew she was next in line, and she wasn't sure if this was a respite from that or what. She knew she had to appreciate it while she had it though.

*

Poe smiled, appreciating the gesture of comfort. She always seemed to know exactly what to say or do to make him feel better. “Being stuck on one planet isn’t great,” he said. “But the food is amazing.” And they got to meet a lot of interesting people, which was something they didn’t have a lot of time for back home.

Plus he wouldn’t trade anything for this extra time with her.

*

"It's much better than our rations or whatever someone can catch depending on what base we're at, yes," she said. Not to mention, better than what they had to scramble together in the other Vallo. "Speaking of, I was thinking about going out for dinner tonight. Interested in joining me, or do you have plans?"

*

Even if he did have other plans, Poe would cancel them to spend time with Leia. “Nope, I’m all yours,” he said, flashing her one of his grins. “Was there somewhere in particular you were thinking about going?” There were so many options here and he was ready to try them all, though he’d learned that he needed to be a bit more restrained in how much he was trying since some of the new foods were less agreeable to his system than others.

*

"I've had tacos but someone mentioned other options in a similar vein - Mexican food. It reminds me of some of the food I remember from Alderaan, growing up. There weren't many places in our galaxy still serving up authentic Alderaanian cuisine and this is not it, but it's somewhat close. What do you say?" She smiled at him.

*

“Sure, that sounds great,” Poe said. He’d obviously never gotten to experience authentic Alderaanian cuisine and would like to try something that Leia felt was close since he always liked hearing the stories she told about her home planet. “I think I’m going to go out for a run, maybe check out a few shops, you need anything?”

*

She finished her tea and set the empty mug down. "No," Leia said. "I think I'm fine right now but thank you."

Leia glanced at him and then back out at the city. "I might take a walk myself later this morning too."

*

Poe nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll meet you back here around four.” Part of him wanted to protest letting her out of his sight, but he knew that wouldn’t do any good. If she was going to get sent home, it would happen regardless of whether or not he was there and he knew that she could take care of herself if anything else popped up.

*