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all-the-things-2020 · 8 months

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Quarantine

Finn and Poe are on a mission for General Leia and end up having to be quarantined together for two weeks. This story takes place sometime between the battle on Crait and the events of TRoS. I originally wrote this in 2020 during … well, you can probably figure it out, lol.

Poe Dameron hated this stupid ship. Give me an X-wing any day, he thought as he fought the stiff yoke on the bucket of bolts he and his friend Finn were traveling in. It was a nondescript little freighter, barely big enough for two crewmen and a small amount of cargo, but it had absolutely no connection with the Resistance and it was big enough for what they needed on this mission. So, he was stuck with it.

“You’re coming in awfully fast, Poe,” Finn said.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Poe said through gritted teeth. The engines groaned as he throttled them down and pulled up on the yoke, trying to drop the ship as gracefully as possible onto the landing pad they had been directed to. Finally, he managed to bring her down with only a minor thump.

Finn opened his mouth, but Poe shushed him with a raised finger. “Say one word, buddy, and I’ll blast you. I hate this fucking ship!” He kicked the dashboard as he crawled out of the pilot’s seat, which caused three different alarms to go off. He slammed his fist down on top of the dash, and they went off.

“Whoever bought this piece of junk needs to be fired,” he muttered as he left the cramped cockpit.

“I think it was Leia,” said Finn. Of course, Poe thought. She’d probably gotten a good laugh out of the look on his face when he saw the Firefly and found out he was going to be flying it.

They walked to the hatch and Poe keyed in the sequence to drop the ramp. The flight had been short enough, just over two hours, mostly in hyperspace, but he was more than ready to get off the ship and stretch his legs. Unfortunately, the ramp did not deploy.

“What the …,” he tapped in the sequence again but the ramp refused to open. “I swear …” He was interrupted by the buzz of the comm unit.

“Ground control to Firefly,” said the slightly metallic voice of the flight controller who had directed them to the landing pad. “Please cease attempting to open your hatch.”

Poe thumbed the button on the comm panel. “What? How else are we supposed to get out?”

“You are offworlders,” the flight controller said slowly. “You are under a mandatory 14 day quarantine before you will be allowed off your ship. Was this not explained to you before you filed your flight plans?”

“No, it very much was not,” Poe replied. He looked at Finn, who shook his head, clearly as baffled as Poe was. “Look, we have business here and we can’t wait 14 days to take care of it.”

“You can leave, or you can wait out the quarantine,” the flight controller said. “Those are your options. After the Soronian virus pandemic, we are extremely careful about outside visitors to our planet.”

Poe leaned against the wall. “So, what do we do?”

Finn sighed. “I don’t know. How important is this cargo?”

“Important enough that Leia sent us to get it,” Poe replied. “But is it important enough to wait two weeks for?” He ran his hand through his hair. “Nothing for it but to comm her and ask her what to do.”

They went back to the cockpit to send an encoded message to the General.

***************************

“So, fourteen days, huh?” Finn said. Poe looked ready to punch someone, and since it was only the two of them on board, Finn kept his distance.

“Yeah,” Poe sighed. “I hope this whatever-it-is is worth it.” Leia had commiserated with them over their misfortune but insisted that the cargo was too important to pass up, although she had declined to tell them what it was.

“Me, too,” Finn said. He hesitated a moment before going on. “Is it really going to be that bad having to spend two weeks with me?”

Poe looked up, startled. “Oh, no, no buddy. It’s not you,” he said quickly. “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be stuck in quarantine with. It’s this damn ship.” He looked around with a sigh. “I think it hates me as much as I hate it.”

“It is kind of small,” Finn admitted. “I suppose we should check out the amenities, if there are any.” They had planned to simply fly in, collect their cargo, and fly back out. He had no idea what kind of bunk space the ship had, or how big the ‘fresher was.

He stood up and stretched, almost knocking his hands against the walls of the cockpit, before walking back down the corridor. Just past the hatch was the door to the cargo bay; on the wall opposite the hatch were two smaller doors. One opened onto a tiny ‘fresher with a sink barely big enough to wash a child’s hands. The other opened onto a bedroom with a single bunk and not much else.

He felt Poe come up behind him and look around his shoulder. “Well, that’s not good news,” the pilot said. “No shower, not even a sonic? And only one bed?”

“Yeah,” said Finn. “Maybe we should sleep in shifts? I don’t think there’s even enough room in there for one of us to sleep on the floor.”

“Let’s check out the cargo bay,” Poe said. “Maybe one of us can camp out in there.”

They opened the cargo bay door. “Or not,” said Poe. The bay had no floor, just a crisscross of struts on which shelving or flooring could be placed to configure the storage area however it was needed. Unfortunately, there was no shelving or flooring on board.

Finn swallowed the lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat. “We could share,” he suggested tentatively. “The room’s not that big but the bed looks wide enough for two …” He didn’t know why the idea of sharing a bed with Poe should make him feel so nervous; soldiers and pilots were used to bunking down in all manner of places, with any number of others crammed into the tiniest spaces.

Poe smiled at him, and Finn felt an odd sensation in his stomach. “Yeah, that might work.”

************************

Where did that come from? Poe thought. When Finn suggested they could share the bunk, Poe felt a grin spread across his face and a flush rise in his cheeks. It was a familiar reaction to being invited into someone’s bed, but he’d never expected to feel this way about Finn. They were friends, for kriff’s sake! And anyway, he was pretty sure Finn was in love with Rey. He certainly talked about her enough …

Get a grip, Dameron, he told himself. There were more important things to worry about, like the state of the food supply on board.

“Have you checked on the rations yet?,” he asked. “Fourteen days is a long time without food.”

Finn looked worried, which Poe found endearing. Ever since escaping the First Order, Finn’s favorite part of being with the Resistance was the availability of food whenever he wanted it. Stormtroopers were given nutritional rations at specific times, carefully calculated to provide exactly the right amount of calories and nutrients for each soldier’s height and weight. The existence of snacks, and the ability to choose his own food at meal times had been a revelation.

They started opening cabinets and found a stash of ration bars, about a dozen portions of insta-bread, and three bottles of beer. “Well, it could be worse,” Poe said as they stared at the meager supply.

“How?,” asked Finn.

“There could have been no beer,” Poe replied. Finn hmphed, clearly not amused by his little joke. “Aw, come on, buddy, I was kidding. Maybe the powers that be will send us a care package. Can’t hurt to ask.”

He went over to the closest comm panel and hailed the flight controller.

“Yes, Firefly?”

“Um, yeah, we’re a little underprepared for a fourteen day quarantine. Any chance of getting some food delivered?”

The line was quiet long enough that Poe thought maybe the flight controller was just going to let them die, but then he heard a burst of static. “That can be arranged,” the flight controller said carefully. “We will have to consult with our epidemiologists to determine the best way to transfer rations to you without risk of exposure. Give us a few hours and we’ll get back to you.”

Poe shrugged. “At least they’re looking into it,” he said. Finn still looked dubious, but Poe was already calculating how to divvy up the rations they did have. It wouldn’t be pretty, but they could just about manage two weeks on severely reduced rations if they were careful. He’d been in worse situations before, having once crash landed his X-wing on an uninhabited planet and spent eight days with nothing but the water that dripped from the foliage into his water bottle.

He patted Finn on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, buddy. Even if they refuse, we won’t starve to death.”

“Oh, I know,” Finn said, “but … I’m not looking forward to it.” He sat down, resting his arms on his knees and letting his hands dangle in front of him. He looked up at Poe, smiling ruefully. “Guess I’ve gotten spoiled, huh?”

Poe sat down beside him. “I won’t be thrilled about it, either,” he admitted, “but I know we can do it if we have to. We’re heroes, you know.” He bumped his shoulder against Finn’s, feeling that flush of heat in his face again. He turned his head away so Finn wouldn’t see, but he heard the other man’s chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s true,” he said. “I am kind of a Big Deal in the Resistance.” He bumped Poe back and then slung his arm around his shoulders. Poe tried not to lean into the hug too much, but it was hard not to. Finn gave very good hugs … and he smelled way too good for someone who’d been in a cockpit for two hours.

************************

In the end, the authorities agreed that they could open their hatch for exactly 60 seconds to allow a small droid to deliver a crate of food, on the condition that they keep the droid on board until their quarantine was completed … and pay an exorbitant amount for both the supplies and the rental of the droid.

At least the food was good stuff; the crate even included a selection of desserts and a couple of bottles of something that Poe insisted was strong enough to be used as rocket fuel in an emergency … but tasted much better.

The droid tucked itself into a corner and powered down, beeping a quick message before its lights dimmed. “What’d it say?” Finn asked. He was still at a loss with Binary, but he knew Poe was fluent, having spent so much time with BB-8 over the years.

“It said, ‘See you in two weeks,’” he said. “At least we don’t have to keep it entertained.”

They busied themselves unpacking the crate and sorting out the food, but once that was done, there was nothing left to do but stare at the walls.

“So,” Poe said. “What do you want to do?” He held up his hand and ticked their choices off on his fingers. “We could get drunk, take something apart and put it back together, reprogram the droid to say rude things, play Truth or Dare … or get drunk.”

“Truth or Dare?” Finn asked. “What’s that?”

Poe blinked. “Oh, right, you never … well, it’s a stupid game teenagers play at parties. Someone asks a question and you either have to answer it truthfully … or take a dare.” He laughed uncomfortably. “Mostly it's used to try to get people to admit their crushes, stuff like that.”

Finn pondered this for awhile. “So, if you liked someone, you could ask them if they liked you back.”

“Well, yeah, you could, but usually you’d have one of your friends ask them, so if they didn’t like you, you could act like you didn’t really care,” Poe explained. “Like I said, it’s a dumb kid’s game.”

Finn nodded. “What kind of dares?” He’d never experienced the rituals of adolescence that Poe had been lucky enough to participate in, and he’d found that Poe didn’t mind explaining things to him.

Poe leaned back, his ankles crossed. “Stuff like, Run across the backyard naked, or Eat a bug, or Climb up on the roof and crow like a rooster. Just dumb stuff.” He shook his head. “Occasionally someone would come up with something really crazy, like Steal a landspeeder, but only if we were really, really drunk.”

“But … that’s illegal,” Finn said. “Did you and your friends really do stuff like that? What if you got caught?”

Poe laughed. “No, we didn’t … well, a couple of us did, but … we were just dumb kids. Everybody knew we were just blowing off steam.”

Finn was puzzled. “So you didn’t get in trouble?”

“Oh, we got in trouble,” Poe said. “But not seriously. I mean, no one got arrested or anything … I did get grounded a lot.” He smiled.

“Grounded? They wouldn’t let you fly?” That was probably the worst punishment in the galaxy for someone like Poe. Finn couldn’t imagine the man not being able to fly.

“No, buddy, not literally grounded. It means you can’t leave the house except to go to school. Can’t see your friends, no comms from them … lots of parents used grounding as a punishment. Sort of like solitary confinement.”

“We had solitary in the First Order,” Finn said grimly. He still dreamed about it sometimes, that dark little box the trainees got shoved into when they did something unacceptable. The longest he’d ever had to endure was 24 hours, but a couple of his training mates had suffered multiple day internments and they’d never been quite the same afterward.

Poe leaned forward, his face suddenly serious. “Sorry,” he said softly. “I was just trying to lighten the mood, not bring up something …”

Finn waved his hand. “Nah, you’re good.” He forced a smile onto his face, which wasn’t all that hard once he looked at Poe. “So, what other stupid things did you and your friends get up to?

Poe sat back and regaled him with stories of his youth that Finn suspected were at least slightly exaggerated. If Poe had really done half of what he claimed he and his friends had, it was a miracle he’d survived to adulthood.

Eventually they ate some dinner and took turns washing up in the cramped ‘fresher. The chronometer indicated bedtime, if they were following the time schedule they’d been on back at base, so they decided to turn in.

The bed was larger than a single but not quite big enough to be a double. Finn knew they’d both fit but it would be a tight fit and involve some snuggling. They stood awkwardly in front of the bunk, neither ready to make the first move.

“Big spoon or little spoon,” Poe asked after a long moment.

“What? I don’t see any spoons?”

Poe chuckled and cupped one hand against the other. “Do you want to be the big spoon,” he held up the outside hand, “or the little spoon?” He nestled the inside hand against the other. “Like spoons in a drawer.”

“Oh. Umm, I’m taller so maybe I should be the big spoon?” Finn ventured.

Poe seemed happy to accept that idea and gestured for Finn to get into bed first. He slid back against the wall, leaving as much room for Poe as possible. Once Poe was settled down, there was barely four inches of space between them. Finn didn’t know where to put his hands, and kept them awkwardly pinned to his sides.

“I won’t burst into flames if you touch me,” Poe said. “Relax, Finn.” He shifted back toward Finn just a bit and Finn tentatively draped his arm over Poe’s torso, careful not to touch his hip, even though it was very tempting. “Good night, buddy,” Poe muttered into his pillow.

“Good night,” Finn replied. Only thirteen more nights to go.

****************************

Poe thanked the stars that Finn had suggested he be the big spoon, because Poe was afraid if he was the one snuggled up against Finn’s muscular back, it wouldn’t be long before Finn was aware of just how much Poe admired those muscles and every other part of the former Stormtrooper’s physique. This wasn’t the first time Poe had been sent on a mission with someone he was physically attracted to, but it was the first time where the other person was a close friend, and he didn’t want to screw anything up.

Finn was a fierce fighter, loyal and brave, and quick to learn but in many ways he was incredibly naive. Poe wasn’t sure how much experience the younger man had with simple friendship, let alone romance, and he didn’t want to confuse him or make him feel like he should do something he wasn’t ready for.

To be honest, Poe wasn’t even sure what he was ready for at this point. He knew Finn was important to him; that was abundantly clear when he realized the other man was still alive after the crash on Jakku. But the way Finn talked about his friend Rey, Poe got the impression there was something going on there. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d taken a fancy to someone who wasn’t interested in someone with his, ahem, equipment. He’d learned that lesson the hard way back at the Naval Academy. So for now, he’d just admire from afar and keep his eyes open for any clues that Finn might possibly feel the same way in return. As if I would ever be that lucky, he thought as he drifted off to sleep with Finn’s arm laying lightly across his side.

************************

Finn woke up with his face buried in Poe’s hair and one leg slung over Poe’s hip. The arm he’d carefully draped over Poe’s side was pressed tightly to Poe’s chest, and he could feel the other man’s breath warm against his fingers. It felt weird, but also very right, which made no sense to Finn. He debated whether it was better to extricate himself slowly, trying not to wake Poe up, or whether he should just jump up and hope Poe didn’t realize how intimately they’d been entangled.

In the end, he left it too long and Poe stirred. “Good morning, buddy,” he mumbled, lifting Finn’s arm away from his chest and squirming out from under his leg as if this was a common occurrence. “Dibs on the ‘fresher.” He stood up, stretched, and left the room, leaving Finn lying bewildered. Of course Poe’s woken up in bed with someone before, Finn realized. This isn’t as weird for him as it is for me. Every day brought some new experience that only reiterated to Finn just how unusual his own life had been. So many things people took for granted were new discoveries to him.

By the time Poe returned from the ‘fresher, Finn was sitting up and feeling just about normal. He took his turn in the ‘fresher as Poe got dressed (since they didn’t have a change of clothes, they had hung their shirts and pants over the backs of the cockpit seats to air them out a little bit and slept in their underwear), and by the time he’d gotten dressed himself, Poe had prepared a pot of kaf and laid out some rolls and a pot of jam.

“Thanks,” Finn said, as Poe poured him a cup, adding just enough sugar to counteract the bitterness that Finn was still getting used to. Poe drank his own kaf with no sweetener, but Finn couldn’t do it yet.

They ate breakfast, cleaned up, and then Poe decided to tinker with the ship's controls. He disappeared into the cockpit, his head underneath the dashboard and his feet sticking out past the pilot’s seat. Finn heard a litany of clanks and clunks and screeches punctuated by the occasional swear word.

“Need any help there, buddy?,” he asked.

“Nah, I’m good,” Poe said, his voice muffled from inside the paneling. “Not enough room for more than one person under here, anyway.”

So Finn pulled out a data pad and skimmed the HoloNet for something interesting to watch. Rose had introduced him to the pleasures of cheesy holovids and while most of them were execrable, some were so horribly bad that they were actually hilarious. He found one and spent the rest of the day trying to explain the ridiculous plot to Poe.

They stopped for a late lunch, and then Poe disappeared back under the dash again. Finn got tired of the holovid and downloaded a book to read. It was a historical novel about the Old Republic and kind of dry, but better than the technical manuals he’d been reading recently to get himself up to speed with all of the Resistance technology.

When Poe finally crawled out from under the dashboard, he was smeared with grease and had some dust balls caught in his hair, but he looked happy. “You’re filthy,” Finn said.

“So I’ve been told,” Poe said with a salacious grin.

Finn shook his head. “Just go wash up while I fix us some dinner,” he said. He pulled out a freeze-dried casserole and tossed it in the reconstituter, added a loaf of actual bread to their makeshift table and cracked open two of the beers. When Poe reappeared, his hair damp and falling in ringlets around his face, the casserole was ready and Finn handed him a plate with a generous portion.

They ate in companionable silence, then leaned back in their chairs.

“So,” Finn said, emboldened by the beer. “What other dumb games did you and your friends play?”

Poe laughed. “Ah, the education of Finn in the ways of adolescent stupidity continues,” he said. He swallowed the last of his beer and laid the bottle on the table, giving it a flick so that it spun around. “Spin the Bottle was the dumbest one. I hated that game.”

“What’s Spin the Bottle?”

“You sit in a circle, put a bottle in the middle and someone spins it. Whoever it ends up pointing at, they have to kiss them.” Poe shrugged. “I always found some excuse to leave when it came up. The girls were the ones who liked it.”

“So you just kissed a random person because of a bottle?” Finn said. “That is stupid. What else?”

Poe rubbed his chin. “Let me think … oh, there was Never Have I Ever, that one could be fun.”

Finn finished off his own beer and laid the bottle on the table next to Poe’s. He gave it a lazy flick and it spun slowly until it ended up pointing at Poe. Finn felt a blush rise in his cheeks and was glad his dark complexion hid it. “How … how do you play that one?”

Poe sat forward. “Okay, so you say something you’ve never done before and then anyone who has done that raises their hand, and they get a point. Then the next person says something, and so on, and so on. Whoever has the most points at the end is the winner. And you can’t lie.”

“For example?” Finn asked.

“Um, never have I ever … ridden a tauntaun,” Poe said.

“Neither have I,” Finn admitted.

“Okay, so no points on that one. Your turn.”

“Um, okay … never have I ever stolen a landspeeder.” Poe sheepishly raised his hand. Finn laughed, “I knew it!”

“All right, all right,” Poe said. “But that means I’m winning.” He reached into the closest cupboard and pulled out a bottle of the alien liquor and two small cups. He poured them each a shot. “And how we invoke rule number 78: any time one of us raises his hand, we have to take a shot.” He slid one cup toward Finn and raised the other to his lips, tossing it back. Finn picked up his own cup and sniffed dubiously. Poe raised his eyebrows in challenge and Finn gulped the shot, nearly choking himself in the process.

“What the kriff…,” he spluttered. “That stuff is nasty!”

“Yeah, but it makes you feel so good,” Poe said, pouring out two more shots. “My turn. Never have I ever worn a Stormtrooper helmet.”

Finn laughed. “Got me,” he said, raising his hand. “I think I get the point of this game. You try to think of something you haven’t done that the other person has.” He stopped, the liquor already starting to muddle his brain. “No, wait, but if the person has done it, they get a point, so you should actually try to say something you think they haven’t done, right?”

Poe drank his shot and shook his head. “No, you’re missing the point entirely,” he said. “The point is … to get stinking drunk.”

Finn lifted his own cup and downed the shot as quickly as he could. “So the points don’t matter,” he said.

“Exactly,” Poe said, refilling their cups. “Your turn.”

“Um … never have I ever flown an X-wing.”

They went on in this manner for several turns, until Finn was pleasantly warm and his eyes were having a hard time staying focused. “Your … your turn,” he told Poe.

Poe was sprawled in his chair, one leg slung casually over the arm. He raised his cup and waved it unsteadily in the air. “Never have I ever … kissed a girl,” he said.

Finn froze. “Wait, what?”

“Never have I ever kissed a girl,” Poe repeated. “Go on, raise your hand so I can take a drink.”

Finn was confused. “Okay, yeah, but … are you seriously telling me that you, Poe Dameron, the poster boy of the Resistance, has never kissed a girl?”

“Yep,” Poe said. “And I know you have, because I saw Rose kiss you on Crait, so one point to you, my friend.” He tossed back his drink.

“Well,” Finn said slowly, “technically I haven’t kissed a girl, because yeah, Rose kissed me, but she was the one who started it, I mean she kissed me, not the other way around …” He was babbling but he couldn’t shut up.

Poe sat up. “What about Rey?”

“What about Rey?” Finn was even more confused now. “I’ve never kissed Rey. And she’s never kissed me. And why haven’t you ever kissed a girl, I mean, come on … oh!” His brain finally clicked into gear. “Really?”

Poe nodded. “Really,” he said, setting down his cup. Finn got the feeling the game was over.

Finn nodded himself. “Okay, this makes sense. I mean, a lot of things make so much sense now …”

“Like what?” Poe asked guardedly.

“Like some things your friends have said,” Finn said. “Or the looks I get when I’m wearing your jacket … do people think we’re … you know?”

Poe shrugged. “Probably. Maybe. Does it matter?”

“No,” Finn answered truthfully. In fact, the idea of other people thinking he and Poe Dameron were … it made him feel all warm and tingly inside.

“So,” Poe said. “That kiss with Rose. Was that your first one?”

“Yeah,” Finn admitted. “She kind of surprised me. It wasn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be, to be honest.”

“Because it wasn’t Rey?”

“No,” Finn said. “Rey and I are just friends. It just … I mean, I know kissing is supposed to be nice but it was just kind of … awkward.”

Poe scooted his chair closer and Finn was suddenly very aware of his lips as he opened them to speak. “Is this awkward?”

“Um, no, not really,” Finn said, moving his own chair closer without taking his eyes off of Poe’s face.

“Good,” said Poe. He leaned forward and took Finn’s face gently in his hands before pressing their lips together. For just a moment, Finn was frozen in place, and then he was returning the kiss and it was nothing like what he’d experienced with Rose.

Poe pulled back and looked Finn in the eyes. “Definitely not awkward,” Finn breathed. Poe grinned and leaned back in for another kiss, this one a bit more heated.

“Um, I think it’s my turn,” Finn said when Poe finally leaned back again.

“We’re still playing?”

“Yeah,” Finn said, reaching out to run his fingers through Poe’s still damp hair. “Never have I ever … had sex.”

The smile that crept across Poe’s face as he raised his hand made Finn melt inside. “I think it’s time we adjourn to the bedroom,” Poe said, his voice a little shaky.

“Agreed,” said Finn. As they stood up, he added, “I kind of like this game.”

************************************

This time Poe woke up first. His head was a bit muzzy from the alcohol, but he wasn’t technically hung over. Finn, on the other hand, might be a bit worse for wear this morning, and not just because of the booze. As Poe’s mind cleared he remembered exactly what they’d gotten up to last night, and he hoped there would be no regrets. Finn was new to drinking and that stuff was pretty powerful.

Oh, kriff, I hope he doesn’t think I took advantage of him. He sat up suddenly, which woke up Finn. “Hey,” Finn said lazily, reaching up to pull Poe back down next to him. “Where’re you going?” His eyes were bleary but Poe saw no anger in them, just a softness that made him relax into Finn’s arms.

“Nowhere,” he said. “I just … kind of startled myself awake, I guess.”

Finn yawned and started playing with Poe’s hair. “Uh, Finn,” Poe said, “are we okay? I mean, last night …”

Finn stopped him with a kiss. “Last night was very … gosh, Poe I don’t even have the words for what last night was.” He laughed. “I … never knew what all the fuss was about … you know.”

Poe laughed back. “Yeah, I know.” He snuggled closer. “Oh, buddy, you don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do this.”

“Since Tadokana?”

“How’d you know?”

“The jacket. And the way you hugged me,” Finn said. “It was … different than hugging Rey. Better.”

“Definitely better,” Poe said, wrapping his arms tightly around Finn’s waist and pulling him close. They skipped breakfast that morning.

**********************************

The rest of the quarantine went by quickly. Poe finished the repairs and even a few small upgrades to the ship, and Finn read two novels, but they spend most of the time learning about each other. And by the time the droid woke up and announced they could leave the ship to complete their mission, they walked hand and hand down the ramp.

Three hours later, they had collected Leia’s precious cargo, stashed it in the back and were ready to blast off. “Think anyone will be surprised?,” Finn asked as Poe maneuvered the ship into space and set a course for the jump off point.

“Honestly, no,” he answered. “Like you said, the whole jacket thing …” He winked and Finn chuckled deeply. Stars, I love that laugh, Poe thought.

They sat quietly, holding hands, while the ship flashed through hyperspace. Poe had to use both hands to pilot the ship back to base once they dropped back into normal space, but once they had landed, his hand slipped back into Finn’s.

Of course, Leia was there to greet them as they left the ship and he saw her eyes dart immediately to their hands. One eyebrow arched elegantly and Poe simply shrugged at her. “What’d you expect to happen?,” he said quietly.

“Exactly that,” she replied. “I was getting tired of waiting for you two to figure things out. Besides, I had this week in the pool and I hate to lose a bet.” She turned away to supervise the unloading of the cargo.

“And that’s why she’s the General,” Rey said, appearing at Finn’s side with a smirk on her face.

“Were you in on this bet, too?” Poe asked.

“Of course,” she said. “Practically the whole base was.” She laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. Just because you two are oblivious doesn’t mean the rest of us are.”

She kissed them both on the cheek. “I’m happy for you,” she said. “Just don’t start making out in public. That’s gross.” She rolled her eyes and walked away.

“I don’t know about you, but I take that as a challenge,” Poe said.

“Challenge accepted,” Finn said, putting his arm around Poe. “Let’s go practice.”

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