It isn't that Poe's a man that loves routine; he wouldn't be the kind of pilot he is if he did. But military life is made of a series of routines within routines within routines. There's some push and pull and room for individuality--especially when you're a commander, you can get away with some things.
He's pulled some strings, shifted some schedules so he can have time on base to sit with Finn. The man's not awake yet, but Poe knows he's tough. He's got no doubt Finn will be up and about soon, and it's even more important there's a friend waiting for him since Rey had to go on her mission to find Luke. Finn deserves better than to wake up in a strange place without a friend by his side.
Break time by Finn's bed turns into nap time (and general sleep time) too. Poe ends up leanging back in his chair, feet propped up on the edge of the bed, arms crossed, eyes closed. BB-8 sits nearby, chirping softly to itself.
For the longest time, all he knew was running. Running from the First Order, running to the Resistance with Rey, briefly--abortively--running away from even that, running back to Rey when she needed him. Running right back to the First Order to rescue her, and then at last standing to fight because she needed him to. She needed him, and so he'd stood and fought and--
And then somehow he was running again (why?) and he couldn't remember from what (does it matter?) and he couldn't remember where to except back to his friends, the few people who knew him as Finn and not FN-2187 because he had a name now, Poe who was the first friend he'd ever had gave him a name and a mission and a jacket (the jacket's torn now don't think about it how is he going to tell Poe that he got don't think about it), and he was trying to find Poe's droid, yes, that was it, and that sounds like BB-8 now.
And it is BB-8, trying to get a sleeping man's attention because the machines are telling it that the patient is regaining consciousness, and so Finn follows those familiar bleeps until he gasps awake.
Poe's tired, and a bit of a heavy sleeper at times, but he's not that deep in. There's always that part of his brain that's listening, like when he's catching a cat nap in his cockpit, waiting at a checkpoint. Between BB-8 and the sound of Finn, he blinks his eyes open quickly, looking around.
"Hey there, buddy," he says, cheerful but also trying to sound soothing. He's not a medtech or anything, but he knows you don't want guys who are recovering like this to get too overexcited.
"Rey!" But no, it's quickly apparent that he's not where he was, not with this light and the sounds of--a medbay? Yes, definitely a medbay. And Rey doesn't sound like that. So, after an unsuccessful attempt to sit up, Finn instead turns on his side to focus his still-blurry vision on who is here.
"Poe? Poe! And BB-8! Are you okay? Where's--where are we?"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down there." Poe gets his feet back on the floor, then leans forward so he can put a hand on Finn's shoulder. "We're back at base. We're in medical, because someone decided to take a Sith lord on by himself." He squeezes Finn's shoulder. "Rey's fine. All in one piece, unlike you were."
Somewhat to his surprise, Finn had made a full recovery. After a few (terrifying) talks with General Organa, he found himself alternating his time between being a squad leader for ground forces and discussing everything he knew about the First Order with various high-ranking staff of the Resistance. The second part was almost as draining as the first, really, as he racked his brain and recalled more than he he ever would have thought.
On the other hand, unlike in his previous life, there's time off that doesn't come with either structured activity or a required dress code. When he gets to his first real day off, though, he looks and looks but all he can find is a problem. He can't fnid Poe's jacket.
So, clad in some loose workout clothes (he does, after all, have some running to do), he goes in search of his friend.
No longer doing his daily (and nightly) vigil by Finn's bedside, Poe's let himself get sucked back into the more normal routines of being a pilot and the commander of Black Squadron. Finn's busy, now, and he doesn't want the guy feeling like he's hovering over him or anything, though he does miss seeing Finn quite so often. Then again, if that's the price of Finn being all better, he'll pay it gladly.
He's in the hangar, going over the daily maintenance check lists. They're still on constant ten minute scramble time, so at least all the waiting gets filled in with making sure that they are ready to go at a moment's notice. BB-8, as usual, is with him, burbling at the X-wing's computer and ironing out some kind of code hiccup that's much too complicated for Poe to understand. He trusts the droid to handle things.
Of course that's where Poe is - he should have looked in the hargar first, instead of at mess, but he'd been hungry anyway so it had served two purposes. When he identifies BB-8 at a distance, he waves to get their attention.
"Hey BB-8! Poe, everything going all right?" It looks like nobody is worried, but what does he know about fighter maintenance?
"Hey, Finn!" Well, this is an unexpected pleasure, and Poe unabashedly grins. He knows FInn's been kept really busy lately, after all. "Yeah, everything's green here. You doing okay?"
It had been a long patrol, and turned out they had a reason to scramble; they'd found a squadron of TIE Fighters and a small cruiser they were escorting and taken the opportunity to do smash and run. Anything to weaken the First Order helped. They'd been overmatched in numbers, but Poe knew his people were good for it. The bad news was, he'd ended up with a piece of the cruiser lodged in his fuselage when the ship exploded--maybe he hadn't been getting enough sleep if he was making rookie mistakes like that.
The important part, though, was that they'd all returned, even if Black Leader's X-wing came limping in with its tail in a sling. Three days straight in the cockpit meant that Poe didn't smell so great, not that he noticed at this point, not until the fresh air hit him. He'd also managed to give himself a split lip and a black eye--not to mention a 5-point-harness dictated array of bruises--during the particular heck-up, but hey, that just added to a guy's charm, right?
First step: debriefing with the General. Second step: medical. Third step: he's trying to decide if he's hungry enough to forego basic courtesy and risk driving everyone else out of the mess hall with the scent of a man who's been marinating in a cockpit for that many hours.
Luckily for Finn's peace of mind, the drill he was on had been called off when the X-Wings made their dramatic re-entry - he was far from the only one scrambling to know the outcome, and even seeing the familiar ship and familiar white-and-orange blob on top had only eased his mind until he saw the condition it was in.
He may or may not be waiting outside of medical, jumpy as hell and only slightly reassured by BB-8 (it works better when one can understand what the droid is saying, and just because he's finally starting to pick up a little doesn't mean Finn is anywhere near fluent). The pacing turns into a scramble as soon as he sees that familar form exit the medbay doors.
"Poe! Are you okay?"
(I told him you were fine!) BB-8 burbles. Finn doesn't seem to hear and rushes over to Poe, looking torn between wanting to grab him and not wanting to hurt him in case he's more beat up than he looks.
"Finn!" Since he's getting a hug vibe off Finn anyway--and Poe's always been a huggy guy himself--he takes the opportunity and just goes for it. Not too different from the first time he saw Finn after Jakku, though mercifully this time he's down to just his jumpsuit so there isn't a life support control box bruising both their sternums. He hugs Finn hard enough to knock the wind out of himself and set the bruises on his chest aching, and he doesn't care.
It's nice to have someone--to have a friend, he reminds himself firmly--to come home to. It's different when they're not one of your pilots.
"Couldn't be better, other than I'm so hungry I could eat a rathtar with no salt. Might just eat you if you don't get me to the mess quick."
Of course it's different! Poe's pilots get to be with him on the mission, and everyone back at base has to deal with remote reports. The General had called him in to observe when the dogfight started, and he'd foud it exciting in a very different way than being in the middle of the action. He's not sure it's to his taste, but it was exciting nonetheless.
He's so relieved at the hug that he hugs right back. It just feels good to be able to express that about someone he cares about, and besides, he sees other people doing it all the time so he's less self-conscious about it than he would be around the First Order, who rarely make any kind of physical contact at all.
Even if it does give him a front-row seat to cockpit smell. Well, it's not like Finn smelled any better after his escape from Jakku.
"Be surprised if they aren't cooking something special for you already. Come on." He releases the hug but grabs Poe's hand to tug him along to the mess hall. "We got your transmission of the fight, but how's your ship holding up?"
But not too much later. In fact, the next day General Organa had laughingly approved Poe's request for leave and anticipated Finn's request. Turns out that getting leave in the Resistance is a lot easier than he'd thought; Jess had lent him a regulations manual he's still working his way through.
There's a shuttle headed to a nearby Republic trading hub departing in the evening, and from there they'll be able to head anywhere within a reasonable distance. Finn's guessing Poe will borrow a partner ship and take them somewhere, but they could always take a luxury liner. It's all good for him.
He's got his go-bag packed (not that there's much, but he hopes he can pick up a souvenir or two) and ready to go, and shows up promptly at the launch site fifteen minutes before pre-boarding.
Poe's already looked at the flying options, and he's found them a light freighter they can borrow, in exchange for taking a load of cargo from the hub to Yavin 4, on their way to Spira. Beaches sound like a good idea to Poe; Spira's kind of a tourist trap, but he's gotten some advice on where they can get a more quiet area. But that way Finn can have a chance for a real leave, do his first one right.
He probably should tell Finn all that, but he's kind of wanting to make it a surprise. He comes trotting up with his own bag slung over his shoulder, already in well-worn civvies and a new jacket, acquired since Finn took possession of the old one. Feels weird to be out of his flight suit, but he knows he looks great. (He checked. Like an idiot. Why is he trying to impress Finn?)
"You know it." He sounds more confident than he looks; it is a little bit nerve-wracking to go out into the unknown world of normal life, but at least he's got a guide-slash-companion. Who's got a nice new jacket, he sees! Finn whistles appreciatively - it's a different design, but still looks good on him.
"New duds? I like them." His own jacket is better (obviously), but Poe's still looks pretty good.
He throws one arm around Finn's shoulders for a brief half-hug. "You're gonna love it." He hopes. But he's pretty sure Finn can have fun anywhere as long as no one's shooting at them. "I got us a ship, too, once we hit the transfer station. So we can really go wherever we want."
He can't help but grin, do a little spin in place like he's showing off. They're just normal clothes, comfortable stuff like what he used to wear before he joined the Republic navy. "Feels weird to not be in orange." But the pants show off his butt, if nothing else. Not that he's assuming Finn's looking at his butt. (A guy can hope.)
The rest of the trip there passes peacefully, and as soon as they exit hyperspace Finn jumps into the copilot's seat so he can be there as Poe takes her in. Not that he can really do anything from there, but the view is better and it's more exciting than just sitting in his room. Spira is gorgeous from space, temperate oceans dotted by tiny islands, nothing you'd really call a continent. Are they going to head to one of the bustling ports or somewhere more out of the way? Until they land, Finn doesn't know for sure and it's pretty exciting.
"It looks perfect," Poe says. "No major storms, and weather is completely clear where we're headed." He points their course toward one of the smaller islands. "I got us rooms at a little place a guy my dad ran in the rangers with owns now. It's real quiet there, good surfing and fishing, kind of a hidden spot that doesn't get lot of tourists."
He glances at Finn. "Though if you want exciting stuff, like dancing, it's a twenty minute hop to somewhere a lot bigger. So we're not out in the sticks completely."
His own preference is for relaxation and taking it easy, and if he's feeling like more action, he can go to it. This is supposed to be a chance for him to unwind, and the first thing he needs to do is have a couple days to breathe and shake off the ghost of combat.
Not being overrun with tourists does sound perfect; Finn relaxes a little to hear it and grins back. "Maybe one day of excitement. The rest of the time, low-key ought to be just the right thing. Long as there's somewhere we can pick up swimsuits first."
That was one of the activities the medics had given him full freedom on - swimming should be great for his back as long as he pays attention to when he's getting tired. Surfing and fishing? He doesn't know how, but Finn's willing to bet that Poe can teach him.
Poe sets the freighter down expertly and Finn gives him a shoulder-squeeze before getting up to go unload. Not that he has anything besides his travel pack and a happy BB-8 to unload, but he does his job and makes sure everything on the ship is secure.
"Oh yeah, definitely. There's a grocery shop and a couple restaurants and a beach shop too. The kind of places locals still need. Sop wet can get bathing suits without having to go to the bigger island if we want." He grins. "Unless you want something really fancy."
The manning field is small, run by the local control net and one elderly pilot who probably spends most of his time napping. Poe doesn't get too crazy about security for that reason
He rents a little hopper for them so they don't have to take the freighter everywhere and takes them over to the hotel, which is really more of a bed and breakfast, which has been built into a Cliffside. Check in involves a lot of hand shaking and the promise of a beer and catch up time later, and then they have their rooms, one on top of each other in a stack, a little ladder between them if they don't feel like using the main corridor and stairs.
"What do you think?" He asks. Roomy by either of their standards, homey, and the view out to the ocean is without compare. The first thing Poe does is open the windows to catch the salty breeze.
Unused as he is to sleeping with someone else, Finn awakens a few times during the night for the sheer oddity of sensation, but he gets back to sleep each time. Poe's steady breathing and warmth are comforting even in their strangeness.
When morning comes, he wakes out of habit at the same time as always, but instead of jumping out of bed he rolls on his side and reaches over to snug his arm around Poe's chest. They've got a lot of possibilities for today, but if Poe wants to make it a late morning, Finn won't complain.
That's enough to get Poe to drift toward wakefulness. In full vacation mode, he's eased in to not waking up with the dawn, and it feels nothing short of decadent.
Of course, waking up a bit late, in bed with someone--even better. In bed with Finn? Even better than that. He makes a happy, sleepy mumble and turns to snuggle into his chest.
If sleeping in is decadent--and it is--cuddling is even more so. Once again Finn finds himself running a hand through Poe's tangle of hair and exhales happily.
"Morning. You feel like getting up?"
He's not sure if he does or not. Both options sound appealing.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
for force sensitive Finn
He's pulled some strings, shifted some schedules so he can have time on base to sit with Finn. The man's not awake yet, but Poe knows he's tough. He's got no doubt Finn will be up and about soon, and it's even more important there's a friend waiting for him since Rey had to go on her mission to find Luke. Finn deserves better than to wake up in a strange place without a friend by his side.
Break time by Finn's bed turns into nap time (and general sleep time) too. Poe ends up leanging back in his chair, feet propped up on the edge of the bed, arms crossed, eyes closed. BB-8 sits nearby, chirping softly to itself.
You rang?
And then somehow he was running again (why?) and he couldn't remember from what (does it matter?) and he couldn't remember where to except back to his friends, the few people who knew him as Finn and not FN-2187 because he had a name now, Poe who was the first friend he'd ever had gave him a name and a mission and a jacket (the jacket's torn now don't think about it how is he going to tell Poe that he got don't think about it), and he was trying to find Poe's droid, yes, that was it, and that sounds like BB-8 now.
And it is BB-8, trying to get a sleeping man's attention because the machines are telling it that the patient is regaining consciousness, and so Finn follows those familiar bleeps until he gasps awake.
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"Hey there, buddy," he says, cheerful but also trying to sound soothing. He's not a medtech or anything, but he knows you don't want guys who are recovering like this to get too overexcited.
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"Poe? Poe! And BB-8! Are you okay? Where's--where are we?"
And what happened to Rey?
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Some time later....
On the other hand, unlike in his previous life, there's time off that doesn't come with either structured activity or a required dress code. When he gets to his first real day off, though, he looks and looks but all he can find is a problem. He can't fnid Poe's jacket.
So, clad in some loose workout clothes (he does, after all, have some running to do), he goes in search of his friend.
Some time later....
He's in the hangar, going over the daily maintenance check lists. They're still on constant ten minute scramble time, so at least all the waiting gets filled in with making sure that they are ready to go at a moment's notice. BB-8, as usual, is with him, burbling at the X-wing's computer and ironing out some kind of code hiccup that's much too complicated for Poe to understand. He trusts the droid to handle things.
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"Hey BB-8! Poe, everything going all right?" It looks like nobody is worried, but what does he know about fighter maintenance?
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And another new scene
The important part, though, was that they'd all returned, even if Black Leader's X-wing came limping in with its tail in a sling. Three days straight in the cockpit meant that Poe didn't smell so great, not that he noticed at this point, not until the fresh air hit him. He'd also managed to give himself a split lip and a black eye--not to mention a 5-point-harness dictated array of bruises--during the particular heck-up, but hey, that just added to a guy's charm, right?
First step: debriefing with the General. Second step: medical. Third step: he's trying to decide if he's hungry enough to forego basic courtesy and risk driving everyone else out of the mess hall with the scent of a man who's been marinating in a cockpit for that many hours.
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He may or may not be waiting outside of medical, jumpy as hell and only slightly reassured by BB-8 (it works better when one can understand what the droid is saying, and just because he's finally starting to pick up a little doesn't mean Finn is anywhere near fluent). The pacing turns into a scramble as soon as he sees that familar form exit the medbay doors.
"Poe! Are you okay?"
(I told him you were fine!) BB-8 burbles. Finn doesn't seem to hear and rushes over to Poe, looking torn between wanting to grab him and not wanting to hurt him in case he's more beat up than he looks.
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It's nice to have someone--to have a friend, he reminds himself firmly--to come home to. It's different when they're not one of your pilots.
"Couldn't be better, other than I'm so hungry I could eat a rathtar with no salt. Might just eat you if you don't get me to the mess quick."
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He's so relieved at the hug that he hugs right back. It just feels good to be able to express that about someone he cares about, and besides, he sees other people doing it all the time so he's less self-conscious about it than he would be around the First Order, who rarely make any kind of physical contact at all.
Even if it does give him a front-row seat to cockpit smell. Well, it's not like Finn smelled any better after his escape from Jakku.
"Be surprised if they aren't cooking something special for you already. Come on." He releases the hug but grabs Poe's hand to tug him along to the mess hall. "We got your transmission of the fight, but how's your ship holding up?"
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...
LATER....
There's a shuttle headed to a nearby Republic trading hub departing in the evening, and from there they'll be able to head anywhere within a reasonable distance. Finn's guessing Poe will borrow a partner ship and take them somewhere, but they could always take a luxury liner. It's all good for him.
He's got his go-bag packed (not that there's much, but he hopes he can pick up a souvenir or two) and ready to go, and shows up promptly at the launch site fifteen minutes before pre-boarding.
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He probably should tell Finn all that, but he's kind of wanting to make it a surprise. He comes trotting up with his own bag slung over his shoulder, already in well-worn civvies and a new jacket, acquired since Finn took possession of the old one. Feels weird to be out of his flight suit, but he knows he looks great. (He checked. Like an idiot. Why is he trying to impress Finn?)
"Hey buddy. You ready?"
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"New duds? I like them." His own jacket is better (obviously), but Poe's still looks pretty good.
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He can't help but grin, do a little spin in place like he's showing off. They're just normal clothes, comfortable stuff like what he used to wear before he joined the Republic navy. "Feels weird to not be in orange." But the pants show off his butt, if nothing else. Not that he's assuming Finn's looking at his butt. (A guy can hope.)
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"Everything looking good for landing?"
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He glances at Finn. "Though if you want exciting stuff, like dancing, it's a twenty minute hop to somewhere a lot bigger. So we're not out in the sticks completely."
His own preference is for relaxation and taking it easy, and if he's feeling like more action, he can go to it. This is supposed to be a chance for him to unwind, and the first thing he needs to do is have a couple days to breathe and shake off the ghost of combat.
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That was one of the activities the medics had given him full freedom on - swimming should be great for his back as long as he pays attention to when he's getting tired. Surfing and fishing? He doesn't know how, but Finn's willing to bet that Poe can teach him.
Poe sets the freighter down expertly and Finn gives him a shoulder-squeeze before getting up to go unload. Not that he has anything besides his travel pack and a happy BB-8 to unload, but he does his job and makes sure everything on the ship is secure.
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The manning field is small, run by the local control net and one elderly pilot who probably spends most of his time napping. Poe doesn't get too crazy about security for that reason
He rents a little hopper for them so they don't have to take the freighter everywhere and takes them over to the hotel, which is really more of a bed and breakfast, which has been built into a Cliffside. Check in involves a lot of hand shaking and the promise of a beer and catch up time later, and then they have their rooms, one on top of each other in a stack, a little ladder between them if they don't feel like using the main corridor and stairs.
"What do you think?" He asks. Roomy by either of their standards, homey, and the view out to the ocean is without compare. The first thing Poe does is open the windows to catch the salty breeze.
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The next morning....
When morning comes, he wakes out of habit at the same time as always, but instead of jumping out of bed he rolls on his side and reaches over to snug his arm around Poe's chest. They've got a lot of possibilities for today, but if Poe wants to make it a late morning, Finn won't complain.
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Of course, waking up a bit late, in bed with someone--even better. In bed with Finn? Even better than that. He makes a happy, sleepy mumble and turns to snuggle into his chest.
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"Morning. You feel like getting up?"
He's not sure if he does or not. Both options sound appealing.
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Of course they don't. It's vacation. But maybe Finn wants to get up and go for a run, or get breakfast, or... lots of possibilities.
Idly, he runs a hand over Finn's stomach. The fact that he gets to do this now is also very nice.
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meanwhile, all of the homo!
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