Finn shakes his head again, but this time at least he's smiling. "Okay, okay. As long as you admit you helped." If that's the way Poe wants to think, well, he can't help being flattered. General Organa might tell a different story. She won't. Finn is in for a surprise.
Done with the soup, he takes a few crackers to munch on. His hunger isn't exactly satisfied but he can feel the exhaustion creeping up again despite it. "Poe? Uh." He swallows, as much to buy time as anything. "Thanks. For being here when I woke up."
Of all things, those words bring back to him Rey's expression when she saw them at Starkiller Base. We came back for you, Finn had said, and he knew--knew--that it was exactly the right thing to say to her. Nobody had come back for her before, ever.
Nobody'd ever cared if he was okay before. And with just as much surety, he suddenly knew Rey had been by his bed with the same thought. That she wasn't here now could only be because she had something she couldn't put off any longer.
Poe's here, though. And it feels great to know that.
Finn lets himself sink into the pillows and breathes out. He'd like to say he's okay, but if just eating some soup and crackers makes him this tired it wouldn't exactly be the whole truth. "I'll be all right," he says instead, which is much more accurate. "Cause I've got my friends waiting for me."
"I know you will be," Poe says. He's not sure at all, he's terrified about it, actually. But he puts all the conviction he's got into those words, because he needs it to be true. He's gotten through a lot of situations with sheer grit and determination; it's the only universal answer he's got.
He takes Finn's hand for a moment, just clasping it between his own because that feels like the right thing to do. "That's what friends do."
Finn squeezes back with what little strength he has, noting that he's really going to need some conditioning once he's allowed out of bed. "I've never had friends before," he admits quietly, even though Poe probably already knows that. "But I think I picked some good ones."
Fell into them, deliberately picked them, same difference. Right?
Just that admission breaks his heart. He never really knew how Stormtroopers lived, but it makes sense, he supposes. Horrible, incredibly messed up sense. It hurts, and it makes him angry that Finn's been forced to live like that. The First Order just never stops hurting people.
Being angry right now isn't going to help Finn. Poe just digs it down deep, like he did when he discovered the traitor in the senate. More fuel for the fire. And for now, he can focus on Finn, and the fact that he is going to be okay, and he smiles. "You've got great taste," he says, grinning. "Though you better watch out about pilots. We've got a bad reputation."
Friends are a luxury a Stormtrooper can't afford. If it's a choice between completing an objective and leaving a squadmate behind, the Stormtroopers are conditioned to leave their own to die.
It was why it was so important to Finn not to let that happen to Rey. They could indoctrinate him all they wanted, but he still knew the difference between what was the right thing to do and what was the easy thing to do.
He barely catches Poe's flash of...something. Maybe surprise? It's still hard for him to read expressions, between all the helmets and the persistently linefaced expressions of most officers. Probably surprise.
"Oh yeah? Bunch of thrillseekers always trying to one-up each other, huh?" Or some other kind of bad reputation?
There are all kinds of other reputations pilots have, and Poe hasn't actually earned most of them even if he gets tarred with that brush. So he's not going to get into that, no. But that first one? Yeah, he's earned that. "Yeah, troublemakers all the way, you better watch out. And we drag people into trouble with us which is worse."
He bumps Finn's shoulder lightly. "But hey, guess I got a friend to fish me out of all that trouble."
Luckily for Poe, Finn has yet to hear most of those rumors. As for dragging others in with them, that's easy enough to believe. He grins again, though his face is beginning to show signs of strain as he struggles not to succumb to sleep.
"Yeah. I got your back, Poe." Or he would, if he could get up without hurting himself worse. "Once they give me the all-clear, anyway. Try not to get in too deep until then, okay?" Try being the key word there.
But he notes how tired Finn is looking. The man's still got a lot of healing left to do, and keeping him awake probably isn't going to help. "Let's get you laid back down since you're done with your soup. You need to just focus on getting better for now, okay?"
"I might hold you to that." It sounds like a good trait for a friend to have, doesn't it? Always coming back?
Lying back down sounds appealing, though. Finn nods. "I'll get better, and then maybe you can show me around a little? When you're off duty." He'd assessed the base itself the first time he'd been here: it had a different layout than a First Order base but was in many other ways the same. No, what Poe could give him was an introduction to the people of the Resistance. The idea of introducing himself as the First Order traitor--no. But as Poe's friend? Yeah. He'd like that.
With Poe's help he manages to get back down without anything dire happening, though he begins to feel a few twinges in his back. Even that had been an exertion, apparently. "Poe? I'll see you in the morning."
"You can count on it." On either of those things. Both of them.
Poe slides off the bed and helps Finn get himself situated. That done, he settles back into the chair he'd been in before Finn woke up. "And count on that, too. Get some rest, buddy."
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She won't. Finn is in for a surprise.Done with the soup, he takes a few crackers to munch on. His hunger isn't exactly satisfied but he can feel the exhaustion creeping up again despite it. "Poe? Uh." He swallows, as much to buy time as anything. "Thanks. For being here when I woke up."
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"Wouldn't be anywhere else in the galaxy, buddy. I needed to know you were okay."
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Nobody'd ever cared if he was okay before. And with just as much surety, he suddenly knew Rey had been by his bed with the same thought. That she wasn't here now could only be because she had something she couldn't put off any longer.
Poe's here, though. And it feels great to know that.
Finn lets himself sink into the pillows and breathes out. He'd like to say he's okay, but if just eating some soup and crackers makes him this tired it wouldn't exactly be the whole truth. "I'll be all right," he says instead, which is much more accurate. "Cause I've got my friends waiting for me."
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He takes Finn's hand for a moment, just clasping it between his own because that feels like the right thing to do. "That's what friends do."
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Fell into them, deliberately picked them, same difference. Right?
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Being angry right now isn't going to help Finn. Poe just digs it down deep, like he did when he discovered the traitor in the senate. More fuel for the fire. And for now, he can focus on Finn, and the fact that he is going to be okay, and he smiles. "You've got great taste," he says, grinning. "Though you better watch out about pilots. We've got a bad reputation."
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It was why it was so important to Finn not to let that happen to Rey. They could indoctrinate him all they wanted, but he still knew the difference between what was the right thing to do and what was the easy thing to do.
He barely catches Poe's flash of...something. Maybe surprise? It's still hard for him to read expressions, between all the helmets and the persistently linefaced expressions of most officers. Probably surprise.
"Oh yeah? Bunch of thrillseekers always trying to one-up each other, huh?" Or some other kind of bad reputation?
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He bumps Finn's shoulder lightly. "But hey, guess I got a friend to fish me out of all that trouble."
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"Yeah. I got your back, Poe." Or he would, if he could get up without hurting himself worse. "Once they give me the all-clear, anyway. Try not to get in too deep until then, okay?" Try being the key word there.
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(He always says that.) BB-8 opines.
Poe grins. "And I haven't been wrong yet."
But he notes how tired Finn is looking. The man's still got a lot of healing left to do, and keeping him awake probably isn't going to help. "Let's get you laid back down since you're done with your soup. You need to just focus on getting better for now, okay?"
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Lying back down sounds appealing, though. Finn nods. "I'll get better, and then maybe you can show me around a little? When you're off duty." He'd assessed the base itself the first time he'd been here: it had a different layout than a First Order base but was in many other ways the same. No, what Poe could give him was an introduction to the people of the Resistance. The idea of introducing himself as the First Order traitor--no. But as Poe's friend? Yeah. He'd like that.
With Poe's help he manages to get back down without anything dire happening, though he begins to feel a few twinges in his back. Even that had been an exertion, apparently. "Poe? I'll see you in the morning."
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Poe slides off the bed and helps Finn get himself situated. That done, he settles back into the chair he'd been in before Finn woke up. "And count on that, too. Get some rest, buddy."
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