AN: I have a love/hate relationship with trying to write drabbles. I was prompted by the lovely machinewithoutfeelings to write a quick drabble, and this quickly spiraled out of control.
It's absolutely sinful and I have no remorse whatsoever about stepping into the dumb vampire/supernatural genre because I secretly crave it.
I'm probably posting this preemptively since the wordcount is pretty low, but I'm having a lot of fun with it and wanted to share before it turned into an excessively long oneshot. I expect this fic to be about four/five parts, though it has yet to be seen if I'll expand on it a bit more.
Title from Nicole Dollanganger's Please Eat.
Luke grimaces at her as she walks in the door, and it immediately puts Rey in a foul mood.
"I don't want to talk about it," she says brusquely as she sits down at the bar alongside him. It's dim inside, and her eyes take a moment to adjust from outside brightness of the sun rising. She squints in the general direction of the bartender and waves him over to request a drink.
Maybe she doesn't really have the authority to speak to her superior in such a way, but Luke's always had a soft spot for her, and she's hoping he won't say a thing about the deep bruise that has blossomed across half of her face.
Hunting rarely goes flawlessly, and she's more annoyed at the injury being so blatantly visible than the fact that it happened at all.
He raises an eyebrow as his eyes hone in on her face, but thankfully says nothing other than, "You probably need this more than I do," as he hands her his glass.
Rey knows Luke's preferences well enough to know it's whiskey, and readily accepts the offering. After a long drink, she fishes into the glass for an ice cube and pops it into her mouth. "I'm having a lovely morning, actually," she says airily, rolling the ice around on her tongue. "How are you doing?"
"As well as can be expected," Luke replies as the bartender brings around her drink, and she nods gratefully at him. "This recon has been exhausting and relatively uninformative."
Rey hums as she takes a sip from her gin and tonic before casually surveying their surroundings. She does a brief sweep of the bar to assuage how much Luke will be able to divulge. It's a Tuesday morning, which means that business is slow, and she recognizes many of the hunters sitting in the booths. There's a were seated at the end of the long bar that she's never seen before, and Rey makes a mental note of her long, dark hair and Asian features.
"Didn't get too much tonight," she tells him lowly, cautiously, even though they're in allied territory. "But managed a name for you: Brendol Hux."
"I'm not familiar with the name, but it's a good place to start," he says. "Thank you, Rey."
They sit in silence and nurse their drinks. It's rare that they get the opportunity to relax, what with the infestation levels so high, and Rey revels in the brief respite. Her body feels battle-weary now that she's not running on adrenaline any longer, and she's pleased to find that her muscles don't seem too sore. It's likely that the only lasting damage from the evening's jaunts will be the yellow and purple marring her cheekbone, but all things considered, she's willing to consider it a relative victory despite how annoying the bruise will be in the upcoming days.
Behind them, the entrance door to the bar opens and lets in a bright ray of light. It's quickly stifled, but her mentor's eyes fall on whoever has just entered the bar, and Rey turns before groaning audibly.
Ben Solo has always had a chip on his shoulder about her, despite the fact that they're technically allies and sometimes-partners, and she rarely enjoys seeing him. They butt heads constantly, and because she's already had such a splendid evening out, she has a sinking feeling that this interaction won't be pleasant.
"Ben," Luke greets, and Rey suppresses a glower when the man moves to his feet to embrace the bar's most recent occupant. She didn't get a damned hug.
At least the taller man looks uncomfortable about his uncle's hug. It's petty to revel in the flush high on his cheeks and the uneasy clearing of his throat at the visible display of affection, but Rey hides her smile in the lip of her glass.
"Did you need something, Luke? I got your message."
Shit, that means he's actually here for a reason. Rey turns an accusing eye toward Luke, who's moving back to his seat and motioning for Ben to sit down next to them.
Ben turns to look at her for the first time since entering the bar, and he promptly scowls, eyebrows drawing together in a perfect picture of discontent. "Are you alright?" he asks, and it's so surprising coming out of his mouth that Rey almost forgets to roll her eyes.
"Try not to sound so shocked, Solo," she says. "I know you think us humans weak and fragile, but we really can take a beating before we're down for the count."
He must actually be worried about her, or something, because he ignores the jab. "Is anything broken? I don't have anything on me, but I could prep for a spell if you need it."
Rey narrows her eyes at him, ignoring how the movement tugs on her bruised flesh. "It's just a bruise," she says suspiciously. "Why are you suddenly so concerned?"
Ben doesn't flinch, not exactly, but her words definitely trigger some kind of response that has him glaring at her. "Obviously you're fine, then," he says stiffly, before he loudly sucks in a breath and exhales through his nose.
It's a calming exercise that Rey knows well, and she begrudgingly returns to her gin and tonic as Luke starts talking again.
"If you two have finished, there's business to attend to," their mentor says a bit wryly.
"Of course," Rey says, tamping down on her embarrassment at being caught out bickering with Ben. It's well-known among the Resistance that they don't get along, but the subtle reprimand from her mentor humbles her a bit. Luke gives her a look as Ben converses briefly with the bartender and orders a drink, and she averts her gaze to swirl a finger in the condensation that has collected across the countertop of the bar.
"I want the both of you to team up for additional reconnaissance," he says when Ben returns, drink in hand, and instinctively Rey's hackles rise in reaction to the words.
Immediate protests die on her lips as she sees the look on Ben's face, though. His features have transformed into a stoic mask, and his eyes are hard as he stares into his drink.
"Is this about the mass turnings?" he murmurs, and although she knows he's not quite so powerful as to do such a thing, the room suddenly feels a few significant degrees cooler.
"It is," Luke confirms.
D'Qar's a fairly huge city, and the Resistance carefully combs through the at-risk populations on a regular basis for signs of supernatural activity. Luke picked up on a trend a few months back of a handful of missing teenagers, and further investigation has revealed an alarmingly low amount of physical bodies given the high rate of disappearance.
Someone's been turning a significant population of people into vampires, he thinks, and the possibilities are too dangerous to go unchecked. They're careful, meticulous, and smart, and Luke's only identified the pattern because he's Luke Skywalker.
For him to have officially recruited the both of them means he's taking it seriously, and that they need to as well. There isn't time for childish protests any longer, and Rey schools her features into uncharacteristic seriousness. She's also found a piece of the puzzle in unearthing the name of Brendol Hux, and hopefully hunting him down won't be an impossible task.
"Where should we start?" she asks, finishing off her drink and pushing the empty glass across the bar-top.
"Ben, you'll take charge. I want you both to look into Hux, maybe investigate some places where teens have gone missing."
It's easy work off the bat, although she's a bit irked that Ben's been declared the leader.
"Of course, uncle," he says. "We'll report back in a few days." Ben looks at his uncle, then, and they seem to have a wordless conversation for a few moments as she watches them. Luke nods almost imperceptibly, and Ben turns to her to stare intently.
He's casting, she realizes almost too late, and after a few quietly-spoken words the magic settles over her body like a blanket. She'll never admit how comforting the warm tingle is as it presses against her skin, and she covers her reaction with a defiant glare toward him.
Ben smirks at her and says, "You've been fitted with a tracking spell. Just in case you manage to get yourself lost."
Rey scrunches her nose up in annoyance at his sudden cockiness. Mages.
Well, all mages aren't bad. Luke's one, after all, and a relatively famous one at that, but he's definitely more enjoyable to be around than Ben is. Actually, the more Rey considers it, most members of Ben's family are downright lovable in comparison to him.
Nevertheless, a job is a job, and Rey sighs heavily as she resigns herself to working with him.