Desert Upbringing
By TheOneAndOnlySlayer
Rey may have warmed up to Finn, but that doesn't mean she has to play nice with the other Resistance members. Growing up on a merciless planet like Jakku taught her that, ingraining in her that kindness had no place in her upbringing.
Chapter 1. Welcome to the Resistance
"I can't imagine living in a sandbox like Jakku," says Poe kindly. He was definitely trying to make conversation as the two of them sat at opposite ends of the medical room, Finn's resting form swathed in white between them.
Rey is trying to look busy flicking dirt from her fingernails. Her fingers ache from the strange cold, not like Jakku's cold after the suns set because this kind of cold won't go away.
"No you can't," she replies under her breath. It seems wrong talking all normal-like when their friend is unconscious. The sterile room feels like a tomb and Rey is so damn cold.
Perhaps she could summon the Force and try to remember the warmth from Jakku. Strange how she craves that hellhole all of a sudden.
She's not used to sharing things. In fact, she really can't remember sharing anything on Jakku, with anyone. There may have been a time when she scrubbed scrap metal next to an old woman before and offered some of her water. But some other scavenger had knelt next to her and muttered "You're gonna die faster in this sandhole if you pity every wrinkled thing that comes your way."
Rey had hoped to be alone with Finn until this hotshot strode in and hopped into a chair like it was his all along. He had thankfully said little, respecting her silence, but the itch in her head (the Force?) suggested he needed the opposite.
Rey hadn't had any friends on Jakku. She needed them now. With Finn hurt this badly…
Poe's just trying to be nice, she realizes. He's annoyingly good-looking, like some poster boy. It annoys Rey to some unexpected level. He smiles a lot and he's got very white teeth.
Rey doesn't like him because she doesn't trust him. He's so damn friendly. What does he want?
"My mom used to live on Tatooine, you know." The pilot actually leans his chair back on its hind legs, like they're in school. "She wasn't from there, originally, but she lived there for a time."
Rey scoffs. "Change of scenery?"
Poe actually chortles. Maybe he senses she's uncomfortable and is trying to appear more harmless. "You could say that. She was a doctor. She quit her first job at some well-to-do hospital and joined some merry band of physicians to help the helpless. It was part of a travelling clinic where they gave immune-boosters to kids and…" Poe trails off. "Stuff like that."
Rey keeps her eyes trained on Finn's ear. Poe sits a little to the left of her gaze. "Did they get in trouble with the Hutts?"
Poe shrugs. "You mean the big worm-thingies?"
That makes Rey shake her head and laugh just a little bit. "The big worm-thingies. You blummin bantha." What an idiot he is, she thought.
Poe sits up straighter. "What?"
"Nothing. Just, it's ever so kind of you to call those slimy murderous gangsters worms. Like they're harmless."
"I never said they were harmless," argues Poe lightheartedly. "Just that they – "
"Those bastards would have raped your poor mother and fed her to dogs." The comment leaves Rey's mouth before she realizes how harsh it sounds. How crass and – she pauses to understand this, she's never thought twice about another's feelings before – hurtful.
Finn's ear suddenly calls to her attention. She studies the swirls of cartilage and the stubborn scrape of hair below that's just creeping below, like a shadow. Unintentionally she conjures an image of Finn and his Stormtrooper comrades shaving before bedtime.
"Sorry. Just – " and here Rey forces herself to look at Poe, whose eyebrows are risen, like he's more surprised than offended. "I'm not a complete beast, it's just politeness never got me anywhere."
Poe smirks. "Welcome to the Resistance, sweetheart."
Rey frowns and cocks her head at him, slowly. Sweetheart?
He's stupid enough to flash all of his white teeth.
Rey's been quick to hit anyone who teased her on Jakku. She was small (once, not so much anymore) and female (though she never declared that as a weakness), which instantly dragged other scavengers' and overseers' attention. They only acted a little weary of her once she started carrying that big stick of hers, and demonstrated her ability to use it on anyone's skull.
It wasn't fair she doesn't have it on her now.
So she settles with a verbal warning. "I don't like you."
To her displeasure he laughs; like she's joking with him.
"And you're adorable," he answers, getting up. Rey swallows a strange sense of disappointment as he heads for the door.
"The boys and I are playing some cards later tonight, after dinner," he says. "Things are only gonna get crazy by tomorrow once we start packing."
Rey turns at him in surprise. "We're leaving this base?"
"Only way to keep the First Order out of our way," he replies as he leans on the door. "They're pretty crippled now, so there's no rush, otherwise we'd have left by now. Am I gonna see that heinous temper of yours later tonight?"
Finn and BB-8 told her that this guy had been taken prisoner by – the First Order. Kylo Ren. And interrogated… She would have loved to see him test that murderous Sith boy's patience with his wise mouth.
Rey gives him a cool grin. "We'll see if I'm up to it. I've just kicked a Sith Lord's arse so I may have better things to do."
The pilot actually doubles with laughter. "Oh, my Gods. Marry me and have my children," he says as he walks away.
Rey bites her tongue at the flush running up her neck and face. She stares back at Finn. This is all your fault, she thinks.