AN: This was written as part of a KnightPilot gift exchange over on AO3 as a treat for darktensh17.
Prompt: Blind date AU. Rey sets them up and things go spectacularly wrong until something happens and they just click.
"Rey, you've come up with some crazy plans before, but how did you ever think that this would be a good idea?" Finn stared, an incredulous look upon his face, at his best friend.
Rey snorted. "Of course it's a good idea. It's a great idea. How could anything go wrong?"
Finn knew better than to argue with her, but he could imagine a lot of things that could (and likely would) go wrong. In fact, he couldn't imagine a single way this date could possibly go right . Poe Dameron was Finn's other best friend and, for Poe's sake, Finn had pleaded with Rey to just leave Poe's love life alone. Of course, like usual, Rey ignored Finn's advice and went off to play matchmaker. Finn had learned in the past to not doubt Rey's abilities, but this time, he was positive she'd gotten it wrong. Poe Dameron was outgoing, optimistic, generous, and sweet. His date for the evening, Ben Solo, was most definitely not.
Rey had met Ben in her philosophy class. They never agreed on anything. Last year, Finn and Poe had listened to Rey's endless complaints and furious rants about her older classmate. The two boys were surprised when Rey gradually stopped complaining about Kylo Ren, as she called him back then, and started sharing stories of the fun she was having with Ben after he had suddenly invited her to join the debate team. The two still couldn't agree on anything, but they could both see the strength and skill in the other. Neither Rey nor Ben would refer to the other as a "friend", but that's what they were without a doubt. On her dorm wall, Rey had more photos of her with Ben at debate tournaments or Ben's band's various gigs than she had with Finn, her best friend since elementary school. Even with Rey's new found fondness for Ben, Finn still felt uneasy the few times he had been around the broody young man. He certainly didn't think he was a good match for his cheerful friend, Poe. Rey was determined though.
As much as Poe wanted to pin the blame on Rey, he knew this disaster wasn't completely her fault. He had readily agreed. He had not been supposed to know who she was setting him up with and when she first brought up the idea of a "blind date" Poe had not been thrilled. It was when Finn opened his big mouth and blurted out that Rey wanted to pair him off with Ben Solo that Poe's interest was suddenly piqued. Finn had been trying to support Poe's opposition to the date, but his reveal had the opposite effect, not that Poe would ever let Finn know that. Even so, Poe could probably blame Finn for this mess. If Finn hadn't mentioned "Ben Solo" there would have been no way in hell that Poe would have agreed to the date. But, of course, it had to be Ben Solo . Damn Rey and her damn psychic sense and super awareness.
Sure, Poe had heard Rey list off the many flaws Ben had before, but there was just something about him that enticed Poe. To begin with, he was gorgeous. Poe had trouble keeping his eyes off the other man. He was also blindingly smart and incredibly witty. Poe had attended debate tournaments more than once under the ruse of "supporting Rey". So, when the opportunity to go on a date with the Ben Solo was just handed over to him, how could he possibly have resisted?
Poe wished he had somehow found a way. This date had been a disaster from the very start.
This was all Rey's fault. There was no doubt in Ben's mind. It was Rey's fault. She was the one to come up with the stupid idea for this stupid date. She was the one to set said stupid date into motion. She was the one to convince Ben to agree to go on this stupid date. She was the one to notice the stupid way that he had been stupidly looking at stupid Poe Dameron. (She had accused him of pining! Pining! ) So, yes, it was all Rey's fault.
This date was a disaster. It had just started out awkward. Ben had expected that, but he had also expected that they would get more comfortable as the afternoon went on. That had not happened. They struggled to find shared interests and when they did manage to stumble upon a topic they were both familiar with, they had opposing opinions. Now, it was like they were walking on eggshells around each other. It didn't help that the barista at the counter kept eyeing Poe. It certainly didn't help that the couple in the corner kept glaring at them either, homophobic idiots.
Ben was quite certain that he'd never felt more uncomfortable in his life. He could just tell that Poe felt as uncomfortable (maybe even more so) and that made everything even worse.
Well, this was just another failed date to add to the list. If Ben could figure out some polite way to extract himself, he would jump at the opportunity.
Ben looked up at the jingling sound of the bell announcing a new customer at the cafe. He was a tall guy wearing a business suit. He looked positively smarmy. Ben watched the newcomer, only vaguely registering whatever Poe was saying (okay, yes, he was being rude, but really, Poe had to realize by now that this date was a bust too). Oh yes, the man was definitely smarmy. He rattled off some complicated coffee order and when the teenage girl asked him to repeat it, the man acted as if it was an absolute burden . He tapped his foot irritably, obviously impatient, as the girl hurried to make his drink. She handed it to him with a forced smile. The man took one sip before grimacing and then slamming the to-go cup down on the counter.
"This is disgusting. This isn't what I ordered. I'm not paying for that."
The girl was flustered. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir-"
"There's no way in hell I'm paying for that shit," the man sneered and marched towards the door with a too-loud mutter of "stupid cunt".
"What an asshole," Ben said loudly.
"What a real piece of shit," Ben heard a voice near him say at the same time.
It was Poe.
Ben turned to the other man, a bit sheepish at having been caught not paying attention to his date, but also intrigued by their similar reactions.
Poe was shaking his head. "Hey!" he called out in the direction of the counter. The barista girl looked up at him. "Your name's Sarah right? Sarah? Well, that guy's a jackass and you're worth 10 million of him. Just FYI."
Ben marveled at the other young man. He was trying to make her feel better. He was reaching out to a complete stranger and assuring her of her worth. This was what he had heard about Poe Dameron. He was awestruck by it.
Poe turned back to Ben. "Sorry," he said shyly, "I just can't stand it when people act like that. What gives them the right to be such priveleged arseholes? Even if she did mess up his order, he shouldn't have treated her like that. It's disgusting."
"Yeah, it's revolting is what it is."
Poe's face showed clear surprise at Ben's agreement. "You really think so?"
Ben looked at him with his best 'well, duh' face. "Of course, I do. Anyone with any plain human decency doesn't act like that." A deep frown sat upon his face, but then a chuckle escape his lips.
"What?" Poe asked, curious.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about how Phasma, my friend, would have reacted to that." Ben laughed again. "She would have destroyed that guy, ripped him to absolute shreds."
Poe laughed too. "I'm sure Rey would have too"
"Oh, definitely. You should have seen her when she met my mom. The two of them should not have been allowed in the same room together. It was an overwhelming amount of feminism in there."
Poe laughed again, Ben liked the sound of it. "Your mom's a feminist?"
"You bet she is. She might as well be the original feminist. I mean, I think it's great, I really do. She can just be a bit much sometimes. She's involved in planning and organizing a lot of different events, marches, protests, and the like. Not just for gender equality either. She gets all fired up about a lot of different causes." Ben pulled out his phone and started flicking his finger across the screen as he continued to talk. "The year I came out she was so determined to show her support for me that she went as far as to march in a Pride Parade." He smiled down at his phone screen before turning it towards Poe. "She got real into it."
A wide smile broke out on Poe's face as he looked at Ben's phone. There was a photo of an older woman, probably in her late 50s. Her hair was greying on the edges showing signs of age, but she was surrounded by vibrant LGBTQ youth. She was covered head to toe in rainbows. She was wearing a rainbow bandanna around her head, rainbow earrings, a rainbow shirt proclaiming "Proud Mom", and a long rainbow skirt. She was carrying a rainbow gay pride flag and holding up a sign, the words not clear in the photo.
"Yeah," Poe chuckled softly, "She may have been overdoing it just a bit." He smiled at Ben who was smiling back at him. "But hey, it's great to know she's supportive right? The most important thing for parents to do is be loving and accepting of their kids. She's just a bit more active about it."
"Yeah, she likes to be involved. I've been at more than one protest event with her."
"You go too?" Poe hadn't imagined Ben Solo to be the type of guy who decked himself out in rainbows and went out marching.
"I've gone to quite a few events. My mom invited my band to play at an event she organized one time and since then we get invited to go to a lot of stuff. My parents were both really involved in current events and political activities and protest and all that so I've been involved since I was pretty young really. They're for important causes and you meet some really great people. You should go to one sometime. A march or something. Rey came with Phasma and I to the March for Women, you should join us next time."
"Yeah," he answered excitedly, "totally!" Poe smiled brightly at Ben and it softened to a smaller grin. "And you said you play in a band?"
Ben rolled his eyes. "Yes, I play in a band. We're not worth shit."
"Well obviously someone thinks you are! I'm coming to your next performance!"
"Oh really?"
"Yes, really! Or maybe I can just show up to your rehearsal."
Ben shook his head. "No. You're not going to either."
"Oh, come on. I'm not going to judge. I just want to hear you play. It doesn't have to be anything formal. If you want to even the playing field then I'll bring along my guitar and you can force me to play some poor little ditty for you too. Come on."
Ben gave Poe a look, half glare, half smile. "You play guitar?"
Poe scoffed and answered playfully, "What? You haven't heard of the great Poe Dameron?"
"No, I haven't. BUt I get the feeling I'm about to."
Ben's phone suddenly buzzed, still in Poe's hand. Poe jolted and handed back the phone. "Oh, Sorry."
Ben glance down at the screen. "Crap," he groaned. "I was supposed to meet up with my dad 20 minutes ago, not that I want to,"
"Oh, sorry! Go! I should be going to. I'm supposed to be tutoring somebody. I completely forgot. Good thing your dad texted you. We probably never would have gotten out of her otherwise." Poe chuckled and stood up, grabbing his jacket that was haphazardly thrown across the back of his chair. "I need to go to so I'm not late, but I'll see you soon, right?"
Ben watched Poe a little breathlessly. "Yeah, sure," Ben was surprised by Poe's earnestness to see him again, pleasantly surprised.
"Okay then. I'm off and you should be too. Don't keep your dad waiting forever,"
"Yeah, yeah," Ben watched as Poe headed towards the cafe door. "Hey, Poe!" he called out. The other man turned back to him with an adorable smile. "We rehearse on Thursday nights."
Poe's eyes lit up at Ben's words and ginormous grin spread across his face. "Alright then,"
"I'll text you the address."
"You better! I'll be there!" Poe gave Ben one last smile before heading out the door.
Ben sat there, a bit stunned by how suddenly things had turned around. What had even just happened?
He should go meet his dad. He would, but first, he had to go thank Rey. After all, this whole thing was her fault.
AN 2: Thanks for reading! Please review below! Favorite? Follow?
If you like KnightPilot check out my other KnightPilot oneshot: "For You"! More KnightPilot soon to come!
Many parts of the fic were not what I originally planned out. It had a mind of its own. I ended up falling in love with a lot of aspects of this alternate universe so I am looking forward to eventually writing a few more fics set in this world. I'd like to write about Rey and Ben becoming friends, about Leia being a "Proud Mom" and her attending Pride Parades because I find that effing hilarious, and some of Poe/Ben's future dates and jam sessions!