First attempt at a Star Wars fanfic! I started writing this as a way to release some stress from work. Due to a heavy workload, I will probably only update about once a week or every other week. But, do feel free to leave feedback, especially when it comes to characterization! Rating is due to some strong language and potential sexual innuendo, but there's nothing explicit in terms of violence and sex.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, its dialogue, nor do I own any other pop culture references in here that may appear. Also, the dark side coffee t-shirt is real. Brisco sells it on Amazon.
"He was clearly fit, and he struck her as rather handsome in his own way with his strong, dark features and intense brown eyes. Raising an eyebrow, she read his description. "Medieval Indiana Jones. Aspiring knight. Darth Vader fanboy. Looking for a woman who can kick my ass in sword fighting and isn't afraid to tell it like it is." "
Chapter 1: "It's Good to See You Again"
Rose panted as she reached Supremacy Hall for her archaeology class. Her legs were cramping due to her sprinting from the other side of campus, where the science and engineering buildings were located. Her lab orientation took much longer than anticipated, but she did not want to be late to class on the first day of the fall semester.
A pat on her shoulder startled her and she shrieked as she turned around to face a tall man with playful mischief in his brown eyes. "Finn! Why did you do that to me?" she exclaimed as she teasingly swatted his arm.
Finn laughed as he pulled his petite girlfriend into a bear hug, "Finally caught you today. Is Rey joining us or not? She hasn't answered any texts today."
"She forgot her phone at home and neither of us had time to get it. I saw her in the aerospace engineering class earlier. She told me to tell you and Poe that she has a lab conflict with the course and can't take it with us this semester after all," Rose responded as they walked into the lecture hall and settled into their seats.
Rose and her roommate, Rey, were both engineering students at Coruscant University, and Rey introduced her adoptive brother, Finn, to her last year. Poe, Rey and Finn's brother, was one of the Teaching Assistants for this archaeology course. Poe had been rather persistent in encouraging the three of them to take the course this semester.
The lecture hall fell quiet as a slender woman with bright purple hair walked onto the podium and turned on the projector to display a powerpoint displaying the course's title: "Archaeology 205: Archaeologies of War and Conflict." She began to speak, "Good afternoon everyone. Welcome back. I hope you all had a good summer. I'm Professor Amilyn Holdo..."
After introducing herself, she introduced the three graduate teaching assistants, who each stood up and waved as she called their names, "...Phasma Parnassos focuses on the frontier armies of the Roman Empire through Late Antiquity, Ben Solo studies the military material culture of the Medieval Mediterranean, and Poe Dameron, who is also my student, is about to begin his dissertation discussing portrayals and material evidence of Mayan warfare..." She continued on with the course introduction and lecture.
At the end of the class, after most of the students departed, Holdo noticed a couple, a small Asian woman and an African American man wearing matching Hogwarts-themed shirts, talking with Poe about weekend plans. She recognized the man as being one of the undergraduates in the anthropology department, but she could not remember his name.
She caught Poe's attention, and he greeted her, "Dr. Holdo, this is my brother, Finn Dameron, and his girlfriend, Rose Tico. They'll be in my section this semester. I've told them all about your projects."
"It's nice to meet you both," Holdo remarked politely and then sighed, "Poe, you should avoid including family and friends in your section. There will be questions about your objectivity when it comes to grading."
Poe began to protest, but Holdo cut him off, "I believe Phasma still has space in her section on Tuesday afternoon. Finn and Rose, does that work for you two?" The pair nodded, with Rose wearing a flustered expression and Finn turning more somber.
"It's good to see you again, Finn," Phasma stated drily as the couple passed her while exiting the lecture room. Finn rolled his eyes and smacked his forehead in exasperation once he passed her. Of course, he got thrown into a section with Phasma. Of course.
...
Ben threw his apartment door open in frustration and tossed out the contents of his satchel on the dining table. As he went to grab a snack bar from the cabinet, he shoved the refrigerator in anger and kicked its door as he left the kitchen.
After Holdo's class, he met with his advisor, Snoke, about his dissertation progress. Snoke had once again thrown out a chapter that took him five months to complete after many revisions and suggested a completely different topic for a new chapter. He would have to spend another three or four months of research and analysis for that topic alone, setting his graduation goals back yet another semester. On top of that, Snoke insisted Ben spend the weekend in the archaeology laboratory to do additional analysis. Ben had no choice but to comply, otherwise his funding would be pulled and he did not want to ask his parents for extra assistance or take out loans.
Hux walked into the apartment some time later to find his roommate Ben's books and notes covering the dining table in addition to the sink still full of dishes that hadn't been washed since yesterday. He rolled his eyes and opened the refrigerator, eager to dive into the veal marsala that he had picked up from a local restaurant the night prior. It was a treat to himself for reaching his latest project goal with his history dissertation on accounts of Roman military strategy.
And... The interior was covered in a brown liquid that also covered the box holding his dinner. He opened the box to find that the liquid had seeped through the cracks onto the veal. He threw the box into the trash and seethed. He knew exactly what happened. After all, his roommate had quite the temper.
Hux noticed that Ben's door was open, and he stormed over to the doorway. Ben ignored his redheaded roommate blocking the doorway, instead focusing on tying up his gym shoes.
"Kriff, Ben, you put the blender in the refrigerator without the top again! Why the hell can't you put your protein shakes in bottles like a normal person?! You ruined my dinner! You're cleaning this up this time!" Hux shouted, his face turning red.
Ben shoved past Hux and snapped without looking at him, "I'll do it after I get back from the gym."
Hux scowled as Ben left the apartment, and he noticed Ben's phone sitting on the dining table. An idea rose in his head, and he entered the last passcode he remembered for the phone. It still worked. He pulled out a chair, and his cat, Millicent, jumped up onto his lap.
"Well, Millicent, let's do this," he smirked as he scratched the tabby's head while typing into the phone with his other hand.
...
Rey plopped on her couch with her phone once she returned from her lab, finally finished for the day. She couldn't believe that she forgot her phone today of all days, and of course she had about around 20 frantic texts from her brothers in addition to several Tinder notifications. She took a sip of her beer, and responded to Finn and Poe before checking her Tinder account.
She had downloaded the account a few days prior on a whim while she was drunk and alone at the apartment. Poe was out of town for a conference and Finn went to Rose's parents house for dinner. Without any projects to do, she was extremely bored and decided to see what Tinder was like. And, she honestly did not get the praise. Most "matches" ignored her. She got some dick pictures and crude comments. She also got at least one "match" that would not quit texting her every ten minutes. Did he not have a life? Blocked. She'd look at some more profiles and give the app one more day before she deleted it for good. Why not.
The next profile she swiped on included a strange mixture of pictures. They certainly were unique compared to the garden-variety gym selfie or majestic travel photo. The first image showed a tall figure in a navy masked uniform with a bamboo sword. She assumed that he must enjoy martial arts like her if he took kendo. The next photo included him supervising an excavation trench while wearing a black t-shirt streaked with mud that said "Come to the Dark Side We Have Coffee." The final picture had him facing the camera with a deadpan expression on his face as he held a French bulldog with its tongue sticking out of its mouth.
He was clearly fit, and he struck her as rather handsome in his own way with his strong, dark features and intense brown eyes. Raising an eyebrow, she read his description. "Medieval Indiana Jones. Aspiring knight. Darth Vader fanboy. Looking for a woman who can kick my ass in sword fighting and isn't afraid to tell it like it is."
The description struck her as so random and odd that it made her chuckle. Was this guy really being serious? He wasn't her usual type, but he would probably be an entertaining date. After all, his nerdy confidence gave him a certain kind of appeal in addition to his looks. She swiped right. It was a match. Kylo Ren. Interesting name.
"Nice t-shirt, Kylo. Is there one for the light side? ;-)" She sent the message before she could second-guess her text and put away her phone for the night.
...
Hux played on the Tinder app for a while longer, so he could warm up the application before Ben deleted it. "Kylo" already had several matches, with one of them messaging him quickly. Much to his surprise. Posing as his roommate, Hux sent a response to a woman calling herself "Rey" before turning off the phone and putting it back in its place.