This is more of a drabble then anything, just me trying to get in the feel of the ship for something bigger I'm planning. Thought I'd post it anyway; hope you like it.


"You weren't joking, were you?"

Poe had looked into that stormtrooper's eyes and thought, damn, there's no way one of the guys in these plastic garbage suits could possibly think like that, but here he is, and here Finn is, and the here they're in is the resistance base.

"About what?"

Finn is twitchy, always looking from side to side like he thinks someone here is going to suddenly care where he's from. That, or he thinks the First Order is going to swoop down on them and swoop down with bird talons to carry them all off one by one. Poe can hardly blame him for the latter.

"When we met. You said you were freeing me because it was the right thing to do."

Finn's gaze finally focuses on Poe. There's something about this guy, about the way all that nervousness melts away when he knows what he's doing, that sets Poe on edge, but maybe on edge isn't the term he wants, because it's a good on edge, a feeling that makes him want to walk along a cliff for the rest of his life.

"Yeah, I said it? So what?" So defensive.

"I know you said it," he replies, smiling despite himself. He smiles easy, he's always known that, all those girls he accidentally charms know that, but damn if this stormtrooper turned rebel doesn't make his smile bigger and brighter than he can ever remember. "I'm asking if you meant it."

"I needed a pilot."

"That's what I told you," says Poe, countering easily. "But you didn't even think of it until I said it, did you?"

Finn is done parroting his words and crosses his arms, head tilted. "You want me to have done it because it was right, don't you? Well you're in luck, Dameron."

Poe can't stop himself from clapping Finn on the back. It's an old habit bred of camaraderie, but camaraderie isn't what he wants with Finn.

"I'm not really in luck," he says.

Finn's new found composure slips instantly, gone as soon as it came. "But you asked if I meant it and I said-"

"I know you did," he says. "But that's not all I want."

"And what is it you want?"

When Poe looks back on this moment he can't remember if they were in the base with all the beeping machines that kept the rebellion's heart beating or if they were outside where the wind cut into your face no matter where you stood, only that his fingers were pressed to his old jacket when he kissed Finn.