Warnings: Torture and alcohol.
Word Count: 6026
A/N: My first Star Wars fic :) It takes place before the Poe Dameron comics but if he already had Black Squadron. I have four parts planned. Let's see where this takes us.
Honestly I could not have done it without my friend, Dylan. I was stuck on facts and details for a month and he unstuck me! He did most of the hard work, so thank you very much. I'm gonna tag kaylaarann so she can let him know I appreciate the help.
A special thanks to the-armitage-hux for the title :)
I totally didn't spend 4 hours researching ship models until I found one that would work with how I imagined a scene happening...
I also found art on the BB unit I needed :D links on Tumblr sweetimagines
The strategy center is already full and debriefing is taking place when Poe walks in, BB-8 rolling at his heel. He's not usually late, but he lost track of time working on his X-Wing.
Leia, exactly across from him on the other side of the holo table, is updating the fleet on the low-fuel situation the Resistance finds itself in. The General grounds one too many squadrons for the time being, but ensures them it won't be for long.
Dameron's gaze falls behind Leia, where Y/N Y/L/N stands, almost concealed by the low light. Nonetheless, almost healed bruises are visible under her eye and dried blood covers a few cuts on her lips. He recognizes the clothes she's wearing: it's official uniform, Connix's if he's not mistaken, and he wonders if it were willingly lent or if she stole it from the laundry.
He has seen her around base for the past few days, but the last place he expected to run into her is in an official briefing session. Her presence has everyone on edge, specially him. A look of disconcert can't be hidden on his face.
Y/N stands with a stiff posture, hands behind her back, most likely imitating some of the officers. She's silent and motionless, simply absorbing any and all information.
Poe trusts General Organa; still, this is one time he can't back her play. He can't help but wonder what's the amount of credits it would take for Y/N to sell the Resistance for.
His thoughts muffle all sounds and his eyes focus only on the stranger. He only comes back to his senses when Leia snaps her finger in front of him. That's when he realizes it's just the three of them in the room.
"I take it you didn't pay attention to a word I was saying, Commander." Organa sounds more amused than offended by that.
Dameron's jaw tightens before he mutters an apology. His uncomfortableness around Y/L/N is evident. He can't believe how deep under his skin Y/N gets, given that he knows not much but rumors about her.
Leia fills him in on the mission but all he hears is. "You and Y/N." He can't believe Leia is deploying her on the mission that will literally dictate the future of the Resistance. The General picks up on his dismay.
"Is there a problem?" She's hoping he'll deny.
"Y/N's a thief. She can't be trusted" His words come out harsher than he meant.
"Smuggler." Leia corrects him sternly. Her voice firmer than ever before with him. "May I remind you that so is my husband." She could've added "war hero" to the mix, but it seems as if Poe got the message.
He bites the inside of his lips not to curse at himself for not thinking before speaking. All the while, Y/N stands in the same spot, motionless, silent and unaffected - for some reason that irritates Dameron even more.
The General dismisses Y/N. Poe is sure that it's because she doesn't want to expose her to further humiliation. The smuggler girl nods before leaving.
"Haven't you stolen for us?" Organa asks rhetorically.
"For the Resistance, not personal gain." Poe sees a look in Leia's eyes that is very often there, of knowing that something is dangling in front of his eyes and he's not seeing it.
"Desperate needs call for desperate measures, Commander." Although she has a good point, Dameron can't help but want to take the lead.
"With all due respect, General, I don't need her. Black Squadron can handle this." He's more than confident in his persuasion skills and any of his pilots can fly a cargo ship, but Leia doesn't entertain the idea.
"She's the one with the connection. All I need from you is to make sure she and the cargo come back safe." Leia emphasizes bringing Y/N back safe and Poe wonders if it has to do with the smuggler's black eye.
"You're dismissed, Commander. Get a good night sleep, you leave tomorrow at oh-five-hundred-hours." The General doesn't give him any more room to argue, not that he had any more reasons.
BB-8 stares at the black and blood-orange YT-2400 ship from a safe distance - scared it may fall apart on top of him - beeping anxiously at Poe, who's standing beside him, wearing civilian clothes and carrying a jacket for when they're in the cold hyperspace.
"Yeah. I know, buddy." Dameron inspects the ship a bit closer, mouth agape, wondering how it even lifts from the ground.
He's startled by a round droid - just like BB-8, except blue details instead of orange, and it's considerably more well kept than the ship - quickly running up the boarding ramp past him. As he turns around, Y/N is walking towards him.
Her hair is tied up in a bun with a few stray hairs framing her face, and she seems to be wearing her own clothes now. Ocean blue, tight, high waisted pants paired with a beige long sleeved blouse that's secured inside her pants, leather gloves with the fingers cut out, black ankle boots with no heels and to finish off, blaster secured on her right leg.
Her eyes don't leave her datapad as she strides, studying one last time the R-5 grid coordinates. She's been there enough times to know it like the back of her hand, but the First Order is most likely monitoring the Kamat Krote trade route, forcing Y/N to deal directly on the planet. Landing there adds it's own risks, but they don't have much of a choice. "Shall we, Commander?"
"You're joking, right?"
"I don't know what you mean." He's not sure if she's playing dumb or just really doesn't see the state of her ship.
"You can't expect me to fly this old piece of junk." He points at a few places where the paint is chipping from blaster shots and scratches. Poe's palms sweat nervously just by wondering how it got that way - not that his X-Wing comes back from a mission in much better shape.
"I don't. I only expect you to be inside it when I fly it." Y/N knows the ship doesn't look like much from the outside but she has more important things to worry than a paint job.
Poe reluctantly sits on the copilot chair - wishing he could escort with his fighter - noticing the modified dashboard. Y/N has adjusted it so that she does't need a copilot at all.
Y/L/N joins Poe once she locked the boarding ramp. She slides on a sherpa denim jacket full of pockets before sitting. Poe wonders if it's to take away attention to the ones inside. It seems that's where she keeps the important stuff, like her vibro-knife.
"Welcome on board the Pursuit, Commander." Y/N smirks at him.
Y/N grips the stick and slowly takes off the ship, hovering above D'Quar for a while until they get clearance to jump. Dameron's only hope at this point is that the ship holds together in light speed, looking at her punching the coordinates to Korriban. In no time, the Resistance base is far behind them and streaks of light ahead.
Y/N takes the ships out of light speed once BB-6 beeps they're orbiting the edge of Stygian Caldera. She slowly guides them around until they reach their destination and she makes their way down the planet's surface. Y/L/N's a much smoother pilot than Poe anticipated from the ship's state.
He studies the details of the formerly Sith governed planet. Despite it's burning red color, it's rather cold. The rocky deserts, mountains, canyons and dry riverbeds take over most of the surface. Between a few tombs and some ruins, there's a small town. It's almost beautiful if you look over the dark facts of it's past.
Y/L/N lands on the first flat surface she finds. It looks man-made, to serve as a private docking bay. Her descent is so light it feels as if they are still in the air. To Poe, it's a contradiction due to the ship's conservation state - or lack thereof. He was expecting a crash-and-burn landing. At least.
Dameron slides on his jacket as they start walking towards the center of the town, both droids at their feet, when a little Theelin/Human hybrid child with pinkish skin and hair runs towards them. Poe unholsts his blaster, not at the girl but at whom may show up with her. He's been in too many ambushes because of kids not to be eerie about it to begin with.
He notices the calm manner Y/N is in and finds it odd, expecting a smuggler to be twice as paranoid as him. With no processing time, the little girl's arms are around Y/N's neck and her feet flying in the air.
"Hey, Aliha! You look great!" Y/N's now holding the girl at arms length and kneeling down to have a closer look.
That's when Poe sees the scars on Aliha's arm, consistent with the kinds he's used to seeing after a blaster shot. His stomach revolts at the thought of a child being shot, but that's the war they are in.
"Thanks to you. The bacta suit worked wonders." The little girl spins around to give Y/L/N's a proper look.
Y/N ruffles Aliha's hair and the girl runs back to her mother. Poe seems to be in shock with the thought of her doing something good. She likes the look of confusion in him. Y/L/N didn't quite hear it but it sounded as if BB-8 cursed at the Commander.
Not far from where they met Aliha, there is a forgotten Sith temple turned home to Alvaric Winccol, who, as far as Poe knows, is Y/N's supplier.
The guards stationed outside the walls escort them in without a word. Dameron is itching to question it, but follows Y/L/N lead.
They're guided through the temple into a common room transformed into an office. The guards instruct them to wait outside while they get clearance from their boss.
"You let me do all the talking. Ok, Commander?" She raises her eyebrows expecting understanding from him.
"Why wouldn't I?" Poe enjoys when people call him by the right tittle, but there's something about Y/N's tone that give him the impression she doesn't mean it to have any real importance.
"I know your reputation just as much as you know mine." She gives him a look.
"Maybe we have both been mislead?
"I hope not about everything." She winks and, before he can inquire further, they are allowed in.
Poe walks a little behind Y/N and they stop a few feet from a large desk set in the middle of the brightly lit room. On the other side of it, sits Alvaric, dressed in something between casual and armor, the gray locks in his long hair indicating his age and his face completely unreadable. His gaze fixated on Y/N but even though he's not looking directly at Poe, he knows the man is aware of his presence.
"Y/N Y/L/N. Didn't think I'd see the graces of you anymore." His voice is deep and raspy - probably to do with the scar on his throat - but there's a hint sympathy on it.
"Why is that?"
"I heard about the incident on your last shipment and now I can see the results of it." He points at the bruises on her face.
"It was nothing I couldn't handle."
"Is that so..." His gaze falls on the man behind her. "Why the bodyguard then?"
"Better safe than sorry."
"Well, kid. It pains me to say this, but we can't do business anymore."
"What?"
"We're aware of the First Order's methods of questioning... and we can't risk them knowing about our side trades..."
Poe's thoughts wonder at what they did to her.
"I'd never give any information. You know that."
The guards start surrounding them slowly and Poe doesn't like the odds, so he tries to get Y/N to back off.
"We should go." He points at the armed guards closing in on them.
"No!" She snatches her arm back and steps closer to the supplier. "Who smuggled you an air purifier when your wife was sick and the First Order denied you help?"
The man clenches his fist at having that used against him. Y/N doesn't have a choice. Leia is counting on her and she will play as dirty as she has to to get what she came for.
"Even if I wanted to help we don't have anything to spare."
"Cut the bantha poodoo." They both know he always has more than what the Order takes.
"Aliha... Who broke into a dreadnought to go after the bucket head who blasted your little girl?" She doesn't even add the fact that she also brought back a bacta suit to heal her wounds. "What did I ever ask in return?"
Silence takes over the room. The man gasps and unclenches his fists.
Poe chokes on his own words. Not once she tried to defend or explain herself in the times he was offending her. Now he realizes how wrong he was.
"I swear to you, the First Order has no clue who's my supplier." Her voice exumes conviction.
"Fine. But in the first sign of trouble, we're out for good." Alvaric agrees reluctantly. "I can supply you with food and weapons."
"We really need fuel."
"I don't have much. It will be enough to help, but you'll have to find another supplier."
"Thank you, Alvaric." She lets out a relieved breath. Poe is amazed at how she turned the situation around. He was sure she had signed their death sentence when she defied the guy. "If it's no bother we'd like to escort the cargo ourselves."
"The price is the same if you load it yourself."
She nods and pays him the credits for all of it. Poe realizes this can't have been paid by the Resistance. Y/N is covering the expenses herself.
They are escorted out where they'll collect their crates.
They load the last crate on the propulsion loadplate.
So you've been supplying the Resistance all along?" Poe is testing the waters for his real question.
"Since Han left, yes." Y/L/N doesn't like to think about that. She knows how worried Leia gets when he's off on a run, but after Ben, he just stopped coming back.
"What exactly happened on the last shipment?" Poe asks softly, not wanting to trigger anything.
Y/N knows he's been trying to find the right way of asking since Alvaric mentioned, but there's no right way of going about it.
"Long story." She wanted to leave it at that but Dameron's pleading eyes have a stronger effect on her than anticipated.
Y/N takes her ship out of light speed and, before she can prep for the next jump, a thin white and blue ship hovers not far from her. It doesn't show up on her sensors, making her feel something's not right. BB-6 comes rolling and bopping in the cockpit to confirm her suspicions.
"First Order? Are you sure?" Six beeps in confirmation.
"Kriff." The tractor beam pulls her ship towards the Carrion Spike. Her mind rushes to every possible outcome and none of them ends as she wants.
The blinking light in her dashboard indicates the ship is ready for the next jump and without thinking she presses it, but nothing happens. The ship goes dark a few seconds later .
"We lost control, Six." The realization of how screwed they are just hits.
Y/N can't have the Order getting their hands on any information about where's she's going.
Y/L/N types in a code on her datapad to protect whatever information the ship retains. That's an enhancement on tech security she thanks to DJ, as a way to get even for leaving her behind on a heist. Of course he didn't exactly offered to do it; obligated is more like it.
She smashes the datapad, so that only with a direct command on the ship the encryption will be reverted, then instructs BB-6 to hide, but the concerned droid won't move.
"I'll be fine. I've got my blaster." Y/L/N draws it. "You keep out of sight and whatever happens you get back to the Resistance." She pats the top of her droids dome head and nods her to go.
The sounds of metal being forcefully bent snaps her back into reality. She ducks on a hallway that gives her full view of the docking ramp although keeping her still a bit concealed.
She shoots at the first sight of the enemy but, unfortunately, misses the tall, old man with a gray mohawk, a terrible cocky mustache and a blue tattoo on the side of his forehead.
"That's not very hospitable, is it?" His voice just as boastful as his mustache. He hits Y/N with the back of his blaster and she falls unconscious.
Y/L/N wakes up unsure of how long it has passed, blinking to adjust at the light. She tries to reach for her face but the retrains on her arms don't allow it. Realization of where she is strikes with a hit of fear.
"Sleep well?" She hears her captor's voice in the dark corner of the room before he steps into the light.
"I'm Agent Terex. Pleasure to meet you."
"Y/N. I'd shake your hands, but..." She waves them as much as the cuffs allow and Terex chuckles.
"You know, I was just going to confiscate your illegals but then you had to go and shoot me, so I knew you were smuggling something important."
"After my men knocked you out, I found a hatch in the cargo hold. Do you know what I found there?"
Y/N remains silent and unaffected by his superior demeanor.
"Not very chatty, are you?" He plays with a few instruments on a metal table. "You will be."
She prepares herself for what's to come, completely sure she'll never rat.
"I found enough weapons to support a small army." He picks one of the sharpest tools and examines it close to her face in a way to intimidate her, but it doesn't work.
"I'm thinking to myself. What would a petty smuggler like yourself be doing with that many weapons?"
"A girl can never be too protected."
"No. You see. I think you're supplying this to the Resistance."
"That's ridiculous." She laughs.
"Then why else would your systems be so highly encrypted?" He brushes the blade on her cheek, threatening to cut but pulling back before it can draw blood. "Tell you what? You give me the location of the Resistance base and I keep this run between us."
When she refuses, he gives the clear signal to one of his men to "roughly persuade" her.
Y/N continues to deny answers. Relying on sarcasm and humor to keep going, but that only seems to egg Terex on until the point she's knocked out by the pain.
He slaps her awake, ready to continue his questioning. Again, she has no idea of how much time has passed, wondering if BB-6 managed to get back to the Resistance. Probably not, otherwise Terex would've said something before or after a punch.
This time Terex takes it upon himself to attempt at extracting answers from her. She takes he's not glad to have to get his hands dirty, but he's desperate, and that's something she has on her favor.
"I'm going to crack your encryption sooner or later. Why don't you do yourself a favor and end this now?"
"Good luck with that." Y/N grins, her teeth bloody from the cuts inside her lips.
Before he can punish her for another wrong answer, there's a knock on the door.
"Agent Terex. Capitan Phasma is holding for you." One of his men informs him.
"Excelent. I'll be right there."
Y/L/N studies the room once he leaves, planning her escape. It's not difficult to get out. She just hopes they'll have an escape pod she can take to get back on her ship.
He comes back with a smirk after the holocall.
"You'll be pleased to know General Hux himself demanded lead on your case. He will be here shortly." He straightens his uniform and smiles from the thought of the reward for catching a Resistance smuggler.
"Given the interrogation I conducted, they'll probably skip you right to Kylo Ren."
"You call this an interrogation?" She catches his attention. "You just made absurd assumptions and barely tickled me."
Terex gets offended by that and quickly towers over her with her own vibro knife in hand. He slices painfully slow from her collarbone to her armpit, a sick grim curl his lips up. The rush he gets from it is intense and Y/N realizes he's too used to people doing his dirty work for him.
But now that Terex got a taste of it, he can't stop. His next step is cutting through her shirt on her abdomen.Y/N bites down a scream and focuses on why she poked at him in their first place. Her fingers remove a pin from his uniform, so lightly he doesn't notice and she pretends to pass out from the pain.
He drops the dirty knife in the metal table, along with the other torture devices previously explored, and exits the cell. Y/L/N doesn't waste a single second and works her way out of the cuffs.
Y/N stands up but has to hold her weight on the wall until she gets used to the pain. She cleans the blade of her vibro knife and uses the handle to knock down the guard outside her cell.
Y/N pilots an escape pod back to the Pursuit and, in the exact moment the lights go back on, she realizes BB-6 managed to remain unseen by Terex. Once he left, she started working on regaining control of the ship, being eventually successful in freeing them from The Carrion Spike's power.
She jumps to a random system nearby just so she'll be gone before Hux arrives with the Supremacy. Six beeps that she needs medical attention, but all she cares about is making sure there's no way Terex can trace the ship.
Y/L/N sets the coordinates to the Resistance base and prepares herself to brief and apologize to Leia about her failure.
Dameron stops and holds gently on her shoulders, making her face him. Pity and concern tattooed on his face as his eyes dart down to where scars trace her skin. He wants to express how sorry he is for what she went through, but it seems no words can.
Her heart beats in the back of her throat as a hint of panic rushes through her. Y/N hasn't had time to deal with what happened as the Resistance still required her services. She never told anyone about it -except for Leia - the smuggler underestimated the effects torture had on her.
She doesn't have time to deal with it yet as BB-8 and BB-6 nudge at their shin and roll after something, making their eyes fall on the Pursuit.
There's a boy coming down the boarding ramp, carrying a sack on his back. Whatever it is, it doesn't belong to him.
"Son of a blaster." Y/N blurts out.
For a second, the boy paralyzes as he realizes he's been caught. He considers his options and goes with running away. Poe follows after him as fast as he can.
The boy takes path on alleyways only a local would know well enough to use as an escape route but Dameron doesn't let it stop him as he's quickly catching up to the boy's pace.
BB-8 rolls fast but on a different road. Y/N follows after the orange droid who's beeping about knowing the blueprint of the city enough to find a shortcut to where he reckons the thief is running to.
BB-6 stays behind as she's personally programmed by Y/N to care for the ship first in moments like this.
The Commander is breathless from the chase but he's so close to the boy that he pushes through. He makes a mental note to add more cardio to his daily work out and just as he's snapped back to reality, the boy takes a sharp turn on a corner. When Poe makes the same move, he's hit across the face with a scrap metal.
Dameron stumbles back and the boy turns around to sprint away. Without watching where he's going, he hits toes first on BB-8.
The droid shocks the thief, only enough to stun him and rolls over to Poe, beeping in concern.
"I'm alright, buddy." He pats the top of his droid's dome head.
Y/N grabs the sack and takes back what was stolen.
"Hyperdrive..." She reveals skeptical. Poe shares her disbelief. Of all the things to steal, that was certainly the least the was expecting. Specially from a child.
Before she has a chance to interrogate the boy, he's back on his feet and rushing away.
BB-6 is waiting for them at the Pursuit. She had loaded the ship as to keep all their cargo safe while they were gone. Y/N thanks her and asks for a diagnosis on the damage.
"Smashed what?" She drops the bag with the hyperdrive plate and runs to the cockpit. Poe and BB-8 enter the ship slowly.
"Yes, I'm fine, Six." Poe mutters at the questioning droid. But she doesn't take the answers, guiding him to the refresher so he can clean his bleeding nose. BB-8 is rolling behind them carrying the bag.
Dameron walks into the cockpit, head tilted back and a white towel now soaked and stained red.
Y/N's slouched down on the dashboard, face between her crossed arms. Broken pieces of metal scattered on the floor around her. Poe realizes she's unaware of his presence and coughs to warn her he's there.
Y/L/N raises her head and takes on the same stiff posture he saw on the strategy center back at D'Qar.
"He trashed the nav computer." Y/N runs her fingertips through her scalp in frustration for being stranded until it's operational again.
"A kid stealing a hyperdrive is one thing, but this... all of it. It's suspicious, sounds more like sabotage than thievery." Poe speculates.
"First Order?" She wants to make sure this is what he is insinuating.
"It's a high chance of it." Dameron doesn't want to believe as much as her. He doesn't know how to insure her that he'll never let what happened in her last shipment repeat itself.
That makes her heart race and she swallows dry. Y/N knows what she needs to make her mind stop running circles around the thought of being captured by the Order again.
"It will take BB-6 a few hours to fix it all." Six beeps in agreement. "Come on, Commander. I know a cantina."
Poe doesn't argue against it. He also needs a drink.
Y/N choses a high round table with two stools in a corner of the cantina, far from the crowd but still within eyesight of the band playing in the center.
"I'm gonna get us drinks." Poe is already half way towards the bar before Y/N can protest. Usually, she wouldn't allow anyone to choose for her, but the smuggler girl is tired and just wants to relax.
BB-8 finds a spot under the table and vigilantly looks around for any signs of danger.
"Corellian Whiskey. Really?" Her brows raise at the sight of the dark liquid inside the two glasses Dameron is carrying.
"When people buy you a drink it's complementary to say "thank you". At least that's what I hear..." Poe jokes, taking a sit across from Y/N and sliding one of the glasses to her.
"Thank you." She touches the rim of her glass to his, making a cheer. "It's just that if I knew you wanted Corellian alcohol, we would've stayed in the Pursuit."
"Why is that?" He swings at his drink, wincing from the contact on his split lip.
"I still got a bunch left from my last run home." Her words make Poe choke on his drink.
"No way you're Corellian." Disbelief displayed on his face.
"I'm insulted it's so hard to believe." Y/L/N takes a sip of her Whiskey. A mixture of relief and longing awake within her from the familiar taste.
"Speaking of insults..." He takes a more serious stance. "Why did you let me insult you?"
"I know the truth and if you do or do not doesn't stop me from doing my job."
"To be clear, your job is to sponsor the Resistance, not just steal and smuggle?"
"Yes and no. Don't get me wrong. I still keep a share of the money. I need to fuel the ship, eat, stuff. I also do my private heists."
"To help the little girl who was shot by the First Order."
She simply nods.
"Why aren't you WITH the Resistance then?"
"A wise man, and skilled slicer, once said to me: Live free, Don't Join."
Dameron looks at her, waiting for more context. He doesn't get it.
"Then he precoded to escape with OUR stolen goods while I took the fall..."
They both laugh at that before taking a swing at their glasses.
"Sorry if I don't take the words of a slicer for wisdom." Poe looks at his empty glass and instructs BB to get them a refil. The droid beeps that he's not a waiter but complies anyways.
"There you go again, Commander." Y/N really thought now he would know better than to jump to conclusions.
Poe doesn't understand why the deep disappointment in the smuggler's face bothers him as much as it does.
"You don't look down on Resistance mechanics or cooks. To you, they are all doing their part." She takes a breath to let her sentence sink in and BB-8 arrives with their drinks. "With us, you are so quick to judge. How do you know that what he was stealing wasn't beneficial to the Resistance?"
"Was it?" Poe can't manage more than that. He didn't see that level of defense even when he was going all out on her but at the first strike at someone else it makes her speak her mind. Dameron relates and respects it.
"Not exactly. It did cripple the First Order, though. But that's besides the point." Y/N swallows the full glass in one sip. "DJ has a good point no matter what he does for a living."
Poe considers all she's saying. Flying an X-Wing is not the only way to help the cause and the cause is not the only one worth fighting for - though to him it's still the most important.
"DJ fools himself that he's in some kind of gray area, but the truth is his actions affect others. Sometimes it's the Order, sometimes the Resistance." She takes a breath to let her sentence sink in. "I just make sure mine only affect the Resistance in a good way."
Dameron's still absorbing all the information, unable to speak.
"It's all about balance, Commander."
The song in the cantina stops and the silence makes Poe uncomfortable. He chugs his drink and makes his way to the stage. That's the brightest spot in the cantina but still dimly lit.
Y/N watches Dameron pick up a mandoviol and sit on the stool in front of the microphone. A few chords are played as he tunes it to his liking before clearing his throat and starting a song.
Poe sings the first verses and Y/N is taken aback by the pilot's ability to express sentiment through lyrics. The combination of his facial features and soft voice set shivers down her spine.
BB-8 holds out his lighter and she chuckles. Dameron lingers on the seat for a few seconds after the song ends and the crowd applauds. He takes a bow and returns to their table.
He sits - stumbles - back on the stool, leaning on the table with his forearm. The liquor has certainly crept up on him.
"That was gloomy, Commander." She raises her glass and he follows touching their glasses once more.
A chain slips from under his shirt, whose collar had gotten loose around his neck as the night progressed. She notices a ring entranced in it and wonders what it means, if it belongs to a partner, or worse: a lost one.
Her eyes travel up to meet his. Dameron's expression darkens as he takes a sip from the refil BB just got him. His fingers work on placing the chain back inside his shirt. It's obvious he doesn't want to talk about it.
The air suddenly gets denser and harder to breathe. Embarrassment flushes her skin red. "I should go check on the ship. BB-8, you with me?"
The droid beeps in agreement and before rolling his way out with her, he looks back for Poe's consent.
Just as BB-8 and BB-6 roll at her beeping that the ship is fully fixed, Poe tumbles up the boarding ramp.
"Ready to go, Commander?", she asks sardonically.
"Sure am, and you should stop calling me Commander." He makes his way to the cockpit - holding onto the walls.
Y/N catches him just as he slides down. "Maybe a bed is a better fit for you tonight, flyboy?"
He mumbles something she can't quite make up and shifts all his weight on her. He's much heavier than she anticipated.
His breath is hot on her neck as his head rests on her shoulder and she can smell the Corellian Whiskey he was having.
Y/L/N knows she can't carry him across the ship to the guest quarters as much as she wants to and the door to her own is just in front of them invitingly easier. She sighs before placing her hand on the keypad to unlock the door.
The door slides open with a swish and she drops him on her bed. He immediately relaxes, stretching out his muscles and yawning.
Y/N only manages to pull out his boots before he's snoring quietly. She covers him with a blanket.
Before exiting, she takes a moment to really look at him, unlike when he's awake there's peace and serenity in his features, not the usual worry and stress, not that those make him any less attractive - even if he was an ass, she's not blind - but sleep sets an alluring calmness to him.
BB-8 beeps her out of staring and a light blush appears on her cheeks. They make their way to the cockpit. Y/N types in the coordinates back to D'Quar and punches the hyperdrive, leaving with more than just what they came for.