Note: Prepare yourself. Nothing graphic, I swear. Just... read on.
VII
Downtime
It seemed that everything started with the third glass of whiskey, Rey noted wistfully in some sub-conscious part of her brain. The Naboo pub Poe had taken them to was just like the rest of the planet, full of light and plants and just absolutely stunning. She watched as the pilot downed what appeared to be his fourth glass. She wasn't much of a drinker, but after a third glass of some of the strongest alcohol in the galaxy, she noticed that the world was brighter. The fading sun glinted through the windows. The three sat a regal-looking table, the two men sitting across from her. Rey admitted that she had never seen a place where half the world was made of gold. Poe just shrugged and downed yet another glass.
"Okay, so, I have a question I think you all need to hear" Finn gushed, his words spewing from his mouth in a great burst like a fast-moving river. He was having some trouble holding his liquor down, as his hand holding the cup of ale was jittering violently.
"We're listening" Rey said, and downed the golden liquid in her cup. She appreciated the burning in her throat. It helped her relax. Already, she could feel herself sinking into a low-grade euphoria.
"Who do you love?" he said, half-singing it in a unnatural high-pitched voice. Finn broke out into a spasm of giggling. Poe slowly rolled his head and shot at a glance at Rey.
"I think you should go first" Poe suggested. Rey was taken aback slightly. The image of Elena tied up in her underclothes sprang into her mind. She tried her hardest to suppress the inevitable blush that would follow.
"Um... I don't, uh, love people. No! I,I mean that I don't love people like that!" She felt her cheeks grow warm. The two men burst out in peals of laughter that were lost in the pub's din. After the laughter subsided, her gaze turned to Poe.
"How about you, flyboy? Chasing anybody? Jessika, maybe?" She laughed a little too loudly. Poe's eyes grew cloudy. There was a beat of silence between the three friends.
"First off, Jessika isn't into men. And yes, I guess there is someone I've had my eye on for quite some time now" he admitted. The two watched him intently. Finn sloppily gestured with his free hand.
"Well c'mon then! What does she look like?" he said. Poe sighed and turned to face Finn.
"My interest isn't a she." There was another short silence as the pilot's words sunk in.
"Poe? You're..." Rey was groping for the word she wanted to use. It was on the tip of her tongue, but Poe finished the sentence for her.
"Gay. I'm gay. I like men. And I like one man in particular." He turned to Finn. "There is something about you, Finn, that... makes me feel good. You make me smile and happy and I can't thank you enough for it. I gave you the jacket because I knew you were special, from the moment I saw you." He forcefully set his drink down. "Force, I love you." Tears began to form at the corners of Poe's eyes.
After a second of silence, Finn took Poe's hand and held it in his. "You wanna know something, Poe?" Poe looked at Finn. "I was just about to say the same thing." Without warning, Finn leaned in close. The two locked lips, kissing long and deep. After several seconds, they broke off, cheeks red. They turned to look at Rey. Her jaw was dropped, nearly to the floor, and her eyes were bulging.
"You can pick your jaw up" Poe said. Her mouth snapped shut with a swiftness that Poe had never seen.
"By the Force... I did not expect that" Rey said. Finn shrugged a little, then drank from his glass. After setting it down, his face fell.
"What is it?" Poe asked.
"I just... thought about Han. It's been almost a year since... Starkiller." The table grew quiet in remembrance for the fallen hero. Rey thought of the tired, grinning old man who still had a lot of life left in him. After a second, Poe raised his glass.
"To Han Solo, one of the greatest men I've ever known" The other two raised their glasses and drank. Rey glanced over at a dingy little chrono hanging on the wall.
"It's getting late, guys. I think we should start heading back to base" she said. The three heroes downed the rest of their drinks in a jiffy. They stood up, wobbling all the way to the door. Rey didn't realize how hard it was to walk when the whole world was blurry and spinning. The three made it out of the door into the cool Naboo night. She wildly raised her arm to flag for a speeder cab. After a minute, one stopped. Rey, Finn, and Poe crammed inside the backseat.
"What is your destination?" a sleek silver droid driver asked.
"Theed Palace" Poe replied.
"Please swipe your credit chit" the droid asked. Poe fumbled around in his pockets until he found his credit chit. He swiped it in the scanner. The droid took a moment to process the transaction.
"Thank you for choosing Theed Speeders. Enjoy your trip" it responded. The speeder lurched forward, heading for the palace.
Several minutes later, The cab dropped them off just outside the palace's main gate. Rey took one step out of the speeder and nearly lost her footing. Kark, had she really had that much to drink? She looked over to see Poe and Finn get out.
"Imma, imma tink Irm goiing too bedd" she slurred. Poe nodded in understanding.
"We're going to bed as well" he said. The three entered the palace quietly. Navigating through a maze of corridors, they made their way through the palace, trying not to disturb anybody who might've been asleep. Rey made it to the door to her quarters. And only the door. She stood there, blankly staring at the durasteel door for nearly a minute before pitching headfirst into the floor, out cold. Ahead of her, Finn and Poe made it to Poe's room.
"Well? Now what?" Finn asked as they entered. Poe smiled.
"Now the real night begins" he whispered huskily as the door shut behind them. He took off Finn's jacket and shirt gingerly, admiring his toned abs. Gently, he traced a finger down the long, curving scar on Finn's back. The weeks he had spent in the infirmary, hoping that his crush would wake up. He felt Finn shiver underneath his touch.
"It's okay" Poe said as the two of them started moving slowly towards the bed, undoing both of their pants. "Tonight's going to be a good night."
The night was blacker than the depths of hell. Raindrops cascaded down in torrents upon her. Rey stood her ground, standing defiantly in front of him. He glowered at her, and Rey could feel the poisonous daggers of his stare piercing her very soul. Their lightsabers cast a fiery glow on the rain-stricken ground. She raised her lightsaber to defend herself. Before their swords could clash, a dark, raspy voice that she had never heard before filled the air.
"Are you afraid?" it taunted. "You should be, for you will lose everything dear to you. I will see to that."
A shadow fluttered behind him. Rey watched as a single beam of red energy pierced through his chest. He slumped forward off the blade. The shadow materialized into a man. Rey took one look at the thing that murdered Kylo Ren and screamed at the sight. A chorus of a thousand shrieking voices joined her:
KORAHMATAHKORAHRHATAHMAHDANYAHKEELAHKORAHRHATAHMAHSEYLOKEELAHKORAHRHATAHMAHKORAH
A beam of scorching green light enveloped them, and she was gone.
