Thank you for your sweet comments and thank you Sarah for helping me clean up the chapters.
Poe wondered if his experiment would actually work. Flipping through pages on Finn's new iPad, he checked each link and made sure each version of the experiment provided the same results.
Finn was in the living room, playing video games, and Rey was at the gym. Finn's headset would block most of the noise entering from the microwave, and Poe knew Rey would not be back for another hour. Wednesdays meant spinning along with Taekwondo practice.
Unwrapping the bar of soap Poe had Finn buy, he set it in the center of the microwave, on top of a large sheet of aluminum foil, and shut the door. Poe's hand smelled like cucumber and aloe vera, but he ignored the scent to punch the numbers into the panel.
Standing back, Poe watched proudly as the soap began to bubble and froth. The white bar foamed as it began unraveling. "Holy shit…" he whispered as the soap split and continued to expand. What was once a white bar was now a meringue-like mound.
Then, the foil began sparking and Poe's eyes widened. "Oh shit," he repeated as it caught fire. "Fuck!"
The microwave began smoking and more popping sounds ensued. Acting quickly, Poe leaped forward, unplugging the microwave. The fire quickly extinguished itself, leaving behind an acrid odor of burnt metal and soap. It was seconds before Finn ran into the kitchen, his hand covering his nose, and his eyes wide. BB-8 scampered past Finn and ducked beneath the couch. Finn gagged before holding his shirt up to his nose.
"What the hell?!" he shouted, fanning the air around him. "What did you do?"
"I don't know! I found an experiment on the internet-"
"Rey is going to blow her top!" Finn exclaimed as Poe ran to open the windows around the house, ignoring the flurries of snow that blew in.
The boyfriends flew through the house opening every window, and shouting at each other what their next step should be. "Poe, you've broken that microwave three times and Rey said the next time it broke, she'd chuck the remains at your head," Finn said as the smell seemed to grow worse.
"I did," Rey's voice sounded from the front door as she dumped her blue gym bag into the ground. Covered in sweat, Rey adjusted the black belt on her white Taekwondo outfit and surveyed the damaged kitchen, gagging before pinching her nose. Aside from the microwave, nothing looked harmed. Poe and Finn stared at her as she walked over to the broken machine and opened the door, pushing past the burnt remains of aluminum foil and soap. "Aluminum foil in a microwave… Poe, how did- what-" Rey shut her mouth, shaking her head; controlling her anger and nausea. She gagged again.
"It was an experiment on the internet. I put soap in a microwave," Poe explained, crossing his arms. Rey sighed as she continued to check the smoldering box.
"My guess is you busted the magnetron," she growled. "We're going to need a new, Poe-proof microwave." Standing, Rey picked the microwave up and moved to her bedroom, setting it down onto her desk. "I'll see if there are any parts on it that I can use. Otherwise, it's going to junk."
Returning to the kitchen, where Poe and Finn stood, Rey retrieved her car keys and sighed. "I can't think or see straight in this horrible smell. Good God, you two are going to kill me. I'll shower somewhere else," she said, looking into her gym bag for her spare set of clothes.
"Are you going to go to Maz's house?" Finn asked, referring to their old friend and benefactor. Rey shook her head.
"Maz is still in Japan. Everyone we know is still with their families because classes don't start till the fourth," she thumbed her chin and Finn pursed his lips.
"Well, my apartment is being fumigated. That's why I'm here. You could always go to… Kylo's house," he raised his eyebrows and Rey shook her head.
"No."
"Why not?" Poe asked and Rey scoffed.
"Because we barely know each other and it would be weird if I showed up to just take a shower at his house," she protested, but Poe was already shaking his head.
"You guys kiss and hold hands. That technically already counts as dating," he gave Rey a pointed looked. Rey stared at her friend and bit the the inside of her cheek.
"I can still chuck the microwave at you."
"Go shower. You're sweaty and starting to smell like dead microwave. I'll deal with the rest of cleanup, so go and spend the day with your boyfriend," Poe gave an uncertain laugh as Rey's piercing glare fell on him.
"He's not my boyfriend," she snapped.
"Hey, Kylo, it's Rey," Rey massaged her aching temples as she called Kylo from her car.
"Rey! How are you?"
"Well, Poe murdered our microwave, so now I need a place to shower and stay without feeling like I'm going to throw up every five seconds. I guess that means I feel terrible. Can I go over to your place?" she asked, cringing her eyes. There was a moment of silence before Kylo replied.
"Sure. I'm home right now. You can drop by any time you want."
Kylo opened his front door and saw a sweaty Rey standing before him in a Taekwondo outfit, her hair knotted in three different buns. She smelled like burnt plastic as well as cucumbers and her foul stench was almost perfectly masked by the massive glare on her face. "Hello, there," Kylo said and Rey offered him a small smile.
Kylo wore a red t-shirt and gray pajama bottoms. His dark hair was loose and what looked like a mini building block was stuck to his right hand.
"Hi," she pecked him on the lips before stepping inside Kylo's luxurious apartment. "I'm sorry I smell so bad. Aluminum and burnt magnetron aren't my usual choice in perfume," she joked. Kylo laughed, his hand moving to touch the collar of her uniform. The shirt split in the center and revealed a yellow sports bra.
Rey had never been inside Kylo's house before, but she deemed it too spacious for one person. The modern loft was full of natural light and a black leather sofa sat in front of a pristine coffee table and a large, curved TV. A white lamp with an abstract shade sat in the corner of the living room and the kitchen was sparkling stainless steel. Everything was state-of-the-art and everything seemed brand new.
Around the house were model planes and there even was a framed black and white photo of a young man with long, dark hair, standing beside a plane. Rey wondered if this was what Kylo meant when he said he enjoyed looking into planes and is grandfather's career in aviation.
"Your TV still has the plastic wrapping on it," she noted as Kylo closed the door behind them.
"What? Oh, yeah," Kylo rubbed the back of his neck and Rey looked at the dining room table that matched her own. It was littered with pieces of wood and a half built model plane sat on it along with a laptop and stacks of binders. "I might have broken the other one when I lost a client," he muttered. "Can I get you a drink? Or do you want to shower first?"
Rey chose to shower first and was led into the master bathroom. Kylo claimed it was the only one equipped with toiletries, but Rey found that she didn't believe him. The apartment was almost twice as large and five times as expensive as hers.
The bathroom was as luxurious as the rest of the house. Rey shed her uniform onto the marble floor, trying to interpret the labels on the multiple bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. He has more beauty products than me, she thought with a smile. That's kinda cute. The shower had two heads positioned above her and five all around. There was an entire control pad that dictated each motion the bathroom provided and Rey found herself resisting the urge to skip her shower and take the control pad apart to see how it worked around the entire bathroom. Probably Bluetooth enabled, she thought, pressing a button for hot water. Though… how expensive would it be to make an entire bathroom Bluetooth enabled? Does it work with the toilet? Pushing the button with the toilet on it, Rey turned to see the seat and top going down automatically. It could be a lever-pulley system but that's archaic… God, I want to take this bathroom apart.
Prying her hands away from the addicting tablet, Rey stepped into the hot water and allowed it to douse her body.
Once Rey determined the burning stench was off of her, she dried herself with a towel and changed into the gray sweatshirt and black yoga pants she'd brought along with her. Tossing her Taekwondo uniform into her bag, Rey stepped out of the steam filled bathroom and made her way through the master bedroom, noting the unmade bed and stacks of History Today magazines. She found Kylo sitting at his table and reading over a legal document on his laptop while trying to assemble the wing of his model plane. "... the logistics of the transaction were lost… the accounts were disabled… fuck." Kylo swore as the tip of his plane fell off.
"Having fun?" Rey asked from behind. Kylo turned and grinned as Rey sat down beside him. "You weren't kidding when you said you had a thing for WWII aircrafts. I think I've seen six model planes so far," she said, her voice laced with humor. Kylo touched Rey's damp hair and smirked as she picked up the plane's instruction manual. "Very IKEA based instructions… The setting is based on a fulcrum type stand," she said, reaching for the plastic triangle that was to be the stand.
"Engineering majors think differently, huh," Kylo asked as Rey began disassembling the clear plastic.
"It'll look better as an equilateral prism," she said, placing different pieces together. "The plane will be at a better angle and give it an actual floating feeling."
Kylo accepted the newly fashioned stand and placed his plane onto it, noting that everything Rey had said was correct. The plane's finished wing covered the edge of the triangle and created a shadow, making it look as if it were hovering in mid-air. "Perfect," Rey said, leaning back into her chair.
"So, how exactly did your roommate break your microwave?" Kylo asked continuing to build his plane.
"He put a bar of soap on aluminum foil and microwaved it. There was a fire, the soap overflowed, and somehow, Poe managed to break the magnetron. But I guess part of it is my fault for keeping that microwave. I knew the magnetron was already pretty unstable, so I should have tossed it but… what other microwave can make popcorn in a minute?"
"Hm, a plausible explanation," Kylo shut his computer and stretched his arms. "So, you said you were into humanitarian work? You said you were part of Alliance, right?"
"Yeah," Rey smiled. "We won the case for logging rights in Sacramento and plan to turn it into a trail for the locals." Kylo almost grimaced as he thought back to the four hour meeting that resulted in that bargain.
"That's great," he managed to say. "Are you planning on anything else?" he asked and Rey smirked.
"Why are you asking?" she wondered, her voice sly. Kylo chuckled as Rey reached for the manual once more.
"I just wanted to get a better feel of what you do in your spare time," Kylo ran a hand through his hair and Rey began to laugh.
"I'm kidding! We've been talking about bringing the subject of Alaskan oil to Congress to make it negative ground; First Order hasn't made a move for it, so we're probably going to rally Congress for it while they're occupied with Texas. But then again, there are more pressing things like African mines and suitable working conditions around the world."
"Do you think she's still mad?" Poe asked, his head in Finn's lap. Poe looked on as Finn flipped through channels on the TV.
"She's at Kylo's house. I'm sure she won't try to kill you when she gets back," Finn muttered, setting the channel to CNN. "I feel like I've seen Kylo before. He's too familiar."
"I know, right?" Poe sat up to get a better view of the TV. The two watched as reporters flocked around a podium in front of First Order Inc. "The second he walked out of Rey's room, I just had a wall of deja vu hit me in the face."
We now have footage from the statement that was released yesterday by CEO, Alder Snoke.
They watched as the doors to the building opened and three men stepped out. Alder Snoke was an extremely tall man with white hair and wore a gray suit with a bolo tie. To his left was a man with red hair and a militaristic demeanor, Hux. Poe had a bone to pick with Hux ever since he called an anonymous bomb threat at the convention he had planned. Poe had no evidence, but he was sure it was him. To Snoke's right was… Kylo Ren.
Finn's jaw dropped as Snoke approached the podium and accepted a statement from Kylo. He rested his hand against the dark wood sides of the podium before he began speaking.
"After much discussion with Alliance Protests, my team of lawyers have worked hard to find an impasse. We are happy to announce that we have made a clean exchange of rights with them. Sacramento, California will be returned to Alliance in exchange for free mining in Texas. First Order Incorporate works hard to keep gas in your cars and electricity in your home! Any and all questions will be answered by my associate, Mr. Kylo Ren. Have a good day!" Finn shook his head as Snoke returned to the building and Kylo Ren stepped into his place.
"That's- he's… Poe, we gotta tell Rey."
"Will you comment on the African mines that are claimed to be in use of child labor?" a reporter shouted.
"No comment," Ren's glib reply sent the reporters into a frenzy.
"What legal procedures took place for this decision to be made?"
"My team of lawyers and I met with the legal team from Alliance Protests and after many hours of negotiation, we agreed to allow Alliance the Sacramento rights. After all, what would we, a mining company, do with trees?" Poe's hands curled into fists as Kylo continued to answer questions.
"We have to tell Rey."