Poe felt silly as he paced around the entrance to the "staff only" area of the spaceport. A few people had shot him inquisitive looks which slightly embarrassed him a little, as this was something he normally didn't go. Poe Dameron was not one to hang around to wait for a girl.

But he had to. Zarabelle Penthurst had saved his neck today and he had to put his dignity aside to thank her.

Finally, after Poe lost track of time pacing the almost blinding white halls, he saw the young woman emerge from the heavy plastic doors looking exactly as you'd imagine someone would look after a boring shift - clothes slightly dishevelled, hair less than neat and a stare on their face showing they were at the end of their tether. But Zarabelle's look of apathy turned to surprise when she saw Poe standing before her.

"Were...were you waiting for me?" She asked him.

"Sure was. I...I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there. I know you're pretty set on your career and it must have been a big deal to potentially get on your manager's bad side just to save my hide." Poe quickly blurted out in embarrassment.

This caused Zarabelle to roll her eyes and let out a large scoff.

"Puh-lease. You are far too cocky and confident. I didn't do that for you. I did that for the good of the New Republic." Zarabelle snapped at him.

Poe didn't respond but raised an eyebrow.

"...and because Controller Lemmings is a pretty big risk and needed to go. The fact my actions benefited you is only a convenient side effect." Zarabelle added quickly.

"So you admit, getting me off the hook was an added bonus? That means you do care about me." Poe grinned.

Zarabelle smiled and shook her head. Even though Poe possessed all of the qualities she hated in other local boys, for some reason she couldn't bring herself to dislike him. She didn't know whether it was because being a foreigner made him more appealing, or whether there were subtle differences in his personality that attracted her.

But instead of getting angry at him like she normally would with the other boys, she let out an involuntary giggle.

"Anyway, I can't really tell you much here. I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink and I can fill you in with what happened after you left?" Poe asked Zarabelle.

"A drink. So, you're like, asking me out?" Zarabelle responded with a small grin on her face.

"Who's the cocky and confident one making assumptions now? My squadron and I are going to go to a bar and I'm asking if you'd like to join us." Poe scoffed but then shot her a smile to show he was only teasing her.

"Uh…" Zarabelle pondered, but then immediately made up her mind "You know what? Sure. But I just need to go home first to have a quick shower and get changed."

"That was the most uncomfortable and bumpy ride of my life." Poe whinged to Zarabelle as they stood in the glass elevator of Zarabelle's apartment complex that would take them to Zarabelle's floor.

"You are such a whiner. A sheltered whiner at that. Who's never taken a Speeder Bus before?" Zarabelle teased Poe.

It was decided that Poe would accompany Zarabelle to her home as she lived quite close to the bar that Poe was attending with his squadron. This meant that they were both going to take the Whitefield City Speeder Bus that shuttled people from the spaceport to the city centre.

Poe had seen many large residential complexes on the many different planets he had visited, but he couldn't think of a time he had actually been inside one. He thought it didn't feel very homely, as there were no personal touches. There was far too much glass everywhere, and everything felt too pristine.

"This is my floor." Zarabelle announced as the doors of the elevator opened, as she marched out.

Poe didn't respond but followed Zarabelle. All of the steel apartment doors looked identical, it seemed so surreal to him.

"My apartment is this one here," Zarabelle announced as she pointed to one of the chrome doors "By the way my son will be inside. He's a bit shy, so don't get offended if he hides."

Poe stopped in his tracks upon hearing this.

"You have a kid? No way. This is another one of your tricks." Poe stated in disbelief.

"I have a son, yes. He's inside. You'll be meeting him in just a moment." Zarabelle confidently responded as she fished out her home keycard from her bag and unlocked the door.

She stepped inside and watched Poe's reaction intently. She could tell she had gotten the reaction she wanted. He was shooting her a sceptical look but he seemed reluctant to follow her inside.

"Beebee-Ate! Just a warning I've got a friend with me. He's...nice. Well, sort of. He promises to be nice to you at least. Right?" Zarabelle yelled into her empty apartment but then turned back to address Poe with a look of warning.

"Beebee-ate? Either you're a horrible parent who gave your kid a woeful name, or your son is a droid." Poe spoke up as he snapped his fingers in triumph, upon figuring out Zarabelle's trick.

"Tell my droid you'll be nice to him." Zarabelle glared towards Poe.

"Um, okay. Yeah, sure. I like droids. Droids are cool. I'll be nice." Poe called out into the dark apartment as Zarabelle flicked on the switch.

Poe didn't know what he was expecting Zarabelle's apartment to look like. Although he knew basic things about her (such as her sassy personality and that she took her career seriously) he realised in that moment how little he really knew about her. But even though he didn't know what he was going to assume, he still felt her apartment was vastly different than how he should have pictured it.

Her quarters were definitely very small, and very plain as only white walls ran throughout the space with no personal touches such as paintings or pictures. As he walked in there was a very small kitchen to the side - a black stove top and oven were situated against the wall with a small steel fridge next to them. Directly opposite the appliances just a mere metre away was a stone bench top with two very mismatched stools on the other side of it. One was tall and yellow which shockingly clashed with the metal appliances of the kitchen, the other too clashed as it was bright red and far shorter.

He couldn't see far into Zarabelle's bedroom to the side but it looked small, almost the size of a closet with a small ensuite bathroom barely visible from outside the bedroom.

But it was the living room that surprised him the most. Across the galaxy no matter the race, most people had a uniform living room that normally consisted of at least seating for occupants of the house, and sometimes a holoprojector television and some sort of table depending on the socio economic standard of the occupants.

Of course Zarabelle Penthurst did things differently. Instead of any sort of seating she had a small one-person tent set up with lots of cushioning inside.

"What's with the tent?" Poe snorted as he nodded his head towards her living room.

"It's a good place to hide from the universe when I feel like it. I can hide from everything that's bad." Zarabelle shrugged with a small embarrassed smile.

"...you think sitting in that small tent helps you hide from bad things?" Poe asked her, sounding amused.

"Well, nothing bad has happened has ever happened to me whilst I've been inside that tent. Plenty of bad things have happened outside the tent. I'd say it's pretty successful." Zarabelle smugly responded.

Poe chewed on his lip as he was deep in thought. He needed to utilise every opportunity he could to flirt with the girl. The entire day he couldn't stop thinking about how attractive he suddenly found her, but the two had been shooting too many playful remarks towards one another for him to flirt with her properly.

To charm most women all he normally had to do was lay on the compliments thick and brag about his achievements. But Zarabelle was different. And he liked that.

"Can we take it for a test run?" Poe asked.

"Sure." Zarabelle responded and she kneeled down on her cream carpet to open up one of the flaps.

She crawled inside and pulled her legs in to allow Poe room to join her. He did with great difficulty, the tent seemed roomy enough for one person but quite cramped with two people, especially with all of the bedding Zarabelle kept inside.

This caused Zarabelle to smile awkwardly towards Poe as she realised how close and intimate the setting was. But Poe felt completely at ease, as he had seen this opportunity and snatched it.

"See. Nothing bad has happened in here. The tent works." Zarabelle nervously responded as she subconsciously tucked her dark hair behind her ear.

"Have you ever had anybody else in here?" Poe asked her curiously.

"Nope. Just me and my little droid. Which I'm not sure where he's gone off to...probably hiding." Zarabelle shrugged as she cast her eyes outside the tent to see where her droid had gotten to.

Silence then grew over the two as they both sat inside the tent. Zarabelle began to study Poe intently to try and read his feelings. She knew there wasn't a lot of room in the tent when she crawled in but only now did she realise that perhaps a special moment was bubbling up between the two.

It seemed Poe realised this too, and was the only one bold enough to speak up about it.

"Is there something going on between us right now?" He asked as he wagged his finger between them both before continuing on cockily "because right now I'm getting a vibe between us."

"Um…" Zarabelle began to trail off nervously.

Normally she would begin to mouth off when a confident male would assume that Zarabelle was developing feelings for them. But the problem was that in usual circumstances the male was completely wrong, and was in fact assuming something that didn't exist. In this instance Zarabelle was genuinely starting to feel affections for Poe.

She just didn't know how to respond. She'd never felt this vulnerable before, it was new territory for her. It was easy for her to deny anything between her and Poe the night she met him as it was assumed she'd never see him again. But he was now on the cusp of seeing her regularly and without even realising it, she was now opening herself up to him romantically.

She didn't need to respond for Poe to understand how she felt. Her silence was enough. That, and her perplexed and nervous body language which Poe could read easily.

"Okay, new question. Do you want there to be something going on between us right now?" Poe asked with a small grin.

"Well, do you?" Zarabelle quickly shot out.

"I asked first." Poe responded but he let out a soft chuckle to show he was amused rather than annoyed.

Zarabelle went to fight him but her cheeks flushed and she only stuttered in embarrassment. She stared at Poe to gauge his reaction, she wanted to see if this conversation would make him look disgusted. Instead he looked at her intently as he placed his hand loosely on her pale cheek affectionately.

"My, this is a little cheesy. I didn't think Poe Dameron would do cheesy." Zarabelle teased out of nerves.

"Just shut up and kiss me." Poe grinned. He purposely made no effort to move to force Zarabelle to be the one to make the first move.

And she did. She scooted over carefully to ensure Poe's hand didn't fall from her face as she got as close to him as possible. Then with a small smile she closed her eyes and slowly inched towards his face, turning her head to close the gap. She anxiously hovered her lips over his for a few moments before taking the plunge and pressing her lips to his.

The two locked lips for a few moments. Zarabelle was trying her hardest not to be a bad kisser as feedback from boys in her past flashed through her mind.

Don't open your mouth too wide. Don't slobber. Don't rock backwards and forwards.

It was hard for her to focus on her technique as she was made very aware of the fact that Poe's hand was gingerly touching the side of her face. Boys normally weren't so romantic with her. The few that had been lucky enough to kiss her would begin to paw at her and move their hands down her body. But Poe kept his hand cupping her face.

Zarabelle was the first to break away as she began to fear Poe's lingering kiss was out of obligation and not passion. She fluttered her long eyelashes to open her eyes and saw Poe still hovering around her lips with his eyes closed.

He too opened his eyes to study Zarabelle's reaction.

"Wow." He grinned, causing Zarabelle to let out an involuntary giggle.

Before Zarabelle could muster up a response there was a Bwrap, Beep! Sound coming from outside the tent.

"That'll be the droid. C'mon, let's get out of here so you can meet him." Zarabelle stated.

She was the one who crawled out of the tent first (to which Poe was grateful for as he watched her behind - that's something he felt he had overlooked too when he first met her. She had a nice, curvy figure) and after straightening her clothes as she stood up she offered a hand to help him out. He accepted it and pushed himself up, but sent her a sly smile as his hand was entwined with hers for a little longer before he finally let go.

Bzzzzzzzzr Beep!

The loud noise coming from the droid caused Poe to jump in shock as he wasn't anticipating the high pitch sound, but then he immediately cast his eyes downwards onto the little droid. The adorable, tiny little droid.

"Hey buddy, how's it going?" Poe asked the droid as he kneeled down to greet him properly.

Beebee-Ate then let out a series of beeps, all of which Poe appeared to understand as he nodded along, and even let out a few 'uh-huhs' and 'I know' as he followed the conversation intensely.

"Oh, I see how it is. I thought I was special, and that you didn't trust many humans. Guess I was wrong." Zarabelle mumbled out only half-joking as she crossed her arms in discomfort.

"Don't feel bad or get jealous. Everyone always likes me when they meet me." Poe grinned as he stood back up after his brief conversation with the small droid.

"I didn't like you when I first met you." Zarabelle pointed out matter-of-factly, making Beebee-Ate whir inquisitively at this revelation.

"Do you like me now?" Poe asked her. At first Zarabelle thought he was being his flirty and playful self but she realised his devilish grin had disappeared off his face and his question was completely serious. He was definitely opening up to her emotionally, his warm eyes were flashing sincerity.

"Probably a bit too much, considering soon you may be essentially barred from entering this planet." Zarabelle responded with a small smile, causing Poe's face to brighten up again.

Poe and Zarabelle arrived at the bar well after the rest of the Rapier Squadron. Even Roxy the flight attendant had already joined them and was clearly already a few drinks in as she sat on Iolo's lap with her arms around his neck, giggling furiously with an elaborate fruity pink drink in front of her.

"Glad you could finally join us." Muran stated as he raised his eyebrows towards the two newcomers. Normally Iolo would be the one to make a playful remark, but he was too enamoured with the beautiful woman showing him affection to pay attention to Poe's entrance.

Poe and Zarabelle were no way near as loved up as the other couple in the group. But they were very close as they walked in, with Poe even giving Zarabelle an affectionate nudge with his shoulder as they sank into the two unoccupied seats at the table.

"Well if it isn't the woman of the hour. You really saved our behinds today," The only woman of the Rapier Squadron introduced as she casually offered her tanned hand over the table "I'm Kare, by the way."

Poe cautiously eyed Zarabelle to the left of him, worried that Zarabelle would react too playfully by Kare's formal gesture. Whilst the rest of the Rapier Squadron certainly were not prudish by any means, they didn't hold the same spark and slightly mischievous nature that ran through him.

Without realising it, he wanted his squadron to connect with Zarabelle. He really wanted them to like her. He felt this could now be in jeopardy.

"Zarabelle," Zarabelle stated as she shook Kare's hand "and I saved Poe's behind, 'cause unlike him, you actually didn't break any rules and landed in the correct spot."

This caused all other three members of Rapier Squadron to let out loud snorts, with Kare even being bold enough to throw her shaggy blonde haired head back with loud cackling laughter.

"Yes well, moving on… this guy over here is Muran, and you've met Iolo before." Poe introduced as he waved his hand lazily towards the dark man with a neat crew cut and a trimmed goatee, and the other man with the oddly coloured eyes.

It was at this point that Roxy and Iolo broke apart from their bubble of affection as they finally took their eyes off each other and brought their attention to Poe and Zarabelle who were seated opposite them.

"Zarabelle! Let's go to the bathroom together." Roxy giggled as she jumped off Iolo's lap suddenly with spark.

Zarabelle looked like she had no interest in accompanying Roxy to the bathroom, but she didn't complain. Instead she made a joke that she needed to ensure Roxy didn't fall in, and got up from her seat to join Roxy.

Rapier Squadron were quiet for a few moments until both girls were out of sight before they spoke up.

"What's going on between you and this girl? I'm definitely sensing some kind of chemistry between you. Or sexual tension. One or the other." Kare asked with a huge grin on her face.

"Well I'm not one to kiss and tell but… no, who am I kidding. I am one to kiss and tell. I kissed her." Poe responded with a smirk.

"I thought you didn't like her that much?" Iolo asked Poe curiously, referring to the conversation they had the last time they were on the planet when he had just departed from Zarabelle's company.

"Yes, that was before I kissed her." Poe joked loudly, keeping his mischievous grin on his face.

The three other members of Rapier Squadron all sent each other looks, similar thoughts racing through their heads. However, it was Kare who was the one to voice them.

"Well I guess in that case the stakes are raised even higher. You can't get banned from landing on this planet in order to keep seeing Miss Zarabelle."

"Yes. I suppose that's correct." Poe conceded.