"Yeah, I know, I should have gotten you back sooner."

R2 beeps at Poe.

"Look, Ren or Rey could have taken you back at any time. You want a ship; you've got to wait until I'm at least in the neighborhood of the Supremacy. I'm not your taxi service."

Annoyed beeping.

"It's really not that bad. Kind of bizarre the first time, but after that you get used to it."

Incredulous beeping.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. BB-8 says that to me all the time."

And BB-8, as if conjured by that conversation, rolls over, and adds his own input to it.

Poe sighs, and filters out the two droids chattering away behind him.

He's got his landing clearance. Still an hour to go. Probably another three or four to get everything loaded. He supposes the Supremacy could be a lot more efficient than he expects, but… They're not going to be.

So, he's here, on the Supremacy for at least four hours, and…

Jon never responded to his note. Well, running away like that was kind of a shaft move, but…

But he also asked Ren if he actually likes men, so… That means there's still hope. Worst he can do is say no.

Poe taps Jon's number into his comm, and then waits, and…

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jon."

Dead silence for a moment, followed by a sharp inhale, and "Poe!"

Poe feels a flush of pleasure. That sounds like a happy Jon. "Hey. I'm gonna be shipside in an hour or so, and then sitting around waiting for my cargo. You want to get lunch with me?"

More silence, followed by a quick, "Shit." Then, "Uh… Sorry, that wasn't aimed at you. I've got lunch plans, and I sort of have to attend them. I'm the guy who called the meeting and got them all together."

Poe nods. He's pretty sure Jon's not lying to him. He sounds genuinely disappointed. "Yeah, I know all about that. Next time…"

"Can you be at the F-Deck before 13:00? That's when I'd have to leave the F-Deck to get to my meeting. I could… I don't know, have a cup of tea while you have lunch?"

Poe grins, checks the chrono. "If everything goes right, I can be up there by 12:00. I don't know which elevator I'll be heading up, but if you can get closer to me, we'd have a bit more time."

"Most of what I've got before 13:00 is on datapads, I can read on the tram. So… Let me know where you land, and I'll meet you at the elevator."

"I'd like that."

"Good."

"Are you getting to be a regular here?" Jon asks as he sits across from Poe. After meeting him at the elevator, they split up. Poe found himself lunch. Jon got them drinks, and now they're sitting at a table in the middle of one of the food courts. Jon pushes a cup toward him. "Tarbine tea. I hope it's something you like."

"I'm flexible. It's a bit bitter for my tastes, but every now and again, it's fine."

Jon nods, and then passes over two small sachets of sweet cream. "Better?"

Poe grins. "Actually, yes." As Jon's doctoring up his own tea, Poe says, "Not sure about regular, but… I wouldn't mind visiting more often. I'm here today because someone needed to get R2 back, and… Kylo's found a snow moving machine for us, so I'll shuttle it home, and we'll stop bitching about sore backs and shoulders."

"Don't you have twenty-five kids who can shovel snow? Not that, growing up on Coruscant, you get a lot of weather, or weather-related chores, but I do know Mum made us clean the windows and doors and make sure the front of the shop was sparkling at all times."

Poe smirks at that. "You know, kids can really be whiny little boogers sometimes. Any given one of them is fine for shoveling like… three meters, and then they go wandering off, or get cold, or it's too windy, or…"

Jon smiles, or smirks, a bit at that. He certainly remembers doing his best to skive off of cleaning chores. "How long is it? The settlement isn't that big."

"About half a klick, and no it's not that big, but… It's not the sort of thing where we can just tell them to do it, and then come back an hour later and find it done. Part of how Rey runs the place is, if you're not willing to do it yourself, you don't get to make someone else do it. Everyone's got to take a turn."

Jon snerks at that. "Uh huh… Commander Dameron."

Poe smirks a little, and sips his tea. "Grand Marshall. Yeah, she's a little vague on why being an officer is fun."

Jon seems to enjoy that. "Weren't you guys in the New Republic too… egalitarian for that sort of thing?" He's mostly just tweaking Poe's nose on that. He knows that officers are officers everywhere that has officers.

"If we were supposed to be, I didn't get that memo."

Jon laughs.

"Want to tell me what your lunch meeting is about?"

Jon sighs. "Holy Ilona…" He pauses. "You know that god, right?"

"Luck in dark times, yeah, every flier knows Ilona."

He nods to the Maji pendent on Poe's chest. "But you're… Church of the Force? Maji? How's that work?"

"Maji, because it feels right. I was raised Church of the Force, but our family was relaxed about it. These days I'm… agnostic on the idea of any great Force, power, God, Goddess, whatever."

That confuses Jon. "But you've seen Rey and Kylo, and…"

"Look, I know there's something that lets them do all of that stuff. And… Rey's balance stuff feels… productive and valuable, like where I'm supposed to be, so I'm happy to flow along with that." He taps his spiral token. "The Resistance was dying, and I needed a home and purpose, and it gives me that, but… I don't know how it works. There's a finite number of things I've got a firm grasp of, and that's not one of them. But, yeah, I know Ilona, even in the New Republic or Resistance fliers would often wear her medal. And no one, not even hardcore Church of the Force guys or Concordance of the Stars followers would turn down her holy men when they'd come by to bless our ships. When the only thing between you and the void is a few centimeters of plasteel, transteel, and your own skill, and maybe the smile of a god, you'll take any help you can get."

Jon nods at that. "Okay, so… Lunch meeting…"

"That you're hoping for luck with?"

"That I'm going to need some luck to get it to go the way I need it to. Technically, I don't run Tactical Design any longer. But me, and all of my stuff is there. We're in the process of getting a new space set up for me and mine, but, that space won't be ready for five and a half months. Meanwhile, we're getting new people in hand over fist, so as Em has said to me, none too gently, that while she's glad I'm doing important work, and she's happy to have me nearby, I'm also taking up space she needs, to make sure all of those new people have things like basic gear. So, lunch meeting to get everything in place to get my ass out of TD the second there's a space ready for me in Diplomacy, which means seeing if I can get Threepio and his division to speed up at least enough of the construction to get my personal office ready in three months instead of five and a half."

Poe nods. "So, massive fucking pain in the ass that's got to happen, but no one wants to do?"

"Exactly."

"With a side of, and if everything goes perfectly, and it won't, because it never goes perfectly, you could maybe get it done in one time frame, but now you need it faster. That's where Ilona's coming in, right?"

Jon sips his tea. "Yeah."

Poe smiles gently, enjoying the way Jon's looking at him as he says that. The comfort of someone who gets it. "I've sat through a lot of those meetings in the past."

"And more in the future?"

"Who knows? If Kylo and Rey ever remember that idea that maybe I'd be of some use for setting up ways to get the Order into places it shouldn't be… What's up after that?"

Jon shakes his head. "Long story."

"One day, I'll happily listen." He sips his tea. "I take it it's a longer than a cuppa story, though."

"By a light year." Jon watches the way Poe's looking at him. He sighs. "So… You'll be around to listen to that story?"

"Yeah. I like listening to your stories."

Jon sighs at that, too.

Poe cocks his head, curious. "You don't look overjoyed at that."

"I…" His eyes narrow. Poe's looking at him with a warm seriousness, like whatever he says matters. "Confused. I'm fucking confused by it." He's cupping his tea between his palms, and leans in closer to Poe, looking at him, studying his face, trying to figure him out by sight alone. Whatever he's looking for, the answers aren't in Poe's face, so he keeps talking. "You act like you're interested in me, but I'm awfully sure you just about sprinted out of my room when I tried to do something about it, so… Uh… First things first, I guess. Kylo's got the story right; you're narrow for men?"

Poe laughs. "Extremely. Uh… I know a lot of guys who are narrow for men at least start out with girls, and figure out through hands on experience that they're not for them. I just… I knew. They're not bad or gross or anything, they're just, not what does it for me.

"And, I am interested in you. And… sprinting out of your room physically hurt, and I've been kicking myself in the ass for it ever since, but…" Poe's turn to sigh. He doesn't want to say the truth, not the full truth, not every time I look at that marriage band hiding under your glove, I get scared you're going to fuck me and run away. So, he settles for his half of the truth. "You ever feel like you've made the same mistake a million times over, and finally you're thinking maybe it'd be nice not to make that same mistake?"

Jon straightens up a little, defensive. "You think I'm a mistake?"

"No." Poe smiles wide and easy, and tries to put as much attraction and desire as he can into his look. "I think my usual pattern is a mistake, and I'm trying to not make it with you."

Jon relaxes a bit at that, and thinks about it. "So, you looking to make new and interesting mistakes with me?"

"Yeah," Poe smiles wide and deep at that. "And… Look, I like you. Really like you. This is probably going to be the bloody highlight of my week. And… I want to be… Good for you, okay? I've… fucked the pooch over sideways enough times to know that easy isn't always going to be right. And… uh… shit… Force! You're easy on the eyes and a lot of other things, too, I imagine."

Jon's eyes spark. "Do you, imagine?"

Poe's gazing at him, eyes soft, and hot. "Fuck, yes! Every night."

"Good." Jon's foot slides forward and gently strokes up the back of Poe's calf. "I'm not getting why it's got to stay in the realm of imagining."

"Because one thing I'm excellent at, is falling for guys who aren't for me, not really. For seeing the man I want to be there, and not the one who is. And, well, I've already done every possible variation on the theme of, 'Oh shit, he's narrow for girls,' and now I'm interested in you, and… I want to make sure you are who I think you are. So, even though I'm really enjoying what you're doing with your foot, and I'd really like to do a whole lot more along those lines, and see if you like having them done to you, and… Shit… Look, I haven't found any sort of sex I'm not enjoying thinking about with you, but… I've been disappointed enough over the years, so I'm thinking, maybe we actually get to know each other first, and maybe, after a while, as we get to see who's really there, if we still like each other…" Poe grins, fighter pilot nerve and bold as brass charm all over his face. "Well… I may be narrow when it comes to boys or girls, but I'm… how'd you put it? 'Wide as the galaxy?' When it comes to what I like to do with men once I've got one, and," He eyes Jon up and down, and commits to it, lets the pet name that he only uses with BB-8 out, "Pretty Boy, I'll take you places you've only imagined."

A slow, half grin spreads over Jon's face. "That's intriguing. I've got a vivid imagination."

"I really hope so."

"Pretty Boy?"

"You like it. You just about glowed at me when I told you how gorgeous you are back in your rooms. And I like making you glow."

"So we…" Jon's still looking a little confused by this. "Just… be friends?"

"Friends with intent. I'm… courting you. It's an old-fashioned concept that I'll admit I've never actually tried before, but… Like you said, I'm looking to make new and interesting mistakes with you. So, I'll hang around, and be sweet, and get to know you, and hopefully you'll get to know me, and then we'll… make sure we like what we find."

"But not have sex."

"But not have sex." Poe nods.

Jon's still looking confused, and it's abundantly clear he does not, on any level, understand why they don't do both.

"Look, I like sex, a lot, and I'm looking forward to having it, a lot, with you, but I'd also like to actually finish up and feel good about it after. And it's been a really long time since that's been true. Since it was good in my stones and my heart. And, maybe, you know, if we go slow, and we talk with each other and learn each other's stories, get to really know each other, first, maybe… Maybe, when you and I are cooling down, we'll also get to trade lazy kisses, and have a good cuddle, tell stupid jokes, make each other laugh, and maybe, actually, sleep together."

And Poe knows he just hit Jon where he lives. Got him in the guts and stones. It's clear on his face, and the way his body doesn't exactly curl in, but his posture shifts, becoming both defensive and wary. Then he slowly nods. "Okay, yeah. I know."

"Good. So… You gonna tell me to bugger off? Because you don't look happy about this."

"I hate waiting." And both of the know that's not at all where the problem is.

Poe takes it straight on, and flashes him a wide, easy grin. "I'm worth it."

"No sex… at all?"

"You can tease me all you like, and all I like, but if you wouldn't touch Kylo that way, don't do it to me."

"So… we just… flirt?"

"And get to know each other."

Jon sips his tea, and thinks. Poe watches him. He can remember being about where Jon is, and how… in some ways sex was a defense. It was easier and significantly less terrifying than actually getting to know someone and really caring about them.

Jon blinks again. "Can I have sex with other people?"

"Whenever you like. I… I know monogamy is a thing, but… We're getting to know each other, and… You like sex, a lot, with other people. I'm not going to begrudge you that. I want to know you, but I'm more than observant enough to have already noticed that you are not interested in going celibate, so… If we actually, really, like each other, as humans, when we know each other better, as opposed to just want to fuck each other, we can talk about monogamy or whatever, but for now… I don't see any reason why you'd have to stop fucking other people."

He really hopes Jon doesn't ask if he's going to keep fucking other people.

Fortunately, he doesn't. Jon thinks about that, sipping his drink slowly, before saying, "You're not even… remotely fussed at the idea of me fucking other people."

"Why would I be?" Poe smirks at him. "You got a shelf life or something I'm not aware of? Do it too many times and you run out? Oops! Hit my lifetime allotment of fucking, sorry Poe, none for you!" He laughs at that. "I'm envious, but… if we get on as well as I think we will, eventually we'll be fucking each other. But… for now, friends with intent." Poe taps his chrono. "And you've got to get back to it, don't you?"

Jon curses quietly. He's going to have fuck all for focus and attention the rest of this afternoon. He stands up, and drains his tea. "You're right."

Poe's holding his breath, hoping he didn't just scare Jon off, but he can see the way Jon's watching him, and feels the moment he decides to go for it.

"Can you… get back here soon?" Jon asks.

"Technically, I can be here as often as I want. Likewise, you've got a standing invite at Lirium. I'm not always there, so comm first, but whenever I am…"

Jon nods. "Eventually, I'll take you up on that." He can see Jon mentally going through his calendar. "I've got a free lunch three days from now? Same time, same place?"

Poe beams at him. "I'd love that."

At the end of the meeting Jon's got a few free minutes, and a minor epiphany.

He decides to walk Threepio out.

Once they're in the hall, past the rest of the members of the meeting he says, quietly, "Did… Do you actually know Poe?"

"Commander Dameron? Certainly, Jon. He began working with us on security twenty-one years ago."

"Was he a baby?"

Threepio appears to be amused by that. "He was the youngest commissioned flier in the history of the Navy of the New Republic."

They walk for another moment as Jon contemplates the idea of seventeen-year-old, brand new to his wings, Poe Dameron.

"What has you asking, Jon?"

"I'm… getting to know him, apparently."

"He seems pleasant. A little reckless, but… Leia always liked that about him."

Jon raises an eyebrow.

"He'd always bet on success. All in and all at once."

That doesn't seem to match what Poe's doing. Though he remembers Poe talking about his mutiny. "So, wild, reckless, jump in first, and deal with the consequences if they come?"

"Quite right."

"Ah…" New and interesting mistakes, indeed.

How'd lunch with Pretty Boy go? BB chirps at Poe as he gets back to Micah.

"Well, I think."

You think?

"Yeah, well… This is more complicated than my usual fuck 'em and leave 'em technique."

Why are you not doing that again?

"Because he's worth it." Poe strokes the control panel of his ship, thinking of what… who he had before, and what… who he hopes to have again. "And I am, too."

Notes:

The laws of your tribe are not universal constants.

Heinlein wrote something like that, and I try to keep it in mind when I do my world building. Or, in this case, galaxy building.

And I bring this up now, because, without fail, every time I publish something on that brushes up against non-monogamy or polyamory, someone gets miffed and feels the need to tell me about it.

Which brings us to Poe, and monogamy, or non-monogamy and why our FlyBoy is genuinely not even remotely fussed at the idea of Jon shagging other men. (Beyond, again, a certain level of envy.)

I've talked before about how, to a degree, Jon and Poe, even before I knew I was going to get them together, ended up being set up as unintentional dual sides of the same coin. So, Jon, on the Empire side of the coin is fairly easy to write. Our boy comes from a variation on the theme of Nazi Germany, and those guys had *rigid* sexual mores.

So, Jon's flipping those mores the bird, but he's still a child of his culture, and especially given where he's from in that culture, monogamy is very much part of his ideal of how relationships are supposed to work. He's cosmopolitan enough to know it's a choice, and not some heavenly ordained perfect path, but he still feels like it's right/natural/the way things ought to be.

But Poe's not from the Empire. He's a pilot from Yavin IV, steeped in the Rebellion and New Republic, and, nominally, a member of the Church of the Force.

What do marriage and relationship ideals look like from that side of the coin?

We know the Jedi don't go in for attachments. They don't marry, period. But the entire Church of the Force aren't Jedi. Just like you'd have a hard time figuring out Catholic marriage ideals if all you knew about were Franciscan monks, I'm not swimming in inspiration for Church of the Force marriage norms. So, I'm more or less building this up whole cloth.

So, with Poe, I'm aiming for a set of relationship mores where sex just isn't that important. After all, in a post birth control culture, where pregnancy is optional, and a universe where women are not property to be shuffled around from fathers to husbands for the purpose of making future fathers and husbands, sexual fidelity, purity, and the ideas of virginity and monogamy just wouldn't be that big of a deal. Poe comes from a world where sex and risk are almost completely divorced from each other. In Poe's world, if you're flamingly stupid, you can make a kid accidentally, or get sick, but you've got to be flamingly stupid to do it. Anyone making the least effort will avoid these things.

I'm thinking that in a world like that, sex would be a lot like food is in our culture.

In a universe where people are starving, where food is scarce, who gets what, and who shares it with whom is a BIG DEAL.

But in our world, where we've all got plenty to eat, where food is so abundantly available it's gone from nutrients to keep us alive to a major source of our daily pleasures, you don't get upset if your partner has a really good meal with someone else. Why would you? That said, you generally like eating with, and cooking for, each other more than for other people. Shared tastes, pleasure given to each other, the joy of that, are all bonding experiences, and ones you may decide are only for you and your partner, but it would be a choice, not a mandate. And no one would consider it a betrayal of the rest of your commingled life if you had a good meal with someone else.

But, if you were right on the edge of starvation, and every calorie mattered, it would be very easy to see how offering someone else a bowl of soup would be a massive betrayal of your beloved. Likewise, if each sexual encounter risked creating life, or ending it, suddenly who you share that risk with matters A LOT.

Anyway, that duality, between Jon's ideal of monogamy, and Poe's casual attitudes toward sex as just a part of the whole relationship thing will continue to keep bubbling along, but, this is a Keryl Raist fic, so everyone is going to be a functional adult about it, and not a flaming asshole, and we're not going to have drama for the sake of drama. We're going to, slowly, watch adults get to know each other, fall in love, and then work their differences out and find a place that works for both of them.

:)