A/N: This grew from a drabble request made by chemicalchrush - so if this chapter sounds familiar, it's because you probably read it as a drabble.
A/N #2: Thanks to Ro for being an amazing beta, and to Maeve, for beta-reading and always being so encouraging.
A/N #3: I am in NO way an expert on ballet or music/orchestral life. I'm an expert on NONE of the careers mentioned - with the exception of Wufei's, and even then I fully acknowledge he is way too young to have that job - so please just know I'm relying on the internet. If you have any suggestions or expertise to offer, I welcome it.
Warnings: language, angst, sexy times
Pairings: 2x3xR, 3x5, 1x4, 1x6, DxC, others will be added as necessary
Pas de Trois
Chapter One
Almost as soon as I sat down at the bar, I wondered what the hell I was doing.
It was still early - only eight-thirty - and I didn't have rehearsal until ten-thirty the next morning. I could probably call Heero, my roommate, and see what kind of trouble he planned on getting into tonight. Then again, there was every chance he had already found it for the evening.
I sighed and glanced around the restaurant, looking for Duo.
He was at the table of some well-dressed couple, offering up his infectious smile, and I could see the way that the strangers responded to him.
"Can I get you anything?"
I turned to see the bartender looking at me.
"It's on the house," she added, and jerked her head in Duo's direction, "or rather, it's on Duo."
I arched an eyebrow at that and considered. I had already had two beers with dinner, already had dinner, and I could feel how heavy the food - even though I hadn't managed to eat much of it - sat in my stomach. I was definitely going to be regretting tonight later.
"Just water," I decided.
The bartender nodded, and started to put ice in a glass.
"So, you're the newest rescue?" she asked with a grin.
"What?"
"Our Duo has a bit of a… hero complex? Takes in strays, rescues people - hell, he wouldn't even be here tonight if Dan hadn't begged him to fill in so he could see his daughter's recital."
"Oh. I guess I am." I accepted the glass of water from her, and couldn't help but feel disappointed. I was not, it seemed, any more special to Duo than I had been to Treize.
"It was good of him to switch shifts," I said when she lingered, looking expectant.
"Sure, except he's a bartender, not a waiter. Anyway, let me know if you need anything else."
She moved down to help another patron, and I sipped on my water and considered just how humiliating it was to become someone's new project.
Wufei, of course, had started fucking me with that same intention - though his goal had been to rescue me from self-loathing and what he viewed as an incredibly shallow and self-destructive lifestyle. At least Duo's only goal had been to rescue me from a disaster of a blind date.
I sighed, and fiddled with the battered case on my phone, still debating texting Heero.
"Heya."
I turned at the sound of Duo's voice and saw him smirking at me. There was an openness, an edge of uncertainty, to the confident expression that was as refreshing as it was intimidating.
"Hey," I responded, and he smirked even more broadly.
He nodded at my water. "You can order a beer - or whatever you want, you know. I got you."
I arched one eyebrow. "Trying to get me drunk?"
Duo flushed and shook his head. "No, not at all. I just… I mean, I asked you to wait for me and the least I can do is, you know…" he trailed off and sighed. "And you were just joking, anyway."
"Yes, I was. But I'm fine with water."
"Okay, well, if you change your mind, just tell Alice," he gestured to the bartender, "and she'll take care of you."
"Thanks."
He stood there for another minute, fussed with the tie he wore, adjusting the way it tucked into the black vest he had on over a white dress shirt.
"I, uh… I should get back to work," he said, with another slightly uncertain smirk.
"Probably," I agreed. "Or your uncle might actually fire you."
Duo grinned at that, chuckled a little, and then offered me a little wave before turning and walking away.
He was definitely unlike any guy I had ever been with. It wasn't just the fact that he was a waiter - or bartender - or the fact that he was my age. I had only ever been involved with men whose egos and self-assurance tugged at me with a nearly magnetic force. Duo… did not seem to fall into that category. He seemed, if anything, just as unsure of himself as I was of myself.
I couldn't see this working out - but then, it was only one date. Not even a real date. Just a recovery date.
I comforted myself with that thought as I finished off the water and pulled up the choreographer's notes on my phone from the latest rehearsal of Sylvia.
I was dancing Orion, the villain, and the choreographer, Maria Une, had nothing but praise for my work thus far. Heero, cast against Une's wishes as Eros, had earned yet another page of vitriolic notes from her.
I wasn't sure why Une hated Heero so much - but even before auditions, she had made it clear she didn't care for him. She had suggested, in front of the entire company, that Heero would be best suited to play a peasant - if he had to appear onstage at all.
Heero had flushed, but remained silent, glaring at his own reflection in the studio mirror as he stretched.
As inexplicable as her hatred for Heero was Une's obsession with me. It had started three years ago, when I had moved out of the apprentice ranks and into the corps, and she had insisted on casting me in roles that should have gone to soloists. There had been grumbling from other dancers - and even now that I was a soloist, there were plenty of dancers who thought the roles both Heero and I danced should have gone to principals instead of the company's newest soloists.
But grumbling and rumors and snide remarks were just part of company life, the background noise for any dancer.
When I had first been accepted into ABT's apprentice program, my sister had given me two pieces of advice: don't piss off the artistic director had been the first, and while I had come close to failing at that, I had managed to generally stay on the good side of management since day one, even though it had been difficult at times. The second piece of advice had been much easier to follow. Cathy had told me that making friends with fellow dancers was an awful idea - but that, as awful as it was, there was no one else in the world who would understand me as well as a fellow dancer. So, she had suggested, make a friend who is either such an incredible dancer that you won't mind seeing him cast in roles you want, or pick someone who is so awful you'll never have to be jealous of them.
Heero, as it happened, was an incredible dancer. I had never seen anyone quite as powerful as him, quite as self-confident and sure of himself even from our first day as apprentices. I still minded when he was cast in roles I wanted - but I could also stand in the wings and watch him perform with more awe than jealousy. I was genuinely happy for him when he had been cast as Eros, a role I had always wanted, in Sylvia. I knew he would bring something incredible to the role, even if Une had her doubts. And Heero, likewise, had started going in early to the studio to help me practice my jumps for the upcoming Le Spectre auditions. I knew he wanted Le Spectre for himself, everyone did. But he also seemed to have made it his personal mission to make sure that if he didn't dance it, I did.
Wufei hadn't understood our friendship - had insisted that I would be better off spending as much time away from other dancers as possible - and I knew that, to outsiders, the complicated web of friends and enemies that made up dance was difficult to untangle.
"I am so, so sorry."
I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of Duo's voice. I looked at the time on my phone - almost ten - and then at his very apologetic face.
"I can't believe you waited, and I- I'm really sorry. It was just one thing, and-" He made a gesture with his hand, and then seemed to give up in the middle of it and dropped his arm back to his side. He let out an exasperated sigh that ruffled his unruly bangs, and I couldn't help but smirk.
He wasn't overflowing with self-confidence, but he wasn't an asshole. He was nice. It had been a long time since I had been involved with anyone like that.
"It's not a big deal," I assured him.
He had changed - removing the dress shirt, vest and tie - and was now sporting a faded Tom Waits t-shirt that looked like it had seen better decades. It was both at odds with his black trousers and dress shoes, and somehow, in its casualness, very sexy.
He was also holding a brown paper bag in one hand and I looked at it pointedly.
"Oh. I, ah, I thought maybe we could walk down to Bryant Park and have dessert?" He sounded hopeful, and he gave me a winning smile.
"That depends. What kind of dessert?"
He chuckled and opened the bag.
"I didn't know what you might want so it's a little of everything - raspberry beignets, coconut creme pie, bartlett pear cake and tiramisu."
It was a bag of reasons to spend the night crouched over the toilet, and I already had enough reasons to do so.
Still, I had never been invited to sit in the park at night and share a bag of pilfered desserts before.
"You might want to grab a few forks," I suggested, and he smirked.
"Well, I was planning on feeding you by hand, but if you insist…" He hopped up onto the bar and stretched over it to grab something behind the counter. He almost lost his balance, and I stepped up to put a hand on his thigh and keep him in place.
When he sat back up, his face was slightly red but he was grinning triumphantly and brandishing two forks. He looked down at my hand on his thigh and then winked at me.
I rolled my eyes and stepped away.
"Later, Alice!" Duo waved over his shoulder and gestured for me to lead the way from the restaurant.
We were outside, falling into step side by side in the cool night air, when his phone started to ring.
He groaned and dug into his pocket to pull it out.
"Shit. She's texted me like twelve times. Sorry, I need to answer this." He accepted the call and held the phone up to his ear. "Rey? Yeah, sorry, I had my phone- you locked yourself out again? Yeah, I just got off work, but I'm kinda…" he trailed off, and looked over at me with a grin, "I'm kinda in the middle of something. Can you get the spare from Hilde? She's not- of course she's not." Duo gave a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, no, no I- I'm on my way, but I just left the restaurant so it's going to be like twenty minutes. Okay, yeah, I'll take a cab. I'm hailing one right now. And I'm hanging up now, Rey. I'll be there soon."
Duo ended the call, and turned to me with an apologetic expression.
"I am so, so sorry. I- fuck. I don't even know your name."
I had to smirk. I had been wondering when he would ask.
"Trowa."
"And I'm Duo - which you probably knew because Howie said it earlier." He held out his hand, and I chuckled but shook it. His hand was warm, the skin a little rough, and I shivered at the feel of him.
He noticed, and as he pulled away, his fingers brushed over my palm in a move that had to be calculated.
"Listen, my roommate locked herself out when she went grocery shopping and I need to go let her in. I don't suppose you'd be willing to take a raincheck?" He hefted the bag of desserts.
I shrugged. I should just call it a night - chalk this up as a truly regrettable evening, having made an ass of myself in front of one of the most important choreographers in the world and almost going on an immediate rebound date with a waiter.
But there was something about Duo - something about the thought of just going back to my apartment and locking myself into the bathroom - that made me pause.
"I'm sure dessert in the park would have been nice," I found myself saying, "but I've always wanted to have dessert in the back of a cab."
He frowned, taking a moment to follow me, and then his face transformed. "Yeah? Okay, cool. We'll probably have to cut the driver in on some of this though…" he added with a wink, before raising his arm to hail a cab.
"Just don't offer up the beignets," I said.
He snorted. "As if I'm even going to share them with you."
-o-
I was convinced we were going to die, as the cab driver tried to eat the pear cake and weave through traffic on the Williamsburg Bridge at the same time. More than once, Duo and I reached out to steady one another and, as much as it made me feel like a horny teenager, I liked the way his touch made my skin tingle.
I wasn't surprised he lived in Brooklyn - though I wasn't looking forward to the train ride back to my own apartment in Murray Hill. If I didn't time things correctly, it would take more than an hour.
The cab stopped on an unassuming street just off the East River, the view obscured by trees and darkness, and Duo paid the driver and gave him the rest of the dessert bag - after liberating the beignets.
"So, ah, how was your first pret à partir?" he asked with a grin.
I arched my eyebrow at the French, wondering if he was trying to be pretentious. If it had been Treize - if it had been anyone I knew - I would have assumed he was trying to impress or intimidate me. But Duo…
I shrugged. "C'était pas mal."
He snorted a laugh. "Alright, you're playing it cool. But I know you're going to be telling your grandkids about the time a devastatingly handsome guy took you on a dessert date in the back of a cab."
I nodded in solemn agreement. "It'll be part of my lecture warning them against the evils of backseat dating."
Duo laughed again. He gestured towards the three-story brick building in front of us.
"I need to let Rey in but, ah… you could come up and hang out? Or, there's a bar down the block - Achilles' Heel? Or…?"
I shrugged, not ready to commit to anything yet, and he nodded in acceptance.
I followed him into the building, my eyes drawn to the outline of his ass when he took the steps two at a time in front of me.
And then I had a sudden, very disconcerting realization.
"Duo."
He stopped on a landing and looked back at me, my tone making him a little wary.
"Trowa?"
"You're not a bottom, are you?" Maybe the hair should have been a give-away - but then, Wufei would have probably beaten the shit out of anyone who suggested that his hair was an indicator for what position he preferred.
Duo flushed. "I, uh…"
"I don't top," I continued, having found myself in the awkward position, more than a few times, of being naked and waiting to be fucked only to have my partner beg me to please top them instead.
If anything, Duo's face grew even more red and I sighed. Perfect.
"Wait, wait, that's not-" Duo reached out and grabbed my hand when I started to turn.
"I wasn't hesitating because of that. I don't mind topping - I do both- I like both," he said in a rush. "I just, I didn't think we were doing that tonight. I, uh, I didn't want to be presumptuous or anything."
I gave him an incredulous look. "You really just wanted to hang out?"
He nodded, and I realized he was still holding my hand when he used it to pull me closer.
"I mean," he smirked, "I was sort of hoping we'd kiss and, you know, other things."
I found myself smirking back at him, and I turned my hand in his grasp so that our palms fitted together.
"Other things?"
He nodded and leaned towards me. I thought he was going for a kiss, but instead he angled his head and his lips brushed against my left earlobe.
"Trade hair care secrets." He somehow managed to make it sound dirty - but maybe it was just the way his lips touched my sensitive skin or the way his breath teased me.
I shivered, and he stepped away and smirked again, the expression more confident than I had previously seen, and my entire body seemed to hum in satisfaction at just that look.
"Anyway," he gave our joined hands a tug, "let's go let Rey in and-"
He stopped talking at the same moment he came to a halt at the top of the stairs. In front of him was a closed door.
He frowned, head cocked to one side.
"This is weird…" He dropped my hand and reached into his pocket to pull out his keys.
I looked down the hall, but it was empty, as was the stairwell below us.
Duo opened the door to reveal a dim apartment and swore.
"Oh, no fucking way."
His words were almost completely drowned out by the instant and overwhelming burst of noise.
"Suprise!"
"Happy Birthday!"
The lights in the apartment suddenly flared to life, revealing dozens of people, a huge banner proclaiming 'Happy 25th Birthday, Duo!', streamers and, I couldn't help but notice, an incredibly expensive-looking apartment.
Someone - an attractive woman with long, honey blonde hair and bright blue eyes - stepped forward and pulled Duo into the group.
"I'm going to fucking kill you, Rey!" Duo told her, but she just laughed and shoved a pointed paper birthday hat onto his head.
She cleared her throat, gestured for quiet and then, imitating a maestro, raised her hands.
"Happy Birthday-"
Everyone chimed in, and Duo stood there, shoulders hunched, face red, while everyone else laughed their way through the song.
He caught my eye and mouthed an apology.
I was torn between amusement at his expense and shared irritation. Surprise birthday parties were, in my experience, hardly ever a good thing.
As they neared the end of the song, someone produced a ridiculously large birthday cake, covered in way more than twenty-five candles.
"-and many more!"
Duo drew in a deep breath, glared at everyone, and blew out the candles. He missed a few - I was guessing there were upwards of fifty on the cake - and had to go back for them.
Once the candles were finally extinguished, everyone cheered and Duo accepted hugs and back slaps from the people closest to him.
It was only then, as Duo was engulfed by his friends, that the blonde haired woman seemed to notice me leaning against the open door.
She arched an eyebrow, and I arched one of mine in return.
"I'm Relena," she said, coming close and holding out a hand.
"Trowa." I shook her hand, a little surprised by how firm her grip was and how calloused her fingers were. "I guess you found your keys?"
She flushed a little and offered me a smug little smile.
"And I guess you were what Duo was in the middle of?" Her voice was a taunt, and I couldn't decide if she was teasing me or if she was jealous.
I shrugged and nodded towards the party. "I didn't realize it was his birthday."
She rolled her eyes. "That's because Duo would rather no one ever knows it's his birthday."
"So why the party, then? If it's not what he wants?"
She pursed her lips, and I could see her sizing me up. She reminded me, in that moment, a little of Dorothy.
She gestured towards the apartment. "Come in and let me get you a drink."
I didn't push her on the questions she had dodged, but instead I followed her past the crowd still surrounding Duo - though some had now broken away to play music on what looked suspiciously like professional mixing gear - and deeper into the apartment.
It was a large and open concept - the living, dining and kitchen areas all connected and open in one huge room with glowing wooden floors, high ceilings and exposed brick walls. I was pretty sure this apartment would be out of the price range of several of the principals at ABT, and I knew it was a distant dream on my salary.
The kitchen was separated from the rest of the room by a long galley counter topped with butcher's block. I couldn't help but notice that the kitchen was decked out with industrial kitchen equipment, including a sink that looked larger than the shower in my apartment.
How the hell, I wondered, did a waiter - bartender - afford a place like this?
Relena opened the enormous stainless steel refrigerator, and paused to look over her shoulder at me.
"What would you like? We've got Stella, Heineken and PBR."
I was a little surprised that, with an apartment like this - and judging by the fashion sense of the crowd - Relena hadn't rattled off a list of local Brooklyn beers.
She caught my look and waved a hand.
"Oh, if you want craft beer or whatever the guys have a cooler on the deck - that crap is not going in my fridge."
"I'll have a Stella," I said after chuckling, and she smirked as she pulled two out. She closed the fridge with her foot and removed the caps before passing one to me.
"So, how do you know Duo?" she asked after taking a sip.
"He saved me from a horrible date."
She raised her eyebrows.
"That sounds like quite the story. When did- shit."
She looked past my shoulder and I followed her gaze. A blond haired man who might as well be the poster-boy for Brooklyn hipsters, with his impressive mustache, rolled-up plaid shirt, ornamental suspenders, impossibly tight skinny jeans paired with excessively large boots and thick-framed glasses, was looking back at us.
"Friend of yours?" I didn't bother to keep my amusement and judgement from my voice.
Relena gave me a dark look.
"Ex." She held up a hand, as if to forestall any commentary from me. "I know. I know. But it was a dark time and his cock is almost as big as his stupid boots, so it was fun when we were naked."
"And when you weren't?"
She shuddered. "And when we weren't, it was all I could do not to strangle him with one of his damned plaid bowties."
I looked back, and sure enough, he was wearing a bowtie that looked to be made out of exactly the same plaid as his shirt.
"His cock had to be amazing," I mused.
She sighed. "It was. Oh, God it was."
"Why did you invite him to the party? Or is he a friend of Duo's?"
She snorted. "No. He and Duo do not get along. And I didn't invite him. He must have heard from someone else or something. Fuck. He's coming over here."
"So tell him to go away."
"Because I haven't already tried that every time I see him?" She sighed again and shook her head. "I hate boys."
I arched an eyebrow.
"Stupid boys. Which may or may not include you - I'm withholding judgement for now."
"You're too kind."
The ex was walking towards us, and Relena made a frustrated sound and took my beer from my hand just as I raised it to my lips.
"I'm really sorry about this," she said, right before she put one hand on the back of my neck and pulled my head down.
Our lips met in a sloppy, wet kiss that nevertheless had me staring at her with wide eyes.
She kept her mouth closed, but her lips were incredibly soft against mine and I found myself wrapping my arms around her waist out of reflex and, I hated to admit, a desire for more contact with her slim body. I let my eyes slide closed, and drew in a deep breath. She smelled like lemons and, weirdly, pine. Almost like a resin box.
Her fingers were playing with the short hairs at the nape of my neck, tickling my skin in an intimate way that made me shiver and pull her closer.
I wasn't sure how long we kissed, but eventually she pulled away with a relieved sigh.
"Thank you. I think he got the memo."
I cleared my throat and took a sip of my beer in an effort to wash away the taste and feel of her.
"Good. Happy to help."
She smirked at me and took a sip of her own beer.
"Well, Duo saved you from an awful date, you saved me - so I guess it's my turn to save him." She nodded towards the group of people still clustered around Duo.
I had expected him to look on edge - expected to see his smile looking strained or his body tense.
But, as he danced with some woman with short, dark hair and a body almost entirely without curves, I could see he was actually having a good time.
"I'm not sure he needs rescuing."
She gave me another smug smile, and I saluted her with my beer.
I wondered if that was her go-to expression - much like Duo seemed to have his smirk that fell somewhere between cocky and rueful.
"Not yet," she agreed. "Give it another twenty minutes though, and he'll want to escape to the roof and smoke a joint." She gave me a look. "You smoke?"
I shrugged. I didn't, not really, but it seemed rude to refuse and, after everything else I had put in my body tonight, a little pot wasn't going to make that much of a difference.
"Good. Let's go mingle - I promise not everyone is an intolerable hipster - and then we can escape and you can get on with your date."
-o-
It was closer to an hour.
Relena had introduced me to a few people, and I allowed myself to be dragged into dancing with the same girl that Duo had danced with earlier - Hilde - while Duo and Relena danced together. I danced with a few other people - including Duo for a brief stint before he was pulled away. After that, I stayed near the fringe of the party, drifting between groups of people alternately discussing Bernie Sanders, some hideous new housing development down the block, artisanal cheeses and, beckoning to me like a lighthouse, the new maestro at the New York Metropolitan Opera.
I approached that group - two women and one golden haired man - with relief. I didn't give a damn about cheese, housing or politics, but music - music I could talk about.
The man, he introduced himself to me with a bright smile as Quatre, was arguing that the Opera should have stuck with their old maestro, that putting her out to pasture had been a mistake. The two women, who didn't bother to introduce themselves, were arguing that the Opera, like every classical institution in town, needed new blood.
It was a lively debate, and while I didn't have much to offer, I enjoyed listening to them argue.
Eventually, Relena approached us with a smirk on her face and a languor to her movements that told me she had probably had a few more beers since I had kissed her.
She put one hand on my shoulder in a gesture that struck me as more than merely friendly, and I had to wonder just what the hell was wrong with me.
"I'm going to steal him now, Quatre," Relena said, and tugged at my shoulder.
Quatre started to protest.
"He's the birthday boy's date," Relena laughed.
"Oh." Quatre flushed and offered me a sheepish grin. "Lucky Duo."
I wasn't entirely sure what to say to that, so I got up and followed Relena through the apartment and towards a set of stairs.
I followed her, and at the top of the flight she opened a door onto a rooftop deck that had an incredible view of the East River and Manhattan.
How much money did these people have?
I would never, even if I saved up all of my paychecks and said to hell with paying off my student loans, be able to afford a place like this.
The rooftop was illuminated by strings of lights, and I could see that there were plants everywhere. It looked like there was an herb garden and a vegetable garden amidst all of the other potted plants. To one side, there was a giant, round nest of pillows.
Inside the nest was Duo, laying on his back with his hands under his head.
"Look who I found." Relena tugged me over, and Duo turned his head to grin at us.
"Hey," he greeted me. "I'm sorry - I, uh, kind of abandoned you."
I waved away the apology. Over the last hour, Duo had caught my eye a few times from across the room and smirked, and, while he hadn't been able to break away and talk to me, I at least appreciated the fact that he was thinking about me.
Duo adjusted himself on the nest and Relena flopped down beside him, using his stomach as a pillow.
I arched my eyebrow at that and wondered if I should go - wondered just what the hell kind of dynamic these two had.
But Duo looked up at me, back to being uncertain and hopeful, and I crawled onto the nest beside him.
He grinned and wiggled to reach into his pocket.
He pulled out a joint and a lighter.
"Do you…?" he asked.
"Sure."
He grinned again and lit it up, taking a long drag before passing it to me.
"You know, as far as surprise birthday parties that I expressly asked you not to throw go, this wasn't so bad, Rey," Duo said after he exhaled.
Relena took the joint from me.
"Better than the one with the strippers?" she asked in a casual voice that made me laugh, and then cough.
Duo chuckled as well, and helpfully pounded my back.
"Much better than the one with the strippers."
We laid there in silence, smoking the joint, each of us lost inour own thoughts.
This was like none of the parties I went to with members of the company. There hadn't been any dramatic fights - no unanticipated appearances by choreographers or members of management that put everyone on edge - no cocaine. Nothing that didn't seem normal and relaxed and… I found myself feeling jealous. Found myself wishing my life was more like this. Even listening to hipsters argue about cheese was a reprieve from comforting a dancer who had just been told she would never be good enough to be a principal, no matter how much weight she lost.
Relena finished off the joint and sighed.
"I should probably go down and make sure everyone's alive and drop hints about moving things over to Achilles' Heel."
She sat up and climbed over both of us, long legs brushing over mine in a way that, between the pot and our earlier interactions, certainly felt flirtatious.
"You coming back?" Duo asked. He rolled over, closer to me, and rested his chin on my shoulder.
It felt entirely natural for me to adjust, moving my arm to give him space and draping it over his back.
Relena looked between us.
"Do you want me to?"
Duo looked up at me, bottom lip between his teeth and an expression that I could only define as pleading in his eyes.
Well, hell.
This was definitely not how I had seen this night turning out.
"I don't mind," I said, and Duo grinned and relaxed against me.
"Alright, see you boys soon," Relena said, and winked.
"So, uh, I feel the need to say that this wasn't what I had planned when I asked you to hang out," Duo said, still leaning against me.
I ran my fingers through his hair, and he arched into my touch.
"This wasn't on the list of other things?" I asked.
He chuckled.
"I mean… Rey does have amazing hair."
-o-
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