They had spent very little time in Kes Dameron's home on Yavin 4. Poe refused to stay there longer than necessary. He would miss his father terribly as always, even at one point begging him to come with him. But Kes was retired and would not budge. Poe couldn't justify keeping Kylo Ren near his father for another second more than was necessary. He and his father had talked long into the day, Poe getting many things off his chest. He knew that there was no-one in the galaxy that understood him the way his father did. Nobody was happy to have Kylo Ren nearby. When the First Order had come to Yavin 4, when Poe had warned his father to get underground, not everyone had made it. Many of Poe's friends and neighbours had been hurt or killed. Including his first girlfriend. Dead. Nobody in the Dameron house was happy to have him there. Poe rationally understood why Dara had him at hand. Why she had captured him. But he couldn't help but to feel angry at her for it. He didn't express this anger. He behaved civilly towards her, but he knew he was on a knife's edge when Kylo Jerk was around.
He took some pleasure in pulling up the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca. One of his dreams had come true in that action. She handled like a very clunky dream. He set himself up elsewhere in the ship, resting and focusing on healing. Dara had crammed her brother into a smaller room, in an attempt to make everyone a little bit more comfortable. But nobody was comfortable. There was tension and fear surrounding them all. As much as they loathed him, as subdued as he was, they were all afraid of Kylo Ren. Rey came and sat with Poe, remaining silent for a while. She was being companionable, which put Poe a little bit at ease.
"I hate that guy." he said, suddenly, his voice cracking from lack of use. Rey nodded sagely and cleared her throat.
"We all do. But Finn told me about… You know." Poe looked away from her for a moment, feeling very raw, like the torture had just happened yesterday.
"It was awful. That metal table was so cold. Couldn't even put a bit of cushioning on the damn thing. And I asked for their finest vegetarian dish, and they gave me nothing! Terrible service!" Poe joked, with gusto. But he knew Rey would see through his bravado. She gave him a smile for his attempt at joking. She didn't needle him though. He never appreciated properly how good a friend Rey was. She was a very emotionally intelligent person, and Poe was grateful for that.
"So that was your dad." Poe couldn't help but give a genuine smile. He was very proud of his father. He was a hero, and a really great father.
"Yeah. That was my dad. Kes. He's a great guy." Rey asked him a few questions every now and again to get him talking about his dad. She had relaxed him almost completely, and he hadn't even noticed.
"Your dad is very important to you." Rey said, smiling at him over her knees, which she hugged tightly to her chest. Poe nodded, starting to suspect that she had an end-goal with this conversation. "Dara's important to you too…" she said, cautiously. Poe stared at Rey, not quite sure what to say. He was very much in love with her. Cared about her immensely. But he couldn't get around this Kylo Ren issue. He didn't want him around him.
"You're scared Poe. We all are. We've all suffered at that man's hands. But don't forget. None of us has suffered more than she has." Rey plucked a strand of Poe's growing hair out of his face, giving him what he could only describe as a motherly smile. She said no more, and left him to think for a while.
He managed to hobble his way around the ship, and came upon the open door of a small sleeping chamber. Dara sat upon the bed, staring at the wall, something dark clutched in her hands. He hesitated. What Rey had said made sense. Yes, Poe had suffered at the hands of Kylo Ren, but Dara had lost a much beloved father at the hands of her own brother. While he didn't like having that man around, he knew that this was exceptionally hard for her. He tentatively knocked on the doorframe.
"I was wondering how long you were going to stand out there." Her voice had the muggy quality that denoted that she had been crying. He carefully stepped into the cramped sleeping quarters. She was holding a black jacket. "This used to be my dad's bed." And that was probably her dad's jacket. He knew the pain of losing a parent. He supposed that losing them when you were older, and understood it all properly was just that little bit more horrible. But there were so many memories that Poe had never gotten to make with his mother. So much he wished she knew about him. She'd be proud.
"Are you okay, Princess?" he said softly . She still had her back to him, but she turned her head, red scratches on her cheeks that obviously she had inflicted on herself.
"No." The misery in her voice made him rush to her, as best as he could. "I hate him. So much. He destroyed everything. But he's still Ben. He's twisted, and wrong. But he's still my brother. I only have him and my mom now." Her situation was impossible. His sympathy and grief for her was intense.
"I hate that I'm bringing the murderer of Han Solo back to my mother. Bringing her son back to her. This will break her heart. Again." Poe sat on the edge of his bed. What could he possibly say to her to make this situation any better. He opted for putting an arm around her. She leaned into him, her hair tickling his face, her tears soaking his neck. It was a simple gesture, but it was all he could really do.
"You're doing the right thing." She didn't reply, but he saw some of the tension leaving her shoulders. Sometimes all a person needed was a vocal recognition. Positive affirmation. No matter how much he disliked it, she was doing the right thing.