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Rey eyed the snowy slope below her with growing anxiety. They were nearing the drop-off point, and she rationally understood that she would soon have to jump, but the fact that massive planks were attached to her feet was a bit of a deterrent to accepting that concept.
Next to her on the lift, Ben Solo leaned over and grinned at her. “You’re not nervous, are you?”
“Nervous? Pffbt.” Rey forced herself to look up so she could toss a challenging look at the massive man sitting next to her. “You wish, Solo.”
He smirked, pouty lips twitching up before spreading his arm across the back of the ski lift. “You can tell me if you’re nervous.” He leaned in a little bit, and Rey debated just jumping off now. “I’d think it was kind of cute.”
You think me being afraid is cute?
“I’m sure.” Rey gripped the edge of the seat as they passed a sign telling them to point the tips of their skis up. “See you on the ground, Solo.”
In the end, it wasn’t much of a jump at all, more of a slide off the ski lift, and Rey managed to stumble-scoot out off the way. Ben was close behind her, and Rey gritted her teeth at the smug look on his face. She had flirted with him a few times at the office when she started working there, and they were definitely friendly - but she didn’t think that meant she’d be stuck with him all damn weekend. The last she heard, he had a girlfriend, so what he was doing following her around like this was beyond her.
“I guess you’ll be going to the advanced slopes.” Rey jerked her head towards the scarier side of Mt. Crait, and Ben shrugged, looking breezy and careless. She envisioned shoving him into a snowbank, and quickly banished the thought; it wasn’t good form to bury your boss’s nephew in the snow. “Y’know, because you’re so good at skiing.”
Because your family was wealthy enough to take you all the time growing up…
Ben preened, not even the slightest bit aware of her ire, and leaned forward on his poles, a little too into Rey’s personal space, especially as she couldn’t walk away like normal. She did shift slightly, and ended up tipping forward. Her heart staggered in her chest as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment - Ben caught her one-handed and righted her, and Rey muttered a thanks as she tried to regain her balance and her dignity.
“You know?” Her voice pitched a little higher as she eyed the ‘beginner’ slope. “Maybe you could - teach me something?”
“You need a teacher?” Ben looked entirely too pleased by her question, and Rey felt her spine stiffen, truly torn between desperately needing help and her growing, intense dislike of Benjamin C. Solo. “I thought you could handle yourself.” Rey blushed harder at his obvious reference to her snubbing him last week when she was going through a new algorithm; sure, she’d blown him off a little too dismissively, but then again, she was irate at the suggestion that she couldn’t figure things out for herself.
“Yeah, well” - her foot twitched, almost sending her forward again, gah, why did snow have to be so slippery - “Remember some of us grew up in the desert and haven’t really seen snow in their lives.”
“I’ll tell you what.” Ben began to rock his poles back and forth, a smile Rey really didn’t like on his lips. “Go on a date with me, and I’ll give you some pointers.”
“What?” Rey blinked in surprise. “Wh-you have a girlfriend!”
“Not anymore.” Ben shrugged, unconcerned by Rey’s surprise that bordered on repulsion. “So, what do you say? You need a teacher, and I know how to ski. One date, and I’ll make sure you get down the mountain safely.”
“Screw you.” The words slipped out before she could stop them, but she found she didn’t particularly regret them. “Seriously. Screw you.”
Ben’s face darkened, and a fear different than careening down a mountainside on thin planks of wood curdled in her stomach. “Fine.” His voice was colder than the air nipping at her cheeks. “Suit yourself.” He turned and sped off with a few pushes of his poles, and Rey was left abandoned only a dozen feet away from the ski lift.
“Ass.” She bent at the waist to unhitch herself from her stupid skis, but she almost lost her balance again. Humiliation burned at her eyes, and Rey muttered to herself, trying to scoot towards the beginner slope - even if she had to roll down Crait, she’d get to the bottom. And then she’d murder Ben Solo. Yeah. That was a good plan.
Anxiety boiled inside her as she glanced down the mountainside - even though she was approaching the least steep slope, she knew enough of physics to understand that the lack of friction between her blades and the slick snow was a recipe for disaster, and a broken leg.
“Do you need help?”
Rey spun around, expecting an employee of Crait Lodge to be addressing her - instead, a ridiculously attractive man about her height was smiling at her. His goggles were pushed up on his head, and dark, curly hair spilled out around his hood, framing a face that was objectively a nice face. Rey decided immediately that she liked it, but still, her pride was a powerful thing.
“I’m quite alright, thank you. I can take care of myself.”
“I have no doubt.” He grinned at her and made no move to go away. Rey fiddled with her poles and eyed the slope again, warily, all too aware of her freezing cold her knees and thighs and stomach were. “Maybe I could give you some tips? Like how to point your feet?”
“Point my feet?” Rey lifted her eyebrows at her. “You mean - I’m not just going to” - she pointed forward, down the slope, and the man shook his head, his smile widening, but a far cry from the cruel smirk Ben had worn.
“It’ll be harder to control your speed if you don’t point your feet.” Rey shivered as he explained, and he looked at her with concern. “What are you wearing for layers?”
“You’re kind of a busybody.” It was clearly a day for Rey to put her feet in her mouth.
“Definitely.” He shrugged, not looking bothered in the least by her accusation. “Seriously, though, you are wearing layers, right?”
“I’m wearing two sweaters and a t-shirt under this thing.” Rey glared sourly at her parka, which was doing absolutely nothing to stop her shivers.
“Oh, yeah, I made that mistake a few times. You’ll do better with thermal layers, a lot of thin ones, next time you come out.”
Rey bristled indignantly. “You can’t just - walk - or ski, I guess - up to me and mansplain away my entire set of decisions you know.”
“Oh.” He blushed, noticeably, and Rey didn’t relent in scowling. “I wasn’t trying to - God, no, I can see how - sorry.” He nodded, having landed on the apology. “I’m really sorry. It’s just - I learned all this stuff the hard way. My buddy Snap - he’s over there” - the man pointed over his shoulder to where a couple guys were shoving each other and cackling when they fell over - “brought me out here for my first time last year. I’m from my Miami, and I’d never even seen snow before.”
“This is my first time seeing snow, too,” Rey admitted, with the growing realization that maybe he was actually just a nice person trying to help. “It’s a little...overwhelming.” She pulled up on her scarf as well as she could, trying to block her neck more from the brittle wind. “I’m from the desert. Jakku, Arizona.”
The man whistled long and low. “Been to Jakku. Well, been through Jakku. Not something I’d want to do again.”
“Definitely not.”
“I’m Poe, by the way.” He held his gloved hand out to her, and Rey took it, feeling a little silly as she could barely feel the handshake through her own thick gloves. “Poe Dameron.”
“Rey Smith.” She sighed and glared down the mountain one last time. “So, you’re a skiing expert?”
“Oh, God, not in the least.” Poe laughed, and she looked over at him in surprise. “I’m so bad at it. Like. Terrible. Just the worst.” She grinned despite herself, eyebrows raised in amusement. “I know, I know, so why was I sticking my nose in your business - honestly, Rey, it looked like you needed help, and I could tell it was your first time, and I wanted to come share the tips that I would have liked to know, to better survive my first time.”
“Is that so?” Rey shifted and almost tipped over, and Poe nodded at her encouragingly when she re-adjusted her feet.
“Good catch. And yeah!” He rubbed his neck and almost smacked himself in the face with his pole, and Rey’s smile was actually starting to hurt her sunburned cheeks. “But...only if you want to hear it, I guess?”
“I’m up for any kind of advice - go right ahead.”
Poe explained something about pointing her feet like a pizza slice - Rey appreciated the simile - and demonstrated how to turn his feet to come to a controlled stop, and Rey watched eagerly. He also talked a little too quickly about how to hit curves, but when Rey looked at the beginner’s slope, Poe grinned and ducked his head.
“Sorry, that might not be so relevant.”
“Maybe not.” Rey adjusted her grip on her poles and smiled at him. “But thanks. Really, thank you.”
“No problem. You uh” - he gestured to the slope - “Want some company?”
“Can I watch you go down?” Rey cocked her head at him, trying to see his reaction. “Just to watch how it’s done?”
“You might want to watch someone else, if that’s your goal.” Poe pulled his goggles down and grinned brightly at her. “But sure, if you want!”
“Thanks.” Poe saluted her and pushed off on his poles - and Rey watched, a little amused, as he picked up speed with his feet pointed as he’d shown her. Honestly, he didn’t look half bad. In fact, he looked pretty good. Rey blushed when she realized she was watching him leave a little too intently, and blamed it on the well-fitting snow pants he was wearing. He reached the bottom of the slope in what seemed like no time at all, and he waved to her, a distant point at ground level.
“Okay, Smith.” Rey gripped her poles desperately while she shuffled over. “Just get down there, and you can murder Ben Solo. Or…” another, more pleasant option occurred to her, and Rey grinned to herself before pushing off.
She managed to get through the bottom by following Poe’s advice and her own instincts; there was no doubt in her mind that she didn’t make it there as gracefully as Poe did, or even as gracefully as the children skiing on the bunny slope did, but she only screamed six times, and half the time was from exhilaration and not sheer terror.
She laughed wildly when she came to a messy halt - Poe’s advice going out the window - and nearly wiped out. Poe skied over quickly, shouting excitedly. “Hey! That was great!”
“You think so?” Rey pushed her goggles up to squint at him. “I bet I looked ridiculous.”
“You could never.” Poe waved a hand at her, not seeming to notice how badly his comment made her blush. “Trust me, I fell flat on my face the first time I went on the slope.”
“Really?”
“Really, really. You should have seen how handsome I was before. ” She giggled at his waggling eyebrows, and he looked greatly pleased to have made her laugh. “So, are you going to go up again?” He eyed the ski lift nervously, and she saw that his cheeks were tinged pink. “Need a partner?”
“That sounds lovely, but…” She trailed off, and Poe nodded, not looking bothered in the slightest by what he probably assumed was a rejection. “I’d much rather take these damn things off.”
“I totally understand.” Butterflies careened in her stomach, and Rey used the dregs of her adrenaline rush to ask her next question.
“Do you - would you want to come in with me? Maybe drink some hot cocoa?” What is this, the Babysitters’ Club? Ask him to get a drink! We are adults! We ask people to get drinks!
“I love hot cocoa!” Poe didn’t seem bothered in the slightest by her slightly childish request. If anything, he looked extremely excited. “I’ll bring the marshmallows.”
“I’m pretty sure they give you those.” They made their way towards the ski lodge together, and Poe waved his hand dismissively.
“Not nearly enough. I got my own stash.”
“Are you some kind of hot cocoa connoisseur?”
“Mhm. Majored in it in college.” Rey threw her head back and laughed, the warmth in her gut definitely not imagined at this point, or even blameable on her thrilling ski adventure.
***
“More marshmallows?” Poe reached forward to grab the bag of Jet-Puffed Mini Marshmallows from the table in front of the couch they were snuggled up on. Rey nodded eagerly and held her mug of cocoa out, and Poe plunked in a general handful. Then, he went back for another handful, and crammed them into his mouth. Rey giggled at the undignified way his cheeks puffed out, and Poe grinned at her through his mouth full of puffy sugar.
“Sorry, I’m supposed to be charming.” He swallowed quickly, and Rey cozied into his side a little more. At first, she’d pretended to only sit so close to him to leech his warmth - at least, that’s what she told him when she sat close to him - but now she had no excuse, as they’d been sitting for an hour and a half, and through two rounds of cocoa (Poe had bought the first round, and she’d bought the second).
“You’re very charming,” Rey assured him, and it was the truth. Never had she felt so at ease with a person before, and she’d been so pleased to hear that miraculously, he also lived in Coruscant, and worked as a test pilot for an aeronautical company right outside town. “The most charming.”
“Glad to hear it.” Poe lifted his arm and eyed her nervously, and Rey scooted in closer so he could drape his arm around the back of the couch. “This okay?”
“More than.” Rey sighed contentedly into her cocoa, taking another sip. She nearly spat it back out when a familiar face entered the lodge. “Oh, jeez.”
“Oh, jeez, what?” Poe looked over to where she was pointing and frowned. “Isn’t that the big guy you rode the ski lift with?”
“Yes.” Rey groaned and covered her eyes with her hand. “Oh, God, he’s coming over here, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m guessing we don’t like him?”
“We don’t.” Rey made a sour face that she quickly shifted into a fake-smile. “But he’s related to my boss,” she muttered through her clenched teeth.
“Got it.”
Ben walked up to where they were cuddled up and glared at Rey. “I guess you made it down the mountain, then?”
“I did alright for myself, yeah.” Rey shrugged, and Poe’s fingers fidgeted slightly on her arm. “No thanks to you.”
“I came back up, you know.” Ben scowled pointedly at where Poe was holding her. “Looked all around for you. Figured you’d still need help.”
“Well, I didn’t. Thanks.” Rey set her cocoa down, pulling away from Poe’s side for a second before leaning back in under his arm. Poe made no sign of being uncomfortable with the arrangement, and she swore he shifted to lean more into her as well. “Poe here helped me.”
“Poe?” Ben eyed the other man dubiously.
“Poe Dameron, pleased to meet you.” Poe held his free hand out to Ben, who didn’t take it. Poe shrugged and grabbed another handful of marshmallows.
“I’m sure.” Ben rolled his eyes and glared at Rey again. “I was kidding you know. I would have helped you even without-”
“Forcing me to go on a date with you?”
“He what ?” Poe’s expression broke and switched to something thunderous. “That’s seriously messed up - you - did you drag her up there and then threaten to leave her there if she wouldn’t go on a date with you?”
“No!” Ben protested, but Rey snorted.
“No, that’s exactly what you did.” She scoffed and eyed the door.
“I think you better leave,” Poe said coldly. “Maybe go figure out whatever issue inspired you to make a person feel helpless like that.”
“I don’t know who you think you are-”
“That’s a very good idea,” Rey interrupted, smiling up at Poe. “Now, if you don’t mind, you’re ruining our date.”
Ben spluttered before storming off, back out into the snow, and Rey checked Poe’s face anxiously. She found that he was smiling, even though his eyes still looked worried.
“Our date, huh?”
“Is that okay?” Rey felt her cheeks heat up unbearably. “I wasn’t sure - but, I - I’d kind of want it to be a date.”
“You kidding me?” Poe beamed at her. “I’m thrilled! A date.” He wiggled excitedly and kicked his feet up on the table, almost knocking over her cocoa. Rey laughed in protest, but Poe shrugged. “I don’t care! I’m on a date! With Rey Smith!” He leaned back against the cushions with a dramatic sigh. “This is the best skiing trip ever.”
“It really is.” Rey put her hand on Poe’s abdomen and pressed her cheek against his broad chest. “Maybe I’ll go again sometime.”