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There were a lot of things that Rey likes about Ben. A lot of things. She likes the sound of his voice, deep and soothing like liquid velvet. She likes the feel of his hair, thick and silky. Way softer than any man’s hair has any right to be. She likes how passionate he is, how any emotion he feels he feels it with his entire being. She likes the way his hands feel on her body, strong and large just like the rest of him.
There really is a lot of things that Rey likes about Ben. She especially likes the way he dresses. Particularly his assortment of plaid shirts in a range of colors. He has cotton ones and flannel ones, even a soft wool lined jacket. All of them plaid. He pairs them with jeans and boots, giving him overall aesthetic of a hulking lumberjack.
Her very own Brawny man.
Rey’s love for Ben’s style played a large part in her excitement to finally go on a camping trip together. To experience the great outdoors with a real wilderness man
However after a solid ten minutes at the camping grounds together, Rey began to wonder just how much wilderness her wilderness man has encountered.
“What is this? What’s happening here?”
Ben was currently tangled up in what Rey assumed was their tent. There was several sheets of bright orange and grey vinyl scattered around him, an inconceivable number of poles in various lengths and sizes, rope and twine and ties all strewn in disarray surrounding her very obviously frustrated boyfriend.
“Ben, what are you doing?”
“I’m putting together the tent. Or trying to anyways.”
Trying. Yes, she could see that much.
“You look like you’re having some trouble. Haven’t you… I mean- you have pitched a tent before?”
“I mean yeah, but just not a literal tent you know?”
“What?”
“What.”
Rey shook her head and suppressed a chuckle at her boyfriend’s terrible joke. Maybe he just wasn’t familiar with this particular type of tent. It was a rather newer model, one that she borrowed from Poe when he went through his “New Year, New Me” phase and was convinced he was being held back by the social constructs of modern civilization and would only be able to be his true self if he was removed himself from it all and made his way living on his on the woods. One with nature. Rey was pretty sure the tent was still wrapped it its packaging when she picked it up.
“Alright, well how about you work on getting the fire going and I work on the tent, yeah?”
Ben stood and gathered her up in his arms, pulling her in for a deep kiss. Her hands gripped at the warm red flannel at his chest.
Then he pulls away with a playful smirk on his lips, “My hero.”
--——--
Rey has finished erecting their shelter for the night and is satisfied they won’t be left completely exposed to the elements. She heads over to where Ben is getting their fire started and nearly has a heart attack.
Ben is standing over a large pile of huge logs about five feet from some large berry bushes and has just finished dowsing the pile in what Rey assumes is lighter fluid. He’s reaching into his pocket and pulling out a silver zippo lighter when Rey yells.
“Ben stop! No! What are you doing?!”
His arm is outstretched over the pile of wood, frozen by her sudden outburst. His eyebrows have raised high into his hairline and the look of confusion on his face would be comical if he wasn’t about to burn said eyebrows clear off.
“What are talking about Rey? You asked me to start the fire.”
“Yes Ben I asked you to start the fire not to burn down the entire forest and induce severe bodily harm!”
The dumbfounded expression has not left his face which Rey takes to mean that he has no idea what she’s talking about.
“You have to set the fire at least ten feet away from any foliage or dry leaves and that bush right there is as dry as Jakku. And these rocks that you used to make the fire ring are soaked! You can’t ever use wet rocks because when they heat up the steam pressure can cause them to explode.”
His eyes have gone wide at the word “explode” and he’s now taking a few steps back from his would-be campfire.
“And you don’t ever need to use lighter fluid on a campfire. Just some twigs for kindling and paper for tinder.”
She steps forward and takes the can of fluid out of his hands. His expression is now one of embarrassment, a tint of pink dusting his cheekbones and damn if it still didn’t make him look adorable.
“Ben, haven’t you ever been camping before?”
Now the light pink of his cheeks turned into a full blown blush, lighting up even the tips of his ears peeking out of his hair.
“Well umm- I always wanted to go but… Dad was always busy and it wasn’t really Mom’s thing so-“
He clears his throat and looks away, peering into the nearby tree line. And Rey is- shocked, really. With Ben’s size and rugged appearance she would have sworn he spent his free time whittling wood carvings and throwing tomahawks like those videos she saw on YouTube of Jason Momoa and Henry Cavill. Instead he’s got less wilderness skills than Martha Stewart. Actually Martha would probably be more useful than Ben.
“Wow. I guess I got that all wrong.”
Ben turns back to face her and furrows his brows
“Got what wrong?”
Now it’s Rey’s turn to blush. She feels the heat creep up her neck and fill her cheeks.
“Oh. Well, I just, umm kinda thought you were into all this.”
“All this…?”
“You know. Camping. Wilderness. The great outdoors.”
His head is now slightly cocked to one side as he leans back to regard her fully.
“What? Why would you think that?”
Rey shrugs and looks down at her feet. She knew her Brawny-Man-lumberjack-kink would be exposed at some point. She just never imagined it quite like this. No, what she had in mind involved a log cabin, a bear skin rug in front of a roaring fireplace and Ben wearing nothing except a wool aviator cap. Plaid of course.
“Umm well. It’s just…I guess I assumed because, well... you know-“ she’s stuttering and stalling, but Ben is staring at her with those dark chocolate eyes of his and she knows he’s gonna get it out of her one way or the other.
“Well, I mean. You do wear a lot of plaid.”
“What?”
“Plaid, its a type of pattern-”
“I know what plaid is Rey! I mean, obviously, but why would think-”
Ben buries his face in his hands and slowly starts shaking his head. She crosses her arms over her chest and is shuffling her feet back and worth.
“Well I mean you do!”
“Yes I know that but just because I wear plaid doesn’t mean I’m some kind of mountain man!”
“You wear a lot of it.”
“Its comfortable...”
“Like an excessive amount.”
“Rey-”
“I’m pretty sure you have a couple pairs of plaid boxers”
“REY!”
She can’t help it. She’s laughing now. Because this whole thing is completely ridiculous. Her Brawny man turned out to be nothing more than another city slicker.
“Have you ever done any kind of outdoors activity? Like at all?”
Ben pouts his plush lips and runs an obscenely large hand through his ridiculously soft hair. All flannel aside she really shouldn’t be surprised at Ben’s lack of wilderness know-how. His hair care routine alone should have been a dead giveaway.
“I mean I went skiing once. But I wasn’t very good at it. I wore jeans, it sucked.”
She’s laughing again and Ben looks positively sheepish.
“Ok, ok Bear Grylls. You wanna show me the right way to start this fire so we don’t freeze to death when the sun goes down.”
She steps forward and grabs him by the front of his red plaid flannel, pulling his lips down to hers.
“Don’t worry Ben, your mountain mama will take care of you.”