Chapter Text
Rey had had some bad days during her early life. When she was younger, she had spent at least four days without any food because her foster father, Unkar Plutt, didn’t care a damn about her most basic needs. And she had survived. Then, when she had turned twelve she had discovered about her monthly period by herself, believing for a whole afternoon and the following night, that she was about to die because of the lack of blood. No one had cared nor had the chance to explain to her, that it was something normal until she confronted with her teachers at school.
Only then, her beloved teacher Maz had thought her what she truly needed to know about female biology and offered to borrow her some tampons. Meanwhile the other girls had already had the chance to mocking her for good. But Rey had learned what she needed. As always she had survived. Then, when she was sixteen, she had lost the buss to come back from school. She had to walk in the dark streets of her shitty district under the rain, without her umbrella, because someone had stolen it to her in the morning.
It was November and the weather was colder than ever, even much colder than normal for the season. Once at home, she was already freezing to death, her teeth chattering and her whole body shaking. The next hours had been the worst she could ever remember. While struggling to warm herself up, in a house where there was not even enough warm water and without a proper heating accommodation, her body had experienced an extreme condition. Rey survived even then. But this time… this time it was different. This time, at the age of twentyfive, she truly believed that she wasn’t going to make it. Was not it only for the fact that she was completely alone, miles and miles away from home, in a foreign Country, her feet aching painfully, her cellphone gone, and it was already totally dark all around her…
She had also lost her way. In Venice. The room she had booked to spend the night, was waiting somewhere in one of the thousands of hotels splattered all around the city, but she couldn’t remember the name. Not without her email-box. The heavy backpack she was carrying upon her shoulders had become truly unbearable by the time she had reached the umpteenth blind alley, almost as much as the incredibly cheap shoes she had manage to buy for herself at the central station when she had finally reached the city in the afternoon. Her back was aching, her stomach was empty and her head was starting to spin around.
She hadn’t eaten at all after a too quick breakfast she had allowed herself to indulge in when she was still on board of her plane towards Venice’s airport. Usually she wasn’t the kind of girl who bursted into tears at the first complication, but this time wasn’t an usual one. Her day had been an unbelievable progression of catastrophic events and bad luck. Firstly, her suitcase had been lost somewhere, somehow, at the airport warehouse. And so she had lost four hours in the attempt to have it back, uselessly. Then she had stumbled badly on the ground, while trying to reach for her train that was leaving without her, and one of her shoes had gone broken.
Not to mention the awful bruises that had formed onto her knees. Finally, when she had somehow managed to arrive in the hearth of the city and took the Vaporetto, Rey had found herself so amazed by her surroundings that she had accidentally dropped her cellphone into the water of the canal in the attempt to make some good photos to send to his friend Finn and Rose. Whom, speaking of which, would have been extremely worried for her when they would not have received her call that night. The one she was supposed to make in order to tell them that she had arrived and she was also safe and sound… Unfortunately her phone was gone and she was anything but safe in the current moment. She was feeling desperate.
Yeah…this time she wasn’t going to make it… She didn’t even know a word in that foreign language. All she knew was that she was supposed to attend her first publishing conference on a business trip, the next morning, as a young member of the Resistance company. Many important actors and actress were about to attend the 76’s Ceremony at Venice Film festival, hoping to win the major price, the notorious golden lion. And Rey was supposed to attend the main conference too, in order to interview some on the most important personalities on the account of the Resistance. She had never been abroad before.
And since a few months before she wouldn’t have even dreamed to leave the United Kingdom for a trip in one of the most beautiful cities of the world. But here she was now, finally having a chance to prove herself, doing the job of her life, the one that had brought her not only the money to sustain herself, but also a sort of family, the one she had never had. Finn and Rose, in fact, her new best friends, were also her beloved new colleagues, the ones that had been so proud of her when her new boss, Amylin had chosen to give her the opportunity to attend the Venice festival…And now… Now Rey was about to ruin everything. She couldn’t bare it anymore.
She didn’t know what to do. And so she started to cry…in the middle of a street she didn’t even know the name. In that same moment, a warm hand come to touch her shoulder, and Rey found herself startled. “Can I help you? Are you okay?...Do you speak english?” a male voice coming from behind her, made her turn in the direction of a handsome man how looked around his late thirties. Rey looked at the man from head to toes. He didn’t seem a creep or anything, and much more important he had addressed her in her own language. For a second Rey seemed to regain a bit of her usual composure. “Yes..I….” she murmured while brushing away her tears with the palm of her hand. Then she turned towards the man with a slight smile plastered upon her face.
A smile that should have looked as a positive answer…I am fine. But after only one second, Rey seemed to remember that, no… anything was fine with her. She was lost. She didn’t have her suitcase with her. She dind’t even remember where her hotel was, the one that the Resistance had payed for. And she didn’t have enough money to afford the payment of supplement room for the night, nor when it was the most expensive period of the year in Venice and anyone else had already booked a room.
The last ones still free were obviously the most expensive ones. And so her little smile turned quickly into a grimace and Rey had to put an hand upon her mouth in order not to whimper dramatically in front of that kind stranger that had just demonstrated to possess enough good heart to ask her if she was fine. “Ehi ehi…It’s okay… Just tell me what’s happened and I’ll help you, okay? I’m Poe, by the way…Poe Dameron…” the man offered her one of his hand and Rey, after a couple of seconds of hesitation took it. The slight smile of before, coming back for a brief instant on her lips before she finally blurted out: “I’m sorry…My name is Rey…Rey Niima…I am British” she started to explain. At that Poe’s worried expression seemed to finally ease and he gave her back a smile.
“Yeah…I can tell from the accent…” he said than matter of factly, still looking at her in kind. “You here to attend the festival too?” he asked then as a natural prosecution of that conversation. And that, seemed somehow easy Rey’s earlier tension. “Yes…I’m just arrived and I was supposed to attend tomorrow’s publishing conference at the Lido Casinò but…” she sniffed a little, still trying her best to regain her composure. “Oh, so you are a journalist too! I should have guessed from the profession outfit you are wearing… That’s great!” Poe commented enthusiastically.
Rey looked at herself a little puzzled. She was wearing a simple white blouse and a grey shit. Nothing really ‘professional’ or anything. It was her usual work outfit, it wasn’t for the fact that her stockings were broken as much as her shoes, and she had got a big blue bruise on each knee. In that same instant Poe looked down at her and it was pretty obvious that he had only tried to be kind with her in order to cheer her up, because his worried expression come back with a sudden interjection: “Oh my…What happened to your knees? I mean…Are you okay?”
At that Rey couldn’t restrain herself anymore and for the third time in less than five minutes she bursted into tears… And Poe Dameron, as the honorable man he was, accomplish to give her his help.
……………………………………………………
Ben Solo didn’t like journeys. He didn’t like to stay in the open air for more than what was necessary. He didn’t like crowds. He didn’t like people in general… What he liked was the tranquility of his office and the familiar shape of his mug full of coffee next to his laptop onto his desk. Being a publisher for the First Order’s company, for years had meant no more than that. Since he graduated at University of Cruscant, taking a degree in literature and modern poetry, he hadn’t given a damn about people and public relations in general. His only passion was the writing and nothing more. He had done of his passion his job, starting like a book editor and then proving his natural skills to the world, book after book…Until he had reached the position he aimed for.
But then something had happened to him…The worst nightmare of any writer. He had experienced a writer’s block. And not for a few time. By now it were already three years… And so he had to batten down the hatches. Leaving his uncle’s company to join the First Order had been the first step towards what he had hoped could have been a new start. And indeed it was… The only thing that bothered him was that, right now he couldn’t allow himself to linger in the safety of his office anymore… Editing other’s book while writing his own, that was something he had been familiar with.
Not going outside and experience things by himself and then put down some articles about them. Even if technically, watching a movie and then write down a critic wasn’t something he wasn’t so unfamiliar with… He watched movies, regulary. And he had always liked to criticize, almost everything. But that, that was a totally new way of living. Because he was supposed to go outside, and met with people, even talk with them often… Maybe shaking hands and exchange greetings…. Ben didn’t even want to think about that… He had always been shy and reserved about his life. Even at University he had always preferred to study by himself and not with other students…Usually they were all too dumb or boring anyhow, for his tastes.
That’s why he had felt so pissed off since the beginning when it turned out that Snoke, his boss, wanted him to attend the 76 Venice Film festival this year. Hux had arranged everything since the beginning, faking a bad cold just at the eve of his departure. The mean red head had his same tastes about trips and business journey abroad.
Especially when they took place so far from New York like this one. And Ben, who was the last hired at the First Order company together with him, had been the logical choice for everyone. The whole trip had been a nightmare. Ben hadn’t even slept for the whole 9 hours on board of the plane, since a stupid, intolerable kid, had kept kicking his seat only to make him get angry, while an old woman with a large mouth hadn’t been able to refrain herself from telling him the whole story of her life since Venice reminded her of her honey moon with her long deceased husband.
That useless brat of Poe Dameron, the photographer the First Order hired as a freelance, in order to document the whole trip, the same one who offered to take care of every single detail of their journey because “he was accostumed to travel…he always traveled and…Pal, let me tell you, you couldn’t ever end up in better hands”, well, he couldn’t even manage to buy a first class seat for the two of them. Snoke would have been more than willing to accomplish Ben’s request of a first class seat, but Dameron, of course, had to step in, claiming “there was no need to waste money that way…Because trips were doubly good when you had the chance to interact with other people”.
So the whole flight had been a real nightmare for Ben, a now that they were finally arrived, and he was exhausted, he had all the intention to spend the night in complete silence and recover from the jet leg without any more hindrance. That’s why, when he finally reached the receptionist of their Venice hotel, only to find out that the Hotel was as cheap as their seats on the planet, he almost wanted to scream. “You can’t be serious about this” Ben finally objected in the same moment his eyes scrutinized around the place. It was a strange old-fashioned room, with bright red and gold patterns wrapped upon the walls, with a tiny shower in a little bathroom right next to the two bed that occupied almost the whole space. There was also a wardrobe, two bedside, a little television, and the air-conditioning system, but everting, from Ben’s perspective seemed more like a doll house than a normal human room. At that Poe Dameron giggled with a smirk forming into his face.
“Oh, what’s the problem big guy? Don’t you see how beautiful is this place?” he asked earnestly “We have everything we need here, and much more important, we aren’t going to spend more than a few hours in bed, considering that tomorrow we have to get up pretty early…” he explained, waves of enthusiasm coming from him. At his last assertion, Ben looked at the tiny bed he was supposed to sleep in, and sighed in frustration.
“You mean that…you…have to get up early tomorrow. I am supposed to attend the publishing conference only two days from now. So I don’t see the point of getting up at dawn when we also have to handle with the jet leg and…” his voice harsh and tired. Only then Poe Dameron seemed to notice Ben’s bad mood, as if they hadn’t spent the last hours together and he had suddenly recovered from a sort of dream of his. The photographer looked then at him with a concerned expression, then he seemed to regain his contagious good humor and he added:
“Oh Benny, don’t tell me you can’t wait to take a look at this wonderful city! We are in one of the most beautiful and special place in the world! People are coming from each part of the globe in order to see this! I can’t believe you are truly planning to rot in a hotel room the whole day!”.
“Yes I am. And please, don’t call me that way…My name is Ben Solo. For you, Mr. Solo, okay?” Ben answered dryly at him, not seeming to understand what could be his problem with that. “Oh c’mon buddy” Poe explained then seeming not to care a damn about his earlier request to address him in a formal way “You need to have some fun! Please…Don’t you know how lucky you are to actually be here…Don’t you feel excited about this?”.
When he didn’t answered, Poe’s face seem to switch off. “Well…I supposed I can’t drag you out by force…Even considering that you are painfully taller and larger than me” he joked “but if you may change your mind, I already know some place we can…”.
“No, thank you” Ben insisted then, a note of anger into his voice, right now. “I said I will be fine like this”.
“Okay then…big guy. Let me know if…” “No. It won’t happen. Thanks. Now I’d like you to stop talking if you please. I had enough for today”. “Of course” Dameron said in whisper, and then he turned towards his part of the room, where his bed was attending to be filled. Only then Ben Solo seemed to recognize true concern into his words. The same concern mixed with grief and a little of anger that he so much hated to hear from his family each time his mother and father passed by his house.
“Why don’t you eat more Ben? Why don’t you go out for a walk? Have you tried to date some girl in the last months…or…” and then her mother had stopped for a while a little pensive before to add “any boy?”. That had caused him to cough very loudly while sputtering all around the coffee he was drinking. His face had turned crimson while he had told her: “Mom! What the hell are you talking about?”. He wasn’t into guys, he was certain about that. So, the simple fact that his mother had brought up the argument, had made him feel deeply unconvertable. It wasn’t that he didn’t like girls.
But… They always were so complicated to handle with and Ben felt always so awkward with them. He simply preferred the company of himself and nothing more. Even if he usually longed for something more, he hadn’t really met anyone who could catch his attention. This and he deep aversion for crowd places and people in general, had brought him to the point of being still a virgin at the edge of his thirties. So, maybe he understood why his mom seemed a little worried about him. Ben sighed heavily and then he had hold back a yawn realizing that he was truly exhausted.
“You sure you don’t want me to wake you up tomorrow morning?” Dameron asked then just a moment before Ben turned the lights off. “Sure. Now sleep Dameron” he almost ordered, almost barked in his direction. Ben didn’t heard any other sound coming from his part of the room until he opened his eyes again, only to find it totally empty.
To be continued...