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BeeBee-Ate [Designation: Best Friend and Hero] was very concerned for its two favorite life-forms.
They had spoken to each other in raised voices for a length of time BB-8 deemed A Concern, and its sensors picked up two facts:
- They were arguing about the Falcon, who shared a name with a bird but was really the beloved ship of Rey [Designation: Jedi (Last) and Savior]
- They were arguing about BB-8, which made no sense as it loved them both and understood that Rey had not meant to cause it harm
It seemed improbable that Poe [Designation: Father (Love), Friend (First), and Hero] would not recognize Rey’s good treatment of BB-8. She straightened its antennae with such care, and often would scratch at BB-8’s joints with a cleaning pad, providing both comfort and affection as she hummed quietly to them both. Rey was a good friend to BB-8, had saved it from the mean life-forms on Jakku, and bravely fought at Poe and Finn [Designation: Stormtrooper (Ex), Best Friend ((Poe)) and Hero (Galaxy)]’s side.
So to hear Poe raise his voice in a conversation that focused on BB-8’s well-being confused the droid. Yes, some parts needed repair, but that was the life of a tough, battle-ready astromech. Poe had programmed BB-8 to be braver than the other BB’s, and its parts whirred and clicked as it ran various scenarios silently to determine why Poe had taken it so poorly when Rey had accidentally caused injury to BB-8’s shell.
And, for that matter, why Rey had been so angry about the damage dealt to the Falcon. She did love the Falcon, and BB-8 knew she valued things made of metal and code as much as she valued flesh and blood, but she had been so very firm in her conversation with Poe.
When they had parted ways and BB-8 trundled after Poe through the jungle, it waited, beeping worriedly, until Poe sat down in the improvised mechanic bay and pulled a toolkit towards him.
“C’mere, buddy.”
BB-8 trilled joyfully and rolled to Poe, parking between his knees. It beeped at him as Poe tinkered, expressing that Rey would have also fixed him happily had the damage not been so recent.
“Yeah.” Poe did not smile, which was odd, as BB-8 had calculated, given past experience, that there was a 1 in 2 chance that the mention of Rey would cause Poe to smile. “She could fix you, buddy. Wish you didn’t need to be fixed in the first place.”
He picked up a different wrench, and BB-8 took the opportunity to ram Poe in the leg, gently though, holding back on its motor powers because it did not want to hurt its master.
“Hey.”
BB-8 bumped him again and scolded him in Binary.
“I did not yell at —“ Another angry burst of Binary did the trick. “No, you got it all wrong, buddy. I was defending—“
[She called you difficult!]
“I guess I was being difficult.” Poe sighed and fiddled with a wrench, pointing it at BB-8. “We talk like that sometimes, though. Don’t get your bolts in a jumble. It was just a conversation.”
BB-8 trilled doubtfully.
“There’s a lot of different conversations,” Poe explained. BB-8 hummed happily; he liked it when Poe explained things with his soft voice and gentle hands. “Some are happier than others. You’ve heard me and Rey have happy conversations.”
[Many. Would you like a record of one?]
“That’s okay, buddy, maybe later.” Poe wiped a hand down his face, leaving a small trail of grease on his nose. BB-8 didn’t tell him because it privately thought that it made Poe look even more handsome. “And there’s some conversations Rey and I need to have. We, uh, don’t really have a lot of chances right now, and it’s the kinda conversation where if you put it off…”
Poe trailed off, staring out through the trees, as if he’d forgotten BB-8 was there; BB-8 swiveled and witnessed Finn talking to Rey, a hand on her shoulder. They hugged, and BB-8 thought that was good. Finn and Rey were 72% happier after physical contact with each other, compared to only 53% with other life-forms (Contact with Poe yielded an equal or even higher increase of happiness Rey, and BB-8 wondered if Poe had read the report BB-8 had left for him on the subject).
“And uh,” Poe cleared his throat, and BB-8 looked to him again, leaning back so its optical unit could fully take in Poe Dameron. “If you put those kind of conversations off … misunderstandings happen. And life keeps happening. And sometimes, you turn around, and you realize you’ve missed something entirely. And it’s too late.”
[Friend-Poe?] BB-8 used the more formal title to express its serious concern.
“Gotta go save the galaxy, buddy.” Poe rubbed BB-8’s round body, and BB-8 trilled happily, even though it was still executing the logic systems required to figure out why Poe spoke of conversations so sadly. “Wanna come with me?”
BeeBee-Ate let out an involuntary half-scream if excitement, and logged the event as a Success when Poe laughed loudly for 3.8 seconds.
They saved the galaxy, and Poe lived, and Rey and Finn did too, and BB-8 counted it as a Great Success.
They were on the sandy planet, Tatooine, and Rey turned from the two suns with a smile dampened slightly by tears that BB-8 did not know the source code of, but wanted to help fix anyway.
[Is Rey sad?] it beeped, rolling into her leg.
“Not sad, so much as … I don’t know. Regretful, maybe. I have a lot of questions.”
She leaned against a water conversion tank with a sigh, and her figure wilted forward. That would not do.
BB-8 rolled against her leg gently and cooed. [What questions?]
“Why, for one.” Rey shook her head. “Sort of a general why there, asking the galaxy why. Also… what do I do now?”
BB-8 trilled in excitement. [Master-Poe!]
“I am not doing — BeeBee, what are you—?”
Poe Dameron came fully into view as Rey spluttered and stood up straight.
“Aw, hells BeeBee-Ate, you’re going to have sand in your joints for weeks.”
“I’ll clean them out,” Rey said sharply, not at all using her Quiet Voice that she always used with BB-8 and Rose and sometimes Finn. “Honestly, I grew up in the desert, flyboy, I know what to do with droids in sand.”
“Of course you know what to do! Did I say you didn’t know what to do?”
BB-8 eyed them worriedly and rocked back and forth between them as they glared at each other.
“It’s not any worse than jungle weeds getting stuck in there — when I met him on Jakku he still had plant life growing in his cracks!”
[Friends!]
“Oh, so now I’m bad with my own droid? Can’t fly the Falcon, can’t take care of my droid!”
“This is why you’re so difficult!” Rey snapped, her hand on her staff.
Incorrect. BB-8 was already updating that entry in its files: Rey's staff was now classified as: Lightsaber (Golden)(Deadly).
[Friends!!] it trilled louder.
“I’m difficult? I’m the difficult one? I’m not the one who died, Rey!”
“What are you talking about?” Rey said. Her arms wrapped around herself, and BB-8 cooed in worry.
If Rey stood like that, her vitals usually indicated an increase of grief or heightened anxiety.
“I’m talking about how you sacrificed yourself without thinking about it! You died, Rey, and if it weren’t for - for - that man, you’d be kriffing dead right now, and where would we be, huh?”
“You’d be alive,” Rey said, her voice quavering, but she lifted her chin. “Which was the point — I died for you, for you — and, and Finn and all of —“
“Yeah? Well, of course you’d be so careless with your own life, look at how you rush into everything, it’s the established norm by now, gods forbid that you hesitate when faced with death—“
“You’re my family!” Rey shouted over him, and Poe did something BB-8 did not have much record of.
Poe stopped talking.
“You’re my family, and he was threatening you.” Rey wiped a hand against her face, and BB-8 wondered if it was sand blowing into her eyes the way it blew into his joints. “I didn’t hesitate because you’re too important, even if you hate me half the time-“
“I don’t hate you.” Poe took a step forward, hands fidgeting at his sides. “I, uh. Opposite hate you.”
“You opposite-hate me?” Rey laughed but BB-8 noted it sounded more like the quiet crying she did when she thought everyone was powered down for the night. “What does that even mean?”
“It means.” Poe licked his bottom lip slowly.
That arid air on Tatooine. BB-8 made a note to bring Poe some Koyo-balm later.
“It means we should have a conversation, Rey.”
“A bad one?” Her voice was soft again, and BB-8 swiveled its optical unit towards her.
Poe spoke so quietly BB-8 had to increase its audio input to catch it over the desert wind. “Not a bad one. Not at all.” He knelt down and patted BB-8 on the side. “Can you give us a minute?”
[will you commence yelling at each other again in my absence?] BB-8 asked warily.
Rey laughed, briefly, and Poe smiled, first at her, then at BB-8. “Not that kind of conversation, buddy.”
BB-8 cooed in affirmation and rolled away towards the Falcon.
When it had rolled fifty feet, it turned to make sure Rey and Poe had not commenced yelling, and saw something very unexpected.
Poe was holding Rey, one hand in her hair, the other on her back; both her hands were in his hair. They were kissing in the dying light of Tatooine, two figures twined together against the binary sunset.
BB-8 hummed to itself and rolled towards the Falcon once more. Perhaps it was time to update Rey’s designation in its system.