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Finn thought that after winning the war against the Final Order, things would calm down. But apparently repairing the damage done by a fascist regime takes a lot of work. He’s spent the day working with Jan to finalize their plan for a Stormtrooper reintegration program, to help them adjust to normal life. Or whatever normal becomes. Finn isn’t sure he’s had a lick of normal since he left the First Order.
Fortunately, his room is normal. Or, as normal as it can be. He drops down on the bed that’s still covered in crumpled pajamas. It was a neat and orderly room for all of two weeks. Admittedly, that’s a record: he lives with Poe, who regards neatness as something to be suspicious of, and leaves personal belongings scattered around him like he wants someone to track him.
It’s slightly quieter in here, too. Nothing inside is ever really quiet, but the distant throb of engines and the flurries of conversation and organized footfalls fell into the background long ago, and this room is on the far end of the base away from most of the noise.
Which makes it really obvious when Poe is coming, between the thud of his boots and echo of his voice off metal.
He’s actively shedding, somehow, his shirt and his jacket when he pings the door open, head twisted around somewhere behind him. “No, I’ll deal with that tomorrow, there’s nothing we can do now. Let ‘em settle.”
Finn turns his head up to peer at Poe, a small smile flickering on his face. “More trouble, General?”
Poe turns, still half-caught in his shirt, and grins right back. “Nothing to worry about, General, just some logistics.”
The officer behind Poe rolls her eyes. “I’ll run those reports.” She nods to Finn with a murmured “General,” which makes Poe’s grin wider still.
The door slides shut behind Poe and Finn twists over, letting his eyes skim down Poe’s body. He’s tired, clearly, from how his shoulders sag, and his arm still twinges from the blaster fire he took on the Star Destroyer.
“Looking good, General,” Finn says, letting his eyes trail slowly back to Poe’s face.
Poe’s grin softens into a proper smile. “Could say the same to you, General,” he says more quietly, and lets his shirt and jacket drop in one lump to the ground as he steps into Finn’s space.
Peeling himself up from the bed, Finn’s hands run over Poe’s sides. He smiles up at Poe, something light swelling in his chest. “Doing better today?” He asks softly.
“Oh, we’re asking about me now,” Poe’s hands land on his hips, his smile still firmly in place. “How novel. I am, in fact, doing a lot better. Dad finally got in contact.”
“He did?” Finn’s eyes go wide, “Poe, that’s-- where is he?”
Poe rolls his eyes now, tugging Finn into a quick kiss. “Fucker was hiding out,” his hand slides up Finn’s back, “with some miners on an asteroid that he got to come help us out. Decided helping them organize a union afterwards was more important than, you know, checking in with his son.”
“At least he’s okay,” Finn says, pulling Poe into another kiss, his fingers pressing into Poe’s curly hair. It’s still novel, even after all these months. Poe’s lips on his, his body against Finn’s, the fact that he chooses Finn, day after day.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell myself so I don’t yell at him,” Poe mutters against Finn’s lips. He curls his hand into Finn’s shirt for just a moment before changing his mind and shoving his palm against Finn’s bare skin. “Speaking of: did I ever apologize to you?”
Finn makes a small sound, then pulls back to look at him, “did you? For what?”
Poe meets his eyes and raises his brows.
“Poe,” Finn tugs gently on his hair, “I’m not mad. You had a lot going, and so did I. We had to save the galaxy. I think that’s an excuse for being a jerk.”
“I don’t,” Poe releases his hands to push at Finn’s shoulders instead, making him sink onto their bed. It creaks under him. They’ve been meaning to fix that for weeks. “Everything we did wrong, everything that went wrong, was because I was trying to do things alone, and pushing you away. If I hadn’t done that, things would’ve gone a lot more smoothly.”
“Maybe,” Finn says quietly, frowning at him, “but you can’t take that blame on alone either. I’m here to help you now, and I’ll make you let me. You and Rey, why do you feel like you have to go at it alone? I’m here, Rose is here, the whole Resistance is here to support you.”
“You know,” Poe says, voice dry, and then smiles, “that’s a good point. Maybe Rey and I need to talk about that. How’d things go with Jan today?”
“Good,” Finn nods, a smile touching his lips. “The plan seems solid. We want to take it slow, set up programs to reintegrate them with different communities who have agreed to accept them. I think the hardest with will be to change everyone else’s minds, to let them know that the Stormtroopers didn’t choose this.”
“Almost like they need an attractive, compelling, heroic spokesperson to represent former Stormtroopers,” Poe says with a very, very straight face. “Funny, too, just enough to be disarming and get people to like him. Too bad we don’t know anyone like that.”
“Oh, I’m not funny enough to fit the bill,” Finn deadpans back. “We’ll have to find someone else.”
Poe’s face is already starting to twitch back into a smile. “And you know we’re gonna have to pay them through the roof. There goes our food budget. If only someone here could do it.”
“So unfortunate,” Finn murmurs, resting his body against Poe’s and sinking against him. Quiet sets in for a moment, a soft presence in the room, a barrier against the hectic world outside.
The first thing their officers tried to do when things settled down was get them to sleep in separate rooms, because apparently having both Generals in the same quarters is something like a security risk. Poe had shut it down immediately, and that night tugged Finn into bed and held him there like he was the only thing keeping Poe anchored to the ground.
Poe slips softly onto the bed beside him, making it dip and creak all over again under his weight. His hand slides up Finn’s spine to the back of his neck. “I’m still sorry. For being an asshole. Dunno where I’d be without you.”
“You don’t have to think about that,” Finn says softly against his bare chest, “I’m here, I’ll be here. Just, just tell me the truth. Just let me help. We can do this, together.”
“You make a really good General,” Poe’s fingers slide up into his hair, scratching at his scalp. “Very convincing. Authoritative.”
“Thank you, General,” Finn says, letting his eyes fall shut. “General Leia made the right choice, in you.”
“Half the time I’m pretty sure I’m gonna turn around and see her ghost with, like,” Poe’s fingers drum illustratively against his head, “that face she gets, when she thought you were being an idiot.”
“We could ask Rey,” Finn jokes half-heartedly, “she said she saw Leia, and Luke, a couple times.”
Poe snorts. “Have you seen either of them?”
Finn shakes his head. “I don’t, um.” He takes a breath. For some reason, it’s still difficult to talk about, like he’s lying or he’s not supposed to have any sort of power, “I don’t think I’m strong enough. Or that I’ve trained enough. I really need to talk to Rey about it. Sometime.”
“That sounds more important than my thing,” Poe says quietly, and tugs at his hair to pull his head back. “You know she’d be happy to help train you, right? Probably make her feel less like she’s the only one left.”
“But what if I’m no good at it?” Finn asks quietly, not quite meeting his eyes. “What if it’s meant to just be her?”
Poe tilts his head back and forth like he’s considering it. “That could be true. D’you think it is?”
“I don’t know,” Finn sighs, “it’s, I have other things to worry about right now. I, I’ll talk to her after the Stormtrooper program is underway.”
“Fair,” Poe says, and dips his head to kiss Finn again. “I don’t think that’s true at all, but fair. There’s enough to do.”
Finn nods and leans against Poe, kissing him gently. “Later. I’ll talk to her later.”
“How about,” Poe murmurs against his lips, “we stop talking about work for now, and actually eat breakfast together tomorrow to talk shop?”
Finn smiles and wraps his arms around Poe, kissing him firmly. “At your command, General.”
“At yours, General,” Poe laughs against his lips.