Chapter Text
“Alright, alright, gather around. We’re going to try something new this week.”
Poe reluctantly pulled himself from the conversation he was having with Jub. Morry and Naylo straightened in their seats while Jasp cleared his throat. Ri-Tun rushed to his seat after grabbing a pastry as Mhina sat down beside Morry. Dr. Firn was at the top of the circle as usual and seemed to have excitement shinning in his gaze.
“It’s never good when he gets that excited,” whispered Jub into Poe’s ear.
If Dr. Firn heard Jub, he made no sign of it. “I think that you are all comfortable enough with each other to begin to use one another as resources. So, every week, you will be assigned one person and you will meet with them at least once a day. It can be for five minutes or for dinner. Just to check in and make sure that everything is alright with them. Then, when we meet back in a week, you will be assigned someone new. It’ll help all of you lean on each other and really learn from one another. Does that sound like a plan?”
Poe was surprised at how excited he was for the plan. He loved spending anytime with the members of the support group. They regularly got dinner, drinks, or just hung out together. Having a one-on-one person for the week was exciting too.
“How will we decide who has who,” questioned Morry.
Dr. Firn smiled. “I already have them written down.” He started to open his PADD to find the names. “Don’t worry; you will all have everyone eventually and then we will rotate again.” He tapped his finger on his device before reading out the names. “Jub, you will be with Ri-Tun. Jasp, you will be with Morry. Mhina will be with Poe. Naylo you will be with me this week.”
Poe glanced over to Mhina and smiled to her. Mhina offered a timid smile back and Poe was relieved. He was eager to have Mhina and also a little nervous. Mhina was very timid, and rightfully so. That just meant that wherever her and Poe decided to meet would have to be at least semi public so that she didn’t feel uneasy. Poe didn’t mind. He would rather himself be uncomfortable than risk making Mhina uncomfortable.
“Talk about your feelings, what you’re going through, and how you’re really doing. You can also talk about anything else as long as your partner is alright with it,” Dr. Firn continued while the pairs exchanged a few excited whispers. “I’ll let you guys go early today so that you can set maybe a time and place for your first meeting tomorrow or another time this week.”
As soon as he finished talking, the pairs started to break off. Poe pulled his chair closer to Mhina and tried to quell his enthusiasm. “You work in the records wing, right? So how about we meet tomorrow morning for breakfast,” Poe suggested.
Mhina smiled before nodding slowly. “That works for me. The mess hall is serving blue milk pancakes tomorrow.”
“That’s a reason in and of itself to go.” Poe was glad to see that Mhina was fairly relaxed. He had been scared that she wouldn’t want to go anywhere with him. Luckily, that didn’t seem to be the case. “Do you want to meet there?” He didn’t want to force Mhina to walk with him alone.
Mhina nodded once more. “Sounds good to me.”
“Perfect! Tomorrow morning for blue milk pancakes it is.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poe walked into his and Finn’s room itching to tell Finn about their latest breakthrough in therapy. He found that Finn was reading in bed, waiting up for Poe like he usually did. He grinned when he saw Poe approaching and it turned into a larger smile when he saw the excitement that Poe seemed to have. “Good session?”
“It was great!” Poe quickly explained how Dr. Firn had split them up into pairs and how he and Mhina were going to meet in the morning for breakfast. “I really think this is going to go well.”
Finn nodded enthusiastically. It was rare that Poe was this pleased after he left therapy. “That’s great, Poe! Do you think that Mhina is going to be okay meeting with you? I know that you said she’s pretty timid.”
“Yeah, she is, but I think that she’ll be alright. We’re going to be in the mess hall together as well as everyone else who is going to be eating breakfast at that time,” pointed out Poe as he set down the folder and notebook that he regularly took to the groups on his desk in the corner of the room.
Finn closed his book so that he could fully focus on Poe. “Do you want me to come? I wouldn’t talk to you two if that helps.”
Poe walked back over the bed, already pulling his shirt from over his head. He jumped onto the bad and straddled Finn’s waist as he sat almost on his stomach. “I appreciate the offer, but that would just freak Mhina out. It’s always best to have as few males around as possible.”
“Alright. Just let me know if I need to break anyone’s jaw.” Finn wasn’t naive enough to know that both Mhina and Poe were spared from the taunts of others. Poe had lost nearly all respect just because of his illness and people were constantly talking shit about him. Mhina had been through great trauma and people picked up on that and weren’t always understanding and gentle with her. The idea of having the two of them in the mess hall in the morning, which was one of the busiest times, was slightly nerve racking. So many things could go wrong and that was terrifying for Finn.
Poe laughed as he leaned forward and kissed Finn’s closed lips. Finn smiled back, arching his head upward to be able to deepen the kiss with Poe. Finn’s tongue explored the inside of Poe’s mouth, detecting the taste of stale coffee and something sweet. Poe moaned back in pleasure.
Poe reluctnatly broke off from the kiss when he could no longer breathe. He leaned back, falling back beside Finn on the bed. “I better brush my teeth and get to bed if I want to get up early.”
“Hurry back,” Finn requested. “I could use some Poe cuddling.”
Poe shot him a thumbs up as he walked toward the fresher. When Poe could no longer see him, Finn let the worry settle on his shoulders. Having those two alone could spell trouble. If anyone said anything to either of them, they wouldn’t stand up for themselves. Finn knew that. He just hoped that nothing went wrong.