Work Text:
Tallie Lintra (Interviewer): Good morning. I have before me the most prominent rising family in the political world. Rey Solo, Secretary of State to President Storm. And her husband, former Marine Pilot and prestigious art scholar, Ben Solo.
Rey Solo: Thank you so much for having us, Tallie.
Ben Solo: It’s an honor, really.
TL: Of course! The world is hungry for the details on the most private but powerful family. Rey, you’ve been secretary for three years now. No one knew you in the world of politics. President Storm knew you in your college days, right?
RS: Yes, we are the best of friends. Met in our same English courses. He helped me get through the classes Ben could not.
BS: I am good at math and engineering and English but… I’ve never been a fan of organic chemistry.
TL: That’s shocking, considering what people online say about the photos the press catch of you two. They say you two ooze chemistry. How long have you been married?
RS: Our sixteenth anniversary is next month.
TL: Wow! How did you meet?
RS: It was a shaky meeting. I was working at his dad’s garage and here comes Mr. Tall Dark and Broody with his BMW with the worst parking job this side of Chandrila.
BS: I quote she called me a “self-important a**hole with a douchebag car.” She was not wrong in the slightest.
RS: What infuriated me most was his off-handed “sweetheart” comment after we argued over what qualified as a douchebag car. But I couldn’t stop thinking about him afterward.
BS: After that meeting I knew. I just… Some part of me knew I needed this woman in my life, for the rest of my days, if she would have me.
TL: And the fire is burning strong even after sixteen years of marriage. Madam Secretary, you got married rather young for your age, according to the more conservative people in both parties.
RS: I was nineteen when I married Ben, yes. But I knew what I wanted, and I wouldn’t change that choice. At times you have to leap instead of waiting.
BS: It’s quite bullsh*t that women like Rey are scrutinized for their choices in regards to partnerships and love. If I was nineteen when I married her, not many would make a huge deal about it after the immediate media firestorm. Rey is smart and intelligent and an excellent judge of character. If she knows something is off about a person, she would know. She doesn’t trust that easily.
TL: From how she handles foreign diplomats we definitely can see that at play. Does her skill in diplomacy apply at home, off-hours?
RS: Well, Ben and I are a team in terms of raising our two children. Delegation is important when trying to wrangle two adolescents. Any issue that arises we’re always making sure we communicate.
BS: My dad thinks we have a psychic link that allows us to read each other’s minds or something. We just know each other very well.
TL: Speaking of your father, you didn’t expect your wife to get into politics, did you? Your father and mother have always been in the public eye, and by extension, you.
BS: Yes. I didn’t think Rey would go into a world I tried so hard to escape since I was a child. *chuckles* But my mother said I had an affinity for politics. I just didn’t want the burden of being Senator Organa’s son to weigh on me if I ever did dip into it. Rey, however, gets the burden of being Senator Organa’s daughter-in-law instead.
TL: I’ve heard those rumors. Thoughts?
RS: People will choose to believe what they want to believe. I know the facts. I know myself. I married my husband because I love him. Simple as that.
BS: If anything, I’m out of Rey’s league. *grinning*
RS: *elbows BS* You’re not.
TL: So, the readers and listeners sent in a few questions they wanted to ask the Republic’s most quote, “Attractive Power Couple.”
RS: Fire away.
TL: Who is the stricter parent?
BS: We take turns, depending on the day really.
RS: Ben is a softie for his daughters. I’m usually the one who has to be the strict parent. Usually.
BS: Rey lies, she’s also soft for her daughters.
RS: Says the man who caved after the lightest of peer pressure for a sleepover. All they did was say please twice and played up the big innocent eyes.
TL: Is there a tension to the fact one of you is fourth in line for the Presidency?
BS: I’m not intimidated by women in power. I mean, I should be, Rey can be terrifying in a good way, but I’m more in awe than anything. The world could do with more women in charge.
TL: Funny you say that because Han Solo said something similar in an interview with our publication over thirty years ago.
RS: *laughs*
BS: Of course he did.
TL: The audience wants to know, Mr. Solo, if you have an extensive hair-care routine, or does it just naturally look that way?
RS: He uses more product than me.
BS: I do not. You just steal mine.
RS: Not my fault your stuff works just as well as women’s and it's cheaper. You still use way more than me though. I’m simple. I don’t use the mousse or the extensive hairspray unless it’s an extremely formal event.
BS: She may not use as much hair product as me, but her wardrobe is a total nightmare.
RS: I had to overhaul his wardrobe when I became Secretary. His range of suits were a total snooze fest. There are other colors than black, Ben.
TL: Who is the better cook?
BS: I tried teaching Rey. It was an interesting experience we do not try to repeat.
RS: I’m allowed to lick the bowl and make popcorn. Oh and caf.
BS: I make a lot of leftovers just so our daughters don’t starve when I have to stay late.
TL: Every couple has that little thing they do together. Like a hobby. Do you two have one?
RS: We work on cars together. On the weekends we have off, we will just spend copious amounts of hours in the garage, usually in silence except for handing each other a tool.
BS: Rey likes to pick apart cars and see what makes them tick. My dad taught me how to tune up things so I wouldn’t get ripped off by some other places when I finally got my first car. I learned a few things in my time in the military about planes as well.
RS: Our next big project is getting an older plane to work. It’s taken us months to repair it but it will be worth it.
BS: If Rey wasn’t going into politics, I think she would be a natural at flying a plane.
RS: You flatter me, Solo.
BS: You drive better than most people in Chandrila. I don’t know how you and your motorcade can stand the traffic. I want to see you give a plane a try one day. Less traffic anyways.
TL: Favorite movie?
BS: Inception.
RS: Pride and Prejudice.
BS: I am not surprised in the slightest with that answer.
RS: I make him watch it with me when work gets too much.
BS: Which is often. I swear I have Mr. Darcy’s dialogue memorized line by line.
RS: One year for our anniversary he got me a pendant with “You have bewitched me, body and soul” on the outside and the inside “and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day forth.”
TL: That’s so sweet.
BS: Mr. Darcy has way more game than my own love confession.
RS: Darcy had to get there first. May I quote Ben Solo’s most disastrous attempt at confessing his love to a woman?
TL: This I have to know.
RS: *clears throat* “I’ve only known you for two months but I cannot get you out of my head, even though you’re just the girl who works on scrappy cars. I know it looks weird because I’m the son of a Senator and to the press, you’re nothing. But not to me.”
TL: Oh my god.
BS: She never lets me live it down.
RS: Nope. But I do like the second confession.
BS: “Rey, you are one half of my soul. Whenever I am with you, everything feels just right. Like I can do anything. That I can take on the world and come out alright because you’re by my side.”
TL: Awww.
RS: I’m surprised he didn’t propose sooner because I would have said yes after that one.
BS: I thought I was still doing time from the earlier disaster.
RS: Oh don’t worry, Ben. You’re making that up to me for the rest of your life.
TL: For our final question, is there any advice you have for other married couples out there engaging in politics or careers that get a lot of public visibility?
RS: Work is sometimes going to take over, and it can be frustrating. You’re going to argue. It’s going to be stressful because sometimes you’re going to feel like you or your partner is not putting in enough effort. Marriage is still an effort. Relationships are effort. Sometimes it’s something easy as just talking. Sometimes it's hard things, like therapy or separation. But if you married someone because it felt right, then that’s something you fight for, every single day.
BS: Don’t let the public warp your perspective. The press can f**k with shit, spin reality and you might believe lies without even knowing it. That insecurity destroys connections, romantic, platonic, or familial. And just… Be honest. Always. Even if you can’t say a word, just say you can’t say a word.
TL: Fascinating perspectives you both have. Sixteen years’ worth of experience?
BS: More like three.
RS: The first few months of me being Secretary were definitely an adjustment.
TL: I bet! But I think I speak for many when I say that you two sound like a force to be reckoned with. You two face any challenge head-on, together. Thank you for sharing a little glimpse into your lives.
RS: It was an honor having this interview. It’s much more easy-going than some of the independent interviews I have about foreign policy. *laughs*
BS: Not to say this is more fun than the art interviews, but it was definitely more relaxing with my wife next to me.
Pictured on the cover, Secretary Rey Solo, arms around her husband Ben Solo. Ben’s hands are on her waist. Both of them had the faintest but still noticeable smiles on their lips as they gazed into each other’s eyes.