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Poe didn’t know what he smelled like. It made sense, he was surrounded by Alphas and Omegas in the tight quarters of the resistance all the time. He probably couldn’t pick out the scent of any of the other Betas either. He had asked around a few times and apparently, others tended to pick up something...earthy, like a forest after heavy rain.
Which was fine he guessed.
Then he was saved from imprisonment by a stormtrooper and when they took their helmet off not only was Poe met with a gorgeous face, but a sweet smell with a hint of something industrial underneath. His mouth fell open as he looked at the sweaty trooper and he watched as they glanced over him and took a deep breath.
He hoped they liked the forest.
They asked if Poe was a good pilot and Poe told them that he was the best . Then they escaped together and the trooper chose the name, Finn.
Poe maybe kind of fell in love.
Then life in the resistance happened and Poe found himself separated from Finn more often than not. Which was fine, the First Order wasn't going to defeat itself. It was also fine that Finn spent a lot of time around Alphas like Rey and Rose.
But Poe had given Finn an old jacket and whenever Poe saw them pull the garment tighter around their body and breathed deep...well, it made Poe hope.
Getting injured was never good. Poe hated being held up, forced to sit still, not out there doing something to help. But the nurses and BB-8 often reminded him that he would be even less help dead, so he should count his blessings.
Finn dropping by made the whole ordeal more bearable.
"Rose says I'm becoming a better mechanic. I even averted three disasters all on my own." They were sitting in a chair by Poe's bed still in the jacket Poe had given them. They still smelled sweet, but that industrial under-scent had vanished, like whatever had happened to them during their time in the First Order was leaving them.
Poe wanted to pull them close. But that would risk ripping up his stitches, again, so he resisted.
"You're a busy body, Finn. Weren’t you helping Rita decode a week ago?"
They ducked head and gave a sheepish smile but Poe could smell how happy they were.
“Yeah well...I like that I can move around here, y’know? That I can help out in various ways...not just--”
Their breath caught and Poe frowned at the sour tinged in the air. Poe tried to smile and soothe him.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Plus we can always use more help around here.” Poe gave them an easy smile.
Finn played with the ends of the jacket as they looked back at Poe. They didn’t say anything and their scent didn’t return to its sweet smell but it didn’t sour anymore either. Poe switched up the topic, to one of his stories about running a thrilling mission. He was sure that he had told Finn this story before but they still looked riveted.
Eventually, their visit came to an end.
“Well,” Finn said softly and stood slowly. “Shug is supposed to be helping me learn the comms so I have to go.”
Poe nodded, “I’ll be here,” he motioned to his quarters.
“I can...come back whenever?”
“Yeah, of course.” Poe tried to not sound too eager.
He must have managed it because Finn smiled brightly at him, their scent picking up once more before they left to meet up with Shug.
After that Finn started popping up in his quarters more and more often, even after Poe had made a full recovery. Both of their scents were starting to mingle. Poe only went to Finn’s quarters when he was accompanying Finn in that direction. Poe knew that Omegas could be very particular and territorial about their nest, quarters, homes, ect. Finn was easygoing and they were always happy to see Poe but that didn’t mean that the pilot wanted to push things.
Especially since he could smell the faint scent of Rey over the place.
He knew the two were close, they were often around each other when Rey wasn’t training and Finn wasn’t...doing one of the various things they did around the base. Rey’s scent was spicy and warm. Very inviting but strong enough to tell others that she wasn’t one to cross. Poe liked her. He really did.
But he couldn’t help the shift in scent whenever he could smell her on Finn.
“What’s wrong,” Rey asked him. “You smell...burnt.”
“Nothing’s wrong.” Poe had just watched Finn and Rey share a tight embrace, Finn burying their face in the crook of Rey’s neck and breathing in deep.
“Oh yeah,” Rey nodded slowly, “that’s why there’s been such a big shift in your scent because you’re perfectly fine.”
Poe glared at her but Rey wouldn’t back down. Typical Alphas.
“I’m fine ,” Poe stressed, trying and failing to mellow out his scent. “It’s just--”
“Is it Finn?”
“What?”
“They visit and talk about you all the time,” she explained. “Are you trying to mate them?”
Poe felt his face heat up and his scent smelled even more like a burnt forest than it had moments ago. Rey scrunched up her nose and shook her head.
“Well, are you?”
“ No ,” Poe stressed. “Force, Finn’s barely been out of the First Order. They don’t need me hounding them into anything. They should--”
Rey scoffed and simply looked at him over, her bright eyes analyzing him, one eyebrow raised. Her fist rested on her right hip and sighed. Poe and Rey weren’t exactly close, but he knew a bit about her life before coming to the resistance. She was alone Alpha on the planet Jakku where she was forced to scavenge to scrap by. She was straightforward and blunt from all of her isolation and sometimes that meant trampling over Poe’s feelings.
"You're being ridiculous," she finally said. "Finn adores you."
Of course, that's what Poe had hoped, ever since they had escaped together. But whenever he watched Finn and Rey together, their light touches and soft smiles, how easy they moved together and around each other. An Alpha and an Omega. A perfect pair.
Even though they weren’t a pair.
Rey shook her head and smacked him on his shoulder. “Ridiculous.” Then she left, off to do...whatever it was she did. Probably some kind of jedi training.
Finn and Poe didn’t hug very much after that one very big, exciting, and relieved hug they had shared. Poe didn’t really push too much, because he didn’t want to overstep and Finn didn’t seem to be a very physical person.
Except with Rey.
They hugged and touched each other all the time.
Poe sighed and he sat in the mess, picking at his food as he sat across from Mirax.
Mirax nudged his shoulder. “You alright man?”
The corner of Poe’s mouth pulled down just a bit. He was sure his scent had been really foul lately. Rey kept calling him ridiculous and, apparently, she had told Rose because now Rose was sending him sad looks when they passed each other in the corridors,
Poe nodded, “Yeah, yeah...just tired. I’ve been going on runs a lot...y’know how it is.”
Xey opened xyr mouth to say something before closing it again and shaking xyr head. Poe could probably guess what xey would have said, he’s heard it a lot of the weeks. He’s been running himself ragged, it’s unhealthy and ultimately useless.
But they were always in need of something and Poe was free, so…
Plus he knew that heat cycles were coming up. He didn’t know Finn’s cycle, that would be weirdly invasive, but being surrounded by so many other Omegas could kick start something. They didn’t have the best suppressants around either.
Poe and Mirax finished their food and left the mess. Poe headed toward his room, he had to grab something before heading down to the hanger. He had some repairs he had to do to his ride. He’s been neglecting his duties in his funk. BB-8 rolled alongside him.
As he walked along he could already pick up on the heightened scent coming off certain Omegas. He could pick out Qui’s strong spicy scent and the undercurrent of Lanal’s smokey-sweet scent as they walked by. Other scents mixed and mingled all over the place. Poe didn’t mind this time around the resistance, it had certainly gotten him laid more often than not, and despite nature, the activities rarely led to pregnancy.
When he entered his room he was hit with his own familiar scent mixed with Finn’s. The other’s scent was very faint by the point and sadness pulled at Poe’s heart. Finn did visit him more often than they had before but Poe was always sad when their scent faded.
He wished he had a shirt or something, but something like that had to be freely given and Finn simply hadn’t given him anything other than lingering scents.
A lingering scent that was growing stronger and stronger.
Poe turned around, BB-8 beeping and nudging his leg, and saw Finn quickly walking toward him. They were simply dressed in a plain dark blue shirt and black pants; no jacket. Before Poe could say anything Finn wrapped their arms around Poe and buried his nose against Poe’s neck.
Poe froze, his body torn between relaxation and pulling back a bit. Finn’s sweet scent flooded him. BB-8 beeped again. Poe motioned for the small droid to head to the hanger without him.
“H-Hey bubby…” he said softly, wrapping one arm around Finn’s waist.
Finn pulled back to look at him. Poe could see a light sheen of sweat on Finn’s dark skin, their equally dark brown eyes were slightly wide, their pupils blown. Poe watched them take a deep breath and furrow their brow.
“Poe, are you--”
“Yes, yes,” he cut them off, “Just tired, are you?”
They nodded and buried their face back against Poe’s neck. “Yeah...just, y’know. My heat.”
“Oh.” From the looks of things, Finn was further along than any of the other Omegas he’d seen so far. He pulled Finn closer. “Okay.”
“Um, Poe--”
“Where’s Rey,” he asked in a rush. He hadn’t meant to ask that.
Finn pulled back again, looking at Poe in confusion. “Um...probably with Rose?”
Huh, when had that happened?
Finn’s hands shifted to rest on Poe’s chest and the Beta was sure they could feel how fast his heart was beating. “I...um, she told that you wanted to--”
“ What? ”
Finn dropped their hands and Poe tightened his grip around them.
“Well, I mean she told me that you wanted to mate me,” they said in a rush. “But maybe she misunderstood...and I came here cause...well I, my heat is kind of early right now. I still don’t fully understand...unconventional relationships, they didn’t teach us about them. But, if you don’t want to I can--”
Poe cut them off with a quick kiss.
“No, she didn’t, there was no misunderstanding,” he said, backing into his room and taking Finn with him. “I was just...I didn’t want to overstep.”
Finn smiled. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
“So,” Finn said, their sweet scent spiking in the air. “You’ll help me through my heat?”
Poe simply kissed them and closed the door.