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Ever since he’d woken up in that cold hospital room, Finn had been determined to take full advantage of his new life. It was a challenge, integrating into the lifestyle of a Resistance fighter, trying to incorporate all the small little details that came naturally to those born within it, but seemed mysterious and inconsistent to someone trying to learn. He was working hard to gain something of a normal life, and continuously making efforts to improve himself so he could better contribute to the cause. He’d been given an extra chance to change the world, and he was going to use it.
His friend Poe had graciously offered Finn a place in his apartment until he got settled, which he enthusiastically accepted—the housing process here was much more complicated than the pre-assigned Stormtrooper dormitories he was used to, and Finn was grateful to have at least one thing under control. Poe’s place was small, but it had a couch for him to sleep on, food in the refrigerator, and a roof over his head. Poe had even cleared a space in the closet for Finn to put his clothes and whatever else he liked—and he didn’t even have to worry about room checks, where anything he had might be confiscated by a superior officer. Most of what Finn owned at this point had, of course, also come from Poe, but he still felt a newfound pride of ownership over the items, and treated each one with the utmost care.
Finn also appreciated that this arrangement allowed him to spend more time with BB-8, who suddenly seemed to be warming up to him after their initial rocky start. BB-8 was teaching him to understand several droid dialects, which Finn had noticed seemed like an essential skill on this side. The sentence structure was still tricky for him, and Finn could only pick out a few words at this point, but he was surprised at how quickly he seemed to be making progress—and even more surprised that BB-8 was such a patient teacher.
Of course, it wasn’t a permanent solution, as Poe seemed to have grown so used to years of living alone that he often forgot Finn was even there, which in turn made Finn feel like he was interrupting his life. This morning, for example, as Finn shifted sleepily on the couch, he heard Poe talking to BB-8 in the adjoining kitchen area—no big deal, and he was glad they could carry on their routine, but it was clear that Poe had forgotten he was sleeping just a few feet away.
Suddenly though, Finn realized that BB-8 was repeatedly saying one of the words he knew—more precisely, he was saying, “Finn.” He hesitated and wondered if he should remind them that he was, you know, literally in the room with them, but he decided to stay quiet and see if he could at least figure out the general idea of what they were saying. He felt his face grow hot with embarrassment as he realized they were probably complaining about how long he’d been there. If he heard Poe say that he really was disturbed by his presence, he decided, he’d figure out a new housing situation today. Finn didn’t want to lose him too.
“Beep boop Finn bleep?” squeaked BB-8.
“Ahh, I don’t know, BB-8… maybe in a week or two?” replied Poe, through bites of his breakfast.
“Braaap? Beep beep BOOP! Bleep need to do it boop.”
“Today? No way, I can’t do it today! That’s incredibly unfair.”
“Boop beep Finn bleep bleep worse braap.”
“Well, that’s a little harsh. You really think it’s embarrassing?”
Finn tried hard to stay silent, but he knew what he was hearing. He’d save them all the embarrassment of actually asking him to leave—he could pretend to wake up now and say that he’d decided on his own that it was time to move out. He tried to mentally catalogue everything that he owned so he could gather it as quickly as possible—unless Poe would want it all back? That was fine, of course, that would be fine. He’d figure something out.
“Bleeep. Bloop knows you boop crush on Finn.”
Finn suddenly tensed up in confusion. Had… had he understood those last couple of words correctly?
“Really? Everyone?”
“Bloop Organa bleep eep boop.”
“Wait, do you think even he knows?”
“Beep!”
“You haven’t noticed him acting weird around me or anything though, right?”
“Boop beep worse bloop wait. Tell Finn boop bleep him.”
“Come on, BB-8, I don’t even know if he’s into guys.”
“Braap beep all stormtroopers? Bleep bloop?”
“Uh, I think that’s just a rumor, we really don’t know that for sure.”
“Bleeep bleep looked at you, bloop boop.”
“Really? Was it like… a good look? A sexy look?”
“Braaaap beep droid boop. Boop boop.”
“Huh, well… I guess I can tell him today, if you really think that’s a good idea.”
“BLEEP BLEEP BLOOP!”
“Ok, fine, fine, fine, calm down, buddy.”
“Blooop bloop bloop… Bleep boop teach Finn bloop droid. Bleep braap Finn understand beep everything boop.”
“You… you what?”
Finn heard Poe slowly turn around, and knew he was probably looking over at him. He continued to stay motionless, hoping he could at least still pretend to be asleep.
“Boop Finn beeeep awake now. Bee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-eep!”
He could only describe that last noise as what it would sound like if, say, a mischievous BB unit were cackling with slightly sinister laughter. Suddenly, BB-8 sped past the couch and out of the room, still cackling.
“Bee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-eep!”
Finn sat up slowly, in what he hoped was the least awkward way possible, and turned to face Poe, who was staring directly at him.
“So, you’re learning droid, huh?” Poe said, after a pause.
“Yes, yes I am,” said Finn.
“And uh, how much of that did you understand?” asked Poe, hesitantly.
“I, uh—I mean, enough. Probably. Enough.”
“Enough,” repeated Poe, chuckling sadly. He ran his fingers through his hair, and shifted his eyes away from Finn. “Well, I understand if you want to move out, man. I can help you find a new—“
“No!” shouted Finn, almost startling himself with the intensity of his reply, but the influx of emotions over the past few minutes had been too much for him to handle coolly. “That is to say, I mean, I’d like to stay.”
“You would?” said Poe, looking back to Finn and biting his lip. “Really?”
“Yeah, I would. And by the way,” Finn said, raising his voice so BB-8 could hear in the next room, “not all Stormtroopers swing both ways—but yeah, sure, some of us do. And I like you too, Poe.”
As BB-8 beeped victoriously from the other room, Finn realized that those odd vocabulary lists the droid had kept quizzing him on hadn’t been random at all. How long had it been planning this? BB-8 sure was one crafty little droid…