Work Text:
The first thing she sees is the most ridiculously looking boots ever crafted in this lifetime. It has fur and comes in a starking orange color.
Orange.
"Uh, hi -" the man steals a glance at her, then his eyes zones to the breastplate clipped on her right shoulder, "Rey?"
Instant.
Like the coffee she brews every morning for the old lady who reads the morning paper by the patio - instantaneously, she finds that she likes his face.
"Yes?"
"Great, I'm Poe Dameron," he offers his hand, and she takes it, hesitantly shakes back. "I need some help. Would you know if there's a nearby mechanic shop around the area - walkable distance, friendly crew and has a spare tire to sell?"
She looks at him, one eyebrow raised.
"Not in this weather, no. Who is actually crazy enough to drive around in this weather?"
Poe opens his mouth in an effort to defend himself but quickly shuts the thought. If the numerous people he talked to today proved her point – well, he isn't planning to give her that luxury. Really. She has a point. But that doesn't make him any less of a moron than he is the moment he asked for her help - who actually drives around with this kind of weather, for fuck's sake - so he decides to settle for the truth.
"Him," at this, Poe points to a little boy who is holding his hand, quiet beside him. The boy with the most ridiculously looking orange boots ever crafted. With fur.
Rey peers at the said suspect, the eyes of the boy looking at her back, curious.
"Are you his girlfriend?"
Needless to say, she is taken aback; but if the attractive man with the spare tire problem had any capacity to worry about anything than a spare tire, he would've done something more than a face palm. Instead, he sighs, his head falling. It is as if this has happened before - this is normal.
"No, I don't think so, no," Rey leans in the counter to offer her hand. The little boy takes it, "Hi."
"I'm Beebee," he introduces himself and smiles at Rey, and the innocent gesture sends through a flutter right through her heart. This boy is going to be a troublemaker. He is beginning to be one now.
"Do you say that to every other girl you meet?"
"Not really," he drawls, sounding disinterested. "Only the really pretty ones."
Yes, he is beginning to spell trouble.
Rey has to laugh, because Beebee says it so purely, she feels glowing at the compliment. At the realization that his child companion has done more damage more than he could save but really, there is nothing he could do about it; Poe cracks a smile of his own and runs a hand through his hair, making it tousled.
More tousled. Remember that thing about trouble? Rey does. But not the faint blush she is sure she's sporting at the Damerons' combined charm. Apparently, Rey realizes, it runs strong in the family.
The assumption catches her off-guard and immediately, she flushes all inappropriate crushing she has been nurturing for the past five minutes. Poe and Beebee don't really look alike but they are obviously very familiar with each other - like the typical father and son. Who are trapped in a snow storm because said dad is crazy enough to drive around in the weather. She forces a smile, and swallows her disappointment.
"Cute kid," Rey remarks, smiling at Beebee who smiles back in return. Poe looks like he wants to say something but she continues, "Look, Poe? There's not much we can do at this time -"
The phone rings behind Rey in a shrilling tone. She takes one long look at the pair, and signals for them to wait. At the corner of her eye, Poe sits Beebee in one of the high chairs by the bar.
"Niima Out Roast, can I help you?"
"Rey!"
"Finn? Yeah, I'm right here, did you need for something?"
She hears distinct shuffling on the other side of the line - absently, her gaze drops to the two lost customers by the counter. There, in his distress, Poe fiddles with Beebee's coat as if to reassure him.
The child doesn't look bored or about to throw a tantrum, just smiles and hugs the man fiercely.
Goddamn, the mother of this kid. How can she just leave him alone? How can she leave HIM alone? I mean, just look at him, with that crinkles in his eyes and his hair and that overused jacket –
" - home early."
"Huh?"
"This galaxy to Rey. We're in the coffee business girl, no harm if you take an extra espresso shot -"
"Sorry, Finn. You were saying?"
In the end, Finn tells her to close and go home early due to the storm. And because he couldn't just let her brave through it alone, he'd be coming over and give her a ride - after all, she still came despite the weather forecast. Finn calls it scavenging towards survival.
He is about to hang up when Rey remembers the poor fellow who knocked over the shop thinking it came close into keeping a spare tire. Exactly where, she doesn’t know – behind the coffee maker? – as nothing about Niima Out Roast speaks of tires and car parts.
“A spare tire, huh?”
“Yeah, he’s got a kid, the least we can do is help,” Rey offers resignedly, ending the call. Finn says he will be there in half an hour.
She strolls back towards the pair, the only people apart from her left in the shop. It does not hurt to be a little friendly – and she totally means Beebee, the adorable orange-loving kid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“You got lucky,” Rey tells Poe, offering him a cup of hot coffee, and smiles at him. “That’s in the house.”
Beebee looks over the mug and makes a sour face at the smell. Poe looks at Rey, then looks at Beebee, and Rey rolls her eyes in response, attempting to make mild hot chocolate for the child.
“Luck doesn’t even begin to cover it,” Poe responds, sipping from the mug, looking at her intensely, “I’m stuck in a horrendous hurricane, with a cup of coffee, and bratty Beebee.”
Said child only stuck his tongue out, eager for his own cup of chocolate.
“Now, I’m amusing myself with my alliteration ‘cause I have nothing but myself, to amuse with.”
Her laughter sounds like the chime doors when the wind hits them and Poe is caught off-guard, he tries to steel himself. It is a rather good thing at that moment, her back is on him – except her hair is tied to a messy three bun he can’t quite comprehend and he finds it distracting in the most distracting of ways.
Rey turns – and swiftly, Poe averts his eyes – and hands Beebee his own cup of chocolate. She settles right across Poe on the other side of the counter. Too distracting.
“I’m right here.”
“Are you amused?”
“At your alliteration?”
“In this whole conversation.”
Conversation, he means, that way their eyes can’t seem to look away from each other the moment she sat in that stool right across him. Very, undeniably distracting. By conversation, he means the way her eyes smile when she does, and they grow bigger when her smile grows bigger into full-blown laughter and her hair sticking out of her bun in all the messy ways, all the exact messy ways he likes.
Now that he has gotten a closer look at the woman behind the counter – Poe finds himself wondering.
Intrigued.
“You do love your rhymes.”
She smiles at him, and he swears he isn’t laying the cheese thick at all, but she could melt away all that snow with her warmth.
“I do love my wordplay,” Poe nods, Rey hunches a little closer to listen and he entertains her. “Like you can twist them, and play around with them – a couple more extra letters –”
“Swordplay.”
Poe raises an eyebrow at her and catches on real fast, “Swordplayer?”
“A swordplayer?” Rey shakes her head; she can’t twist that word if her life depended on it, and he laughs at her futile attempt. “You did say a couple more extra letters,” she defends, quoting fingers in the air.
“That’s cheating.” It was his turn to shake his head at her, but he graces her a small smile anyway.
“Hey, tell that to the woman who’s going to save your asses!” Rey realizes her blunder as she glances at Beebee, who is intently drinking his chocolate.
“Beep boop!” The kid replies without looking up and Poe offers an explanation, “It works like the curse jar thing. Except he never really saves any money.”
Rey clears her throat, finding her ground. “I mean, I’m going to help you get on your way. My friend Finn’s coming over with a spare tire.”
At this, Poe stands up from his seat, reaching over the counter to envelop Rey in a loose hug. It is meant to be friendly, like strangers lost together finally finding the map to the way home.
“Thank the Maker! Did you hear that Beebee?”
But Rey is left breathless at the sudden intrusion – is it the scent? His over eagerness? He is a full grown man capable of taking care of a young child yet said child remains in his seat, eyes on the ground. The grown man is cheering for his life.
All of a sudden, Poe takes the chocolate cup from Beebee’s hands and carries him towards the window – pointing to random things as if to explain to the toddler the concept of going home. Poe ruffles the kid’s hair and he sways a little as he carries him still, kissing his cheeks and fixing his little white bonnet. Beebee puts his arms around his neck and they continue to sway a little bit more by the window, watching the scenery outside.
Rey does not fully understand what grips her, but she is, gripped, strongly, at the sight of them. The love of a father for his child – she is reminded of the father she never knew, and at that point even without knowing, her heart swells with admiration for Poe. Beebee is lucky to have him, and she does not need to grow up with a father who chose to abandon her to know just how much.
“Rey?”
Poe is back at his seat by the counter, unsure now, with Beebee standing by the door watching the snow. “I’m not sure what came over me. Sorry to – you know, hold you like that.”
She thwarts the awkward air with a question. “Why is he called Beebee?”
Rey really wants to ask where Beebee's mom is, and what in the world could she ever choose over this but she stops herself.
If Poe feels grateful for the change of the mood, he doesn’t show. “Oh don’t be fooled. That’s not his real name.”
“Oh.”
“Beebee is the last grandchild that my parents ever came to know. When he was born, he was really sick and he came in really late in between generations – the youngest before him is eight years apart. Everyone was pretty much old when he came, and we all doted on him,” Poe explains, looking over at the child by the window. "Thus Beebee. Like a baby."
“And his mom?”
“She died in childbirth.”
Rey holds Poe’s gaze and offers a sad smile. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s been a while.”
Now she understands – the affection and the bond they have to each other. Working at Niima Out Roast has taught her a lot about human relationships; even if she lived alone all her life, she has learned about compassion from the banker that leaves his sandwich for the shoemaker, about kindness from that single mother who handed a few coins to the missionaries – about love from a father and son trapped in a snowstorm.
“I was just thinking this, a while ago,” it comes out as a whisper, but Rey feels like she will cry if she tries any harder to speak. “Beebee is lucky to have you as his father.”
“You’re not the first person to say that,” he attests, too smugly, and it is so off-putting – so so so arrogant – Rey scrunches her nose to show her disapproval. You’re not the first person to say that? He needs to tone down that proud shade of self-love. Talk about ruining a good moment for drama with the snow background!
And he knows, the goddamn jerk knows that she is somewhat pissed, and he looks at her and bites his lip. “Look, I’m sorry!”
“What?”
“It’s just – ” Poe glances at Beebee, “ – damn, that works everytime.”
What?
“Rey,” he begins, “I’m not his father. Beebee is not my child. He’s my nephew. My sister’s kid.”
“I’m the eighth in the family!” Beebee says from afar.
He shrugs, and Rey dispels a breath of relief she is not even aware she’s holding. “But damn, he clearly brings all the ladies.”
Poe’s amusement, however, is not shared by Rey who is otherwise torn between feeling betrayed and relieved. She settles for the former.
“Not all of them.”
She crosses her arms in front of Poe, coupled with the obligatory shake of the head and the eye roll. Rey tries hard to keep up the tirade but Poe’s amusement at her mistake (and the mistake of everyone else before her!) is starting to become infectious, she finds it hard to maintain the charade.
Especially when he leans into the counter, his eyes intense, a small smile on his lips – there is a three day shadow over his jaw and he is looking, really looking at her like Christmas morning.
“Really?”
Daring. Challenging.
Rey holds her own for a while, and does not give him the satisfaction – until it burns inside her heart and the smile she keeps from him now comes into full bloom.
“Really.”
She matches his pose by the counter and hold each other’s gazes. They don’t look away, really.
Really.
Really, really –
“Damn girl, it’s fucking freezing in here, can you open the door?!”
“BEEP BOOP! BEEP BOOP!”
Rey groans – that’s two ruined moments! The snow is not going to last forever! – and she mutters under her breath, “Fucking Finn and his timing.”
“Beep boop,” says Poe, still smiling, and he lightly pinches her cheek as she goes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poe and Finn work on the car, leaving Beebee seated by the counter with Rey beside him, watching the men. There is a wistful look on Beebee’s eyes, totally different from that boy who asked her if she was Poe’s girlfriend. Right, as if. Rey diverts her thoughts to the quiet boy.
“You okay, Beebee?”
“I’m...I don’t really like to go home,” he starts, playing with the buttons on his orange coat.
“Well, you can always go back to the park? That’s where you were supposed to go, didn’t you?”
“I don’t really like to go to the park.”
“Oh?” Rey turns to the little child, and pats his head, holding both of his plump cheeks. “Then why are you here?”
“I just wanted to go wherever Uncle Poe does,” his eyes remain on the ground, and Beebee still pretends to be strong and fiddles with his coat, “he’s flying again somewhere, and it will be a long time before I see him again.”
Rey holds both of his hands. “What do you mean by somewhere?”
It takes a while before he answers. “Everywhere. I want to come with him but I can’t.”
Rey steals a glance over at Poe, all rugged, scruff and working despite the snow storm. Finn is helping him with the mechanics, and she almost feels guilty for bringing in the spare tire. But she has no idea. That it will break her heart hearing this little guy speak about his uncle, possibly the closest to a father he has ever known – she had no idea it will break her heart too.
“You know he loves you so much, right?” Rey strokes Beebee’s cheeks, loses herself in the feeling. “He’ll always come back for you. And next time, there will be no snow, and you can go to the park together.”
“If they say they love you, why do they still leave?”
She remembers going on that day waking up, like any other normal day. She ties her hair, drinks her tea, waters the only plant she has. Rey locks the door of her flat and walks around the block towards the coffee shop, hearing the forecast of a snow storm on her way. The old woman is already there by the patio, reading the morning paper. She brings her the usual, and in turn the woman tells her to take care and leave for home early if she could.
If anybody told her she’d be holding a child in her arms, offering no answers to the questions she herself asks – she’d tell them flatly that things like that don’t happen in this God-forsaken place. It is all about survival – about getting by. There is no room for dreams, and somedays, and they only have compassion and kindness and a little bit of hope to go around.
Yet she holds him as tightly as she can because in him, she has found a kindred spirit and company she never expected. For once, she doesn’t feel so alone. She really hopes to see him again.
And Poe Dameron.
She takes a piece of paper by the counter, writes something and tucks it in Beebee’s coat pocket, smiling through her the smallest of her tears.
“What’s that?”
“Classified.”
“Classified?”
“Yes, really classified,” she tucks it safely and surely, “when you want to go to the park, you can open that. It contains a map that leads straight through its secrets.” Rey winks at him.
Beebee looks unconvinced. He makes an effort to get the paper out of his coat, but thinks the better of it.
“Is this your number?”
Rey cannot believe what she’s hearing and her eyes go wide at Beebee’s accusation. “I throw all of these things away. But I’ll keep yours.”
This time, Rey sees Poe from the corner of her eye, done with the car repairs. Beebee, though – he’s not planning to stop anytime soon.
“And I’ll make sure he’ll call you too. He doesn’t call everyone because I throw the papers away. But I’ll give this when we get home because I like you and you like –”
“SSSHHH!”
Poe, unlike Finn, arrives just in the perfect moment and Beebee runs towards him like it has been a long time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finn proceeds to roam around the shop, checking last minute precautions before he and Rey too, head home. In the utter silence – with Beebee asleep in one of the booths – Poe takes hold of the rare opportunity.
“So.”
“So.”
They let a moment of silence pass, just smiling, holding each other’s gazes.
“So who talks first? Do I talk first, you talk first?”
“Poe.” She laughs as she chastises him, her eyes turning serious and curious at once.
“When are you coming back?”
The man takes in the question, putting his hands in the pocket of his rugged jeans. He flashes her a lazy smile, laced with a promise. “I don’t know. But I will.”
She returns the affection. “Really?”
“Really.”
Poe takes the sleeping kid to his arms. “Will you wait for me?”
She doesn’t know the answer to it either, but sure as hell she’d like to try.
“Maybe.”
As Finn goes through the back door, Poe takes his cue to leave and offers the other man a salute. Beebee still asleep in his arms, he faces Rey one last time.
“Hey Rey?”
“Yes?”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
EPILOGUE:
“So nice, so fine. Damn girl.”
“Is that his jacket?”
“Ooh! Dibs!”
“Finn. I saw him first.”
“Okay, but you’re never putting that in the laundry.”
“You got it.”
EPILOGUE 2:
“Rey? I’m coming for my jacket. Soon. – Poe Dameron”