The Art of Broken Pieces

Porg Nest Vest

"Almost new..." He caught himself repeating stupidly. He stopped himself from saying anything else, realizing that it must have been the fabric that Spoon had pushed into his hands when they had stepped back onto the Falcon. He had been so panicked, he hadn't even noticed. He looked at it, wrinkled and blood stained in her hands, and the irony of the whole thing was inescapable.

He couldn't help himself. He broke into helpless laughter.

Rey blinked at him. It was so sudden, so unexpected, that her reflexive reaction was one of confusion and concern. Ben was laughing—really, laughing—leaning on the bulkhead and bracing his head in one hand, as if the very activity might cause his brain to explode. His grin was enormous, unwieldy, and inelegant. It creased his cheeks in ways she had never seen, ways that were wonderful and unexpected, and made a brash bid for dominance of his entire face. If she hadn't been so confused by the onslaught of mirth, it would have been amazing.

"Ben...?" she said, unable to keep a tremble of amused concern from her voice. "You okay?"

Trying to catch his breath, Ben waved a hand at her, wondering distantly if he were going crazy. Between the battle, her bleeding out in his arms, the lack of sleep, and the worrying, the sight of that dammed vest in her hands had been the last straw. How long had it been since he had bought it now? Eight months, ten? He had almost forgotten about it, had assumed the porgs had shredded it into ribbons.

He shook his head, managing to re-gain some semblance of control over his emotions. "I... I'm fine." He wheezed. "It's... a long story."

Rey felt her lips curling as she looked up at him. He was still smiling, that massive grin pushing its way out, though he was clearly trying to get it in restraints. When was the last time he'd laughed like this? How long had that grin lay buried beneath anger and bitterness and pitch-black resentment? Rey couldn't help hoping that, now it found its way to the surface, she'd see more of it.

She took his forearm, half for balance and half just to hold onto him. Over the past few days, she'd missed the easy contact they'd established, almost as much as she missed being able to get up and move around. "Sanitizer," she said, pulling him into motion. "I don't care what you think, I'm washing it."

"It does have pockets." Ben offered helpfully, supporting her as she made her stubborn way down the hall. The laughter was fading, and he tried to battle back a strange sort of embarrassment in its wake. "But it's really not worth it. Those blood stains won't come out, you know."

He reached out and snagged the vest from her, shaking it out and frowning at it. The porgs really had treated it rather well, but it was strange to see it again. "I can get you another one."

Rey frowned, trying to fit the statements together in a way that made sense. There was really only one explanation for why he'd known about the pockets. "You...bought this?" she ventured.

Ben sighed, handing it back. "On Toland's moon where I kept the Betrayal... the first time we were there." He looked sideways at her, handing the vest back.

Rey was already grinning, her insides leaping with a squiggly sort of happiness at the thought of Ben, even then, thinking of her. She was also absurdly happy that it was this vest, and not one of those absurdly revealing Aurelian gowns, that had been the first thing he'd bought her. It made her feel...known.

She closed her fingers around the fabric, insides fizzy with a kind of quiet, bright happiness she'd never really experienced.

"Well, I'm definitely not getting rid of it now," she said. They reached the sanitizer unit and she tossed it inside, programmed the thing to a stain-removal setting. "If that doesn't take care of it...I guess I could just dye it black."