Close to Me {Poe Dameron}

three

Poe looked over at her periodically as he flew them to the spot they would jump to lightspeed. Since the First Order station, they hadn't fought as much. Matter of fact his friends kept asking him what he had done to fix it. They had even started leaving cups of caf or tea nearby when they noticed the other looked particularly stressed. Poe a week ago would have never believed that she would be sitting next to him looking so at ease. She always became so rigid when he was around and now she was as relaxed as one could be going back to a world they hadn't been to since their parents were killed.

Once in hyperspace, he turned to look at her. "So what's our story?"

"That our parents hated us because whoever came up with these names is awful." She looked up from her datapad, nose wrinkled in disgust.

Poe laughed. "Well, what are they?"

"You're Kit, I'm Pip and together we're the Damerae's."

They both locked eyes and soon laughter filled the cockpit. "Oh kriff, that's bad," Poe said once he calmed down.

"We're there for the week to get a feel for the planet because we're looking to move. We currently live on Hosnian Prime. Still fairly new to marriage. Only been married for six months. Oh, and we also own a restaurant so that can also be used as a reason for why we're here." She went through the facts.

"That's not bad. What relationship details do we need to know?"

"We honeymooned on Naboo. We dated three years before we got married. A mutual friend set us up. They were a cook that I stole from you since we were both managing restaurants before we had the opportunity to go in together."

"Do you know anything about the restaurant business?" Poe asked, wondering why they had chosen this for their cover.

Kat chuckled, shaking her head. "Not a clue. But the cuisine is very similar to Yavin 4 and Chandrila. So if anything we can talk about our favorite meals and be okay."

Poe nodded. It all seemed easy enough to remember. He hoped they wouldn't run into any actual restaurant savvy people. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

She stared at him for a few moments, battling with herself on what she should tell him. She knew she promised Leia she would start to open up more but this was too personal. "I haven't been here since I was ten. No one should recognize me or would even remember who I am." She worked hard to keep her voice steady.

He nodded once again, offering up a smile and a reassuring squeeze to her arm. The alarms started going off then, alerting them that they were approaching their destination. Both pilots set to work so that they could land.

The fact that he didn't push stirred something inside of her that she was not ready to examine just yet. She focused on the task at hand instead, helping to guide them into the constant traffic as they maneuvered the skies to their hotel. Once they landed, Poe stood and grabbed his bag, heading to the ramp. He turned to offer his hand, figuring it was time to start with the act, but Kat wasn't there.

She was still in her seat. The reality of it all keeping her there. She flinched when she saw Poe's hand, too lost in her own world to have heard him approaching her. He watched her, worried, never seeing the woman who usually filled the room with her presence so lost. She silently took his hand, standing. "Sorry, I don't typically freeze up like that. Guess it's hitting harder than I thought."

"I've been working with you for a while now, Kat, you don't have to apologize. I know your normal." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"You're being weirdly nice to me." Her eyes squinted as she looked him over.