This story was a request from on of my readers on Quotev.com, and is about a lactose intolerant reader, because real life happens. :P
You were sitting in the mess hall with a few of your friends at a mostly empty table. The table wasn't empty because you and your friends were weird or anything, you just usually had to work through the lunch shift.
You were a comm monitor. So when the pilots were chatting during drills, and especially during combat, you were there listening. You knew all the pilots by name, though hadn't hardly met any of them, and after listening to them deal with extremely dangerous situations, you had grown to care for them exceedingly more that you had thought you would when you signed up to join the Resistance.
You didn't usually say much, unless you needed to relay orders to them mid flight, or if one of them would tell an unusually hilarious joke and you couldn't contain your laughter. They would always kidd you for it, and then they would refocus on their mission and forget about you again.
The pilots began to recognize your voice after a few weeks and they had given you a call sign. "Snicker", because of how you would laugh when you were trying to hold in your amusement. They never asked for your real name though, and you didn't really mind that they had no idea who you were. In fact, you quite enjoyed being invisible and staying in the background of things. It made you feel safe.
You saw a group of pilots walk into the mess hall still wearing their flight suits and joking with each-other. Poe Dameron was leading the group, thought that didn't surprise you seeing as he was the C.O. You had to admit to yourself after a few weeks on the job that you were beginning to develop a slight crush on the man. Though you knew you weren't the only one.
Poe Dameron was the Resistance Poster Boy, and he definitely looked the part. Almost all of the single women on base had noticed him. You realized you didn't have much of a shot. So when the pilots came and sat at the table behind you, you didn't give it much thought and after a few minutes you practically forgot they were behind you. When they weren't laughing loudly of course.
You rejoined the conversation with you friends and were about to say something when one of them stopped you and gestured jerkily to the table at your back. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion and turned to look when your friend leaned across the table and grabbed your shoulders holding you inplace, motioning you to just listen.
"What about the comms girl, Snickers? You could finally take her on a date." you heard Kare Kun say.
And then Snap chimed in, "Ya, then I might still have a chance to win that bet."
Poe laughed, "What bet?"
"The one I made with Iolo about how long it would take you to fall in love with Snickers."
Your eyes widened, incredulous, and you heard Poe choke on something, "What! I'm not in love with Snickers!" He cried.
And the table erupted in laughter, wolf-whistles, and calls of "Yes you are!" and "Why are you turning red then?!" joining in.
You locked eyes with you friends and he started laughing at you too, your face was turning bright red and you were stuck halfway between grinning and hiding your face in your hands in mortification.
"I've never met her, and I-" he said matter of factly as the jeering died down, before he was cut off by Iolo,
"Then why do you always grin like a dork after every mission she monitors.? And why do you keep trying to figure out how to track her down on your spare time when you think no one is watching?"
You refused to turn around and look at the conversation going on behind you, but you could imagine everyone turning to face Poe expectantly. As the silence continued to drag on a smile grew on your face, crap you were gonna laugh...
"...Uhhh..."
"Exactly." Snap said, matter-o-factly.
You couldn't help it, it came out like it usually did when you were trying not to be heard. Just a little giggle, before you sucked your bottom lip in a bit it to contain yourself. The table behind you froze, and the tension was so think you could cut it with a knife.
You gingerly shoveled a spoonful of food into your mouth, the hair on the back of your neck standing on end. You heard someone get up and Snap cleared his throat behind you. You reluctantly turned your head to look at him, and he smiled. "Hi I'm Snap-"
"Snap-" Poe started warningly,
"-Are you Snickers?"
You bit your lip again and glanced back at your friend who stood up with their tray and waved as if washing their hands of the situation. You rolled your eyes at them, and smiled up at Snap, amused and quietly replied, nervous, "I think I am... Unfortunately." You shrugged and looked over your shoulder at the rest of the pilots who were all staring at you except for Poe, who had placed his head on the table and was shaking it in mortification.
"I found her!" Snap cried to his buddies spinning around and pumping the air with his fist victoriously. They whooped, and those who could reach ruffled Poe's hair or thumped him on the shoulder.
Poe sucked in a deep breath. I can do this. I can do this. It's not like being at the Academy anymore. He squared his shoulders and picked up his tray of food moving quickly to sit next to you. "So I'm Poe. It's nice to meet you... in person... finally." He smiled and cleared his throat, anxiously.
You giggled, and nodded, "Ya. Nice to meet you too. I'm Snickers."
Poe laughed, he thought you were so cute. "What's your real name?... I mean, I like 'snickers' and all... but..." he finished lamely. He mentally punched himself for being such a teen. He was usually better with words but for some reason they didn't seem to like him right now.
You told him your name, but quickly added, "I like being called snickers too though. I think its fun." You smiled. You didn't want him to think you didn't like it or anything, and you were mentally kicking yourself for acting like a dorky, shy, nerd.
Poe had no idea what to do next and so he took a bit of food and washed it down quickly. You really had to get going so you spoke up, "Well, sorry, but I really gotta run... Work stuff, and ya,.. But it was nice meeting you!" You stood as you spoke, and moved to pick up your empty tray, but Poe beat you to it.
He grabbed it and stacked it with his, standing with you, smiling nervously, "So you want to go on a date with me?" he asked the words falling out of his mouth in a confusing jumble. 'That was the worst pickup line in the history of worst pickup lines!' Poe screamed in his head. But you caught the gist anyways.
You grinned and giggled when he sighed, and scratched the back of his neck, exasperated. "Sure." you managed to reply, "When do you- should I- Uh... when?" You stumbled grinning now.
"Tonight?"
You met Poe at the canteen, you didn't have time to clean up much, but you did manage to run back to your small quarters and change out of your uniform. He walked up to you wearing a brown leather jacket and casual clothes, looking much more sure of himself than when you saw him earlier.
"You look nice." he said with a cheeky smile, as he places a hand on your back and lead you over to the bar.
"Thanks." you smiled back, feeling much more confident yourself. "I really can't drink tonight. I have work tomorrow. So staying late is out of the question too." you said, deciding to be pretty up front with your schedule for the night.
Poe waved it off, and grin reassuringly, "That's fine. I have work tomorrow too. Got some new recruits to train, and having a hangover would only help that day get worse that it's already going to be."
You smiled and sat on a stool. "So what are you drinking then?"
He motioned the bartender over, and smirked at you, "One large milkshake please, heavy on the cream, with two straws."
The bartender nodded, "Right away." and moved to fill the order.
You were about to open your mouth to tell Poe that you were Lactose intolerant, but before you had the chance, he turned to you and started talking animatedly.
"I've always wanted to do this. My parents were always telling me how they met and that their first date was just a shared milkshake because dad was too broke to buy more than one. Mom said he tried to play it off as romantic, but she could see right through him. He didn't find out till later that she had known he was penniless at the time, because she had played along with it. But anyways,-"
He suddenly realized something and cut himself off, "Oh! I should probably have asked first, do you even like milkshakes?" he ran a hand through his hair sheepishly, and smiled crookedly.
Your head was screaming at you to say no! if you drank this you would pay dearly, with a very, very bad stomach ache! But you couldn't bring yourself to deny the man sitting next to you. "Of course! Who doesn't?" you joked, with a giggle, trying to hide the fact that you wanted to facepalm yourself.
Then the offending beverage was placed on the bar between the two of you by the bartender, and Poe turned it so the straws were facing the both of you, and he leaned in to take a sip, a happy look sliding onto his face. He must really like Ice cream.
You swallowed and leaned it to take a drink, and decided that maybe it was worth it. You really did like Milkshakes, and maybe you deserved to drink another one after all this time! So you decided not to worry about it till tomorrow when you would be sick all day.
The rest of the date passed happily, and quickly. You and Poe joked back and forth and got to know each other a little better than just nicknames over the comm. But before long, it was time for you to head back to your quarters for the night. You did really have work tomorrow, and you were gonna have to steel yourself to work through whatever the milk was gonna do to your insides.
So you made your goodbyes, and Poe, being Poe, snuck a kiss. Just a small one, and it was probably the best kiss you had ever had. He stopped you outside the Canteen before you could walk away with a hand on your elbow, and smiled softly. "Did you have a good time?" He asked quietly, leaning his head close enough so you could hear him despite the change in volume.
Your lips quirked up, and your heart beat started slowly gaining speed, "You sorta made it hard not to."
His hand slid down to yours and the other lightly touched your face. Lips lightly brushed the corner of your mouth, and you didn't have much time at all to react. He pulled away quickly searching your face to see if maybe he had crossed into any no fly zones, but when your face split into a grin he gently squeased your hand.
"I don't have time tomorrow, but the day after, same time and place?" He asked hopefully.
"I'd like that... goodnight Poe."
"Good night."
Poe was sort-of worried. You were supposed to be on the comms today. You had said you had work, and your work was monitoring the comms! His mind was reeling with possibilities.
What if you had said that just so you could end the date sooner? What if you didn't actually like him? What if-
"Black Leader, We need you at the head!" Shouted one of his squad and he snapped out of his thoughts. Focus now, worry later.
You were curled up in your bed, wrapped in blankets and moaning. "Why me!? Why am I such an Idiot!" you groaned and tried not to vomit. You felt like your stomach was going to explode and your abdomen was cramping so bad that you kept thinking you were going to die.
You reached your arm off the side of the bed and pulled your small trash can, turned puke bucket, closer, just in case. "Stupid milkshake." you whined to the empty room. You really wished someone was here to listen to your whining. Somehow it always makes you feel better. Lactose intolerance sucks. Like really badly. Why did I have to drink it! Why did I tell myself it would be okay? You would kick yourself for being an idiot, but you were afraid if you moved to much your innards would become your outards.
There was a knock on your door, and you groaned, not wanting to get up to open it. So you yelled, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Poe!" came the voice.
You really didn't want to get up. You would lose the contents of your stomach if you did, so you just yelled again. "The code is 5839"
after a moment the door swooshed open. "Hey, You weren't on the comms today, and when I asked, Leia told me you called in sick. Are you doing okay?"
You turned your head to look at him and sniffed sleepily, your hands wrapped around your stomach. "I'm sorry, but next time, I'm not going to drink milk. Bad call on my part." you moaned.
"Do you need to go to the med bay? What's wrong?" he asked, worry clouding his features as he sat on the edge of the bed, and placed a hand on your back, beginning to rub circles.
You sighed, the heat from his hand felt really good. "Just feel nauseous, and have a really bad stomach ache. Already went to the med bay, took the prescription. But I don't feel better yet."
"I'm sorry Babe." Poe felt so bad! He felt responsible for making you drink the milkshake and now you were sick because of a first date! "Are you allergic to milk?" he asked quietly, still rubbing circles on your back.
"Ya. Not deathly allergic, but it makes me sick for a while. I'll be fine, I just need to get over it." you said. Trying to instill confidence in your voice. You really would be fine, you just had a habit of expecting to die when you were throwing up.
Poe didn't look convinced. "Do you need anything? Want anything? I'm off now, and I don't have anything else to do right now..." and then he realized that you probably wouldn't have drunk the milkshake if he hadn't told you the story about his parents. "I'm such an idiot!" he reprimanded himself quietly.
"No you were fine!" you interjected softly, "I'm a big girl. I make my own choices."
"But you would probably have said something if I hadn't told you the story about my parents and their first date." He apologized, pointedly.
And he was right. You had been going to say something, so you conceded defeat and nodded. "Ya, probably."
He sighed, and stopped moving his hand, letting it rest on your waist. "So you want anything? I can get whatever you want... within reason." he amended with a grin.
You forced a small smile, and sheepishly replied. "I don't really need anything, but... If you don't mind, I don't really... want to sit here alone."
Poe scoffed and leaned down to unlace his boots. "I was planning on staying anyways, so what else do you want?"
THE END
A/N
This is very long................... 2750 words long..........................................so ya... :P
Written in response to a request from @Haziebug who after reading the chapter about a deaf O/C had the great idea for a story about a lactose intolerant reader. And as I have some experience with this, I was more than happy to oblige! :)
And yes misery does love company. So deal. :P