You're beginning to feel less like a friend and more like home...
-Faraway
Serena's sleeping body withered in agony. Her kicking feet tangled the sheets around her legs and her shoulders pressed down into the mattress, pushing her face deeper into the pillow. She moved in fits of uncontrolled terror, the same terrors that mutilated her brain and haunted every inch of her.
She gave out a whimper as she fisted the sheet and curled her knees up into her chest. She cradled herself as her spine curved and threatened to snap back. The horrors played over her like a dance. Her muscles twitched under their influence and stole any chance for peace.
A rather nasty spasm pushed her shoulder back hard enough for her to roll over. The small movement was just enough to rip her awake from her endless loop of Snoke mocking her. Her eyes peeled open and looked up at the exposed ceiling above her. Rusted beams ran along the length of the ceiling. Wrapped around them were blue and red wires, tangling around one another until she couldn't discern which went where.
The stupid ceiling and less-than code above her weren't enough to distract her from the heavy thumping inside her chest. It drown out even the loud hum of the engine under her. Her entire body pulsed along with her racing heart, making her feel like her skin was vibrating off her bones.
She turned her head but stopped short as a kink pressed into the tense tissue traveling down the side of her neck and wrapping over the front of her shoulder. It pulsed along with her heart too, and made her feel like the muscle had a mind of its own. Suddenly, she didn't control anything- she wasn't in control anymore. Her body actively worked against her, killing her slowly in her sleep, depriving her of any peaceful rest so she would go insane.
Death by losing her mind would be a way to go, it was what she deserved after all the innocent souls she robbed from the galaxy. Insanity seemed like a light sentence.
Still, she knew she would have to trudge on. Her night terrors tried to drag her down to the depths of hell, but that didn't mean she had to stick around. She would claw and scratch her way out until she breathed her last breath. She would not let Snoke ruin her any more.
She sat up and kicked the tangled sheets to the foot of her bed. They wrapped around her ankles and clung on to her for dear life, even as she wiggled her feet and pulled them back towards her the sheets followed. Irritation seeped into her sore muscles and made her strike out at the sheets. She grabbed the thin sheet with both fists and ripped it up in the air before she threw it down by the footboard. The light material floated heavenly through the air without a care in the world. It mocked her as it took its time before it settled back on the bed.
Without the blanket on her, the crisp room cooled the sweat that drenched her skin. The quick switch caused goosebumps to infect her exposed skin. Her hair stuck awkwardly to her neck and pulled against her throat with each heavy swallow. Her trembling fingertips slicked over her sweat-soaked skin and came away wetter than she wanted them to be as she pushed her hair off her neck.
She groaned as she let her hand drop lifelessly back to her bed. She looked around the empty room and found the odd shadows pooling in every corner concerning. Her mind took the shapes and transformed them into sharp edges of thrones and decrepit fingers reaching out for her.
The shadows forced her out of her bed. She stumbled over her stiff feet and backed up until she almost tripped over her duffle bag. She turned and bent over to grab the bag in her arms. When it was pressed safely against her chest she fled the personal quarters and welcomed the brightly lit hallway.
The harsh overhead light burned her dry eyes, but the absence of shadows made up for the pain. She padded barefoot across the wide hall towards the bathroom. When she was locked safely inside she dropped her bag and leaned against the door to appease her trembling muscles. Her head rested against the door as she looked up at the flickering light in the middle of the bathroom's ceiling. The bulb ticked every few seconds as it struggled to stay on.
She lowered her eyes and sluggishly turned her head to look at the corner shower. It was a glass shell filled with grime around the edges and Wookie hair in the drain. The stench of wet fur clung to the air, but at least she didn't smell her own sweat.
Her shoulders pressed back into the harsh metal of the door to push herself up to her feet. Her feet dragged across the tile as she made her way towards the shower. It wasn't as appetizing at her shower back on Ajan Kloss, the thought of stepping on clumped fur and slime put her off for a shower entirely. But she knew she needed it, her muscles ached from the tossing and the sweat glued to her skin and left her feeling tight and gross.
She knew she'd have to weather the less-than ideal shower, but she hoped once she was under the stream and closed her eyes she would forget where she was entirely. It happened before in worse places.
The glass door had a film of grime over it that fogged up the entirety of it. While it disgusted Serena, she was appreciative of the small bit of privacy it provided. She slid the door open and gingerly reached inside to turn the hot water on. While it warmed up she stripped herself of her sweat-soaked clothes and set them off to the side so they didn't contaminate her entire bag of clothes. She picked the tape off of her wrap and gently unwove the material from around her forearm. Poe put so much work into it she didn't want to ruin it, but she knew soaking it in water wouldn't be good for the wound.
She threw the used wrap in the small trash and twisted her arm to take a good look at the graze. Dark purple bruises stained her skin around the graze, the purple blended out to a cold green as the bruise extended out around her forearm. She lifted a stiff finger and gingerly pressed it into the dark purple next to the wound. She gave out a small hiss as a deep, hot throb rippled out around her finger and agitated the laser wound itself.
She dropped her arm to stop messing with it and grabbed all of her bathroom accessories from her bag to bring with her into the shower. As she clutched all of her necessities to her chest, she stepped into the slightly raised shoulder and shut the door behind her. Steam thickened the air in the glass cage and made Serena breathe in heavy moisture.
The water rushed down and hit her shins and toes as she looked at the small shelves on the shower walls. Each were brimming with odd bottles of shampoo and bars of soap. The bottoms of the bottles had a nice layer of collected grime growing up them. The sight turned Serena's stomach worse than her nightmares. She understood that boys weren't as clean as girls, but the place was a pig sty.
In order to clear a place for her own bottles she pushed some of Chewie's shampoos closer together on their own shelf, then she used the stream of water to clean her shelf off before she put her bottles down.
When her things were situated she turned towards the steaming water and lifted her hands to feel the droplets rain over her palms. The pressure behind them reminded her of a heavy storm. The tantalizing premise floored her as she stepped fully under the water and leaned her head back to let the water rush over her face.
She became drenched in seconds flat, just like she would on D'Qar. The hot water pricked at her skin until she was enveloped in a tingling sensation. The comfort wrapped around her and pulled her in until she forgot she was in a grimy bathroom. Instead she was standing under the moonlight as the rainwater washed all her terrors and sins away.
She lifted her hands and pushed her hair back from her face. Her fingers knotted in her wet hair and pulled it from her roots. A dizzying clarity fell over her, reminding her of where she was and what she was doing.
The clarity made her open her eyes and continue on with her shower. The steam soothed her worn muscles while the scent of her heavenly shampoo muted the horrors in her mind. She could still see the blood and dead bodies laid out before her, but she could no longer hear their cries as they took their last breath.
The shower gave her exactly what she needed, despite the dirt build up and stench of wet Wookie, she stepped out of it refreshed and just relaxed enough to try and sleep again.
She took her time dressing herself in a deep green tank top and a pair of black silk shorts. The shorts felt smooth as water along her skin and were cold enough to give little splotches of goosebumps along her thighs.
The steamed mirror positioned over the sink gave off blobs of color to represent her. She wrapped her towel over her hand to wipe some of the steam away. In the small streak of clarity she saw herself: purple bags laid heavy under her dull eyes. Her cheeks were rosy from the steam and held the same hue as her raw lips. The blue veins along her eyelids, temples and forehead stuck out against her snowy skin. They darkened with each slow pulse of her calm heart. Her silver hair dampened to a dark, lifeless gray as it hung just above her bare shoulders. Water droplets fell from the ends and collected on her thin shoulders. When enough pooled, a fat water droplet traveled down the front of her shoulder and soaked into the hem of her tank top.
To stop more water from drenching her shirt she lifted her towel and ran it through her hair to absorb any extra moisture. When the threat of wetting her shirt was extinguished, she packed up her dirty clothes and wrapped them up in her wet towel, then she pressed it and her bag into her chest to leave the bathroom.
One bare step out into the hallway and she stopped as Poe nearly ran into her.
"Oh-uh- sorry-" Serena stammered as she backed up right into the closed bathroom door. The cold metal hit her bare shoulders and painfully reminded her of how exposed she was. She watched Poe's eyes widened as they trailed along the length of her pale, smooth legs.
"I- um-" His eyes stopped at the hem of her shorts. His pupils dilated, darkening his eyes as he shot up to look back into her eyes. "I wanted to check on you-" Pink slowly saturated his tan cheeks and gave him a boyish, caught look.
Serena tilted her head to the side as she watched the color spread. "I wanted to take a shower-" She hooked her thumb behind her to point towards the door she was leaning against.
"I thought you were sleeping-" His eyes narrowed as he looked quizzically between her eyes.
She nodded along dumbly as her mind raced for a way to explain herself without telling him she sweated through her first set of pajamas. "I was- but then- I mean you know how I get-" She stopped and swallowed to give herself time to collect her thoughts. She focused on the browns of his eyes as she sorted through her words. "Nightmare," She decided the truth was the best option, and the easiest. "I woke up and I... didn't want to be in that room by myself anymore." She hugged her wet towel and bag closer to her chest. "Showers usually help calm me down. I close my eyes and pretend I'm back on D'Qar and it's raining." A slow, peaceful smile pulled back on her lips. "Everything seems so much simpler under the rain." She admitted to him. "Plus I am almost guaranteed no lightning in the shower so..."
Poe chuckled at her joke. His head lowered, but as he saw her bare feet against the dirty floor he felt like he was intruding on something important. He looked back up at her as an idea came to him. "I was actually thinking... Chewie said he could pilot solo for a while, so I was coming to catch a nap-"
"I thought you said you were just checking up on me?" Serena asked innocently as her tired eyes searched his.
He nodded as he said, "I was- I am- but then I was gonna pass out." He licked his lips. "Maybe it won't be so bad in there if I'm with you." He offered up a solution.
Serena's head slowly tilted up as she understood- or at least she thought she did. "Okay," She nodded as she pushed off the door. Her bag clutched tightly in her arms as she led the way across the hall towards the shared quarters.
The bedroom door opened, showing the pitch black room beyond it. Serena paused in the door frame and looked at Poe over her shoulder. When he nodded at her, she turned back and entered the room.
Her bed was closest to the door as it pressed flush against the wall. The head of her bed met up with the head of a second bed pushed against the room's back wall. Together the two beds created a ninety degree angle, leaving an odd square hole between the headboards and the corner.
Serena set her bag and towel by the foot of her bed and stuffed it under the bedframe next to her boots. She noticed as she bent close to her bed that the sheets held on to the subtle hint of her sweat. She tucked her hair behind her ears and hoped that Poe didn't get close enough to the bed to smell it.
"I'll take this bed," He moved past her towards the bed next to hers.
Serena stood up and dusted her knees off as she nodded. "Good choice," She told him lamely as she fixed the sheets and duvet over her bed. The sheets ruffled in the center, showing the wake of her sleepless terror. She smoothed it out quickly and sat cross-legged over the rumpled sheets and gave Poe a tired smile. "Well, good night-"
"Wait," Poe stopped her as she started to pull the sheets over her legs. She looked back at him to see his bushy brows pinched together in a fit of concentration. His eyes honed in on her hands as they clutched the duvet by her knees. "When you... when you get lost in your head, I always hold your hand and it seems to bring you back to me- to the moment-" He fixed his wording quickly as his eyes flashed up to hers. "What if... I just think that-" Poe licked his lips again as his eyes desperately looked between hers. "What if you hold my hand while you sleep." The suggestion came out quiet, almost like it wasn't much of a suggestion and more like a plea.
Serena's lips parted as she watched the sincerity lighten the brown tones of his eyes until they reminded her of mountain tops during sunrise.
"Poe..." Her shoulders sagged as she looked at the kind man in front of her. "I can't hold your hand for everything. Eventually I have to figure out a way to deal with this myself."
Poe nodded as he moved towards her bed. When he got to the side he kneeled down and looked at her hands as they laid flat in her lap. She dropped her head to see her palms up. Her right palm had bubbled scars plaguing the otherwise smooth surface. The thick scar tissue created ugly, jagged lines that crossed over the natural folds of her palm.
"I know you have to figure it out on your own. I know that, I do... but until then-" He reached across the small space between them and grabbed her left hand delicately in his. His fingers slid between hers as gentle as he would caress a frail animal. As his fingers curved around the back of her hand she found her own fingers instinctively closing in around his hand. "Hold my hand."
Serena's eyes lifted to see Poe already staring at her. She gulped as a heat spread through her chest and trailed slowly over her shoulders and down her arms until she felt it in her toes and finger tips. It was warm and fuzzy and made her feel just as the rain of D'Qar did.
"Okay," Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks as she looked at him with hooded eyes. "But if it doesn't work.. if I hurt you or-" She stopped as the thoughts hurt to voice out loud.
Poe shook his head slowly as he traced his thumb over the back of her head. "You won't hurt me, Serena. Just trust me."
She gulped and gave him a single nod as she looked down at his hand around hers. "I trust you."
"Good." His hand tightened in hers. "Now I need to go get ready, I'll be a minute, okay?" She nodded again and loosened her grip so he could pull away.
She watched as he stood back up, grabbed his bag and left the room.
The door stayed open behind him, which Serena appreciated more than she expected to. The hallway light flooded into the room, stealing most of the shadows that taunted her before. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them to keep them in place. Her uncovered graze pulled awkwardly from the position, but Serena tried to push the thought of it away. She didn't want to think about anything bad, so she thought of the rain fall, of Kaydel's bubbly personality in the morning, of the way Poe cared about her when she wasn't sure she deserved it.
She focused on all the good and looked at the way the light sprayed out across the bedroom floor. She didn't dare look at the shadows, she wouldn't let them pull her in to their darkness. She stayed on the light and thought of the light and waited for Poe to come back.
A shadow elongated in the middle of the light. Serena looked up expectantly as Poe walked back in wearing a pair of gray sweatpants. Just gray sweatpants.
Serena's jaw threatened to fall off as she slowly looked over Poe's broad, bare shoulders. Thick tendrils of muscle pulled over his shoulders and carved their way onto his pecks. Between them was a silver chain with a ring dangling from the end of it. The ring danced off his sternum with each step. She watched the chain hypnotically, but as he bent over to drop his bag and shoes by the foot of his bed she noticed the slight indent of each ab muscle bulge out along his stomach.
Her lungs expanded on their own, reminding her of her need to breathe. She let out a shaky breath through her parted lips as she watched Poe turn to pull his blankets back. His shoulders rolled, showing her every last muscle along his back that danced with the single movement. His tan, spotless skin glowed under the dim light and held her attention until she forgot about anything and everything.
Poe sat on the bed and laid down on his side before he looked up at her. He gave a crooked smile as he reached his arm out to her and laid the back of his hand on her bed, right next to her pillow. "See? This'll work." He tried to assure her, but she was so wrapped up in his half-naked body to care about anything trivial such as hand holding.
But then the sentiment crept back in, and she realized that him wanting to hold her hand so she had a peaceful night's rest was more attractive than any sort of physical body- though Poe had a damn good body.
She shook all the unwarranted thoughts from her head as she scooted down to lay on her back, then turned to face the middle of the room. She slipped her left hand under her pillow and reached her right hand out lay on top of Poe's. As soon as her palm touched his, his fingers wrapped around her hand to hold it securely.
Serena let out a slow breath as she watched their hands. She carefully wove her fingers under his hand and held it just as tightly as he held hers.
"Goodnight, Serena." There was a heavy weight to Poe's voice. It was lulling and made her eyes droop down.
"Goodnight, Poe." She looked at their hands for as long as she could. Black slowly crept over the edges of her vision and pulled in towards the picturesque version of her and Poe.
Soon the black totally enveloped her and she fell asleep to the sight of Poe's hand cradling hers.
***
A numb tingling sensation prickled its way up Serena's arm and ensnared itself around her shoulder.
She wiggled her stiff fingers but found them entrapped by Poe's vise grip. Despite the tense shoulder and annoying tingling, Serena felt relaxed. She wiggled her toes as they stuck out of the bottom of her blanket and arched her back to let out several satisfying cracks.
She hummed as the ache of her back released under the series of popping. She rolled her shoulders back and pushed herself up to her elbows to stretch up halfway into an upward dog pose.
Her fingers were still wrapped around Poe's, but she paid no mind to his hand as she did her morning round of stretching. After three weeks of holding his hand while she slept, she had picked up quite a routine to work around it.
"I can always tell when you're awake by the loud popping of your brittle bones," Poe's voice came out muffled as he laid face down into his pillow.
Serena smirked and cranked her head to the side to let out another awful crack. As the sound of her bones rubbing broke through the quiet air, Poe let out a disturbed groan.
"My bones are not brittle." She told him pointedly as she pulled her hand from his to stretch out her fingers. "They've just been through a lot."
Poe gave an unconvinced scoff, but didn't say anything otherwise. Serena took that as a win for her as she flipped over on her bed and threw her blankets off of her. The cold wrapped around her legs and jolted them from their comfortable slumber.
"How'd you sleep?" He asked softly. The lack of muffle to his voice told her he had lifted his head from his cocoon of pillows.
"Fine, Poe." Serena answered him, just as she said every morning for the past three weeks. "Trust me, if I didn't sleep fine you would know. My bones wouldn't be cracking, and-" Serena thought back to all the mornings of her walking up to sweat-soaked sheets. She decided to spare Poe that detail. "I would probably be awake before you." She told him instead.
She stood from her bed and lifted her arms up over her head. Her back arched as she leaned back and stood to her toes to stretch out every possible muscle she could. The tingling died down in her arm and was replaced by a warm, relaxing pull that eased her muscles.
"You would think I'd get use to a view like this..." Poe's voice stopped Serena mid-stretch. With her fingers locked together above her head she craned down to look at him. He wore a dirty smirk that pulled half of his mouth up to the right. He would have pulled off the pervy look perfectly if not for the soft imprints of sheets along his cheek and the ruffled, voluminous tussle to his curls. The smirk just added to the bed head and gave him the ultimate sleepy boy look.
"Well, don't get use to it." She warned him as she dropped back to her flat feet and pulled down the hem of her top to cover her midsection. "We have one more week together, then it's no more hand holding and morning stretching for you." She bent down to grab her bag from under her bed so she could take a shower before their meeting with Leia. As she bent over she felt a particularly heavy set of eyes on her rear end.
"I could always see if Kaydel wants to switch rooms with me."
Serena snapped up and turned to catch the mocking smile spread over Poe's lips.
"You're not as innocent as you let people believe, Poe Dameron." She walked backwards towards the door so he wouldn't get another view of her butt. "People need to know how inappropriate you can be."
"Please-" Poe propped himself up on one elbow and used his palm as a headrest. He kept the lax pose as he looked longingly after her. "If you found me truly appalling you would maim me- but you don't."
"There's still time." She wiggled her eyebrows as she turned towards the door. It zipped open in front of her and she rushed out before Poe could get a long look at her silk shots and long legs.
After a shower, Serena felt more refreshed then she ever had in her life. Three weeks of solid sleep rejuvenated her beyond recognition. She felt lightyears younger than she was and there was a hop to each of her steps.
When she was dressed in a pair of black, breathable capris, a black athletic wrap woven around her midsection, chest and shoulders and her black leather gloves, she left the steaming bathroom to join the others for their scheduled meeting with Leia.
She walked into the main lobby of the vessel with water still dripping from the ends of her hair. Her wrap absorbed it but the black material couldn't turn any darker than it already was.
"Ah, finally," Leia's hologram floated above the control panels situated in the far corner of the room. Chewie and Poe stood in front of the hologram but left a space between them for Serena's approaching figure.
"Sorry, I lost track of time," She apologized half-heartedly as she stepped between the two men and looked down at Leia's green form. "I'm here now, so..." She tried to roll the meeting along.
Leia raised an unamused brow as she glared at Serena's tardy form. "I was telling Commander Dameron and Chewie that this last location is a bit... different from the others."
"Oh?"
"The village is holding an annual festival of their ancestors. People from all over the galaxy attend this celebration. It is one of the most widely anticipated events."
"Fantastic." Serena deadpanned. "And do they care that the First Order is coming to steal their children? Or are they trying to not let that ruin their fun?"
Poe jagged his elbow in Serena's ribs to get her to quiet down. She hissed and rubbed at the sore spot discretely as she gave him a small pout.
"Some of the people are aware, but for the most part the Senator did not want to worry his people. He asked for this to be done subtly."
Serena stopped worrying about her sore ribs as she focused back on Leia. "Sorry, but how are we suppose to take out an entire fleet of Storm Troopers subtly? The last three places we've been have ended in literal massacres... that kind of thing draws attention."
Leia nodded in agreement. "I told him it would an impossible feat. He just asks that you try. He did offer that you enjoy the festivities..." The tone to her voice told them all that she was just as disgusted by his agenda as they were. "Get this last one down then come back. You deserve a break."
Serena perked up at that word- break. Not because she agreed with Leia about needing one, but because the mission already felt like a break to her. Sure there was bloodshed and name-calling, but at the end of each day she laid down and held Poe's hand and fell into a peaceful sleep. That was more than a break for her, that was a true vacation.
"Will do, General." Poe nodded at her before he leaned forward to end the transmission.
Serena turned away from the broadcast table and looked down at her arm. She turned her hand over and admired the white wrap adorning her half-healed war wound. She prided herself on how well she kept care of it during their missions and the less-than ideal ship they traveled in. But between Poe's insistence and the supplies on board she's managed to keep it clean enough for it to start to heal over.
"So... we go down and blend in. Wait until the Fleet lands and-"
"Break up their little festival of ancestors-" Serena dropped her arm as she turned back to give Poe a straight look. "There's no way to be discrete about this, and plus it's not exactly in our job description to be subtle. We're fighting a war here, if the people in this festival aren't aware of that- they need to be." All while she was speaking Poe nodded in silent agreement. "Naivety gets people killed." Chewie gave a soft growl as he nodded his head. "See," She lifted a hand towards the Wookie. "We're all in agreement here. The senator of this dust bowl is full of shit."
"Hey-" Poe chastised her with an easy smile. "Watch your language, there are young ears here-" Poe gave a subtle look up to Chewie who gave a dubious scoff.
"Please, he's older than all of us combined." She looked up at Chewie teasingly. Chewie gave an obnoxious growl as he raised his arms out. "I'm just telling it how it is," She told him to stop his complaining. She gave him a shrug as he walked away from her and Poe. When it was just the two of them Serena looked back at the pilot to see him beaming at her. "What?"
"You're better with him." He told her.
Serena shrugged nonchalantly as she raised her hands to tuck her hair behind her ears. "I've picked up on a bit the past few weeks. I'm not fluent, but I can understand when he agrees or tells me to screw off."
Poe laughed at her accurate translation. "It's usually more of the second one with me." He admitted to her.
Serena smiled as she folded her arms over her chest. "Or he tells you to stop screwing up the Falcon."
"That-" Poe wagged a finger at her. "He won't let it go."
She kept smiling as she licked her lips and looked back at the hallway Chewie exited out of. She half expected him to come back and yell at Poe some more.
"So," Her smile dimmed to a grin as she looked back at Poe. "What disguise do you have for me today? It was the cloak the first mission, then the winter coat, and last time it was a God-awful hat... so what is it this time? If you try and get me to wear some orange sunglasses I might just take you up on that maiming thing."
Poe chuckled as he set his hands on his hips. "No, no, no glasses." He looked her over carefully. "But... I hear that some celebrations use... face paints to decorate themselves."
Her grin fell entirely at his awful plan. "Poe-"
"I think I saw some powdered paints in the closet, we add a little water to them and they'd be just like face paints-" He hooked his thumb behind him to point towards the corner closet.
Serena shook her head as he took a step towards the room. "Absolutely not, this is where I draw the line, Poe. I will not wear face paints!"
"Oh," Poe chuckled as he kept moving towards the closet. "I think you will change your mind once you see these colors." He grinned back at her right before he opened the door to the closet.
He disappeared inside of it and took his time. Serena shook her head as she tried to think of a way out of the face paints. But when Poe reemerged with three giant white tubs, she knew it was impossible. There was a determined, cheery glint to Poe's eyes. He wanted the face paints.
Deciding she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of it, she found an alternative solution. One that made a smirk deviously grow on her lips. "Fine, face paint it is... but-" She added as Poe gave a wicked grin. "You let to let me paint your face."
"And you have to let me paint yours." He added without a care for her bargain.
Serena gritted her teeth at how easily he agreed to her terms. "Fine," she seethed lowly.
Serena contemplated her life choices as she stood in the bathroom while Poe mixed water into the powdered paints. She leaned against the wall by the sink and watched as he stirred a vibrant blue paint. There were still clumps of dry powder that he stuck down into the paste to break up. Next he mixed a sunny yellow tone that reminded Serena of crushed powder from a sand bug. The last color was a light green that matched grass laying over rolling hills. She wasn't sure what the colors were used for, but she definitely knew it wasn't to paint faces.
"Alright, you first-" Poe stuck his index and middle finger into the yellow paint. His fingers came out dripping with the crushed-bug color.
"Woah," Serena pulled herself up from the wall and took a step away from him. "Why do I go first? How do I know you won't chicken out after I'm defaced?"
Poe gave a smirk at her over-dramatics. "Because unlike you, I don't care if my face is painted." He told her as he took a step towards her with his dripping hand stretched out towards her. She eyed the color as his hand slowly moved towards her face. A groan bubbled up her throat as she caved in. Poe smirked and lifted his clean hand to steady her chin. "Try not to move, I don't want to ruin my masterpiece."
"Poe-" Serena closed her eyes as his fingers came dangerously close to touching her retina. Instead of shoving paint in her eye, his fingertips brushed just under her eye and dragged down her cheek to create two distinct lines of yellow. He used the excess paint to poke a single dot between the bottom of the lines. He dipped his fingers back into the yellow and recreated the same image under her other eye until it looked like she had cried yellow paint. When his fingers weren't by her eyes, she opened them and watched quietly as he stuck his pinky into the green paint. The thick paste clung to his skin and threatened to drip as he moved it from the tub to her cheek. His left hand tucked under her chin to hold her level as he traced small dots along the outside yellow line under her right eye. He took his time making the dots smaller the further down he went. He opted for a bit of asymmetry as he didn't do the same dots on the other side. "Who knew you were a painter," Serena complimented him quietly as he wiped any extra paint off on a towel.
"I like face painting," he told her as he dipped his thumb in the blue paint. He turned back to her and looked up at her hairline and traced her vein down the middle of her forehead. He reached up with his blue thumb and painted over her vein to hide one of her most noticeable features. The blue paint stretched from between her brows all the way up to her hairline.
He redipped his thumb and made sure to saturate it before he looked around her face to decide where to paint next. His knuckles under her chin pressed up under her head to lift her chin. She watched closely as his eyes lowered to her mouth. There was a flick of light in his eyes as he raised his thumb to her lips. He pressed the tip of his thumb on her cupid's bow and carefully dragged his thumb over her lips, into the dip below her bottom lip and down to her chin.
"There, now you can't chew on your bottom lip," His voice was husky as he kept his gaze on her mouth. His painted thumb traced the down her chin and on the front of her neck. Serena let her head fall back as he traced a straight line down to the hollow of her throat. She gulped as the heat of his touch wrapped comfortingly around her throat before it seeped down her spine.
His thumb dipped into the sensitive tissue between her collar bones and found home there.
"I don't-" Serena stopped and cleared her throat to prevent it from cracking again. She gulped and looked between Poe's lustful eyes. "I don't bite my lip that much."
A curve worked onto Poe's lips. "Only when you're anxious, which is... most of the time." He told her.
Serena began to drag her teeth over her lip but stopped herself as she tasted metal and chalk.
Poe chuckled as he finally moved his thumb from her chest. He dropped his other hand from under her chin as he went to wipe his hands off.
Serena watched him as she tried to calm her racing heart. The heat from his touch still scorched through her body. She wasn't quite sure she knew how to tame it- or if she even wanted too.
"You have an odd fixation on my mouth, did you know that?" She bowed her head to try and catch his gaze.
His lips molded up as he kept his focus on cleaning the paint from under his nail. "I wouldn't just say your mouth," He dropped the towel in the sink and leaned on it as he turned to look at her. "That completely neglects the rest of you which is..." His eyes dragged over her face and hair. "Just as beautiful."
The heat swelled inside of her until she was sure she'd burn alive. If it wasn't for the paint on her face she'd be as red as a tomato, and she did not want to give Poe the satisfaction of having such an effect on her.
Serena stepped up to the sink and looked down at the color choices. She pulled on the Velcro strap of her right glove to loosen it around her wrist. When her hand was free of the glove's tight hold, she dipped her index and middle finger into the bright green paint.
It was cold and gritty on her fingers as it slowly fell down the length towards her palm. She looked up at Poe and quickly lifted her hand to press her fingers against the top left of his forehead. She dragged her fingers down diagonally to cross over his right eye and down his cheek until she reached his jawline. The paint formed a gradient that got lighter the further down she went.
"You're beautiful too," She whispered as she dipped her fingers back in the green paint to add two more lines next to the first ones she did. She watched her hand move carefully across his face. When she passed over his closed eye she made sure not to get any paint stuck in his thick lashes.
When half of his face was covered in green diagonal lines, Serena dipped her middle finger in the blue paint and pressed small dots along his jawline starting at the first green line and trailing them back along the naked half of his face up to his temple.
To finish her piece of art she dipped her pinky in the bright yellow and drew one line straight down the center of his left under eye, then another line slightly slanted out towards his cheek and another slanted in towards his nose.
She dropped her hand and tilted her head as she admired her work. His tan skin darkened the colors, making the green more forest-green and the yellow more of a warm summer yellow. Somehow the paint made him appear tanner than before, and when he smiled down at her his teeth looked whiter.
"Done." She used the same towel he did to wipe the paint from her fingers. The pigment stained her white skin, warning her of the troubles she would have when it came time to clean it from her face later.
When her fingers were cleaned the best they were going to be, she looked up and stepped in front of the mirror beside Poe to look at his work on her face.
Unlike Poe's tan skin, the paints were vibrant against her white skin. If anything the colors washed her out even more, making her look damn near translucent compared to the warm yellows and greens and blue. The accentuated thick blue line down her forehead and chin reminded her of old royalty makeup- specifically Padme Amidala's tradition makeup. While her own lines weren't nearly as crisp or rosy, she saw a similarity. The paint made her look youthful and innocent. It was odd to think that under it was the same skin that had blood splattered across it not even a month before.
"We look damn good." Poe smiled at her in the mirror. "Face paints was an amazing idea. I have to say, I sort of rock when it comes to these disguises."
Serena huffed and rolled her eyes at his inflated ego.
"I wouldn't say a few strokes of paint is a disguise." She turned towards him and had to crane her neck back to look up at him. "You told me my hair and eyes were my biggest give away... those are still very visible."
He shrugged it off as if it wasn't a problem to him at all. "People will be so mesmerized by your face paint they won't even notice your hair or eyes..." His eyes narrowed as he looked along the ends of her silver hair. "But just in case... we could always-"
"NO-"Serena backed up and lifted a palm to stop him from coming near her. "You are not putting paint in my hair. I will dismember you before you do that." She chastely grabbed her glove from the sink's edge and turned to leave the room before he entrapped her and talked her into it.
She slipped her glove back on as she made her way to the cockpit to check on their arrival. By the time she entered the cramped space her glove was secured and the paint had dried from the windy walk.
"How close are we?" She asked Chewie as she placed a hand on the shoulder of his seat. He gave a long howl as he began their descent onto Coorina. "Okay, land us right outside the festival-" She pointed towards the shipyard that held other vessels and freighters. "It'll make us look like any other party-goer. They want us to blend in, so we'll blend in."
Chewie listened to her as he pulled over the large festival to head towards the ship yard. Serena looked down at the green hills, along one of the slopes was the festival. The sun had just peaked over the mountain but already the people were flooding the vendors and concert grounds.
The entire hillside was taken over by lavish markets set up in vast tents and gated areas secured for musical parties to entertain the guests.
Serena found the sight equally appalling and enthralling. She had never been to a festival before, she closest would be the annual first-of-the-season sled race back on Csilla, but that was really just her village climbing the tallest mountain together. Coorina looked much different than Csilla, and the number of people scouring through the grassy lands were more than triple of her village back home.
"What's it lookin' like out there, Chewie?" Poe asked as he walked into the cockpit with BB-8 hot on his trial. In his absence, Poe had found his bag and pulled it over his shoulder to conceal the laser pistol holstered onto his weapon's belt. The bag officiated his 'festival goer' look along with the dried paint on his face.
Serena turned and bent down to give BB-8's belly a small pat. "Hey, buddy. How do you like the look?" She turned her head form side to side for him to get the whole look.
BB-8 gave a whistle as his red-dot eye widened.
Serena smiled and scratched his chest. "Thanks, but I can't take all the credit. Poe did my face and I did his. How does he look?"
BB-8 told her something along the lines of Poe looking okay but not nearly as pretty as her. She smiled and winked at him before she stood to watch them land.
"Shipyard, smart move." Poe whispered to Serena as he passed her to sit in the pilot's seat.
Serena's smile firmly planted on her lips as she gave a swift shrug.
Poe and Chewie landed the Falcon without a hitch. When they were level on the ground, Chewie, Poe, Serena, BB-8 and a few of the other techs met up at the lowered ramp.
"You three stay here and make sure no one snoops around the ship." Poe told the techs.
"Yes, Commander," they agreed eagerly and moved further into the vessel.
Poe looked down at BB-8 with a similar air of authority around him. "You stay here too, BB-8."
BB-8's head lowered as he let out a soft beep.
"Why can't he come with us?" Serena stuck up for the droid as she looked at Poe. She shrugged as she considered it. "We're just people walking through a festival, it wouldn't be totally outrageous for us to have a droid, plus he could do continuous scans of the crowd and alert us of any Storm Troopers or other threats." Serena laid heavy into the uses for BB-8.
Poe raised his right brow, which had a thick layer of paint crusted over it, and looked down at BB-8. The little astromech wheeled to the toe of Poe's boots and let his dome fall back so he could look up at Poe.
"Alright," Poe caved in to Serena and BB-8. "You can come, but-" He lifted a finger to stop BB-8 before he went wild. "You stick by us, no wondering off into the crowd."
BB-8 agreed easily as he gave a series of whistles and wheeled around all of their ankles. Serena smiled at the cute droid and patted Poe's bicep before she walked down the ramp with Chewie.
Long, thin grass came up to Serena's knees and swayed to the soft breeze that rolled down the hill. The grass tickled her exposed ankles and wove between her knees as it tried to flatten down the curve of the hill. The breeze brought with it the scent of morning dew and diesel fuel from the shipyard.
"Remember, we're suppose to blend in," Poe walked next to Serena as they made their way through the shiny vessels. "Smile, bob your head to music-" Poe leaned in front of Serena to look up at Chewie. "Try not to use that crossbow on anyone." He warned.
Chewie gave an uncomfortable growl at the accusation.
Serena looked around as they entered the festival. There were no gates or keepers to sort the flow of people walking in, Serena thought it was a bad idea. It was almost as if they were begging for someone to ransack their festival and steal all their children.
"Chewie, you scout around the edges, keep a watch on all vessels that head our way." Poe ordered his co-pilot. "Serena and I will walk through the festival to make sure there's no First Order presence already inside. Report back to me in half an hour." Chewie nodded before he headed off.
Serena took the lead, dragging them further into the market place along the outskirts of the musical stages. Gigantic tents blocked the rising sun and were filled with racks and walls of merchandise. Merchants shouted out to draw in the crowd's attention. They waved unsuspecting people in to look at their overpriced, surplus of goods.
Serena stuck to the outside of the tents, but that didn't stop her from looking into the depths of them to see what the people of Coorina had to offer. She was never a fan of jewelry, but there was something appealing to the bright blue gems that hung at the ends of thin silver chains. The blue reminded her of oceans viewed from space. She walked blindly forward as her eyes skimmed inside the tents. She was half looking for anything suspicious, but she was mostly looking at the traditional Coorina garb.
They past the jewelry tent and walked by a clothing one filled with brightly colored athletic wraps, robes with hoods, robes without hoods. Serena paused at the edge of the second tent as she saw a wire wall attached to the corner of the tent. Hanging from the wires were different tops, but the one that caught her eye the most was a cream colored silk tank top. There were two lightly stained wooden beads on each strap right where they met the hem of the top. Instead of appearing skin tight, the length of the top flowed until it got to the bottom of the shirt which had some sort of stretchy hem.
"What is it? Do you see something?" Poe stepped right up to her shoulder and looked over it into the tent.
She lifted a hand to touch the top, but her gloved hands prevented her from feeling the cool material. A rush of sadness enveloped over her as she dropped her hand. "Tell me... what does that top feel like?" She kept her eyes on the shirt as she turned her chin towards Poe.
He reached around her shoulder to lift a bare hand towards the shirt. She watched as his fingertips ran down the middle of the shirt. The silk reflected the sun and created soft shimmers of light.
"It feels... like I'm running my hand through a stream. It's cold but soft." He tried his best to describe it to her. His hand dropped back to his side as she kept admiring it. "You like it?"
She nodded.
"Get it." He encouraged her.
More sadness sunk deep inside of her. "No," She gave a small shake of her head. Her hair fell from behind her ears and tickled her jawline. "I've never worn anything like that." She lifted her slim shoulders to show off the black wrap over them. "A monster doesn't deserve such nice things, Poe." She looked up at him with sad eyes.
Poe's lips parted as he released a small exhale.
She could tell he was going to say something to refute her, but she wasn't in the mood to hear it, so she stepped around him and walked away before he could think of it.
He stayed behind as she ventured further into the market with BB-8 at her heels. "Do an external scan, BB-8." She instructed quietly as she focused back on the mission. "Limit your thermal scanning to anything with a hot internal core- hotter than 42.9 Celsius, that should eliminate most creatures here."
BB-8 nodded as he adjusted his settings to accommodate Serena's preferences.
They walked slowly through the crowd as BB-8 completed his scan. As BB-8 worked and Serena kept a look-out, Poe joined them as he adjusted the strap of his bag to better conceal his pistol.
"How's it going?" He asked breathlessly.
Serena shouldered her way between two beefy Jogugunts as she looked down to BB-8 while he worked his magic. One of his little ports extended out and had a small dish that spun around as he scanned all around them. The dish stopped spinning, then condensed itself in half before BB-8 pulled it back into his belly. He gave a satisfied beep as he told them there was nothing substantial on his sweep.
"Still clear," She looked up as they moved away from the overly crowded market towards the many stages set up along the inner square. Someone bumped into her shoulder and sent her falling into Poe's side. He lifted a hand to her shoulder to help steady her back on her feet. She tore around to snarl at the man who practically drove over her. "I hate crowds." She sneered under her voice as she turned around. "Why have I never noticed how much I hate crowds before?" She asked lowly as she looked at all the smiling, happy faces that passed too close by.
"Because you aren't use to them," Poe told her logically. "You're use to everyone clearing a path for you. But here... you aren't Serena, The Whisper in Kylo Ren's ear, you're just another festival goer who got a little excited with her face paint."
Serena's mood lifted with Poe's explanation. She always hated the feared looks and how people ran from her. But Poe was right, here she wasn't that woman. She was a nobody, and nobodies got shoulder-checked by random people.
Poe led her away from the crowd as they closed in the gated stage. He had to pull part of the gate apart for them to slip through, which they did easily. Serena looked down as they walked to see the grassy hill under their feet slowly paved down to compact dirt. The grass completely disappeared as they reached the front of the single wooden stage.
Serena turned to lean against the stage as she looked back at the crowd. People from all across the galaxy flitted through the tents. Families bustled by with laughing kids on their shoulders and carted pulled behind them with infants swaddled inside. The people carried on, completely unaware that just a few meters from them was a woman responsible for destroying the New Republic. She almost felt invisible, and it was so freeing.
"Hey, I'll be right back-" Poe placed a hand on her forearm as he warned her, then let his grip drag down to her wrist as he walked away.
Serena nodded as him as she kept searching the crowd. The stage was clear of any people, giving them a small break from the stench of sweat that clung to the fresh morning air.
The rising sun beat down over her, enveloping her in a warm beam that threatened to redden the exposed skin from her shoulders down the length of her arms to her wrists. She looked down at her arms to realize the awkward sunburn she'd get from her choice of clothes.
"Here-" Poe came back and stuck out a clear, plastic cup filled with a bright yellow liquid.
Serena stood from the stage's edge and accepted the cup. She held it up to watch the way the sun filtered through the liquid. There were bits of pulp floating through the ice. She lowered it to her noise and took in a strong scent of something sour.
"It's freshly squeezed lemonade. Try it." Poe urged her as he took a drink of his own cup. Serena watched him closely to see how he reacted to the flavor. His face gave nothing away as he took another large gulp from the sweating cup.
She looked into her cup and decided it was okay before she lifted it to her lips. She looked over the rim of her cup at Poe as she tilted it back to take a tiny sip.
The cold liquid rushed past her lips and coated her tongue in a sugary goodness. As soon as she started to swallow it, a sourness flooded every taste bud and made her lips pucker.
"Oh- no-" Serena's face screwed up as she lowered the cup from her aching lips.
Poe chuckled at her face as he took another sip from his cup. "Sour?"
She nodded as she tried to ease the spasming muscles along her jaw. "I-" The sour slowly faded and left a thirst for more behind. Despite the unexpected punch, she took another larger sip from the cup. Since she expected the sour, she didn't react nearly as badly as the first time. Her right eye still twitched as she swallowed, but she was able to keep her lips from puckering. "It's good." She told Poe before her third drink.
He smiled and nodded as he kept drinking his. He moved to stand next to her and faced the crowd as they slowly enjoyed their drinks.
"Did you think you'd ever be here?" He asked as he leaned back against the stage. He loosely held his cup as his elbows rested on the top of the stage.
Serena hummed as she mimicked his stance. She looked down at the lemonade in her hand as she thought about the question. "Here, as in Coorina drinking lemonade, or here as in standing beside you being happy?" Her eyes lifted to Poe to find him watching her.
At the word happy his lips rose to a perfectly sculpted smile. Serena imagined it took him decades to create a beautiful smile- or maybe it came effortless for him.
"I like the second one." He knocked his knuckles against the back of her hand. "Happy."
Serena looked down at his hand as it pressed against hers. "Never." She admitted with a light tone. "I thought it would be impossible for me to ever feel happy again. But you've shown me many things I thought were impossible." She looked back up at Poe with a wide smile.
The moment was short lived as a shadow in the sky caught Serena's eyes. She stood from the stage and set her lemonade down as she squinted against the sun to see the familiar outline of the First Order fleet heading their way. Behind it were three smaller freighters that Serena knew would be filled to the brim with Storm Troopers. The mere presence of the addition freighters alerted Serena that the First Order expected resistance from the People of Coorina, or they finally caught on to Poe and Serena's plan of foiling their kidnappings. Either way, it was bad news for them.
"Well," Serena unclipped her lightsaber and held it firmly in her hand. "I guess this means we can't be subtle." She looked down at Poe as he moved his bag to grab his laser pistol from his hip. He clicked the safety off before he looked at her. A sadness saturated his brown eyes, turning them muddy.
"Who cares about that, it was a dumb plan anyways." He threw caution to the wind with a simple shrug. "We're here to protect these people. If that means we have to make noise, let's make noise."
Serena smiled at the draw back of Poe's shoulders. He looked head on at the enormous fleet heading their way, but there was not a single drop of fear in his eyes. As she looked at him, she saw nothing but the hero boy who approached her the night of her fake death. She found it irritating way back then, but now it was inspiring. It brewed a sense of determination in her gut that swelled until every inch of her was overflowing with a searing sense of justice.
She looked back at the fleet and started towards the landing ships on the other side of the festival. Each step landed with purpose as she pushed herself towards the inevitable fight, but she wasn't scared. With Poe by her side she knew they would come out on top.
They always did.