Poe learns a little more than Jess did
“Jess, darling, I love you dearly, but what the kriffing hell?!”
Poe wasn’t really mad at her. To be honest, he was kinda turned on, and hoping he was hiding it because if he wasn’t Jess was going to, proverbially speaking, take the bit between her teeth and bolt. Something he wasn’t entirely sure he could stop even at this stage...
Jess pouted. Sort of. She made an attempt at it, but it wasn’t her usual way of manipulating people, and she was *Jess*, but it did make Poe laugh, and that in and of itself was probably a technique the way this conversation had been going.
When Poe recovered a few seconds later, he did actually seem to be a bit more favourably inclined. “Look, Pava, I’m not saying no. Mostly I’m saying there need to be a LOT more words exchanged before this goes anywhere, before anyone says yes or no. You didn’t even manage to get all of the answer to the limited questions YOU asked her!”
Jess blushed a bit and looked at her feet, because, dammit, he was right. But her brain seemed to turn to syrup a lot around the fit young Jedi.
“I’ll... I’ll go have a chat with her,” Poe sighed. “For you. For Finn. Hell, probably for Rey herself.”
Jess looked up, grinning cheekily. “And you’ll get no benefit at all from this, Dameron?”
He had the grace to go a bit pink, at least, as he turned to leave. It was smarter, though, he’d learned over the years, to let Jess have the last word when he could.
*
Poe rapped on the door to Rey’s bunk, and was enthusiastically greeted seconds later by a rather grease-covered Rey. Her room looked... it looked... it looked like an x-wing had been taken apart by a tornado in it, quite frankly. She looked so happy though, so in her element, and amazingly there was even a clean chair, so he decided that her bunk probably was the best place to talk.
Rey, for her part, was approaching more than scavenging with enthusiasm. “Are you here already to show me? I can put some of this away! If you’d only warned me you were coming... How long until Jess arrives? Do you want tea?”
Kriff that girl talks fast! Poe mused on how many people would laugh to hear him make that accusation of someone else, and then his brain caught up with his ears a bit, and he floundered around with rather less suaveness than his reputation would normally allow. “Erm, tea would be great thanks, um, I’m not here to, to, I’m not actually here to do anything. Physically. Yet. Um. Jess is still working! Um. That’s not why.” Kriffing hell Poe, get yourself together he berated himself. She’s just a young, relatively inexperienced ... well, ok, Jedi, but... Poe! Together! Yourself! “Rey, we just need to talk out some more details before we actually do stuff. So I’m here. To talk.” Not winning any smoothness awards of the year, that sentence, but it was rather better than the last couple he’d tried.
Rey actually managed some passable (and clean) tea despite all of the mess, and managed not to look even slightly put out or embarrassed that she’d misread his intentions. Once they’d both sat down, tho, and the normally gregarious Poe still hadn’t spoken further, she started to... project some of her emotion. Somewhere between faint annoyance and disbelief, with a fractional undercurrent that she was in some way failing him.
Poe felt guilty. He hadn’t intended that! Just... this was harder than he’d thought. No wonder Jess had bailed, given she seemed to have a bit of a squish on the young scavenger. “Um, Rey, can you tell me what you want to get out of watching us?” Poe finally ventured.
“Uh, the knowledge to be able to do it myself?” Rey looked at Poe like nothing could ever be more obvious. “And not look stupid, I mean!”
“Ok, I know that sounds obvious to you, but actually that’s helpful, hun. Anything else?”
“I’m kinda looking forward to seeing Jess. I’ve never seen another human female naked, not that I remember.” Rey gave one of her trademark infectious grins, and Poe couldn’t help grinning back at her.
“Jess is hot yeah. Um. So you’ve seen human men naked before, then?”
“Yeah.”
Balls, Poe thought, how do I pursue this. On the one hand he wanted to make sure he wasn’t setting up a situation that would wind up seriously triggering her, but on the other it could just be something really simple, and he didn’t want to make Rey self-conscious. Um. “In what context?”
“It’s a thing that happens.”
So getting information out of Rey when she doesn’t want to talk is a little like getting blood from a stone, noted, thought Poe. Fine. Cut to the chase. “Anything negative ever happen to do with that?”
“Nope.”
A little weird, as answers go, but... Rey should be in charge. And she doesn’t have a lot of patience with some of our social niceties. So, realistically, Dameron, you’re probably just letting Jess colour your opinion, with her protectiveness, and, well, her having grown up on Dandoran. That would colour anyone’s opinions. “Can you get yourself off, Rey?”
Given how the conversation had already gone, he’d expected that to be a relatively more innocent question - it’s not like she’d been embarrassed by much so far - and Poe was unprepared for the absolute frustration and near rage she displayed.
“Why does it matter?!”
“Um, Rey, um, it doesn’t in that sense, its just... I-If you can Jess and I would try to incorporate what you liked into what we were doing, what we were teaching, and if you can’t, I guess it is useful to know, because we can help? Because we know we have to be teaching you that aspect of things too?”
“It’s supposed to be easier with partners” Rey muttered dark-faced.
“It can be, Rey, but partners aren’t magical fairy dust. And it isn’t easier for everyone. People are different. React differently. Is it... is it ok if I ask what’s been stopping you?”
Rey sighed, but with an air, now, of someone who at least accepted the attempt at help and kindness her friend was offering instead of the defensive anger she’d started with. “I...” she stammered slightly, suddenly incredibly interested in her hands. “I don’t have enough control over my muscles. They seize when I get close, and I can’t keep going, and its so *frustrating*” she whimpered, tears starting to form at the edges of her eyes.
“Oh Rey!” Poe exclaimed softly. “Would it be ok if I gave you a hug?”
“Yes!” She responded - trademark enthusiasm back - and she literally launched herself from her bed into Poe’s lap. Trembling, but smiling again, as Poe folded his arms around her and nuzzled into the top of her head.
“We’ll work on it, hun. But I really am glad to know. It probably does inform how we’re going about this, since you can’t literally just sit on the sidelines and finger yourself off whilst watching us. And... if we’re doing our job, you’ll definitely get to the point where you’ll wish you could.”
Rey barked a short, sharp laugh. Not quite enough to find it truly funny, but acknowledging the truth of what the x-wing pilot had said. And acknowledging, also, that she was glad to have someone else on her side in navigating this mess. Because *stars* she was looking forward to the concept of her first orgasm, however they made it work.