"Babe, could you pass me the salt?"
Finn frowned. "What did you just call me?"
Poe glanced over at him, thoughts clearly elsewhere. "Mm?"
"What did you call me?" Finn repeated, eyes narrowing, because something was off.
Rey leaned across the table, her lips stretching into a shit-eating grin. "Yeah, Poe. What'd you call Finn?"
Poe just raised a brow, bork hovering over his plate. "...his name?"
Rose snorted, her eyes dancing with mirth. "Oh my Force. You didn't even notice."
"Notice what?" Poe glanced between the girls, which were trading smug looks, panic rising. "Notice what?!"
That just caused the girls to giggle harder, falling into each other, leaving their plates untouched.
Finne frowned, unease rolling through his stomach. Generally, when the girls started scheming like that, it meant nothing good.
"Come on, guys, what's so funny?" Finn asked. "Help us out here."
That was the wrong thing to say–the girls started cackling, Rey slapping the table and causing their dishes to clatter.
Finn traded a confused look with Poe.
He just wanted to eat dinner.
"Ugh, ignore them," Poe muttered, rolling his eyes. "Pass me the salt, would you, babe."
Finn stared at him.
Poe's brow puckered in confusion. "Finn? Bud?"
"You said it again," Finn accused. "What the kark does that even mean?"
Rey fell off her chair, rolling across the ground with laughter.
They both ignored her.
"Finn," Poe said, clearly exasperated. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just want the salt so I can eat my food."
Finn stared at his friend for a long moment, but finally relented. "Fine."
He handed the salt to Poe.
Poe shot him a smile. "Thanks, babe."
Rose laughed so hard she wheezed, unable to breathe.
Finn glared at Poe. "Alright, now you're just doing it to mess with me, aren't you? Well, stop it, it's not funny."
"What? I just said 'thanks, Finn.'"
"What–no you did not–"
"Yes, I did!"
"No, you didn't!"
"What in the seven hells are you even talking about?"
"What are you talking about?!"
Rey and Rose continued guffawing, which really wasn't helping in the situation at all.
"Would you two shut it already?" Poe growled, tossing them a glare before turning back to face Finn. "Alright: what did I say?"
"You called me babe!"
Poe's jaw dropped.
"What?"
"You did! Three times!"
"What–babe, that's crazy!"
"You said it! Again!"
"When?!"
"Just now!"
"No, I didn't!"
"Yes, you did!"
"I did?"
"You did!"
"Oh my force I did."
"See?!" Finn smacked the table, pointing a finger at Poe. "I'm not crazy!"
"Oh noooo," Poe groaned, shrinking down into his seat, cheeks turning bright red. "Nononono…"
"What? What? Does it mean something bad?!"
Rey–who had been dying this whole time–laughed so hard she almost choked herself.
"Would you quit it?!" Poe hissed at them, hands falling away from his disheveled hair, and, wow, he was blushing really hard. "I'm having a crisis over here!"
"And it's hilarious!" Rose giggled.
"About what? What is going on?!" Finn demanded, feeling so out of the loop.
"Took you long enough to figure it out," Rose teased Poe–which resulted with a dry slab of jerky being thrown at her–before turning to Finn.
Despite the mirth in her eyes, her smile was kind.
So, Finn figured it was safe enough to ask.
"What am I missing here?" Finn asked in exasperation.
She hummed. "Did the Empire ever give you training about… romance?"
"What–no. Why in the galaxy would they do that? They're the Empire."
Rey finally lifted her head, breathless but somewhat back in control of herself. "Kark, that's sad. I lived by myself in a desert my whole life, but I at least know what 'babe' means."
"Oh, don't act all high and mighty," Rose chided, lightly flicking Rey's nose. "I had to explain what a date was to you, remember?"
Rey yelped in injury, retaliating by mussing Rose's hair. "How dare you bring that up again!"
"A date?" Finn pondered the word. "I know that one. I means an outing between two people, right?"
"More or less," Rose said.
"Oh! Well, then, me and Poe have been on a lot of dates," Finn said.
Rey exploded in a mix of a shout and a laugh as Rose's mouth fell open. Poe sunk lower into his seat, ears aflame.
"What's so funny?" Finn glanced at Poe, who was so low in his seat only his eyes peeked over the table edge. "It was fun. Right, Poe?"
"Yeah, Poe," Rey cackled, all glee and smirk, "Wasn't it so fun?"
"I will kill you," Poe seethed, but he softened as Finn leaned into his view. "Yeah, Finn, yeah," he said, weakly, "It was fun."
"See?" Finn said.
However, the girls didn't seem to see–in fact, they just giggled harder.
"So, Finn," Rey said, leaning forward with her tone drenched in faux sweetness, "What did you do on your date?"
"Um, well, we got caf. And talked."
Rose squee-ed as Rey's grin turned shark-like.
Hmmm. That wasn't great.
But there wasn't much of a way to avoid the inevitable disaster, so he just continued on at Rose's prompting.
"We also went to a beach once?"
Both girls screamed "oooooooo!" at Poe, who completely disappeared under the table, looking absolutely mortified.
"Oh, dirty, naughty Poe," Rey chided, clicking her tongue. "Honestly, the audacity."
"Shuuuut uuuup," Poe groaned.
Finn groaned, more confused than ever. "What's the big deal? We just went swimming! What's wrong with that?"
"Oh, honey, it's nothing you did," Rose said as Rey relentlessly teased Poe through the table. "It's Poe who had… ah… ulterior motives."
"Really? How?"
"Well, I'm assuming Poe wanted to… how do I say this… admire your physique."
Finn stared at Rose, brain stuttering to a halt.
"Poe wanted to see my abs?"
There was a spluttering under the table as Rey screeched with joy. "Poe! Did you?! "
"Yes! No! Maybe!" Poe struggled out from underneath the table, scowling and face bright red. "I just–I thought it'd be fun to swim–"
"-- and stare at this man's muscular arms?" Rey egged on, squeezing Finn's forearms.
Poe's eyes fell on Finn's arm, and he kriffing blushed.
"Wait–Poe–do you like me?" Finn asked, disblelief ringing through his chest.
There was no way.
Finn's jaw dropped as his friend blushed harder.
...or maybe there was a way.
"...Maybe?" Poe squeaked out.
Rey fell back into her seat with a cackle. "Oh, sweet Jabba, only you two would go on so many dates before even realizing you're in love!"
"Wait–so dates are–"
"Romantic outings between two people," Rose clarified, a teasing grin on her lips. "Yes, yes they are."
"My dear Finn," Rey said, resting a hand on his shoulder, "our close friend Poe has been attempting to woo you."
Finn gaped at Rey, heart threatening to beat out of his chest.
This had to be a joke. Right?
But Rey just grinned, Poe blushed, and Rose giggled, and it hit him.
Poe liked him.
And... if he was being honest...
Finn liked him, too.
We're in love?
We're in love.
Holy kark.
Finn slowly turned to Poe, who looked like he was about to throw himself out the airlock, with wide eyes and hope soaring.
A question hung on his lips for one second, two, then he released it to the galaxy.
Because he had to know.
That it wasn't just a cruel joke, that it was true, that this was real.
"Really?"
Poe swallowed thickly, Adam's apply bobbing. "Uh, yeah. Is… is that okay?"
Finn opened his mouth–
--only to be interrupted by a frantic Poe. "I thought it was! Because you kept saying yes! I didn't realize you didn't know what a date was–or that I was trying to–you know, ask you out…" Poe threw his hands around, anxious and worried and adorably freaked out. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have–"
"Poe."
"I'm such an idiot–"
"Poe..."
"I'm sorry-"
"Poe!"
Poe stilled, halfway to tearing all his hair out. (Which was quite gorgeous, by the way, but Poe always looked handsome.)
Finn laughed, relief rushing through his veins. "It's fine, Poe. Really!"
Poe's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Really."
Rose chuckled as Rey smirked at Poe. "Told you he'd be okay with it, flyboy."
Poe shot her a glare, though there was no heat behind it. Only relief.
Because this was real.
We're in love.
"So… can I take you out now? On a real date?" Poe asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yes! Please," Finn grinned, cheeks heating up with delight.
"Great." Poe slumped into his seat, a content smile stretching across his lips. "Well, now that that's settled... let's finish eating dinner, shall we? I'm starving after all that."
"You're always starving," Finn teased as Poe grabbed his silverware.
"Don't act like you're any better. You could eat all the food on this table without blinking," Poe snarked, pointing a stern finger at Finn. "Which, remind me not to take you anywhere food related for our date. I only have so many credits."
The girls giggled madly, breaking through their easy banter. Poe and Finn turned to give them matching annoyed looks.
"Would you two quit it already? The giggling stopped being endearing, like, five minutes ago." Poe sighed as Rey whispered something into Rose's ear and they burst into laughter again. "Oh, whatever. I'm too tired to deal with this. Pass me the sugar, would you, babe?"
"Oh–come on!" Finn threw his hands into the air. "What does that even mean?!"
"Oh, for crying out loud, not again–"