where you never knew you'd go

Atera laughed, “Oh shut up, you were never a scout,” she joked but still nodded when he crossed his heart. It was the thought that counted, even if she was going to rib him about it. 

“ well, no one’s perfect terbear, “ he said.  “ but you’re pretty damn close. and you don’t have to thank me. it’s part of the boyfriend package, “ he teased.

Atera was fairly certain she went pink, and definitely scrunched up her nose. “Oh hush you,” she said. She wasn’t close, she had no idea what he was talking about, all she knew was how to be in the right place at the right time. This was something she was figuring out every time they did something together. For example this was all one big experiment in “how to go on a date” and so far it was going better than she expected.

“ hey, i’m not that indecisive, “ he chuckled as they walked up to the stand. he ordered wraps and drinks for both of them. the normalcy of the moment wasn’t lost on him, and he tried to take it in as much as he could. he wanted to live in this moment where he was just a guy, on a date with his girlfriend. they could go back to being soldiers tomorrow.

Atera laughed, “oh can you blame me?” She said. Just because they were dating didn’t mean she was going to stop taking cracks at him. He sometimes made it that too easy.  But smiled as he bought them both food and they settled at a table trying to enjoy the evening they had. She offered up her hand on top of the table and squeezed his once. 

“Oh he’ll love the spoiling, lend him to Ket for the day and he’ll be snuggled out for a week,” she said. They were approaching Ronto’s way over dressed but she imagined that was kind of the charm of it all. Nothing about them being normal on a planet that sure as hell wasn’t normal. 

“ i’m beginning to think this was a bad idea, “ poe said with a chuckle. “ this menu is bigger than a novel. too many choices. “

“Oh thank stars I thought it was just me,” she said with a chuckle. “I couldn't tell if it was the “emaciated child who doesn’t eat regularly” or the “resistance member who’s used to just the bare minimum” thing.” She said as she looked over at Poe with a sigh. “Wanna bail and just get Ronto’s?” She asked, appreciating the gesture, but also knowing that this was way too out of either of their wheelhouse. 

he sat up and shakily ran a hand through his hair. no. no. no. he couldn’t think -- he refused to think -- about what just happened to him. he couldn’t do it. he dragged himself up and rushed into town, went straight to the bar. 

he couldn’t do this. he couldn’t survive again, everything was agony. and sure that was probably his fault for not giving himself any time, but he didn’t want it. the moment he actually gave himself space to breathe, he’d burst.

❝ p-please, a shot of anything, anything strong, ❞ he croaked to the bartender, trying to not look so... like he felt.

once the glass was in front of him, he threw it back and set the glass on the bar, letting the burning liquid hold his attention instead of the rest of the burning. he put some credits down to pay and took a step or two back from the bar, running straight into someone carrying drinks. the drinks spilled, the person growled, and demir just looked weak. 

well. he supposed it’s what he deserved. he ducked the first punch and before he knew it, it was a full-scale bar fight as the chain reactions of violence took their hold of the establishment. part of demir was pleased -- at least he didn’t have to think.

“Oh if he fucks up, I’ll call either his moms and have them beat the shit out of him. Then you’ll get your punches.” She said. “But I doubt you’ll have to worry about that. I may be bad at this, but I’m a quick study, and we were friends before we tried the whole dating thing. So... y’know, we’re good.”

he sat up and shakily ran a hand through his hair. no. no. no. he couldn’t think -- he refused to think -- about what just happened to him. he couldn’t do it. he dragged himself up and rushed into town, went straight to the bar. 

he couldn’t do this. he couldn’t survive again, everything was agony. and sure that was probably his fault for not giving himself any time, but he didn’t want it. the moment he actually gave himself space to breathe, he’d burst.

❝ p-please, a shot of anything, anything strong, ❞ he croaked to the bartender, trying to not look so... like he felt.

once the glass was in front of him, he threw it back and set the glass on the bar, letting the burning liquid hold his attention instead of the rest of the burning. he put some credits down to pay and took a step or two back from the bar, running straight into someone carrying drinks. the drinks spilled, the person growled, and demir just looked weak. 

well. he supposed it’s what he deserved. he ducked the first punch and before he knew it, it was a full-scale bar fight as the chain reactions of violence took their hold of the establishment. part of demir was pleased -- at least he didn’t have to think.

he sat up and shakily ran a hand through his hair. no. no. no. he couldn’t think -- he refused to think -- about what just happened to him. he couldn’t do it. he dragged himself up and rushed into town, went straight to the bar. 

he couldn’t do this. he couldn’t survive again, everything was agony. and sure that was probably his fault for not giving himself any time, but he didn’t want it. the moment he actually gave himself space to breathe, he’d burst.

❝ p-please, a shot of anything, anything strong, ❞ he croaked to the bartender, trying to not look so... like he felt.

once the glass was in front of him, he threw it back and set the glass on the bar, letting the burning liquid hold his attention instead of the rest of the burning. he put some credits down to pay and took a step or two back from the bar, running straight into someone carrying drinks. the drinks spilled, the person growled, and demir just looked weak. 

well. he supposed it’s what he deserved. he ducked the first punch and before he knew it, it was a full-scale bar fight as the chain reactions of violence took their hold of the establishment. part of demir was pleased -- at least he didn’t have to think.

he sat up and shakily ran a hand through his hair. no. no. no. he couldn’t think -- he refused to think -- about what just happened to him. he couldn’t do it. he dragged himself up and rushed into town, went straight to the bar. 

he couldn’t do this. he couldn’t survive again, everything was agony. and sure that was probably his fault for not giving himself any time, but he didn’t want it. the moment he actually gave himself space to breathe, he’d burst.

❝ p-please, a shot of anything, anything strong, ❞ he croaked to the bartender, trying to not look so... like he felt.

once the glass was in front of him, he threw it back and set the glass on the bar, letting the burning liquid hold his attention instead of the rest of the burning. he put some credits down to pay and took a step or two back from the bar, running straight into someone carrying drinks. the drinks spilled, the person growled, and demir just looked weak. 

well. he supposed it’s what he deserved. he ducked the first punch and before he knew it, it was a full-scale bar fight as the chain reactions of violence took their hold of the establishment. part of demir was pleased -- at least he didn’t have to think.

“ well , y’know. mama raised a gentleman, “ he added with a laugh and a wink.

Atera chuckled, “I know she did,” it was the half the reason she fell for him originally. She had so rarely experienced genuine kindness that when Poe Dameron walked into her life with a cute droid and smiles and a sense of actually caring whether she lived or died, falling for him became a “when” not an “if”. 

She still didn’t know what the hell she was going to get, honestly Atera was bad about food, restricted and limited when she was young, so used to surviving off the bare minimum that when given the opportunity to splurge she had no where to start.

he sat up and shakily ran a hand through his hair. no. no. no. he couldn’t think -- he refused to think -- about what just happened to him. he couldn’t do it. he dragged himself up and rushed into town, went straight to the bar. 

he couldn’t do this. he couldn’t survive again, everything was agony. and sure that was probably his fault for not giving himself any time, but he didn’t want it. the moment he actually gave himself space to breathe, he’d burst.

❝ p-please, a shot of anything, anything strong, ❞ he croaked to the bartender, trying to not look so... like he felt.

once the glass was in front of him, he threw it back and set the glass on the bar, letting the burning liquid hold his attention instead of the rest of the burning. he put some credits down to pay and took a step or two back from the bar, running straight into someone carrying drinks. the drinks spilled, the person growled, and demir just looked weak. 

well. he supposed it’s what he deserved. he ducked the first punch and before he knew it, it was a full-scale bar fight as the chain reactions of violence took their hold of the establishment. part of demir was pleased -- at least he didn’t have to think.

❝ ok- good. good. ❞ hopefully that remained true for a while. he finally pulled away, putting his hands through his hair to try and calm himself down a little. he cleared his throat and nodded. ❝ i- um. i still think the scarlet is best. i don’t think i can handle more. ❞

“Oh I think for me, Kix would make a house call.” She said. But she was quick to shake her head of the idea of Poe in a med bay out of her head. No upsetting thoughts, not tonight, not when they were supposed to be getting a fucking break from all that shit. Pretending that they both weren’t resistance fighters, just two people on their first proper date after at least a year or two of pining like madmen. At least, she’d been pining.

“Oh how kind of you,” she said with a laugh as she kept looking at the menu.