you can't take the sky from me

A hand moved over his face, completely ignoring the scratching od his beard against his palm. He had said it. Finally said the words that he had held back for so long; always on the tip of his tongue. The words that could have changed everything if he had said them sooner. Yet…Cal had been afraid. Not so much of what the words meant but of what the other might do. He’d never been very good at speaking from the heart. His actions showed so much more over the passing of time.

Swallowing hard, his gaze finally met Poe’s. The pilot’s words resonated deep within him but his face still wore the stoic mask it always did. “Would it have made a difference if I had? Seems like we would have ended here anyway.” It was hard to be involved with someone in the Resistance and just as difficult with a smuggler. “Maybe I should have…” He trailed off attempting to fight the nagging pull of regret that had settled in his gut.

They’d been in the midst of an incredibly heated argument when Cal had said it, almost as if it was some involuntary action. Even now, Poe’s chest rose and fell in quick time, still worked up from their exchange, and honestly he wasn’t sure if he was ready to put aside his position all for a poorly timed I love you. They had failed to see eye to eye on their work for weeks now, and Poe could feel their already fragile arrangement deteriorating.

His fingertips curled into fabric at his hips in a rare show of nerves, and they dug against the skin beneath as he watched Cal stumble through the aftermath of his own words. Was he supposed to say the same thing in return? He hadn’t exactly spent much time on the introspection of it all prior to this jarring moment, but clearly Cal had made the effort to sift through it himself.

He realized now he should have guessed that Cal felt that way about him. Lately, it’d always kind of lurked on the edges of their encounters, in a surprise caress of Poe’s hip or a mumbled anecdote about something personal.

“Yeah, you’re right, it wouldn’t have changed what we’re dealing with,” Poe gestured vaguely at their surroundings, before letting his hand drop back to his side. For once, he really didn’t know what to say - instead, he took a step forward, closing the distance between them so that he could place a hand on Cal’s shoulder.

me catchin’ all these thirsty bens and kylo rens in my notes just like

[this answer is regrading canon verse, would likely be vastly different depending on the AU]

I think the closest thing to ever having to a date that Poe will tell you he remembers was sharing a three course meal of rations by the light of a standard issue glow stick in the cargo hold of a ship on the run. Don’t get me wrong, he’s had his share of hot and heavy making out and beyond, but “dating” somehow feels like a concept that’s lightyears away from what usually ends up happening.

That being said, most of the truly romantic relationships have been short lived. They either fade back into friendships, or if he’s not in regular contact person, sort of just disappear entirely.  He did have a nice, steady thing during his stint as a New Republic pilot with someone’s assistant where he might have gotten a proper dinner or two - but that went to hell eventually anyways. 

Home. 

Kind of a weird thing to call it. He could feel the lush undergrowth give way beneath the soles of his boots. The rain had ended a while ago, but the trees continued to drip on them both, pattering against the leather of Poe’s jacket.

Hard to miss the gun flush against the small of his back.

A sigh, and it tumbled from his lips into the frigid air. Poe slowly raised his hands, not quite above his head, but the gesture was still there. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” Turkish never came easy to him, but to hell with it, he knew his accent as perfect anyways. “I have my papers right here-“

Oh, who was he kidding? Poe turned on his heel, slowly, bringing himself face to face with none other than the bastard himself, snow dusted against that distinctive hair. When was he going to learn to dye it?

This was sort of the last place he’d have expected to run into this guy. Honestly, he was pretty sure he’d had a nightmare like this before - except maybe without the waist deep cave water. Now that he knew exactly who was behind him, he lowered his blaster, knowing what good it’d do anyways.

“Makes for a better story,” Half admission, half matter of fact, it seemed that the pilot wasn’t too phased about being called out. Had he not been wearing a helmet, Rownei Ren might have been able to catch the smile that accompanied his answer, but working with the knights (even just one, and maybe especially this one) called for mandatory PPE.