#jessrey

After spending most of the day tinkering with her new X-wing, Rey doesn’t realize it’s dark until her hair is sweat-glued to the nape of her neck and a hand is on her shoulder.

“Sorry,” Jessika says when Rey startles at the touch. “Thought you might want to come back in. They’re serving dinner soon, might even be something digestible.”

“You should see what I grew up with,” Rey says, and when Jessika laughs Rey ducks her head, peeking up at her from the corner of her eye.

Most of her time with Jessika has been spent in training, or in radio communication that, over time, has gone from professional to Poe advising them to get a private line. So Rey indulges in the chance to really look at her, the way her sharp eyes shine, her inky black hair that blends into the growing darkness of the sky behind her, blotting out the trees.

“Alright, hot-shot,” Jessika says. “Ready to go, or do you two need another minute alone?”

She nods toward the X-wing, then outstretches her hand.

Rey’s aware of everything at once and it makes her hesitate. There’s the dryness of her hands from weeks of ocean spray, and she feels the grit of salt when her knuckles rub against each other. There’s oil flaking under her fingernails, spaces she can’t reach with a cloth, and for a moment she wonders if Luke taught her enough to get it out.

There’s the roughness of the desert Rey doesn’t imagine will ever leave her skin. She’s still trying to shrug Jakku off her shoulders but it lingers like a tick she calls home.

“I think I’ll survive,” Rey says, and takes Jessika’s hand.

Rey holds her breath, but if Jessika finds anything off-putting about the feeling of her hand she doesn’t say. They start back toward the base.

She supposes this is the part where she’s supposed to let go. Right as she thinks it Jessika entwines their fingers, and she feels that Jessika’s hand is just as calloused as hers. Rey stares at the place their skin joins in a perfect match.

“What is it?” Jessika asks when she catches Rey staring.

Jessika’s grinning before Rey can even answer, and Rey can’t help the smile that eases onto her own face. 

“I feel lucky,” she says.