gotcompany:
poe’s usually a little quicker on the uptake than this, usually faster at figuring out what a person’s getting at before they have to spell it out for him. but he gets there eventually with everything — and this is no exception. it all sinks in eventually. the jacket— the one finn salvaged from their crashed TIE fighter, the one he replaced his armour with.
( he thinks of his mother’s ring, tucked under his shirt, the letter general organa wrote to him that’s still safe on yavin 4. in principle, poe knows that things are just that, and people are more important — lives are more important. but he knows why he repaired finn’s jacket, too. knows what it means to have keepsakes. )
❝ finn— ❞ he reaches out, puts a hand on finn’s shoulder. leaves it there. ❝ you’re alive. when i heard— i thought you were gone. you, and rose, beebee-ate. i thought i’d— ❞ poe cuts himself off; this isn’t about him. ❝ my point is… i know that jacket was important. but listen— you gettin’ out okay is more important than that. and i’m sorry for putting you in a situation where you almost didn’t come back. ❞
▏▶︎Ŧ-И◀︎▕
he knows, distantly, poe will want to touch him && a part of finn is deathly afraid, muscles tense in anticipation of that contact. he doesn’t know what he’ll do, he doesn’t know how he will react in turn. a part of him wants to flinch away, expecting harshness from a man who’s shown him nothing but understanding and compassion. it makes that small part of him curl up in shame.
but perhaps he has nothing to worry about because when the warm palm lands on his shoulder, it spreads a wildfire beneath his skin, through nerves frozen in fear. finn is so relieved, he almost has to close his eyes.
❝you didn’t.❞ it’s what he says to break the silence, after a beat or two. after relief and forgiveness found a way to make his heart start a steady rhythm again. finn spoke softly but when he brings his gaze to meet poe’s his voice gains in strength of conviction. ❝you didn’t force us to do anything we weren’t prepared to do. it wasn’t——— it wasn’t on you. we screwed up too.❞
( by aesir did he screw up, he thinks as the indifferent gaze of the master codebreaker bears into him, kneeling before the first order. )
