hatejakku | maskormenace : IC Contact

[ Finn just obliviously, happily chews and swallows his next bite. ]

Anton's from a planet that hasn't reached Earth's level of tech yet. The whole space travel thing is something he's still getting used to. He was sweet, though, you know. Kinda nervous when our turn came up but he relaxed fast. I think he ended up liking it.

Kirk's... the opposite. He's a bartender with a biochemistry degree. And he works with this group called imPact with Apollo. They're sort of like Aegis but there are less of them. Less regulation, too. They focus more on corruption but they get more done. Anyway, he kind of did the speed dating on a whim like me, but we had a pretty great conversation out of it.

[ He uses his sandwich as an excuse to just chew for a while, and then, perfectly innocently: ]

You gonna see either of them again?

[ Finn shrugs. ] I hope so. We didn't make any plans or anything. It wasn't really like that. But they were both cool. I think you'd like them.

[ Poe gets along with just about everyone, after all. ]

You have a pretty good sense for people, so I've no doubt I would.

[ He shouldn't feel glad that they didn't make plans. He shouldn't. That would just make him a giant dick and a selfish asshole, as Archie would put it. But he can't quite help the way a little knot of muscle in his shoulder blades relaxes at the news.

And then of course he immediately feels guilty for it. ]

Maybe you could invite them over, sometime. Show them your wall paintings.

[ Poe, you fucking moron. ]

[ Ooh! ] Maybe! Anton might like them. Kirk would probably appreciate the base itself more. Yeah, sure, I might do that. [ It would be kinda nice. The whole point was to make new friends, after all. Not much of a friend if he never reaches out to either of them again.

Then he stifles a laugh. ] I think as far as the dating part's concerned, the rave handled most of that in one night. Doubt I'll see any of those people again, though.

[ No, he didn't do what Poe's thinking about right this second. ]

[ Okay, he was not a good enough actor to keep the blink of surprise from his face, as he absolutely though what he shouldn't be thinking. ]

It did? [ Woops. Voice a little higher pitch than he meant it to be. ]

What, ah... what happened?

[ Finn laughs at Poe's reaction, at least not oblivious to that, but shakes his head. ]

Not much. Drank a little too much, danced way too much. [ Might have... gotten in a little action, but nothing that went very far. It was nice to be that carefree for a minute, though. ] I didn't think I'd have much fun but it was pretty great.

[ Poe relaxed a little, an easy, lopsided smile coming to his lips. ]

Well, I mean, if you like dancing, I can take you whenever you want. We can go to Zozzled. I don't know if you ever totally understood why I loved that place, but I think you enjoyed it anyway.

Edited 2019-07-03 13:46 (UTC)

[ Finn wasn't sure if part of the stress-free fun was being around people who didn't know him. Still, at the same time, it would be nice to go back with people he did know. He'll probably have to mind himself a little better, though, which wouldn't exactly be difficult.

So he smiles at the offer. ] Yeah, that sounds fun. I've been there before? [ Before he forgot, he means. ]

Yeah, a few times. I, uh--

[ He pauses, something far away pulling at his expression, turning his smile softer. ]

... I have photos, actually. Not a whole lot, I always forgot to take them, but-- We'd dress up for it, so. I guess I've never actually shown you any of those, huh.

Edited 2019-07-03 15:49 (UTC)

[ He almost takes another bite but is thankful he doesn't seeing as he would have choked. Instead, his eyes just go wide and round. ]

There are pictures? [ As dearly as he wanted to remember everything, and Poe had pictures this whole time. That was all right, though. They were Poe's photos to share, and Finn knew that the topic was... shaky between them.

So he's not angry, really. Just surprised. ] I haven't seen them, no.

Yeah.

[ He pauses, shoving the last bite of of sandwich into his mouth before shifting his butt, reaching into his back pocket to pull out his phone. He unlocked it, tapped a couple buttons as he shifted over to sit closer to Finn, knees brushing as he held out the phone between them. He tapped on a folder labeled 'Finn' and opened it up. The first picture was obviously the most recent: Finn, grinning and talking to someone else while all dressed up in a nice purple suit. The next two: volleyball. The one after that: Finn working in an aquarium.

But the next ones were not of places Finn recognized.

The first was Finn surrounded by a gaggle of happy, screaming children in a park. The next, a picture of him sitting in bed, a book in his lap and frowning, the space beside him on the bed obviously had someone in it recently, the blankets pushed back. The one after that, a dumb selfie of the two of them on Poe's carpet, grinning wide and laughing about something. The next, Finn with his back to Poe, washing dishes without a shirt on. It wasn't the kitchen at base one. The next after that, two of them together, in dim light but fancy clothes, arms around each other's waists. Behind them was a woman dancing in a flapper dress. He stopped on that one. ]

There. Zozzled.

[ Finn finishes off his sandwich, too, before happily scooting closer.

Whatever they were doing this for is forgotten quickly when he sees the first few pictures. He hadn't known those were being taken. Then they get to photo he doesn't really remember then he realizes why.

He wants to take them in, stare at each for long moments, but Poe flicks through them quicker than that. By the time he finally stops on one, Finn remembers what they were looking at them for. Still, he takes the pause to study the image, from the arms wrapped around each other to the woman in the background.

He eventually speaks softly, his thoughts trying to remember a time too far away. ] That looks fun... We- I want to go back. See what it's like.

[ He pulls the phone back, turning it off and shoving it back in his pocket. He knows what the next photo is, and he doesn't think he can look at it. ]

Yeah, of course. Any time.

[ There was a slightly awkward pause, and then: ]

If you want the photos, I can send you the folder, but... Maybe it'd be more fun to take new ones, instead.

[ Finn weathers the awkward pause but... he wants to see those photos, every single one of them, and he knows this is his only real chance if he didn't want to make things more awkward later.

But he also knows that he needs to let that life go. Obsessing about it hadn't helped before, and he'd been so good about moving on lately. He and Poe both had. Having those pictures would only make things worse, he figured, no matter how badly he wanted them. ]

New ones. Yeah, I like that plan. [ Wait, where's his phone? It takes a second of shuffling, but he pulls his own out, too. ] I can get some of my own, too. I hadn't really thought about taking pictures before.

Yeah, of course you can.

[ Poe offered him a warm smile. ]

I started taking more photos when - when people started not coming back. I keep folders for my friends. Some are more sparse than others. I only have a few of Beth, a couple of Maxwell...

[ A bunch of Owain, but he still doesn’t feel like he should mention those. Even if it all feels like ancient history, now. ]

[ He doesn't remember either of those people but there's been so much talk about them that he can nearly picture them. He wanted to ask Poe to elaborate a little like he had tried to do with K2 and Skeets, but that had just ended in sadness. Asking again would probably just do the same.

So, instead, he raised his phone and snapped a picture of Poe while the other is stuck in his memories. It's a good look on him, all wistful and everything. Finn'll be happy to have this the next time Poe ports out for a while, he figured. Should have taken one of Rey, though. ]

I think it's a great idea. Even just one is pretty amazing to have.

Come on. You gotta be in it, too. [ He said as he pulled himself out of his reverie. He slung an arm over Finn's shoulders and pulled him in.

There, perfect photo op. ]

[ Finn smiled wide long before he angled up his phone to take a proper picture with both of them.

Photo snapped, he started wondering why he hadn't done that sooner. It was a good picture, too, he thought while he looked down at it. ] Thanks, Poe.

[ And, PING, Finn just texted him a copy. ]

[ Poe smiled too, wide and fond, pulling out his own phone to get a look at the photo. It only made his smile wider, and so he saved it and put it into the same folder he’d been keeping the other photos in. ]

No need to thank me, bud. All to happy to do it.

[ Well excuse him while he sets his to his lock screen real quick before pocketing the phone again. ]

So when are we going dancing?

Whenever you want. I still have your suit from last time, actually. We wouldn’t even have to find you an outfit.

[ He leaned back, hands pressed to the metal balcony behind him, supporting his weight. ]

We could even go tonight, if you want.

[ His suit from last time... Finn was still having trouble over his current and former selves being the same person. It would almost feel like taking another person's clothes without their permission. But it was his.

So he skipped over that train of thought and smiled. ] Tonight? Really? You're not busy?

[ If he’d been planning to do anything else, it was abandoned in an instant. ]

Yeah, why not.

Sieze the day, right?

Right. [ They spent so much of their time on Earth being stressed out rather than enjoying a little peacetime.

Finn figured they should definitely enjoy it more, so he stood up and offered a hand. ] Show me the suit before you decide this is a dumb idea.

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