STAR WARS: possible spoiler warning

[avali]

STAR WARS CALL OUT POST:
STEP 1: pick a muse
STEP 2: leave a comment with their name in the subject line, pictures, words or all of the above
STEP 3: profit

Comments

but do you mean it this time

[reconditioning]

[Sometimes the hardest part about being on the Falcon was the fact that Finn just didn't speak binary. They had translator droids for that back on base, and no trooper was ever going to spend his time learning what beep boops meant instead of polishing off efficiency courses. Doubly so for Finn, who had a squad of fellow cadets to look after for a handful of years before the drop to Jakku. Phasma was already on him for his sentimentality; he can't imagine how well she'd have taken to him burning time with a machine or two.

In hindsight, Finn thinks, emboldened by his newfound freedom, he probably should have.

He exhales once, chewing on the tough edge of a food ration, attention flicking back and forth between the stars outside and the noise inside where Han Solo and Chewbacca are currently discussing something that Finn can only guess is probably related to the injury on the wookie's arm. It's only on the glance back that he realizes BB-8 is there, hovering nearby, round as ever.] Hey, little guy. How's it going?

well do you see any crossed fingers here?

[rollingdroid]

[In the chaos that was the escape from Jakku and the appearance of General (former General, BB-8 remembers quickly) Han Solo, BB-8 hasn't had much time to really process Poe being--gone. Technically they have processed it, they've used the downtime to update their databanks and everything, but--well. There's the jacket-thief--Finn, that's his name, the one on this ship pretending to be Resistance--and there's Poe's jacket.

BB-8 rocks back and forth, then swivels their head up to look at Finn, beeps out a question that they hope he'll understand--what happened to Poe Dameron? How, exactly, did Finn end up with his jacket? They have to--they need to know all the details.

There's a mournful note to their beeping, which might be able to tip Finn off to, if not the exact question, then the gist of what they're trying to say.]

Only because BB-8 units don't have fingers.....

[reconditioning]

Not so good, huh? [Sometimes you didn't need words anyway. The looping pitch, the dejected head wobble, it doesn't get the point across as cleanly as the droid might've liked, but Finn at least can puzzle out that the little guy's unhappy.

And more than that, it's easy to figure out why.

He drops his feet to the floor, scooting forward enough to give BB-8 a consolatory pat via the weight of his palm.] I'm sorry about him. About Poe.

He was a good guy - I would've done more to help him if I could. [A confession that comes easy: Poe gave him a shot at freedom, gave him a name that he still keeps close. If that isn't the kind of thing you owe someone for (no matter how backwards their self-sacrificing decisions might happen to be) Finn doesn't know what is.] But by the time I got to the wreckage, there wasn't anything left.

...true but. STILL. look at this adorable droid would it LIE to you (it would)

[rollingdroid]

[And BB-8 scoots a little closer, lets Finn pat them. Ordinarily there would be a tasing, because they're famously picky on the base about who gets to pat them and will make their displeasure known to anyone they don't like, but these are extenuating circumstances, and they need all the comfort they can get.

No, they aren't doing fine. Physically, they're doing pretty well, considering what they've recently gone through, they don't need repairs more extensive than a paint job, but--they keep backtracking to Poe, and what he promised, what he said. No way he can fulfill that now, and their head droops a little as they emit a sad little whine.

Then they look back up at Finn again and start beeping, more inquisitive this time, though their tone hasn't quite lost that mournful note--they need to know what happened, how there even came to be a wreckage, how did Poe (almost) escape? They want--closure, or something like that. Finn could give them that, though it sucks that they don't have a translator droid around to help out.]

[reconditioning]

[He thinks-- briefly-- about saying it again, how he doesn't speak droid. Binary. Whatever it is. Not because he's trying to discourage BB-8, but because he just feels bad. It doesn't seem fair, keeping a one-sided conversation about something so obviously painful.

But then he figures BB-8 probably already knows all that and just doesn't care. Sometimes things matter more than being easy or fun or fair, and from everything he's seen, Poe Dameron hits the mark.] I broke him out of his cell, got him into a ship. [He chews his lip for a second and doesn't know if what he's saying is making this better or worse, but...] We could have made the jump to hyperspace easy, if he wanted to.

But he wasn't about to leave you behind.

So we took a hit, went down - I managed to eject before impact but it came so fast I was out before I hit the ground.

[rollingdroid]

[Of course. Of course Poe wouldn't leave them behind, of course he would come back for them even if he could've escaped. Because this is Poe, he'd never do that if he had a say in the matter. BB-8 gives a sad, mournful, almost resigned noise--of course he did.

After all, he'd promised them.

They give another beep--is there more? Go on, please. Sure, Finn might not understand droid (and they will correct that as soon as they can), but he seems to get the gist of what they're trying to communicate to him. Which is a step in the right direction.]