riverviewlogs | introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

Entry tags:

introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: Introductory Log and Harvest Festival celebration
when: The month of November.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

harvest festival

In the days leading up to November 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The Harvest Festival. This holiday is in celebration of the harvest season and autumn, as the moon transitions into its winter period, and is characterized by indulging in the plenty that comes with the harvest season with loved ones, cleaning house figuratively and literally, and making sure that those in need don't suffer during the winter. Celebrations tend to focus around food and charity, with citizens enjoying and sharing cultural meals and sharing stories, or participating in any of the wide range of charity projects and events going on during this season.

a celebration of sharing

The biggest traditions of the Harvest Festival are centered around giving and sharing. Charity is central, and the each year the city sets up a large open tent with warm places to rest for anyone who might be homeless and a table capable of sitting over 50 people at any given time, with a round-the-clock catered feast for anyone who wants to sit and have a meal with anyone else who's dropped by. Besides this, there are a wide variety of events benefiting charities in the city, including a karaoke concert, stray animal round up, and the annual "stuff swap" where residents clean their homes and donate anything they don't need to those who might be lacking. There is also a tradition of writing down repressed or bottled up thoughts, feelings, regrets, sins, and other troubles and tossing them into a bonfire to go into winter with a clean soul.

i. harvest feast & stuff swap

For the first few days of November, anyone dropping by the city center will notice a large tent structure being put into place - by November 3rd, as the last of October's ghosts fade into nonexistence, a veritable banquet hall will have been sent up. For a week following the setup, anyone who drops by the hall and steps inside will see a large table laden with food. Bread, stew, fruits and vegetables, soups, roasted meat, and almost anything else one can think of will be on the table, along with plates, silverware, and cups. Anyone is free to take a plate, settle down at the table, and help themselves to a meal.

The Feast is staffed entirely by volunteers, who do the cooking, cleaning, and tidy up the dishes and area afterwards, keeping the constant stream of food coming. Whether your character is heading in to sit beside a stranger and strike up a conversation, or volunteering their time, energy, or cooking skills to the hall, they're more than welcome.

One corner of the hall is entirely dedicated to the yearly "stuff swap." There's a long-standing tradition of fall cleaning in Riverview Quarantine, where residents will thoroughly clean their homes and rid themselves of excess in preparation for the winter. The extra things that aren't needed can be dropped off at the city center where the Feast is set up, and anyone who is in need of a particular item that has been donated can take it free of charge. This is an honor system, so please be kind to others! (Or don't.)

ii. charity karaoke

On the weekend of November 10th and 11th, while the Feast will be cleared away, the tent is being repurposed for a new event - a Karaoke Concert for the needy! Set up as a makeshift bar and lounge area, the space will be fronted by a large stage where singles or groups of people can choose a song and karaoke their hearts out to a crowd of spectators. There's a by-donation cover fee, and guests are encouraged to reward the best (or most hilariously bad) renditions of beloved songs from across the multiverse with digital "tips" that are transferred to the karaoke performer's charity of choice.

Whether you're a spectator tipping a performer, or a performer who's singing their heart out on the stage to benefit a variety of charities from the homeless to the animal shelter to children in need (and almost anything else you can think of), the Karaoke Concert is both hilarious and heartwarming.

iii. stray animal roundup

One of the main charity events that seems to happen every year is the stray roundup. As the seasons turn and it gets colder and colder at night, many residents who have a soft spot for animals band together to round up as many stray animals as possible and take them to shelters where they can be rehabilitated, given a warm bath, fed, and have a safe place to sleep. Volunteers take to the streets with crates and nets or restraining poles as well as generous bags of treats of food to entice the strays with, and capture them safely to be brought back to the various animal shelters around the Quarantine. Any animal who's caught is put up for adoption, and volunteers are encouraged to take home any strays that they bond particularly well with, or are invited to foster animals in their homes.

Whether your character is a die-hard animal lover, looking for a new pet, or just wants some wacky hijinks trying to chase a wily critter around the streets, they'll be suited up with supplies by other volunteers and released into the fray. The most common animals to be found are cats, dogs, and small domesticated foxes, but feel free to assume that your character is rounding up a reptile, rodent, bird, or a domesticated alien critter. Playing a thread with this prompt is a great opportunity to get a cute alien pet for your character without spending AP.

iv. letting go

On the evening of November 15th, a series of large bonfires will be set up all along the beaches of the river, and as the night falls, people begin migrating to the beaches from all over the city carrying slips of paper in a wide variety of colors with words written on them in a wide variety of languages, and throwing them into the fires. This is a way of psychologically and emotionally cleaning house for the residents of the Quarantine, because the papers they bring contain the stories of their pain, poems written about the feelings they bottle up, a venting of their anger and fear and resentment, all to be eaten up by the flames and washed away by the river with the next rain.

No matter where a person comes from, they carry pain and suffering and hurts that they must hide. This is a welcome opportunity for characters to write out their thoughts and feelings and release them. And if the symbolism of burning them isn't enough, there are always other people around the fires who are willing to listen, to hear all those things that people keep locked up inside. Share a story willingly, listen to someone's story, or just get caught holding your deepest darkest secrets on a really vulnerable piece of paper...it's up to you.

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the Harvest Festival, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i & iii: Bastien Grivet; image ii & iv: unknown (stock/hobbiton)

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Rey wasn't paying to her surroundings too much. She was going to the Harvest Festival, just to see what it had to offer. Part of her was tempted to simply go back to work; either with the Perimeter Guard, or go beyond the wall by herself. Cisco would probably tell her no, but it wasn't like she had anything else going on. She was still trying to figure out how to train using the Force without an actual teacher, much less how to train with a lightsaber without injuring herself.

Rey was still trying to wrap her head around what happened with Poe... Maybe she could talk to Cisco or Alec about it. Maybe lower her walls a little more and talk about how she was feeling rather than keeping it all bottled up. She doesn't see anyone familiar in the crowd, but there was there a shift in the wind? Or something else?

There was a need, a desire to turn her head to a different direction to look for something. Suddenly, she heard her name being called. She turned her head towards where she heard her name, and her heart stopped.]

Finn.

[His name falls softly from her lips, unsure if that really was her friend that she was seeing. Her heart is pounding faster and faster. Run is the first thing that comes to her mind. Her feet start to move, quickly walking then sprinting towards the former Stormtrooper. She's dodging people and trying to get around others without causing any injuries.]

FINN!

[Don't let this be a dream. Don't let this be a vision. Let this be real, please.]

[ It only takes that shout to get him from pushing his way through the crowd to running in her direction full-tilt. He's had one absolute constant fear, one constant concern since he first woke up, and there was really only ever one thing that could alleviate it.

Seeing for himself that she's okay.

There was no time on Starkiller once he started fighting Kylo Ren. He never got the chance to check on her again, to try to get her back to the ship, and thinking that he might be here recovering while she was possibly gone-- out of every potential problem and every potential outcome, that's been the hardest one to try to carry. Seeing Rey himself is the only way to know beyond a shadow of any doubt, the only way to wipe that fear completely off the map.

The closer he gets to her, the broader his smile stretches, because she's okay, she looks okay and she's here. And at least for the moment, it's the best possible outcome to have her here. ]

Rey--

[ Honestly, Finn's going in for the hug without any preamble whatsoever on this one. He throws his arms open like it's his job. ]

[The last time she saw him, he was asleep. He was badly inured from trying to fight off Kylo Ren. The med droids told her that he was resting, that he needed time to heal. But time was a precious thing. In the time she had been here, she didn't know if things had moved ahead. If Finn had gotten better, or if the First Order had found the Resistance's current location. If something else happened to him.

She had said her goodbye to him as he slept. A promise to return and a brief kiss to his forehead.

Now, he was only a few feet away from her. He was well within her reach, and she had never been so elated, so happy to see her friend--her best friend here. It was the same feeling when he found her on Starkiller base. That someone was willing to come back for her, that she mattered enough to go back to.

Hopefully people will understand that neither of them meant to run through the crowd, or cause people to bump or drop things.]

Finn!

[Rey would accept the hug, because damnit, she's moving to hug him too. Her arms come around him, holding him tightly. Her heart pounding hard in her chest.]

You're here...you're here. [She finds herself repeating the words softly, like she's trying to convince herself this was entirely real. Not a dream. Not an illusion.]

So are you.

[ Real and solid, undeniable proof. Some of the tension immediately drains out of him once they reach each other, and he holds her just as tightly. ]

I didn't think you would be. No one could could tell me anything, we're not even in the same system, I thought--

[ Honestly, he trusts this moon's setup about as far as he could throw Chewie. A lot of what he thought boils down to "for all the file information they take down, how could they not be able to say if she's here". With a dose of not buying into the displaced explanation, just for added flavor.

A lot more of what he thought was that he might be alone no matter where he is, if something didn't happen to help them out on Starkiller. ]

Are you okay?

[They may be stuck hugging and holding each other. Rey is almost afraid of letting go, afraid if she does he'll slip through her fingers and disappear. The fear grew when Poe left and then suddenly came back. Now with Finn, she didn't want anything to happen to him.

It is worrisome to hear they aren't in the same system. Perhaps the people at the welcome orientation had their files mixed up? Or just didn't want to tell him that she was here?

It's very hard to tell, but the question that he asks her makes her hold him tighter.]

I'm fine. I'm here..you're here..we're fine.

[The words are whispered softly, trying to be strong for Finn and for herself. Was this the Universe's way of saying he'd always find her? That he'd always come back for her? Taking in a deep breath, she slowly began to pull back to look at Finn.]

When did you get here? The last time I saw you, you were recovering back at the Resistance Base. [Right before she left for Ahch-To.]

Edited 2017-11-12 19:21 (UTC)

Last time I saw you, I wasn't sure we were getting back to the Resistance base.

[ More casual remark than grave admittance, at least for now. It's easier to say it out of relief. There's a last time she saw him, and it wasn't 'two minutes before the ground beneath us blew up and we both died'.

She's fine.

So it was worth it.

And honestly, he was firing a lot of questions of his own at his orientation. Chances are some wound up falling through the cracks or getting misheard. ]

It's been a little over a day. Had to do some time with the medics.

[ Finn's gaze turns searching. Maybe it comes down to the fact that she had to ask: it would be simple to write it off as Rey getting here the same day, just missing each other while he got packed off to a medical facility. But he feels like he's missing something. ]

What about you?

[ That had been a scary situation for them. Kylo Ren on a rampage. He wasn’t going to let them leave, he forced their hand in fighting him. When Rey found Finn on the ground, she had to do everything she could to keep Ren from killing both of them. She wanted to protect Finn. ]

After fighting Kylo Ren, I wasn’t sure if we would make it off the base. We were picked up by Chewie and taken to the Resistance base.

[ So many things they needed to catch up on. So many things she needed to tell him and so many things she wanted to hear about.

It made sense that he was with the medics, after she saw the damage to his back, he needed to go to Med Bay right as they landed. As for her...]

I’ve been here for two months. I e tried to figure a way off this place, but I don’t even know where we are in the galaxy or if we’re in the same universe. [ Two months of being by herself and trying to figure shit out. She had made new friends, but she was out back into survivor mode like she had done on Jakku. Maybe they should have this conversation elsewhere...]

We can head back to my room if you want. Catch up there.

[ Finn nods through her explanation, not because it fails to raise any questions, but more because she's keeping it concise. Getting the basics out of the way to line things up. After fighting Kylo Ren, she says, so she fought him, too. Beat him?

He wasn't about to stop for anything less, Finn knows that much, so the fact that they got there at all... definitely something to come back to. Not knowing where they are makes sense, too, he couldn't get good information on it no matter who he asked. In the meantime, with no shortage of concern, bordering dismay: ]

Two months? [ Nearly two days drove him up a wall. He can't imagine going two months. All that time not being sure. It doesn't make sense, just another pebble on a mountain of things on this moon that don't make sense. Running up against his trust in her honesty, it's not quite enough to shake it, but he's starting to think that being in this quarantine is going to be... a Lot.

Finn wants to ask a fair few questions, more than one of which probably boil down to are you sure you're okay. If she'd rather catch up somewhere else, though, she could have reasons for it. So he nods again, a little less sure. He reaches for her hand reflexively, hoping it can serve as at least some kind of comfort for the both of them and already getting ready to start walking. ]

Where is it?

Edited 2017-11-13 02:20 (UTC)

[ If they talk in her room, they could have some privacy. They wouldn’t have to worry about someone over hearing them and maybe then she could let her walls come down and tell Finn everything. But at the same time, she doesn’t want to stress him out. She doesn’t want to place more weight on his shoulders. At the same time, she’s kept so many things inside of her that it might be better to let him know.

She trusted him enough to confide in him. After everything they went through, what they risked for the Resistance and for each other, he’s earned her trust.

There’s a nod of her head. Two months of being on her own again and starting from scratch. ]

Yes, two months give or take. [ The phone or comm, has helped her keep track of the days rather than marking the walls with tally lines.

She doesn’t mind it when he takes her hand, it fits so easily into his. A form of comfort for the two of them. A way for her to hold onto him and to make sure he wouldn’t disappear in a plume of smoke. Funny, she told him repeatedly that he didn’t need to hold her hand, but she didn’t realize how much she’s missed it. To have someone in her corner when in the past she’s had no one. Not to say the people she’s made friends with aren’t already in her corner, Finn was different. He was the first real friend she’s made. ]

Communal housing, 12th floor. [ They start to walk together with Rey leading the way to the building. ] One of the few good things that’s happened in being here is I have my old speeder back. Didn’t think I’d see that again since we left Jakku.

[ Communal housing. Right. He knows that building. Orientation included a very unnecessary escort to his new quarters, which he's pretty sure he could have just asked for directions to on his own. It's not too bad, as far as housing buildings probably go.

More space than he had as a cadet.

Finn lets Rey lead the way without any objections. He just makes sure to match her pace, giving their surroundings sharp look-overs as they go.

... somehow, in all the rush of trying not to get killed or captured, getting off-planet with the Millennium Falcon, he realizes he never found time to wonder if Rey left much of anything behind on Jakku. So hearing her mention a speeder piques his interest. At the very least, he's glad to hear that she has it again. At least it was something familiar. ]

How did you get something like that here?

[It's hard to not miss the sharp look-overs that Finn does. Both of them are anticipating being shot at from somewhere or something. Be it a TIE Fighter, or by a Stormtrooper. Nothing like that has happened here, thank goodness. But, it's a feeling that neither of them can quite shake. She squeezes his hand in an attempt at comfort, and as a way to help calm them both down.]

I'm not sure. Apparently somethings, an item of yours comes through and winds up here. It was useful on Jakku, when I would take parts back to Niima Outpost. [When she was still a scavenger, waiting for her family to return to her. Waiting for something that would never happen.

She lead them back to the Communal Housing, keeping an easy pace. She still has her staff on her back, something she can't let go, and a bag slung over her shoulder too. A bag that had the lightsaber. Getting to her room is easy enough, and once they're at her door, she opens it to reveal a very bare room: a bed with sheets, a pillow, and some papers in the corner. She had tried to chart the stars, but it was useless.]

Sit if you like... [Rey gestured to the bed, removing her bag and staff from her back and softly shutting the door. In the process she had to let go of his hand and that...it felt wrong in a way, but she couldn't dwell on it for too long. They had a lot to catch up on.]

The last thing you remember is us on Starkiller Base?

[ He files that information away for later investigation. Something that just happens? Seems weird. But then again, look at the number of people who came through and wound up here. Why not things, too? Make it that much stranger. Rey's hand is a towline in an uncertain sea. As much as he's wondered what happened to her in the past day or so, she's one of the very, very few things on this moon worth trusting in.

The room they wind up in is very Rey, and that sets him a bit at ease. Or maybe it's not that it's very Rey, and more that he knows it is Rey's, since there isn't much to it. Finn sits on the edge of the mattress, straight-backed, and puts his hands on his knees for lack of any idea what to do with them. When she asks her question, he nods. ]

That's right. We were trying to get back to the Falcon.

[ After Solo. She was there, she knows what happened, so at least he doesn't have to rehash all the details. Probably better for both of them that way. Finn's still angry about it. All of it. He just knows enough about compartmentalizing to keep it from hitting the wrong targets. ]

Kylo Ren had other ideas.

[Rey sits across from him on her bed, one foot tucked under her. Her hands on her knees and easily accessible if Finn wanted to keep holding her hand. If either of them needed to reach out to hold the other to show they wouldn't lose one another.]

He did. I remember seeing you there in the snow and I had to protect you...[Just as he had done for her. She looked for a moment and took a deep breath. When she looked up at him she began to recount what happened. How the lightsaber flew into her hand. How she and Kylo Ren had fought and his offer to be her teacher. How she was able to channel and use the Force to gain the upper hand. The feelings of rage and power flowing through her, and how tempted--sorely tempted she was at ending him...but she didn't. She backed away from that ledge and instead gave him a nasty wound instead.]

I left him in the snow..I don't know if he made it off the Base but, I went back to you. I wasn't sure if we were going to make it, but Chewie picked us up. We went to D'Qar and you were rushed to the Med Bay. I only stayed for a few days for supplies before I went off to find Luke on Ahch-To. I managed to land on Ahch-To, but then I was placed here...

[Might as well let that sink in first before she continued on.]

[ The pause to let him process everything is very much appreciated. There's a lot of ground to cover, and he hadn't so much as looked like he planned to interrupt during her recounting. Finn is quiet for a few long moments.

Rey has the Force and she used it to beat Kylo Ren on a strict time limit on a planet-destroying weapon that was getting ready to explode, walked away instead of killing him, and then she went back to where he'd cut down Finn, instead of heading for the Falcon. What's not to understand, that's totally not insane at all. The last part doesn't surprise Finn, necessarily. She says I went back to you and he thinks that's Rey, even though in the grand scheme he never did learn much of anything about her.

A hard attitude and a practical mind, and she could have just taken care of herself on Jakku instead of looking out for BB-8, instead of sticking with him when the First Order turned back up. She could have run for the Falcon and gone back to D'Qar and gone on her way to find Luke Skywalker regardless, but instead she ran back through the trees for him. It's a feeling that settles in him. That's Rey, and it's just something that he knows.

Only an idiot would meet Rey and not realize she's special. Force or no Force.

Finn doesn't try to say something about not risking her life going back to him. Everyone makes their own choices. He's made his. Rey's made hers. Kylo Ren made his choices, too. ]

That's... a lot. [ Home world a lot instead of strange moon a lot. Still very much... a lot. He's pretty sure some integral part of Rey's core existence is made of ultrachrome? ] And you're sure you're okay?

[ SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO DOUBLECHECK WHEN CONFRONTED WITH THE END OF THE MOVIE'S MUCHNESS. ]

[It's hard to think what might be going through Finn's mind. If he was overwhelmed with what she was able to now do. Or, if he was more concerned about getting her to Luke. It felt like Poe was leaning towards that, and she couldn't blame him. She was trying to do what she could, but her resources were limited. That wasn't an excuse, but her reality. There wasn't anything she could make or use...

And "listening" to the Force hadn't helped her much. If she had a way to learn more about the Force, or the Jedi, she would at least have something rather than nothing. But that's something to think about another day. Right now she's focused on Finn and trying to give him as much information as possible without overwhelming him.

Through it all though...he still asks if she's okay.]

I'm fine. [It's a phrase she's been using way too often. It's a sign of someone who isn't fine.] I was more concerned about you. The last time I saw you, you were asleep, resting. I told you I would come back.. [And she placed a kiss on his forehead, but there wasn't a need to go into that little detail. or that she sometimes had bad dreams of being back in that interrogation chair with Kylo Ren standing over her, forcing his way into her mind...]

When I got here, I tried to figure a way off this rock. I thought I could find an old ship, patch it up and try to leave, but I couldn't find anything. There was a shuttle that Jim, he's part of the Perimeter Guard, had found, but I wasn't going to steal it.

And then I met a few other interesting people... [One of them was Cisco, she lights up a little then, explaining how he offered her a job and introduced her to the world of candy (oreos and gummy bears). What was most shocking was telling Finn that she met Obi Wan, an old Jedi Master.]

Time isn't an issue with this place. People from the past are here. Obi Wan Kenobi was here...and I wished I had paid more attention to him. I could've learned a lot, but before we could have a proper lesson, he was gone. People come and go in this and it's hard to keep track of who's still here.

[Her voice and demeanor dropped then, feeling upset again. She had the chance to learn and she didn't take. She should've paid more attention to Obi Wan's whereabouts and Poe's.]

There's also Cassian and Jyn. They're from the past too--from the Rebellion days, Finn. [She wasn't going to say what happened to them. That wasn't her story to tell. She promised Cassian she wouldn't bring up Scarif to anyone else. Rey wasn't sure if Finn would know who either of those two were, but they were important enough to Rey for her to mention them.]

Things...are slowly getting back to 'normal' or what passes for normal here. A few weeks ago, something happened and people were able to see someone else's memories. [And to a very lucky few, some people got to see how lonely Rey's world really was.]

[ He builds up his list of mental notes to consider further in the future. That Rey might not necessarily be fine fine, just functioning, which he can't exactly judge anyone for.

That whoever Cisco is, he sounds nice enough, for Rey to light up like that talking about him. Exactly what he's going to do with that mental note, he's not sure yet. Maybe he'll meet him sometime.

That the Perimeter Guard has a shuttle-- if he does decide to join up, that could be something interesting to check out. He probably will join up. He wasn't really raised for a career outside of a certain scope.

And then, of course, there are the more obvious notes.

Stormtrooper cadets get history classes. It's part of any standard First Order education, which doesn't frame any rebels in a positive light and starts to lean specifically towards battle formations and successful strategies, but it's an education nonetheless. Finn knows the name Obi Wan Kenobi because it's theoretically impossible not to hear a name like that, same as it would be impossible not to hear the name Luke Skywalker, and he knows the rough span of years framing the Rebellion days. There's not being able to remember a few days that Rey remembers because of being unconscious, and then there's people supposedly turning up from the actual past.

He doesn't know the other two names. With the bigger or unavoidable ones put aside, there's not much room for learning to think of rebels as people with lives. ]

Were they with the Rebellion?

[ Okay, look, objectively, he thinks that's a very big distinction to make for future posterity. Rebels? Empire? Civilian? Then, when he catches up to the rest of what she says: ]

People were seeing memories?

[ That sounds more than a little intrusive and awful. That sounds like this moon is still a generally awful place. ]

[Rey could always introduce Finn to Cisco and let him see how nice of a guy he was. He was one of the few people who Rey continued to keep in contact with. It was a hard habit to break, being on her own and keeping to herself. This whole socializing thing has taken some time to get used to.

Without Finn around, Rey had come to lean on Cisco a little. She found herself opening up to him more than the rest of the others of this place. Well, not entirely true. There was Alec too, but she could mention him later. Cisco was her employer and she also worked as part of the Perimeter Guard. The girl was in survivor mode, trying to work as much as she could, save as much money as she could, and buy what she needed. There wasn't time to really buy something because it was a want or a desire.

There's a nod of her head at Finn's question.]

Yes, they were. They were part of the Rebellion and fought against the Empire. [But again, she won't tell Finn that they were the reason why the plans for the Death Star were discovered and used against the Empire. Cassian and or Jyn could tell him that. Which brought her to her second point...] And they don't know about the First Order. It...it felt wrong to tell them that the Empire was destroyed only to have something else rise up from the ashes.

[Another nod of her head.] Yeah, people were getting visions of someone else's memories, or dreaming of them...[She paused, taking a deep breath because she was explaining so much and because she didn't really like that lovely event or whatever it was.] Mine included. I was lucky...only a few people saw my memories. It was mostly of my life on Jakku...before you and BB-8.

[ He can't blame her for not telling them. How do you look two people in the eyes and say, "you get what you're fighting for, and then something just as ugly starts it over again after too short a time"? It feels wrong to have to say it, if just as wrong not to-- he isn't sure where he falls on the matter. They all have to get back eventually, right?

But Finn understands Rey's thought process either way. It's from a place of kindness. More than he can say for the lies he's told since defecting. He nods, at the very least willing to show that he understands and will remember it. ]

It's not lucky if anyone saw them. They're yours.

[ He doesn't know much of anything about her life on Jakku. He doubts they were especially good, or happy.

And as someone with very few memories that are only his, not shared with however many cadets or instructors or people happened to be in the immediate area, Finn thinks it's more than fair to call the Quarantine out for being unfair. Whether it was intentional or accidental, it doesn't sound right. ]

[Rey is thankful Finn understands. He doesn't speak up against what she did. Jyn and Cassian gave their lives for the Rebellion, she wasn't about to let that go down the drain.]

I did mention you to Cassian, as someone who saw beyond power. Someone who knew what was right and defected. Seems he had a friend who did the same, part of the Empire but walked away from it.

[See how much you matter to her Finn? She mentions you to other people. Finn and Poe are the only two people she's referenced in a good light.

As for her memories..]

I know. I was infuriated and upset. I'm not shamed of my past, but it wasn't my choice to show them. The only good that came from it was learning more about Jyn and Cassian.

[ She mentioned him, and that much he can consider a good thing even before taking the kindness of how she describes it into account. It means she thought about him, even here, even with so much going on. Logically, it stands to reason that there's no reason she wouldn't think about him once in a while, or mention him to someone she was willing to talk to.

But it's nice to realize.

And if she hasn't told Cassian about the First Order, then it also means she probably didn't go too into detail about what Finn defected from, exactly.

That's good, too.

Finn does reach for her hand again when she admits that she was upset with the whole affair. In an ideal world, there would be someone they could storm up to about it, put an end to being stuck here, get some kind of closure or justice for it, anything like that. He'd do it in a heartbeat. But there's just a moon. A moon, and a lot of things that seem to happen to people who don't deserve it. And not much he can do about any of it. ]

Never heard of anyone walking away from the Empire before. [ Is where he lands, ultimately. In part because learning more about these two rebels is the only bright side she's found, and he doesn't want to make her dwell on the rest. But also because it's true.

Old strategic shortcomings could be highlighted as part of a lesson sometimes, but First Order history has a very biased point of view. ]

[She has thought about him. How he was doing, if he was okay. If he would be able to walk again after the damage done to his back. Rey didn't know how badly Kylo Ren had injured him, only that it was sever enough for him to go to the Medical Bay once they landed on D'Qar. He was a good example of how people could change. By all accounts, he shouldn't have defected from the First Order. He should've remained until he died, but he didn't. He saw past the fighting, past the glory and the possible power he could acquire.

He saw light. He saw a different path...and he took her along that path by grabbing her hand.

Once his hand is holding hers, she finds herself using her thumb to brush over the inside of his palm. A soothing motion for both of them.]

Neither had I.

[That someone could defect and then fight for the Rebellion. Completely unheard of, but also true at the same time. But, everything she's told Finn has been true...and really, that's all shes' been up to for the past two months; trying to figure things out and keep going.]

It's a lot to take in...and there are days where I'm still wondering if I'll just wake up and be on Ahch-To again.

I don't blame you.

[ This place is... all kinds of messed up. Things don't align. They don't make sense. They happen even though they should be impossible, but not in the way impossible things lined up back home.

It almost doesn't seem real. ]

We're in this together, all right? As long as it lasts.

[ Same thing he told Poe, and no less true for being repeated. The First Order can go hang. And he's not thinking about the Resistance yet if he can help it, not in terms of- of staying with them, joining another side of the same war, but there's time for that. Right now, he has Rey and he has Poe. They're on the same team. That matters more than anything else. ]

[There was a nod of her head, silently promising that she wouldn't lose him. She wouldn't lose him or Poe. They were in this together, and if one of them found a way off this rock, then they would leave together.]

We are. The three of us.

[There's a squeeze of his hand, assuring him of her words.]

If you need help settling in, let me know or Poe. I know...the adjustment is hard, and the people here come from similar worlds. Though, not many of them have encountered a droid, or that space travel is the normal mode of transportation...

[Her eyes were searching Finn's, trying to find anyway she could make this easier for him.]

[ There's something inherently comforting about... having a team, basically, in this place. He can count the time he's spent genuinely alone on his hands without running out of fingers, sure, but here especially-- it's the first time he's been part of a team that he can feel like he belongs in. Even a little.

It makes it easier. ]

I'll let you know. [ The corners of his mouth twitch up into a slight smile. ] What's one crazy moon after everything else we've had to deal with, right?

[ooc: apologies, HOW DID I FORGET THIS?!]

[They were a team, something Rey can honestly believe in and know they would be there for each other. There was a strong sense of trust between the three of them, and she wouldn't leave Finn or Poe behind.

The smile though...it suits Finn. The thought just drifts in Rey's head as she lets out a soft chuckle.]

At least this one won't be destroyed. [Or at least she hopes that's not the case.]

And..no one else of the First Order is here. At least we can breathe easy.

introductory mingle: HARVEST FESTIVAL

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