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riverviewlogs2018-10-01 04:51 pm
- !mod post: holiday,
- !mod post: monthly mingle,
- dc comics (dcnu): roy harper,
- dc comics (rebirth): jason todd,
- dc comics (rebirth): wally west,
- dragon age: dorian pavus,
- dragon age: relm hawke,
- it: stan uris,
- jurassic world: owen grady,
- kurogane: jintetsu,
- logan: laura,
- marvel (616): teddy altman,
- marvel (616): tommy shepherd,
- marvel (mcu): peter parker,
- original: athena parker,
- osomatsu-san: jyushimatsu matsuno,
- pose: angel evangelista,
- ppz: elizabeth bennet,
- star wars: cassian andor,
- star wars: finn,
- the black tapes: richard strand,
- the black tapes: simon reese,
- the saint (2017): simon templar,
- the terror (tv): harry goodsir,
- vikings: gyda ragnarsdottir
monthly mingle: FEAST OF THE DYING
what: monthly mingle: feast of the dying + agricultural emergency
when: the month of october
where: anywhere around the city
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines
During the month of October, a particular natural phenomenon on the moon weakens the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead, allowing for the crossover of those dead into the world of the living, with ghosts from the pasts of both the residents and the Quarantine itself to take corporeal form. This has given rise to an array of celebrations and traditions surrounding the transition from life to death, encouraging residents not to fear death, but to embrace it.
Things aren't all spooky celebrations this month, though. There's also a serious emergency happening in the agricultural district, where a herd of vengeful and intelligent hog-like creatures has decided to mount an attack on the city, with a large measure of success. Between September 20th and September 25th, they rammed the fences near the agriculture district where most of the farms providing livestock and produce for the city are located, succeeding in breaking through the fence on the 25th. Drastic action needs to be taken in order to protect the city's ability to feed itself throughout the upcoming months.
In the days leading up to October 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: the Feast of the Dying. There is an old, widely-known, and widely-believed superstition or proverb in Riverview Quarantine: 'The greater your fear of death, the easier it is for death to find you.' This is a cornerstone belief of a lot of the residents of the Quarantine, most of whom have survived intensely difficult and violent pasts on their own worlds and who are still willing and eager to throw themselves into exploring and settling new worlds, starting their lives fresh. To honor this spirit, the Feast of the Dying is a celebration of the transition between life and death, an opportunity to face death both figuratively and literally, and come out on top.
The festivities during this time feature tests of courage in highly haunted places, escape rooms both virtual and physical with varying levels of danger, and the week-long Feast of the Dying itself, between October 1st and 8th this year.
i. feast of the dying traditions
Much like any culture, there are a few traditions and events that happen every year in the Quarantine, to celebrate the Feast of the Dying. In-depth information on these traditions and events can be found on last year's Feast of the Dying post, and include:
● Ghosts From the Past: Characters will see ghosts of the deceased in various places around the Quarantine, with some areas, where the boundaries between the living and dead are weakest, being heavily infested with these ghosts, while other areas are nearly ghost-free. These ghosts can be from characters' canons (with limitations - see last year's post for OOC guidelines) or from the Quarantine itself.
● Escape Rooms: Horror-themed escape rooms pop up all over the city, augmented with tech or magic to make them seem more menacing. The difficulty levels and scares range from easy to incredibly difficult, and they feature themes from Zombie Attack to Prison to Torture Traps to Mad Science Experiments, and just about anything else you can think of.
● Tests of Courage: In various places around the city, there are establishments where the boundaries between the living and dead are so fragile as to be barely there - hospitals that treated the ill during the Pandemic, insane asylums or prisons where inmates were mistreated, homes where terrible murders happened, places exposed to dark magic, and other similar places. During October, these places are shut down except to those who wish to stay the night as a test of courage. Characters who stay the night will encounter hordes of ghosts and experience extremely realistic hallucinations that may result in injury (which is up to player discretion) in the name of proving their courage.
● Doom Dates: This year, with the amusement park open for business, there is an event called Doom Date, a spooky themed night at the fair featuring haunted houses, costumed actors, and free rides with the price of admission. More information on this prompt can be found on the September Test Drive Meme.
● Feast of the Dying: A week-long masquerade-style party that is open from sundown October 1st until sunrise on October 9th. Sort of like a formal ball inside an incredibly realistic haunted house, the Feast of the Dying is the tradition that the holiday is named after, and features dancing, party events, plenty of food and drink for everyone, and private rooms for resting or engaging in...private activities with close friends.
ii. creepy chaos
This year, there's something a little different going around the Quarantine. The influx of refugees, the Frysh, that recently arrived, have brought a few new spooky traditions with them - while their celebration of horror usually happens in the dead of winter, they've shared the custom for the Feast of the Dying. And what is that custom? Dressing up as monsters, ghosts, demons, and other terrifying creatures! Considering how many other worlds and universes have similar traditions, it's caught on quickly, with costumes incredibly varied in subject matter and level of intricacy, from standard run-of-the-mill costumes pieces purchased from the local costume shop to intricately detailed costumes featuring holographic accents - and, of course, the 'sexy' version of everything. The culmination of the Frysh tradition is the tenth day of the month, where everyone dresses as something or someone scary, and brings treats (handmade or purchased) to give to family, lovers, friends, coworkers, classmates, or anyone else. It fits with the Feast of the Dying theme quite smoothly, reminding residents that joy and togetherness can come even from frightening situations.
All well and good, but someone has other ideas - enter Phineas, a rather notorious mage who's just recently gotten out of a year-long stint in prison. Elderly, a bit of a codger, more than a bit eccentric, and extremely powerful, Phineas has decided to put his own spin on this particular spooky tradition by casting a powerful citywide spell. On October 10, anyone who puts on a costume to participate in this particular celebration will find themselves turning into their costume for the evening. Dressed up as a werewolf? Prepare to howl at the moon! Dressed as a vampire? Be prepared to get a serious taste for blood. The possibilities are endless...
OOC Note: Please remember that Riverview does not allow non-consensual sex, and that game mechanics are not put in place to encourage sexual assault, or to 'trick' characters into having sex that they would not normally have. If your character's costume is the 'sexy' version of anything, feel free to play with aphrodisiac effects or lowered inhibitions, but keep this rule in mind.
iii. hog wild
Residents of the city may or may not remember a particular patch of fertile ground that was scouted over a year ago, and the highly-intelligent and territorial alien hogs that were protecting it because the soil's fertility stems from it being a alien hog graveyard. After that revelation, the city had abandoned the project for the foreseeable future, as digging up an intelligent species' graveyard is more than a little beyond the pale.
That would've been all well and good, had the alien hogs stayed in their territory. However, after being disrupted by two teams over the course of a few months, the hogs (who have an excellent memory for this kind of thing) have started to get a little restless. It's not enough to be left alone - they want revenge. And with the summer winding down into harvest season, they've figured out how to get that revenge. As September winds down and October starts to dawn, the powerful and intimidating hogs have started on stage one of enacting that revenge - they've been making concentrated runs at the fences closest to their territory, hitting it in the same spot over and over again, herd mentality at its strongest, trying to make a dent. And they're succeeding.
The big problem here is that, on the inside of that fence, is the bulk of the Quarantine's agriculture sector. Fields full of livestock and crops that are meant to make up the majority of the winter's food supply are in danger of being wiped out if that fence falls, and if that happens, it's going to be a cold, hungry winter, no matter how many supplies the Capital World manages to send up to the moon.
Since September 20th, residents have been being called into service whenever they were willing to, at first to try to repair the damage to the wall and keep the hogs from bursting through, and after September 25th, to help stem the damage being done by the rampaging hogs. As September ends and October begins, the fight is still underway, and residents haven't managed to do much to stop the creatures encroaching on the agricultural district, so more help is always welcome.
A full write-up of this situation can be found on September's Test Drive Meme.
iv. drift compatible
As October continues on, the situation with the invasion of hogs and all the other creatures that are coming through the massive breach in the outer wall of the Inhabited City is starting to get really dire. As a last-ditch effort, the government is pulling what remains of their fleet of three-story-tall mech suits out of storage. Longer-term residents may remember these mechs from last January, when a herd of behemoth monsters was attacking the city. Since then, the five remaining mechs were taken over by a private tech company, improved upon to some extent, and then sold back to the government, where they were reverse engineered into something new and a little different, and more were manufactured.
As of now, the government is holding on to a fleet of around 40 smaller, more maneuverable mechs that are still quite powerful, but most importantly which still need to be piloted by two people. Considering the emergency the city is facing, the government has released the fleet of mechs to the Perimeter Guard, and is calling for anyone with piloting experience, or even people willing to take a quick course in it, to help man the fleet and head out into the battle, backing up fighters on the ground to try to push back the tide of creatures flooding into the vulnerable and very important agricultural district.
Mechs are piloted by two people working together - while it's not exactly drift compatibility, the two characters need to act together, with one directing where the mech goes and keeping an eye on the terrain, and the other one manning the guns and keeping an eye on the mech's defenses and energy and ammunition levels. This takes a lot of concentration and cooperation, and this day is bound to forge a lot of new friendships....and probably a few mortal enemies. On top of the difficulty of working with someone who may be a total stranger, don't forget this new fleet of mechs are in beta-testing and are only being used as a last resort, which means they have a bad tendency to break down in unexpected ways.
Each mech is fitted with one large canon-style gun that can be semi-automatic or automatic with a limited amount of ammunition, one plasma sword, and a force shield that can take four serious hits before it is depleted. They have a finite amount of energy storage and are able to be in continuous use for 3 hours maximum before shutting down. Out of the fleet of 40 mechs, the mod expects only about 5 to still be functional at the end of the month, so feel free to destroy or seriously damage them in threads.
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 Feast of the Dying, feel free to write it up!
Credit: image i: Logan Preshaw; image ii: Alejandro D'Marco; image iii: Jeff Jumper; image iv: Johannes Mücke; image v: Davey Baker; image vi: David Edwards
Poe Dameron || Closed/OTA
[ Poe doesn't participate in the festival, really. He's distracted, flying his A-wing in defense of the city, keeping it up between flights, working on it even when it doesn't particularly need the attention. The shuttle still needs some love after what he and John put it through, so he spends time on that when he can't be fighting either on the ground or in the air.
What he's avoiding, or trying to avoid, are the ghosts. He can't decide how he feels about them, about their existence here, about what they mean. It's a small mercy that after the woods he hasn't seen the faces of anyone familiar, but every time he steps out his door he's searching. Searching the transparent faces for any bit or recognition. Looking for someone to help or apologize to.
Looking for one ghost in particular.
Two weeks into the month and he's pretty much given up on seeing that one, particular ghost. It's been a couple of bad nights with long days in between, and he's keeping himself awake with too much coffee and a constant stream of conversation with BB-8 as he makes his way into the ship hangar for his shift. He's hoping to get back in the air today, blow the hell out of some more pig things, and he's heading for the roster to check what his duties are for the day when he sees someone standing next to the A-wing. His A-wing.
His mother's A-wing.
There she is, wildly curly hair drawn back into a tail over her shoulders, beautiful face, that eyebrow scar that served as a reminder to anyone who looked at her that pretty didn't make her soft. She's dressed in the kind of hardy work clothes she always wore on the ranch or in her workshop. Poe watches as she runs her fingertips over every scarred inch of the A-wing, though there aren't that many scars left. Poe's restored the ship back to its condition in his childhood, leaving only the most familiar scratches alone.
She turns to look at him and smiles, and the world goes blurry. Poe blinks, blinks again, blinks faster to get the tears out of his eyes so he can see her clearly. Shara Bey. In a rough whisper: ] Hi mom.
[ If your character is anywhere in the vicinity of the Perimeter Guard or close to it and they know Poe, he gonna find you and drag you back. Unless you just walk into the hangar. ]
iv. Drift Compatible
[ Look I spent myself on that one, THIS IS WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN. Have you been assigned an insane pilot as your co-fighter? CONGRATULATIONS. LET'S CLIMB IN. He can fly anything after all--this sort of counts, right? ]
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it doesn't help that he's not explaining anything. "jyn!" followed by the inability to produce words is not very illuminating but jyn goes with it. ]
Can you at least tell me what's happening?
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[ Please still be there, please still be there, please--
She's there, standing beside the A-wing, leaning back on it with her arms crossed and vague amusement on her face. There's no mistaking the resemblance between Shara and her son. He has her hair, her eyes. The same shaped face. He inherited his father's nose and something of his father's build, but Shara is responsible for almost everything else.
Poe exhales quietly. ]
It's my mom.
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look she doesn't think the ghost of shara bey would mind her cursing but there is a small part of her that thinks maybe she shouldn't be swearing in front of the dead. it's a very small part squashed when she swears again.
poe's mother is her age, should have been her age but here she is old enough to have a baby that grows up to be poe and that's absurd. if jyn's not old enough to have a baby, no one her age is old enough to have a baby.
she hadn't seen it before, that they were all so young, until meeting kids like laura, and then rey and chyler who both correctly pointed out that jyn isn't actually that much older than them. but it strikes her again now because poe's mother is still so young, not much older than cassian, maybe even not much older than her own grown child.
force, it sucks, but jyn shoves it way down and away because feelings are for pussies. ]
Hey. I'm Jyn. Sorry we, uh, destroyed most of the fleet.
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Shara moves across the hangar toward them, wispier in motion than she is standing still. She looks Jyn over, her lips pursed, and then raises an eyebrow in Poe's direction. ]
Wha-- no! Force, no, it's Jyn.
[ Shara grins, and Poe could melt into the floor with embarrassment and cry with how happy that makes him. ]
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Ew, no, that's gross.
[ a beat. ]
No offence.
[ ghosts are the worst because she's so happy and beautiful and smiling but then she is going to vanish back into nothingness like ephemera and poe is going to be left grieving his mother again and jyn doesn't like it. ]
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[ Shara studies Jyn again, this time without the clear edge of sarcasm. Lifts one hand, one hand that's more solid now even though it's still see-through, and brushes it across Jyn's cheek. Soft enough to just be felt, or have the impression of it be felt.
Her lips don't move. Her voices seems to come from the air around her. Soft, faint. But it's her voice and Poe slips to his knees.
"We owe you everything. The unification of the Rebellion. The success we had against the Death Star."
She nods, smiling again. "You did what needed to be done when no one else would. Basically thanks. My husband and I owe you and the others our lives."
Her attention turns to Poe, still on the floor looking up at her, and she kneels. "Oh, sweetheart. Come on, get up." ]
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any other comment is shoved aside by poe's mom. she wants to protest because jyn doesn't deserve that kind of thanks, but for once she just shut her damn mouth and accepts it, head bobbing in a jerky nod. ]
Yeah.
[ smooth. ]
i. it's the shara bae
AKA, Poe pretty much just has to ask and Finn will be there, no physical dragging necessary. Although that sort of... air of urgency certainly doesn't hurt his odds any, either. Finn makes it a top priority to try to match Poe's power-walking speed en route. Is he confused? Yes. But he's never really fallen out of the habit of being confused about something at all times. ]
Is this something I should be worrying about?
[ Because he will add worry free of charge. 100%. He'd just like to know what level to be at by the time they get there. ]
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[ Poe is practically tripping over himself, both in words and actions. He grabs Finn's shoulder, walking sideways, his eyes so bright they're practically feverish.
It fits with how he feels right now. ]
It's my mom.
[ Then they're in the hangar, and Shara Bey is there, going over every inch of her ship like her hands won't pass through it if she presses down. ]
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Good but not good. But, yes, definitely not something to worry about. Just like Han turning up, only a person that Finn is inclined to treat with a little more... traditional respect. What he knows about Shara Bey from word of mouth and one or two memory sharing incidents is that she's great, so. Only one chance at a first impression??? On ghosts. ]
Bet I could've guessed.
[ Poe looks very, very much like her.
But she looks at ships the same way, too.
I thought I typed the part where he vaguely mimics the hand-running-over thing for a second but apparently I didn't. Finn Does That. It proves his whole point. He wins the conversation. ]
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Poe closes his eyes and drinks in the sound. When he opens them she's still there, standing in front of Poe and Finn, looking Finn over with bright, curious eyes. "Though he's got plenty of Kes in him too. You must be Finn."
Poe exhales softly. ]
Might have mentioned you to her.
[ "Sure, let's go with 'mentioned.'" ]
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Even with the clear weight behind this day, this moment, it's safe to say that this feels like much less of an intrusion than any of the other notable incidents related to Poe's parents. Compared to the unintended memory-sharing thing, this is practically a dream.
Doesn't make the 'voice from the air' thing any less off-putting, or the sort of 'wait this is Poe's mom I have to talk to I never prepared for that' energy that immediately starts to kick in, but that was gonna be off-putting regardless. ]
He's mentioned you, too. You know, a few times. [ Per week?? Who can say. ] It's good to meet you. Sorry I can't-- shake your hand or anything.
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"It's fine. I was going to salute you, for what you've done to help the Resistance, but my son seems to think that would be embarrassing." ]
That's not what I--
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Finn also: what if I do just step in a little bit while the topic concerns me, though. While I'm in my lane.
It's sort of a marvel that Poe and his mom even had a conversation about this beforehand. That's-- actually, thinking about it, that makes sense. Solo got a whole ground rules layout. Which he ignored.
Go figure.
But he finally takes the time to slice off the requisite "did you give her like a full briefing or what" look for Poe. It would always have happened. But if it helps, he doesn't look especially offended. It also serves as a nice opportunity to touch base. Check in. ]
I don't know about embarrassing. [ Maybe Poe would be embarrassed by his mom making a big deal. Maybe she's just dragging him right now. Finn doesn't have the angle on these things. ] Wouldn't like it, though.
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Poe can't help but notice the fact that his mom assumes he's already told Finn about his dad, and honestly, that's a fair assumption to make. It would be a little ridiculous if he hadn't talked about his dad by now. (It doesn't occur to him that he talks about his parents so constantly that it's impossible for anyone he knows not to have heard all about them.) ]
See, told you. He's humble too.
[ He may or may not be teasing Finn a little bit. ]
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Anyway, there's an energy here now. After this long it's probably a very familiar energy. ]
You offer your mother a tour of the base yet, Poe? [ Yes, he says it 100% more loudly and pointedly than necessary in order to be extra about it. That's how damage control works, right. ] I get the feeling she'd be more interested in it than Solo was.
[ And yes, Han did get dragged around HQ. Technically less of a tour and more the fact that Finn went to work and Han tagged along in order to keep being ornery at someone, but nonetheless. ]
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Shit. Poe looks at Finn, not wanting to answer that question and knowing they'll have to. ]
Like you, mom.
[ Shara covers her mouth with one hand, then with both, before apparently steeling herself. She straightens up, eyes cold. "Did he say what happened?" ]
That's... it's complicated.
[ That iron-hard gaze goes from Finn to Poe. "Poe Shara Dameron, you can give me a better answer than that."
Poe's eyes go wide. He hasn't heard that voice, that particular voice, saying his name in that particular way, in over two decades. ]
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Finn will own this one. He'll take that hit. Don't worry, he's got it.
It helps, of course, that she is not frightening in the classic flavor. Like, he hasn't gotten the Parent Experience here, but he gets the major differences after this long. He straightens up a little bit anyway. ]
I don't think it's complicated. [ Finn glances at Poe. Shrugs. If anything it wasn't complicated enough. A murder definitely happened and the war thing was always gonna happen, so. That's been his professional opinion. ] I just don't know if it's our business to share the details.
[ inb4 Han pops up 20 seconds later exclusively to say "you're right it's not your business". ]
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[ That's something. He can at least give her that. Shara seems to relax a little on hearing that.
"Your father is probably crushed."
Poe rubs his face. ] Haven't had the chance to tell him.
[ Shara looks both men over, and it occurs to Poe for the fourth or fifth time since she showed up that he's almost older than she was when she died. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess there's a lot you aren't telling me, too."
Poe takes a deep breath. ]
Yeah, mom. It's better that way. I'm sorry.
[ "So the fight is that bad."
Poe winces. He really should have known she would guess. ]
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His expression sobers right alongside Poe's wince. ]
We'll make it work. [ They got left massively, implausibly outnumbered, outgunned, and up against an army that's been preparing for this war for actual decades. They've got no choice but to somehow make it work.
(Note to self: don't let Finn design recruitment posters.) ]
They're gonna think they can afford to underestimate us. They think they've got soldiers who'll never turn on them, and they think they've got everyone they step on convinced that it doesn't matter if they stand up. That's how they operate. But we already know they're wrong. We just need the time to regroup. It can still work.
[ At this point it's make it work or die and someone else will make it work a few years down the line, hopefully. Personally, he'd rather do the former and see what it's like to spend a day without a massive war silently looming over his head.
The First Order isn't allowed to win. He decided that as one of his important life lessons during TLJ and is prepared to drive into 40 big cannons to prove or otherwise ensure that they're not allowed to win. (Please never let Finn design recruitment posters.) He will make a last-ditch Crait cave speech every day if he has to, but he's honestly hoping maybe Leia or Poe will be doing the speeches in a post-Crait economy.
Dear Poe's Mom, very sorry that a bunch of dumbass cowards got right back up on their fascist bullshit after you worked so hard the first time around. Will be punching as many of them in the face as possible. Love Finn. ]
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[ Poe can't help feeling that same swell of pride and faith he felt when Finn spoke to the staggering remains of the Resistance on Crait. He loves this man. He loves Finn for saving him, for making the destruction of Starkiller possible, for his mission to Canto Bight and his strength and resilience and hope. He loves Finn, and he's had almost a year to learn to love him that much more. ]
It's a big galaxy. We've got friends. [ He grips Finn's shoulder, voice a little teasing. ] And we've got a few heroes on our side.
[ "I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you both." Shara smiles, looking a little mistier than she did a moment ago. "You sound like proper rebels." ]
1/2
This was going to be a lot more elegantly worded, but nah, gotta put the overdramatic space soap opera emotions in part 2. Finn just makes a face at Poe like he tried a Sour Patch Kid and the sweet part the package promised still hasn't kicked in. It was going so great until that last sentence.
Bright side: Poe implying to him or others that he's a hero is no longer a 4-hour long high-strung crisis waiting to happen.
Bad side: gross and embarrassing. 0/10. He can embarrass himself without any help at all, wow, it's like Poe has no faith in his ability. He just wants! This woman! To not think they're going to die! It was the whole point of bringing his ride or die for the new Rebellion into the front seat (apart from the fact that he's ride or die for the new Rebellion anyway). ]
2/2
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[what he's not expecting is poe dameron to grab his arm almost immediately after he enters the building, tugging on him with barely a word and blindly gesturing at the hangar. instinct raises cassian's defense, but poe's desperation seems more emotional than related to any physical danger.]
You know how to use your words, right? I know you know how to talk.
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Just come on.
[ She's still there, leaning against her ship with her arms crossed, amusement on her face. Just like with Finn and Jyn, her lips don't move, but her voice is still audible in the air around them.
"Good to know my boy has plenty of friends here. I might even get to meet all of them today, if this keeps up."
Poe exhales when he sees her still there, still present. He's so afraid that one of these times he'll haul someone in to see her and she'll just be gone. He knows she has to leave at some point, but he just doesn't want it to be now. He doesn't want it to be when he's not there. ]
Mom. [ He's never going to get tired of saying that. ]