;poe

[hatejakku]

Sex Pollen Pre Relationship
Poe Dies Pre Relationship
Nightmare Early Relationship
Hogwarts AU Pre Relationship
Poe Almost Dies Pre Relationship
MoM AU First Night
Slightly Older Hogwarts AU
Post-TLJ
Bodyguard and Prince AU; overflow
Massage Pre Relationship
Oblivious Poe AU
Cyborg Poe AU
MoM AU Sex Pollen
FO Infiltration Sex Ring
TFLN
Soulmate Tattoo AU
Finn Marries Someone Else AU
Evil Finn AU; overflow: 1, 2
MoM AU Poe 10 Yrs Older
Vamp/Were AU
Missing for a Year/Telepathy AU
MoM AU Poe 'canon' updated
Dark Possessive AU
Married on Yavin AU
MoM AU Sexy Outfits
MoM AU Subway Sex
MoM AU with Melodies!Finn; overflow
MoM AU Photo-Op Kiss
Nearly Old Men AU
MoM AU Rule 63
Online Dating AU
MoM AU Poe Lost His In-Game Memories; overflow
Trans Poe AU
College Roommate AU
TIE Pilot/Prostitute AU
MoM AU Finn Returns from Port-Out
MoM AU Manipulative Masturbation Machine
Canon AU Manipulative Masturbation Machine
Shape Shifter AU; timeskip
FO Sexual Torture AU
MoM AU Finn Has a Boyfriend
Hades AU Finn Left Alone
MoM AU Apocalypse
MoM AU Poe Died in Canon
Canon AU Handjob in a Hospital (inspiration)
MoM AU Another Apocalypse
WWI Pen-Pal/Love Letters AU
Institutionalized Prostitution AU
MoM AU Body Swap
Post-TROS Victory Party

Comments

[flightforfreedom]

Poe had been staring at where the bowls had dropped, only shaken from his reverie when the towels obscured his vision. He looked up at Finn, looking far more lost than Finn had ever seen him.

“... What happened to me?” He asked, a little desperate but still quiet.

As if he knew.

[hatejakku]

What the hell was Finn supposed to say to that? He wished he knew. He wished he had all the answers.

He stepped over the towels and sat on the bed again, pulling Poe's hands into his. "We'll figure it out together, okay?" His voice trembled, trying to hide the fear beneath. Not for these... powers, but for Poe. What's been done to him. What could be done to him.

[flightforfreedom]

Poe didn't pull his hands away, but he didn't exactly reply to Finn, either. What was there to say?

Nothing made sense anymore.



He spent the next day sleeping. First he took everything out of his room other than his bed and the heavy furniture, and then he slept. He had endless terrifying dreams that he couldn't remember, but he didn't know what to do other than try to sleep it off and see if that changed anything.

The day after that, he got to work.

Without a word, he went straight outside in the morning, and didn't come back until the evening. He disappeared into the woods and told Finn he needed some time by himself, and came back only when it was starting to get dark. He ate. He collapsed.

He fell into this routine for the third and the fourth day, too, expression determined and defiant.

On the fifth day, he came back in the afternoon, eyes blazing with purpose, and through the backdoor open. "Finn! Finn!" he called into the the house, not even sure the other man was there.

[hatejakku]

Finn didn't know what Poe had been doing out there but he could guess. Never aloud, though. They hadn't really talked about what had happened since that night, always dancing around the subject. It didn't change that Finn was starting to get worried... Well, more worried than before, which seemed almost impossible.

When he heard Poe yelling for him, he could have sworn he just died there for half a second. Finn came tumbling to the backdoor like a stampede. "What? What's wrong? What happened?"

[flightforfreedom]

It was hard to tell if Poe was upset or just incredibly focused. There was no smile on his face, but he raised a clenched fist to signal Finn to stop where he was, and then opened his fist.

There was a shard of wood lying in his palm.

Nothing happened at first. Poe just stared at it as if willing it to explode. Several seconds passed and he started to look increasingly frustrated, until finally it started to move. It vibrated a little at first and then wavered, rising about an inch into the air as if hesitant - dipping back down into his palm before rising up again, trembling like a leaf on the wind.

[hatejakku]

Finn stared, taking a hesitant step forward as he watched the tiny piece of wood dance gently. "You're controlling it."

That's what he figured Poe had been doing out there and, though he had expected to see the results, hadn't realized just how incredible it would be. It was working right in front of his face where they both could see. "How?"

[flightforfreedom]

"By chanting in ancient latin," Poe said wryly, but the thing wobbled and fell back into his palm the second he replied. He sighed and gripped it, looking at Finn.

"I don't know. I just - think real hard about it, I guess. Like trying to move a muscle that I can't feel. I don't know how to explain it."

He put the chip in his pocket.

"I guess in my sleep I... remember how to control it. That's the only way I can explain it."

[hatejakku]

Maybe? Finn furrowed his brow. "It happened the other day, too. When you were angry. Maybe... sometimes it happens subconsciously. Or, I guess, accidentally."

That's what Finn had assumed from the start, anyway, that this wasn't something that really could be forced. It was a bit like learning something new until it became natural. But... that implied that Poe really had used it before. So maybe he was right. Maybe he was remembering something in his sleep?

[flightforfreedom]

Poe grimaced and looked away.

"... I'm going to have to watch my temper," He murmured. "I don't know, Finn. Maybe it is subconcious. But I promise you, I never made anything fly before I disappeared. So whatever this is... Something happened to me. Or someone did this to me. Or--"

He looked a little queasy.

"Could I be a ghost, maybe? I don't even believe in ghosts, but--"

[hatejakku]

"Poe-" Finn's hand clasped against his shoulder, hoping to cut off that train of thought. "Pretty sure you're not a ghost, okay?" But he wasn't totally sure, not about anything anymore.

"Okay, we know that something happened to you that gave you this. We don't know what or why, but... that's progress. That's something... You can't get mad at the psychologists anymore, though." Easier said than done.

[flightforfreedom]

The hand was far more comforting that it had any right to be, and Poe found himself leaning into the touch.

“They’re going to lock me up, Finn,” he murmured. “If they find out... even Leia won’t be able to stop them. And what am I supposed to do? What if they ask me to stay overnight for observation for some reason, or—“

[hatejakku]

He had no idea what would happen if they asked Poe for that. No idea what to do if they found out.

"One step at a time, okay? We'll handle it," he answered, actually sounding sure. "They won't do any of that for no reason, and they definitely can't make you stay without your permission. If something happens, I'll get to you... All right? They won't- They can't lock you up. I won't let them."

[flightforfreedom]

Poe’s hand raised to clasp Finn’s arm, and he breathed out slowly.

Then he offered a small, pained smile.

“You’ve rescued me once before, so who am I to doubt you,” he murmured quietly. “Sorry. I just feel so... paranoid.”

[hatejakku]

"It's okay." Poe had every right to be paranoid, too. He had a right to be a lot of things lately. "That's all right. They're... not really helping you be anything but paranoid."

He sighed, his hand trailing down Poe's arm rather than letting him go. "Just... trust me. And try to be patient with them. Don't give them a reason."

[flightforfreedom]

“They aren’t going to just let it go,” he murmured.

“They’re going to keep pressing until I snap, and then I—“ He let out a hard breath. “I need to learn to control it when I’m not meaning to use it in the first place.”

[hatejakku]

"We can do that." He wanted to be involved somehow and this one sounded like something that had to be unintentional, meaning it didn't really stop.

"And maybe ways to stay cool under pressure?" Okay, that was meant to be partly a joke, and he smiled a little in the hopes it landed.

[flightforfreedom]

“Heh,” Poe said, not quite a chuckle as a smile flickered at the edge of his lips. He gave Finn’s wrist a squeeze.

“I am completely cool under pressure, always, no matter the circumstance,” he replied wryly, and more than a little sarcastically. “I should give cucumbers lessons.”

[hatejakku]

"A little extra money on the side?" Finn responded with a more honest smile.

Then, more seriously but still keeping the smile, "You're going to be okay, Poe. Don't worry so much."

[flightforfreedom]

Poe let out a slow breath and looked away, the smile fading as his brows furrowed.

“... It’s not... me that I’m worried about, exactly. By all rights, I should be dead. And if I was dead, it’s not like I would be bothered. But this... this isn’t just something that happens, Finn. Something or someone did this to me, and there’s a reason they didn’t want me to remember.”

[hatejakku]

Yeah... He turned more somber. "I know. But there's nothing we can do about that right now. If we can figure out how you can control it, then... maybe we can beat this. Whatever it is."

What little logic remained said that Poe was made into some sort of weapon by an enemy state. Who knew if that was the truth? And if it was, then maybe they could free themselves of it... somehow.

[flightforfreedom]

“Yeah.” He let out a longer sigh and fished out the piece of wood, again, looking at it in his palm.

“Then it’s time to get back to work. And I’m going to need your help.”



Poe didn’t relent, the next few days, and he still spent most of his time outside (“I don’t want to destroy your house by accident”), but he was working hard to include Finn. The request was straightforward - he needed to learn how to split his attention. So for the first little while, he just asked Finn to talk to him while he was trying to move things. It was miserable, at first. Poe couldn’t do both and he was getting increasingly frustrated. But he found that he loved listening to Finn talk - that it kept his mood a lot more even than normal - so he couldn’t send him away. After several days, he finally managed to be able to spin a chip an inch above his pal and talk at the same time, and after that he started picking up things very fast.

They were seated outside, in the sun, the day before Poe’s next scheduled check up, and Poe was spinning two pieces of wood around each other, floating above his palm.

“Okay. I think we need to step up the distraction a notch. You’re going to need to rile me up.”

[hatejakku]

To be honest, at first, Finn was a little afraid to distract Poe. He wanted to help, not be a bother. But becoming an obstacle was part of helping, so he did what he asked. Surprisingly, he found that he enjoyed it. Even when Poe was trying to work, he actually seemed interested in whatever Finn decided to talk about. Before he knew it, he was going into rambles about things he didn't really tell people about, but Poe just made it so easy to speak.

And the progress was astounding. After just a few days, Poe was becoming a natural at this impossible feat.

At the request, Finn's first reaction was torn between a laugh and a grimace. "Like... how? I'm not going to punch you so don't even ask." He might if Poe could make a good argument about it. But surely there was something they could debate about, get heated over. Except Finn didn't really want to get them mad at each other? Hmm...

[flightforfreedom]

His mouth had already half way been open to form the words 'punch me', but Finn halted that in its tracks before he even got it out.

"Well - fine, that would be the easiest way, but..." He frowned. "I don't know. I don't know if it'll really work if I tell you what to do, anyway. Just just have to find something that would throw off my guard. Something that would surprise me."

[hatejakku]

Just kiss him.

The thought came almost unbidden. Almost. It would be surprising, that was for sure. Exactly what Poe was asking for. And Finn didn't want to do something that would hurt him or touch on a subject that was uncomfortable... Really, it was what he should do. That's what the psychiatrists were going to do...

He glanced away and back to Poe again. "Don't be mad?" This was stupid. Poe was definitely going to be mad.

[flightforfreedom]

"Well I mean - if you're going to do something that would make me mad, that's probably a good thing, right?" He asked, pulling his concentration back to to the wood chips orbiting each other above his hand. He waved another one up to join them, making three.

"But I'm literally asking you to do this, Finn, I'm not going to hold anything against you for very long."