A mortal may have ran from Poe's roar. A weaker goddess would have coward before him. For Rey, she stood in front of him, her brown eyes with specks of green never leaving his. Her eyes flickered from their normal color to red, and back, holding back her own anger.
"I don't know!" she yelled back, standing her ground, but instead of uncurling fist to hit him, she found herself reaching out to place one hand on top of his curled fist. Something inside of her was begging to reach out to him. When she touched him, that same spark shot through her. The same feeling she had with Finn.
"I don't know..." she repeated again in a softer voice.
"I want time to figure it out. I need time...that's what I need from you. Time, and guidance." Time to figure out what she wanted, and guidance...especially when she began to doubt her value. Someone in her corner and pushing her.
He was expecting a hit. He was expecting her to punch or shove, to kick or scream. All of them he would have accepted. It was her right. He wanted her to get angry. To be angry at what had happened to her, to be angry about how she had been treated. He even wanted her to get angry at him. Because the world deserved her anger, and he felt so utterly consumed by it on her behalf that he didn't even know where it would all go.
So he was expecting the hit. He wouldn't have hit her back. He would have just taken it. But he was expecting it. So when instead her hand lay on his - a spark jumping between them, travelling right up his spine - he hissed in a surprised breath and almost pulled his hand back.
But he couldn't.
His heart was going too fast again.
"You have time," He hissed, his voice lowering significantly. "I can't undone what's been done, but the thing I can give you the most of in the world is time. You're here. It's not your fault. She can't blame you. So use it. As long as you need, whatever you need."
Maybe he could help her with that. Help her channel the anger she had rather than pushing it back down until it threatened to consume. Learn to accept and work through the pain she had, because it was okay to be upset. Okay to be angry and want to do something about it. But....it had to be on her terms. It had to be something she wanted.
Her anger started to climb down, but her heart rate rose. That spark, like electricity, was going through them, yet she couldn't pull her hand back. She wanted to uncurl his fist and stop him from digging into his own flesh. She wanted to hold his hand...and Finn's too.
"Longer than a week?" she asked in softer tones after a beat. Her eyes flickering down then back up at Poe. It would take longer than a week to unpack years of hurt and anger...and abandonment.
It was the soft question that defused him. Not completely. Not utterly. Because the fact that she would assume, after everything he'd said, that he wouldn't even give her a week was frustrating. But it wasn't her fault.
It was Demeter's.
"As long as you want, or as long as you need," He reiterated firmly. He forced his fist to unclench, his hand to turn in hers and take it tightly, squeezing. "And they can all think I put you in irons, if they want. But you have complete freedom here, Rey. As long as you promise me that you won't go above, you can go and do whatever you want."
Poe said he wanted to keep her a week, at most. She didn't want to assume anything, especially given what happened. She didn't want to test his patience, or his kindness. In time, she would come to find kindness didn't come a price from either man.
The spark became stronger, and for a fraction of a second, she swore she felt another's heart beat. Poe's? Finn's maybe? It was hard to say, but Rey couldn't--wouldn't bring herself to pull away from his touch. It felt just as nice as when Finn took her hand and kissed her knuckles.
"I promise. I won't go to the surface until this is sorted out. Until I've thought about how I want to deal with Demeter. But.." she squeezed his hand in turn.
"..let me get a message to the nymphs. Let me tell them I want to be here." Which was the truth. She wanted to be here now, wanted to have the time to figure things out without strings attached.
The news would spread like wildfire, and force Demeter to realize Rey had a mind of her own.
"I won't break my promise to you, Poe. Or to Finn."
Out of no where, he felt a weird, unsettling urge to kiss her.
He didn't know where it came from - he hadn't thought about it this entire time. But her forceful determination, her firmness, her oath - only Finn ever stood up to him, like this, and never with this much passion. Finn soothed him, smoothed his edges and pulled him down into calming depths. But Rey met his fire with her own.
He let go of her hand abruptly, as if burned, surprised by himself and by his own impulse. Finn. She was here for Finn. That was the whole point.
"I'll take whatever message you wish," He said quickly, trying to cover up for his weird retreat. He had to - he had to process this. "In whatever manner you think they'll best believe it."
An urge to just be closer, to touch Poe and be embraced by him. Be embraced by Finn and feel as though the rest of the world could not hurt any of them. They had been treated horribly by those on the surface, and here...they could find peace. Maybe happiness.
It was confusing, but again she thought this stress and day had been overwhelming for her. It was causing her to feel things that shouldn't be there...including the hurt that flickered across her face when Poe released her hand. As though she had inflicted a mark or burn on him.
Rey took her hand back and forced her face to go back to a calmer expression. She nodded her head at Poe, taking a step back and preparing to head back to her room.
"I will...I'll write it out and let you read it so you're not caught off guard." And show him she had nothing to hide.
He took a step back too, his mind racing also as quickly as his heart was.
"Of course," he answered quickly. He needed to - he didn't know what he needed to do. Find Finn? Maybe Finn would understand what was happening and why he felt like this.
"If you'll excuse -- I need to finish the wing." And before she could flee, he fled first, feeling like there was a fluttering bird trapped in the hollow of his chest.
Rey didn't have the chance to say bye before Poe was already gone. She didn't know what to think, but she was alone again. The young goddess shook her head at herself, believing whatever feelings she had felt were tricks of her mind.
"Don't work yourself too hard, Poe.." she murmured to no one, take a few steps towards her room and disappeared too. A few blue flower petals were left scattered about from where she stood only seconds earlier.
[ooc: Brit, if you and Lina want to do another thread freaking out over feelings, go for it!]
He thought getting away from her would calm him down, but it didn't. He swore he could almost still feel the spark tingling in his palm, and he rubbed his fingers over where hers had been again and again. Okay, slow down, Poe. You were just worked up, right? You were worked up, and you're not used to being around people. You're only really used to talking to Finn. And if Finn had looked at you like that, you would have absolutely kissed him, right? Right. So it's just habit. It's just--
His feet found him all the way to Finn before he even realised.
"Finn," He said, a little tightly, his brows drawn close. "I- You should know I spoke to her. I'm going to take a message for her, but she's - she's going to stay here for a little while."
Whatever had been going on with Poe left Finn pretty on edge. The other had been angry then... very not angry. The opposite of angry. He could have easily found his way to his lover's side but he wasn't sure if he should. Did Poe need space? Was Finn overreacting? He seemed to be freaking out about nearly everything these days.
So when Poe found him, the relief was immediate and obvious.
He reached for Poe's wrist, lightly holding him as a means to keep their connection stable. "Did it go okay? A message for who?" Both were honest questions. He truly didn't know if things with Rey had ended all right. Poe seemed... confused?
Who were the nymphs? He had no idea. He'd been way too distracted to ask or think about it, he just repeated it back verbatim for Finn. He wet his lips and then out of no where pressed a firm kiss to the other man's lips.
Good. Fine. It felt the same as it always did. What was wrong with him?
"She - she has quite a backbone," he added after a few seconds.
Finn kissed him back, a little surprised about how sudden that had been. "She does," he answered, rubbing a hand up Poe's side to... comfort him? Was it comfort that he needed?
"She mentioned the nymphs before. That's who she made the tree for, the one that died."
"She did?" His earnestness to see this tree and field almost outweighed his current concerns, which was quite the feat in itself.
Though he glanced in the direction Poe had come from, that's all he outwardly showed about it. His hand squeezed into Poe's, fingers massaging at his hand. "What happened?"
They were there one second, and the next, they were gone - standing in the field that Rey had created maybe an hour before, but that already felt like it had been here a century.
"I was building the new wing," He said, gesturing to the building off a little ways from the meadow. "She saw what I was doing. I was trying - I was trying to carve the tree into the stone with silver. For you." He then slowly and carefully told Finn everything else had had transpired between them, though he hesitated the further he got.
And before he could tell Finn about the spark, the words stopped coming all together, and he just frowned at the tree.
Finn was taken in by all of it. The tree that Poe carved, the one that Rey created, everything here. He was also taken in by the story, finally finding the source of Poe's earlier anger.
The confusion still alluded him, though. There was something else, something he didn't want to say. That had never happened before like this. Poe had dodged questions in the past about details regarding the souls he judged whenever Finn tried to needle him into talking it out. This, though, was just silence.
He didn't like it. His hand combed through Poe's hair again, the other still gently holding on to his wrist. Should he urge Poe to tell him or should he let his lover keep his secrets?
"What was it about the talk that bothered you so badly? She wants to stand up to Demeter, right? That's a good thing."
“I’m not - I’m not bothered, exactly, I only—“ he hesitates again, rubbing his fingers together before continuing quietly.
“I brought her here for you,” he rumbled quietly. “Everything else too, but mostly for you. You’d been so happy— I thought—“ he hesitated again.”She touched me. My hand. It felt like- like electricity under my skin. I can’t explain it.”
Like electricity? Oh. Finn remembered something very similar to that, though his experience had been up in a tree while happily talking through their interests. This situation seemed different but no less eventful.
"You like her?" Beyond just liking her, he meant. As a companion or something more. Something closer to what he and Poe shared. "I felt that, too."
He’d only felt one thing similar before, and it was so long ago now that Poe could barely remember it.
He wet his lips, unconsciously.
“I don’t know,” he admitted helplessly. “I don’t know what I feel. I -“ Okay. Break it down, Poe.
“You looked so happy, Finn. Of course I’d want anything that made you feel that happy. And then I met her and I thought she was being cruel on purpose and I was so angry, but- but she’s not. It’s not her fault. And now all I want to do is save her, even if she hates me for it later. I wasn’t expecting — she’s not afraid of me, Finn.”
He knew that Finn knew how rare that was. Most people had good reason to be scared of Poe. To be scared of them both.
“She was just - she was beautiful, and she made this place like it was nothing, like it was worth nothing, and I was just consumed with this urge to- to prove how valuable it is. How valuable she is. I wanted—“ But even in his passion, here, he faltered. “I brought her here for you,” he repeated, trying to convince himself. “Not for me. I shouldn’t want her, too.”
This was an interesting development, and Finn would be lying to himself if he said he hadn't hoped for this. He was wanting Poe to love her as much as he did from the start. Wanting her, though- Finn wasn't sure if he wanted her or one what sort of level he might have. He just wanted to be with her, be near her.
And he wanted her. He did.
"Why not?" Finn asked, a hopeful smile growing on his face. "She's incredible, isn't she? I knew you'd like her. I knew it'd just take... something. Something other than Demeter interfering and-"
Didn't matter. This was excellent news. Both of his hands held on to Poe's as he shook his head. "We'll make sure she knows how precious she is. And maybe- maybe, she'll grow to want us, too."
Finn's smile untangled that knot of worry in his chest.
His relationship with Finn hadn't flowed the normal way. He couldn't actually remember meeting him - at least not clearly. He couldn't remember when they'd folded into each other's arms like they fit together.
When he said they were made for each other, sometimes he believed it more literally than not. Sometimes he thought they were actually meant to be one being, but got split somehow, and found each other again. It was something none of the other gods would understand and he didn't really care to try to make them. This was something different. He grips Finn's hands back, his brow furrowed tightly even as a tendril of hope curled inside of him.
"I never imagined that this place could be beautiful," he admitted quietly. "Not like that. Not like what she is capable of. Even if she doesn't - Even if she doesn't grow to want me, even if she just - maybe comes around sometimes--"
He felt incredibly stupid, and his cheeks tinted slightly, brow twitching in annoyance at himself.
"Tell me not to do anything stupid."
Because he was getting some very, very stupid ideas.
"Our home has always been beautiful, love," he said with a gigantic smile, stepping close to nuzzle into his cheek. It was the first time he felt uplifted and carefree since Rey had first gone missing. "She just brings something else to it. Highlights the beauty that's here, gives it all life... I hope she at least wants to visit us. I'd be more than content with that."
Even if she just wanted Poe, that meant that Finn could probably still see her sometimes. The thought still gave him happiness.
Finn chuckled. "And what sort of stupid things are you wanting to do?" Because Finn wanted to do many stupid things. It's just what Rey did to him.
"All I want is to be able to watch the two of you together under a tree," Poe admitted with a rumble. Watching them sit together, talk together, smiling--
His mind supplied a slightly different image and he tried to push it away quickly.
"I think I might have figured out a way to get Demeter to back off," he replied, but for some reason his cheeks were flushing darker?
"But I'd-- I'd have to go talk to Zeus." You needed permission for these kind of things.
"Zeus?" What did he have to do with all this? Surely he would take Demeter's side, maybe even refuse to hear them out.
Also, why was Poe blushing so much? He inched away to get a good, curious look at him. "What are you thinking?" Rey and Finn hanging out under a tree wasn't something Zeus needed to be concerned with.
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"I don't know!" she yelled back, standing her ground, but instead of uncurling fist to hit him, she found herself reaching out to place one hand on top of his curled fist. Something inside of her was begging to reach out to him. When she touched him, that same spark shot through her. The same feeling she had with Finn.
"I don't know..." she repeated again in a softer voice.
"I want time to figure it out. I need time...that's what I need from you. Time, and guidance." Time to figure out what she wanted, and guidance...especially when she began to doubt her value. Someone in her corner and pushing her.
Someone like Poe and Finn.
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So he was expecting the hit. He wouldn't have hit her back. He would have just taken it. But he was expecting it. So when instead her hand lay on his - a spark jumping between them, travelling right up his spine - he hissed in a surprised breath and almost pulled his hand back.
But he couldn't.
His heart was going too fast again.
"You have time," He hissed, his voice lowering significantly. "I can't undone what's been done, but the thing I can give you the most of in the world is time. You're here. It's not your fault. She can't blame you. So use it. As long as you need, whatever you need."
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Her anger started to climb down, but her heart rate rose. That spark, like electricity, was going through them, yet she couldn't pull her hand back. She wanted to uncurl his fist and stop him from digging into his own flesh. She wanted to hold his hand...and Finn's too.
"Longer than a week?" she asked in softer tones after a beat. Her eyes flickering down then back up at Poe. It would take longer than a week to unpack years of hurt and anger...and abandonment.
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It was Demeter's.
"As long as you want, or as long as you need," He reiterated firmly. He forced his fist to unclench, his hand to turn in hers and take it tightly, squeezing. "And they can all think I put you in irons, if they want. But you have complete freedom here, Rey. As long as you promise me that you won't go above, you can go and do whatever you want."
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The spark became stronger, and for a fraction of a second, she swore she felt another's heart beat. Poe's? Finn's maybe? It was hard to say, but Rey couldn't--wouldn't bring herself to pull away from his touch. It felt just as nice as when Finn took her hand and kissed her knuckles.
"I promise. I won't go to the surface until this is sorted out. Until I've thought about how I want to deal with Demeter. But.." she squeezed his hand in turn.
"..let me get a message to the nymphs. Let me tell them I want to be here." Which was the truth. She wanted to be here now, wanted to have the time to figure things out without strings attached.
The news would spread like wildfire, and force Demeter to realize Rey had a mind of her own.
"I won't break my promise to you, Poe. Or to Finn."
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He didn't know where it came from - he hadn't thought about it this entire time. But her forceful determination, her firmness, her oath - only Finn ever stood up to him, like this, and never with this much passion. Finn soothed him, smoothed his edges and pulled him down into calming depths. But Rey met his fire with her own.
He let go of her hand abruptly, as if burned, surprised by himself and by his own impulse. Finn. She was here for Finn. That was the whole point.
"I'll take whatever message you wish," He said quickly, trying to cover up for his weird retreat. He had to - he had to process this. "In whatever manner you think they'll best believe it."
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An urge to just be closer, to touch Poe and be embraced by him. Be embraced by Finn and feel as though the rest of the world could not hurt any of them. They had been treated horribly by those on the surface, and here...they could find peace. Maybe happiness.
It was confusing, but again she thought this stress and day had been overwhelming for her. It was causing her to feel things that shouldn't be there...including the hurt that flickered across her face when Poe released her hand. As though she had inflicted a mark or burn on him.
Rey took her hand back and forced her face to go back to a calmer expression. She nodded her head at Poe, taking a step back and preparing to head back to her room.
"I will...I'll write it out and let you read it so you're not caught off guard." And show him she had nothing to hide.
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"Of course," he answered quickly. He needed to - he didn't know what he needed to do. Find Finn? Maybe Finn would understand what was happening and why he felt like this.
"If you'll excuse -- I need to finish the wing." And before she could flee, he fled first, feeling like there was a fluttering bird trapped in the hollow of his chest.
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"Don't work yourself too hard, Poe.." she murmured to no one, take a few steps towards her room and disappeared too. A few blue flower petals were left scattered about from where she stood only seconds earlier.
[ooc: Brit, if you and Lina want to do another thread freaking out over feelings, go for it!]
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He thought getting away from her would calm him down, but it didn't. He swore he could almost still feel the spark tingling in his palm, and he rubbed his fingers over where hers had been again and again. Okay, slow down, Poe. You were just worked up, right? You were worked up, and you're not used to being around people. You're only really used to talking to Finn. And if Finn had looked at you like that, you would have absolutely kissed him, right? Right. So it's just habit. It's just--
His feet found him all the way to Finn before he even realised.
"Finn," He said, a little tightly, his brows drawn close. "I- You should know I spoke to her. I'm going to take a message for her, but she's - she's going to stay here for a little while."
https://i.gifer.com/origin/97/973bcd31b80507862844120a6f9d16db.gif
So when Poe found him, the relief was immediate and obvious.
He reached for Poe's wrist, lightly holding him as a means to keep their connection stable. "Did it go okay? A message for who?" Both were honest questions. He truly didn't know if things with Rey had ended all right. Poe seemed... confused?
Accurate
Who were the nymphs? He had no idea. He'd been way too distracted to ask or think about it, he just repeated it back verbatim for Finn. He wet his lips and then out of no where pressed a firm kiss to the other man's lips.
Good. Fine. It felt the same as it always did. What was wrong with him?
"She - she has quite a backbone," he added after a few seconds.
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"She mentioned the nymphs before. That's who she made the tree for, the one that died."
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Was he nervous? Was this what nervousness felt like?
He found Finn's hand in his and squeezed it tightly, the echo of Rey's fingers still lingering on his skin.
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Though he glanced in the direction Poe had come from, that's all he outwardly showed about it. His hand squeezed into Poe's, fingers massaging at his hand. "What happened?"
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They were there one second, and the next, they were gone - standing in the field that Rey had created maybe an hour before, but that already felt like it had been here a century.
"I was building the new wing," He said, gesturing to the building off a little ways from the meadow. "She saw what I was doing. I was trying - I was trying to carve the tree into the stone with silver. For you." He then slowly and carefully told Finn everything else had had transpired between them, though he hesitated the further he got.
And before he could tell Finn about the spark, the words stopped coming all together, and he just frowned at the tree.
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The confusion still alluded him, though. There was something else, something he didn't want to say. That had never happened before like this. Poe had dodged questions in the past about details regarding the souls he judged whenever Finn tried to needle him into talking it out. This, though, was just silence.
He didn't like it. His hand combed through Poe's hair again, the other still gently holding on to his wrist. Should he urge Poe to tell him or should he let his lover keep his secrets?
"What was it about the talk that bothered you so badly? She wants to stand up to Demeter, right? That's a good thing."
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“I brought her here for you,” he rumbled quietly. “Everything else too, but mostly for you. You’d been so happy— I thought—“ he hesitated again.”She touched me. My hand. It felt like- like electricity under my skin. I can’t explain it.”
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"You like her?" Beyond just liking her, he meant. As a companion or something more. Something closer to what he and Poe shared. "I felt that, too."
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He’d only felt one thing similar before, and it was so long ago now that Poe could barely remember it.
He wet his lips, unconsciously.
“I don’t know,” he admitted helplessly. “I don’t know what I feel. I -“ Okay. Break it down, Poe.
“You looked so happy, Finn. Of course I’d want anything that made you feel that happy. And then I met her and I thought she was being cruel on purpose and I was so angry, but- but she’s not. It’s not her fault. And now all I want to do is save her, even if she hates me for it later. I wasn’t expecting — she’s not afraid of me, Finn.”
He knew that Finn knew how rare that was. Most people had good reason to be scared of Poe. To be scared of them both.
“She was just - she was beautiful, and she made this place like it was nothing, like it was worth nothing, and I was just consumed with this urge to- to prove how valuable it is. How valuable she is. I wanted—“ But even in his passion, here, he faltered. “I brought her here for you,” he repeated, trying to convince himself. “Not for me. I shouldn’t want her, too.”
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And he wanted her. He did.
"Why not?" Finn asked, a hopeful smile growing on his face. "She's incredible, isn't she? I knew you'd like her. I knew it'd just take... something. Something other than Demeter interfering and-"
Didn't matter. This was excellent news. Both of his hands held on to Poe's as he shook his head. "We'll make sure she knows how precious she is. And maybe- maybe, she'll grow to want us, too."
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His relationship with Finn hadn't flowed the normal way. He couldn't actually remember meeting him - at least not clearly. He couldn't remember when they'd folded into each other's arms like they fit together.
When he said they were made for each other, sometimes he believed it more literally than not. Sometimes he thought they were actually meant to be one being, but got split somehow, and found each other again. It was something none of the other gods would understand and he didn't really care to try to make them. This was something different. He grips Finn's hands back, his brow furrowed tightly even as a tendril of hope curled inside of him.
"I never imagined that this place could be beautiful," he admitted quietly. "Not like that. Not like what she is capable of. Even if she doesn't - Even if she doesn't grow to want me, even if she just - maybe comes around sometimes--"
He felt incredibly stupid, and his cheeks tinted slightly, brow twitching in annoyance at himself.
"Tell me not to do anything stupid."
Because he was getting some very, very stupid ideas.
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Even if she just wanted Poe, that meant that Finn could probably still see her sometimes. The thought still gave him happiness.
Finn chuckled. "And what sort of stupid things are you wanting to do?" Because Finn wanted to do many stupid things. It's just what Rey did to him.
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His mind supplied a slightly different image and he tried to push it away quickly.
"I think I might have figured out a way to get Demeter to back off," he replied, but for some reason his cheeks were flushing darker?
"But I'd-- I'd have to go talk to Zeus." You needed permission for these kind of things.
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Also, why was Poe blushing so much? He inched away to get a good, curious look at him. "What are you thinking?" Rey and Finn hanging out under a tree wasn't something Zeus needed to be concerned with.
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