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.
"There's only a few things that override parental decisions," Poe explained, though he was talking a little too fast.
"If we-- We can explain to Rey that it's just - just a way for her to have options, that she wouldn't be obligated to actually do anything, it'd just be a way for her to get freedom out from under her mother and then we'd let her do anything she wished, but- but if we were to get permission to marry her, then Demeter could hardly say no--"
Finn stared at him, pure shock written all over his face. Even his body had frozen, trying to process how Poe had made these leaps from conclusion to conclusion.
"You want to marry her? For us to marry her?" Could they do that? Would she want that? "And you think Demeter wouldn't say no?" That was the true mystery.
Yeah, Poe was a dark shade of crimson at this point, but he was barrelling ahead anyway.
"It doesn't have to be - I mean, it wouldn't be that bad, I don't think, she obviously makes you happy, so even if all we did was make a cordial arrangement so that she could do what she wished - like an alliance, I guess - I mean not that I don't want us to marry her, because every time I think about the two of you together I-- Look that really isn't the point."
Actually, Poe, it kind of is the point. But he sets it aside for now.
"I think if we got permission from Zeus first that she'd be forced to say yes. She can't go against Zeus. And since when have we asked for anything from him? He knows how valuable we are, he knows he can't actually risk pissing us off. All we'd have to do is close the gates to Hades and all of creation would fall into Chaos. So we - we tell him that we just need this one thing, this one little thing to be happy and leave all of their nonesense alone, if he'd just give his blessing for this one little thing--"
Okay, this was a lot and it was all happening at once.
Rey wasn't just 'one little thing,' even to the surface. Zeus would be doing a lot more than giving his blessing. He'd be endorsing their side of a looming war.
But... Finn wanted that future, the three of them married, despite the politics of it all. He searched Poe's face, knowing that he wanted it, too.
"We need to slow down and talk to Rey," he eventually answered. "But... I'm with you. We just need to work this out."
"Right. Yes. Slowing down. Talking." He could do that. He could totally do that? Except--
"We can't slow down a hell of a lot, though. If we're going to do this, we need to talk to Zeus before Demeter does. Otherwise he'll think it's just in reaction to her. If I go to him now, he'll think the whole kidnapping was a reckless decision based on love or lust, and those are exactly the kinds of decisions he makes all the time. He's way more likely to take our side if he thinks we're doing this for us and not for her. Because he's an asshole like that. So we - we have to convince her quickly."
Or, you know. Just... go talk to Zeus before talking to Rey... Because that won't earn him a punch in the face.
"We'll tell her," he said, trying to ease Poe's anxiety. "We'll tell her the whole plan. Even if she doesn't want to marry us because of- of- because of the usual reason, then we can at least spin this in her favor. She might agree to that. And if she doesn't, we'll figure something else out."
The previous plan was to just wait and see. They could always just fall back on that. Though, now that Poe's put the thought in his mind, it was hanging on pretty tightly.
"That's a good idea," he sighed, rubbing his hands up and down Poe's sides. "Whatever she agrees to, we'll figure this out. And not just with Demeter. We-..." He paused for a moment, trying to find the words.
"I hope she'd like to keep visiting us, at least. If nothing else, seeing her sometimes would be enough."
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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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"If we-- We can explain to Rey that it's just - just a way for her to have options, that she wouldn't be obligated to actually do anything, it'd just be a way for her to get freedom out from under her mother and then we'd let her do anything she wished, but- but if we were to get permission to marry her, then Demeter could hardly say no--"
Nothing funny, just... business. Right??
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Finn stared at him, pure shock written all over his face. Even his body had frozen, trying to process how Poe had made these leaps from conclusion to conclusion.
"You want to marry her? For us to marry her?" Could they do that? Would she want that? "And you think Demeter wouldn't say no?" That was the true mystery.
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"It doesn't have to be - I mean, it wouldn't be that bad, I don't think, she obviously makes you happy, so even if all we did was make a cordial arrangement so that she could do what she wished - like an alliance, I guess - I mean not that I don't want us to marry her, because every time I think about the two of you together I-- Look that really isn't the point."
Actually, Poe, it kind of is the point. But he sets it aside for now.
"I think if we got permission from Zeus first that she'd be forced to say yes. She can't go against Zeus. And since when have we asked for anything from him? He knows how valuable we are, he knows he can't actually risk pissing us off. All we'd have to do is close the gates to Hades and all of creation would fall into Chaos. So we - we tell him that we just need this one thing, this one little thing to be happy and leave all of their nonesense alone, if he'd just give his blessing for this one little thing--"
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Rey wasn't just 'one little thing,' even to the surface. Zeus would be doing a lot more than giving his blessing. He'd be endorsing their side of a looming war.
But... Finn wanted that future, the three of them married, despite the politics of it all. He searched Poe's face, knowing that he wanted it, too.
"We need to slow down and talk to Rey," he eventually answered. "But... I'm with you. We just need to work this out."
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"We can't slow down a hell of a lot, though. If we're going to do this, we need to talk to Zeus before Demeter does. Otherwise he'll think it's just in reaction to her. If I go to him now, he'll think the whole kidnapping was a reckless decision based on love or lust, and those are exactly the kinds of decisions he makes all the time. He's way more likely to take our side if he thinks we're doing this for us and not for her. Because he's an asshole like that. So we - we have to convince her quickly."
Or, you know. Just... go talk to Zeus before talking to Rey... Because that won't earn him a punch in the face.
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The previous plan was to just wait and see. They could always just fall back on that. Though, now that Poe's put the thought in his mind, it was hanging on pretty tightly.
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"I'll figure out how to talk to her. Uh... After she has a little time to cool off, I think."
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"I hope she'd like to keep visiting us, at least. If nothing else, seeing her sometimes would be enough."
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He pressed a kiss to Finn's forehead. "I won't push her away. I promise."
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"Just... don't get too excited. I know it seems like we're on a deadline, but there is time. It'll be okay, whatever happens."