Finn didn't know how to do the whole courting thing. All he knew was that it was a thing! He didn't know that it was something usually only done by alphas and he didn't know it was a pretty outdated form of telling someone you liked them. Most people these days just... talked.
But Finn wanted to do it right. Plus, he was absolutely terrified of doing it wrong, especially since it felt like he'd been doing it wrong from the start.
Stormtroopers didn't properly court each other for obvious reasons, much less become mates, but they did show their affections in other ways. These were the ways Finn grew up with, the ways he knew, and the ways he didn't exactly question that maybe the rest of the galaxy didn't know.
It had been months since Crait, since they finally found somewhere to settle down for a little while. It all gave Finn time to question himself, make sure he really wanted this, and he did. A few missions alone with Poe and he very much did. But it had been weeks since he started courting and there hadn't been any results yet. Weeks of saving extra food for Poe during the few meals the Resistance managed, of offering to clean Poe's weapons and help maintain his new X-Wing once he learned how, of taking up for him during their rare reprimands after a mission went sideways- Hell, they'd even started sparring together. They were practically intimate!
And yet-
Finn sighed for the umpteenth time that day. He'd been hoping to at least get an answer, even a negative one, before his next heat hit but that didn't seem to be in the cards. His little melancholy cloud was probably due to said heat which was likely to start in full force within the next few hours, if Finn knew himself at all. He hadn't had a heat without the Order's suppressants before, but he'd learned enough to feel confident that he'd be fine on his own.
Still.
His team had just arrived back from a mission, and he was thankfully excused from debriefing. Which was good because his head felt like it was filled with fog and gaining more pressure by the second. Shower, food, water, bed. That was his mantra as he stepped off the shuttle and back onto the Resistance's tarmac.
[ there's one explanation, and it's perhaps the most obvious one:
poe dameron is not a smart man.
not smart, but also under duress. trying to keep the resistance alive with thoughts and prayers, moving from one planet to the next in search of allies. leia hadn't been at 100% since the raddus, leaving responsibilities sliding their way into his hands. the stress distracts him, leaves him viewing the shared food, weapon cleaning, and x-wing maintaining as Something Nice finn's been doing and not courtship gestures.
the first time an inkling of anything hits him is when sees finn booking is across the tarmac. well, not seeing it so much as smelling it.
wait, was finn an omega??? had he been an omega the whole time? where was he for this? poe as to do something to help. claim? claim is helping. there are a few other alphas in the resistance, he wouldn't want them to do anything to him. (by "anything" he literally just means "claim him first.") he didn't realize he could go from 0 to 100% so fast in terms of possessiveness.
he rushes to meet finn in the middle of the tarmac, like two friendly bros who are bros totally do all the time. ]
Hey, uh... you holding up okay? ... After the mission, I mean. Talking about the mission.
[ For Finn, the whole heat thing was something entirely natural and not even worthy of note. Except, of course, with your intended mate or at least the one-time mate there to help you through a heat. So he doesn't notice anything odd about Poe's behavior aside from his usual oddities.
Was he nervous, though? Did he seem nervous? Poe had certainly been stressed and taxed as of late, so Finn blames it on that fairly easily. ]
Yeah, I'm good.
[ No imminent heat here. Not with that easy smile and bro-pat to Poe's shoulder. If anything, he just looks as tired as he feels. He figures the smell may be obvious to an alpha, but, again, nothing of note. Which is sad, really. He was kinda hoping for that whole 'intended mate' thing to work out.
He shoves it from his mind before his hormones make him noticeably depressed about it. ]
Mission went without a hitch. I don't even have to report in for debrief. [ The reason why, he assumes, is obvious. ] What about here? You holding up?
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a/b/o
But Finn wanted to do it right. Plus, he was absolutely terrified of doing it wrong, especially since it felt like he'd been doing it wrong from the start.
Stormtroopers didn't properly court each other for obvious reasons, much less become mates, but they did show their affections in other ways. These were the ways Finn grew up with, the ways he knew, and the ways he didn't exactly question that maybe the rest of the galaxy didn't know.
It had been months since Crait, since they finally found somewhere to settle down for a little while. It all gave Finn time to question himself, make sure he really wanted this, and he did. A few missions alone with Poe and he very much did. But it had been weeks since he started courting and there hadn't been any results yet. Weeks of saving extra food for Poe during the few meals the Resistance managed, of offering to clean Poe's weapons and help maintain his new X-Wing once he learned how, of taking up for him during their rare reprimands after a mission went sideways- Hell, they'd even started sparring together. They were practically intimate!
And yet-
Finn sighed for the umpteenth time that day. He'd been hoping to at least get an answer, even a negative one, before his next heat hit but that didn't seem to be in the cards. His little melancholy cloud was probably due to said heat which was likely to start in full force within the next few hours, if Finn knew himself at all. He hadn't had a heat without the Order's suppressants before, but he'd learned enough to feel confident that he'd be fine on his own.
Still.
His team had just arrived back from a mission, and he was thankfully excused from debriefing. Which was good because his head felt like it was filled with fog and gaining more pressure by the second. Shower, food, water, bed. That was his mantra as he stepped off the shuttle and back onto the Resistance's tarmac.
no subject
poe dameron is not a smart man.
not smart, but also under duress. trying to keep the resistance alive with thoughts and prayers, moving from one planet to the next in search of allies. leia hadn't been at 100% since the raddus, leaving responsibilities sliding their way into his hands. the stress distracts him, leaves him viewing the shared food, weapon cleaning, and x-wing maintaining as Something Nice finn's been doing and not courtship gestures.
the first time an inkling of anything hits him is when sees finn booking is across the tarmac. well, not seeing it so much as smelling it.
wait, was finn an omega??? had he been an omega the whole time? where was he for this? poe as to do something to help. claim? claim is helping. there are a few other alphas in the resistance, he wouldn't want them to do anything to him. (by "anything" he literally just means "claim him first.") he didn't realize he could go from 0 to 100% so fast in terms of possessiveness.
he rushes to meet finn in the middle of the tarmac, like two friendly bros who are bros totally do all the time. ]
Hey, uh... you holding up okay? ... After the mission, I mean. Talking about the mission.
[ again: not a smart man. ]
no subject
Was he nervous, though? Did he seem nervous? Poe had certainly been stressed and taxed as of late, so Finn blames it on that fairly easily. ]
Yeah, I'm good.
[ No imminent heat here. Not with that easy smile and bro-pat to Poe's shoulder. If anything, he just looks as tired as he feels. He figures the smell may be obvious to an alpha, but, again, nothing of note. Which is sad, really. He was kinda hoping for that whole 'intended mate' thing to work out.
He shoves it from his mind before his hormones make him noticeably depressed about it. ]
Mission went without a hitch. I don't even have to report in for debrief. [ The reason why, he assumes, is obvious. ] What about here? You holding up?