━━ CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE / mum and dad

Leia had returned from off-world which meant that Eliana and Poe were promptly called into a meeting. Everything was explained relatively quickly and Eliana felt the need to over explain why there was a tech overhaul and she also overexplained why she had trusted Relya in the first place. It was a mess but Leia was sweet, she was kind.
And there wasn't a feeling of judgement. Which meant - to Eliana - that the meeting was a complete and utter success. Poe had done most of the actual talking about what they had discovered on Naboo while Eliana sort of sat there. But it worked for both of them.

They came out of the meeting feeling happy, content and Poe could see that in how Eliana's shoulders dropped once the door shut behind them. A soft smile appeared on her lips.

"Well that went better than I expected," Eliana admitted and Poe grinned/

"I was talking. Of course it went well," The arrogance on his face was hard to miss but Eliana didn't feel the need to hit it off anymore. It was just endearing, annoyingly endearing and she rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to retort but another two voices joined the conversation.

"I was wondering where you two had got to," Dow said. The tall dark-haired man was stood a few steps down the corridor and Eliana met his gaze, grinning. Nettie was stood beside him. Her pink hair had faded back into the blonde now but she looked gorgeous nonetheless.

"I assumed you were snogging in a closet," Nettie teased and Eliana glared at him. They were across from each other now and Poe gently shook his head. Bemused but not entirely ready for this conversation. Eliana could tell that he was sleepy through the entire meeting and it seemed to have finally caught up to him.

"On that note, I'm going to go take a nap," Poe said as he stepped away from the group. Eliana's face dropped and she watched him step away.

"You can't leave me with these maniacs!" Eliana whined and Poe shrugged. He was stepping backwards, away from the trio. That cocky grin still spread across his face.

"Out of my hands," He taunted as he held his hands up in mock defence. Eliana practically glared him down as he stepped back a few times before turning around completely and heading off to the bunks. A soft huff escaped her lips and she turned back around to Nette and Dow. Dow looked bemused, Nettie was feigning offence.

"What's so bad about us?" Nettie murmured with a mocking pout. Eliana narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. They both knew exactly why Eliana didn't want to be around Nettie at times. Her relentless questions were endearing but also so beyond infuriating.

"If you ask me one question about Poe, I will hit you," Eliana warned and Nettie chuckled softly. She wrapped her arm around Eliana's shoulder and they began to walk away from the corridor towards the main common area.

"I was going to ask how the mission went since you've been avoiding us all like the plague," Dow mumbled softly and Eliana looked surprised. It was odd that they were asking about the mission. She would have expected them to ask about her and Poe on the mission. She was pretty sure they all had a secret wager about how soon her and Poe would get together.

But Eliana was pleasantly surprised and grinned, "Oh, it went fine. Got the evidence, just gave it to Leia so the techs can work it all out. Should help in the long-run, maybe stop some re-elections." There was a proud smile on her face and Dow grinned. He nudged her side playfully.

"That's good!" The enthusiasm in his tone was unmissable and Eliana's grin doubled in size. She was glad that her efforts wouldn't go to nothing. She had tried so hard and been through too much to get the information.

There was a beat or two of silence and Nettie was quiet. It seemed like she wanted to say something and was desperately holding it back. Which made Eliana roll her eyes. She could tell that Nettie wanted to ask about her and Poe considering Eliana had actively avoided them all day. Plus, Dow knew that Poe and Eliana had spoken thanks to BB-8's snitching.

"You just want me to talk about Poe, don't you?" Eliana asked. There was a playfulness to her tone and Nettie dropped her jaw, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No!" Nettie practically shouted, pulling Eliana closer. It wasn't genuine but then Nettie said, "I was gonna ask if we're still doing test flights." That was genuine and it made Eliana grin. She had missed test flights with the team. She had missed the squadron after avoiding them for the past few days.

"Sure. Is the squadron getting ready?" Eliana asked curiously as she turned her face to look down at Nettie. The trio heading down the stairs towards the landing bay.

"As always, commander," Nettie responded jokingly, followed by a mock salute. There was another playful glare before Eliana pushed Nettie's arms off. She needed to change into her suit and also probably check with mission control if they could.

"I'll be ready in like ten minutes?" Eliana asked. Nettie nodded and Dow grinned, sharing an excited look with Nettie.

"We'll meet you on the runway." Eliana nodded and headed back up the stairs to talk to mission control. It would be a quick conversation and then she could change and finally get into an X-Wing. She had missed it so much.

-

BB-8 had to go back into the shop after he malfunctioned - again. Poe wasn't happy and he decided to make that everyone else's problem. The entire patrol, he went on and on about BB-8 and how he didn't understand why it was so hard to fix him. Eliana did her best to tune out his whining but there was only so much she could take before she got sick of him.

So, when the patrol was over, it was a mercy. She showered, changed, had some lunch and then headed down to Maymie. Hopefully, she could get an estimate for when BB-8 would be fixed and Poe's incessant whining would stop. It had initially been endearing that he missed his droid so much but now it made her want to hit the man.

"Please tell me that BB-8 is fixed." Eliana exclaimed as she walked up to Maymie's station. The exasperation was clear in her tone and a brief smile appeared on Maymie's face. The amusement was clear in the slight upturn of her lip and twinkle in her eyes. Eliana wanted to hit her.

"Nearly," Maymie said as she turned BB-8 around. She had been fiddling around in his control panel on his back for the last half an hour and it seemed that she was finally getting there. It was just a few more wire twists and he would be ready.

"If I have to listen to Dameron bitch for one more mission, I will blast his wing out," Eliana mumbled as she leant back against the workshop bench. Her face buried in her hands briefly before she let her head fall backwards. A soft chuckle escaped her lips, finding the entire thing exasperatingly funny. It was ridiculous.

"Back to your usual selves then?" Maymie questioned as she fiddled with a few more wires before she dropped her the pliers. Eliana merely hummed in response. It was the truth and she was glad. She had missed the bickering and she had more confidence now. So it wasn't just Poe teasing her, she could at least give it back now, "I thought the kiss would have finally made you stop bickering," Maymie mumbled. It was more to herself than anyone else but Eliana smacked her for that comment alone. The grin spread across Maymie's face.

"We don't talk about that," Eliana retorted. She wanted to talk about it but not until Poe had and they hadn't properly talked about anything. So, she could not deal with any teasing from Maymie right now. Not when her and Poe were being awkward at best.

"Are you kidding me?" Maymie scoffed as she turned BB-8 around. She opened his little interface and checked over everything. Though her disbelieving look was still clear as she flicked through the screens.

"It's still a work in progress," Eliana defended as she threw her hands up. Maymie rolled her eyes and she pressed a few more buttons. She then closed the interface and went back into BB-8's internals.

"You are insufferable," Mayme said simply. Eliana scoffed and went to refute the comment but another voice joined the conversation.

"She knows. You don't have to remind her," Poe's arrogance was unmissable and Eliana met his gaze, playfully glaring at him.

"Maker, what are you doing here?" She complained and he stared at her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Checking on my little man," He retorted simply. Eliana rolled her eyes and then glanced over at Maymie who closed BB-8's panel again. Then she turned him around and attempted to turn him on.

"He's just about ready," She said, hesitantly. There was a beat and then two of nothing before BB-8 seemed to come to life. The droid beeped as he rolled around the desk, looking between everyone in the room. The little guy was clearly confused.

"Thank the Maker, you'll be the best pilot again," Eliana teased as she glanced back at Poe who had moved to basically be stood behind her. His hands were rested at his sides but also close to her hips. She almost expected him to grab them.

Instead, he leant down towards her ear and said," Who beat you in time trials this morning?" Eliana looked from BB-8 to Maymie, rolling her eyes. The brunette simply grinned, amused by the twos antics.

"Dow." Eliana responded bluntly.

"No, me," Poe said. Though the response was directed at Maymie and BB-8. As if either of them would believe Eliana. He always had to keep his reputation in check.

"You are actually insufferable," Eliana responded as she turned back to him. Their faces were inches apart and the tension was dialled up to 11. Maymie realised she didn't want to be in the middle of this so awkwardly stepped away and grabbed the next project to work on as BB-8 whirred down to their side of the table.

"And that's what you love about me," Poe retorted as he let his face linger close to Eliana. Part of her wanted to kiss him just to make him shut up but she knew better than to give in to him. It would inflate his ego more.

So, instead, she said, "I'm never admitting that to you," punctuated with a shrug of her shoulders and a grin on her lips. BB-8 then chirped loudly at them and Eliana had no idea what he said. But Poe seemed to understand completely and stepepd back from Eliana. He then turned to the little droid, grinning.

"You didn't miss a thing, buddy," He insisted and BB-8 seemed unhappy with that. Chirping unhappily as he looked from Poe to Eliana, Eliana hadn't taken her gaze off of the man. Some would say she was glaring him down, others would say it was loving. Eliana wasn't entirely sure herself.

"I think he should be fixed," Maymie informed as she returned back to her station with another droid in hand, "Just try not to get him blown up again, yeah?" There was a hint of annoyance to Maymie's tone and Poe crossed his arms over his chest.

"It wasn't on purpose!" He retorted and Maymie shrugged. It was the third time that BB-8 had been in in a week and although Maymie loved the little guy. It was sad to see him in such a state

"That's what they all say," Eliana mumbled as she reached out to stroke BB-8's head. He seemed to chirp happily in response to the attention, "BB-8, do you want to come with me? I promise that I'll never let you get hurt." It was all teasing and in jest but Poe seemed almost offended. The gap between them was big enough now that it was clear that BB-8 was showing favour to the woman. BB-8 chirped as he moved into Eliana's arms.

"Hey, traitor. Come back here," Poe snapped as he looked down at his droid. Eliana grinned and hugged onto BB-8.

"You're making him fight over mum and dad. That's cruel," Maymie commented as she opened up the panel on the back of the droid she was now working on. Eliana chuckled at that and Poe was frowning. His arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm the better parent," Eliana shrugged as she stroked the top of BB's head again. Poe was pouting and it made Eliana grin even wider. The teasing look on her face.

"You are not." Poe stated matter-of-factly. Eliana had to disagree but before she could let out another teasing remark, Maymie spoke up.

"If you two keep flirting in my workshop, I won't let either of you in again." She warned. Eliana chuckled and she placed BB-8 down on the floor so that he could walk out with them.

"Come on, BB-8. Do you want to come back to my room?" Eliana asked and BB-8 chirped happily in response which only made Poe frown even deeper. He couldn't believe he was being betrayed by his own droid. His little guy.

"Hey! Traitors! Come back here!" Poe called as the two began to walk off. BB-8 following close behind the brunette. Poe huffed out and gave Maymie a quick thank you before he jogged to catch up with them. All while Maymie chuckled at their antics. They were adorable and ridiculous.

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