With the drink he had offered her before, it had been entirely obvious what it was, what it was for, once she realized it was alcoholic. It was familiar, and this is entirely the opposite of that. She'd never seen anyone smoke before Tommy, and it hadn't ever really been something she had thought of as a habit he would share until now.
They've been in open spaces every time he's done it so the smell has never bothered her and she is curious, just a little, what all the fuss is about, so she reaches out to take one of the cigarettes before she admits-
He looks up, still surprised when people say that- it's just that everyone smokes, back home. His little brother has tried it, and then adults here tell him they never have, before.
It's odd, is all. But he doesn't mind teaching her, even if he's been told it's a bad, very bad habit. "Everyone smokes where I'm from. It's mostly tobacco in there." Though god knows he doesn't know all of it. He doesn't really care. He strikes a match and holds it to the end of her cigarette.
"Now you inhale, and you try to pull the smoke into your lungs. You might cough- that's fine."
"You know, where I'm from breathing in smoke is usually a bad thing."
And yet she's still leaning in to meet him halfway when he lights the cigarette, lips closing around the end of it and breathing in lightly-
But the smoke doesn't even get all the way into her mouth before she's frowning and blowing it out and looking incredibly put out. She wipes at her mouth with the back of her hand and shoots him a look that can only be described as wounded. What a horrible trick to pull on someone, Thomas.
He-- can't help himself. He isn't helping himself, but that look makes him snort, makes him reach out and take the cigarette from her, looking amused all the while. She just looks so offended, like he'd given her a trick cigarette.
Her lips press together in a thin, tight line, but it's only because she's dangerously close to smiling. She feels so much lighter now, and even though her mouth tastes like something died in it she's actually starting to feel hopeful again.
"Do you only allow one try to be good at something in the time you come from, too?" She asks, holding her hand out to demand the cigarette back.
She doesn't really want it back, but now she has something to prove.
"Hmm. We're 'ard like that, we are." She may be dangerously close, but he isn't holding back now: he leans forward and hands her the cigarette back, smiling.
She's not sure if he's calling her bluff or if he's just being polite, but either way she takes the cigarette back. Their fingers brush and their eyes meet, but he's smiling and she loses the fight to hide her own smile. It's not much, just a small sign of her quiet happiness in this silly, simple moment.
She's never had any of them before, not like this, and this is a first with Tommy that will count, unlike what happened during the breach. This is something she can hold onto, look at in the future and just be happy about.
But she can't stall for long, so she just goes for it, tries again and gets a little farther this time before the smoke chokes her and she coughs it out, eyes watering as she fights to keep from shooting him another look of blame.
He still gets the urge to call her my love, to reach out and comfort her, but it's in the background now. He can just look at her and see a woman he could be friends with, someone who is strong but not too proud to look uncomfortable while smoking.
"Never said it was easy either, did I?" You have to work hard for your terrible addictions, Rey.
Alright, now she shoots him a glare. It has barely any heat behind it, though, because she's also trying wipe her eyes with her empty hand and not let the cigarette burn the one still holding it.
That and she just isn't as put out by her failure as she would be if it was something she actually wanted to learn to be good at.
"I think I liked learning to ride horses better," she says, voice a little scratchy from the smoke and coughing.
"Well, the past isn't all it's cracked up to be, is it?" He shoots her a small, crooked grin- the kind that makes it look like he doesn't very often gets to smile like this at all. He holds out his hand for the cigarette, if she won't try again.
With a sigh she accepts her defeat, hands the cigarette back to him without really feeling at all torn up about it. She'll just stick with the occasional drink with him and accept she can't be immediately good at everything she tries.
There's actually something a little comforting in that, really. The smile doesn't hurt, either, and her eyes go a little softer as she returns it.
"I'll just have to impress you the next time you throw something new that I've never seen my way and I manage it with flying colors."
He sticks the cigarette into a corner of his mouth, grinning around it as he inhales, slowly-- and keeps the smoke in his lungs, and then breathes it out in an almost elegant stream.
"You're confident, aren't you? I'll have to think of something that doesn't have to do with technology, then."
She watches him do it, only vaguely aware of the fact that she just had that in her mouth and now it's in his, but even as impressive as he makes it look Rey isn't too terribly put out that she'll never be able to do that.
Her mouth tastes terrible now, so she digs into the satchel at her hip and pulls out a canister of water to try to wash some of that taste out.
"Probably no feats of strength, either, if you're looking for something challenging."
She smiles a little as she shakes her head, too pleased at getting a laugh from him to think about the fact that learning to play most games requires someone to teach you and she had never had that.
"Now I think you're setting this up in your favor," she says, but there's no actual heat to the accusation. "First you pick cards, and now I have to perform for an audience?"
She's still not used to large groups of people, so there is some real trepidation there, but it comes more from a place of not wanting to know what she's missed her whole life than actually worrying about making a good impression. Impressions don't matter to her, but with all the memories of the breach floating around in her head, quietly aching for family isn't really something she wants to do any more of.
"Oh, I thought you said you could do anything? That's fine, if you're not up for the challenge," he says, shrugging casually, flicking ash off the end of his cigarette.
This is closer to how he remembers her: gently ribbing, making jokes and getting closer over them.
She raises to the bait knowing that's what it is, but she takes it all the same as a matter of pride. She is up for the challenge, for any challenge, and one smug man won't stop her from proving herself.
"Good. Because I thought of something else. You have your staff, and your--" He gestures, vaguely, indicating lightsaber. "But do you have weapons like my pistol, 'ere? Where you're from?"
That's more of interest to her, has her sitting up a little as she considers what he's saying.
"We do. We call them blasters, but they're probably the same thing as your pistol." Except they shoot lasers, but hey, close enough. "I have one here. It was a gift from Han, the one I knew before I came here. I'm not a very good shot, though."
She leans forward a little to see it better, nodding to herself when it really is shaped the same as a blaster with all the same moving parts. Blasters are metal, of course, and are really the only same in shape, but it won't be a stretch to learn from him and apply that to what she knows from her world.
She doesn't exactly expect the offer to teach her to come from him just now. Maybe in a few weeks when things have settled more, but this soon? It's... she can't help just being glad that nothing much is changing, that she still has this connection. Her eyes go a little far away, but not with memories of him this time.
Instead she remembers being on Takodana with Kylo Ren chasing after her when she had only Han's blaster to defend herself and how every shot had gone wide or been deflected. She remembers the Starkiller base, firing blindly through tears with a blaster rifle while she screamed and Han Solo fell. She remembers trying to escape with Finn and not being able to provide cover for him while he piloted their speeder, having to switch places, and the fact that Finn had saved them with only one well aimed shot. So many time she could have saved herself, someone else, and she had just missed.
"I think that would be a good idea," she says finally, snapping herself back to the present and looking up at him. "But I don't have any money. I can't pay you."
"What would I do with money in this place, Rey?" He arches an eyebrow, switching his pistol from one hand to the other. He looks at her shrewdly- no one says that without a lifetime of having to fight or pay for anything she got. He knows that she did, she's told him as much, but somehow it hits him harder noticing it in such a casual offer.
"If you want to repay me, and you don't have to, you teach me something."
She can see what he's doing, looking at her like that like he's realized, finally, just how bad Jakku was. It makes her stiffen up, makes her jaw go tight, because she doesn't want anyone's pity. She did her best on that planet, did better than a lot of people, and she lived through it all by herself with no help.
"You already said you don't want to learn to use a staff, so what do you want?"
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They've been in open spaces every time he's done it so the smell has never bothered her and she is curious, just a little, what all the fuss is about, so she reaches out to take one of the cigarettes before she admits-
"I'd never seen these, before you."
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It's odd, is all. But he doesn't mind teaching her, even if he's been told it's a bad, very bad habit. "Everyone smokes where I'm from. It's mostly tobacco in there." Though god knows he doesn't know all of it. He doesn't really care. He strikes a match and holds it to the end of her cigarette.
"Now you inhale, and you try to pull the smoke into your lungs. You might cough- that's fine."
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And yet she's still leaning in to meet him halfway when he lights the cigarette, lips closing around the end of it and breathing in lightly-
But the smoke doesn't even get all the way into her mouth before she's frowning and blowing it out and looking incredibly put out. She wipes at her mouth with the back of her hand and shoots him a look that can only be described as wounded. What a horrible trick to pull on someone, Thomas.
"This tastes horrible," she says flatly.
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"I never said it tasted good, Rey."
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"Do you only allow one try to be good at something in the time you come from, too?" She asks, holding her hand out to demand the cigarette back.
She doesn't really want it back, but now she has something to prove.
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She's never had any of them before, not like this, and this is a first with Tommy that will count, unlike what happened during the breach. This is something she can hold onto, look at in the future and just be happy about.
But she can't stall for long, so she just goes for it, tries again and gets a little farther this time before the smoke chokes her and she coughs it out, eyes watering as she fights to keep from shooting him another look of blame.
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"Never said it was easy either, did I?" You have to work hard for your terrible addictions, Rey.
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That and she just isn't as put out by her failure as she would be if it was something she actually wanted to learn to be good at.
"I think I liked learning to ride horses better," she says, voice a little scratchy from the smoke and coughing.
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There's actually something a little comforting in that, really. The smile doesn't hurt, either, and her eyes go a little softer as she returns it.
"I'll just have to impress you the next time you throw something new that I've never seen my way and I manage it with flying colors."
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"You're confident, aren't you? I'll have to think of something that doesn't have to do with technology, then."
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Her mouth tastes terrible now, so she digs into the satchel at her hip and pulls out a canister of water to try to wash some of that taste out.
"Probably no feats of strength, either, if you're looking for something challenging."
She could bench press him, she's sure of it.
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"Alright, clear enough. D'you play cards?"
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"No, but I can learn to."
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She's still not used to large groups of people, so there is some real trepidation there, but it comes more from a place of not wanting to know what she's missed her whole life than actually worrying about making a good impression. Impressions don't matter to her, but with all the memories of the breach floating around in her head, quietly aching for family isn't really something she wants to do any more of.
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This is closer to how he remembers her: gently ribbing, making jokes and getting closer over them.
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She raises to the bait knowing that's what it is, but she takes it all the same as a matter of pride. She is up for the challenge, for any challenge, and one smug man won't stop her from proving herself.
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"We do. We call them blasters, but they're probably the same thing as your pistol." Except they shoot lasers, but hey, close enough. "I have one here. It was a gift from Han, the one I knew before I came here. I'm not a very good shot, though."
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"I am. I could teach you, if you want."
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She doesn't exactly expect the offer to teach her to come from him just now. Maybe in a few weeks when things have settled more, but this soon? It's... she can't help just being glad that nothing much is changing, that she still has this connection. Her eyes go a little far away, but not with memories of him this time.
Instead she remembers being on Takodana with Kylo Ren chasing after her when she had only Han's blaster to defend herself and how every shot had gone wide or been deflected. She remembers the Starkiller base, firing blindly through tears with a blaster rifle while she screamed and Han Solo fell. She remembers trying to escape with Finn and not being able to provide cover for him while he piloted their speeder, having to switch places, and the fact that Finn had saved them with only one well aimed shot. So many time she could have saved herself, someone else, and she had just missed.
"I think that would be a good idea," she says finally, snapping herself back to the present and looking up at him. "But I don't have any money. I can't pay you."
And nothing is ever free.
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"If you want to repay me, and you don't have to, you teach me something."
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"You already said you don't want to learn to use a staff, so what do you want?"
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