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?"
If she told him that, he'd be quick to put those fears to rest: he isn't really made for pity, and he understands, deeply, what it's like to always expect retaliation or payment. Nothing has come to him for free, which is why it's so easy, now, to accept that she expects him to want something in return.
"I didn't say that. I said it's little use against a gun- I also know how to box, but if I put my fists up a bullet'll rip right through those too, won't it?"
That doesn't sit right, the way he dodges her question and asks one of his own, one that might not be meant to make her feel foolish but does all the same and only because they've slipped off the same page.
She's trying not to lash out. It mostly works.
"All I can teach you is now to not die, Tommy. That's all I know how to do and you clearly know the ins and outs already."
She wants to leave now, to run from this, whatever it is, but she forces herself to stay exactly where she is.
He still notices, despite her efforts. He's attuned to these kinds of moods, has had to be- not that he blames her. He realizes he can be a little hard to talk to, at times. He also makes very few efforts to change that.
"I'm not trying to insult you, Rey. If you don't want to teach me, that's fine. I told you I don't need payment."
For a moment she just watches him, scanning him for some sign of what he's trying to get from this before she remembers that's not what he's like. She'd gotten too caught up in her mistrust to remember everything he knows, everything he's come to mean to her from before the breach.
This is on her, her own defensiveness is getting in her way just like it always has, and if she's not careful one day she's going to find herself as alone as she's ever been without anyone left trying to get past her walls. Looking away, her shoulders droop again.
"I'll think of something." She says, stubborn to the last. "I know I don't have to, but I want to. I want us to be on even ground."
Again, he'd contradict her: he brings this out in people, this kind of mistrust. He is like that, sometimes. Just not on the Barge, where there's less survival involved than there was back home.
"Alright, then," he concedes, easily, shrugging. "You tell me when you've thought of something."
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 07:28 am (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 07:40 am (UTC)"Never said it was easy either, did I?" You have to work hard for your terrible addictions, Rey.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 07:45 am (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 08:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 08:53 am (UTC)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."
no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 09:17 am (UTC)"You're confident, aren't you? I'll have to think of something that doesn't have to do with technology, then."
no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 09:28 am (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 09:37 am (UTC)"Alright, clear enough. D'you play cards?"
no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 09:40 am (UTC)"No, but I can learn to."
no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 02:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 06:05 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-01 09:20 pm (UTC)This is closer to how he remembers her: gently ribbing, making jokes and getting closer over them.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-02 06:54 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-02 10:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-04-02 10:23 pm (UTC)"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."
no subject
Date: 2016-04-03 01:48 pm (UTC)"I am. I could teach you, if you want."
no subject
Date: 2016-04-03 05:28 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-04 09:06 am (UTC)"If you want to repay me, and you don't have to, you teach me something."
no subject
Date: 2016-04-04 09:16 am (UTC)"You already said you don't want to learn to use a staff, so what do you want?"
no subject
Date: 2016-04-04 09:20 am (UTC)"I didn't say that. I said it's little use against a gun- I also know how to box, but if I put my fists up a bullet'll rip right through those too, won't it?"
no subject
Date: 2016-04-04 09:27 am (UTC)She's trying not to lash out. It mostly works.
"All I can teach you is now to not die, Tommy. That's all I know how to do and you clearly know the ins and outs already."
She wants to leave now, to run from this, whatever it is, but she forces herself to stay exactly where she is.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-04 09:30 am (UTC)"I'm not trying to insult you, Rey. If you don't want to teach me, that's fine. I told you I don't need payment."
no subject
Date: 2016-04-04 09:56 am (UTC)This is on her, her own defensiveness is getting in her way just like it always has, and if she's not careful one day she's going to find herself as alone as she's ever been without anyone left trying to get past her walls. Looking away, her shoulders droop again.
"I'll think of something." She says, stubborn to the last. "I know I don't have to, but I want to. I want us to be on even ground."
no subject
Date: 2016-04-04 10:00 am (UTC)"Alright, then," he concedes, easily, shrugging. "You tell me when you've thought of something."
no subject
Date: 2016-04-04 10:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
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