betterthanaplan | The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, Christmas Eve

As a rule, he didn't tend to do much for the winter holidays -- unless you counted "go somewhere it's not winter" -- but some combination of Fandom's festivities and the cold weather had actually put him into something of a Christmas-y mood this year, so the Rouge's deck was -- well. Decked. There were string lights and garlands all over the open deck area, especially around the table holding the big thermos of hot, buttered rum. He'd set up a little fire pit on the metal cargo-bay doors, and the door to the galley and lounge below-decks was propped open with a now-dormant loaf of yesterday's fruitcake, in case people preferred to go in where it was warmer.

As discussed, Duke had only mentioned the party to a few people since planning it with Rey. It was Christmas, though, so if people decided to wander up and say hi, he wouldn't turn them away.

[up early and ready for all the slowplay. A few people in the know expected, but as it says in the narrative, it's open for wandering in if you want, too!]

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From:

thatwaslucky

"Help with my bad feelings?" she asked.

From:

betterthanaplan

“Yeah. Calm ‘em down or whatever.”

Duke totally thought she meant anxiety and not, like, a force prescience.

From:

thatwaslucky

"It doesn't actually work that way," Rey told him. "Not that I don't appreciate that."

From:

betterthanaplan

“Yeah? How does it work?”

From:

thatwaslucky

"It's... the bad feelings are actually a Force thing. When something's about to happen," she explained. "It's a lot of learning to trust new things."

From:

betterthanaplan

"So . . . like the rest of life, then," Duke said. "Hang on. The Force tells you not to sing and dance?"

Rude.

From:

thatwaslucky

"No. The Force and bad feelings are... a whole other thing I'm dealing with." Which was having a big effect on how she looked at herself, but that was a lot to get into. "Me not singing and dancing is because it's new, and because people pay attention."

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke nodded slowly. "How do you tell regular nerves from a Force feeling?"

From:

thatwaslucky

"The Force feeling is like my brain itches. I've heard it described like a low level migraine?" Rey had never had a migraine, she didn't know if this was accurate or not. "And it doesn't seem to go away until whatever happens, happens. Regular nerves I can work through."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Right. Because exactly what you need when something's going wrong is a migraine."

From:

thatwaslucky

"I don't know if it's exactly like that," she admitted. "When I was home last time I had this feeling for days, and couldn't pinpoint why. I just knew something was wrong but didn't know who it related to or what the threat was until a moment before alarms started going off for real."

From:

betterthanaplan

“Yeah, still not the most useful thing I can think of.” Duke tilted his head and shrugged. “Probably for the best this Force thing doesn’t talk to me.”

From:

thatwaslucky

"It doesn't seem to be for everyone." Which was technically not true, but Rey didn't really get that yet or know how to explain it anyway. "Though I did learn that yoga and meditation could take the edge off at least for a little while."

From:

betterthanaplan

“Yeah?” Duke couldn’t help but smile at that. “You did yoga in space?”

She did the thing he’d taught her even when he wasn’t right there!

From:

thatwaslucky

"Yes, I do yoga in space. Both on planets and while the ship is moving towards one," Rey smiled.

From:

betterthanaplan

"And it's helping," Duke said, his own still firmly in place. "That's awesome."

From:

thatwaslucky

"Did you think it wouldn't?" she asked teasingly.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke shook his head. "No, I know yoga helps. I just --" He shook his head, looking down a little sheepishly. "People don't usually listen to me like that. You all are weird."

From:

thatwaslucky

"I have a good teacher, so I listen," Rey told him.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke laughed. "Yeah, see, that's still weird, too."

He'd spent most of his life talking out his ass. It was strange realizing he knew what he was talking about.

From:

thatwaslucky

"Hey, you are teaching me plenty of things. You're going to have to be used to it at some point," Rey grinned.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Oh don't worry," Duke said. "I'll be totally obnoxious about it soon enough. You should enjoy the modesty while it lasts."

From:

thatwaslucky

Honestly, Rey really wanted to see what it looked like when he owned being good at this.

"I'm both looking forward to seeing that, and how this sounds like it will backfire on me."