Illness Secret Santa for RiversD! (Star Wars TFA - Finn)

[MoonDuck]

@RiversD I got you for Secret Santa this year! Which intimidated me, because I love your writing so much (I get to write for RiversD?!!). Until a couple of weeks ago I constantly confused Finn and Poe's names, so I'm reeeaally hoping this oneshot turned out okay and that you like it. It doesn't spoil TLJ. Happy New Year!  And thanks to @luckyleprechaun for being my beta.

 

Finn took a swig from his spice liqueur. The sound of the glass hitting the table echoed loudly through the room. It probably wasn’t good for his headache, but Finn ignored the voice of better judgement whispering in the back of his mind. 

The common area near his quarters was empty, especially at this hour, so he was accompanied only by his drink and his thoughts. He’d recently heard the news that Rey had gone searching for Luke Skywalker, the almighty Jedi master who could save the Rebellion. She’d disappeared and he hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye; he’d been completely blacked out. They never should have left Jakku with BB-8. They could live together peacefully, far from any First Order scum that could harm her or come after himself. 

His own thoughts were interrupted with a sneeze. No matter how many times he sneezed, the deep tickle in his nasal passage would not relent, nor would the pressure in his sinuses lessen. Finn closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. 

The door hissed open, causing him to jump slightly in his chair, and light from the hall flooded into the dimmed room. He blinked, and the silhouette in the doorway came into focus. Poe?

“What are you doing here?” Finn’s voice came out hoarser than he’d anticipated, and he cleared his throat. Underneath his annoyance was veiled sadness. He wanted to mope alone. It wasn’t often he had the chance to collect his thoughts by himself. 

Poe raised an eyebrow as he drew closer with BB-8 rolling in from behind. “I should be asking you.” 

“How did you even find me?” Finn dodged Poe’s response, his own retort more hostile than the initial question. If anyone were up this late, it was because they had actual work to do, not just wander aimlessly around the ship. So what was Poe doing up now instead of sleeping in his bunk like all the other pilots?

BB-8 let out a beep. Of course—if anyone could find him, it was a droid. 

Poe pulled out the chair next to his friend, undaunted by his snappy tone. “I just wanted some fresh air, and then this little guy told me you were hanging around out here.” Well, as fresh as it could get on a ship in outer space. “But you look like a zombie.” There were bags under his red eyes. In fact, his whole face looked flushed. 

Finn sighed. His voice caught in his throat, and he took a slow, careful breath to keep from coughing.  “Couldn’t sleep.” He avoided eye contact with Poe, but he knew he couldn’t hide anything from him. Even BB-8 rolled closer to him, bumping his leg as if nudging him to reveal more and noticing that something wasn’t right. 

Poe scanned Finn’s face, trying to read his emotions and analyze the situation. It was clear Finn was upset. Did he want to be alone, or would he appreciate Poe’s company? He could probably use a friend, given everything that’d happened on the Base. 

A moment of silence passed. Finn took another drink. “Rey’s gone. The First Order wants me dead. I don’t even want to be o-on this stupid ship…” His voice trailed off. Poe thought he was lost in thought, but as Finn’s nose twitched, it became apparent this wasn’t the case. He wrinkled his nose, squinting, as his head gradually tipped back. “H’CHhng!” Suppressing the sneeze hadn’t worked—it only exacerbated the itch. “H-hehh’ISCH!” Finn sniffled thickly, rubbing at his nose with the knuckle of his index finger. He muttered a string of curses as his face turned a deeper shade of red.

Poe suddenly had a lot more to work with. First things first: “Are you sick?” He knew the answer, but he also knew Finn would have to admit to it before he could do anything to help. 

Finn didn’t remove his finger. “No, it was just a sneeze.” For someone who had a lot of experience lying his way out of trouble, this was a pretty weak lie. 

“Mhm,” Poe nodded, though they both knew he didn’t believe him. There was another long pause before he tried to change the subject. “What happened with you on the Starkiller Base with Rey?” Finn had tried to fight Kylo and ended up severely injured, but that was the extent of Poe’s knowledge. This was his first opportunity to sit and talk with Finn alone. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Finn shook his head, covering his face with his hands. He regretted saying anything, but it had just slipped out. Everything in his brain was a jumbled mess. He turned to the side, coughing away from Poe, despite his best efforts to suppress it. 

Poe frowned. “Are you—” but Finn raised a finger, telling him to wait. 

“HNKgsh!” Finn pressed his nose into the crook of his elbow, hoping to stop the fit there,  but it was no use. “Ehh’HSHh! Hn’TSCHHhh!” He groaned, annoyed that his nose had betrayed him. And on Poe’s jacket, too. Gross.

He felt Poe’s hand brush past his neck and land on his shoulder. When he turned his gaze it was met with concern, not disgust. 

“You’re warm.” Finn’s condition was worse than Poe’d thought: a couple of sneezes could have just meant a cold, but a temperature suggested something worse. Fighting out in the snow probably didn’t help.

That explained the gesture. A sly, yet effective, way to check for fever.

Finn batted his hand away. “No I’m not, it’s just hot in here.” Also a lie—room temperature in the ship tended to be on the cooler side. He shoved his hands in his pockets, hoping there was a tissue or something tucked away somewhere in there, but it all felt like random clutter.

BB-8 let out a beep, indicating that he had detected an elevated body temperature in Finn. Poe frowned at the confirmation, but at least Finn couldn’t argue with empirical evidence. 

“Thanks, man,” Finn glared at the droid. Damned mechs were too handy. 

Poe stood. “Let’s go, I’m taking you to the med bay now.” 

Finn didn’t move from his seat. “Hell, no. I was just there.” He’d just been discharged hours ago. He wasn’t going back to lay around trapped in a little compartment. It’d healed his wounds for the most part, but apparently it didn’t do anything to boost his immune system. 

At least his excuse wasn’t denying he was ill. “You at least need to rest.” Not stay up sitting in an empty room, staring into the distance and sipping at a drink. 

Finn rose slowly, lurching forward and supporting himself with the table. He hadn’t realized just how dizzy he was until he stood. The room wouldn’t stop spinning. Finn felt a strong grip holding his arm, steadying him. He almost told Poe to leave him be, but he realized there was no way he’d make it anywhere without extra help. 

“I-I’m going…” Finn couldn’t finish his warning before hitching breaths took over his speech. He pressed his wrist against his flared nostrils, frozen. And then he sighed.

Poe waited patiently. “You good?” 

Finn’s nod turned into a dazed shaking of his head when the tickle returned with a vengeance. “HIHH’KSCH! EHhh’SHHHhh!” A tissue would have been really nice now. He felt like a complete mess, and by this point he probably looked it, too. 

“Come on.” Poe began to lead him along, pleased he finally found something to do to comfort his friend. 

 

Edited December 31, 2017 by MoonDuck

[RiversD]

AHHHHH!!!!

It's like 1am so forgive my incoherence, but this is just wonderful!

Big YES to more new-trilogy Star Wars stuff, especially of the well-written variety!

I liked the way you went with Finn's emotional state- I can totally see him wanting to mope in privacy. He's both dramatically-inclined enough to need a little moping time, and used to an environment where he could hardly be public about it and expect anything good. Mind you, both these boys went through a lot in TFA, so maybe Poe's the best person he could have looking out for him...

I also love that Poe's wandering around at that time of night. And BB-8. Lovely, wonderful BB-8.

And I'm glad that Poe took his time working out the situation. It was good to see that he based his reaction to his own concern on what would actually benefit Finn, if that makes sense. Whatever, I like the way you wrote Poe. The way you wrote them both.

4 hours ago, MoonDuck said:

For someone who had a lot of experience lying his way out of trouble, this was a pretty weak lie.

But very in character for Finn. I appreciate that you kept his denial on a character-believable level. It made it all the more enjoyable to know he was mostly holding out out of stubbornness/ill-humor at this point.

4 hours ago, MoonDuck said:

And on Poe’s jacket, too. Gross.

it's the little things....

4 hours ago, MoonDuck said:

He felt Poe’s hand brush past his neck and land on his shoulder. When he turned his gaze it was met with concern, not disgust. 

“You’re warm.”

HAVE I MENTIONED YET THAT I LOVE POE?? No? I love him.

The lead-up to that last pair of sneezes was delicious, by the way. And:

4 hours ago, MoonDuck said:

“Come on.” Poe began to lead him along, pleased he finally found something to do to comfort his friend. 

love... him....love...themmmmm....

Thank you so much!!!!!!

[snuffles]

I just watched TLJ so I was avoiding fics until I got to see it but I guess I didn't have to since this wasn't a spoiler. I loooove both Finn and Poe and this was really delicious and completely in character! And BB-8, you adorable rolling tattle!

[fufufufu]

Um.

YES.

I adored this. The Finn and Poe interaction was wonderful and the sneezing was just divine. Thank you so much for writing this!!!