strongerthanblood | (no subject)

Studying for her GED test is somehow one of the most rudimentary and difficult things that she's done in some time. Her lack of knowledge about Earth is the only real hindrance, and they seem to be things that the other people in her study group all seem to already know. It isn't difficult to learn, but it slows her down.

As does the class she decided to take. She could have studied on her own, but if she's going to attend a trade school, she thought it would allow to familiarize herself with a classroom type setting, which is something entirely new to her. It is a lot less regulated than she might have thought.

After most of them pass a practice test, someone suggests that they go for celebratory drinks. Rey found herself swept up in it, agreeing only somewhat awkwardly, because while she loves having friends, she still isn't all that great at making them outside of a crisis situation. That whole trauma bond thing really kicks off the relationship. Making friends with women whose greatest crisis is their lipstick shade being discontinued (condolences to Shelley) is a little harder. But not impossible.

They wind up at a bar not all that far from her building, and someone buys shots, and then someone buys another round of shots, and then Rey buys a round of shots, and then she's drunk. Kind of very drunk, and this place doesn't even have a good food menu. What's the point of going to a bar that doesn't sell nachos?

God, she wants some nachos.

When her partying study buddies start to grow tiresome, Rey scrunches her nose and everything goes quiet because Ben is suddenly sitting on a bar stool with a book in his hand. It looks dusty, which isn't all that of a surprise.

"I want nachos," she says out loud to Ben, and she shushes Matt the close talker when he tries to respond to her. Rey stands up from the table and heads towards the bar, wobbling only a little. "Will you come get me? And we can go get nachos?"

There's a coaster on the bar, and Rey picks it up and holds it next to her face as she points at the name, giving him a sunny, hopeful, (semi-drunk) smile. "I am here."

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While they'd agreed to both give each other some privacy during evenings like this, he'd inevitably caught flashes of her night— the bright burst of her laughter, a rush of pride when she'd solved a particularly difficult practice question, her frustration when she'd missed another. Then, things had grown a bit hazy, and it was with genuine surprise that he found himself no longer alone in their apartment.

She wobbled towards him, clearly drunk, and his lips curved into a faint smirk as he set his dusty book aside.

Brow arched, he reached out to gently pluck the coaster from her fingers. "This isn't because you need me to pay for the nachos?" He asked, his tone faintly teasing.

"Excuse you, I am very independent and can buy my own nachos," Rey tells him airily, lifting her chin as she plants her fists on her hips. "I just like the face you make when you watch me eat them."

She takes a hopping step towards him, only to have Matt the loud talker sidle up next to her and ask her if she wants another drink. Her mouth tightens, but she can't exactly tell him that she's in the middle of a conversation without looking crazy, so she turns to look at him.

"Very deeply taken, remember?" Rey asks him, and Matt looks vaguely chagrined. "I told you three times."

"I meant as friends," he tells her, and Rey sneaks a look at Ben. "I know you have a boyfriend, or whatever."

It's very odd to have to deal with the social dynamics of other people her age after all that she's been through. Sometimes she feels so much older than the rest of them, even as she tries to fit in.

"I'm cut off for the night. Boyfriend's coming to get me," she tells him. That feels like such a small word for what Ben is to her. Matt skulks off and Rey watches him go before turning to Ben again. "I'll be out front. Come get me before people think I'm crazy."

Ben couldn't hear the rest of the patrons in the bar, but from Rey's side of the conversation, he knew he was witnessing a very uncomfortable disaster.

"I'll be there," he said, having the good graces not to appear too amused. "And I don't know what face you're talking about."

Like that, he was gone. It took him a few minutes to put on appropriate clothes and make his way out the door, and the walk itself took about ten minutes.

"Are you still craving nachos, or have you gone off them?" He asked, as soon as she was within view.

"You know exactly which face," she says, just before Ben winks out of view. After paying her tab and saying goodbye to her study group, she pulls on her hoodie and steps outside, letting the night air cool her overheated cheeks, closing her eyes as she takes a deep breath. She senses a presence at her side and opens her eyes to see Matt next to her. Before she can open her mouth to tell him off, his eyes widen as they fix at a point over her shoulder, and that's when she realizes just how close Ben is to her.

"That's your boyfriend?" He asks, taking an awkward step back before turning toward the bar again. "Okay, I get it. My bad."

"You bad? You're backing off because I have a giant boyfriend?" Rey calls after him in surprise, stomping one foot as she curls her hands into fists. "And not because I said no? Lame, Matt!"

She lets out an angry huff and turns to face Ben, rolling her eyes as she tips her head back to face him. "There he is! My big strong man!" She tosses her arms out to the side and then puts them on her hips, rolling her eyes as bit before smiling at him. "I always want nachos."

"Persistent?" Ben guessed, looking in the direction the other man had disappeared, brow arched with vague amusement. If it had been a situation that he thought that there was even a slim chance that he needed to intervene, he would have, but he knew that Rey could certainly take care of herself.

"I believe that little place you like a few blocks over is open late," he pointed out, hands rising briefly to frame her face.

"Oh, not anymore. Not now that he knows that I have a big strong boyfriend who could crack him in two," Rey says with a roll of her eyes. "Which just makes him even more annoying. I could also crack him in two if I wanted!"

Ben's giant hands cradle her face and Rey relaxes, smiling up at him as she reaches up to curl her hands around his wrists. All thoughts of Matt are suddenly gone from her mind, and she nods eagerly before lifting up onto her toes to give Ben a quick kiss.

"Yes, let's go there," she says happily, kissing him again before rocking back onto her heels and taking his hand to tug him up the street.

"You've left more than a few cracks on me," he agreed, one corner of his mouth twitching faintly.

The kiss was simple, sweet, and it still struck him as strange and unbelievable that he was a part of something so extraordinarily... normal.

"How was class?"

"I'll give you another if you try me," Rey teases, throwing her hands up in a boxing stance and bouncing around a bit before throwing her fist out and stopping it just before it makes contact with the center of his chest to just barely tap it instead.

"It was good! I think I'm ready to take the test," Rey says happily, reaching down to take Ben's hand as they walk down the street. "And then I can go to more classes to take another test, and then maybe, just maybe, I can finally be a damn mechanic."

It's a lot of hoops to jump through, but she wants to do things by the book here. She doesn't want anyone to make an excuse as to why she can't, and if she needs a stupid certificate to make it happen, then she'll get one.

Placidly, Ben lifted a broad palm to her forehead, easily pushing her just out of swinging range. As handily as he pushed her away, she could've stopped him, if they'd really been in the mood to test each other.

"And then you can teach all of them what they've been doing wrong."

When Ben palms her forehead, Rey laughs and reaches up to swat his hand away, grabbing it instead to hold onto it as they approach the restaurant. It's a lively place that seems to thrive on the late night crowd, and Rey smiles at the merriment as she lifts their joined hands and turns slowly underneath them.

"That is the plan," she tells him with a nod, smiling up at him before dragging him into the restaurant. There's a small line and she bounces into it, pulling Ben's arm around the font of her as she stares up at the menu. "I want everything. You'll have to help me narrow it down."