ladyofleithian | For allbingo/cotton candy bingo

Title: Familiar

Summary: Poe smells of X-Wing grease and engines.

Prompt: Smell

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Poe smells of X-wing grease and engines. It's definitely not an unpleasant smell -- it's the sort of smell that's comforting for Ben to just bury his face in and inhale. It's something that's just uniquely Poe. Some would call it ridiculous, but over time, Poe had gone from he's-my-best-friend to I-worship-the-ground-this-man-walks-on. How could he not, really? Poe is just so kind. So funny. So brave. A phenomenal pilot -- even watching him fly makes Ben's heart suddenly flutter. It's amazing. It's wonderful. Everything about Poe is wonderful -- if only Ben had the courage to tell him.

Right now, Poe's scrubbing down and fixing his X-wing, patting the side soothingly, murmuring praise, and Ben can't help but smile. Poe looks up, notices Ben, and smiles -- it's a warm, brilliant sort of smile that suits Poe Dameron perfectly, makes him even more beautiful in Ben's opinion. Then, "Hey, Ben."

"Hey." Smooth, Ben, he thinks sarcastically. Uncle Lando would applaud you for replies that suave. He wonders what exactly Uncle Lando would think about all this. Then again, he doesn't know if he's spoken to Uncle Lando in quite a while, actually. Maybe he should? "What are you doing?"

"My ship got pretty badly battered during the space battle," Poe says. "I'm just cleaning it all up." He patted the side of the X-wing. "Aren't I?" he says, and there's a sort of tenderness in his voice that makes Ben's smile wider.

How is everything Poe does just so amazing, so wonderful? Ben doubts he can find the answer to that. He supposes that Poe really is just one of these beings where everything he does is perfect one way or the other.

Ben smiles again. "Can I help?" he says.

"No problem."

Ben's had experience fixing the Falcon before, so this is really nothing new. Even going over the damaged parts and whatnot, Poe turns to him and says, "You...probably don't want to be too near me, Ben. I smell like a tauntaun." Beat. "And I think I just insulted tauntauns."

"What are they going to do, write you an angry holomail?" Ben says, grinning.

Poe laughs, delighted -- he looks so gorgeous when he laughs, Ben can't help but think. He's so bright, so brilliant -- he's like the sun. "That would be something."

"You don't smell like a tauntaun," Ben says.

Poe looks up at him, smiles. "I don't, huh?"

"You don't," Ben says. "I like how you smell. It's...you."

"It's me, huh?"

"Yeah. And you're very..." Gorgeous even covered in grease, Ben wants to say, but words aren't doing him any favors now. "Hardworking. You love your ship, obviously. You take care of her. You're brave..."

"Ben." Poe actually looks touched right then and there.

"It's all part of you, and when I smell it...it's like I'm safe. You're safe."

"Even if I smell worse than a tauntaun?" Poe says lightly.

Ben laughs. "Yeah."

They kneel together, working on the X-wing, and there's something about all of this that makes Ben feel even more connected to the one he's fallen in love with. They share stories, laugh together, and here, Ben thinks, it just feels like home. Poe, among other things on Yavin IV, is his home.

***

Even when they get together, that matter of scent hasn't worn off. Even as Poe disembarks from his X-wing, BB-8 at his heels, Ben's heart skips a beat as he all but runs towards Poe. Poe runs towards him, and they embrace tightly, and the smell of battle and X-wing grease and engines fills Ben's nostrils. It's a strong smell, but it's uniquely Poe, and that's what matters. Poe's home, Poe's with him.

And that...that means more than anything.