Cosmic || Poe Dameron

Chapter Six

AN: Just wanted to say a huge thank you to those of you reading my story! I honestly didn't think anyone would, so I really appreciate it - you guys are awesome ❤ Also, CLONE WARS HAS BEEN RENEWED YES!! That series was my childhood - I'm so stoked! 

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"What are you working on?" Poe asked as he leaned over Vera's shoulder, his curly hair tickling her cheek.

"A sketch," she replied, gently pushing him away and refocusing her attention on the strokes of her pencil.

Poe sat down on the bench beside her, exchanging friendly greetings with the three members of Vera's team who sat with her. Elias gave Poe a fist bump across the table, his mouth full of food, and Azuela gave him a warm smile as she typed away on her datapad. Viserys was seated on Vera's other side and saluted Poe with a grin, diving back into his animated conversation with Elias.

Poe turned his attention to Vera, the quiet hum of the mess hall buzzing around them as the night grew later. He paused for a moment as he watched her, a smile ghosting his lips as she furrowed her brow and bit her lip in concentration.

He loved witnessing those little moments.

"For who?" Poe asked, peering over Vera's rapidly moving hand to better see the image, his mood playfully curious. However, in his exhausted and therefore less intuitive state, he didn't quite pick up on the tension emitting from his best friend.

"Chewie," Vera responded blankly, her focus glued on her developing picture. She carefully shaped Han's eyes with her pencil, easily producing a carbon copy of his actual gaze, a look forever frozen on her page.

"How come?" Poe prodded, resting his cheek on his crossed arms placed upon the table. He watched as her hand glided over the paper, creating such perfect strokes with little effort.

"It's his birthday soon."

Poe nodded in understanding, his movements awkwardly restricted by his arms. Despite her current mood, an amused smile tugged at Vera's lips ever so briefly.

"How old will he be? Fifty, sixty-something?" Poe asked softly, a thoughtful look on his face. "He's looking too good for seven-"

"Try 227," Vera said nonchalantly, darkening the shadows behind the figures standing in the centre of her page. Poe chuckled, presuming she was joking, but quickly realised she was completely serious.

"Wait, you're kidding!" Poe spluttered, jolting up to stare at her, dark eyes round and his mouth slightly agape. Vera simply shook her head and continued her sketch, trying to ignore how distracting he was with that look on his face.

"You clearly know nothing about the lifespan of a Wookiee, Pretty Boy," Elias threw in with a teasing smirk, the attention of the entire table suddenly drawn to the interaction between Poe and Vera.

"Clearly not," Poe muttered, a baffled look on his face.

"I wouldn't worry," Azuela chimed in with a bemused smile, lightly kicking Vera's foot with her own. "Neither did we until this one came along."

Viserys snorted a laugh, "Yeah, we know too much about everything because of her."

He teasingly bumped his shoulder with Vera's, and in one fluid motion, snatched her pencil from her grasp.

"Vis!" she shouted, clearly frustrated as she reached for it in vain. "Don't make me take you down in the middle of the cafeteria!"

"Relax Tiger, it's just some fun," Poe said with a laugh, stealing a chip from Elias' plate. "What's the hurry?"