A Lesson to Learn

Chapter 9

 Since their lunch date on Sunday, Kylo made it a point to go visit Rey at the First Order as often as possible to "read his book" and "try new beverages". He was glad the book he had chosen was quite lengthy, well over five hundred pages of small print, so he could pop in there for more than just a little while as he used his reading as an excuse to talk to and flirt with Rey. Sure, he could see her whenever he wanted to thanks to his concealment charm, but talking to her was so much more fun, and it honestly made him feel less like a creeper stalker. While Kylo missed his all day play time with Chewie, he was sure that Chewie wouldn't mind making up for lost time when their movie night rolled up on Saturday (and it wasn't as if he didn't get to play with Kylo whenever he wasn't busy trying to woo Rey).

This late afternoon was Thursday and Kylo was busy trying to figure out his next course of action given that his fail safe excuse of reading his book was slowly but surely coming to an end. Maybe he would take up another book or take to doing some more specifically "human" activities like getting overly invested in a magazine or newspaper. Not that Rey couldn't see right through his half assed excuse anyway. And not that it seemed to matter to her that he would come almost daily to visit her at work, if even for a short amount of time. Rey had even become quite fond of flexing her barista muscles and showing off for him, going as far as to make his favorite dessert into a coffee - a ridiculously sweet but absolutely delicious white mocha chocolate raspberry coffee. She truly was going to single-handedly be the cause of his new sweet tooth.

As he thought about his next venture, debating on whether reading human magazines would enlighten him further on mortal affairs or "humanize" him perhaps a bit too much for his liking (he had become quite fond of Rolling Stone and The New Yorker), he made his way into the shop and spotted Poe working the counter.

Throughout his brief time visiting the First Order, Kylo had buddied up to Rey's co-workers and while doing so he made his best effort to be as friendly as possible. In reality, Kylo would rather visit Hell's less charming areas reserved for the worst wayward souls than have idle chit chats with people he didn't care about, but this was Rey he was pursuing and she was a family woman through and through - meaning that if Rey cared about them, Kylo had to at least pretend to care about them. So, begrudgingly, Kylo put his best foot forward and turned up his devilish charm to the highest degree, especially wherever Poe was involved.

"Hey, Poe, nice haircut! With that new look you might get some unwelcome advances... Better put up a warning sign next time that the baristas are just as too hot to handle as the coffees," Kylo joked with his best toothy grin.

"You know, if I wasn't involved elsewhere and didn't quite obviously bat for the other team, I would definitely be hitting you up, Ren... you terrible flirty fiend, you." Poe regarded Kylo with a wink. Maybe too much charm, Ren, Kylo reflected with more than mild amusement.

Kylo shrugged as if feigning innocence. "Maybe in another life, Poe. But as it is now, you are otherwise entangled and I am busy trying to catch a certain lady's attention. Where's Rey at, by the way?"

"She's in the back office trying to get some of our more business-y stuff together. It's almost the end of the month so bills have to be paid, inventory has to be done, and things have to get ordered. Especially as we move further into the holiday season. Usually we switch off every month and unluckily for her she gets October and December. But I get Black Friday, so who is the real winner, am I right?" Poe answered, motioning to a closed door that was to the side and behind him. Kylo made a mental note to research Black Friday, pretty sure that it wasn't anything as gruesome as what he was picturing in his mind.

"Can't tell for sure. Thanks, Poe. I'll give her a text and see if I'm welcome to intrude or if she needs some quiet. Also, can I have a chai latte?" Kylo asked as he put down a twenty, Poe knowing by now that Kylo would refuse the change if Poe tried to give it back to him. Kylo had tried putting bigger bills down before but registered quickly that it made them wildly uncomfortable, so he settled for the highest bill he could offer without later finding the change tucked into his dog-eared page in his book. Twenty seemed to be just about the limit, especially since he only ever bought a drink or pastry at a time and ordered several times while he was there.