The Girl Who Doesnt Talk

Rey and Ben have been living together for two weeks, but they're still very much strangers to one another. They both know they need to stop being so. They're also both good at sticking to a plan; trouble is, neither of them agreed to come up with a plan together. They're more similar than they realize; even if their nightmares come from vastly different places. Written for HC Bingo - PTSD

\+ Rey Kenobi was tagged 'safe' in _The Crestfield Complex Fire_ (2 weeks ago) Poe Dameron, Finn Park, & 75 other users liked this.

\+ Rey Kenobi is now friends with Ben Solo. (2 weeks ago)

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Rey was half-awake when she heard a soft thump behind her and then felt small feet walking up her back. A moment later, a furry face pressed itself in the narrow space between her neck and her pillow and proceeded to purr right in her ear. How something so small could make a noise to rival a jet engine baffled her. The first time the cat had done so, she had fairly jumped out of bed, forgetting that she was in a new apartment and that there was a small animal now living with her. When she had sprang out of bed, she had tripped over her backpack, landed flat on her ass, and that overgrown puppy dog she called a roommate had been at her door in panic, worried she'd hit her head.

Okay, maybe she was being a little hard on Ben. It wasn't that his concerned nature was bothersome; it was just unfamiliar.

Evidently not content with being on the outside of the covers, Arya wormed her way under the comforter, smacking the other occupant of the bed in the face with her tail as she did so. “And you're the one with a personal fur coat.” She grumbled and opened her eyes, glaring at her alarm clock. It was just after seven in the morning.

She lifted up the bedclothes, looking down at the cat who had settled near her feet. “I don't suppose I can convince you to make the bed for a change?” She slid out of bed, pulling on a sweatshirt and her socks from where she had discarded them before getting into bed last night. It was the start of Thanksgiving Break and two of her professors had scheduled exams for today, most likely as a deterrent to keep people from cutting class. She could hear Ben in the bathroom, the starting to become familiar sounds of his razor tapping against the sink, the rush of water, and the way the last thing he always did before leaving that room was blow his nose. Rey ducked into the kitchen and picked up her coffee mug from the drying rack next to the sink.

“Morning.” Ben mumbled as he came into the kitchen, grabbing a box of cereal from the pantry and the milk from the fridge.

“No conversation before coffee.” She replied, rubbing her eyes. “Not unless you're willing to go take my Psychology exam.”

“If it means you'll go present my paper on the merits of the recent surge of post-apocalyptic young adult novels, you got it.” He cringed as he set the bowl on the long counter and poured out his cereal. “Well, at least it wasn't vampires.”

Rey chuckled and picked one of the coffee pods out of the basket. “I have a shift at the store after classes.” She yawned. “We need anything?”

“I don't believe so.” He grabbed a spoon out of the drawer and leaned against the counter as he ate. “You work Thursday?”

“I volunteered, I knew we weren't planning anything.” She stuck her mug under the dispenser and hit the brew button. “You?”

“The fun filled three-to eight shift, better known as the 'I'm sorry you have to work on the holiday' shift.” He grumbled. “Then turn right around and come back for the eight to noon on Black Friday.” He gave her a slight grin. “But hey, time and a half, right?”

“Time and a half.” Rey replied, pulling her now full mug and took and took a large sip of coffee. “That's better.” She leaned against the other counter, her mind shifting to her exam and the terms she'd spent the last night going over. “Do you really have that many people ordering custom frames for Christmas?”

He nodded. “It's the biggest holiday for it, followed by Mother's Day. Of course then, it's mostly photographs.” He scratched his nose, his focus on his cereal. “You see enough of them, you start to see the body language of families that are generally happy and those that are putting up a good front.”

She nodded as she took another sip of coffee. From the window next to her, she could see the iron gray sky that heralded another bout of snow, most likely before the morning was out. The store would be a mad house by the time she got there. One would think that the natives would be used to this kind of weather and would plan accordingly. “Glad I don't work at the airport.”

“If there's one place that knows how to handle what nature sends our way, it's the ground crew of O'Hare. They're probably salting the runways as we speak.” He tilted the bowl up finish off the milk. “I have a friend who got stuck in Tokyo for sixteen hours over half an inch of snow.”

Rey chuckled. “Seriously? Half an inch?” She shook her head as she took another sip from her mug, heading back up towards the entrance of the room. “then again, Houston would probably do the exact same thing.”

“What, not enough horses to plow the runway?” He smirked and she poked him in the arm. “I'm kidding!”

“I'd like to see you handle a hurricane warning.” She retorted, annoyed, as she swept past him. Ben could be downright insufferable when he wanted to be. He probably thought it was cute, but really – it wasn't. Well, okay, maybe just a little.

“Hurricanes Alan, Ingrid and Tropical Storm Keith.” He replied and she had to bite her lip keep herself from shooting back several names of storms she'd had to evacuate for – starting with Francis. Instead, she glared at him and went back to her room to get ready for the day. They might have been living together for two weeks, knew how each other took their coffee, what they liked for breakfast, their brand of tooth paste and soap, and if she added up all the classes, she's seen him naked eleven times, but they still were very much strangers to one another.

Rey went over to her window, both hands wrapped around her mug, absently wondering if Lake Michigan was as gray as the sky right now. She wasn't a fan of holidays, so she certainly didn't mind working on them. Last Thanksgiving was unquestionably the best one of her life; Poe had invited both her and Finn to dinner at his house. There had been more food than she could have possibly imagined at one meal; the table was practically groaning under the dishes. She wouldn't mind being back at the Dameron house right about now.