Just Us

Chapter 9: Cool Water, Stary Sky

As the days progressed Rey's love for Ben grew more and more. Although she still hadn't said it out loud yet, she showed it in little gestures of affection like leaning on his shoulder, or playing with his hair.

They began to fall into a steady routine that, although went through similar activities, never got boring. They would wake up at sunrise, eat, and go meditate together on the cliff. Then they would train with the Force or even play duel. Then in the afternoon, they'd take walks, play with the porgs, or just talk for hours about anything they wanted to till one of them made dinner.

Rey was so pleased with Ben's progress. He was getting better and stronger in the Light every day. Their dyad in the Force was getting stronger too. They could now open a bound with ease and they were getting better at passing things between it. They still couldn't master the teleporting though, that remained a one time mystery.

One particularly sunny morning, Rey decided to mix things up a little bit. The water was calmer than usual and the sky was clear; It looked like the perfect day for a swim which was something they had not done yet.

After breakfast as Ben began to head in the direction of the cliff, Rey stopped him.

"I thought we'd do something a little bit special today, wait here." She said before heading into her hut to get changed, leaving a confused Ben outside.

Rey dug through her bag until she found her bating suit that Rose had gotten her during their time on Ajan Kloss. It was a bright blue bikini with silver trim.

She quickly put it on and came out of the hut smiling.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked, striking a pose.

Ben was speechless. She saw his eyes scanning her body up and down as if he was trying to convince himself of what he saw.

"It's....it's....beautiful." he said quietly after a minute of silence.

Rey smiled, did a little turn.

"Don't just stand their," she said, "come on, we're going swimming the weather is perfect!"

"Wait, you mean right now? What am I going to wear?"

"I'm sure I got you some shorts or something in that bag of cloths. Just go find something and I'll wait out here."

Ben, still staring at her, backed into his hut and re-emerged a few moments later wearing some black shorts.

"This was the closest thing I could find." he said.

"It's perfect. Come o-" Rey stopped suddenly and put her hand around her back. One of her straps was twisted, pinching her uncomfortably.

"Dang it, my strap is twisted. Ben could you help me for a second?"

———————

"Sure." Ben said still not fully used to the sight of Rey in a bathing suit. He'd never seen someone with so little on, let alone the most beautiful person in the galaxy.

He walked up behind Rey and hesitantly reached out and took the strap. As he turned it, he let his fingers linger on her skin for a moment. It was so soft and he once again felt the desperate urge to hold her and kiss her all over.

But he refrained and stepped away when he finished fixing her strap, wondering if Rey had every sensed the way he felt about her.

The thought made him blush.

——————
Rey had to keep herself from blushing. As soon as Ben had stared untwisting the strap she'd felt it. The desire for him to stay there forever. She wondered if Ben could sense it too.