The Bird and the Flame -- Poe Dameron

V

"Poe Dameron coming in," Tatoni heard from the front of the ship. She was packing her things because she knew she had to see how everything was going and how many ships gotten fixed when she was gone from the resistance base. She also had to see if Rusk had blown anything while she was gone.

She could only hope that everything would be in order. 

Please, Rusk. she repeatedly thought.

Once she heard the hiss of the ramp pulling down to the ground, she threw her bag over her shoulder and picked up her toolbox, ready for the days work.

"Leaving so quickly?" Poe asked as he leaned against the doorway, watching her make her way toward the exit.

"She's got to get to work." Tallie sighed as she walked towards the back of the ship, leaving only Tatoni and Poe together.

"You just never stop working, do you?"

"Can't afford to. Too many ships depend on me."

Poe simply nodded his head and Tatoni began to step down the ramp before she paused, hearing Poe sigh. "Dots..."

She turned around to see him standing directly in front of her, dangerously close, with a confused look on his face. His scent was intoxicating, like a light airy freshness in a blue sky with an after-rain dewy scent. So calm, so welcoming.

She would have replied, but she couldn't find the words or her heartbeat as he looked down at her, and as quickly as the blink of an eye, he was smirking.

"Isn't that why there are other mechanics?" he asked, lifting his arm over her shoulder and leaning against the archway.

"What- oh..." she instinctively took a step back as she began to think again, to breathe again. "There are others, but I'm the one that keeps things in order."

"You're the brains behind it all?"

Tatoni shook her head no before slightly nodding. "Sort of, but also no."

He lifted his gaze past her, down at all of the other ships and resistance workers, before looking down into her eyes. "Everything seems in order." he hummed.

"It seems like it, but it never really is." She took another step back before hesitantly turning around to make her way down the ramp.

Why was he looking at me like that?

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she ran into a pilot "sorry." she grunted before pulling herself back to reality. Plopping her things at her work station, she looked on her desk and grabbed her datapad containing all of the information about each ship and what work was done on it, sat down, and began skimming her eyes over the information.

Sure, her station was in the middle of the hangar, surrounded by people calling out orders and having lively discussions on how stormtroopers can't shoot. To say the least, it was boisterous and ever so slightly hectic, but she didn't mind. It was almost calming to her, in a sense. The noise also kept her eyes open, especially since she had barely gotten any sleep.

After all, she had grown up around this lifestyle. Ever since Tatoni could remember, her small family was always taking in small jobs. Her mom would stitch-up people who could barely afford to eat and Tatoni would join work with her dad at the workshop where he used to fix racers and droids.

It was a life of barely getting by until resistance workers had come into town and asked both of her parents to consider joining. Ever since then, Tatoni was seen by her dad's side overlooking his work, and as she grew she began correcting his work.