He can't speak at all now, the lump in his throat is too big. He won't sound like himself, he'd sound weak, emotional. And however accurate that may be right now, it's not who Tendou Satori is. He's not emotional, he's not serious- he's fun, he's an enigma, he's a monster, a mystery, unshakable, unfeeling.

Every breakup is difficult, Leia says. Even before you add intergalactic politics to the mix.

things that happen after the war: diplomacy, bureaucracy, sex

Poe awaits Finn's arrival at a busy spaceport after a long, lonely year spent on opposite ends of the galaxy.

"Even stars burn out" (c) Matthew Stover.

Poe allowed himself one brief moment to imagine himself with Finn, to imagine what could be. Then, he let that moment go. Bright, young, future-lawyers don’t deserve to be weighed down by broken ex-pilots turned bakers with issues a mile long.

And that was all right.

Because Poe wasn’t lonely.

He doesn’t get nightmares. He doesn’t dream about the mask, the cries of the villagers, waking up in the desert with a blinding headache and his mouth filled with blood and the man who’d saved him gone, most likely dead.

Instead, he just can’t sleep.

"They think they're just friends," Jess explains. "With benefits, sure. Don't get me wrong, friends with benefits is great if that's what you want. But now it's like they're locked into this holding pattern where things are good enough, and neither of them is willing to take the next step."

"Maybe there is no next step," Finn says, and he can hear the belligerence in his tone; he's not really sure where it's coming from. "Maybe things really are good enough."

Or, the one where Poe has the flu and Finn takes care of him, all the while insisting that they're NOT ACTUALLY TOGETHER, although everyone in the Resistance has this idea that they are.

Picking up right after A Little White Dove With Black Eyes, and filling in the gap in the last chapter of Found Cat: here is the glorious not all that elaborate sex scene that is Finn and Poe's first time.
Poe POV, since I wrote it in continuity with Little White Dove.

Finn's newly-settled in his first real apartment, and a stray cat turns up. She has a collar, and a tag, so he calls the number on the tag.

Rey isn’t sure that anyone really loves anyone else on Jakku. She isn’t sure it’s possible to let your guard down that far in a place that wants to swallow you up, scorch you, starve you. Love makes you soft, exposes the guttable parts of you. It wouldn’t be safe to love anyone. Nobody would be stupid enough.

Rey saves a life, meets her family, falls in love, grows up, and learns that she doesn't know anything at all. Not necessarily in that order.

In the new universe they'd made, where everything was still new and complicated and difficult, loving the two of them had been the only sure and easy thing.

Other people, apparently, have been talking to Finn about him. He ought to be flattered, because it seems that he comes recommended by his co-workers. You should fuck Poe Dameron, they say. Everyone’s slept with him - he’s great in bed, he’ll make you breakfast, and he won’t make it weird afterwards!

Which is absolutely a service he can offer Finn. He can. He’s an adult and he’s going to have to, because if he wasn’t offering that, he should have said so up front and not let Finn come back to his room on false pretences.

Poe's X-wing is badly damaged and he barely escapes the wreckage. Finn doesn't know how to process what the thought of losing Poe does to him.

The day it dawns on him what all the circumspection is about, he could just about scream. They think 'troopers are celibate, he realizes. They think he's never had sex. They think he doesn't – or didn't, until just recently – know what sex is. He can forgive himself for taking so long to work it out, he decides almost immediately, because really? Really?

Here’s the thing about gratitude: after a while, even that becomes tedious. I’m so lucky to be here, to be alive, he’ll think, and another voice in his head will chime in, kriffing hell, Finn, we get it. Enough already. So much gratitude. He might be going a little insane with it.

There is, however, one thing he’s not bored with, and certain he never will be.

After being injured on a routine mission, Poe somehow loses his memory of the past few years of his life. He doesn't know how many friends have lost their lives. He doesn't know who Finn is. He doesn't even know what the Resistance is. But the doctors claim his memories will reemerge soon, so trying not to panic is on the top of his to-do list.

Finn tries to find his place in the galaxy. Poe tries to find his place in Finn's life.

"Poe tells everyone about being rescued by a handsome Stormtrooper. Everyone."

FN-2187 may have been the first stormtrooper to defect, but he certainly won't be the last - still, Poe has to be surprised by how very young the Resistance's newest recruits are. Finn, on the other hand, is not.

“Of course they’d send you,” Phasma says, the first time she’s spoken since they put her in here.
“I volunteered,” FN-2187 tells her.
“What a proud moment for you,” she says.
“I didn’t,” the pilot says with an unpleasant little smirk as he leans against the wall, hand hanging next to the holster on his thigh.

“Physical therapy,” Poe explains. “It’s you know, to help you get back into working order after you take a hit. A few work outs here and there until the muscle memory comes back. I’m sure even the troopers had to have something like that, right?”

Finn shakes his head. “Usually if we got hit too badly they just pull the plug."

Rey is straightforward where Finn is not, and shore leave has its perks.

Poe is in his flight suit, which is plenty unfair in and of itself, but the worst part comes when he takes off his helmet and drags a hand through his hair. It’s tousled, damp with sweat; Finn can tell from the way loose strands cling to Poe’s fingers.

Poe turns, and their eyes meet. Poe smiles, yells something in greeting. Finn waves in return, wondering how many members of the Resistance have already been struck by this same maddening, overwhelming feeling of want, courtesy of Poe Dameron.

Dozens, he bets.

There is such a thing as being too committed

"You wear your heart on your sleeve, Finn," Jess Pava tells him one day after weapon training. "You need a better poker face."

"That's fine. I will tell what I think if they ask." Snap and Pava exchange a look that speaks volumes, and Finn is very tempted to tell them they are not exactly opaque themselves. "I wore a mask most of my life. It is refreshing to be allowed to express whatever I want without fear of reconditioning."



Finn learns how to interact with people, how to fit in the resistance, and that maybe he is not as transparent as he might have believed.

Finn rolls over on the cell bench when he hears Poe, and he even looks surprised, kriff. Like Poe would ever leave him. “What the - Poe?“ he scrambles to sit up. “Are you insane?”

“Not clinically,” Poe answers, even though that’s been debated. “Come on, we’ve got places to be.”

Rey’s seen that look before; alternatively, a galactic soap opera.

Poe sighs and goes into the breach. “Finn. He was trying to ask you out.”
“Everyone’s been trying to ask you out,” Nien mutters, turning back to his food.

Finn wakes up and the first thing he sees is Poe. Cue awkward feelings from both and Leia telling them to cut the shit and kiss.

Poe is smitten. Finn is adorable. Jessika is so done with these hopeless idiots.

That. That had not just happened. If there truly was a light and benevolent side of the Force, then the man Poe had fallen madly in love with surely, surely, had not just asked him for dating advice.

In the market for a last name, Finn knows which one he wants, but thinks it might be a little too quick to start introducing himself as Finn Dameron. Poe helps him come up with a solution and manages to help name him once more in a way that may not be entirely so selfless.

Finn is on the mend, technically.

In which Jessika and Temmin do their best, aren't even subtle about it, and Poe and Finn are still morons.

Finn discovers the differences first hand between the First Order and the Resistance and establishes a space for himself on D'Qar.

Finn learns droidspeak and love (with varying degrees of success)

“But I don’t even know if I like her,” she says plaintively. “I just–think she’s really cool and pretty, and want her to think I’m cool and pretty, and want to spend time with her all the time, and–”

"Yeah, that's liking someone. Look, I’m about as far as you can get from an expert,” Finn says gently, “but maybe just go for it. That’s what I did, and it paid off pretty well.”

Rey groans and flops back onto the grass. “All right,” she says, “but consider this as an alternate option: I don’t say anything about it to Jess, ever, and then one day I die.”

Finn keeps finding himself in situations where – no, wait, let's start over. Poe keeps ending up shirtless, nearly shirtless, or soaking wet, and somehow Finn is always there when it happens. The universe is either taunting him with what he can't have or rewarding him for good behavior, and Finn can't decide which is more likely. Either way, he's emotionally unprepared for, oh, let's be honest here: Poe's entire existence. It's fine. No big deal. He's working on it.

"Keep it," he says. "It suits you," and has to bite his lip to keep anything else from spilling out of his big mouth.

Ukai doesn't like watching his students graduate.

Ennoshita Ren opened the door, smiling brightly at her son...
“Chikara you are finally...”
… until she saw Ryū standing next to him.
“... here.”

“What the fuck is a Kou-chan?”

In which Daichi fucks up and his team is the worst.

Ennoshita thinks he's pretty average and Tanaka thinks he's just pretty.

"I'll treat you to whatever you want if we qualify for nationals." The words tumble out of his mouth. He almost wants to take them back as soon as he says them.

"Whatever I want?" Kindaichi asks, grinning. There's a glint in his eyes and a lump in Kunimi's throat.

"Yeah," Kunimi nods. "Whatever you want," he repeats.

Remember when Kunimi bought a tube of lipstick as part of Kindaichi's birthday surprise ?

Kindaichi needs a break, because he thinks his first name is now Kunimi's choice of weapon.

"Just take them, would you? You weren't so stubborn about it last year."
"Last year, things were different."
Chocolates, and a crisp February evening.

Kunimi had a disease that caused any magic he used to be tainted with his emotions and desires, so it was understandable that he was a little freaked out when he baked a crush into a breakfast roll without even realizing he'd done so.

“That boy you like,” Oikawa said. “Tall, has a shallot in place of hair? He looks at you as if he has a crush on you.” And then Oikawa strode out of the kitchen, humming a catchy melody, apron strings hanging haphazardly down his back.

Kunimi stood stock-still, whisk trailing batter into the bowl. Kuroo flattened his mouth as if he were tasting something unpleasant and said, “Don’t let Oikawa hear me say this, but he’s kind of right.”

Kunimi Akira keeps an invisible bubble of personal space around him that he does not like other people to invade.
Kindaichi Yuutarou is the only exception to the rule.
Oikawa Tooru (of course) notices this.
Oho.
Oho ho.

"Maybe it wasn't fair of me to do that," Kunimi says eventually, when Kindaichi has gone quiet. "To quit before Interhigh."

"No shit," Kindaichi says wetly. His eyes are still leaking tears, even if he's not sobbing anymore. "Were you afraid of losing? I know it sucks. It hurts. It—" His face screws up again.

Bokuto can't hit crosses anymore and can't score to save his life until a quiet, calm voice steers him in the right direction.

Ushijima Wakatoshi makes friends with the most unexpected people.

Asahi pwns a spike, Noya is enthused, and they have a captive audience from the other side of the net.

When a heavy rainstorm lands Kunimi at Kindaichi's place for the weekend, Kunimi has a lot of time to think about his oldest, best friend and what their relationship means to him.

"I don't think we should hang out so much anymore outside of practice."

* * *

Kunimi Akira's parents have expectations. People assuming he and Kindaichi are together because of their constant proximity is not conducive to these expectations.

Kindaichi wakes up and it’s not light that greets him, but the hollow patter of rain. Belatedly, the static-laden radio announcement of an oncoming storm replays in his head and he looks out the window to see a world swaddled in gray.

Alisa is interested in getting a haircut, but the idea makes her a little nervous. She ends up in Karasuno Salon, in the hands of a particularly charismatic stylist.

Snapshots of a relationship.

Hitoka visits Shimizu at university.

Yui is hard at work wooing Shimizu... to play for the girls volleyball team. Shimizu may have missed that last part.

Hanamaki gets a job as a bartender. Matsukawa likes his uniform. (Alternatively: Matsukawa tries to ignore his huge crush on his friend-with-benefits. He fails.)

Tanaka Ryuunosuke had a lot to learn - about himself, about Ennoshita Chikara, and that "happily ever after" is rarely a direct path.

Sleepovers are a birthday tradition.

Tanaka Ryuunosuke had a lot to learn - about himself, about Ennoshita Chikara, and that "happily ever after" is rarely a direct path.

“Put on your freaking shirt, you idiot!” Chikara growled, shoving the piece of cloth back at him with a little too much force.
“Admit it, Chikara,” Tanaka shot back cockily, “you like seeing me shirtless.”

---

Ennoshita has a crush on Tanaka and is trying to figure out how to deal with it, while also trying to be a good senpai and captain for the rest of the team.

Suga sunk into brightness, yellows and golds;
It was bright, like sunshine and child's laughter on a summer day.
He let his eyes fall shut to the lullaby of the Ohmu.

An apostate's guide to popular fiction.

(Or: Hawke runs headlong into Cassandra's book club, Varric comes along for the ride.)

“I just saved your life, you know!” The man called after him. “What’s your name? Don’t you want to know mine?”
He did want to know, which surprised him. What use did he have for a human’s name?
He didn’t respond, but he stopped.
“It’s Bokuto,” the man said.
Keiji didn’t stick around to hear any more.

Keiji is a child of the spirits, and Bokuto is painfully human. Together, they try to bridge the gaps.

Every story is actually two stories, and now Hinata and Kageyama get to tell theirs.

a campfire in your chest companion piece.

Kei realizes in their second year of high school that he's probably been in love with Yamaguchi since they were ten. However hopeless he might be in handling that situation, Kei prays he's at least not as hopeless as Hinata and Kageyama. But he just might be.

Tsukishima Kei was pretty sure he was destined to watch out for Yamaguchi Tadashi.

Or the fic where Tadashi is diabetic.

It's a hot day and as they wait for Oikawa and Iwaizumi to turn up for practise, Takahiro watches his friend and wishes he ... or maybe they ... were elsewhere.

Two are stronger than one.

Ryuji asks Akira for dating advice.
Practice makes perfect.

Sakamoto has always been oblivious about mundane things. A dual-faced Phantom Thief of Hearts would change that in a heartbeat – and probably steal the faux-blonde’s heart in the process. Well, probably.

She wants to make it perfect.

Kenma's in his third year at Nekoma, Kuroo's in his first year at Tokai University, and the boys are attempting to navigate one year of a long-distance relationship... where 'long-distance' is measured by a forty-minute train ride and a mountain of obligations barring the way. But the more things change, the more they stay the same, and the more precious every moment.

--

While there are other ships that feature heavily in the background of this fic, I didn't want to take up space in their respective tags because they are rarely the focus. But there will be background Kageyama/Hinata moments and a Bokuto/Akaashi subplot.
Also I'm very serious about that fluff. This will literally aim to be chapters and chapters of fluff.
Relevant content warnings will be present at the beginning of every chapter as necessary.

It didn’t have to mean that she and Yukiko were…like that, what they did. Not necessarily.

Maybe the fumes in Kanji’s bathhouse had just gotten to them, spending so many hours in there fighting and sweating. They’d been tired, and sore, and Chie had eaten too much at Aiya, and hadn’t wanted to walk home after she dropped Yukiko off at the inn, and when they’d gotten under the covers together, maybe all those factors had just come together and gotten a little messy and –

Chie stands up and busies herself trying to find her jacket and her socks. Maybe it had been nothing but them both being tired and addled from spending too long in the TV.

When Yukiko comes out of the shower, Chie thinks, they’ll talk about it.
--
After saving Kanji from the TV, Chie and Yukiko’s relationship goes in a significantly different direction than either of them expected. Turns out that just facing your Shadow isn’t enough to resolve all your issues – the rest have to be unpacked, one by one, piece by piece.

Plot twist: it turns out Yosuke doesn't have any problems with Yu kissing guys if it's Yosuke he's kissing.