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“Just got done with installing power bafflers onto our shuttles,” Rose announced while wiping sweat off her brow. She stood on the ramp of the last shuttle, admiring her handiwork.
Finn beamed from his spot next to her as he helped the pilots with a few pre-flight inspections. Lately, he had been trying to take on more tasks, though Rose warned him not to overdo it. “Great work!”
He held his hand up, palm flat. Rose understood what he was doing and slapped her own flat palm to his with a grin.
His smile was absolutely radiant.
“Yes!” Rey exclaimed as she got the engine of a particularly fussy A-wing running for the first time in weeks. She knew she could try to salvage what was still usable and replace parts with old scrap that was still in good condition. General Organa was particularly pleased with her skillset; Rey’s days of scavenging had led to the Resistance saving tons of credits for their already-tight purse strings.
“Hey, great job,” Karé looked over her work. “I haven’t heard it purr like that in a long time.”
Excited, Rey held her hand up, palm flat, for Karé to slap her own hand to it.
“Have you guys noticed Finn and Rey keep high-fiving everyone for the smallest of things?”
Poe was amused by this at first, realizing the pair had just discovered the gesture and were joyed to partake in it, but then, once they were giving out high-fives to him for doing the most benign tasks like putting on his flight suit or finishing his meal, he got a little annoyed.
“Rey high-fived me while I was walking out of the ‘fresher,” said Jess. “Things got weird.”
“And I thought Finn was being a perv when he gave me one after I told him I had spent the evening with my wife, but then I realized it was just his way of greeting me in the morning,” groaned Snap, though this got a laugh out of Karé.
Poe ran his hand over his jaw. “Yeah, I’m getting the feeling neither of them know when exactly they’re supposed to give high-fives.” Rey probably wouldn’t, considering she had raised herself and it sounded like she tried to avoid being too friendly with other scavengers. Also, he guessed the First Order probably didn’t use that sort of gesture. It sounded like Finn had nothing that resembled a friend back then.
Birds of a feather, those two.
Sighing, Poe decided he needed to give them a very serious talk about the proper uses of high-fives, of all things. He wasn’t sure if he found this funny or potentially awkward.
He found them hanging out with BB-8 in an empty corridor, trying to teach him how to use his metal claw like a hand to mirror their gestures.
“See? This isn’t hard, Beebee.” Rey was smiling as she held her hand up to let BB-8 touch it.
“Now try again, but quicker, like a slap,” instructed Finn.
The droid voiced his concerns about slapping Finn, not wanting to hurt him.
“No, Bee,” he corrected. “It won't hurt, if you do it right. Just try again.” He held his hand up, bracing himself for a rough impact.
BB-8 tilted his head curiously as he observed how Finn was holding his hand out. Then, he raised his metal arm out and quickly tapped the claw to Finn’s palm. Rey clapped her hands together and BB-8 rolled back and forth on his axis as he made a loud screech in exclamation.
“That’s right, Beebee-ate,” Rey praised.
Poe heard his droid ask them a question, but he couldn’t hear the full string of binary from where he watched them. Rey translated for Finn.
Finn pursed his lips in thought. “Well, I know you’re supposed to do this when something good is done,” he began.
“But it seems like good is subjective,” Rey hummed.
“So maybe like good job or congratulations?” Finn wondered.
“Something like that, maybe. I know I’ve done it and felt awkward afterwards, like I wasn’t doing it right and the other person was looking at me like I was weird. Some people use it as a greeting though. I've seen it.” She laughed. “Hey, Beebee, we can make that our secret greeting.”
The astromech seemed very pleased by this and Poe no longer had the heart to give them a talk. Besides, they seemed to be catching on.
He wasn’t going to worry about them. They had this.