Imagine Person A of your OTP trying to sneak into Person B's shower, and then failing miserably because Person B likes ice cold showers. magineyourotp on tumblr.
Ben yawns while sitting up, stretching out his body and glancing out the window, trying to determine what time it is. The bed next to him is empty but still warm so it can't be that early, although Rey gets up earlier than anybody that he's ever known, including his uncle. The girl had blushed when he'd asked once, telling him that she'd had to be up early to travel, to find parts to sell to Unkar Plutt for food. Rey had obviously not wanted to talk about it, kissing him and changing the subject so Ben hadn't pressed it.
Now, he stands up slowly, not bothering to pull any clothes on. He can hear the sound of water running in the refresher that's connected to his room and he knows that it can only be Rey. Nobody else dares to venture towards his quarters. The war is over, the debts he owes to the galaxy in the process of being paid. Still, even his mother keeps her distance from his area, preferring to meet him in places that are more neutral.
Ben thinks about their day that they have ahead of them. When Ben had come back to the Light Side, he'd been put on a probation of sorts. There was no going back to training, no lightsaber, no using the Force besides what his natural instincts are. Rey had been planning on training with Luke, had wanted to help him oversee the reconstruction of the Jedi Order, but she'd chosen to stay with Ben. Ben will never understand how he got so lucky that she has not only forgiven him but let him into her heart.
It's taken a while for the two to get closer. Even though Ben is older, he's never had a serious relationship or any type of commitment in love. Neither had Rey. She'd grown up on Jakku, dodging men who would use her for their own gain, and during the war she hadn't had time for anything more than an embarrassing flirtation that had ended with the boy she'd been interested in dating another boy. He knows that she's happy for Finn and Poe but he always knows that she wonders whether it was her that was lacking. For everything she's done for him, Ben has tried to make sure she knows that she lacks nothing.
There's nothing too pressing on their agenda so Ben smiles the kind of smile that only Rey gets out of him lately. It's only been within the last few weeks that Rey has let him see her without some sort of covering on her body and he's been making the most of it. Even when he hasn't been introducing her to the world of sex, that she's taken to with enthusiasm, he's been spending every moment he can pressed intimately to her.
Now, he heads towards the refresher, intent on joining her in the shower. It's the kind of thing that he's never done before but that seems to be romantic. A stray thought of his parents showering together when he was a child is quickly pushed to the back of his mind. He does not need his mood ruined that way right now.
He steps into the refresher quietly, intending not on scaring her, it's a bad idea to scare a Jedi he's learned and she can probably sense him coming closer anyway, but at least surprising her. It's a relief to him to be with somebody who doesn't expect much from him, somebody who's prepared to work their way through a relationship together.
He can see the outline of her body through the frosted glass, her head back and her hands running through her hair. Ben loves when her hair's down, when it's framing her face, her eyelids fluttering as he holds her, her body shaking as he fucks into her. As he opens the door slowly, seeing that her eyes are closed to shield herself from the suds streaming down her body, he's thankful that they have plenty of time for whatever they want in the shower.
There's no sound from the woman in front of him as he steps into the shower, moving forward until he's under the spray of water. And then he stops, a low groan leaving his lips as the water washes over him. Rey's eyes snap open but his mind is completely off of her now. All he can think is that there has to be something wrong. He's been knocked unconscious and is picturing himself on some ice planet, perhaps back on Starkiller Base. There is no way that this frigid water is coming from his shower.
"What are you doing?" Rey shrieks, her hands coming up to brush the soap out of her eyes as he takes a step back, steadying himself with a hand against the wall as he nearly slips.
"What am I doing? What are you doing?" Ben responds, his body erupting in goosebumps and a chill threatening to make him start shaking. "Why are you standing here in this water?"
Rey stares at him as if he's gained another head, her lips parted and how in the world is she standing there under that water the way that she is? All Ben wants to do is run back to burrow under the covers like he's a child again. "I'm washing my hair! What do you think I'm doing in the shower? Why are you in here while I am?"
That makes Ben stop and blink because it's the kind of thing that makes him acutely aware of the differences in their childhood. Rey's never had the kind of people to compare love to. Of course, she's read and she's listened and heard but it's more practical knowledge than learning about love and intimacy. "I was planning on joining you for a shower," Ben responds, reaching his hands up to rub against his upper arms, wondering if he can actually rub fast enough to catch himself on fire. Anything would be better than the cold he's feeling now.
"Why?" Rey asks again, gritting her teeth and he can see the tells in her body, the way that she's considering hiding herself from him.
Ben wants to reach out and pull her into his arms, tell her that he wants to be close to her in a way that makes him feel weak but he can't make his body work. "I wanted to be close to you and perhaps repeat last night but I'm not sure that my body will ever be able to do that now," Ben says, his words a bit harsher than he means them to be. It's a testament to how much he cares about her that he's still in the shower instead of fleeing for some place warmer.
Rey stares at him, opening her mouth to respond but she's interrupted by the sound of the door sliding open and then the sounds of boots against the floor and fast breathing.
"What's going on? Rey are you okay?"
Ben curses himself inwardly as he realizes that he hadn't bothered to completely close the glass door and there stand the two that Rey calls her best friends. Immediately, like any gentleman, he steps in front of Rey, staring at the men. He has to wince because the movement puts him right in the cold spray again.
A flush climbs up Rey's cheeks as this time she does cover her body, one arm wrapping over her chest as the other slides down between her legs. "Finn!?"
"We- Oh," Poe says immediately and the two look as if they're blushing themselves. Ben swears though that he can see some kind of amusement twitching at the corner of Poe's mouth at least.
"We heard you scream," Finn mumbles, looking anywhere but at Ben's exposed body. He has nothing to hide in his own shower and annoyance keeps him from protecting any false modesty the men are displaying.
Clearing his throat loudly, Ben stares at the two pointedly, putting on his angriest and darkest face. It's the kind that he had perfected as a teenager, wanting to appear as if his heart was dark enough to betray the Light. "As if there haven't been instances of everybody else hearing you two screaming. Rey was simply surprised by me joining her when she thought I was asleep. Get out of my room. Rey will find you later."
"Be nice," Rey growls behind him, pressing her body against his, her tiny arms wrapping around his stomach and her cheek resting against his back. Her body is nearly as cold as the water and he has to resist the urge to fling her off of him. They still have to talk about the cold water. "Finn, Poe, please."
Finn and Poe exchange a look before Poe nods, reaching down to grab Finn's hand. "We'll see you at breakfast then," Poe says, his lips twitching as they head towards the door. Just when Ben thinks he's going to get away with them just leaving, Poe glances back over his shoulder, his eyes lowering purposefully before meeting Ben's eyes again. "Although, at least when you hear our screams they're pleasure-related when Rey's obviously weren't."
The men are lucky that there's nothing for Ben to throw at them because he really would since they're laughing as they leave, closing the door behind them. As soon as they're gone, Ben nearly trips in his haste to get out from under the water, immediately reaching out for the first piece of cloth that he can. He doesn't even care that it's Rey's robe and is way too small for him, wrapping it around his body as much as he can.
Rey crooks an eyebrow, still under the frigid water and obviously confused. "I feel like we should talk."
"I don't have much to say now," Ben says, realizing that now that he's not protecting her from the stare of two men who probably don't care about her body, his teeth are starting to chatter. "I wanted to join you for a shower, to hold you and perhaps fuck you against the wall but obviously that won't be happening."
Rey's eyes glance down and then back up, the pink still evident on her cheeks. "You-"
"It's the cold, Rey," Ben interrupts, trying to be as patient as he can while he feels as if he's lost his feeling in his toes. "A man's body doesn't take well to the cold as you can see. And any sane person doesn't like the cold the way that your shower was. Why don't you make it warmer?"
Now Rey looks embarrassed for a different reason, her eyes flickering to look at a spot on the wall over his shoulder. "I didn't even shower with water for the first time until I left Jakku. It's not something I think about. It's just… cleaning," she says, meeting his eyes for only a moment before avoiding them again. "I get in and do it as fast as I can and get out. Besides, I don't like being naked and vulnerable. You know that."
Ben lets out a breath, forcing his frustration to leave him. He does know how much it bothers Rey to be exposed like that and he sighs as he puts down the now soaked robe. "Alright. Well let's give you the first lesson in taking a shower. This knob makes the water warmer." Ben demonstrates as he talks, turning until the water doesn't feel like hail against his body and actually starts to make him feel a little better.
Rey steps forward, ever curious and she lets out a groan that shoots straight through him. "Oh… this really does feel much nicer," Rey murmurs in a voice low enough that Ben doesn't think she expects a response.
"I'm glad that you think so. Now, as much as I would love to continue joining you, I think my fingers are numb. So I'm going to get dressed and either go for a walk or meditate for a while. You're welcome to join me when you're done," Ben says, frowning when Rey bursts out laughing.
"You are so spoiled, Ben Solo," Rey responds with a shake of her head as she tilts her head back to make sure all of the soap is out of her hair.
Ben can't really argue with that and so he just admires the slender curves of her body. He could get back into the shower with her… but then he shivers again as he thinks about how cold that the water had been. Another day, he decides and heads out of the refresher. For now, he wants to put as many layers as possible on his body.