Every Once in a While

A/N: Decided to write this in third person, forget to mention it in the last author's note.

Isla sat in the small booth, right next to Poe. The cantina was much nicer than Isla had expected. She had imagined it was dark and tiny, probably had a weird smell to it. It was quite the opposite. The cantina was roomy, and and bright, there was an array of white dewy lights hung across the high ceilings. Most of the cantinas visitors weren't human and that was enough to keep Isla interested. Before Isla sat down with Poe, Jules, and Finn, she made sure to grab a drink. Isla had leaned over her drink, unknowingly taking a whiff of the dark beverage, Poe had protested, going on about how it would be easier to drink if she hadn't smelled it. The smell alone was strong, and Isla had secretly started to regret the decision of trying something new.

Isla had put off drinking her strong concoction, but she found her self gulping it down only because it gave her something to do. Everyone was engaging in a conversation with her, but the conversation usually morphed into jittery talks about the mission Poe, Jules, and Finn would be going on tomorrow. She felt even more out place when her groups conversation turned into hushed whispers. Maybe coming to the cantina with a bunch of pilots was a bad idea. Isla allowed herself to look around the room, from what she knew she was the only person in the room who wasn't a pilot.

Isla's somewhat bored face lit up when Elliot had walked into the cantina. He lingered by the entrance, glancing around the room slowly. Isla could tell what he wasn't too sure about his surroundings. Without even thinking, Isla raised her hand up, waving slightly, hoping to catch Elliot's attention. Elliot's expression mimicked Isla, his face lit up when he finally spotted her. Elliot walked over to Isla's table with a smile on his face. He waved almost hesitantly, Elliot glanced behind Isla at the rest of the group. Elliot stood closest to Isla, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Isla, hey." He nodded, "Everyone was talking about heading down to the cantina, but then I remembered I don't really know anyone. Dumb idea, huh?"

"You can sit with us." Isla grinned, now she wouldn't be the only one who felt out of place.

"Are you sure?" Elliot leaned over a bit, his voice was so low that Isla had trouble hearing him. Isla watched as he motioned towards Poe, Jules, and Finn. Isla leaned back, scooting closer to Poe.

"Everyone this is Elliot, he's the new doctor on the base." Isla looked back at her group of friends.

"New doctor?" Jules questioned, "What happened to Noa?" Damn. Isla hadn't even bothered telling Jules about Noa, in Isla's defense she had never really gotten the chance.

"That's Jules." Isla smiled over at her friend, hoping she would just drop it for now. Jules gave Isla a confused look, furrowing her brows and screwing up her face. Jules focused her attention onto Elliot,

"Yup, I'm Jules, nice to meet you."

"That's Finn, " Isla pointed over to Finn, who was smiling brightly, "This is my boyfriend, Poe." The words felt strange rolling off of Isla's tongue. She had never actually introduced Poe as her boyfriend.

Elliot's face lit up, "Poe Dameron is your boyfriend? That's so cool." Isla could feel Poe chuckling next to her. Elliot cleared his throat, attempting to regain his composure. "Nice to meet you." Elliot said over to Poe, "Commander, sorry." Elliot added quickly.

"Poe will do."

Isla wasn't thinking about having another drink but when Elliot promised her that whatever a 'Warrl Surprise' was, that it was absolutely delicious. Isla trudged behind Elliot, a new drink in her hand.

"It doesn't smell bad." Isla said quietly, mostly to herself. She took another cautious sniff of the beverage, just to make sure she wasn't wrong. Isla couldn't blame Poe, Jules, or even Finn for discussing their big day tomorrow, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't a tiny bit annoyed. Isla huffed lowly, sitting in her seat next to Poe.

"What is this?" Isla inquired, looking across the table at Elliot.

"Warrl is a native plant on Kashyyyk, you can use it for cooking," Elliot extended his hand, holding his glass out towards Isla, "But it tastes best when in a drink." Isla raised her glass, clinking it against Elliot's. Isla had swallowed her small gulp of Warrl Surprise quickly, still slightly disturbed by the bitter taste of her first drink. To her surprise, Warrl wasn't bad at all. Isla thought that she could easily have three more glasses of the sweet, tangy drink.

"You were right," Isla said, setting her empty glass down, "That was pretty good."

"You're done?" Elliot laughed. He still had less than half a glass left. Isla looked down at her empty glass and then back up at Elliot.

"Well," She shrugged, chuckling softly, "It wasn't very strong."

"It'll creep up on you." Elliot chugged his drink, "Alright, one more?" Isla nodded almost too eagerly.

"I'll get 'em," Elliot stood up, "Be right back."

"Hey." Poe wrapped an arm around Isla's shoulders, "Having fun?"

Isla nodded, "Have you ever had a Warrl Surprise?"

Poe chuckled, "Can't say I have. Gonna go off and get drunk on me?"

"I feel fine." Isla rolled her eyes playfully, earning a quick kiss from Poe.

"Told you it would creep up on you." Elliot was leaning against the wall, Isla could tell that he was having trouble standing straight. They were outside, it had gotten too stuffy inside the cantina.

"It...did on you too."

"Did what?"

"Creep up." Isla hiccuped. Isla wasn't any better off, her head was spinning and she found herself squinting because it was the only thing that made everything stay still. Isla fanned herself, mimicking Elliot and leaning against the wall.

"Did you tell them we were coming out for some air?"

Isla scoffed, "They're too busy talking about tomorrow." It was quiet for a moment, "We're the only ones in there who aren't pilots."

"Jules is a pilot too?"

Isla nodded, rubbing a hand vigorously over her face. She felt so odd. As if she wasn't in total control of her body. Isla was definitely drunk, for the first time ever. She could still walk on her own, a little wobbly but that was okay.

"She's cute."

"Who?" Isla perked up, she couldn't hide the wide smile that formed on her face, "Jules?" Isla let out something that could be considered a squeal. She clapped her hands together, still smiling. "You think Jules is cute?"

"Shhh." Elliot held up an unsteady finger, leaning over to put an end to Isla's excited chatter. "You're so loud, everyone in the cantina will hear."

"That you like Jules?" Isla asked quickly, beaming up at Elliot.

Now it was Elliot's turn to scoff, "I said she was cute, I didn't say anything about liking her. I know nothing about her."

Isla pointed to herself, "I'm her best friend, I can tell you all about her."

"I'll take you up on that offer, not tonight, though." Elliot sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, "I should head back, I need to sleep this off. I don't think General Organa would appreciate a hungover doctor." Isla nodded in agreement, a hungover nurse didn't sound very professional either.

"No more drinks for you, okay?" Elliot waited for Isla to nod before heading off.

Isla decided to stay outside, the cool air made her feel less inebriated. She also couldn't promise herself that she wouldn't finish her third glass of Warrl Surprise if she went back into the cantina. It wasn't long before Poe had come looking for her. Isla had resorted to sitting on the cool grass beneath her, she was slightly annoyed that the cantina hadn't thought about putting benches outside.

"There you are."

"Here I am." Isla nodded. Isla allowed herself to look up at Poe, she thought over whether or not she should let him know that she was annoyed with him.

"Alone? Where's Elliot?" Poe closed the distance between them. He kneeled down to her level, searching her face for something, Isla couldn't tell what.

"He just left. Didn't want to be hungover tomorrow."

"You're feeling okay?"

"Pretty good." Isla nodded. "Well, I was." Isla lowered her voice.

"Are you feeling sick?" Poe asked, looking completely concerned.

"No," Isla shook her head a couple times, stopping when she had gotten too dizzy. Poe reached out to take hold of her shoulders. "I don't know....I'm going back to my room." Isla attempted to stand up, accidentally pushing Poe away. Isla stood still, taking a couple breaths before deciding she was prepared to take her first step.

"Just let me tell them we're heading out. I'll walk you." Poe had already his hands on her. Gripping her hands, and then her waist when Isla stumbled slightly.

"No, no." Isla waved him off, "You stay....And talk all about your mission, or maybe you're all talked out?" The words had surprised Isla as much as they did Poe. Isla couldn't control herself, she silently declared to never come to the cantina and sip on delicious Warrl Surprises ever again. It also didn't make Isla feel any better that her tone had sounded so accusing.

"What does that mean?" Poe dropped his hands, no longer in contact with her skin.

Isla was quiet for a moment, pondering over whether she should just brush off the conversation or let Poe know how left out she had felt earlier.

A little bit of both, "Nothing," She shrugged, squinting to keep her surroundings from swaying around her. "I'm not a pilot, am I? I can't discuss missions and whatever else you're going up against tomorrow." Isla sighed, she was slightly embarrassed. Isla could have easily tried to change the subject matter but it was a little too late for 'could haves'.

"You could have said something-"

"I'm going to my room." Isla cut him off as quickly as possible. Of course, Poe was right. Isla could have said something but she didn't, Isla didn't want to go on further with the discussion, mostly because she felt as if she was annoyed for no good reason.

"And I don't need you to walk me either." Isla added sternly. Isla wasn't mad at Poe, but her embarrassment had made her to want nothing but to get away from him and be alone.

"Isla, you're...drunk. Stay here and wait until I come back."

"No." Isla shot back, glaring over at him, "I'm going to my room, right now. I'm not waiting for you." Isla couldn't overlook Poe's amused facial expression.

"And I'm not that drunk!" Isla hiccuped, groaning when she couldn't get the hiccups to stop. "I want to be alone." Hiccup, "Got it, Dameron?" Hiccup.

"Come on, babe." Poe chuckled, "Don't get so worked up." Isla wasn't very fond that Poe had found her so amusing. He reached out towards her and Isla took an unsteady step back. Isla was slow and wobbly, Poe eventually had her in his arms, holding her tightly.

"Stay here, please. I'll be five seconds." Poe whispered into her ear. Isla shivered involuntarily. Isla decided to play along.

Isla nodded, pulling away from him slowly, "Okay." Poe steadied her before walking back into the cantina, that's when Isla marched off in the direction of the living quarters. Isla was walking as fast as possible, she definitely wasn't walking straight but Isla didn't let that bother her.

"I can totally walk back to my room on my own." Isla said, stretching her arms out slightly for balance.