bakerstreet | By request: Sentinels and Guides Shipping Meme

By request: Sentinels and Guides Shipping Meme

Sentinels and Guides Shipping Meme
A Sentinel!AU Meme

There are special people in the world: Sentinels--whose five senses are incredibly enhanced, sometimes to the point of overwhelming and who can easily lose themselves in fugue states--and Guides, the empaths with the ability to ground a Sentinel and focus them. Meant to be the protectors of the Guides, for every Sentinel there exists a guide that is their perfect match. In some universes, when matches are made, a Sentinel and Guide form a soulbond to fill the feeling of emptiness.

How easy was it for you to find yours? How are Sentinels and Guides treated in your universe? Or maybe you're one of the normal, unremarkable people. Do you fear Sentinels and Guides? Despise them?

Rules
1) Post with your character/canon in the subject header.
2a) Choose whether your character is a Sentinel or a Guide
or
2b) If you don't know or don't care, just leave it blank!
3) Information about Sentinels and Guides can be found here and here. Information on 'The Sentinel' which this meme comes from can be found here.

4) All the tagging! Have fun 8D

Prompts
oo1. The Meeting:
How did you meet? Was it at an event organized specifically for finding your other half? By accident? Did you follow a mystical calling to them? Some other way?

oo2. The Bonding:
Do Sentinels and Guides in your universe soulbond? How does it go down? Is there a ceremony or do you just retreat to the bedroom?

oo3. Rejection:
Sometimes Sentinels or Guides propose a match but it's just not perfect. You don't feel the pull or maybe you think there is someone better or maybe you're already claimed. Maybe you were claimed and someone better came along?

oo4. Protection:
Sentinels are meant to protect Guides, any Guides, but it's even worse when they feel their Guide is in danger. They go feral; blind to anything but stopping and killing whoever threatened their Guide or the bond. Maybe someone attacked your Guide or you haven't bonded yet and you feel threatened or maybe you're the one doing the threatening. Whatever the reason, Sentinels in a feral state are dangerous and only their Guides can stop them.

oo5. Lost:
Sentinels often lose themselves in their senses. Either you're a Sentinel who has lost themselves or a Guide that has stumbled on one or a friend trying to draw them out. Unbonded Sentinels will find it hard to escape without a Guide. Or maybe you're bonded already which means you just need yours to come home.

006. Persecution:
Sometimes normal people or the government fear the power of Guides and Sentinels. Guides are empaths, feeling the emotions and sometimes passing thoughts of others and it can make people feel violated. Sentinels often have enhanced strength, which can make them dangerous. So they scorn them, hurt them or in the case of governments, regulate them.

oo7. Death:
Unbonded Sentinels and Guides eventually lose themselves to the empty cavern inside them. Torn apart from the inside by the feeling of something missing. Breaking the soulbond of a Sentinel and Guide is agonizing and horrifying, leading quickly to death for the remaining partner.

oo8. Old-School:
Guides used to be treated on the same level as slaves. Unable to work unless their Sentinel said. Not allowed out on their own. They used to wear collars and couldn't own land or inherit money. Maybe the old ways haven't completely fallen out of style.

oo9. Unbonded:
Nothing is worse than being an unbonded Guide or Sentinel. Always looking for your other half to fill that empty feeling but you probably have friends that aren't your match or who are trying to set you up with someone. Maybe you're skeptical about the whole love at first sight thing and haven't been looking.

o10. Wildcard: Some mish-mash of the above or anything else you can come up with!

Image from weheartit / original meme by

imadeamistake

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Just before Finn spoke up, Poe paused as he realized that he'd been followed and if it'd been anyone else, he would've been grumpy about it. Finn, though... it'd be hard for him to be angry at Finn. Sighing, he turned to face the newcomers as he reached up to idly scratch at an itchy spot on his cheek. That thrill of nerves and connection raced through him again and he was hard pressed to keep from crossing over to Finn and pulling him into a hug.

It was presumptuous, though.

He managed a half-smile as he motioned Finn over and while Black One's nav computer might be damn near gutted, every bit of Poe's attention was locked on Finn.

"I think I've got it all, but thanks. I wouldn't turn down some... company, though."

He was already nodding even before Poe had finished speaking, replying with: "Okay, yeah, company, I can do that. I mean, I probably can, not like there's much to it. Did you want to talk about something? Or should I just, um, stand? Here?"

He wasn't entirely used to people actually wanting him around, and he definitely wasn't good at trying to figure out how it was he was supposed to help Poe when he didn't know what was wrong.

BB-8 had suspiciously made itself scarce when neither of the men noticed, deftly leaving them to deal with each other. Later on, it was certain that Poe would get a lecture of his own from the droid, but for now, it was content to let them spend some time together.

Finn's unease made Poe's brow furrow and again, he felt slightly disconnected and off-kilter. He'd already run off from Finn earlier and he couldn't... no, he wouldn't do it again. He'd already decided that if it came down to it, he'd just talk to Finn.

Why did that seem so damn hard?

"Look, this... between us. You're a Guide, aren't you? I felt it from the moment I saw you and I don't know what to do with it. With you. I know I'm not the one you're supposed to be with or even want to be with and that's... alright. I've gone without a Guide for a long time and I can keep doing it if I need to. We'll get Rey back and then everything will be right for you."

Poe wasn't usually so scattered but his earlier rush of emotions had left him off center and on edge.

His initial response, too quick, defensive, was: "No, of course not." Though his brow creased a moment later, weight shifting from foot to foot, realizing belatedly that maybe being a Guide among the Resistance wasn't the veritable death sentence it was among the First Order, he amended to: "I ...don't know."

He huffed a laugh, dry and wry and almost as brittle as his earlier smile had been, scrubbing a hand up over his face and across his head, "Seems like the kind of thing someone should know, right?" He shrugged then, "And if you think I am, if you know, you've got a better idea than I do."

He would try to explain, soon, that Rey was a friend -his first and so far only friend- and she was in danger and that was all there was between them, but he didn't have the words for that yet.

"Oh."

Poe's voice was hollow as his stomach sank. He'd been so sure that he'd found the one but it seemed he was wrong. In a way, it was better, or so he kept trying to tell himself. Doing his best to try and smile, he tore his gaze away from Finn and turned back to the fighter, needing something to do with his hands.

"I mean, you might not be. Some people are just intuitive about things. It doesn't mean you're a Guide. They're... special. They're gifts. I guess that wasn't something the First Order was good with, huh?"

"There were four Guides on the Finalizer." He said, voice gone quiet, not quite distant but something close, "Ship that size should have had eight at a minimum. That's the regulations. Should have had four dedicated just to the troopers alone."

It was strange to him to even be able to say it, especially because it was obvious that the Resistance thought differently, Guides weren't just another -sorely limited- resource, "There's tests, I just never had them." He shrugged, "Until you came along I never gave them a reason to doubt me." Because even he knew, deep down, that it wasn't just intuition, but he also knew that Guides in the First Order didn't have short lives so much as long deaths.

Disgust rode like bile in the back of Poe's throat as he listened to Finn talk about the treatment of Guides under the First Order. It left his skin prickling with darker emotions that he really didn't have a name for and a surge of protectiveness washed over him as he quietly promised that he wouldn't let Finn fall back into their hands, even if he wasn't meant for Poe.

"That's disgusting. Guides are meant to be with just one Sentinel. The bond is... important. That's where the real power comes from. It's something more than a partnership. It's deeper than family. At least, that's what I've always been told. I've known what I was for as long as I can remember and I've always heard that a Sentinel knows when it finds its Guide."

His brow creased as he listened to Poe speak, trying to let that information sink in, because it rang true in a way he didn't have words for. It was completely different from everything he'd been taught, but it felt right, the same way that he knew his feelings, and especially his feelings about people, weren't just intuition.

He was silent for a moment before blinking up at Poe, asking: "And what do you know about me?" There was definitely more to the question than just face value, some kind of shapeless wanting, a need to be something more than what he thought he was.

The question made Poe's chest tighten and for a moment, all he could do was stand there, his hands buried deep in Black One as he fought to keep his voice even.

"I thought you were the one. I know you're more than you realize."

He pulled his hands free and wiped them along his thighs, leaving streaks of grime in their wake. It took a real effort from Poe to keep them from shaking as he shoved them in his pockets and tried to look calm when his guts were knotted up inside.

"There's something in you that draws me. Makes me calm, but... you already seem like you're taken so I'm doing my best not to... push things."

"Rey's a survivor, but she's not a Sentinel." That much he knew for a fact, "If she was I probably wouldn't be so worried about her." He shook his head, "She... she hasn't got anyone else. Going after her's the right thing to do."

He had edged forward again, he could practically taste Poe's unease and the reflex to try and soothe it was still there, even if he had no idea how. He bit the inside of his cheek for a moment, trying to sort his thoughts, his feelings, into something solid, some kind of logical order, and finally what came out was: "And you think I might be yours?"

There was a nod before Poe could even think about it. In truth, there was little Finn could ask for that Poe wouldn't do, even if it meant answering hard questions. That was part of the drive of a Sentinel with their Guide. Open honesty and the desire to connect, which Poe was still trying to do even if he didn't realize it.

"All I know is that I felt some connection to you from the moment we met. Colors seem brighter and noises... I can hear everything. Kriff, I can hear your heart beating and it's all so damn distracting. I can't sleep because of it. It's... a little overwhelming."

His smile was slow-spreading and just shy of beatific, "Like being able to see color for the first time. That's what it felt like." Both on the Finalizer and again on the airstrip outside earlier that day, "I mean, that's what it felt like for me."

And while he didn't have the words for it, he knew the wonder and lingering unease he was feeling alongside his own emotions had to be Poe's, though with his own surging to match he couldn't be quite sure where the edges were.

Poe didn't need to see that smile. It radiated in the back of his mind and down into his bones. He knew that smile like he'd seen it a million times even though they'd really just started. He knew he wanted to do his best to keep that smile on Finn's handsome face, whatever the cost.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and bowed his head, seeking control over his suddenly racing heart. He could still feel Finn in the back of his head and more than anything, he wanted to sink back into that heady connection and push it even deeper, until he felt whole.

"What else do you feel?"

His brow creased a little, giving that question serious consideration, turning it over in his head, as if he had to look at it from all sides.

Finally what he said was: "You. Like..." His brow creased more deeply, "Like I'd be able to find you even if we were on opposite sides of the base, in the dark." He shook his head, "I don't know how to explain it better than that, I'm sorry."

"You would be able to."

By now, Poe was smiling but it was still a bit brittle at the edges. It was a good thing his hands were still lodged in his pockets or else he wouldn't have been able to keep from reaching out to touch Finn. If he did, it would only serve to deepen the budding connection between them and while that wasn't a bad thing, he wasn't sure he could stop with just simple touching.

"In time, and with training, we could always roughly tell where and how the other was, even when separated by longer distances. We'd always be in the back of each other's heads. How strongly we could feel that counts on how deep the bond is."

For someone who'd always been isolated, even when in a group of his peers, that sounded like magic, and just increased that urge to be closer to Poe, even though they were already at comfortable conversational distance, not yet in each other's personal space, but beginning to encroach on it.

"I didn't know that was possible." He also hadn't known that it was possible to feel so much for a person he barely knew, but that was definitely happening.

There was a soft, almost pained laugh from Poe as he continued to struggle with keeping his now shaking hands in his pockets. He could tell that Finn was curious and perhaps wanted more, but it wasn't something Poe would ever push on him, especially not once he'd heard about how the First Order treated their Guides.

"You'd be surprised at the things a fully bonded pair can do. Damn near the impossible, if they tried. It's... something you should read up on. Research. I can give you access to anything the Resistance or the Republic has on what it means to be a Guide, if you want. That way, you can decide what you want to do."

"I'd like that." He actually meant it, being able to have access to information was also new and novel for him, and while he knew he didn't have a lot of time before the combination rescue and takedown mission, he was going to cram as much information into himself as possible in that time.

Though mostly it was because he knew that even though he should, he probably wouldn't actually get much sleep in that time.

That was something that Poe completely understood. The night before a major battle always passed as a sleepless one for Poe, not that he really slept much on most normal nights. No, most time like that was spent doing what he'd been doing, elbow deep in his beloved X-Wing, his mind always wandering while his hands worked out his troubles.

It wasn't so easy this time around. Not when someone he wanted was so damn close and he couldn't just reach out for him.

He finally shot Finn a slightly tense smile before he motioned for BB-8 to finish up where he'd left off then nodded for Finn to join him.

[ooc: Did you want to timeskip this to after they take out Starkiller? You know Poe spent all the time he could by Finn's bedside when he was in medical. We could pick it up there, if you wanted.]

[ooc: Hee! I was about to ask the same thing, so I'ma go for it.]

Rey had not, in fact, taken over the star destroyer by the time they caught up with her, nor had she managed to take over Starkiller base, though she'd gotten herself loose and that was good enough for Finn.

Everything that happened after that happened too fast and even in the middle of it things were a blur. The last thing he remembered was the searing pain of Kylo Ren's lightsaber zippering up his spine, he didn't know about the rescue with the base collapsing beneath them, he didn't know about the return to D'Qar or the fact that his recovery was touch and go for longer than anyone would have liked. He wasn't aware of Rey leaving on her quest to find Skywalker, though he had the vague feeling that she was gone, somehow.

The same way that he was dimly aware that even unconscious, near comatose, he was rarely alone. When he blinked slowly awake, just mentally taking stock of all his limbs was one of the rare times that Poe wasn't at his bedside. However, BB-8 had been left as a sentry and as soon as Finn stirred, the droid bolted, squealing happily, in search of Poe.

The only reason he wasn't there was simple. Kalonia had tried to drive him away with orders and threats, then when he didn't budge, she called in General Organa. In the end, she'd threatened to ground him until he had adequately rested up and he knew he'd lost the fight. Leia was well aware of the situation between Poe and Finn thanks to the usual rumors that traveled most bases as well as Snap's and Jess' confirmation that the rumors seemed to be true.

During the battle, he'd felt that burning pain shiver up his back when Finn had been hurt and it'd been sheer force of will that had kept him going. That and anger, which had sharpened his focus enough to allow him to finish off Starkiller. Once that was drained away, he felt lost. Thankfully, his removal from medical hadn't been too long before a throb of something headily familiar washed over him and he knew that Finn was waking up.

He was on his feet before BB-8 could get to him. In fact, he met the droid on his way back to the medbay and when he passed the protesting medical droid, the smile on his face was almost blissful.

For a Trooper, waking up in medical was rarely a good thing, it was grounds for reconditioning as often as not and for a few brief, dizzy moments Finn had to fight down a panicky feeling in his chest, but the fact that this wasn't the dim-white glow of a First Order medical bay sunk in before long, as did the warm presence at the back of his mind, getting closer.

By the time Poe and BB-8 returned, Finn was actually sitting up, a medical droid making one last pass over the still new-pink scar down his back with a regenerator, making sure that there was no lingering infection and that the freshly-healed skin would hold under its own strength.

Finn's own smile as Poe hove into view almost hurt it was so wide, "Looks like you're still alive." He said by way of greeting.

That smile... oh, that smile was beautiful and it made Poe ache in all the best ways to see it. For a dizzying moment, he wanted to bend down and taste that smile, chase it with his own and see if Finn would return the feeling.

For now, though... he would wait. Wait and see.

Still grinning, he plopped himself down next to Finn, right there on the bed despite the way it made the medical droid pause as if in disapproval. Without realizing what he was doing, Poe's hand settled close enough to Finn's that their fingers brushed and the contact sent a shiver of nerves along Poe's skin.

"It'll take more than the First Order to kill me off. You either, by the looks of it."

Finn, for his part, shifted sideways reflexively, shoulder resting against Poe's, wanting more than just the glancing contact of fingers against his own -as delightful as that had been- even needing it on some level, "Looks like." He replied, still smiling, he felt filled to bursting and knew that some of it was spillover from Poe but at the moment he didn't care.

"They tell me it's been over a week." He added, relaxing a little as the medical droid finally drew away, the going-over of Finn's injury finished, "And that you've been here almost the whole time." He wasn't entirely sure what he felt about that except relief, that even though he hadn't been aware Poe also hadn't wanted him to be alone.

Poe's smile softened, but it never left his face. He felt lighter and more at ease now that Finn was awake and he was happier than he could remember being. Only duty and his own will had kept him going over the last week while Finn was unconscious and even then, it was barely. He hadn't slept much and when he did, it had been perched in a chair at Finn's side, hunched over and waking up stiff when he could manage to sleep at all.

Poe's hand shifted just enough to cover Finn's hand with his own, his mind sinking into the contact with an ease he never would've thought possible.

"I've been here as much as they'd let me. The General had to kick me out since Kalonia was worried about me, but I wasn't concerned about me. I was concerned about you."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject