realists | open ✧ the time to fight is now

He snorts, shoulders moving with a quick and silent laugh. "Just one today?" he asks, the inflection entirely teasing. It's nice, to be able to tease someone at face value, not a means to undermine. "That's a new low."

As soon as she starts shifting, Cassian assumes she's already stubbornly giving in, and he is clearly not wrong. Before she decides to steal them back, like she's been wont to do in the past, he grabs the edges and pulls them over him, burying himself under the blankets.

It really is so much warmer under here. He can't blame Jyn for the habit.

They're not exactly small blankets, but to cover himself entirely, he ends up near to Jyn, knees brushing hers. But it's good to finally see her face. "Next time I'll push for a mission with you."

The day is still young. She could make Cassian cry and then she'd be at two. Instead she makes a face at him once he joins her in her little nest of blankets, lifting her hand to push her hair back from her face and disguise her faint smile.

"Please enlighten me on how that conversation will go."

It's not that she minds Cassian and Bodhi going off on adventures together, she would mind if they weren't together because she trusts a grand total of five people and only one of them is an Alliance rebel. She's just going stir crazy on this terrible white planet and would like nothing more than to be free of it for a few days. Or hours, at the very least.

Too late, he definitely saw that smile. He doesn't outwardly draw any attention to it, but he does move his hand and take over a little, brushing more hair from her eyes, only instead of pulling away after, he leaves his hand against her cheek.

"I don't know if you heard," he starts, almost but not quite grinning, "But my involvement in stealing some very important plans has given me more sway. I imagine it may take a few minutes of convincing, but I'll make an excellent case for you. Especially if the Stormtrooper numbers are going to be high."

Jyn is very good at taking them out. Not even Draven can argue with him there.

"I suppose I could approach Mon Mothma first as well." She likes Jyn more. Besides, there's no one else he'd trust more to have his back now than Jyn and Bodhi. There's no reason they shouldn't be going on more missions together.

He makes very valid points but the relationship between General Draven and not-actually-a-Sergeant Jyn Erso is contentious at best, on good days. Usually he speaks and Bodhi has to reach out and hold Jyn's wrist so she doesn't deck him. It's a funny little dance. On better days she appreciates Bodhi holding her back, but most days she just really wants to punch Draven.

It'll make her feel better!

"She approached me this morning," Jyn mentions, as if it's nothing, unconsciously turning her face into his hand, seeking the warmth of him.

Edited (misspells this dude's name 24/7) 2017-01-20 04:53 (UTC)

She leans into his hand and his immediate response is a gentle brush of his thumb. He doesn't even realize he's doing it at first.

Cassian brightens a little. It's not a surprise Mothma did so, but there are a number of reasons why she might have. Jyn's still a bit of a wild card, no matter how much more she sides with the Rebels now. He understands Draven's hesitance, no matter how much he personally trusts Jyn, and it comes from being part of the Rebellion is whole life. It's still fun to remember all the times Bodhi has to stop her from fighting him though. "Oh yeah? About what?"

Her eyes close at the idle movement and she wonders if she could just focus on that instead of answering. As it is, it takes her some time for her to answer. Probably too much time, but eventually she pushes out a sigh, not an unhappy one.

Begrudgingly, she admits, "She wanted to know if they can give my room to one of their new recruits. Since I don't seem to be there very often. Or ever."

It's usually Cassian's room she's stealing, but she's equal opportunity. She'll take Bodhi's if she has to. 'Has to' makes it sound like a hardship. It's not. She just really likes Cassian...'s room.

Edited 2017-01-20 06:04 (UTC)

A relaxed Jyn is something still very novel. That he can be partially responsible for something like that is also novel, because he's not used to being gentle.

His movements pause for a fraction of a second, with a sudden awareness of it, before resuming like nothing happened. His smile goes faint but no less soft. It's not like Cassian doesn't know she's never in her own room, considering basically the only time he sleeps alone anymore is when he's off planet. Bodhi came running up to him one day, not sure what to do about Jyn taking a nap in his room, but he got used to it. Just like Cassian has.

But he's not going to think about Mon Mothma has noticing it.

"She has a point. What did you tell her?"

"My bag is already under the bed."

It makes sense, to her. It's not fair to the rest of the base to hear the aftermath of Jyn's nightmares and she wakes up screaming far less when she's tucked between Cassian and the wall. She's obviously here for the practicality of it all. She doesn't take up much space and she doesn't have much stuff, anyway, so having her own room is basically worthless.

Which has nothing to do with why she is actually there.

"I can move it to Bodhi's room. If you'd rather."

It's close enough to her admitting she wants to stay here aloud as he's probably going to get.

"Mine is bigger." A luxury afforded to him from years and years of service. Not that it's a giant room, but he's even got a desk and a closet with his own private bathroom. Much better than Bodhi's, obviously. Living it up, Rebel Stylz.

"I wouldn't rather. I want you to stay here." Listen, she might not be able to say it, but there's no point in trying to pretend otherwise. It's easier to fend off his demons when he knows she's right there with him, but that's not the only reason. It isn't just practicality that has him eagerly crawling into bed with her at the end of the day. Cassian basically never wants her to leave. "And there's plenty of room in the closet for your things."

"Alright." Well. That is settled then. It makes her feel oddly warm and out of sorts, but she pushes that down and away. She doesn't feel like dealing with her uncertain emotions right now.

"If you wanted me to move in, Cassian, you could have just asked." Teasing him about it is easier than focusing on the fact that he does, actually, want her to stay there. With him. Teasing him is way easier than focusing on the fact that they want the same thing.

Maybe that's nothing. It's probably nothing.

Cassian smiles with the teasing. It's easier for him too, because there a lot of Feelings going on right now and the distraction is giving him time to sort through them all. It's not like it changes anything since Jyn was already in essence living with him here, but the way it sounds so Official now is a lot. Especially because she wants to stay as much as he wants her to.

It makes him feel bold, like he can piggyback on this shared feeling and want. His thumb shifts, moving slowly along her chin. He wants to kiss her.

"Maybe I didn't know you'd agree so easily."

Or maybe he was just afraid if he did actually bring it up, she'd run away.

Another rare smile touches her expression, as if his is contagious, melting away the constant tension that makes her look unhappy so often. It stays this time, and even seems easy, but maybe that's because it's curled under a pile of blankets and no one else is here to witness her odd lightheartedness.

"Clearly you haven't noticed my toothbrush is already in the bathroom." Her bag is under the bed, sure, but it's empty. If he had chosen to inspect his closet with plenty of room for her things he would have found them already in there, hung haphazardly amongst his things when she decided moving hangers was effort she didn't want to waste when she could otherwise be napping.

She hadn't intended on telling him that she was moving in, frankly, but it had come up.

He's getting all sorts of smiles out of her today. They feel like a secret, one he gets to hold on to forever. His own face muscles feel relaxed from completely forgoing any attempt to school his features. He'd almost forgotten what that was like.

"In my defense, I haven't been home in two days."

He almost wants to immediately get out of bed and check for the proof and permanence of it, but that would involve 1) getting out of the blankets and 2) moving away from Jyn, neither of which is appealing.

"But what you're telling me is I didn't even have to ask, because you've already done it anyway." Two can play at the teasing game.

As if anticipating that he'd go check the whereabouts of her toothbrush, Jyn curls her fingers around his wrist lightly. Her hand is blessedly warm for once.

"I did it for the good of the Alliance, Cassian. They needed my room." She practically sticks her tongue out at him, the verbal equivalent of her childishness. She can't just admit that he's right, she refuses.

As if he's going to fight her on that. Her fingers aren't even cold.

"Something tells me it wasn't entirely out of the goodness of your heart. Draven would have a heart attack."

He likes to pretend it was a selfish reason, just because it's wrapped up in him - she did it because of him. Which is also, obviously, selfish, and Cassian doesn't know what to do with himself when he's thinking about himself. All he knows is Jyn definitely, absolutely wanted to move in his room in all the official capacities and it wasn't because the Rebellion asked her to.

Thanks, Hoth.

"All the more reason, honestly."

Of course, he is right. Jyn hates to admit that for a number of reasons, number one is that she hates admitting other people are right. The rest are all different variations of Jyn's personal disdain for any emotion that isn't anger. She's terrible at words, she's terrible at emotions, she's the worst liar, there is another laundry list of reasons she hates speaking to people.

She leans forward faster than an x-wing, presses her lips to his in a quick and sudden kiss that makes a pink flush creep up her cheeks even though it's utterly chaste. She doesn't pull away, not really, lips brushing his even as she complains, "Don't look so smug, Captain."

Any smugness is replaced by surprise when she leans in to kiss him. He was thinking about it, absolutely, but apparently Jyn is determined to surprise him indefinitely today. He doesn't even have the time to kiss her back, though she's close enough for him to do it anyway.

So he does, before he even replies verbally. Cassian kisses her, not quite as quickly, but it's gentle for those long few seconds. When he stops, he keeps as close as she did, and he moves his thumb over the blush on her cheeks. "Maybe I am just happy. Sergeant."

One more kiss. Because he is definitely happy, and it's such a long lost feeling he'd really like to keep welcoming home with her.

If she is honest with herself, which Jyn tries not to be, she would agree that she is as happy. As it is she lingers in the kiss, not finding any reason to argue or bicker when she could instead focus on being cocooned in warmth and a soft press of lips and the affection swelling in her chest.

He is a good man, however much he would beg to differ, and Jyn probably loves him. She definitely loves him. It had been an almost on Scarif. A could have been, if there was time, if they'd been given a chance. They were and, on Hoth of all places, that almost turned into a maybe turned into a definitely and if Cassian wants to stay in bed stealing her blankets and offering her reparations in the form of kisses, well she definitely isn't going to complain.

There's a first time for everything, isn't there?

When he first met Jyn, she was so closed off, that lock and key a part of survival he recognized in himself. It got easier to read her over time, and right now - even though she'd never say so - he can tell she's happy too. It's enough knowing he's the cause that makes him want to deepen the kiss, because Cassian Andor is stupidly in love.

He saw the potential on Scarif. He knew he could love her. It's risky in the Rebellion, but everything is, and he's used to taking risks. When he used to come back from missions, he would be thinking about the next before he even reached his bed.

Now when he finds his bed, Jyn is already there and he wants to stay there with her.

And kiss her. He definitely wants to kiss her too, all the time. It's a strange feeling. He never let himself feel so strongly before.

Welcome home, he told her once, and she smiled at him. "Welcome home," he tells her again, this time against her mouth but still with a smile.

Her only answer is a happy little hum, stretching her hand out to curl around the back of his neck to make sure he can't escape when she kisses him again. If she'd acted on any of these feelings before, maybe she would feel less like she's going to explode from the taste of him.

Eventually, "Thank you."

Because home isn't a place anymore, is it? She's not sure it every really has been, she moved around too often for that, and the Rebellion certainly isn't her home the way it's Cassian's. But these arms around her, this teasing over stolen blankets, her toothbrush next to his: that's home. It's very specific and she wants nothing left.

As if any single part of him even wants to escape. The Rebellion exists all around him all the time, but right here it's just him and Jyn and the small space left between them. Jyn is an idea of home he'd long abandoned for himself, because thinking about the future is dangerous.

Thank you, she says, and it feels like such a small and large thing at the same time. An acknowledgement of the same.

I love you, he thinks as he kisses her, pressing in closer and trying to pretend he's not terrified by the strength of the feeling by diving forward anyway. He wants to breathe in it instead, chase after her mouth and drown in the taste of her. Of home.

Jyn is happy to tangle herself up in him and the blankets, but eventually she pulls back with a soft little gasp and wrenches the blanket from over them, breathing in the cool air outside their nest of blankets. It's not cold, but it feels like she's being slapped in the face by the chill.

"This isn't going to be how I welcome you home from every mission." Yes, it will be. It definitely will be. This is going to be how she welcomes him home from being out of the room for twelve minutes.

Cassian lets out a breath of a laugh when she uncovers them, already missing the warmth but with no sign of complaints. They're still tangled together, even if the blankets aren't a total cocoon.

"That's a disappointment," he says, trying not to grin and failing utterly. She's probably lying. He brushes his thumb over her cheek again. "Because I would not complain if you did."

"Oh I wouldn't doubt it," Jyn retorts, all but sticking her tongue out. After a second she actually sticks her tongue out because Jyn Erso is an Actual Grown Adult who makes Actual Grown Adult Decisions.

"But I am curious, how you would welcome me home."

"Can you blame me?" The best reaction to her sticking her tongue out is clearly just to steal another kiss. A quick one. With a dumb smile. Before sticking his tongue out right back at her. #Adults.

"I thought I already did." He raises an eyebrow. He said it, didn't he?? "Assuming you ever left the nest to begin with, I can't really think of a better way than this." A beat. "Maybe food too, if we were hungry."

no one will come near the base with those guards

storm troopers go a runnin'

the best defense the rebels could ask for

and thus the empire was defeated

if only they'd known how to do it sooner

admittedly they'd have to go to hoth sooner so...

CONUNDRUM

we have a pickle

cold vs sith lords, tough call

i mean the cold does have some advantages...

comfortable parkas

that cassian suddenly finds he is missing

is it really missing if he knows exactly who has it

yes. maybe?

definitely

definitely maybe

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plays ophelia by the lumineers

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