"This is stupid!" Jyn whined, staring at herself in the mirror of her brother's flat. Bodhi laughed at her displeasure, rolling his eyes as he collected the rest of his accessories. Sunglasses, wallet, keys, phone. He looked handsome in slacks and a burgundy jacket, and comfortable beyond that.
"Why have I got to wear a bloody dress. I thought you said this was going to be casual," she hissed. The dress in question, a simple and delicate white lace number, was still half undone, waiting for Bodhi to do the buttons up the back. Jyn was struggling to pin her braids in place.
"You're the birthday girl. You're twenty one, Jyn," Bodhi explains, letting out a whoop as the door opened and in walked Cassian Andor.
The thing about the younger royal set is that they tended to gravitate toward their own age groups; thus Bodhi had, over the years, collected Cassian and his best friend Kay, both of the Organa twins, Shara and her new husband Kes. Jyn's inclusion was a byproduct of her older brother being friendly and personable, vouching for his taciturn younger sister. She was older than the twins but they were leaps and bounds more important and worldly than she was so it was like talking to her parents. Cassian was one of the quieter ones and over the few years since they'd meet at her 18th birthday, they had tended to orbit each other, talking quietly at the few state affairs they found themselves at together every year. He was smart and clever and so earnest and she loved the way his face lit up when he talked about the social programs he'd thrown his patronage behind.
Jyn knew he was just being nice, spending time with her so she wouldn't feel left out, but logic had not stopped the crush. Still burning bright if the warmth that floods her now is any indication. He's wearing just a tee shirt and jeans, unfairly attractive regardless, and Bodhi doesn't complain about his casual dress as they greet each other because it isn't as if Fest is close to Aria Prime. He'd had to fly in for this "casual" party.
Her hands drop from her hair to try to attempt the little buttons up the back of her dress herself while Bodhi and Cassian briefly chit chat, but before she can ask Bodhi to finally help her, he disappears out the door - presumably to greet Kay - and Jyn gives Cassian a weak, helpless smile.
Cassian flat out refuses to take a private plane anywhere. He's gotten plenty of flack for it, both snide little comments and fake sympathetic crooning, all until a simple remark that it's his choice shuts them up. Just wait till they find out his plan whenever he becomes king is to dismantle the monarchy. All the money he apparently should be spending on flights he throws at grassroots organizers and welfare programs instead. It's their money! He doesn't deserve it!
They really regretted his 18th birthday. He left his party early and ended up pulling an all nighter with Habitat for Humanity.
As far as Fest's government knows, he's currently in Alderaan, but he and Kay flew out to Aria Prime instead, via Economy Plus on a passenger plane. It's Jyn's birthday and all their friends are here, including his own sister! He'll stay a day or two then head over to Alderaan; his meeting with King Bail isn't even for two days. He'd wanted to see Jyn and refused to offer any further explanation when Kay gave him a Look. When they get to Bodhi's apartment, he isn't expecting Jyn to be there. He'd had a whole thing lined up for when he saw her at the party, and now he's been reduced to his own quiet smile.
"Hi." A beat, while he tries not to let his gaze wander over her dress. It's nice! Bodhi's dressed up too! "I think I might be underdressed."
Cassian is the most handsome man on the fucking planet and he thinks he is underdressed. Jyn half scoffs, trying to stamp it down so she doesn't seem dismissive. She's told so often that she is grumpy and contemptuous, even when she isn't trying to be, that her mouth automatically turns up in a placating smile.
"You look comfortable."
Which she is not. She doesn't tell him he looks ridiculously handsome but she's thinking it.
Her arms twist further behind her, vainly attempting to do up the rest of the buttons of her stupid dress. She'd much prefer to be in a hoodie and jeans, but Bodhi insisted.
Speaking of Bodhi and with a quiet, strangled noise of frustration as her nails scratch uselessly at the cloth covered buttons: "Do you know who else is going to be there?"
"They are my traveling jeans." Definitely worn out and stretched out, because who travels in jeans otherwise?? He's got a nicer shirt and slacks to switch out before they head over to the restaurant. He is super underdressed, his t-shirt is wrinkled and smells like airplane.
He tries to flatten out his shirt, but he's distracted by her struggles with her own clothes. It makes him think he definitely showed up too early, but Bodhi seems to be held up with Kay, probably talking shit, leaving his sister at the whims of her dress.
"Just my sister and Kes. It's your party. You would know better than me, wouldn't you?" Before she can answer, she just hisses out motherfucker instead, and Cassian bites back a laugh. "Do you need a hand?"
Her hands drop immediately, defeated and so Cassian will have access to all the fiddly little buttons. Also access to the pale, freckles expanse of her back that is revealed with the dress half open. It has one button at the top, holding the lace together over the heart shaped cut out, but that was easy to do herself. It's the rest, down low, that she can't manage.
"Bodhi only told me there was a party today." Probably because he knew she would back out otherwise and this was far more an excuse for Bodhi to get his friends together (Jyn still thinks of them as his friends, maybe Cassian counts as her friend but even that feels like pushing it) than it is an actual celebration of Jyn's birth.
"It's too bad you missed the state dinner. Papa had them make me spiced hot chocolate."
Cassian's favorite.
Her formal birthday was a boring affair since she is the spare heir and no one really cares about her birth and only one of their friends, Luke, had managed to make it. Her birthday was at such a stupid time of year. It's probably why Bodhi waited a month to have their friend party in January instead. No more holidays to celebrate, very little royal obligations, most of them were on holiday from school still.
"That sounds like Bodhi," he starts. "It feels like tattling to tell you he informed us all of the plan around your actual birthday."
The mention of hot chocolate has him smiling softly, if she manages to catch a glimpse of it before he swings around to her back. But then he is confronted with the pale sweep of her back, her dress half open; his eyes trace down her spine before he can help it before snapping back up to the top where she's managed one whole button on her own.
"Maybe the restaurant will have some. Or," he hesitates, reaching up to close up the first button towards the middle of her back, not sure if closing up her dress or asking his question is more nerve-wracking, "We could just go find some ourselves, if you need a break tonight."
She exhales like a sigh, shaking her head which shakes some of her hair loose from the braids. She'd never been able to make herself as put together as the people at the palace can manage.
"He's such a twat."
She stays still however, practiced at least in being dressed like a barbie doll, but her head turns a little, like she's almost going to look over her shoulder but thinks better of it. Instead she peers at Cassian in the mirror, watching the studious expression on his face as he buttons her up.
"Now I know why you've really come to visit." Spiced cocoa is the one thing both of their countries have in common, dessert wise. "I'm glad to have provided a decent excuse for cocoa."
"He probably did not want you to have a month's worth of time to plan an escape from it." Some of her hair falls out, and he resists the urge to tuck it back in. It's easier given his hands are already busy with a task.
She is remarkably still, but he knows why. Shara goes through it more than he does, but they all have those moments where people filter in and out to get them dolled up appropriately for fancy state functions. It's easier to just let them do their thing and then make his own adjustments after.
His hands are very warm, and he's made aware of this because his fingers keep brushing against her cool skin as he carefully does up the buttons. He doesn't notice the mirror, unaware that she is watching him, so he thinks the very soft smile on his face when she mentions the cocoa is a private one. "Now is the perfect time of year for it, even if it's still quite warm out."
If Bodhi told her Cassian was coming she never would have tried to escape. It's all the rest of the people, all at once. Jyn doesn't have social anxiety, she just has a limit on how much she wants to socialize. Bodhi, despite his anxiety, is a social god damn butterfly and she has always been whisked along in his wake.
Which was nice when it meant she got to tag along and see Cassian. (Ugh, god Jyn, get a grip.)
"It's always warm here, I don't know how you cope with it, my little snow prince."
She just called him my snow prince. It startles him, though the only sign of it is the way his fingers fumble over the button, and he has to try it again, but not before he accidentally brushes a finger against her skin when it slips beneath the fabric.
"Forgoing a jacket," he says in an attempt to smooth it over, still unawares she can see him as he bites his cheek in both embarrassment and to hide his smile. "I did not even bring one."
Jyn doesn't shiver, which would be too horrifying to come back from and she would have to leap off the balcony never to be seen again, but goosebumps ripple across her arms and it takes all of her self-control to keep herself from rubbing her arms. Hopefully he won't notice.
"Brought your sunglasses though," she teases still, reaching over her shoulder to snatch them from where he'd hand them tucked in the collar of his tee shirt. She unfolds them, puts them on inside the flat, tips her chin up to study herself in the mirror.
"Hm. Thank you for this lovely gift." As they are her sunglasses now.
He notices, but only just. Fortunately for Jyn, he merely thinks she is cold, because she is always cold. Too bad he doesn't have a coat to offer her. Maybe he should have brought one for that express purpose! Good job not thinking ahead for once.
"The sun here is bright! Sunglasses are clearly more important than a jacket." His hands move lower as the buttons do, practically courting the bottom of her spine. He closes them up slowly, though not on purpose - it's almost like he's extra afraid of a slip up down here, where he is trying to pretend he can't see the waistband of her underwear peeking out.
No slip ups. Just his heart pounding which he is sure she can hear. "You can borrow them, but I will need them when the sun is actually out again."
"You can have a pair of Bodhi's." It is what her brother deserves for planning this stupid part she doesn't want to have. Speak of the devil--
"Jyn, hurry up, we're leaving in five minutes."
"Fuck off."
"Fuck you."
Bodhi flips her off and swans back out the door, assuming probably (correctly) that in five minutes Jyn will be dressed and out the door with him, if only because Cassian is perpetually punctual and will counteract the fact that she already wants to just go to bed.
"It isn't prison for murder that bothers me," Jyn muses, "It's that mum would be so sad."
"These were from my dad," he manages to get in before Bodhi bursts in, and the surprise of it has his hand dropping to her waist, like he needs it for a ballast to balance them both.
Fortunately, he is pretty sure Bodhi misses it, too occupied with telling his sister to fuck off. That's a familiar back and forth.
Cassian is indeed always punctual, and he knows they still have a few minutes. He slips his hand from her hip and very slowly closes up the final button. He doesn't... want to step away, so he lingers unnecessarily, idly tugging at the final and lowest button like he's moving it to a more proper spot (as if buttons can even move). "Okay," he says a little quietly. "You look ready now, with time to spare."
"Thank you." She turns to face him, realizing too late that she is still so close to him and now she is even closer. Despite the sudden butterflies having a mosh pit in her belly, her smile is small, soft for a moment, before she adds, dancing away from him:
"And thank your Papa for my new sunglasses."
She will never get to keep Cassian, the least she can hold on to is something that reminds her of him. And she will get lots of use from these sunglasses, pushing them back into her hair where they settle amongst her braids like a tiara.
She needs to find her shoes again, wondering if she can get away with converse with this dress. It's white, they might work. And if she waits until the last minute Bodhi won't be able to stop her. Ha, victory.
She flutters away and he's left feeling... like he's imagined the last five minutes. Two minutes? It felt like ages, but really it probably only took a few moments to seal up her dress. He feels like he imagined the closeness and intensity and he shoves it all away to focus on the fact that she has stolen his sunglasses.
"I am going to tell him you stole them," he offers instead, then moves to his suit case so he can dig out the nicer clothes to change into, ones that aren't wrinkled from a three and a half hour flight. "But first I need to use your bathroom."
It just slips out, emphatic. He could be wearing a burlap sack and he would be the most beautiful man on the planet, he definitely does not need to change.
She's seen him in tabloids, they love him just as much when he is casual and wearing a tee shirt that shows off his beautiful, perfect arms. This man does not need to dress up.
Cassian pauses, surprised by her admission, and the shy smile he gives her over it isn't for show. People find him handsome, he knows that, he's certainly used that to his advantage on occasion, but it doesn't feel like fake flattery from Jyn.
"I am still not going to wear jeans to your dinner when you look this pretty."
And before she can argue or disagree, he slips off into the bathroom to change out of his smelly travel clothes.
apparently, a woman can only go so long without a sword between her hands
Sometimes it seems like the only thing that gets them all together is a birthday party and this is no exception: Shara is turning 25! A whole quarter century, which Jyn supposes is a fun milestone, they call it her silver birthday and it is enough of a Festian tradition that before the young royals can go out drinking for her birthday, they need to celebrate traditionally. Which means a fancy state dinner where Jyn is sat across the enormous table from Cassian and tucked between Kes and Luke (which is fine, honestly, she and Kes get on like jam on toast and Luke is very sweet) and then loads of charitable pop ins and then a whole thing about celebrating the birthday girl's accomplishments.
And Shara is an accomplished fencer.
Since it is a state event and she and Bodhi have come as the Princess and Crown Prince of Aria Prime and not Jyn and Bodhi, they've been dressed in their national colors, Jyn in a red dress and her favorite tiara she inherited from her Gran nestled in her braids, and Bodhi is a grey suit with a pop of color in his red tie and the sash across his chest and the rosette that indicates he is the crown prince since he doesn't wear a crown... ever. She'd been content to watch Shara's exhibition when she found herself being summoned by the princess to be her opponent. Any excuses that she didn't have her saber were lost when Bodhi pressed it into her hand. The traitor.
The fact that both women are wearing tea dresses and heels — and Jyn is suddenly pleased she'd picked heels with a t strap so they won't fly off as the move — is irrelevant because this is all for show anyway and probably they won't reenact that scene from Zorro.
Two champion fencers means the duel is beautiful and Jyn finds herself smiling a bit as they spar. They're evenly matched, Shara has more experience but Jyn had won her championship only three months ago so she is more in practice and it is easy to fall into a rhythm of giving each other a chance to show off their best moves in swirls of skirts and the clack of heels across the marble floor, the clash of swords bringing applause and soft gasps every time.
His sister is a very good fencer, but Cassian has seen her duel thousands of times. He has not been witness to Jyn doing so in person, just the livestream from her last tournament. If his eyes are on Jyn, he is simply studying her technique and trying to decide whether or not to bet on his sister! They're putting on a show, everyone is watching.
But he cannot take his eyes off Jyn at all. The way her dress swirls around her legs, the smile on her face, the tight grip on her saber that flexes her muscles. He would be lying to deny she is utterly beautiful right now, and fortunately he can admit it strictly in his head, where no one else can hear it, especially his sister who he desperately hopes loses. There's a stirring in his chest, and he is trying to decide just how worth it it'll be to challenge Jyn himself. He wants to so badly. He knows this is more the both of them showing off than a tournament-esque battle, but he's so fascinated watching Jyn move.
If he was paying more attention to his sister, he might have noticed how purposeful Shara is in her moves, the way she turns the tide into something of a draw. How she isn't trying to win necessarily, just trying to push Jyn into being the star of the show.
His sister is a jerk, but he's too distracted to notice.
It's fun, sparring with Shara. They're well matched and Shara meets Jyn's forceful pressing strike for strike. It goes on for a while, Jyn feeling the familiar, comfortable warmth of her muscles moving and stretching, the drip of sweat down her spine. Hopefully Bodhi packed her a second dress.
But maybe it won't be necessary because Jyn almost catches Shara unawares but at the last second her sword draws up and the cross directly between the women. They look at each other and Shara winks before they both lower their swords to applause, Jyn looking slightly bemused.
It ends far sooner than Cassian would like, so much so that when everyone else starts to clap, he does not, because he's expecting more. He wants more. This is absolutely absurd! He's seen plenty of sparring matches in his life! He knows how to fence himself!
But he doesn't even know who technically won, because in his head it's still Jyn. Sorry Shara.
Before he can think about it, he's climbing to his feet and slinking towards his sister. No one else seems to be aware of his movements either, not until he's right beside her and stealing away her sword. He gestures at Jyn with it. He is not in the proper attire for this, but it's not like she is either. They fancy fighting.
Jyn's eyes go wide, startled even as Shara steps back gracefully like she had expected this exact thing to happen and set her brother up entirely. Jyn doesn't notice this, of course, too busy looking at Cassian. Cassian with Shara's saber. Cassian who wants to spar with her after watching her make a boy in gold cry trouncing him so handily at her finals.
She takes a step back, puffing out a breath, but it isn't to back away from this fight, it is to start it. She murmurs "en garde" under her breath before she takes that step back and launches herself at Cassian.
Cassian knows his sister set this trap but the unfortunate part is that she is his sister and thus knows exactly how to get him. He walked right into this, almost knowingly, but at the moment he can't bring himself to care. He'll just ignore Shara's texts later when he leaves without saying goodbye.
But he thinks about Jyn whirling across the floor, of her delightful defeat of the gold git and he wants to chase the thrill of her competition for himself.
He's not surprised when she immediately plows forward, that's kind of her style, so he swoops his sword up to block, the hem of her dress fluttering against his leg before it swings back around hers. He dislodges the strike and aims one of his own; it's barely five seconds into it, and he's already enjoying himself probably a little too much.
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ohnofeelstho2020-08-30 10:06 pm
hope your birthday is as special as you are
"Why have I got to wear a bloody dress. I thought you said this was going to be casual," she hissed. The dress in question, a simple and delicate white lace number, was still half undone, waiting for Bodhi to do the buttons up the back. Jyn was struggling to pin her braids in place.
"You're the birthday girl. You're twenty one, Jyn," Bodhi explains, letting out a whoop as the door opened and in walked Cassian Andor.
The thing about the younger royal set is that they tended to gravitate toward their own age groups; thus Bodhi had, over the years, collected Cassian and his best friend Kay, both of the Organa twins, Shara and her new husband Kes. Jyn's inclusion was a byproduct of her older brother being friendly and personable, vouching for his taciturn younger sister. She was older than the twins but they were leaps and bounds more important and worldly than she was so it was like talking to her parents. Cassian was one of the quieter ones and over the few years since they'd meet at her 18th birthday, they had tended to orbit each other, talking quietly at the few state affairs they found themselves at together every year. He was smart and clever and so earnest and she loved the way his face lit up when he talked about the social programs he'd thrown his patronage behind.
Jyn knew he was just being nice, spending time with her so she wouldn't feel left out, but logic had not stopped the crush. Still burning bright if the warmth that floods her now is any indication. He's wearing just a tee shirt and jeans, unfairly attractive regardless, and Bodhi doesn't complain about his casual dress as they greet each other because it isn't as if Fest is close to Aria Prime. He'd had to fly in for this "casual" party.
Her hands drop from her hair to try to attempt the little buttons up the back of her dress herself while Bodhi and Cassian briefly chit chat, but before she can ask Bodhi to finally help her, he disappears out the door - presumably to greet Kay - and Jyn gives Cassian a weak, helpless smile.
"Hey."
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They really regretted his 18th birthday. He left his party early and ended up pulling an all nighter with Habitat for Humanity.
As far as Fest's government knows, he's currently in Alderaan, but he and Kay flew out to Aria Prime instead, via Economy Plus on a passenger plane. It's Jyn's birthday and all their friends are here, including his own sister! He'll stay a day or two then head over to Alderaan; his meeting with King Bail isn't even for two days. He'd wanted to see Jyn and refused to offer any further explanation when Kay gave him a Look. When they get to Bodhi's apartment, he isn't expecting Jyn to be there. He'd had a whole thing lined up for when he saw her at the party, and now he's been reduced to his own quiet smile.
"Hi." A beat, while he tries not to let his gaze wander over her dress. It's nice! Bodhi's dressed up too! "I think I might be underdressed."
In his defense, he came right from the airport.
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Cassian is the most handsome man on the fucking planet and he thinks he is underdressed. Jyn half scoffs, trying to stamp it down so she doesn't seem dismissive. She's told so often that she is grumpy and contemptuous, even when she isn't trying to be, that her mouth automatically turns up in a placating smile.
"You look comfortable."
Which she is not. She doesn't tell him he looks ridiculously handsome but she's thinking it.
Her arms twist further behind her, vainly attempting to do up the rest of the buttons of her stupid dress. She'd much prefer to be in a hoodie and jeans, but Bodhi insisted.
Speaking of Bodhi and with a quiet, strangled noise of frustration as her nails scratch uselessly at the cloth covered buttons: "Do you know who else is going to be there?"
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He tries to flatten out his shirt, but he's distracted by her struggles with her own clothes. It makes him think he definitely showed up too early, but Bodhi seems to be held up with Kay, probably talking shit, leaving his sister at the whims of her dress.
"Just my sister and Kes. It's your party. You would know better than me, wouldn't you?" Before she can answer, she just hisses out motherfucker instead, and Cassian bites back a laugh. "Do you need a hand?"
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Her hands drop immediately, defeated and so Cassian will have access to all the fiddly little buttons. Also access to the pale, freckles expanse of her back that is revealed with the dress half open. It has one button at the top, holding the lace together over the heart shaped cut out, but that was easy to do herself. It's the rest, down low, that she can't manage.
"Bodhi only told me there was a party today." Probably because he knew she would back out otherwise and this was far more an excuse for Bodhi to get his friends together (Jyn still thinks of them as his friends, maybe Cassian counts as her friend but even that feels like pushing it) than it is an actual celebration of Jyn's birth.
"It's too bad you missed the state dinner. Papa had them make me spiced hot chocolate."
Cassian's favorite.
Her formal birthday was a boring affair since she is the spare heir and no one really cares about her birth and only one of their friends, Luke, had managed to make it. Her birthday was at such a stupid time of year. It's probably why Bodhi waited a month to have their friend party in January instead. No more holidays to celebrate, very little royal obligations, most of them were on holiday from school still.
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The mention of hot chocolate has him smiling softly, if she manages to catch a glimpse of it before he swings around to her back. But then he is confronted with the pale sweep of her back, her dress half open; his eyes trace down her spine before he can help it before snapping back up to the top where she's managed one whole button on her own.
"Maybe the restaurant will have some. Or," he hesitates, reaching up to close up the first button towards the middle of her back, not sure if closing up her dress or asking his question is more nerve-wracking, "We could just go find some ourselves, if you need a break tonight."
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"He's such a twat."
She stays still however, practiced at least in being dressed like a barbie doll, but her head turns a little, like she's almost going to look over her shoulder but thinks better of it. Instead she peers at Cassian in the mirror, watching the studious expression on his face as he buttons her up.
"Now I know why you've really come to visit." Spiced cocoa is the one thing both of their countries have in common, dessert wise. "I'm glad to have provided a decent excuse for cocoa."
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She is remarkably still, but he knows why. Shara goes through it more than he does, but they all have those moments where people filter in and out to get them dolled up appropriately for fancy state functions. It's easier to just let them do their thing and then make his own adjustments after.
His hands are very warm, and he's made aware of this because his fingers keep brushing against her cool skin as he carefully does up the buttons. He doesn't notice the mirror, unaware that she is watching him, so he thinks the very soft smile on his face when she mentions the cocoa is a private one. "Now is the perfect time of year for it, even if it's still quite warm out."
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Which was nice when it meant she got to tag along and see Cassian. (Ugh, god Jyn, get a grip.)
"It's always warm here, I don't know how you cope with it, my little snow prince."
(JYN. My? SERIOUSLY????)
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She just called him my snow prince. It startles him, though the only sign of it is the way his fingers fumble over the button, and he has to try it again, but not before he accidentally brushes a finger against her skin when it slips beneath the fabric.
"Forgoing a jacket," he says in an attempt to smooth it over, still unawares she can see him as he bites his cheek in both embarrassment and to hide his smile. "I did not even bring one."
He brought a hoodie, but that doesn't count.
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"Brought your sunglasses though," she teases still, reaching over her shoulder to snatch them from where he'd hand them tucked in the collar of his tee shirt. She unfolds them, puts them on inside the flat, tips her chin up to study herself in the mirror.
"Hm. Thank you for this lovely gift." As they are her sunglasses now.
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"The sun here is bright! Sunglasses are clearly more important than a jacket." His hands move lower as the buttons do, practically courting the bottom of her spine. He closes them up slowly, though not on purpose - it's almost like he's extra afraid of a slip up down here, where he is trying to pretend he can't see the waistband of her underwear peeking out.
No slip ups. Just his heart pounding which he is sure she can hear. "You can borrow them, but I will need them when the sun is actually out again."
The sun hurts his eyes!
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"You can have a pair of Bodhi's." It is what her brother deserves for planning this stupid part she doesn't want to have. Speak of the devil--
"Jyn, hurry up, we're leaving in five minutes."
"Fuck off."
"Fuck you."
Bodhi flips her off and swans back out the door, assuming probably (correctly) that in five minutes Jyn will be dressed and out the door with him, if only because Cassian is perpetually punctual and will counteract the fact that she already wants to just go to bed.
"It isn't prison for murder that bothers me," Jyn muses, "It's that mum would be so sad."
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Fortunately, he is pretty sure Bodhi misses it, too occupied with telling his sister to fuck off. That's a familiar back and forth.
Cassian is indeed always punctual, and he knows they still have a few minutes. He slips his hand from her hip and very slowly closes up the final button. He doesn't... want to step away, so he lingers unnecessarily, idly tugging at the final and lowest button like he's moving it to a more proper spot (as if buttons can even move). "Okay," he says a little quietly. "You look ready now, with time to spare."
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"And thank your Papa for my new sunglasses."
She will never get to keep Cassian, the least she can hold on to is something that reminds her of him. And she will get lots of use from these sunglasses, pushing them back into her hair where they settle amongst her braids like a tiara.
She needs to find her shoes again, wondering if she can get away with converse with this dress. It's white, they might work. And if she waits until the last minute Bodhi won't be able to stop her. Ha, victory.
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"I am going to tell him you stole them," he offers instead, then moves to his suit case so he can dig out the nicer clothes to change into, ones that aren't wrinkled from a three and a half hour flight. "But first I need to use your bathroom."
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It just slips out, emphatic. He could be wearing a burlap sack and he would be the most beautiful man on the planet, he definitely does not need to change.
She's seen him in tabloids, they love him just as much when he is casual and wearing a tee shirt that shows off his beautiful, perfect arms. This man does not need to dress up.
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"I am still not going to wear jeans to your dinner when you look this pretty."
And before she can argue or disagree, he slips off into the bathroom to change out of his smelly travel clothes.
apparently, a woman can only go so long without a sword between her hands
And Shara is an accomplished fencer.
Since it is a state event and she and Bodhi have come as the Princess and Crown Prince of Aria Prime and not Jyn and Bodhi, they've been dressed in their national colors, Jyn in a red dress and her favorite tiara she inherited from her Gran nestled in her braids, and Bodhi is a grey suit with a pop of color in his red tie and the sash across his chest and the rosette that indicates he is the crown prince since he doesn't wear a crown... ever. She'd been content to watch Shara's exhibition when she found herself being summoned by the princess to be her opponent. Any excuses that she didn't have her saber were lost when Bodhi pressed it into her hand. The traitor.
The fact that both women are wearing tea dresses and heels — and Jyn is suddenly pleased she'd picked heels with a t strap so they won't fly off as the move — is irrelevant because this is all for show anyway and probably they won't reenact that scene from Zorro.
Two champion fencers means the duel is beautiful and Jyn finds herself smiling a bit as they spar. They're evenly matched, Shara has more experience but Jyn had won her championship only three months ago so she is more in practice and it is easy to fall into a rhythm of giving each other a chance to show off their best moves in swirls of skirts and the clack of heels across the marble floor, the clash of swords bringing applause and soft gasps every time.
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But he cannot take his eyes off Jyn at all. The way her dress swirls around her legs, the smile on her face, the tight grip on her saber that flexes her muscles. He would be lying to deny she is utterly beautiful right now, and fortunately he can admit it strictly in his head, where no one else can hear it, especially his sister who he desperately hopes loses. There's a stirring in his chest, and he is trying to decide just how worth it it'll be to challenge Jyn himself. He wants to so badly. He knows this is more the both of them showing off than a tournament-esque battle, but he's so fascinated watching Jyn move.
If he was paying more attention to his sister, he might have noticed how purposeful Shara is in her moves, the way she turns the tide into something of a draw. How she isn't trying to win necessarily, just trying to push Jyn into being the star of the show.
His sister is a jerk, but he's too distracted to notice.
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But maybe it won't be necessary because Jyn almost catches Shara unawares but at the last second her sword draws up and the cross directly between the women. They look at each other and Shara winks before they both lower their swords to applause, Jyn looking slightly bemused.
Why did she wink?
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But he doesn't even know who technically won, because in his head it's still Jyn. Sorry Shara.
Before he can think about it, he's climbing to his feet and slinking towards his sister. No one else seems to be aware of his movements either, not until he's right beside her and stealing away her sword. He gestures at Jyn with it. He is not in the proper attire for this, but it's not like she is either. They fancy fighting.
"My turn."
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Jyn's eyes go wide, startled even as Shara steps back gracefully like she had expected this exact thing to happen and set her brother up entirely. Jyn doesn't notice this, of course, too busy looking at Cassian. Cassian with Shara's saber. Cassian who wants to spar with her after watching her make a boy in gold cry trouncing him so handily at her finals.
She takes a step back, puffing out a breath, but it isn't to back away from this fight, it is to start it. She murmurs "en garde" under her breath before she takes that step back and launches herself at Cassian.
It's fucking on.
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But he thinks about Jyn whirling across the floor, of her delightful defeat of the gold git and he wants to chase the thrill of her competition for himself.
He's not surprised when she immediately plows forward, that's kind of her style, so he swoops his sword up to block, the hem of her dress fluttering against his leg before it swings back around hers. He dislodges the strike and aims one of his own; it's barely five seconds into it, and he's already enjoying himself probably a little too much.