She makes a face at him before leaning back until she's laying down on the dock, closing her eyes against the sunlight and idly swishing her feet back and forth in the water. Sometimes she thinks she could just sleep here, but curfew and blah blah blah. She doesn't like her lonely cabin.
"Is that why you were being a cactus? 'cause you'd thought I was leaving?" Which is mind-boggling, honestly. Not the idea that she'd leave because she can see the appeal of the Hunters, obviously, they're just not for her. But the idea that her leaving might have upset Cassian enough to being in such a mood that Baze felt the need to point it out to her... that's a marvel. She's not used to being cared for that much.
She knows Bodhi would care and Galen would care, but that's different. They're her family. Cassian is something else entirely. A friend but more. Shit, more? No. Just a very good friend. A dear, dear friend.
He doesn't lay down next to her because that would be weird, but it is very tempting.
"I was not being a cactus." Yes he was. He leans back on his hands more comfortably and squints out over towards the camp instead of looking at her.
"You're my - friend." Yes. Friendship. His face scrunches on the word, like it's not enough. "It seemed like you might like the Hunters. You were excited by them -" He bristles. "It would have been weird without you." SO THERE.
In retrospect, Cassian can't believe how bothered he was by this. How attached he is to Jyn and her friendship. Best friendship. She's important to him and he clearly cannot imagine not having her in his life to the point where it's a call out offense.
That is definitely how friendship works. If his brain uses the word friendship one more time, it's going to sound fake, in both English and Spanish.
"You were here for, like, ten years before you found me," she points out, head tilting to sort of face him even if her eyes stay closed. She understands completely, her life would be equally weird without him, he'd become such an integral part of it so quickly and he'd been one of the few people that had continued to come back for her.
He'd said 'welcome home' at her first bonfire and she knew then that it wasn't the camp that was really her home.
She decides not to dwell on that, changing topics entirely. "Papa wants me to go back to the city for the weekend. Do you want to come with?" She seems to realize that's an odd request or could be and her eyes open, looking up at him as she hurries to add: "He still treats me like I'm six so it's still a bit weird when it's just the two of us, but he's got free passes to all the museums from the college and there's new exhibits on mummies and whales and the one about vaccines eradicating disease is closing soon. We can go while he's working."
Cassian would do just about anything for the Camp. It's been his home for more than half his life, but he didn't quite realize what was lacking till Jyn showed up. He knows he would have been fine in reality had she joined the hunters - but it doesn't mean he would have liked it. He's glad she immediately changes the topic and allows him to skip out on replying, because he doesn't know what to say there.
He steals a glance at her on the dock, her eyes gratefully still closed so she can't see the surprised and quietly pleased look on his face at the rambling invitation. There are traces of it still there by the time she does open them though.
He tries to pretend mummies and whales doesn't sound like the perfect mix for the two of them, before he nods at her and gives her the simplest acquiescence in the world. "Okay." Cassian has been outside of camp more than most, but very rarely has it been for recreational reasons. He might be a little excited, not that he's being too obvious about it. "Will he mind if I'm there too?"
Once he's said yes, Jyn's eyes close again, faint happy smile playing across her lips. "No, he wants to meet you."
She doesn't intend to leave it just hanging there, ominously. It does not occur to her than it could be interpreted as strange or foreboding that some girl's dad wants to meet her friend who is very much a handsome, capable boy with a pretty smile and dimples that make her stomach do all sorts of weird fluttery things. She also straight up doesn't know how to deal with a parent anymore so the idea that Galen might want to vet Cassian doesn't occur to her either.
He waits for her to expand on that - only she doesn't. There are good reasons and bad reasons and neutral reasons and it makes him wonder what Jyn has told her father about him.
Cassian blinks down at her, Unimpressed even though she can't see it. "He wants to meet me." It's half a question. He wants to know what Galen might have ever said about him so far for starters. She's smiling about it, so he hopes it's not a bad reason, but there's some sense of butterflies in his gut that makes him feel nervous anyway. Which is dumb, because why should he feel worried about what Jyn's dad thinks of him? It won't change anything about his being friends with her.
She reaches out blindly to prod him, somewhere in the vicinity of his ribs. It's a lazy gesture.
"You're my best friend and Bodhi and I talk about you loads." As much as Jyn has a romantic crush in Cassian that she won't admit, Bodhi has something of a hero crush on Cassian that he also won't admit. Sort of what happens when you get rescued, repeatedly, by a hyper competent teenage demigod who can bench press at least 115 pounds. Bodhi excels at his own things -- he can drive and pilot literally anything including one time a hang glider -- but Cassian is just Cassian.
Even Jyn who lives to beat up monsters finds herself dreamily watching him train.
"Plus Papa is a scientist and you're dead clever, he'd have someone to talk to finally that cares." Renewable energy is great but by George is it exhausting to listen to sometimes. She loves her father dearly but he is kind of a nerd.
He immediately watches her hand and stubbornly does not react when her fingers brush against his chest. It's whatever. So many things are whatever today.
At least something in him settles when she brings up Bodhi alongside herself. It makes sense, that they'd talk about him. If Cassian had anyone to talk to like that, he's sure they'd know all about Jyn. And Bodhi, of course. K2 tends to sigh dramatically whenever he brings up Jyn, but Cassian is sure the satyr just enjoys sighing dramatically regardless. Jyn's just easy to get exasperated with.
"I don't know nearly as much about renewable energy as your father does." She's definitely mentioned what Galen does before, but even if she hasn't, it shouldn't be a surprise that he figured it out. He also half beams when she calls him clever and draws approximately no attention to it.
"Papa is an odd duck." She would say she doesn't understand why her father would be drawn to him when they seemingly have nothing in common besides their daughter, but her best friend is a clever swot whose strategic mind is downright scary sometimes. She's always grateful it's never turned against her. Regardless, she definitely understands Poseidon.
You know, in the strictly platonic way that Jyn cares about Cassian.
"I don't think being a scientist makes you inherently odd." There's probably other things, and apparently parents do things all the time that make their kids think them odd, but Cassian's parental experience is too limited to know. Whatever, mom!
It makes him a little curious though, wondering how Jyn and her human father interact. She's so prickly and grumpy with most people, but this is her dad, who she always talks about with a level of fondness. It feels like something that would help him understand Jyn more.
Jyn's feet swish back and forth idly as a dark cloud blots out the sun so that when she pushes up on her elbows and opens her eyes again to look out over the water, she doesn't go blind. Jyn will certainly abuse her god given abilities to make sure she doesn't get a sunburn, you bet your ass.
"I know that." Her head tips back to flash him a bright smile to replace the sun. "It's not a bad thing. Sometimes Papa will lose track of what he's thinking about, like he's thinking too hard and he has to be reminded that he was in the middle of a sentence and, yes, before you say anything I know I do the same thing sometimes."
Cassian is oddly good at coaxing her back to the present. "But it's mostly that I'm still six years old to him and I'm not actually six anymore. He made beans on toast last time I was home and cut off my crusts."
Cassian blinks up at the sky once he notices what's happening, but it's hardly the first time. When he looks back to catch the way she smiles at him, he feels blinded. She needs to smile more.
Because it means she's happy. Why wouldn't he want her to be happy?
"Oh good, I don't have to say it." Just because he won't say it doesn't mean he won't draw attention to it. He scrunches up his face, because beans on toast always sounds so terrible. Clearly beans in a taco shell is infinitely superior. "It's not like you don't like weird food. Maybe the crust was a joke, or just a callback."
It could be a normal parent thing to forget your kids aren't young anymore, or maybe just pretend they're still kids despite actual age. Cassian doesn't know, but he's going to pretend otherwise, because rarely will he admit to not knowing something.
"Papa is smart, but he doesn't know how jokes work." She huffs a little before drawing her legs up and wriggling around until she's kneeling next to him. The dark storm cloud fades now that the sun isn't in her eyes and she gathers her hair over one shoulder.
"He bought me a nightlight." She leans forward, pressing her hands flat against the dock, as if what she is about to reveal is important and because the both of them are terrible at personal space. "I'm seventeen. I just wish I could remind him that I'm not a little girl anymore without also reminding him that he missed the last eleven years of my life. That seems mean."
Cassian is used to her moving into his space to the point where he rarely thinks anything of it, especially because he's just as likely to push into hers. He leans forward like they're about to conspire and no one else is allowed to know.
"He must recognize your independence already, if he's not telling you to come home and live with him all the time again." He is putting thought into this. "The nightlight and crust could be about him, not you, but nightlights are not just for children." He wrinkles his nose. "Buy him dinner?"
Not that they have much in the way of money, but that seems like a reasonable option out of reach for little kids.
"He's very smart, he knows I'm safer here." But Cassian makes good points regardless, one of the reasons she loves talking to him. Not only can he cut to the quick of what is bugging her, he knows when she's asking for advice, even if she doesn't ever really ask. Talking is hard enough, asking for help is pushing it. "Plus, he's a pacifist, he doesn't like weapons in the house."
It's always a marvel that she is Galen's daughter.
"I would buy him diner but I haven't got any money. Do you use a nightlight, Andor?"
"We have a nightlight in the Athena cabin for some of the younger campers," he says easily. He shrugs. "It's not for me, but it's there."
Not that he sees it, because his corner of the cabin is so secluded and canopied into the privatest quarters one can make for themselves in a building full of kids. Cassian definitely has make-shift curtains around his bunk to block everyone else out.
"Are we not going to be able to keep weapons on us? That's not safe." Things Cassian does not like the idea of: not having at least one weapon on him at all times. Too many monsters.
Jyn shakes her head as she pushes to her feet, holding out her hand to help Cassian up. "He doesn't like it, but he also knows they're necessary. Don't worry, I have a whole trunk in the closet."
He's such a good big brother, it makes Jyn feel a little jealous that she doesn't have a pile of younger siblings touching her stuff in her cabin. Not that she really wants to share and not that the rules can keep Bodhi out sometimes, but it gets lonely in Poseidon cabin all by herself.
"I would have snuck at least one in anyway." He is definitely not surprised by the closet full of weapons, but he still likes having his own. They're more familiar to him.
With a slightly exaggerated sigh, Cassian grabs her hand to pull himself to his feet, just because she offered. He clearly doesn't need to, and it's not like he wanted to hold her hand. It's just polite.
"Is it another shark?" Her fingers are warm for once. Cassian why are you still holding her hand??
He's taller than her again and close. Her stomach does something fluttery and tingly. He's still holding her hand, warm and sure and unnecessary now that he is standing. Jyn finds herself both unwilling to draw her hand back and unwilling to call attention to it at the same time but she can't just start walking like this, can she?
Can she?
She can, it turns out, moving down the dock and ignoring the hand in hers. "No sharks. Well, not real ones."
It's not that he forgets how much taller he is than her when they're sitting on level ground, but the sudden reminder gives him pause. Maybe it's because she's so close to him too.
He probably should have let go immediately after standing up, but now it feels like it's gone on too long and it'd be awkward. She saves him the choice by starting to walk and dragging him with her; after two seconds deliberation, he lets himself get pulled and mimics the way she completely ignores the fact that he's still holding her hand.
"I have loads of fake sharks but you've seen them all. Stop guessing, you're not going to get it right." She elbows him lightly which is odd holding his hand but she likes the feel of her small hand enclosed in his larger one so she still refuses to let go.
"Well," she admits begrudgingly, "You might guess, but I'm not giving you hints."
"Even when I did guess right, you probably wouldn't admit it." When, not if, for two reasons: the first being to annoy her, the second being he probably could guess soon enough for it to be a when.
But part of him kind of wants to be surprised, even if it's just some tiny dumb shark thing. Just like he kind of likes holding her hand. It's calloused to match his, but it fits nicely, even if it's smaller.
"I would too admit it! You're just trying to get out of guessing because you know you won't get it right." So there. She makes a face at him like a persnickity cat and after a moment sticks her tongue out for good measure.
Because she is a super mature demigod, you betcha.
"How often are my guesses wrong?" WELL JYN??He makes an exaggerated face when she sticks out her tongue, but it's not really a surprise.
There's an urge to stick his own out right back too, but he resists because Cassian is clearly the more Mature person here, the one making faces to decree how silly this is.
"Just because it's not often doesn't mean it's not possible. You've met me, yeah? Remember how I'm not supposed to exist?" In your face, Andor.
She wants to shove him but she wants to keep holding her hand so she splits the difference and sort of barrels her whole body into him. Surely this will end well. No doubt.
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ohnofeelstho2017-04-02 02:39 am
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"Is that why you were being a cactus? 'cause you'd thought I was leaving?" Which is mind-boggling, honestly. Not the idea that she'd leave because she can see the appeal of the Hunters, obviously, they're just not for her. But the idea that her leaving might have upset Cassian enough to being in such a mood that Baze felt the need to point it out to her... that's a marvel. She's not used to being cared for that much.
She knows Bodhi would care and Galen would care, but that's different. They're her family. Cassian is something else entirely. A friend but more. Shit, more? No. Just a very good friend. A dear, dear friend.
Oh dear.
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"I was not being a cactus." Yes he was. He leans back on his hands more comfortably and squints out over towards the camp instead of looking at her.
"You're my - friend." Yes. Friendship. His face scrunches on the word, like it's not enough. "It seemed like you might like the Hunters. You were excited by them -" He bristles. "It would have been weird without you." SO THERE.
In retrospect, Cassian can't believe how bothered he was by this. How attached he is to Jyn and her friendship. Best friendship. She's important to him and he clearly cannot imagine not having her in his life to the point where it's a call out offense.
That is definitely how friendship works. If his brain uses the word friendship one more time, it's going to sound fake, in both English and Spanish.
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He'd said 'welcome home' at her first bonfire and she knew then that it wasn't the camp that was really her home.
She decides not to dwell on that, changing topics entirely. "Papa wants me to go back to the city for the weekend. Do you want to come with?" She seems to realize that's an odd request or could be and her eyes open, looking up at him as she hurries to add: "He still treats me like I'm six so it's still a bit weird when it's just the two of us, but he's got free passes to all the museums from the college and there's new exhibits on mummies and whales and the one about vaccines eradicating disease is closing soon. We can go while he's working."
Please say yes.
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He steals a glance at her on the dock, her eyes gratefully still closed so she can't see the surprised and quietly pleased look on his face at the rambling invitation. There are traces of it still there by the time she does open them though.
He tries to pretend mummies and whales doesn't sound like the perfect mix for the two of them, before he nods at her and gives her the simplest acquiescence in the world. "Okay." Cassian has been outside of camp more than most, but very rarely has it been for recreational reasons. He might be a little excited, not that he's being too obvious about it. "Will he mind if I'm there too?"
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She doesn't intend to leave it just hanging there, ominously. It does not occur to her than it could be interpreted as strange or foreboding that some girl's dad wants to meet her friend who is very much a handsome, capable boy with a pretty smile and dimples that make her stomach do all sorts of weird fluttery things. She also straight up doesn't know how to deal with a parent anymore so the idea that Galen might want to vet Cassian doesn't occur to her either.
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Cassian blinks down at her, Unimpressed even though she can't see it. "He wants to meet me." It's half a question. He wants to know what Galen might have ever said about him so far for starters. She's smiling about it, so he hopes it's not a bad reason, but there's some sense of butterflies in his gut that makes him feel nervous anyway. Which is dumb, because why should he feel worried about what Jyn's dad thinks of him? It won't change anything about his being friends with her.
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"You're my best friend and Bodhi and I talk about you loads." As much as Jyn has a romantic crush in Cassian that she won't admit, Bodhi has something of a hero crush on Cassian that he also won't admit. Sort of what happens when you get rescued, repeatedly, by a hyper competent teenage demigod who can bench press at least 115 pounds. Bodhi excels at his own things -- he can drive and pilot literally anything including one time a hang glider -- but Cassian is just Cassian.
Even Jyn who lives to beat up monsters finds herself dreamily watching him train.
"Plus Papa is a scientist and you're dead clever, he'd have someone to talk to finally that cares." Renewable energy is great but by George is it exhausting to listen to sometimes. She loves her father dearly but he is kind of a nerd.
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At least something in him settles when she brings up Bodhi alongside herself. It makes sense, that they'd talk about him. If Cassian had anyone to talk to like that, he's sure they'd know all about Jyn. And Bodhi, of course. K2 tends to sigh dramatically whenever he brings up Jyn, but Cassian is sure the satyr just enjoys sighing dramatically regardless. Jyn's just easy to get exasperated with.
"I don't know nearly as much about renewable energy as your father does." She's definitely mentioned what Galen does before, but even if she hasn't, it shouldn't be a surprise that he figured it out. He also half beams when she calls him clever and draws approximately no attention to it.
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You know, in the strictly platonic way that Jyn cares about Cassian.
Because they're friends.
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It makes him a little curious though, wondering how Jyn and her human father interact. She's so prickly and grumpy with most people, but this is her dad, who she always talks about with a level of fondness. It feels like something that would help him understand Jyn more.
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"I know that." Her head tips back to flash him a bright smile to replace the sun. "It's not a bad thing. Sometimes Papa will lose track of what he's thinking about, like he's thinking too hard and he has to be reminded that he was in the middle of a sentence and, yes, before you say anything I know I do the same thing sometimes."
Cassian is oddly good at coaxing her back to the present. "But it's mostly that I'm still six years old to him and I'm not actually six anymore. He made beans on toast last time I was home and cut off my crusts."
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Because it means she's happy. Why wouldn't he want her to be happy?
"Oh good, I don't have to say it." Just because he won't say it doesn't mean he won't draw attention to it. He scrunches up his face, because beans on toast always sounds so terrible. Clearly beans in a taco shell is infinitely superior. "It's not like you don't like weird food. Maybe the crust was a joke, or just a callback."
It could be a normal parent thing to forget your kids aren't young anymore, or maybe just pretend they're still kids despite actual age. Cassian doesn't know, but he's going to pretend otherwise, because rarely will he admit to not knowing something.
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"Papa is smart, but he doesn't know how jokes work." She huffs a little before drawing her legs up and wriggling around until she's kneeling next to him. The dark storm cloud fades now that the sun isn't in her eyes and she gathers her hair over one shoulder.
"He bought me a nightlight." She leans forward, pressing her hands flat against the dock, as if what she is about to reveal is important and because the both of them are terrible at personal space. "I'm seventeen. I just wish I could remind him that I'm not a little girl anymore without also reminding him that he missed the last eleven years of my life. That seems mean."
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Cassian is used to her moving into his space to the point where he rarely thinks anything of it, especially because he's just as likely to push into hers. He leans forward like they're about to conspire and no one else is allowed to know.
"He must recognize your independence already, if he's not telling you to come home and live with him all the time again." He is putting thought into this. "The nightlight and crust could be about him, not you, but nightlights are not just for children." He wrinkles his nose. "Buy him dinner?"
Not that they have much in the way of money, but that seems like a reasonable option out of reach for little kids.
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It's always a marvel that she is Galen's daughter.
"I would buy him diner but I haven't got any money. Do you use a nightlight, Andor?"
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Not that he sees it, because his corner of the cabin is so secluded and canopied into the privatest quarters one can make for themselves in a building full of kids. Cassian definitely has make-shift curtains around his bunk to block everyone else out.
"Are we not going to be able to keep weapons on us? That's not safe." Things Cassian does not like the idea of: not having at least one weapon on him at all times. Too many monsters.
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He's such a good big brother, it makes Jyn feel a little jealous that she doesn't have a pile of younger siblings touching her stuff in her cabin. Not that she really wants to share and not that the rules can keep Bodhi out sometimes, but it gets lonely in Poseidon cabin all by herself.
"Come on, I want to show you something."
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With a slightly exaggerated sigh, Cassian grabs her hand to pull himself to his feet, just because she offered. He clearly doesn't need to, and it's not like he wanted to hold her hand. It's just polite.
"Is it another shark?" Her fingers are warm for once. Cassian why are you still holding her hand??
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Can she?
She can, it turns out, moving down the dock and ignoring the hand in hers. "No sharks. Well, not real ones."
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He probably should have let go immediately after standing up, but now it feels like it's gone on too long and it'd be awkward. She saves him the choice by starting to walk and dragging him with her; after two seconds deliberation, he lets himself get pulled and mimics the way she completely ignores the fact that he's still holding her hand.
"So it's a fake one."
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"Well," she admits begrudgingly, "You might guess, but I'm not giving you hints."
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But part of him kind of wants to be surprised, even if it's just some tiny dumb shark thing. Just like he kind of likes holding her hand. It's calloused to match his, but it fits nicely, even if it's smaller.
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Because she is a super mature demigod, you betcha.
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There's an urge to stick his own out right back too, but he resists because Cassian is clearly the more Mature person here, the one making faces to decree how silly this is.
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She wants to shove him but she wants to keep holding her hand so she splits the difference and sort of barrels her whole body into him. Surely this will end well. No doubt.
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