She looks so Imperial right now that Cassian almost bristles. Fortunately time and experience are on his side and there's no sign of it. If there's any good impression he's gotten about Jyn, it's that she might have been raised under the Imperial thumb but she doesn't seem to care for them.
K2 answers her first, dropping his voice like he's trying to be quiet. "I do not stomp."
He looks at her sharply when she grabs his sleeve, but doesn't yank away. It'd be too much of a scene. "Listen to her, K2. Walk quietly."
The droid does his best, which is enough to get them to the lift unnoticed. Cassian is almost too still while they wait for the doors to open, but he moves like lightening when the lift arrives, pushing both K2 and Jyn in the elevator first.
He presses the door close button quickly and thinks he's really going to need to talk to Galen about knowing exactly when Krennic usually shows. If he's learned anything about the Empire, it's their obsessive scheduling tends to be mostly predictive.
Jyn relaxes once they get into the elevator, leaning against the wall. It's not glass like the one in the front and it shudders before it starts moving slowly down.
"There's no cameras or bugs in this one," she mentions softly. "An oversight." Oversight sounds like a lie and she looks up at Cassian carefully. Does he know that she and her father are still often surveilled because Krennic is a creep? Now he does. "Krennic doesn't trust me because I'm too much like my mother."
Her chin tips up, defiant and proud. Damn right she is too much like her mother, fury and loss brimming in her bright eyes still after all these years. She has forgiven her father for bringing her here, she understands that, but she will never forgive Krennic for murdering her mother. She's not exactly subtle about how much she hates him, either. "And now Papa's taken in a student from the Organas home."
Every single thing she says in this elevator is a very good sign, but Cassian has only just got here and he's not about to burst at the seams with his secrets. Bail seems to trust Galen and by extension Jyn. Cassian has kept himself alive by being more cautious.
"Everything I have heard of this man leaves me wary about meeting him." Or staying in his company for extended periods of time. Still, he wants this from Jyn's perspective. She might not like him much right now, but it doesn't mean she won't be a useful ally in avoiding Krennic. "How often does he come by? Do you usually have time to prepare?"
K2's eyes make a whirring sound, but the droid keeps stationary as the lift moves downward.
"I'm not particularly interested in discussing my work with the man."
Just because she said it's not bugged or watched doesn't mean he's going to be anything less than the Model Student. At least until he feels confident enough in the security.
"Papa tries to warn me, but sometimes he comes to see me after class. As Papa's friend." Jyn's loathing is plain. It begs the question if she can keep it from Krennic himself, but she also hasn't liked him since she was baby so maybe he is just used to her disgust by now.
Her head tips back against the wall, eyes closing. "Just take your time in the fresher when he shows up. You'll turning into a wrinkle, but it's better than talking to him, trust me. Papa always distracts him with work and they go back to the office."
Any warning is better than none, and Cassian knows he's quick on his feet. There's already a running list of reasons to keep out of Krennic's way should he be there when the man stops by. He likes to imagine a world where they don't exist in the same space, but the galaxy is not that kind.
Like he understands entirely more than what the surface conversation carries, his tone is dry: "I suppose he is checking up on just how his dear friend's daughter is doing."
She is so openly disgusted by Krennic. Cassian approves. "There's always feigning a nap as well."
"Especially now that we share a room, you might not sleep well with someone else in there. Naps could be necessary." At the very least, a reasonable ploy.
Eyes fluttering open, she turns her head to look at him, sadness creeping in to dispel some of the anger. Krennic always puts her in a bad mood because she can't help but think about losing her mother. It always feels like he's rubbing it in, gloating. "I know why I don't like Director Krennic, but why don't you like him? Most people that I've met are jealous that I know him. They want an introduction. You want the opposite."
He likes conspiring with her to avoid Krennic way more than arguing with her over a fake thesis. He can sleep in a shared room, but he's not about to counter that. "And research is conducted at all hours. A regular sleep pattern tends to be unattainable with grad work."
K2 is surprisingly silent, and Cassian hopes that maybe he's taken the warning to be seen and not heard far better than anticipated. It's a stupid hope, but it's great right now.
"He is not so fond of my adopted father." It's true enough, even if that's not the complete reason why he hates Krennic. Imperial reasons is why. But Jyn looks as sad as she does angry with the question, and he feels like he can use that to smooth things over.
It's not a very nice thought, but it is a spy thought. "Bail as good as raised me as his own. I'm not about to make friends with a man who hates Organa."
Jyn doesn't answer at first, though her expression softens the slightest bit at the mention of Bail raising him. Galen had explained, eventually, that the plan was for Saw to take care of her and her mother -- the plan had not worked out, but sometimes she imagines what it would have been like to have grown up with the fierce Onderon warrior she'd met when she was very young.
It makes her wonder what happened to his family but she doesn't ask him, not yet.
Instead she pushes herself away from the wall, moving into his personal space and looking up at him. Her bright eyes are calculative and wary under her dark fringe. "My father trusts your father, but why should I trust you?"
She's kind of easy to read, but Cassian has always been good at reading people. He makes a note when she softens to use his relationship with Bail too and hopes the man might forgive him for it.
Cassian doesn't react when she steps into his space; if anything, he leans in more and meets her gaze, looking downward with curiosity. She's trying to figure him out, much the same he's working on her. "I suppose I'll have to give you reason to earn my trust first, won't I? It would be presumptuous to assume I can just have it."
It's definitely got elements of a non-answer because he hasn't figured out what to do to earn her trust yet, except maybe become ride or die for her father. Which isn't happening. It's not even the answer he'd give if he was 100% being himself, but he's still working on what part of himself would get along with her best. "You can ask me things. That's usually how you stop being a stranger. But I would not be here without your father's approval."
He has a scar under his chin, she briefly wonders when and where he got it, but doesn't bother asking, it's unimportant in the long run.
"My father isn't known for his impeccable judgement, Mr Andor, or haven't you heard that he married someone critical of the Empire?" Her father is very smart and he learned to be a very good liar, but he does everything to protect Jyn. Her father's approval or plans don't exactly make her feel better.
Seeing her eyes up close suddenly explains her nickname of Stardust.
Cassian raises an eyebrow, answering her question with one of his own. "How much do you know about Alderaan, Miss Erso?" He's not about to openly discuss the planet's deep involvement in the Rebellion, but it's well known that Alderaan is not exactly one of the most Pro-Empire places. Bail totes a fine line since his days as a friend to the Jedi. "Do I need to discuss my own father's former tumultuous position as a Senator?"
He's relieved she hasn't been indoctrinated by the Empire. The files on Lyra Erso were minimal, but from what he's read and heard from Jyn, she very much takes after her mother.
"No. You've answered enough." She steps back, out of his personal space, tucking her hands into the pockets of her coat just in time for the lift to whoosh open on the ground floor.
Owing to the senator's position in Alderaan, Jyn hadn't thought Cassian would be loyal to the Empire, but she knows the vast majority of populations are very loyal because of how the Empire came to power to begin with. A lot of planets never hear of the violence inflicted on smaller powers, even Jyn wouldn't if Galen didn't personally keep her up to date. It was always a possibility that Cassian would have Imperial leanings, she is glad he doesn't.
She leads Cassian and K2 out of the lift, turning down the hall to the backdoor out of the apartment building. "What kind of food do you like?"
Cassian was in essence anti-Empire before it even became the Empire. He spent the first few years of his life in the Outer Rim, in a Separatist anarchist cell. He sees the potential to even tell her one day. Not in detail - but if she's just as disloyal to the Empire as he is, his childhood will help.
Apparently even that can be weaponized for the Rebellion, but he's trying not to think about it. When she steps back and accepts his answer, he nods at her.
He and his droid follow her out, and Cassian takes K2's silence as a sign of data analysis. A perk of Coruscant being so bustling. "There's little I won't eat. I'm sure this planet has quite the variety. Do you have any favorites?"
It's as true as it is fishing for what she likes to eat.
"There's a cafe near the library." Through the door they go and Jyn tugs up her scarf over her hair, looking up briefly at the cameras that she knows are everywhere, eyes sliding to the storm troopers posted on the corner. Her even expression doesn't change, but her eyes flare with anger and her posture stiffens slightly.
She holds out her hand for Cassian. "I'll lose you otherwise." He can probably keep up, but she is very small, it's easy for her to get lost in crowds. And she's not going to take him to a very nice part of town anyway.
Cafes are great. Cassian loves cafes. He drinks a lot of caf and they're excellent social spots. He can make new contacts, maybe even find some old ones. He doesn't follow her gaze to the cameras, mostly because he already knows where her building's security is. He's got it memorized. He's not surprised by the stormtroopers and doesn't seem affected by their presence either, not like Jyn stiffens.
He can definitely keep up with her, but offering her hand is a good gesture he's not going to pass over. He takes it without thought, because it'll make them more inconspicuous too.
Her hand is very small in his and not as soft as he expected. Probably all the rocks. His own is a lot more calloused than a typical academic. "I know where the library is, but a local's sense of time is best. How far is it?"
K2 decides to chime in with a mutter, especially once he sees their hands folded together. "As if Cassian would lose someone in a crowd."
Well now she wants to get lost, just so his droid will shut up. "I was unaware Cassian is incapable of fault." It's taken a while, but she's finally gotten around to calling him by his first name instead of Mr Andor or just his surname.
"It's five blocks east, two blocks north." She gestures the direction with her free hand, already pulling him down the sidewalk. Most of her father's coworkers use the speeders taxis or the raised walkways far above them, lording over their city like gods. Jyn prefers to keep her feet on the ground, boots against the grimy sidewalks instead of the glass walkways cantilevered between the skyscrapers, even if it takes longer.
Her hand shifts in his, getting comfortable being dwarfed by him, half wishing she'd put her gloves on first but it's not nearly cold enough. It would be strange.
Jyn will learn soon enough that K2 doesn't shut up, even if he's being quiet right now. Cassian sighs at his droid in response, but easily notes that Jyn finally called him by just his name.
"I just meant he's good in a crowd, as you are too apparently."
"K2."
The warning seems to suffice as Jyn leads them through the streets, and Cassian is unconcerned about walking. He prefers it too, taking in the buildings and memorizing the path for the next time he needs to use it alone. He likes being this low too - it's less noticeable; people tend to look up before they look down. His fingers move easily, adjusting his grip as she does until they find something comfortable enough. "An easy enough walk," he remarks, trying to think about what he might know of the area in relation to her building.
Jyn says nothing else, not even commenting on the ease of the walk, just leading them quietly for a few block until they reach a part of downtown that seems to be what people would call the bad part of the neighborhood. Jyn relaxes when they pass the first broken camera, continuing as she leads them across the road to the second sidewalk.
Occasionally, as they pass the open doors of small businesses, someone will greet Jyn fondly and it's when they're passing what looks like an old pharmacy that a little boy shoots out to door and barrels into Jyn's legs, crowing her name happily. She lets go of Cassian's hand instantly, crouching down to greet the little boy, tousling his pale hair.
"Soren, you're huge! You must have grown a foot since I've seen you last."
He beams at her. "But you saw me yesterday!"
"Impossible, you've gotten so tall. This can't be the same little boy I saw yesterday." Jyn looks up at Cassian, lifting her eyebrows slightly in a request he play along. "Don't you think that Soren is practically a grown man now?"
Cassian feels better being in the supposed bad part of town. It's far easier to blend, and he isn't afraid of being mugged or attacked. It might happen for sure, but he knows he's capable of fending it off.
Besides, apparently Jyn is a friendly face. He blinks at the little boy, the only sign he's confused, but the affection Jyn has for him is clear. She likes kids. Another note to add to his mental file.
He plays along. "He might have a little ways to go, just until he's taller than you," he says, because he decides going right for the height jugular is a Great Idea. It seems to amuse Soren at least who giggles gleefully. "But he certainly looks quite grown up so far."
Having grown up with Leia, Cassian is not too terrible with children like he might have been otherwise. He still feels a little awkward, mostly because his own childhood was such a hodgepodge of Rebellion versus Politics, but it's much easier to fake. He just pretends kids are Leia, and it makes it easier, even though she was quite opposite the regular little girl.
"It is anatomically impossible for a human child to grow over one foot in one night." There he is, K2 the killjoy. "This is clearly still an adolescent. Jyn Erso, do need glasses?"
Jyn breathes out a sigh through her nose, closing her eyes briefly before they snap open and her sweet smile returns to Soren. "Don't listen to him." Him being K2, of course, Cassian was perfectly fine.
"Are you coming to my birthday party, Jyn?" He bounces up and down in front of her, to the point that Jyn puts both her hands on his little shoulders so he doesn't bounce right into orbit.
"Of course I am. It's not every day a young man turns seven years old."
"Okay. Bye Jyn!" He jets off as quick as he came, darting back into the shop and leaving Jyn crouched there for a few seconds like she's startled by the sheer speed of him. In comparison, the way she straightens up is practically glacial. Once standing, she adjusts her fringe and sets off again, tucking her hands in her pockets this time.
K2 seems affronted, but Cassian turns to level his droid a Look and whisper at him to keep quiet. The warning only ever carries so far, but at least it works for now.
Jyn is very natural with kids, and it brings on a different side to her. The encounter speeds by so fast and Cassian feels so irrelevant to it that it takes him two seconds to recognize it's over. He waits for follow up that doesn't come, but he's not surprised. She has no reason to explain her life to him, but he suspects even if she did know him well, she wouldn't offer much else regardless.
"So when's the party?" is what he tries first, lightly, because he's determined to try another round of conversation. Maybe Soren put her in a better mood. It seems a better question to ask that anything directly about the boy in relation to Jyn.
Mechanic muttering filters from behind them. "I still don't know if she needs glasses."
"I don't need glasses." She doesn't... think. She hasn't gone to a doctor in quite some time now that she thinks about it. But that's not the point, the point is that the droid doesn't understand interacting with children and she's not going to touch that. She doesn't even know why she answered in the first place.
"His party is in a few days." She glances over at Cassian, jerking her head back to K2. "Is he always like this?"
As if Jyn is really being any better with her current attitude.
The party is a dead end topic, but talking about K2 doesn't seem like the best transition.
Cassian sighs. "No." A beat. "This is him being polite."
It takes a lot to reprogram a droid. Cassian did do it successfully, but the complete lack of tact is an unfixable error. Or maybe he's just too used to it to care, or maybe it's some weird semblance of K2's personality that he refuses to touch.
His best friend is a rude droid. Dealing with a rude!Jyn will probably be familiar.
"He's Imperial." In case Cassian hasn't noticed. She feels like it's worth noting -- especially since Cassian clearly isn't pro-Empire. Why does he have a rudely polite Imperial droid? "A KX security droid, isn't he? I thought they stopped making those because specialist models are more profitable than versatile ones."
It's not like she doesn't see them every time she visits her father at his office, lumbering through the halls and loitering by the hangar doors when Jyn accompanies Galen to Eadu, but it seems a curiosity to find one with Cassian.
Not to mention... She lowers her voice, stepping in closer to Cassian again, handing lifting to rest against his arm. "You might want to warn him that although his series isn't uncommon upstairs, people are still afraid of droids here. Not Soren, of course, he's too young, but." People Cassian's age, their parent's generation, people that actually remember the droid army in the Clone Wars.
"By original design." There's a but not anymore in there that he's not willing to elaborate on out in public, even if they're in a shitty part of the city. He's trusting her to read him very quickly.
"He has been with me for twelve years. I don't intend to take him everywhere -" K2 starts to protest, but Cassian raises his hand and the droid goes silent with what could be a mechanical huff. "But I was not about to leave him unattended before he was properly debriefed."
No way was he going to let his droid sit with Krennic before he got a handle on the situation for himself. Maybe in the future but it was too rushed and jittery before.
Cassian hesitates, letting her rest her hand and tucking his arm in like a proper sort of escort. "I know he is not often welcome. I lived through the Clone Wars. But K-2SO's loyalty is mine and mine alone. It has been invaluable in the past."
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ohnofeelstho2017-06-03 11:16 pm
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K2 answers her first, dropping his voice like he's trying to be quiet. "I do not stomp."
He looks at her sharply when she grabs his sleeve, but doesn't yank away. It'd be too much of a scene. "Listen to her, K2. Walk quietly."
The droid does his best, which is enough to get them to the lift unnoticed. Cassian is almost too still while they wait for the doors to open, but he moves like lightening when the lift arrives, pushing both K2 and Jyn in the elevator first.
He presses the door close button quickly and thinks he's really going to need to talk to Galen about knowing exactly when Krennic usually shows. If he's learned anything about the Empire, it's their obsessive scheduling tends to be mostly predictive.
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"There's no cameras or bugs in this one," she mentions softly. "An oversight." Oversight sounds like a lie and she looks up at Cassian carefully. Does he know that she and her father are still often surveilled because Krennic is a creep? Now he does. "Krennic doesn't trust me because I'm too much like my mother."
Her chin tips up, defiant and proud. Damn right she is too much like her mother, fury and loss brimming in her bright eyes still after all these years. She has forgiven her father for bringing her here, she understands that, but she will never forgive Krennic for murdering her mother. She's not exactly subtle about how much she hates him, either. "And now Papa's taken in a student from the Organas home."
Discuss.
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"Everything I have heard of this man leaves me wary about meeting him." Or staying in his company for extended periods of time. Still, he wants this from Jyn's perspective. She might not like him much right now, but it doesn't mean she won't be a useful ally in avoiding Krennic. "How often does he come by? Do you usually have time to prepare?"
K2's eyes make a whirring sound, but the droid keeps stationary as the lift moves downward.
"I'm not particularly interested in discussing my work with the man."
Just because she said it's not bugged or watched doesn't mean he's going to be anything less than the Model Student. At least until he feels confident enough in the security.
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Her head tips back against the wall, eyes closing. "Just take your time in the fresher when he shows up. You'll turning into a wrinkle, but it's better than talking to him, trust me. Papa always distracts him with work and they go back to the office."
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Like he understands entirely more than what the surface conversation carries, his tone is dry: "I suppose he is checking up on just how his dear friend's daughter is doing."
She is so openly disgusted by Krennic. Cassian approves. "There's always feigning a nap as well."
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Eyes fluttering open, she turns her head to look at him, sadness creeping in to dispel some of the anger. Krennic always puts her in a bad mood because she can't help but think about losing her mother. It always feels like he's rubbing it in, gloating. "I know why I don't like Director Krennic, but why don't you like him? Most people that I've met are jealous that I know him. They want an introduction. You want the opposite."
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K2 is surprisingly silent, and Cassian hopes that maybe he's taken the warning to be seen and not heard far better than anticipated. It's a stupid hope, but it's great right now.
"He is not so fond of my adopted father." It's true enough, even if that's not the complete reason why he hates Krennic. Imperial reasons is why. But Jyn looks as sad as she does angry with the question, and he feels like he can use that to smooth things over.
It's not a very nice thought, but it is a spy thought. "Bail as good as raised me as his own. I'm not about to make friends with a man who hates Organa."
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It makes her wonder what happened to his family but she doesn't ask him, not yet.
Instead she pushes herself away from the wall, moving into his personal space and looking up at him. Her bright eyes are calculative and wary under her dark fringe. "My father trusts your father, but why should I trust you?"
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Cassian doesn't react when she steps into his space; if anything, he leans in more and meets her gaze, looking downward with curiosity. She's trying to figure him out, much the same he's working on her. "I suppose I'll have to give you reason to earn my trust first, won't I? It would be presumptuous to assume I can just have it."
It's definitely got elements of a non-answer because he hasn't figured out what to do to earn her trust yet, except maybe become ride or die for her father. Which isn't happening. It's not even the answer he'd give if he was 100% being himself, but he's still working on what part of himself would get along with her best. "You can ask me things. That's usually how you stop being a stranger. But I would not be here without your father's approval."
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"My father isn't known for his impeccable judgement, Mr Andor, or haven't you heard that he married someone critical of the Empire?" Her father is very smart and he learned to be a very good liar, but he does everything to protect Jyn. Her father's approval or plans don't exactly make her feel better.
He works with Krennic, everyday, to protect her.
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Cassian raises an eyebrow, answering her question with one of his own. "How much do you know about Alderaan, Miss Erso?" He's not about to openly discuss the planet's deep involvement in the Rebellion, but it's well known that Alderaan is not exactly one of the most Pro-Empire places. Bail totes a fine line since his days as a friend to the Jedi. "Do I need to discuss my own father's former tumultuous position as a Senator?"
He's relieved she hasn't been indoctrinated by the Empire. The files on Lyra Erso were minimal, but from what he's read and heard from Jyn, she very much takes after her mother.
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Owing to the senator's position in Alderaan, Jyn hadn't thought Cassian would be loyal to the Empire, but she knows the vast majority of populations are very loyal because of how the Empire came to power to begin with. A lot of planets never hear of the violence inflicted on smaller powers, even Jyn wouldn't if Galen didn't personally keep her up to date. It was always a possibility that Cassian would have Imperial leanings, she is glad he doesn't.
She leads Cassian and K2 out of the lift, turning down the hall to the backdoor out of the apartment building. "What kind of food do you like?"
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Apparently even that can be weaponized for the Rebellion, but he's trying not to think about it. When she steps back and accepts his answer, he nods at her.
He and his droid follow her out, and Cassian takes K2's silence as a sign of data analysis. A perk of Coruscant being so bustling. "There's little I won't eat. I'm sure this planet has quite the variety. Do you have any favorites?"
It's as true as it is fishing for what she likes to eat.
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She holds out her hand for Cassian. "I'll lose you otherwise." He can probably keep up, but she is very small, it's easy for her to get lost in crowds. And she's not going to take him to a very nice part of town anyway.
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He can definitely keep up with her, but offering her hand is a good gesture he's not going to pass over. He takes it without thought, because it'll make them more inconspicuous too.
Her hand is very small in his and not as soft as he expected. Probably all the rocks. His own is a lot more calloused than a typical academic. "I know where the library is, but a local's sense of time is best. How far is it?"
K2 decides to chime in with a mutter, especially once he sees their hands folded together. "As if Cassian would lose someone in a crowd."
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"It's five blocks east, two blocks north." She gestures the direction with her free hand, already pulling him down the sidewalk. Most of her father's coworkers use the speeders taxis or the raised walkways far above them, lording over their city like gods. Jyn prefers to keep her feet on the ground, boots against the grimy sidewalks instead of the glass walkways cantilevered between the skyscrapers, even if it takes longer.
Her hand shifts in his, getting comfortable being dwarfed by him, half wishing she'd put her gloves on first but it's not nearly cold enough. It would be strange.
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"I just meant he's good in a crowd, as you are too apparently."
"K2."
The warning seems to suffice as Jyn leads them through the streets, and Cassian is unconcerned about walking. He prefers it too, taking in the buildings and memorizing the path for the next time he needs to use it alone. He likes being this low too - it's less noticeable; people tend to look up before they look down. His fingers move easily, adjusting his grip as she does until they find something comfortable enough. "An easy enough walk," he remarks, trying to think about what he might know of the area in relation to her building.
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Occasionally, as they pass the open doors of small businesses, someone will greet Jyn fondly and it's when they're passing what looks like an old pharmacy that a little boy shoots out to door and barrels into Jyn's legs, crowing her name happily. She lets go of Cassian's hand instantly, crouching down to greet the little boy, tousling his pale hair.
"Soren, you're huge! You must have grown a foot since I've seen you last."
He beams at her. "But you saw me yesterday!"
"Impossible, you've gotten so tall. This can't be the same little boy I saw yesterday." Jyn looks up at Cassian, lifting her eyebrows slightly in a request he play along. "Don't you think that Soren is practically a grown man now?"
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Besides, apparently Jyn is a friendly face. He blinks at the little boy, the only sign he's confused, but the affection Jyn has for him is clear. She likes kids. Another note to add to his mental file.
He plays along. "He might have a little ways to go, just until he's taller than you," he says, because he decides going right for the height jugular is a Great Idea. It seems to amuse Soren at least who giggles gleefully. "But he certainly looks quite grown up so far."
Having grown up with Leia, Cassian is not too terrible with children like he might have been otherwise. He still feels a little awkward, mostly because his own childhood was such a hodgepodge of Rebellion versus Politics, but it's much easier to fake. He just pretends kids are Leia, and it makes it easier, even though she was quite opposite the regular little girl.
"It is anatomically impossible for a human child to grow over one foot in one night." There he is, K2 the killjoy. "This is clearly still an adolescent. Jyn Erso, do need glasses?"
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"Are you coming to my birthday party, Jyn?" He bounces up and down in front of her, to the point that Jyn puts both her hands on his little shoulders so he doesn't bounce right into orbit.
"Of course I am. It's not every day a young man turns seven years old."
"Okay. Bye Jyn!" He jets off as quick as he came, darting back into the shop and leaving Jyn crouched there for a few seconds like she's startled by the sheer speed of him. In comparison, the way she straightens up is practically glacial. Once standing, she adjusts her fringe and sets off again, tucking her hands in her pockets this time.
She offers zero explanation for anything.
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Jyn is very natural with kids, and it brings on a different side to her. The encounter speeds by so fast and Cassian feels so irrelevant to it that it takes him two seconds to recognize it's over. He waits for follow up that doesn't come, but he's not surprised. She has no reason to explain her life to him, but he suspects even if she did know him well, she wouldn't offer much else regardless.
"So when's the party?" is what he tries first, lightly, because he's determined to try another round of conversation. Maybe Soren put her in a better mood. It seems a better question to ask that anything directly about the boy in relation to Jyn.
Mechanic muttering filters from behind them. "I still don't know if she needs glasses."
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"His party is in a few days." She glances over at Cassian, jerking her head back to K2. "Is he always like this?"
As if Jyn is really being any better with her current attitude.
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Cassian sighs. "No." A beat. "This is him being polite."
It takes a lot to reprogram a droid. Cassian did do it successfully, but the complete lack of tact is an unfixable error. Or maybe he's just too used to it to care, or maybe it's some weird semblance of K2's personality that he refuses to touch.
His best friend is a rude droid. Dealing with a rude!Jyn will probably be familiar.
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It's not like she doesn't see them every time she visits her father at his office, lumbering through the halls and loitering by the hangar doors when Jyn accompanies Galen to Eadu, but it seems a curiosity to find one with Cassian.
Not to mention... She lowers her voice, stepping in closer to Cassian again, handing lifting to rest against his arm. "You might want to warn him that although his series isn't uncommon upstairs, people are still afraid of droids here. Not Soren, of course, he's too young, but." People Cassian's age, their parent's generation, people that actually remember the droid army in the Clone Wars.
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"He has been with me for twelve years. I don't intend to take him everywhere -" K2 starts to protest, but Cassian raises his hand and the droid goes silent with what could be a mechanical huff. "But I was not about to leave him unattended before he was properly debriefed."
No way was he going to let his droid sit with Krennic before he got a handle on the situation for himself. Maybe in the future but it was too rushed and jittery before.
Cassian hesitates, letting her rest her hand and tucking his arm in like a proper sort of escort. "I know he is not often welcome. I lived through the Clone Wars. But K-2SO's loyalty is mine and mine alone. It has been invaluable in the past."
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