Cassian has been in this apartment building for about two months, and he still barely knows the neighbors. He misses Kay, and not just because the man was an excuse not to leave the house. Now Cassian is just a recluse without reason, socializing with your roommate is a piss poor excuse for socialization when you don't have one anymore. He recognizes faces, simply because he's good at that kind of thing, knows the general routines of some people in his building just because they cross paths at the same time.
The girl who hits him in the back with the snowball? Familiar enough. He's seen her around, not enough to know who she is or which floor she's on, but he does know her delighted peel of laughter when she nails him dead on is very well earned.
He squats down and she regards him suspiciously, but then he scoops up some snow and rolls it up, tossing a snowball in her direction. She realizes just in time and manages to dodge, but not without another whirl of laughter. Cassian rolls up another handful of snow, and that's how he gets into a snowball fight with a seven year old girl. If only Kay could see him now!
He loses track of time, though it's honestly not that long. It's a surprisingly good way to unwind after a long day at work, even if the snow soaks his hair because the hood on his parka has long since fallen over and his hands are like ice thanks to his shitty gloves, but it's the first real snowfall of the season and Cassian is glad to make use of it.
"Do you give up yet?" the girl calls out, hurling another snowball at him.
He dodges this one, and it flies by him towards the front door. "Not a chance!"
Honestly Jyn is content to let Birdie race around the snow in the building's not pathetic patch of grass. If it gets her energy out, all the better! She decks one of their new neighbors -- Chirrut had pointed him out when he'd moved in -- and Jyn should really stop her but she lets it happen. How does she manage to have a child that loves the snow when Jyn hates it. It's cold and sticky and wet and she can't stand it.
But Birdie loves it so Jyn lets it go like Elsa.
When her last snowball almost hits her mother? Well, no, that is the end of that.
"Alright, Snowbird, it's time to come inside. And no bringing snowballs inside again!" Again. They don't last as well in the freezer as they'd hoped, instead giving everything in the freezer a bad case of freezer burn. Jyn hadn't cried when she'd tossed all the meat but it was a close thing.
She pulls her sweater tighter around her as her little girl straight up ignores her in favor of rolling another snowball. "Birdie, if you don't drop that snowball it'll be in front of the firing squad with you, Miss Erso."
Cassian is not above taking advantage of the girl's distraction to hit her with one more snowball. All is fair in this game. Fortunately he throws it only three seconds after she's called back inside, maybe he won't be seen as an instigator. The ball hits her in the shoulder and she laughs, looking back to the woman at the door before risking one more throw, and with luck, it nails him in the chest. Cassian tries to bite back his laugh, but it doesn't really work.
She throws her hands up in the air. "Last hit, I win!"
Cassian tries to shake the snow off his hands, but it's clinging to the cloth. He grins down at her as she scampers over to him. "I think it should be a tie. Or a draw, until next time."
"You threw it after game over. I only dropped mine."
"Oh, is that what we are calling it?"
He shoots the woman a glance, offering a very small shrug of an apology for extending the battle. He couldn't help it.
"Uh-uh, Snowbird. Doesn't count as a hit if you only drop it and I am sure you didn't throw after I told you not to." Stuck between getting in trouble for continuing to play when she was asked to stop and winning, the little girl looks between the two adults, weighing her options.
"I threw it and I won and it was worth it!" she shrieks with delight before grabbing Cassian's hand and dragging him toward the door with all the determined strength of a second grader on a mission. "Come on, my Momma makes the best hot cocoa after the snow and I can show you my snowflakes!"
It is only when she is right in front of said mother that she seems to realize that she has forgotten a step in the process. "Momma?" Her accent gets even more British on that word alone. "Can my friend come for cocoa and to see my snowflakes?"
Jyn crouches down in front of her daughter who is still clutching their neighbor's probably frozen fingers with all her strength. "Birdie, do you think maybe you should ask you new friend if he wants cocoa instead of assuming he does? And I know for a fact, you rude little bear, that you did not introduce yourself so maybe you should do that first. If he agrees, yes, he can come for cocoa."
Birdie turns to face Cassian, affecting an overly polite air, giving his hand a shake though not letting go, as her mother straightens up again. "Hello, I'm called Birdie. What is your name and would you like to have hot chocolate with me and my mother and look at my snowflakes, please?"
Cassian lets himself be tugged along, already accepting his fate as this child's current newest best friend. He's not sure what made him play with her in the first place. Maybe he really was just itching for some semblance of socialization, even in the form of a second grader. He notes that the woman is her mother, and he finally gets the girl's name. Maybe. He is pretty sure Birdie is some kind of nickname, but honestly you never know.
He shakes her hand in return, unsurprised when she doesn't let go. He doesn't even think it would be possible to say no, less he break her tiny heart. "I am Cassian. It is very good to meet you, Birdie. A cup of cocoa sounds very nice, though I hope they are not real snowflakes. I think my hands may be too cold to touch any more snow." He looks from daughter to her mother, not wanting to intrude even if both of them have seemingly invited him in. He's still a relative stranger, even if the snowball fight was very much fantastic. "If you are sure it's all right."
Now that he's closer, he recognizes her mother from around the building too, though this is weirdly the first time he's seen them together. He can't believe he's agreeing to more socializing without much argument, he must really be starved.
"It's alright," Jyn assures him with a lazy shrug, letting Birdie drag him past her into the building, pulling him toward the elevator. Jyn follows in their wake as Birdie jabbers happily about her arts and craft snowflakes -- cut out snowflakes and q-tip snowflakes and glitter snowflakes and painted snowflakes and a snowflake mobile and this yeah she and Momma are going to make a 3-D snowflake like a parol and Cassian can help! She barrels into starting to explain, with a patient tone that sounds like Chirrut, what a parol is as they get on the elevator and start moving.
"It's like the Star of David that led the Wise Men to Bethlehem, we don't go to church but Momma says I can believe in God or Jesus or Buddha or nothing or everything and I don't have to decide yet so I learn everything!" Birdie is as effervescent and bubbly as Jyn is not and she glances at Cassian over her daughter's head and mouths "Sorry".
The kid can talk and she loves new friends and Jyn doesn't want to stifle her friendliness. "Birdie, you're having a conversation not giving a monologue. Share the stage."
With her mother's approval, Cassian allows himself to get tugged along. He has no idea where he's going, he doesn't even know what floor they're on. It's strange to just trust them to it, yet here he is. This whole day is one strange experience after another.
He listens very carefully as Birdie explains all her different snowflakes; part of His job involves careful listening and attentiveness, he's very good at it. He shrugs off her mother's apology with an easy smile. He's used to quick kid chatter, though usually in Spanish. "I do not have nearly as many interesting things to say about crafts. The only snowflakes I have any experience in making are the paper ones, where you fold and cut out the pieces. I used to make them out of multiple paper colors, which I suppose does not seem to match a very snowy theme."
The elevator takes them all the way up to the top floor, which Cassian has admittedly never been to. He's walked to his own place on the third floor, but always felt too weird to go up another and explore it. It's not his business!
The moment the door opens, Birdie is yanking him down the hall. "If you cut them over a bowl and save all the pieces, then you have confetti! You can use it to make snowglobes, we did that before too, right Momma? I never did it with other colors, we should try it next time!"
"We do a lot of arts and crafts," Jyn mentions wryly, as if it isn't obvious enough from the dozens of snowflakes that Birdie mentioned. "She's very creative." And Jyn can't stifle that creativity either. Saw had done his best with her, but he was practically minded and didn't indulge Jyn the way her mother had when she was young. Jyn doesn't want her own daughter to miss out on anything.
Especially because Birdie will be eight next year and Jyn might, you know, drop dead and orphan her the way it had happened in her own youth.
That's a fun existential crisis she has every day.
"Birdie, when you get inside, before you continue your conversation with Cassian, I want you to put away your school bag and all your snow gear, no leaving it on the floor this time. Then you can come get your hot chocolate." Pausing by the door with a glum expression that her mom just laid down a death sentence instead of two minutes cleaning, she begrudgingly agrees as Jyn opens the door.
Finally Cassian has his hand back and free of little girl. "You can put your gloves on the bench to dry, if you want. Birdie, take off your boots, do not tromp around the house in them." The home itself it small; kitchen and dining and living room all the same, a tiny hallway with three open doors revealing two bedrooms and a small bathroom. It's cheerfully decorated with all the snowflakes Birdie mentioned, wreathes made of hand prints, a potholder with a foot and hand print moose, a wall hanging of happy christmas in many different languages. One wall is entirely covered in bookshelves, small TV wedged on one shelf, toys in baskets liter the floor. It's lived in, homey.
Jyn moves to the kitchen ones she shucks off her coat and drops it on the bench, toeing off her shoes to walk in just her wool socks. "If you want to escape now while she is distracted, I won't judge you."
Their house is so... festive. It's not bad! It's great, honestly. Cassian always liked Christmas, but Kay never quite got into the season other than indulging his friend when they strung lights up around the apartment windows. The whole house feels lived in, in ways his own apartment has not reached by virtue of being a solitary inhabitant with little possessions.
He pulls off his gloves, both because his hands are going numb and because he wants to show he's planning to stay. He drops them on the bench as directed. "I can see she is." And he's charmed by all of it. "Can I put my jacket somewhere? Sorry it is kind of big. I suspect even if I left now, she would just run door to door until she found me again."
He takes his boots off next, setting them neatly by the door. His shoes too are covered in snow, he will not tromp them around the house! He can hear Birdie puttering around and it sort of sounds like she might be singing, but it's too muffled to tell. It's vaguely holiday-esque.
"I did not catch your name. Birdie was a little too hyped up." He heard an Erso, but they might not have the same last name.
"You can leave it on the bench. I haven't gotten around to putting up pegs." Fun fact, they moved in two years ago. And she still hasn't gotten around to putting up pegs. She has the shelf! She has not put up the shelf. She's so tired at the end of the day she just wants to sleep.
Jyn puts the kettle on the stove, flicking it on before she sets a small pan on the stove next to it, retrieving a jug of milk from the fridge and pouring in a couple cups, turning the heat on low.
"I don't have any coffee, but if you don't want hot chocolate, I can make you tea." She looks up from retrieving mugs from the drawer. "My name's Jyn. You just moved in, yeah?"
Chirrut had casually pointed it out when he'd moved in. Someone her age, single, single, Jyn, he's quite handsome don't you think? Jyn had rolled her eyes and kissed Birdie goodbye and went to work and thought nothing of it, but now that he's in her house she does have to admit that he is rather handsome. Not that she will ever admit it to Chirrut, but he is kind of cute. In a Jyn is too tired to think of going on a date much less dating so Cassian is cute in an irrelevant way.
He unzips and shrugs off his giant coat, some of the snow shaking off onto the floor, but they've all brought in plenty of it. Underneath he's still wearing his work clothes, a nice button up green shirt with some black jeans. He carefully sets it on the bench as best he can, but it is very large, so the sleeves sort of drape over the side.
"Hot chocolate is fine. I would not want to disappoint the invitation or Birdie. Besides, I have been told you make the best of it." Cassian likes hot cocoa. Sometimes he gets it on lunch instead of coffee and his coworkers are non the wiser.
He trails after her into the kitchen area, making sure she still has enough space to move around. "About two months. I suppose that is still pretty new, although I did finally finish unpacking last week so that might make it less so. How long have you been here?"
Birdie skids into the kitchen with one blue rain boot in her hand and a tambourine because... why not. "Momma can I have seven pink mini marshmallows?"
"Pink? Alright." With that agreement, the girl rushes back to her room and whatever she is doing. Jyn doesn't question it, ducking down to grab a bowl full of small jars full of marshmallows, each jar holding a different color. "You're welcome to pick seven marshmallows, too."
She grabs a mason jar full cocoa powder and twists the lid off, pouring some into the pan with the milk. It seems like all the cocoa supplies are within easy reach of the stove. "Little over two years now. I work at Mercy Hospital." Which is right down the street so this building was the perfect place to move into, even if dragging her groceries upstairs is The Worst, even with the elevator.
He likes the cocoa set up. It's so convenient! "Since they are so small, I might take a little more than seven, but let's go with pink too. It can be the theme."
He rubs his hands together idly, slowly fighting off the chill as the feeling creeps back into his fingers. "In your defense, I do not have a lot of possessions." He moved around so much in his youth, he rarely had Things that last more than a year or two. It makes it easier as an adult to not get attached to objects - but he still has his rock collection. That was the last thing he unpacked, worried the apartment wouldn't work out for whatever paranoid reason of the week he had.
"I know where that is. I have gone in occasionally to help when they are short staffed on translators. Are you a doctor?"
She snorts, shaking her head, stirring the cocoa with a wooden spoon with one hand as she shuts the kettle off with the other, sliding it to a cool burner. One handed -- still stirring, she drops a tea bag into one of the mugs and pours the water in before setting the kettle down again.
"Nurse." There is no way she could have afforded med school, especially now. Bodhi offered to marry her so she could take advantage of his GI bill but that seemed like too big a hassle and also a little gross.
She couldn't get past that part. They're as much brother and sister as people can be without being blood relations.
"Maybe one day an NP but right now an RN. You're a translator then?"
Jyn moves through the motions so automatically, he can tell she makes cocoa several times a week. Tis the season. He gives her a bit of a look. "So you do most of the work for less of the money?" Yeah, nurses run the show. He knows that.
He nods. "I stumbled into it. I am an official government translator, but I work for the local immigration center as well. We help new families to the area get settled."
He remembers getting over to the States, not speaking a word of English, and the nice woman who spoke to him so carefully and calmly and helped him find his family here. He feels like he's always trying to channel her a little bit when he works with kids now.
"Yes, thank you for putting it that way." She makes a face at him, but doesn't seemed bother by the comment. She knows how much work she does, but she can't do surgery so yolo.
Turning the cocoa burner off, she stirs the pan a bit more before she carefully pours it into two more mugs, setting the rest aside. "Birdie! Cocoa!"
There's a clatter of presumably toys being dumped on the ground before the tiny brunette streaks out of her room, now wearing a sparkly tutu over her pants and a raincoat that looks like a firefighter's coat. It's certainly a look. She immediately scrambles to sit at the table and pushes a chair out for Cassian. "Sit next to me!"
Jyn's still fiddling with the cocoa, adding something that looks like cinnamon to the mugs and then seven pink marshmallows to one and probably seventeen to the second. She follows along after with her own mug of tea, setting the cocoa in front Cassian and her daughter. "It's hot, Firebird, blow on it."
"Official government translator sounds fancy. Have you got a badge we can see?" Birdie perks up in her chair. Badge?????
Stunning, marvelous, she's an amazing fashionista. He gratefully sits down beside her when she pulls out the chair, admiring the many many marshmallows Jyn has piled inside his.
Birdie blows immediately on hers, a big puff of air that ripples the pink candies around. "What kind badge?"
Cassian huffs a little laugh. "I do have one, but not with me at the moment. It is for my work. I translate for people who do not speak English."
He likes it more than translating documents, mostly because he knows he will be at least one person who isn't going to screw anyone over. He likes working at the center more, but he also likes the money from the government, so it has pros and cons. It's not a lot, but it's more than the non profit can give him. "Do you speak any other languages?" It's a question meant for both of them, and he makes sure to look at them both to show it.
"I learned German last year and this year I am learning French!" Birdie trills cheerfully, studiously fishing one marshmallow free of her cocoa to pop in her mouth. "Mmm spicy."
She's not exaggerating either, the cocoa has the distinct bite of chili pepper to it, sharp and warm.
"I spoke Danish when I was a little girl but it's practically gone now. Just a few phrases here and there." Nothing to write home about. "But I took French in school and Spanish comes up a lot at work so I can say a handful of words. Mostly to ask if they need a translator." Which it turns out is Cassian, go figure.
Cassian nods at Birdie. "Very impressive. What is your favorite word in German?"
He swirls his cocoa, then blows gently on it before taking his own sip. It is a little spicy! But a good spice, just like he prefers. It's still too hot to drink a lot of at once, so he lets it settle a little longer.
"English was not my first language, but I like to think I have gotten quite good at it by now." He was literally good enough to get a job being multilingual but he can still make a joke about it.
"Eichhörnchen!" Birdie crows with utter delight and a perfect German accent and Jyn has to hide her grin behind her cup of tea, especially as Birdie carries on. "It's écureuil in French! And egg...arl, eggroll in Danish!"
"Egern," Jyn corrects quietly, nodding when Birdie repeats it correctly. "And what is it in English?"
Birdie kneels in her seat, straightening up so she will be taller. It's a very important word! Necessary to everyday life. It is not as useless as 'yo soy una pinguina.' It is a Great Word. "Squirrel!"
His grin widens, and he is definitely swallowing back a laugh. He forgets how ridiculous kids are sometimes? Entertainment with his cocoa. "You never know how many times you might need the word squirrel."
He drinks more of his cocoa, accidentally inhaling two marshmallows, so give him a second for them to melt before he speaks up again. "It is ardilla in Spanish, if you want another for your collection."
"Ardilla," Birdie sings, drawing out the soft sound of the double L. "I love it," she decides, setting her hot cocoa aside to clamber out of her chair. "Mummy, I'm going to tell my animals about my new word."
"Alright. Don't interrupt if they have questions."
Birdie bounces away with a cheerful "I will!" to which Jyn snorts a laugh. She no doubt means that she won't interrupt but Jyn knows she will also undoubtedly interrupt her stuffed animals because that is what little girls do.
He watches her bound away with vague amusement, taking another sip of his own cocoa. Birdie was right, it is definitely very good.
"I suspect that is a common problem among children." Usually the kids he sees are a little more quiet, and it takes some time for him to get them to open up. "How many stuffed animals does she have to tell?"
He pauses, then tilts his mug up at her. "Thank you, for the cocoa and for inviting me in."
"Thank you for having a snowball fight with my daughter," she returns with a shrug. "I hate the cold so your enthusiasm saved me from at least having to go out into the snow for the rest of today."
Cassian is a true hero.
"She's got a million. Too many, but she is slowly sorting out ones to donate so her abundance will eventually be someone else's Christmas present." Regifted, sure, but it only means they were well loved before they were passed on and that is important.
"I like the snow, but without the excuse of a child, I find it much harder to do more than take a walk in the park to enjoy it."
Maybe that's part of why he so readily threw down with a seven year old. Reminders of his Youth™. It was a very nice way to unwind, extended into this little hot cocoa party.
"We could always use some at the center. Many families come to us with very little." The kids don't often have toys, but they sure love playing with all the ones they have in the waiting room. "Not that I am trying to steal your daughter's toys, but if they are already being donated, I know kids who would love them."
"No, no, that would be perfect!" Jyn nods eagerly before gesturing at herself. "I know this will come as quite a shock but I... am not American. Neither is Birdie. If she could make another little girl feel safe and at home here, I know she would want to."
Sure, their immigration was slightly different by virtue of Jyn being white, but a whole quarter of her nursing qualifications didn't transfer and she's had to do the same courses over again just to get up to the level she was already at. It's taking her twice as long to get where she wants to be.
"I swear this building hasn't even got a born in America American inside it. Have you met anyone in this building yet that's got an American accent?" Because she has not! Though admittedly she still hasn't met a lot of the neighbors. She's too busy!
"Yes, it's very shocking. Total surprise. I came here as a child myself." A beat, while he swirls around his cocoa and takes another little sip. "You can bring it up to her next time you are talking about it, or I do not mind asking her myself, if it comes up."
It's not like they live far apart, and there's no toy rush. There are always new families coming through.
"I have not, actually." Now that he thinks about it? Baze and Chirrut are from China, his neighbor is from Kenya, the little old woman on the first floor who always gives him a muffin in the morning is from Syria. Maybe there are Americans he hasn't met yet, but he wouldn't bet on it. "There is something to be said for socio-economic culture of immigrants. Maybe we are just all lured to the same places."
"I suppose that is why places like Little Italy exist," Jyn agrees, sipping her tea and relaxing a little bit into her chair. She is tired already and still needs to work tonight, it's great.
It does make sense though -- Chinatown may have started out because of blatant racism but she knows there are ethnic and national neighborhoods in most big cities. Little Italy, little Havana, Koreatown, little insert country of origin here. It seems unlikely that Jyn will find a little moved-around-too-much-to-have-a-county-of-origin for herself, but maybe there will be a little Joburg for Birdie. Maybe this apartment building is Jyn's little whatever.
"You can ask her. She is very pro-charity, but she has... issues... actually letting things go." Jyn knows why -- Birdie lost her father and grandmother at the same time, she tends to panic when she has to part with anything or anyone -- but that seems too heavy to bring up the first time she's met someone. "It may be a one at a time thing."
"It is easier to form ties with strangers when you already share some commonalities. Not just language, but experiences too." And the racism that goes into shuffling off people into one particular area, but he's trying to keep the conversation light! Moving to a whole new country is a lot!
Cassian hums, blowing on his cocoa before drinking some more. "I am not sure I know the best way to ask that kind of question?" He'd played a good game with Birdie, and he does well enough with kids at the center, but those are a bit different than asking a stranger child to donate her toys to other stranger children. "But it can be a work in progress."
Only after he says it does he realize the implications, that this will be a process, that he will be back and continue to chat with the both of them. He sort of sputters. "Not that I - just that it can be harder for kids to let things go like that?" A beat. "I can ask her if she knows where to get a teddy bear?"
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ohnofeelstho2018-11-25 02:58 pm
a snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.
The girl who hits him in the back with the snowball? Familiar enough. He's seen her around, not enough to know who she is or which floor she's on, but he does know her delighted peel of laughter when she nails him dead on is very well earned.
He squats down and she regards him suspiciously, but then he scoops up some snow and rolls it up, tossing a snowball in her direction. She realizes just in time and manages to dodge, but not without another whirl of laughter. Cassian rolls up another handful of snow, and that's how he gets into a snowball fight with a seven year old girl. If only Kay could see him now!
He loses track of time, though it's honestly not that long. It's a surprisingly good way to unwind after a long day at work, even if the snow soaks his hair because the hood on his parka has long since fallen over and his hands are like ice thanks to his shitty gloves, but it's the first real snowfall of the season and Cassian is glad to make use of it.
"Do you give up yet?" the girl calls out, hurling another snowball at him.
He dodges this one, and it flies by him towards the front door. "Not a chance!"
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But Birdie loves it so Jyn lets it go like Elsa.
When her last snowball almost hits her mother? Well, no, that is the end of that.
"Alright, Snowbird, it's time to come inside. And no bringing snowballs inside again!" Again. They don't last as well in the freezer as they'd hoped, instead giving everything in the freezer a bad case of freezer burn. Jyn hadn't cried when she'd tossed all the meat but it was a close thing.
She pulls her sweater tighter around her as her little girl straight up ignores her in favor of rolling another snowball. "Birdie, if you don't drop that snowball it'll be in front of the firing squad with you, Miss Erso."
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She throws her hands up in the air. "Last hit, I win!"
Cassian tries to shake the snow off his hands, but it's clinging to the cloth. He grins down at her as she scampers over to him. "I think it should be a tie. Or a draw, until next time."
"You threw it after game over. I only dropped mine."
"Oh, is that what we are calling it?"
He shoots the woman a glance, offering a very small shrug of an apology for extending the battle. He couldn't help it.
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"Uh-uh, Snowbird. Doesn't count as a hit if you only drop it and I am sure you didn't throw after I told you not to." Stuck between getting in trouble for continuing to play when she was asked to stop and winning, the little girl looks between the two adults, weighing her options.
"I threw it and I won and it was worth it!" she shrieks with delight before grabbing Cassian's hand and dragging him toward the door with all the determined strength of a second grader on a mission. "Come on, my Momma makes the best hot cocoa after the snow and I can show you my snowflakes!"
It is only when she is right in front of said mother that she seems to realize that she has forgotten a step in the process. "Momma?" Her accent gets even more British on that word alone. "Can my friend come for cocoa and to see my snowflakes?"
Jyn crouches down in front of her daughter who is still clutching their neighbor's probably frozen fingers with all her strength. "Birdie, do you think maybe you should ask you new friend if he wants cocoa instead of assuming he does? And I know for a fact, you rude little bear, that you did not introduce yourself so maybe you should do that first. If he agrees, yes, he can come for cocoa."
Birdie turns to face Cassian, affecting an overly polite air, giving his hand a shake though not letting go, as her mother straightens up again. "Hello, I'm called Birdie. What is your name and would you like to have hot chocolate with me and my mother and look at my snowflakes, please?"
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He shakes her hand in return, unsurprised when she doesn't let go. He doesn't even think it would be possible to say no, less he break her tiny heart. "I am Cassian. It is very good to meet you, Birdie. A cup of cocoa sounds very nice, though I hope they are not real snowflakes. I think my hands may be too cold to touch any more snow." He looks from daughter to her mother, not wanting to intrude even if both of them have seemingly invited him in. He's still a relative stranger, even if the snowball fight was very much fantastic. "If you are sure it's all right."
Now that he's closer, he recognizes her mother from around the building too, though this is weirdly the first time he's seen them together. He can't believe he's agreeing to more socializing without much argument, he must really be starved.
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"It's like the Star of David that led the Wise Men to Bethlehem, we don't go to church but Momma says I can believe in God or Jesus or Buddha or nothing or everything and I don't have to decide yet so I learn everything!" Birdie is as effervescent and bubbly as Jyn is not and she glances at Cassian over her daughter's head and mouths "Sorry".
The kid can talk and she loves new friends and Jyn doesn't want to stifle her friendliness. "Birdie, you're having a conversation not giving a monologue. Share the stage."
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He listens very carefully as Birdie explains all her different snowflakes; part of His job involves careful listening and attentiveness, he's very good at it. He shrugs off her mother's apology with an easy smile. He's used to quick kid chatter, though usually in Spanish. "I do not have nearly as many interesting things to say about crafts. The only snowflakes I have any experience in making are the paper ones, where you fold and cut out the pieces. I used to make them out of multiple paper colors, which I suppose does not seem to match a very snowy theme."
The elevator takes them all the way up to the top floor, which Cassian has admittedly never been to. He's walked to his own place on the third floor, but always felt too weird to go up another and explore it. It's not his business!
The moment the door opens, Birdie is yanking him down the hall. "If you cut them over a bowl and save all the pieces, then you have confetti! You can use it to make snowglobes, we did that before too, right Momma? I never did it with other colors, we should try it next time!"
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Especially because Birdie will be eight next year and Jyn might, you know, drop dead and orphan her the way it had happened in her own youth.
That's a fun existential crisis she has every day.
"Birdie, when you get inside, before you continue your conversation with Cassian, I want you to put away your school bag and all your snow gear, no leaving it on the floor this time. Then you can come get your hot chocolate." Pausing by the door with a glum expression that her mom just laid down a death sentence instead of two minutes cleaning, she begrudgingly agrees as Jyn opens the door.
Finally Cassian has his hand back and free of little girl. "You can put your gloves on the bench to dry, if you want. Birdie, take off your boots, do not tromp around the house in them." The home itself it small; kitchen and dining and living room all the same, a tiny hallway with three open doors revealing two bedrooms and a small bathroom. It's cheerfully decorated with all the snowflakes Birdie mentioned, wreathes made of hand prints, a potholder with a foot and hand print moose, a wall hanging of happy christmas in many different languages. One wall is entirely covered in bookshelves, small TV wedged on one shelf, toys in baskets liter the floor. It's lived in, homey.
Jyn moves to the kitchen ones she shucks off her coat and drops it on the bench, toeing off her shoes to walk in just her wool socks. "If you want to escape now while she is distracted, I won't judge you."
She's a lot!
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He pulls off his gloves, both because his hands are going numb and because he wants to show he's planning to stay. He drops them on the bench as directed. "I can see she is." And he's charmed by all of it. "Can I put my jacket somewhere? Sorry it is kind of big. I suspect even if I left now, she would just run door to door until she found me again."
He takes his boots off next, setting them neatly by the door. His shoes too are covered in snow, he will not tromp them around the house! He can hear Birdie puttering around and it sort of sounds like she might be singing, but it's too muffled to tell. It's vaguely holiday-esque.
"I did not catch your name. Birdie was a little too hyped up." He heard an Erso, but they might not have the same last name.
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Jyn puts the kettle on the stove, flicking it on before she sets a small pan on the stove next to it, retrieving a jug of milk from the fridge and pouring in a couple cups, turning the heat on low.
"I don't have any coffee, but if you don't want hot chocolate, I can make you tea." She looks up from retrieving mugs from the drawer. "My name's Jyn. You just moved in, yeah?"
Chirrut had casually pointed it out when he'd moved in. Someone her age, single, single, Jyn, he's quite handsome don't you think? Jyn had rolled her eyes and kissed Birdie goodbye and went to work and thought nothing of it, but now that he's in her house she does have to admit that he is rather handsome. Not that she will ever admit it to Chirrut, but he is kind of cute. In a Jyn is too tired to think of going on a date much less dating so Cassian is cute in an irrelevant way.
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"Hot chocolate is fine. I would not want to disappoint the invitation or Birdie. Besides, I have been told you make the best of it." Cassian likes hot cocoa. Sometimes he gets it on lunch instead of coffee and his coworkers are non the wiser.
He trails after her into the kitchen area, making sure she still has enough space to move around. "About two months. I suppose that is still pretty new, although I did finally finish unpacking last week so that might make it less so. How long have you been here?"
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"Pink? Alright." With that agreement, the girl rushes back to her room and whatever she is doing. Jyn doesn't question it, ducking down to grab a bowl full of small jars full of marshmallows, each jar holding a different color. "You're welcome to pick seven marshmallows, too."
She grabs a mason jar full cocoa powder and twists the lid off, pouring some into the pan with the milk. It seems like all the cocoa supplies are within easy reach of the stove. "Little over two years now. I work at Mercy Hospital." Which is right down the street so this building was the perfect place to move into, even if dragging her groceries upstairs is The Worst, even with the elevator.
"We still have unpacked boxes. You beat us."
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He rubs his hands together idly, slowly fighting off the chill as the feeling creeps back into his fingers. "In your defense, I do not have a lot of possessions." He moved around so much in his youth, he rarely had Things that last more than a year or two. It makes it easier as an adult to not get attached to objects - but he still has his rock collection. That was the last thing he unpacked, worried the apartment wouldn't work out for whatever paranoid reason of the week he had.
"I know where that is. I have gone in occasionally to help when they are short staffed on translators. Are you a doctor?"
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"Nurse." There is no way she could have afforded med school, especially now. Bodhi offered to marry her so she could take advantage of his GI bill but that seemed like too big a hassle and also a little gross.
She couldn't get past that part. They're as much brother and sister as people can be without being blood relations.
"Maybe one day an NP but right now an RN. You're a translator then?"
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He nods. "I stumbled into it. I am an official government translator, but I work for the local immigration center as well. We help new families to the area get settled."
He remembers getting over to the States, not speaking a word of English, and the nice woman who spoke to him so carefully and calmly and helped him find his family here. He feels like he's always trying to channel her a little bit when he works with kids now.
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Turning the cocoa burner off, she stirs the pan a bit more before she carefully pours it into two more mugs, setting the rest aside. "Birdie! Cocoa!"
There's a clatter of presumably toys being dumped on the ground before the tiny brunette streaks out of her room, now wearing a sparkly tutu over her pants and a raincoat that looks like a firefighter's coat. It's certainly a look. She immediately scrambles to sit at the table and pushes a chair out for Cassian. "Sit next to me!"
Jyn's still fiddling with the cocoa, adding something that looks like cinnamon to the mugs and then seven pink marshmallows to one and probably seventeen to the second. She follows along after with her own mug of tea, setting the cocoa in front Cassian and her daughter. "It's hot, Firebird, blow on it."
"Official government translator sounds fancy. Have you got a badge we can see?" Birdie perks up in her chair. Badge?????
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Birdie blows immediately on hers, a big puff of air that ripples the pink candies around. "What kind badge?"
Cassian huffs a little laugh. "I do have one, but not with me at the moment. It is for my work. I translate for people who do not speak English."
He likes it more than translating documents, mostly because he knows he will be at least one person who isn't going to screw anyone over. He likes working at the center more, but he also likes the money from the government, so it has pros and cons. It's not a lot, but it's more than the non profit can give him. "Do you speak any other languages?" It's a question meant for both of them, and he makes sure to look at them both to show it.
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She's not exaggerating either, the cocoa has the distinct bite of chili pepper to it, sharp and warm.
"I spoke Danish when I was a little girl but it's practically gone now. Just a few phrases here and there." Nothing to write home about. "But I took French in school and Spanish comes up a lot at work so I can say a handful of words. Mostly to ask if they need a translator." Which it turns out is Cassian, go figure.
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He swirls his cocoa, then blows gently on it before taking his own sip. It is a little spicy! But a good spice, just like he prefers. It's still too hot to drink a lot of at once, so he lets it settle a little longer.
"English was not my first language, but I like to think I have gotten quite good at it by now." He was literally good enough to get a job being multilingual but he can still make a joke about it.
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"Egern," Jyn corrects quietly, nodding when Birdie repeats it correctly. "And what is it in English?"
Birdie kneels in her seat, straightening up so she will be taller. It's a very important word! Necessary to everyday life. It is not as useless as 'yo soy una pinguina.' It is a Great Word. "Squirrel!"
What a dork.
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He drinks more of his cocoa, accidentally inhaling two marshmallows, so give him a second for them to melt before he speaks up again. "It is ardilla in Spanish, if you want another for your collection."
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"Alright. Don't interrupt if they have questions."
Birdie bounces away with a cheerful "I will!" to which Jyn snorts a laugh. She no doubt means that she won't interrupt but Jyn knows she will also undoubtedly interrupt her stuffed animals because that is what little girls do.
"She's got the attention span of a fruit fly."
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"I suspect that is a common problem among children." Usually the kids he sees are a little more quiet, and it takes some time for him to get them to open up. "How many stuffed animals does she have to tell?"
He pauses, then tilts his mug up at her. "Thank you, for the cocoa and for inviting me in."
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Cassian is a true hero.
"She's got a million. Too many, but she is slowly sorting out ones to donate so her abundance will eventually be someone else's Christmas present." Regifted, sure, but it only means they were well loved before they were passed on and that is important.
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Maybe that's part of why he so readily threw down with a seven year old. Reminders of his Youth™. It was a very nice way to unwind, extended into this little hot cocoa party.
"We could always use some at the center. Many families come to us with very little." The kids don't often have toys, but they sure love playing with all the ones they have in the waiting room. "Not that I am trying to steal your daughter's toys, but if they are already being donated, I know kids who would love them."
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Sure, their immigration was slightly different by virtue of Jyn being white, but a whole quarter of her nursing qualifications didn't transfer and she's had to do the same courses over again just to get up to the level she was already at. It's taking her twice as long to get where she wants to be.
"I swear this building hasn't even got a born in America American inside it. Have you met anyone in this building yet that's got an American accent?" Because she has not! Though admittedly she still hasn't met a lot of the neighbors. She's too busy!
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It's not like they live far apart, and there's no toy rush. There are always new families coming through.
"I have not, actually." Now that he thinks about it? Baze and Chirrut are from China, his neighbor is from Kenya, the little old woman on the first floor who always gives him a muffin in the morning is from Syria. Maybe there are Americans he hasn't met yet, but he wouldn't bet on it. "There is something to be said for socio-economic culture of immigrants. Maybe we are just all lured to the same places."
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It does make sense though -- Chinatown may have started out because of blatant racism but she knows there are ethnic and national neighborhoods in most big cities. Little Italy, little Havana, Koreatown, little insert country of origin here. It seems unlikely that Jyn will find a little moved-around-too-much-to-have-a-county-of-origin for herself, but maybe there will be a little Joburg for Birdie. Maybe this apartment building is Jyn's little whatever.
"You can ask her. She is very pro-charity, but she has... issues... actually letting things go." Jyn knows why -- Birdie lost her father and grandmother at the same time, she tends to panic when she has to part with anything or anyone -- but that seems too heavy to bring up the first time she's met someone. "It may be a one at a time thing."
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Cassian hums, blowing on his cocoa before drinking some more. "I am not sure I know the best way to ask that kind of question?" He'd played a good game with Birdie, and he does well enough with kids at the center, but those are a bit different than asking a stranger child to donate her toys to other stranger children. "But it can be a work in progress."
Only after he says it does he realize the implications, that this will be a process, that he will be back and continue to chat with the both of them. He sort of sputters. "Not that I - just that it can be harder for kids to let things go like that?" A beat. "I can ask her if she knows where to get a teddy bear?"
How did he turn into a mess.