candor1 | Open RP Post

"…Yes. I want to. …But I don't think I should." He looked down, away from her. "Should probably make it one week. …But I thought your availability could help decide it."

"Why not take what the Admiral is so generously offering?", Jyn slowly asked. "It would give us some time to ... connect. And if we really wanted to, more than enough time to explore more than just Naboo. We could pick a few places to visit, if you wanted."

She sighed, carefully nuzzling a little bit closer, not too much all at once. "I can ask for two weeks and see what the Director will actually give me. Your call."

Could he possibly justify it…? To Command, to Kaytoo, mainly to himself.

(Why had he even said it? It would have been the least of lies to cut the time down.)

Dangerous. This was so dangerous. She was. Because he wanted… to… connect. Not just physically. How long could he be with her and continue to lie…? Would he leave in the end without trying to take her with him…?

She nuzzled closer, only subtly, but enough for him to feel it… And with only meager resistance, his hand made its way up her arm, to cup the back of her head, the hinge of her jaw, and hold her there while his lips brushed against her hair.

"No," he said quietly. "Your call, I think. See what the director will give you, and then what we want to do with it."

Jyn tried not to get her hopes up, she knew very well how vindictive Krennic could be, and after tonight's debacle, she was certain that he wouldn't be very eager to do her any favors.

But perhaps ...

Surely it wouldn't do that much harm to hold onto a tiny sliver of hope for the gift of time.

Jyn closed her eyes and quietly enjoyed the touch of his hand as it traveled along her arm, paused at the back of her head, trailed along her jawline and held her steady as he took in the feel of her, the smell of her.

"Alright", she breathed, a soft agreement. "I'll put in the request and we'll go from there."

He enjoyed the touch of… everything. Every point of contact between them.

"Maybe we should delay adopting a cat, in that case," he murmured, "till we get back. …Or it could travel with us."

So did Jyn. Even though she hadn't been able to articulate it using words. There was already something so comforting about the certainty that when she came home - and when had she started thinking of this apartment as home, anyway - they could share this.

She laughed softly, offering a gentle shake of her head just so that she didn't jostle either of them from their current position. "Could you imagine how ridiculous a cat on a leash would look?"

Her laughter reverberated back through him. And felt spectacular.

He breathed laughter back. Then, with sudden inspiration, entered a search into the HoloNet for cat on a leash. The result was a HoloNet Kids! transmission with talking loth-cats.

"Well, that's ridiculous," he murmured, "not good for research at all." But he didn't turn it off.

(Before he'd had Kaytoo, Cassian would often turn on children's transmissions in the U-wing, as something to fill the dead air that was reliably free of… what he got too much of at work.)

There was no quelling the cascade of giggles that fell from her lips as Jyn watched the transmission with a quizzical expression on her face. She hadn't watched many transmissions like this when she was a child, so it was almost brand-new to her.

And yes, it was totally ridiculous. She was loving every second.

"I don't know if you meant for this to persuade me otherwise, but now, I kind of want it all the more."

He was loving all of this. Especially her

"Then we'll stick to the plan," he said. "Find our cat tomorrow, and bring it on our trip with us."

…gods the words 'we' and 'our' came so easily… like they could be real…

Jyn felt lighter than she had all night, and honestly? Much younger than she had probably ever felt. And it was nice. It was enjoyable.

Here and now - it felt so right.

"It'll be you and I ... and a cat on a leash", she replied, still undeniably amused - not only that, but pleased and happy, too. "I think wherever we end up going, we'll be a good time."

How funny that we had become so easy to offer, as well, rather than I.

His arm enclosed a little more around her, again; not tightening exactly but… melding.

"Do we want to spend the whole time in one place? Or go a few places?"

It felt so good there - so welcoming and comfortable and right. She had never felt quite so at ease before, so perhaps it made sense that she would want to gravitate toward that feeling ... toward the only person who had ever helped her feel it.

"Depends on the amount of time we're granted, I think", she answered, humming thoughtfully. "But ... if I had my way, I would see as much as I could. Who knows if I'll ever get another chance?"

For a moment, Cassian allowed the fantasy of a future. It was only in character.

He tilted his head and said, "If you plan on staying married to me… I should hope you'll get to travel more. I'm not going to be an aide forever, and most postings require relocation."

"Well, I don't plan on marrying anyone else, so I guess I'm going wherever you're going", she retorted. "Or vice versa. I definitely don't plan on staying here forever."

The further away from her uncle - this machine - the better. Not that Jyn was going to say as such out loud. She shouldn't, anyway, knowing that the Director already suspected where her allegiance was wavering toward.

"Well, then." Cassian smiled at her. Reaching without dislocating her, he switched off the holo program and called up a directory. "We could make a list of places we want to see. Then decide how many to try for once we know how much time we have."

Jyn was grateful when she didn't have to move. She was content enough right where she was, and didn't want to have to call it to an end just yet. She huffed out a breath and shrugged - just slightly, not enough to dislodge them from where they sat.

"I don't think you understand. I would go most anywhere. Picking and choosing is going to be the hardest part."

His smile broadened. "All the more reason to start thinking about it early, right?" He opened another blank window, set it to list mode, and entered • Naboo. "Where else…? in your least realistic fantasies? Go for ridiculous."

"You are impossible", Jyn replied, but there was no malice in her voice, just a soft, slight amusement. "Uh - I think ... Bespin, maybe? I'd like to see Cloud City. I'm not going to be the only one of us put on the spot here, Joreth. Your turn."

Impossible. He'd take it.

• Cloud City | Bespin he entered. Then, after thinking for a moment—

(people there knew him, but also had preserved an alias for him before)

—he added • Alderaan

"You again."

"Alderaan", she repeated, sighing. "Alright, that's definitely a yes."

Again, she took a moment, humming in concentration as she thought, only laughing once a name popped into her head because of how similiar it sounded to Alderaan.

"Adarlon. But I don't want to visit any of the cities - I want to visit the snow and the sea all in one day, just because we can."

• Adarlon | countryside he added.

That made him think of Pakrik Minor. But the colony he'd found there—of clones-turned-farmers who were supposed to be a sleeper cell but had confided that if the Empire did call them up again, they'd refuse… probably a place to keep secret.

On the other hand, its twin planet was supposed to be very similar, and certainly more Imperially mainstream… changing colors to signal lower priority, Cassian added • Pakrik Major. It wasn't a terrible idea to include places where keeping track of local happenings was relevant to his work here.

Jyn studied the list they'd come up with thus far, nodding her approval. She wasn't particularly familiar with Pakrik Major, but if it was on the list, there must be a reason why. She considered her next offering carefully.

"Spira. Spira is covered in ocean and islands, and I want to explore as many as I can."

• Spira | (the wreck?) he added, as something he'd heard of and always wondered about.

He looked back over their list so far and alphabetized it.

• Adarlon
• Alderaan
• Bespin
• Naboo
• Pakrik Major
• Spira

"Looks good to me," he said, smiling, again, as he pressed his cheek a little into her hair.

The list looked ... good. Jyn didn't want to get her hopes up high enough to be dashed, but the more she thought about it, the more she really wanted as much time as possible to make this trip a reality.

"Mmhm", she murmured in agreement, closing her eyes, enjoying the feel of him so close. "Is it bad that I'm already looking forward to it?"

Even though it was still just hypothetical, wishful thinking.

"I don't think so," he murmured. "I am, too."

He set down the device, his hand running again, gently, over her arm. "I'm starting to feel like I could sleep. How are you doing?"

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