candor1 | Open RP Post

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?"

"Good", she answered, and she meant it wholeheartedly. "I'm glad. I want to believe that it will be fun. We're going to have a good time."

But perhaps more importantly - they were going to have a good time together.

"Tired", she replied, although it was honest, not petulant. "I could lay down."

Left unsaid: with you. Somehow, suddenly, going to bed had become the very best part of Jyn's days.

Cassian's, too. And he hadn't had a nightmare since they'd started sharing.

"Let's lay down, then," he agreed, brushing back her hair then starting to sit up.

It was so much more comfortable to sleep together. Jyn didn't even mind the careful extraction of their tangled limbs in the morning. It just felt better that way.

Before she thought about - before the logical part of her brain warned her not to, Jyn turned her head just enough to be able to press the softest of kisses to Joreth's cheek. "Okay", she murmured, little more than a breath. "Let's go."

…if he'd yielded to the temptation to kiss her hair, rather than brush it back, their lips might have met just then.

No. There were lines he had to maintain, not cross. …Not, at least, by accident. Or at all…? Could he avoid… no… resist, for how long…?

She might be able to feel the speeding of his heartbeat at the kiss. But his only deliberate reaction was another smile, and a gentle extrication of himself from between her and the sofa, assisting her rising, too.

In the bedroom, he grabbed his sleepwear from its drawer, as he always did, to take with him into the 'fresher and change in there.

It had been a spur-of-the-moment gesture, offered with no expectation of reciprocation, a simple little sign of her ever-growing fondness.

Although, if Jyn was being honest with herself ... she did wonder what it might be like to kiss, or even ...

She tried to find her breath even as she returned the smile and easily accepted his hand and the assistance in standing. Since she was already dressed for sleep, once they entered the bedroom, there was little for her to do but sit on the edge of the bed and wait.

He never took long. He reemerged with his other clothes already folded, placed them in their drawer, then sat onto the bed beside her. He still always checked her face and body language before touching her, but he no longer rechecked so nervously, or insisted on explicit verbalization. He slipped under the light cover and lay down, stretching his arm under her pillow as well as his own, so it would be under her neck; and lay facing her.

Jyn never had to wait long, and soon enough, Joreth returned. She shared a quick smile once he looked to her, a silent reassurance that yes, she was okay, and yes, she wanted the comfort of his arms wrapped around her, and yes, she wanted to share some of her own with him, too.

So, when he laid down, she soon followed, sighing softly once she was stretched out and mostly comfortable.

Only mostly because he hadn't urged her closer yet, hadn't tucked her close and held her tight and made her feel ... safe.

He never took long for that, either. Waiting only for her to settle herself, he moved closer, fitting his body to hers, every curve and corner, every hollow; the hand of the arm beneath her coming to rest on the back of her head, in her hair; the arm above draping over her ribs, her waist, its hand smoothing flat in the small of her back, pressing her so gently against him.

(Not for the first time, he was grateful for his training; knowing how to control the autonomic/usually involuntary. The training was for how to prolong, not lose it too soon; but in this case, it was to prevent.)

No, he never really took long for that, either. And Jyn didn't have to ask. Practically as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was being urged into the most comfortable position for them both - and she was grateful, for once, for how small she was so that it never really took much maneuvering.

She felt him everywhere all at once, and as his fingers carded into her hair, as he pressed his palm flat against her back, there was no quelling the shiver the rolled over her from head to foot.

She wasn't naive so much as she was innocent, so she didn't even think to question his ... lack of interest. It just hadn't crossed her mind. All things in their own time, and this was absolutely - for the moment - more than enough.

This was when he felt safest but was actually most vulnerable. Not just because sleeping with someone else made you more susceptible to them and compromised to all else. It was when other urges most powerfully washed through him; the urge to kiss her, make love to her, tell her things—not just but including I love you. (How could you know a thing like that anyway?) As relaxed as being like this, with her, made him, he had to get himself into the right frame of mind before allowing himself to fall asleep; minimize the likelihood of him losing control of himself, physically or verbally, in his sleep.

Tonight, he couldn't say why he murmured aloud, "Have you ever done this before? With anyone else? Sleep, like this, together?"

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