Author's Notes: I know this is late, but it got a lot bigger than I planned and a lot went on last week. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy some good ole banter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The Pick Up Artist

Why Jyn had let Bodhi trick into going out for drinks on tonight of all nights was beyond her. Normally, on this abomination of a day, she holed herself up in her apartment, wearing loose pajamas, and ate an entire pizza while drinking at least two bottles of wine. That had been her plan for this day every year since she'd been able to acquire alcohol. She did not like to deviate.

Yet here she was, in a bar, the occupants a terrible mixture of enamored couples and miserable single people. The latter group was comprised of people either trying to get laid or to drown in their drink. Jyn had refused to peg herself in either category. She wasn't going to mope and she wasn't going to throw herself into some pathetic one night stand. She absolutely wasn't going to do it.

Of course, Bodhi had to make things more difficult for her. He had been the one to convince her to come out to the bar around the corner from her place and yet he was running late from work. Go figure. Jyn sat by herself at a table, gripping her drink like it was a lifeline and glaring at any man that so much as glanced at her with a hint of interest.

Move along, buddy, she thought viciously at the fluffy blonde hair guy that did a double take on her. She was more likely to snog her pillow than him.

And then she saw him. The guy walked in, rubbing his face tiredly, and then froze when he noticed all the decorations. She could see the realization of what today was hit him like a brick. For a second, he hesitated and then he shook his head and walked to the bar anyways to grab a drink. Just a simple, cheap bear, the same kind that Jyn had in her hand.

That should've been the end of her time looking at him, but he was just... He was so damn handsome. He looked tired, probably from work, a two day old five o'clock shadow on his face, his tie loosened - and yet it somehow added to his appeal. Dark, soft hair, tanner than her, and dark eyes as well. He was lankier than most of the guys here and seemed to hold himself in a way that looked almost unremarkable. It wasn't too dark yet in the place, so when he moved his jacket to dig into his pants pockets, she saw a red splotch.

Was that blood?

Yeah, he might've been trying to hide just as much as her, but there was no way she was not going to notice him.

"Oooh, he looks handsome," a cheerful voice said to her left.

"Fuck!" Jyn exclaimed, jumping so hard in her seat that she scooted it back and it made a loud scraping noise.

Bodhi stood next to her, grinning from ear to ear. Despite knowing better, she managed a surreptitious glance back at the bar and accidentally caught eyes with the handsome guy, who had probably looked her way upon hearing the sudden shout and noise.

"Hi, Jyn," Bodhi greeted, sitting down next to her.

Jyn shoved him. "You're such an asshole. I don't know why I came out tonight."

"Because you love me and misery loves company," Bodhi replied. Well, she wasn't so sure about that. Jyn grumbled under her breath and decidedly did not look at the bar. "I meant what I said though. He's handsome."

"Who?"

"The guy you were eyeballing when I walked in," Bodhi said knowingly. Shit, he'd caught her red-handed. She almost looked back at the guy, but caught herself at the last minute. "Tall, dark, mysterious, and very alone."

"I was not eyeballing him," Jyn told him.

Bodhi straightened up, a bright expression on his face as if an equally bright idea had popped in his head. "You should go talk with him!" Nope, it wasn't a bright idea at all.

"Hell no!" Jyn scoffed.

"Why not?" Bodhi asked, that eager look still on his face. He was going to bug her about this all night. She just knew it. Best to have a few drinks with him quick and then excuse herself. "He looks lonely and it's been ages since you've been laid."

Blood rushed to Jyn's cheeks. "It's not been ages." She scowled at him. "How would you know anyways?"

"Because you're so damn grouchy," Bodhi answered far too easily.

Jyn was not going to respond to that. Truth be told, it pretty much had been ages. She'd been celibate for over a year. God, how long had it been? Two years? She'd dated guys here and there, run amok with the occasional but somehow unavoidable fuckboy, but after that last one, she'd sworn them all off unless it was something serious. And no guy was ever serious enough to try getting with her. Maybe she made things difficult, but if a guy couldn't handle her at her normal, then they weren't worth a roll in the sack.

A determined look came over Bodhi's face. He even straightened up. "If you go talk to him - even say just one cheesy line - I'll buy your drinks for the rest of the night."

For a moment, Jyn considered it. "No."

"The week!" Bodhi exclaimed.

He was really serious about this. Jyn chanced a look back at the guy at the bar. He was still standing there, very obviously ignoring the looks some blonde was giving him. Likely he wanted someone to hit him up as much as she wanted someone to hit her up. But Bodhi was a mixture of determined and desperate. A week of drinks? Her liver could kill his paycheck. However, knowing how badly he wanted her to do something as stupid as this made her consider other opportunities.

"You get me an in to interview your boss for my next piece," Jyn counter-offered.

Bodhi's face dropped. "But then I'll probably be out of a job."

"You hate your job," Jyn pointed out. "And besides, you know Krennic is shady as hell." Despite obviously not liking the idea much, Bodhi did nod his head in agreement. He'd complained about his job for months and everyone knew that Krennic was up to no good. They just didn't know what that "no good" entailed and she'd been itching to find out. "So? Do you want me to humiliate myself on this horror of a night or not?"

"Deal," Bodhi said, holding out a hand, "although you better help me if this blows back on me."

"Please, of course I will," Jyn replied distractedly as she stood up. She drained the rest of her drink, her eyes darting to the handsome guy at the bar and away again. "You've been looking for an excuse to quit and you know it. This way we both win."

She didn't wait around to hear Bodhi's response. It was now or never. If she didn't do this right away, she knew that she would back out. Not that she was a chicken or anything, but she would realize how stupid this was and would go in the opposite direction. Jyn didn't go up and talk to people unless it was for her job and she certainly didn't use lines. Whatever. She'd get this over with, go back to Bodhi, and have a laugh about it.

A space at the bar had opened up next to him, probably due to his distinct lack of interest in talking to any of the women or men that stood next to him. He gave off a clear disinterested air, as if somehow permeating a bubble that kept anyone from approaching him. Unfortunately for him, that didn't work on Jyn. She could blow through any wall if she wanted. She didn't really want to do this, but she wanted that scoop and she knew that this would make Bodhi happy. He was single too. They had to have their fun somewhere.

Jyn wedged herself next to him and ordered a beer, refusing to look at him. She could see him out of the corner of her eyes though, nursing his beer and idly watching the snowboarding event on the television. He didn't look like he cared about that either, but he was more into it than talking to people. She almost felt kind of bad for ruining that for him, but it would be quick and painless for him at least.

After taking a large gulp of her drink, Jyn turned her body to face him and, with as much of a straight face that she could muster, asked, "Did it hurt?"

The man glanced over at her. There was an unreadable expression on his face. No wonder every woman had sulked away from him after a few minutes. He looked like he was looking right through you. For some reason, it only made Jyn feel more determined, but she didn't know what for. "Pardon?" he responded. A foreign accent, but not like her British one. It sent a jolt right to her core. Ridiculous. God, how long had it been for her?

"Did it hurt?" Jyn repeated seriously, despite cringing on the inside. "When you fell from heaven, I mean."

For what felt like an eternity, he didn't react at all, just stared down at her in silence. The longer it went on, the redder Jyn's face became, but she didn't look away either. Her heart jammed away in her chest as a growing panic of embarrassment built up inside of her. However, she wasn't about to blink. She wasn't going to back down first. Yeah, she looked like an idiot, but she refused to tuck tail and run now, not with that look on his face. She wasn't about to lose...whatever staring game she'd gotten herself into.

Finally, a slight smile split across his face and relief flooded through her. It was almost mischievous. "You don't do this very often, do you?"

"Does it look like I go up to random guys in bars and feed them cheesy pick up lines?" Jyn questioned as she slumped against the bar.

"No," the man conceded. "It looks like you punch random guys that feed you cheesy pick up lines in bars."

She could've taken that as an insult. The statement did not make her look like a very attractive woman. But it was more or less true, so she shrugged her shoulders. The last guy that had done that had been sent on his way after a harsh (but not violent) reaction from her. In her defense, she'd had an awful day.

"So why do it then?" the man asked. Really, he could've stopped the conversation already or not even responded to her, but he'd turned slightly to face her as well, so that the two of them were blocking out everyone else at the bar, making their own little space.

Jyn jabbed a finger back at Bodhi, who had the nerve to wave cheekily at them. The nerve of him. He didn't have any shame when it came to her love life. Not that this was anything. It was just a joke. "My best friend is an asshole, but I've been trying to interview his boss for ages, so this way we both got something we want."

"You're a reporter then?"

"Investigative journalist," Jyn corrected with a hint of pride.

He actually looked amused and even interested. Maybe. He was hard to read. "So not a glowing piece."

Jyn grinned. "They rarely are." She used her beer to gesture towards him. "Just get off duty?"

Surprise flashed across his face before he could stop it. Ah, so he could be thrown off guard. That made her feel even better. It quickly went away, replaced by something of a suspicious look in his eyes. "How did you know?"

"You move around like you're used to carrying," Jyn explained matter-of-factly. "And you've got a bit of blood on your shirt under your jacket."

He looked down and moved his jacket to see the red splotch that she'd noticed earlier. Groaning, he dropped the jacket and grabbed his beer, a decidedly sheepish look on his face. "Damnit. That's…"

"Concerning?"

"I was going to say embarrassing, but yeah, a man walking into a bar with blood on him is concerning."

"So I figured you were either a cop or a crook," Jyn said, "and that outfit says more off duty cop."

He gazed at her over the rim of his beer, a softer look on his face. "Am I that easy to read?"

"Well, with my job, I'm around both kinds a lot, so they're easy to spot for me," Jyn pointed out. Not to mention that she had kind of grown up around a lot of criminals. Her own juvie record was sealed up. It wasn't that bad, but probably enough that a cop wouldn't want to get cozy with her. Of course, if he was walking around with blood on him, maybe she shouldn't get close to him.

"It's my partner's blood, I think," he explained, perhaps worrying she might think something awful of him. She raised an eyebrow. "We were interrogating someone and the suspect, ah, punched him in the face, maybe broke his nose."

Jyn snorted. "And I thought I was having a bad Valentine's Day."

"No secret admirer or sweetheart back home?"

"I know, surprising with this sparkling personality of mine." Jyn knew what she was like. Prickly at best, sour and aggressive at her worst.

The smile on his face wasn't mocking, but it was hard to think of it as anything other than that when he replied, "I don't believe it." Everyone knew that she was single. She had it practically stamped across her. Honestly, she didn't mind - most of the time.

"Well you best believe it," Jyn replied, poking him in the chest. What was she doing? She needed to keep her hands to herself. She pulled it back to wrap around her bear bottle and then cleared her throat. "What about you? Shouldn't you be getting back home to your girlfriend?"

It was a slight smile on his face, so it was very obvious when it broadened. "Fishing for information?"

"What? No-" Jyn flushed once more. "Answering questions with questions, turning the focus back on me, trying to throw me off my guard - that's prime cop behavior if I've ever seen it."

He chuckled and raised his hands in surrender. "You got me." He still didn't look irritated at being bothered up here by her, more amused than anything, like he was enjoying himself. "Do you think I'd come here to drink alone if I had someone waiting on me?" No, she didn't think so, but she always liked to check her bases. Blame the journalist in her. She hated when new information came up to bite her in the ass. "Truthfully, I forgot what day it was. I just wanted a few beers after work to unwind, but didn't want to go home and then I found this…"

Jyn nodded in sympathy. "I normally refuse to leave my house on this day. Not that I get all weepy about being single or anything. It's just obnoxious."

"Yeah, I've had to fend off about five women already," he sighed, a hint of exhaustion in his voice. She noted that he didn't lump her in the rest, seeing as how he was still talking to her. She tried not to think about that. They were just having a friendly conversation. "All lovely, I'm sure, but I'm not interested." She nodded her head again. Totally made sense. "I might just go home, save them the trouble of being disappointed."

"Oh, well, you can join me and Bodhi," Jyn said without thinking. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she regretted them. What was she thinking? Had she just invited him to hang out with her (and her best friend) longer? This was supposed to be just a one-off conversation to appease Bodhi and get her a good byline.

Oh my god, she was acting like every woman here. She couldn't handle the rejection, even if it was just a friendly invitation.

When he raised an eyebrow at her, Jyn rushed to correct herself. "I mean, we're here to unwind too, probably be awful and make fun of guys getting turned down. Bodhi probably needs to complain about work, so you can do that too. And if you're in a group, you'll be left alone."

He grinned. "Out of all the propositions tonight-"

"I am not propositioning you," Jyn interrupted emphatically, "although Bodhi might if he gets too much to drink."

"Oh, a threeway."

"As if!" Jyn exclaimed. She glowered at him. "Now you're just being ridiculous on purpose."

"Maybe." He took a sip of his drink, considering her in a way that made her want to squirm, but she stood still and looked back at him as she drank her own beer. FInally, he held out his hand and she reached out to shake it. "I'm Cassian, by the way."

"Jyn," she replied.

Cassian gestured towards Bodhi. "You sure he won't mind?"

"Trust me, he'll love it," Jyn sighed. "It'll be extra ammunition for him."

Was he really going to join them? Cassian, he said his name was Cassian. She liked the sound of that. No, no, she was not going to think about it. He looked so at ease.

"A glutton for punishment, are we?"

"Or maybe I'm just a nice person," Jyn countered. They both looked at each other for only a moment before laughing at the same time. It should've weirded her out how in sync they already were considering that she had only known that he was a guy with blood on him moments ago, but she'd stopped thinking about it. All her nervousness was gone.

"You're good at this," Cassian said as they made their way over to Bodhi, who looked both ecstatic and scared. He certainly hadn't been predicting this outcome. Jyn felt a hint of vindication.

"Good at what?" she asked.

Cassian smirked. "Picking up men in bars."

"You wanna go back to fending poor hopeful women off by yourself?"

The smirk left his face, but the mirth was barely contained. He was a handsome bastard, but she had a feeling that tonight was going to be a very different Valentine's Day, maybe even a good one. This was just about being friendly though. That was it.