The cantina was busy. It was the evening and the majority of the pilots and soldiers were there drinking, relaxing and reflecting on the outcome of the decision made earlier at the council. Cassian walked in and immediately spotted some of his friends so he decided to walk over to them. After dodging a few drunk patrons he reached the table where his pilot friends were sitting:
''Cassian!'' roared his pilot friend, Leo.
Cassian smiled, ''Hey Leo, hey guys' he nodded to the rest of the group.
''What brings you here Cass?'' Alenka asked while sipping on an awful concoction of alcohol.
'Ah well, you know…''
Leo cut him off, ''Come sit down my friend, you looked stressed out''
''I'm not stressed out''. Cassian was most definitely stressed out, '' I would love to sit down and have a drink but I can't, not tonight, I've actually planned to have a drink with someone else tonight'' he added rather sheepishly.
Alenka and Leo looked at one another and then averted their gaze to the other men at the table. They all turned their attention back to Cassian, 'Is it a woman?' they all smirked.
Cassian could feel the blush burning again in his cheeks, 'No it isn't a woman, well yes it is, but it isn't what you think. It's a friendly drink, she doesn't know anyone else at the base really.'
Alenka laughed, ''Cass, we are just messing. We know how you get with women, you are the smoothest talker but as soon as you find someone you really like you turn into a nervous, awkward wreck.'
'Well I don't like her and I'm not being awkward' he said rather defensively.
Leo smiled, 'Sure Cassian, why don't you get yourself a drink and have a good evening yeah?'
Cassian smiled, '' Yeah, I probably should. Have a good evening guys.''
Cassian walked from the table and moved towards the bar. However his friends' comments began to get the better of him. Am I being awkward? Do they know how I feel? Is it obvious? Calm down you are a grown man for goodness sake.
'Excuse me, are you going to buy a drink or not?'
Cassian suddenly realised that he had been staring blankly at the droid bartender throughout his worrying thought process. He wandered how long he must have been standing there for.
''Oh yes sorry. I will have one of your strongest drinks and one jumba juice please.'
'Very well.' The droid responded.
Cassian received his drinks and turned around to find somewhere where they could sit. In the centre of the room was a free table. He smiled at his finding and quickly and tactfully dodged further drunk patrons until he came to the table. He sat himself down and sighed.
It was at that moment he looked up and saw Jyn standing at the entrance to the Cantina. She was looking around the room trying to find him, her eyes scanning everyone that was in there. Cassian smiled as he saw her and stood up so she could spot him easily.
''Jyn!'' he shouted, ''Over here!''
Jyn smiled a huge smile making Cassian almost giddy with nerves. He still couldn't understand why he felt so nervous, he had faced many life threatening situations, many with her, but this was totally different. Jyn walked over to him but she hadn't quite got the trick of dodging the drunk patrons sauntering around the cantina as well as Cassian had. Eventually though she reached the table, Cassian stood up and pulled her chair out for her, something that Jyn immediately liked. Cassian pushed her chair in as she sat down and then sat down himself. There was the slightest of pauses as they both looked at one another before Jyn spoke.
''Good evening Cassian''
Cassian smiled, ''Good evening Jyn''
''That was very nice of you to pull my chair out for me''
''Well, you are a lady. It is the gentleman's job to do that''
''Oh really'', she smirked, ''and when did you learn to become such a gentleman?''
Cassian played it cool, ''Well you know, I know a few things'' He casually reached for his glass and brought it up to his mouth and took a gulp. The notion of playing it cool soon ended abruptly, he swallowed the drink and began to cough loudly, holding his throat. Jyn's eyes widened.
''Cassian are you alright!?'' she put a supporting had on his shoulder.
Still coughing, ''Yes…yes…I'm fine. I think I just drank acid''
Jyn reclined in her chair and giggled, putting her hand over her mouth. 'What in the galaxy are you drinking?'
Cassian was finally able to speak but still held his throat with his hand, 'I asked the bar for their strongest drink.'
'Why did you do that' Jyn said carefully assessing her beverage.
'Your drink is fine, it's just the usual juice.'
'So you said about knowing things huh? I guess that doesn't include alcohol' Jyn laughed
'No, it certainly does not. I won't be ordering that again.'
'Why are you even drinking that' Jyn took a sniff of the drink, 'It smells like X-Wing fluid'
'I just needed it' he responded coldy
Jyn eyed him, 'Hmmmm, are you ok? I haven't offended you have I?'
'Offended? Of course you haven't. Why would you think such a thing.'
'I don't know, you just suddenly…changed? I can go if you want me to?'
'What!? No! don't go, please. I invited you here, I'm sorry I didn't mean to act coldy just then. I ordered the drink because, well, I just feel nervous I guess.'
'About the mission?'
'No, not the mission. I don't know what is wrong.'
Jyn looked down at the floor, she felt the exact same way. She was always so good at hiding who she was, her emotions, but in all honestly she was pretty certain she felt the same way as Cassian, nervous. Eager to pick up the tone she put her hands on his and smiled. This immediately caught his attention and he stared into her large eyes.
''Tell me about your family Cassian?''
He tilted his head, 'My family?'
Jyn picked up her drink, 'Yes, you know so much about me and my father. We have been through so much but I don't know anything about you''
He smiled, she was genuinely interested about his life, ''Well, when I was 6 my family fell victims to the Empire. I only survived because I was late home. I knew my mother would be furious with me but my friends and I wanted to play just that little longer….''
Jyn smiled endearing as Cassian spoke.
''….I came home and my home, my life, my parents, they were all gone. I don't know what happened but it was clear that my father tried to protect my mother. He was my hero. He was always so protective of me and my mother. I remember running and running until I reached the town. I was crying so much that I could not speak. But an old lady came to me in the street and she looked after me. She saved my life and I will always be grateful for that.''
''What was her name?''
''Anya, she passed away when I was 11. But by that time though I felt old enough to make it on my own. Much like you I am sure?''
''I wasn't always a good child'' Jyn said in a mischievous tone. They both smiled.
''Tell me about your mother. I know so much about your father''
Jyn circled the top of her glass with her finger and began to speak candidly about memories of her mother. Cassian listened intently smiling at Jyn's little anecdotes about her mother and her childhood. He studied her smile, it was infectious and he always found himself smiling with her. She carried on talking but Cassian couldn't help but study her. Tonight of all nights she looked even more incredible, he noticed that she had applied makeup, though minimal, it brought out her beautiful eyes even more. Her hair was down rather than up in the usual bun, it fell softly on her shoulders, allowing her natural curls to show. She looked so feminine and beautiful, it was hard to imagine her as a soldier and rebel when she looked like this. Cassian shook himself out of his reverie.
''…..but yes, as I said I wasn't always a good child,' Jyn finally finished.
''No boyfriends to keep you under control'' Cassian replied rather flirtatiously, he didn't know what got hold of him but he just went for it.
Jyn sat there rather startled at the direct question. They were talking about stories personal to them but she wasn't expecting the topic of conversation to become that personal. She blushed. Gosh, he wants to know about my previous relationships. Is he jealous? Does he want to know if I am single? Play it cool Jyn, play it cool.'
''Well Mr Andor, let's say I have never really had time for men in my life''
Cassian took a sip of his 'X-Wing fuel' drink which he had now become used too. He was now curious.
''Never had time?'' he asked with a smirk, ''what do you mean never had time?''
Jyn was getting rather flushed. Here she was sat with Cassian, the handsome assassin of the Rebel Alliance who was now asking her about her previous relationships.
'Well if you were listening, Captain….' Cassian tensed with delight as she said the words Captain…''You would've heard that I had a rather busy childhood.'' She smiled at her triumphant answer.
''I was listening'' he replied defiantly
''Oh really? Then what did I do on my 15th birthday?'' she joked
He laughed, they both knew that she had caught him out.
''See, you weren't listening. Am I really that boring?'' she laughed as she took a sip of her drink.
Cassian breathed deeply wanting and wishing to tell her what he was truly thinking about.
Jyn put her drink down, 'what is it Cassian?''
''Jyn'' He began, ''Look ok, I admit, I wasn't listening. I mean I was but in parts. I was thinking about something'
Jyn looked at him curiously. Her hands began to become quite sweaty with nerves, '' What were you thinking about?'
Cassian edged closer in his seat, 'I was looking at you and thinking that, well, well I think that you are absolutely…..''
''CASSSSSIIIIAANNNNNN THERE YOU ARE''
Cassian and Jyn jumped with nerves, almost out of their seats. Alenka and Leo smothered Cassian with a group hug and pulled him up off of his seat. The pair were clearly very drunk but Jyn did laugh once she realised what was happening.
'Cassian' Alenka roared, finally letting go of his friend, 'Is this your lady friend you were meeting'
Leo nudged Cassian in the ribs ''Oi Oi, she's alright isn't she''
Cassian and Jyn both blushed. Cassian was annoyed more than anything, he missed his chance.
Jyn could see that Cassian was slightly frustrated so tried to defuse the situation. She stood up.
''Hello, I'm Jyn and you are?''
Alenka and Leo was taken aback. Leo shook her hand, ''Leo''. Jyn nodded in a friendly manner.
Alenka stepped forward and took Jyn's hand and gently brought it to his mouth where he kissed it ever so softy. Cassian's blood boiled, he glared at Alenka. The look didn't go unnoticed by Jyn, He is angry, she thought.
Cassian pushed him aside in a jokey manner, 'Come on wise guy enough of that, what are you guys even doing.'
'Well, we wanted to see if you were having a good time and that you weren't giving this lovely lady too horrible of a time.'' Leo joked
'I am having a lovely time actually' Jyn blurted out
Leo and Alenka looked at Cassian, ''Nice job Cassian, see you always were the smooth talker, the ladies man''
Cassian cringed and Jyn looked suddenly rather downbeat. She knew she had genuine feelings for him, she didn't want to be 'just another woman'.
'Anyway' added Alenka, we are heading off now, we ordered you some more drinks, on us! We will catch both of you later'
Niether Cassian and Jyn bothered saying goodbye. They both sat back down, it suddenly felt awkward. The waiter arrived with their new drinks and the pair immediately took a gulp. There was a long pause before Jyn finally spoke.
'So you are a ladies man?' Her tone was slightly venomous.
Cassian sighed, 'No Jyn, they are drunk and were trying to be funny.'
'You lied about not wanting to kill my father, are you lying about this now?'
Those words hurt Cassian. He was so close to finally conveying his feelings and now this was happening.
'Jyn, it isn't like that. Please believe me. I invited you here because I like your company. There is something about you, I can't stop thinking about you. The reason I'm drinking this awful X-Wing fluid is because you make me nervous '
Now Jyn was incredibly nervous, 'why do I make you nervous?' she asked bluntly, petrified of the answer.
Cassian looked down, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He looked up into her eyes, he could see that they were slightly glazed over in tears. He placed his hands gently over hers, 'Jyn, I don't know what it is about you but, I find myself wanting to know more about you, I find myself wanting to spend more time with you…I can't stop thinking about you.'
Jyn kept her eyes fixed on Cassian's. 'All this time, I thought it was just me'
Cassian leant back in shock. He suddenly felt a great sense of relief at her words, like a huge weight had come off of him. He exhaled through a smile and took another gulp of his drink.
Jyn smiled, 'You look in shock, are you ok?'
'I suddenly feel very happy'
Jyn didn't really understand what had just happened, whether that they had declared that they like eachother or that he wasn't a 'ladies' man'. Either way, she was going to play this cool.
'I don't know if I should feel ashamed but I'm starting to feel quite drunk'
Jyn laughed at Cassian's words, 'It's ok Cassian, I feel the same'
Cassian's face suddenly lit up, 'Jyn, have you ever seen the Yavin IV sky at night?'
'No? Should i?'
'Most defiantly, come with me.'
Cassian picked up two glasses and stole a bottle of alcohol from the adjacent table and tucked it under his arm. He took Jyn's hand and dragged her out of the Cantina.
SMUT IS COMING
