Cassian landed the ship smoothly on its usual parking space at Zorby's and hesitated once again.

"Eh, Jyn... I have a place near here where you could sleep, if you want. It's my family's old ship. It's just a rattletrap and it can't fly anymore, but I use it as a sort of shelter and a place to hide in when I wish to be alone. No one will spot you or bother you there." He got silent for a couple of seconds. Jyn stared at him in silence. "As you don't know the city or the places where you could spend the night safely and for a low price, I don't mind offering you temporary lodgings. I live in the city with my mother, so I can sleep in my bedroom. It's due time I drop by my house, anyway. I haven't set foot in my home for a few days and my mother must be worried, though the Force knows that the poor woman is resignedly used to it." He lowered the ramp and they descended to the ground. The night air was cold and the sky blessedly cloudless in Ferrix, but they were both still damp from the rain in Morlana One and he didn't want Jyn to fall ill.

"Okay," Jyn accepted, shivering a little and trying to hide it, but not fast enough for Cassian not being able to notice it.

"Come on, let's go before you freeze to death." He placed a hand gently on her back and guided her along the narrow paths between piles of scrap. "I know the views aren't very pretty here, and I'm afraid that the city is hardly a bit better than this. Sorry. My offer to take you wherever you want is still on the table, in case you've changed your mind," he suggested teasingly.

Jyn snorted. "I've been in far worse ratholes. This is like a luxury resort in comparison," she commented dismissively.

Cassian felt a lump in his throat and swallowed, struggling to keep his light tone. They had reached their destination and he gestured to the decrepit ship in front of them. "Welcome to my personal bolthole."

Jyn didn't comment, likely out of a bout of politeness, but by her expression, it was evident that she was doubting that her overnight lodgings wouldn't collapse onto her in her sleep. "Thanks, Cassian." She looked suddenly shy. "I should pay you. It's the least I can do after all your trouble."

Cassian shook his head firmly. "No. Must I remember you that you saved my ass? It's me who owes you big time. And besides, I'm not doing this in exchange for anything, Jyn. It's been a long time since I've done something for someone who isn't myself," he replied self-deprecatingly. With Jyn, he felt strangely raw and his self-issues raised to the surface with an easiness which frightened him. He felt exposed, but at the same time he didn't care much about that, because it was Jyn, and he instinctively knew he could trust her. The only ones who had barged beyond his walls in a similar way since he was taken from Kenari had been his adoptive parents, Bee, Bix and Brasso. And that had happened after a very long while in which he'd learned slowly to trust the new people (and droid) in his life, in that new and odd city with an odd language and odd customs completely foreign to him.

Jyn was getting under his skin at fast speed, faster than anyone before.

Her eyes softened impossibly in the dim light of the tawdry scrapyard. "It's been a long time for me too since I've done something for someone else without expecting anything in exchange," she confessed in a whisper. Then her mischief returned. "So I suppose we're quits, aren't we?"

He smiled back at her, relieved. "We are. Now, shall we? Let me show you your sleeping quarters, if they even deserve to reach that category." He opened the rusty and wailing ramp and invited her inside the dilapidated and cramped interior. Luckily, he had a change of sheets, blankets and towels, a drum of clean water and some ration and protein bars, all of it stored in the hidden compartments around the cabin. He showed Jyn everything and she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Sorry for the lack of a running refresher. I'm afraid you'll have to... Uhm, well, outside," he apologized, blushing under his tanned complexion.

Jyn blushed as well, but he caught her amusement at his predicament. The corners of her lips were turned up in a teasing smile. "Again, I've had worse, Cassian. But thanks for your concern."

I'd offer you a palace if I could, he thought, uncapable of slowing down his racing emotions. Those eyes of hers, and that iron resilience and strength in contrast with her delicate appearance, were proving his downfall. That was what he'd always liked in Bix, what had drawn him to her when they were just scrawny teenagers, but with Jyn, it was beginning to run even deeper and he'd only met her for the first time a few hours ago.

He should get out of there before he said something truly embarrassing. "Ehm, good." Then he remembered one more thing. "I have a spare comlink somewhere, wait a minute." He opened one of the compartments and searched inside until he found the tiny device. "Here. Have it. We'll keep in contact. I'll come back in the morning with breakfast."

She nodded once more. "Okay. Good night, Cassian."

He returned the nod. "Good night to you too, Jyn. Sleep well."

"Same for you. And thanks for everything."

He turned to leave. "You're welcome." And then he flashed her a last smile and strode out, lifting the old ramp into place to shut the ship and keep the chill from seeping in, and headed for home with a heavy sigh.

He was in for another earful from his mother. He'd been missing for five days in a row this time, so he braced himself for the prospect of facing a very cranky Maarva.

He grinned with a surge of affection. Some things never changed.