Cassian's commlink buzzed in his pocket and he reached for it with a smile on his face. It was Jyn, of course.

Pegla had allowed him once again, however reluctantly, to tinker with the old Bryon Dayvan he was so fond of. When he'd come back to Zorby's after accompanying Jyn to Peg's (Cassian often earned some credits fixing ships or pieces that could be salvaged from ruined vehicles or other devices, all of which Zorby sold), Pegla had looked about to kick his ass because he was risking his boss' ire or even his own job by sneaking Cassian in the Shiplot. But Cassian had begged him, alleging that the Dayvan was important to help someone who needed a fresh start, although keeping the most revealing bits of information vague. He doubted Jyn would appreciate his indiscretion, and even if she had the intention to stay for a while in Ferrix City, that didn't mean he had to take liberties concerning her identity and privacy.

Pegla had raised his grey and bushy eyebrows in blatant skepticism. "Yeah, yeah, I already know the tale. You're our savior of damsels in distress," he grumbled sarcastically. "I hope she's worth it this time."

Cassian didn't even bat an eye, his smile unflinching. "How do you know it's a she?," he asked, already striding to the place where the ship was parked.

"Come on, Cass, don't take me for an idiot. You wouldn't bother yourself so much if it weren't a she, and a pretty one at that," Pegla retorted at his retreating back.

Cassian turned around, amused. He liked needling his grumpy friend a bit. "You wound me. You think I'm that superficial?"

Pegla snorted loudly as a response, not deigning to reply to such a seemingly stupid question. Cassian had laughed and resumed his pace.

His day had been quite productive. After spending time fixing the Dayvan, he'd gone to Bix's and, after his usual teasing and her usual display of snark, she'd agreed to contact her occasional mysterious buyer to negotiate the sale of an Imperial N-S9 Starpath Unit Cassian kept hidden as a treasure. He'd stolen it from the Imperial Naval Base on Steergargd, right under the Imps' noises, with none the wiser. It was the most valuable commodity he'd ever had in his possession, as it was worth at least forty thousand credits or possibly more. If the deal was successful, Cassian might take Maarva and Bee away to a planet with a better climate and free of the Empire's clutches. He'd miss his friends, of course (Jyn too, he realized, despite having met her just the previous day, but he already considered her a friend, what had happened so rarely in his life), but his mother had turned almost into a ghost since her husband's murder, and Ferrix had become a place of traumatic memories for her, Cassian and Bee because of that. So he wouldn't regret much leaving all that behind. Now that he had the chance at his fingertips, he wouldn't waste it if he could sell the Starpath Unit for a fair price.

He'd also discovered that Bix had started a sentimental relationship with Timm, her employee at Caleen Salyard, and even if he wasn't sure that he liked the guy much, he was glad for her, because it was obvious that the man cared for her a lot. Cassian and Bix had moved on a long time ago from their former failed romance. Both had been each other's first in everything a romantic involvement entailed (first love, first kiss, first sexual partner...). Cassian hadn't fallen in love again since being with Bix, and it had taken years for him to truly stop loving her, but he'd eventually become aware that they simply weren't meant to be. He'd had numerous affairs since breaking up with Bix, and he even kept two or three occasional hookups scattered along a couple of systems, but he didn't love any of them. It was all just for fun, and he hardly devoted any thoughts to them once he resumed his ordinary life after spending some time with any of them, mostly in their beds. He wasn't interested in wooing anyone, though he tried to treat them well and satisfy their physical needs to the best of his capacity. They accepted his terms and weren't interested in anything beyond sex either. He made sure of picking women who were on his same page. They were usually women searching for an uncomplicated outlet from their busy lives, or free spirits like himself who didn't look for commitments.

Jyn, on the other hand, had directly entered a new category he'd never dealt with before. He felt strongly attracted to her, he couldn't deny that, but he'd started to regard her as a friend from the beginning of their acquaintance, and he instinctively new that she couldn't just ever be one more of his affairs, if it came to that. First, because she'd earned his rendered admiration from minute one, as a fellow fighter, as a fellow soul struggling to find her own place in the galaxy; second, because her extremely difficult life made him want to take care of her disinterestedly, respecting her boundaries. Her personal history with sex was a sordid and traumatic one, and therefore he'd never mingle with her just for sexual purposes. She'd probably had too many people around her treating her like a sex object, and he'd hate to turn into another one of them.

She was special and deserved much more than anything he had to offer.

"Cassian?" Her voice sounded shy through the commlink. "Am I interrupting something?"

He grinned like a fool, aware that she couldn't see him. "Nothing at all, don't worry, Jyn. I was just waiting for your call."

She seemed to hesitate. "Seriously, I don't want to be a hindrance or cause trouble if you have work to do or someone to care for."

"I'm serious too. No trouble. I already took care of my business. Now I'm free to go on being your escort," he teased, hoping to ease her discomfort.

She kept silent for a pair of seconds in the static of the signal. "Okay. I'm at Peg's. I'd like to go to that used clothes' shop you talked to me about."

"Right away, ma'am. See you in a blink," he answered.

"No ma'am shit, please. Just Jyn," she teased back. "Peg says that that title is meant to make us feel like one hundred year old ladies."

"I see that hag is starting to rub off on you already, isn't she?" He was already on his way.

Jyn laughed and that merry sound made his heart jump.