eluvio | video. username: rook.

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video. username: rook.

[ The crew jumpsuit they gave him is tight with bright purple stripes running the length of it, when he's used to baggy plain grey. Wearing it he feels more like a podracer superstar than a former Imperial cargo pilot, which in turn makes him both slightly more confident and slightly more nervous, his body language all crossed legs and fidgeting. His dark eyes dart, nervous. ]

Listen. Listen. Hello, yes, listen, I need help.

[ He sounds a little urgent about it, voice dropped low. ]

Um, I've followed the instructions, and turned up to work, and I want to work, I do. It's the least I could do, I think.

[ He feels grateful enough to even be here that he's fallen immediately back into the old routine of following orders, and after the initial introduction and orientation was over his orders were to report for his first shift at the electronics store. So he's done that before even going to see if the directions to his ship held true. Before even seeing Cassian and Jyn. And that has... well, proven to be a mistake. ]

I've worked out how to send a message — assuming anyone actually sees this — but I don't really know how to fix them. Does anybody have any tips about using the technology here? It's just a little, um, different from what I'm used to. Okay. Thank you.

[ He seems a little sheepish about having to ask at all, grimacing to himself as he ends the transmission and signs off. ]

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We're not too far, should be there in a few minutes.

If they aren't amicable we can explain that you just need the day, yes?

Yes, all right.

[ Still sounding 500% unsure about that, given his experience with Imperial regulations, but he isn't going to choose work over a chance to see his friends again. Jyn and Cassian. He's somewhat dazed by their presence.

It turns out, according to the woman training him, that plenty of new arrivals don't actually show up for their first shift at all. And since it's just training there's not really any problem rescheduling. So he bounds out of the back room with surprisingly youthful excitement, nearly collides with both of them at the entrance. ]

It's fine, I can go, let's go.

[ To the ship, probably, but um... hugs first, yes? ]

[ the only credit that she will ever give being short is that when she immediately throws her arms around bodhi's waist, she is the perfect height to bury her face against his chest. he smells like nervous sweat (normal, familiar, good) and the weird plastic and synthetic smell the ship offered uniforms.

he is not unnecessarily stubborn and combative like jyn and she imagines he just took it without even thinking about it, one uniform for another, one job for another.

but it's still bodhi, hair still as disheveled a mess as hers, and she closes her eyes, trying not think about leaving him alone the ship, trying and failing. her eyes burn as she squeezes them shut tighter still, frustration and relief and a strange grief that doesn't apply anymore twists her heart, chest feeling tight, and she finds she is suddenly speechless save for: ] I'm sorry.

[ Cassian stands awkwardly off to the side but only for a moment; then, suddenly, he's giving into the same impulse, wrapping his arms around both Jon and Bodhi.

He knows what Jyn is apologizing for, feeling just as hyperware of it. They should have brought Bodhi with them. He shouldn't have been alone. ]

We're a team, [ and if a breath hitches then it is what it is. ]. It's good you're here, amigo. Though I think my room is too small for three.

[ Bodhi isn't expecting the group hug; he's startled at first but by the time Cassian joins in he's settled into it, cheek resting against her hair, one of the arms that had gone tight around her shoulders and waist slipping to include Cassian as well. He takes deep breaths, not sure how he hadn't known until now that this was a friendship that lasted beyond the rebellion.

They're probably attracting some awkward looks given they're in the middle of the shopping centre, but he honestly couldn't care less. ]

Don't — don't apologize.

[ A fraction pained. They had known they wouldn't get off the planet when the shield gate closed. He's glad not o be the only survivor, though ]

I have, um, the ship. The Imperial cargo ship we stole. It came with me. It's not exactly a cruise liner but I was thinking about turning the hold into a room of some sort.

[ So he could always just fly away and take everything with him. The roominess would just be. A bonus. ]

[ jyn's glad she got the apology out first because she now she can ignore bodhi telling her not to. he had been on scarif because of her, because of her father. it doesn't seem overly self aggrandizing to blame herself for what happened. following an erso had gotten him tortured by saw -- she doesn't need to know to know, she spent fifteen years with the man -- and following another got him killed.

it's self-destructive and takes so much of bodhi's own choices out of the mix but jyn hates herself enough to let all that blame settle on her own shoulders. especially because, if she were honest, she would have let the other rebels die to save bodhi. to keep some piece of her father's legacy alive. ]

We've three rooms between us, we could gut one of them.

[ everything is built in and nailed down but that's unlikely to stop her. ]

[ There's also buying what they need, Cassian thinks but doesn't immediately say, because he sees few reasons to save credits in a place where no one seems to want for anything, but then again using what's available to them first isn't a bad idea. ]

That's...we should do that. [ The room, the gutting, whatever. Cassian gives them both a squeeze, face situated somewhere near Bodhi's shoulder, and someone clears their throat as they pass the trio but he doesn't look up, let go, or care. ]

Yeah?

[ Bodhi seems surprised, his voice wavering a little, like he hadn't expected such immediate agreement. ]

I haven't even looked at my room yet, but surely there's something's worth salvaging.

[ One day. Maybe. Eventually. If they ever stop hugging. ]

Bed's are tiny. Barely fits two much less three. [ which she says before she realizes that it could be taken the wrong way, like that she and cassian are sleeping together, not just... sleeping together. she coughs awkwardly, realizing at the same time that, although this is exactly where she would like to be and stay, she is kind of stuck between them and may or may not have just propositioned bodhi.

this is why jyn doesn't like talking. ]

We will make a bed large enough for all of us. Or buy one. [ Cassian takes a half step back just to give Jyn the option to breathe. Still, his hands linger on the shoulders of his friends; he doesn't really want to let go. ]

[ He's so out of his depth he's treading water, but Bodhi isn't about to turn down the possibility of them all sleeping together even if it is just ... sleeping together. Still, his words come a little faster. ]

I don't really have any idea how to make a bed but I'm sure that if I keep doing work for them here they'll pay me and then I can just buy whatever furnishings we're missing but in the meantime if we just take a couple of the mattresses and push them together it should be soft enough for sleeping, shouldn't it?

[ Breathe, Bodhi. ]

[ even if jyn finally untwists her arms from around bodhi, she doesn't go very far, unwilling to really let him go in case he disappears into the ether or some equally far-fetched way he could be plucked from her. it doesn't seem far-fetched when they should all be dead.

her fingers curl around the sleeve of his uniform, keeping a faint grip on him and idly mourning the lack of imperial blue. who would have thought she would mourn anything that bore that insignia, but here we are.

and now she has a chance to really look at him as he babbles on like a nervous space mouse. same scruff across his cheeks, familiar long nose, wide brown eyes always looking a little skittish and lost. tenderness blossoms in her chest. bodhi rook is the best person she knows and she is incomprehensibly happy he is here; soft, affectionate (and rare) smile touching her features. ]

We can take your mattress and mine. [ it's the only way hers will get any use, honestly. they can sew the sheets together, cassian can knit them a blanket. she wouldn't even care if it were uncomfortable. ]

See? [ Cassian smiles, recognizing the pressure in his chest as a need to protect.

It's been a very long time since he's been able to act on that need. ] We'll manage.

Have you eaten yet?

No, I... no.

[ Bodhi shakes his head. Takes a tentative step like he thinks he should be the one to get them actually moving now that they've separated enough to do so, but not wanting to plot the course. The pilot, but not the navigator. And he stays tethered to the both of them with light touch, because touch feels — more certain. Real. ]

[ hand still on his uniform, she gently urges him in the right direction. ]

There's more food here than you've ever seen. [ the imperials were excessive, but bodhi was only a pilot, she doesn't think he would have had the full opulence of the empire at his disposal. the thought of food makes her almost uncharacteristically buoyant. it's hard out there for a homeless criminal. ] There's this melon that smells like millaflower and cinnamon and tastes like moonglow. [ a breath. ] Without all the poison.

[ honestly, she might have eaten it anyway. ]

Places to eat, too. [ But Cassian would rather cook for them than sit somewhere and wait for people to serve them. He'd rather watch Jyn and Bodhi connect and reconnect than sit, surrounded by strangers and acting as if this wasn't the most amazing thing to happen to them in some time. Being alive. Being together. ]

[ Bodhi's eyes light up. He's just a kid from Jedha, piloting barely made enough money to pull his family above the poverty line. And even then, long haul trips didn't lend themselves to fancy food, and the Imperial cafeterias weren't that great. The only time he really ate fresh food was at home. ]

Yeah!

[ He's still just walking along and letting Jyn steer him. ]

Whatever you guys want, right now I think I would eat anything.

[ Just don't leave him behind! ]

[ she looks over at cassian, a little shrug of her shoulders to imply she has no clue as to what they should eat because if jyn had her way so would live off nothing but fruit and tea and also donuts. ]

The market on the first floor or the third? That one does have that bread. [ sticky cinnamon bread you pull apart and dunk in your tea or coffee if you've no taste. ]

[ There's this magical concept called 'basic nutrient value' that Cassian is hellbent on ensuring their food manages to compare to, and unfortunately 'donuts', while delicious, do not do the thing.

So. ]

Third floor. The bread is really good. And they do interesting things with coffee?

It's decided then.

[ And off they go to the third floor. Where Bodhi is absolutely going to try some of this cinnamon bread — and dunk it in Cassian's coffee because he didn't get any for himself; it's not like he needs to be more wired. He has a bubble tea instead. Though like Jyn he's not really interested in eating stuff with genuine nutritional value, whoops. ]

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