Cassian Andor (seenitbefore) wrote in onewaythreads, @ 2017-07-02 21:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, cassian andor, jyn erso |
Who: Jyn & Cassian
What: Awkward Roommates: The Saga Begins
Where: Kingsby Tavern, Everdale
When: Six weeks ago
Rating: All audiences
Status: Complete
Everdale is not the the kind of place that has automatic lifts. It has one manually operated mechanical lift. At the hospital. Where they’re very proud of their ornate, rattly piece of equipment with a door that makes Jyn think strongly of cages. At the moment, Jyn considers that a major strike against it. Sure, lifts aren’t much use in most kinds of emergencies, and in Jyn’s experience, they’re generally badly maintained, but when you’re trying to support someone with hurting ribs up three flights of stairs, you really really wish for one.
She might even take the death trap, if she could get Cassian to ride it.
At the second landing they stop to rest, leaning against the rough whitewashed wall for a minute rather than on each other.
“We seem,” Jyn says, and pauses for a breath that is more ragged than she’d like, “to be making a habit of this kind of thing.”
"Getting predictable," he agrees. "You okay?"
“I can make it,” she says. “Wish they’d given me a real bandage brace for the knee. You?”
"Yeah." The third flight is steeper than the others, less solidly built, and Cassian eyes it with misgiving. "Ask me again in a minute."
Jyn gives the dubious handrail a hard look. Prepare to face the determination of Jyn Erso, shoddy household construction! You’re not going to win. “Got it,” she says.
The stairs creak alarmingly, but the handrail somewhat improbably holds firm, even when Jyn misses her footing halfway up and they both end up clinging to it for a long, shaken moment. There’s only one door at the top, held shut with a big brass knob and big brass lockplate, both weathered and old fashioned even for Everdale. Jyn fumbles the equally large, solid key that the innkeep gave her trying to get it open. Which way to turn it, how to work the knob in concert with the lock to get the door open?
"Easy." Cassian's thin hand over hers. Steadying, rather than controlling. "Take it slow."
She takes a deep breath, and nods, relaxing, the tremor through her body easing back a little, and opens the door.
The room is long and low, with a narrow unglazed window at each end letting in the light. Under one of them is a wide wooden bedstead, neatly made up with clean, if shabby, linens; by the other there's a small table and three-legged stool. Toward the back, the ceiling slants downward almost to the floor. The air is close and warm, but not unbearably so.
“So,” says Jyn. “Worth the three flights of stairs?”
He gives this due consideration, leaning on the doorframe. "Almost."
Jyn drops the drawstring bag of supplies the hospital gave her on the floor. “I’ll take it,” she says, and takes the time to stretch. It hurts, and she hisses, but it eases her knee a little, too, makes her feel less like it’s about to drop her as summarily to the floor as she dropped the bag.
"Careful," Cassian murmurs, but for once it's almost idle, without emphasis. He waits until she finishes the stretch before he leaves the doorway, crossing to look out of the window over the table. He's moving more easily now that they're on the level, but stiffly, lacking much of his customary grace. "Huh. You can see both exits from here."
“Good.” Jyn gets the door locked again, easier this time but it still takes her several confused moments where she has to turn the key over and try again. Then she reaches up and down to check the hinges. “You could probably lift the door off these hinges. They don’t have caps. Make an awful lot of noise, though. Thing’s heavy.”
A little hum of acknowledgement. He starts to lean over to get a better look at the storm shutter, then abruptly thinks better of it.
Jyn catches the arrested movement in her peripheral vision and lets her eyes flick towards Cassian for a moment - but he’s safe, so she turns away to check the other window. “There’s awnings over the first floor windows this side. Looks like they’re just canvas.”
"That's good," a trifle vaguely - that was a nastier twinge than he was really prepared for, and the last week and a half is catching up with him rapidly. He draws a breath, collecting himself, and deliberately turns his back on the window. "Good enough for now."
“Yes.” Jyn turns away from her window decisively, and starts to cross the floor to Cassian. “We should get some rest.”
He smiles at that, a real smile, barely perceptible in the lightening of his eyes. "You're going in the wrong direction."
She smiles back at him. “We’ve come this far together. Why stop at the last meter?”