Chapter Text
“I'd like on of these, please.“
Cassian's eyes slowly traced Bodhi's face, then moved along his neck and shoulders and finally followed his left arm up to his finger, which pointed at a chocolate muffin.
“Err...sure,“ he said “one second.“ Grabbing a paper bag, he noticed from the corner of his eyes that Bodhi nodded with a smile on his face.
Before Cassian could stop himself, he blurted out, “I've seen you before!“ He blushed. “I mean at the airport. Obviously. Just not here. You're a pilot, aren't you?“
Cassian suddenly had to fight the urge to kick himself or at least to pour cold at water at his face. Asking somebody, whom he had just told about having seen him before and who was wearing a pilot uniform, if he was a pilot, wasn't really one of his best moments.
But if Bodhi thought something about that, then he didn't say it. Instead he just continued to smile a smile that Cassian right now loved and hated for the same reasons. Bodhi looked down for a moment before he raised his eyes again and replied, “I am a pilot, yes. You got that right. And it's true – I've never been here before. But since I've heard crew members as well as passengers talking about how delicious the things taste here, I thought I'd give it a try.“ With that he collected some coins and gave them to Cassian.
“Then I hope you won't be disappointed. Here you go.“ Cassian handed over the bag.
Bodhi hesitated for a moment, then turned half way but stopped to turn back around, looking at Cassian and smiling again. “I've also seen you before,“ he said and at least pretended that he hadn't seen how Cassian had almost let fall the coins he still held in his hands.
“To be exact, I've seen you almost everyday together with your friends,“ Bodhi continued. “It must be nice to have friends who also work here at the airport but in different jobs. I bet you have all kind of stories to share.“ He let out a short and soft laugh.
Cassian returned a smile. “It really is,“ he agreed. “But I'm sure you have your own squad that always wants to hear all about your pilot adventures.“ He grinned.
Bodhi chuckled in response. “No, actually I don't have a squad like you do,“ Cassian looked at him in disbelief, but Bodhi just shrugged, looking a bit more serious now. “Somehow nobody really wants to hear about my job to be honest.“ He looked like he thought about something for a moment, but then just smiled again – that damn smile, Cassian thought – and said, “Anyways, I've gotta go now. It was nice talking to you.“ And with that Bodhi turned around and started moving.
For Cassian it was one of these moments where about 1000 thoughts went through his head in five seconds. Watching the movements of Bodhi's ponytail like if they happened in slow motion, Chirruts voice echoed “You should take the first step“ in his head. He thought about the noise Baze's head would make when it hit the desk and the jokes Jyn would make about missed opportunities. Cassian also thought about the noise his own head would make when it hit the counter in regret and about all the 'now or never's and 'just do it's that had possibly ever been said. “Goddamnit“ he said to himself.
“Please wait a second!“ he called after Bodhi, who stopped and turned around at once, as if he had just waited for a reason to do so. “Yeah?“ he asked.
- “I, err...“ Cassian cleared his throat. “I'd like to hear about your job.“
Bodhis eyes widened. “And I'd like to tell you about it.“ he said.
Cassian wasn't sure what he had expected, but somehow he wasn't prepared for something that sounded like a 'Yes'. He mumbled something he himself couldn't really understand and it was only when Bodhi carefully said “Excuse me?“ that he knew he should say something that could be viewed as words. “You know the café outside the north entrance and then on the other side of the street? How about that? On...let's say saturday? 4 pm?“
- “Sound's great,“ Bodhi said. “Oh. I'm Bodhi by the way.“
Cassian started to say, “I kn-“ but managed to stop himself. “Cassian. I'm Cassian.“
- “It's nice to meet you, Cassian, and I'm so sorry, but I really have to leave...“
“Don't worry,“ Cassian smiled. “I guess, I'll see you on saturday then.“
“Yeah. Saturday.“ Bodhi agreed, also smiling. Turning around he whispered, “I can't wait.“ and blushed when he realized that Cassian could still hear him.
Cassian waited until Bodhi was out of hearing range and then said “Me neither“ under his breath, before grabbing the phone to open a group chat called “airport elite“.
####
The rain was pouring against the windows, the wind was howling in the trees outside and Jyn's apartment was only lighted by a small lamp on the wall and some candles. With the group of four people sitting on the floor, it seemed like the perfect setting to share crime or horror stories, but it was just Cassian telling the others how the rest of his day went.
“So. Saturday it is.“ he ended, just when a huge amount of Jyn's pizza topping – a lot of cheese - hit the bottom of the box.
“I'm so happy for you!“ she mumbled while she quickly stuffed the rest of the piece into her mouth before the cheese would have been gone completely.
Chirrut just smiled, but Baze reached over to gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Well done,“ he said. “Are you nervous?“
Cassian stared down at an empty box. “Naaah, I'm fine.“ he said, not looking fine at all.
- “He's not,“ Jyn stood up. “I'm getting the ice cream.“ When she had left the room, Baze bend down to his husband, who understood at once. “He is nervous.“ Chirrut agreed. Baze sat straight again and grinned.
“I'm not-“ Cassian began, but was cut off by Jyn, who handed him a bowl of vanilla ice cream and a spoon.
- “You are,“ she said. “And we understand. Who wouldn't be nervous, going on a date with his crush?“
“It is not a-“
- “It is a date, yes.“ Chirrut said.
“Baze, stop bending down to Chirrut, it is not a-“
- “Yeah Baze, stop that,“ Jyn said. “We know that it's a date, we don't need Chirrut to confirm it.“
Cassian let out a long sigh, took a bit of the ice cream and said in a last, halfheartedly attempt, “I'm not nervous and it's not a date.“
Everybody stayed silent for a short moment. Chirrut grabbed his phone, typed a bit and then said, “One more click and you will hear an 'Aaaah'. The exact same 'Aaaah' my phone read to me a few hours ago after you had written us. Do you really need to hear that?“
Cassian just took another spoonful and said nothing.
Baze broke the silence. “It will be great, I'm sure.“ he said to Cassian in a surprisingly soft tone.
- “But what if I screw up?“
“You won't.“ Baze smiled.
- “You don't know that. What if I do?“
“How should you do that?“
- “I don't know, but what if I do?“
“Stop that at once,“ Baze sighed. “Or I'm bending down to Chirrut.“
Cassian opened his mouth again, causing Baze to start leaning down to his side, when an unknown voice said, “There is a 97.6 percent chance of success.“ Chirrut and Baze snickered, but Cassian looked confused. He turned his head in the direction the voice had been coming from and met Jyn's gaze. She looked suspiciously innocent.
“What the hell was that?“ Cassian asked.
- “K-2SO!“ Jyn said, like that explained anything.
“K-what?“
- “K-2SO! It's an app,“ she explained and pointed at her phone. “It can react to what was said and tells you the probability of certain events. Kaytoo, what do you think about Cassian's date?“ She tapped the phone screen once with her finger, and the voice said, “I have a great feeling about this!“
Cassian couldn't help thinking that K-2SO somehow sounded unhappy saying positive things. He leaned over to Jyn and took a close look at her phone. “Err...Jyn,“ he began. “If this app reacts to things, how come there is a list where you obviously can choose the answer?“
She blushed. “Well, it can, but it doesn't always tell me what I want to hear,“ she said. “So I thought I'd go in this mode. Look, I just wanted to be nice! And I'm sure it will be fantastic.“
Cassian shook his head, but smiled. “I appreciate that,“ he said. “But I'd like to be sure. Baze, could you please bend down to Chirrut once more?“ Baze laughed, but did as he was asked.
“I think, Cassian wants to know how the date will be.“ he said.
- “It will be great. I promise.“ Chirrut smiled and somehow Cassian really believed it.