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“Did you hear that?” Bodhi shuffles upright from the blanket, Jyn lowers her hand of cards. At a distance, Cassian could almost mistake the sound for an engine test, or a low-flying squadron. He glances at K-2.
They’ve both seen enough systems to know better.
“It’s an electrical storm,” Cassian mutters, he’s already heading for the door. “Coming in fast, by the sound of it. Need to power-down the generators.”
“On it,” Jyn returns, throws Bodhi a torch and clips another to her belt. Bodhi’s face creases worriedly, he holds a hand up for silence. K-2 tips his head, they all listen as the crackle stirs again.
“Actually-” Bodhi hesitates, “-it sounds a lot like the atmosphere of Eadu.”
Cassian runs a hand over his jaw, Bodhi fidgets with the sleeve of his flight suit as their eyes meet.
“A magnetic storm,” K-2 says slowly, and to Cassian’s surprise, there’s something in the droid’s tone he doesn’t recognise.
“Jyn, take the repair hangar,” Cassian says after a second. “Bodhi, supplies. Kaytoo, come with me.”
“Why don’t I get my own assignment?” K-2 answers tetchily, keeps pace beside him all the same. The fluorescent lights are blinking overhead, the corridor wavers dark and bright. Cassian turns a corner, breaks into a jog. When a sharp clatter echoes behind him, he realises too late Kay is no longer at his side.
“Kaytoo!” Cassian wheels back around, sees the droid half-collapsed against the wall.
“Ca-ah-ssian,” K-2 pronounces, his vocabulator dipping in and out of pitch on the word. His eyes flicker, just for a second, he only gathers his bearings as the fluorescents stop shuddering.
“Oops. I mu-uh-st’ve tripped.”
“On what?” Cassian snaps, distracted, Kaytoo makes a vague gesture toward the general vicinity of the floor. They quieten as a low, booming noise rattles the ceiling, the pulse of it raising the hairs on Cassian's arms.
“C’mon,” Cassian mutters. He jerks his head in the direction they need to travel, makes a mental note to check the energy cells on Kay’s recharging station. The droid picks up his pace, lifts his hand and gives him a slightly uncoordinated thumbs-up.
Cassian frowns.
It isn’t till they burst into the main hangar, the lockdown procedure already well underway that he wonders-
Did Kaytoo just say oops?
-
“Andor, leave it!”
Han grips him by the shoulder, his eyebrows raised incredulously as Cassian tightens the lead-rope round his waist.
“Seriously, buddy, those new astromechs are built for these conditions, we’ll dig him out of the snow in the morning and he’ll be fine, yeah-”
Across the hangar, the yells of one of the youngest rebels have turned to crying, it takes two squadron pilots to restrain him from running to the doors.
“As u-uh-nlikely as it would seem, Ca-a-ptain, Ha-hn Solo is on this rare occasion, c-correct.”
Despite the glitches in Kay’s intonation, Cassian struggles to hide a smile as Han turns, does a none-too-subtle impression of being honoured. Cassian hands Kaytoo the rope.
“If I’m not back in five.”
“Cassian,” K-2 blurts urgently, the humour gone from his tone. “I am a fa-rr mm-ore appropriate choice for thi-ih-s task, I assure you I can-”
He tries a step forward, clumsy as a peal of thunder quakes overhead. Cassian places a hand on the droid’s arm.
“If I’m not back in five...” he says gently, squeezes Kay’s elbow and lets go. To Han he offers a grim nod- keep an eye on him- wrenches a gap in the loading door and whips out into the blizzard.
“Damn crazy Festians!” Han bellows through the wind, Cassian grins through chattering teeth. He can already see the chirping light of the unit, it’s round middle spinning uselessly in a bank of snow.
“I gotcha,” Cassian mutters, starts scraping where ice has packed below the drift. He can feel the cold through his gloves, his fingers stinging as he braces against a fresh wave of sleet. The unit makes a small, hopeful sound, beeps quicker as Cassian fumbles to tug it free. His heart races- it’s not working- and he can already feel the tentative pull of the cord round his middle.
“Wait-” Cassian shouts, his fingers slip on the droid’s surface as he fights to hang on.
“On it,” says K-2, reaches a long arm around the astromech and pulls it out in a spray of snow. Cassian falls, catches Kay by the wrist as Han hauls them back in.
“I said to stay here, safe-” Cassian spits furiously, harsher than he intends as the droid pitches to his knees back in the hanger.
“No,” Kaytoo says weakly, his processors make a low whirr as he looks up. “You said if you weren’t back in five.”
-
“-‘right, I’m ‘right-” Cassian pinches a drop of moisture from his nose, wishes he could stop shaking for two seconds so that Bodhi might believe him.
“You’re freezing,” Bodhi hisses, both fists clench Cassian’s shirt sleeves. His expression grits uneven, and for a moment Cassian thinks he’s going to let go.
Instead, Bodhi opens his arms, wraps Cassian in a fierce embrace. Cassian blinks as he finds himself staring over Bodhi’s shoulder, the pilot’s face wedged firmly in his neck. They haven’t hugged since the day they came home, Cassian desperately wants to hold him back. He drags his arms, heavy, his jaw nearly rests on Bodhi’s collar.
“And you’re an absolute idiot-” Bodhi says thickly, rubs Cassian’s back as he shivers. From somewhere behind Cassian hears Han’s ‘co-signed!’, meanwhile Jyn’s sprinting across the hangar, mouth tight with concern.
“And-” Bodhi pulls back, frowning as he realises. “You’re completely soaked. Hold on.”
The warmth of Bodhi’s chest lingers at Cassian’s front, he steadies himself on Jyn’s arm as the pilot turns to fetch him some dry clothes.
“It’s the other way,” K-2 calls, his modulation somewhat less blurry. Bodhi halts, confused, Kay points toward Cassian’s quarters to clarify.
“Your all-terrain jacket. You leant it to Cassian last week. Cassian keeps it next to his bed.”
Cassian, who had been listening to Jyn’s update on the conditions, suddenly feels his inhale stick in his throat. He shoots Kaytoo a helpless squint, watches as the seven-foot droid flinches visibly, his posture drooping several inches.
“I mean-” starts Kay, more flustered as Han and Jyn stare at him too. “The jacket was next to Cassian’s bed. Before… he… moved it. To… the… garbage chute.”
“You threw my jacket down the garbage chute?” Bodhi’s eyes widen in alarm. Han coughs, stifles something that sounds a lot like a snort.
“No-!” blurts Cassian, Kaytoo covers his face with both large hands. They’re saved from an explanation when a flash of lightning trembles across the air-control viewport, the emergency lights dim and Kay’s balance falters, he doubles-over unsteady.
“Cass-i-aihn,” the droid tries, Cassian’s already racing for him, “I don’t-t-”
Cassian catches him round the middle, Jyn’s there a second later, hands gripped under Kaytoo’s arms as they lower him to the ground.
“You’re heavier than you look,” Cassian whispers, he knows Kay will tease him later for the way his voice breaks.
“Funny,” Kaytoo rolls his oculars, Cassian gives a watery smile as he remembers teaching him. “I think the same about you.”
-
The hangar is quiet and empty, Jyn’s jacket snug round Cassian’s chest and Bodhi’s quilt tucked over both of them. Kaytoo’s head is resting in Bodhi’s lap, his eyes give an uncertain flicker when the pilot peers over him.
“How long have I been...” asks Kay, and Cassian lets out the lungful of air he didn’t realise he was holding.
“Just under an hour,” says Bodhi, squeezes his eyes in relief. “The storm’s almost passed.”
“The storm,” K-2 intones. Pauses. Sits bolt upright.
Cassian’s mouth pulls at the corner as the droid swivels to face him, he takes a breath and gets there first.
“You’re alright,” Cassian says gently, “we can check your circuits if you feel like it, but I’m pretty sure it was the magnetic field messing us around.”
“It was,” K-2 says hurriedly. “The magnetic field must’ve caused an error in my communication relays. I wouldn’t take anything I may or may not have said to infer… anything. At all.”
Cassian chuckles, more relieved to hear his friend recovered than all else.
“I’d better run some self-diagnostics at the charging bay,” K-2 continues, and Cassian quirks an eyebrow. He’s never known Kay to willingly accede to maintenance in all the time they’ve worked together.
“Just to be sure. The margin of error on these sort of things can be quite variable. I shall report any findings to you later, Captain.”
To Cassian’s surprise, Kaytoo briefly tucks an arm around his back- it’s the closest they’ve ever come to a hug- and before he can even return it, the droid is already on his feet, striding determinedly across the floor. Kay glances shyly over his shoulder as he ducks through the exit, Cassian stares a few moments, astonished.
“Some night, huh,” Bodhi offers, swallows.
“Yeah,” Cassian says gruffly, clears his throat. “Thanks for staying.”
There’s a small pause.
“You still owe me a jacket, by the way.”
When Cassian startles, Bodhi brims to a wry smile. Cassian breathes out a laugh.
“I didn’t-”
“-I know,” Bodhi says softly.
Through the walls of the hangar, the rain slowly fades to dawn.
“What do you think of mine?” Cassian ventures after a while. He lifts his hand, hesitates, then lowers it back to his lap. “It’s been stitched back together a few times, but-”
Bodhi reaches, gentle, his thumb brushes rough over Cassian’s knuckles.
“I’d like that,” Bodhi whispers, “I’d like it a lot.”
-