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Bodhi thought that Jyn might be flirting. Either that or she considered him an easy mark. Hard to tell.
She had started by stealing little things: his stylus, his mug (and, more upsettingly, the caf in it), and no less than seven of his hair ties. But then...his scarf showed up around her neck. His third pillow vanished, and her bed now had four. She hadn't even changed the pillowcase.
It seemed...intimate. Bodhi wanted to talk about it. But for all her steel, Jyn could be brittle, and Bodhi refused to be the one to shatter her. She'd say something when she was ready. Until then, Bodhi would accept the disappearances.
Maybe that did make him an easy mark, come to think of it.
He was hunched over lunch one day when Jyn arrived and Bodhi remembered too late about her newest larcenous habit.
“No, Jyn, wait—!”
Jyn took a bite of his stew and shoved it in her mouth. “Wha? 'S fin—” Her eyes widened. A flush started creeping up her neck and through her cheeks. Her eyes started watering.
Jedhans had a…different palette. Bodhi started looking for some dairy.
When he looked up again, Jyn was gone. After a brief internal debate, Bodhi got a glass of blue milk and went to find her. She was probably in her room.
He knocked. After thirty seconds spent debating the relative merits of walking away versus knocking again, the door slid open to reveal Jyn, small beads of sweat along her forehead.
Bodhi offered the glass of blue milk. “Sorry. Jedhan stew is basically just peppers in liquid form. Should have warned you faster. Milk helps.”
The tension was so thick Bodhi worried she’d slam the door shut again. Instead, her shoulders loosened and she took the milk, chugging it as she walked back into the room. She left the door open and—after a moment of hesitation—Bodhi followed her in.
Jyn set the glass down. “Thanks.”
“Was my stew that did you in.” Bodhi kept his tone light.
“I didn’t ask.”
Bodhi could see the tension build in her as she said it, and he wondered if she was looking for a fight or an excuse to run away. “I don’t mind.”
“You never do.” Jyn considered Bodhi’s pillow as she played with the crystal around her neck. “Sometimes…things stick around better than people.”
Bodhi grunted. “Fair.”
“I’m bad at letting people in.”
“You want me to go?”
Jyn was silent a long moment. “I don’t know what I want.” She turned a little pink again, reached out and grabbed his hand. “I appreciate your patience.” She squeezed it before letting it go.
They shared a smile.
Jyn looked down at her bed again, reached over, and picked up one of her pillows, offering it to him. “Um. In the meantime. Trade?”
His smile widened. “Yes, please.”
There was a slight skip to his step as he made his way back to his room.