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Bodhi Rook was a poet with a problem. Surprisingly, in this particular instance, the problem was not good employment.
For a long time, that had been the problem.
He had spent five miserable years teaching English to hundreds of online students at the for-profit university Empire of Learning. He had been trapped and unhappy and finally left his teaching post to join a lawsuit against the university. He resigned himself back to pulling espresso shots, trying to make ends meet, and writing on his days off.
That was when he had met Jyn Erso. She came into the coffee shop, ordered the cheapest black coffee they had, and got thirty-five cent refills every two hours while she tucked herself into a corner and typed madly on her laptop. She came in at four and stayed until closing. Bodhi had started slipping her a leftover pastry at the end of the day. She was gaunt. Seemed like she needed the food.
Eventually, they talked. Bodhi shared some of his story. How ashamed he was that he had taken a paycheck from a company he knew was taking advantage of young learners. How he was miserable working customer service, but not nearly as miserable as he had been. Jyn nodded and said little. But still, Bodhi liked to imagine she smiled a little more.
Two months of that, and then one day Jyn had vanished. After a week of wondering where she had gone, Bodhi got the news from the lawyers that there had been a breakthrough in the case against Empire. Someone had hacked the servers of Empire of Learning, and publicly posted reams of internal policy documents showing a documented history of corporate malfeasance. Overnight, the lawsuit was suddenly public and popular. Media were calling.
Three interviews later, and Jyn had shown up again, wearing a definite smile, and offering to walk him home after work.
"It was you, wasn't it?" Bodhi had asked softly.
Jyn had never given him an answer.
She had moved in with him, though. Kept him company and read his poetry and coached him through job applications and interviews until he landed a job teaching Freshman Composition (the expected class for a new adjunct English Professor) and three different poetry-focused classes (definitely not expected, but very welcome) at Yavin University. Three months later, Jyn announced she was joining him at Yavin, deigning to teach Fundamentals of Computer Programming.
"If I get arrested, I'm not going to be able to pay my half of the rent," she said with a shrug. "Should probably do something honest with my life."
It was as close as she ever came to confirming her black-hat hacker tendencies.
That was when he met Cassian Andor.
Cassian worked for Yavin's Computer Science department as one of their youngest tenured professors with a focus in robotics and AI design. The shared office for the adjunct professors bordered his own, and he and Jyn saw each other often.
From what Bodhi could tell, they got along...wonderfully.
"If you would just take the stick out of your ass and listen to me," came the dulcet tones of Jyn Erso yelling down the hallway.
Bodhi sighed, stuck his hands in his pockets, and seriously considered turning around. Jyn could get her own ride home, and he could stay out of it.
Cassian's voice answered, too low to be heard down the hallway.
"You're dismissing what I say before you even hear it!"
"Oh thank fuck, it's Rook," said Tonc, a level-headed professor of games development. Tonc's wheeled chair rolled out of his office doorway. "Please, save us."
"What are they fighting about this time?" Bodhi asked glumly. Too late to escape now.
"The Kaytoo project," Tonc said. "Something about information gathering protocols...I'll be honest, I don't understand half of it, but they've been yelling for forty-five minutes and it's scaring the underclassmen. Look at Rey." Tonc gestured over to a placid brunette, sitting at a computer, typing diligently.
"I'm very scared," she said flatly, not missing a keystroke.
Tonc gave Bodhi a wry grin. "Okay, so maybe it's scaring me. Or just driving me mad. Please. Save us."
Bodhi gave Tonc a grim salute, and proceeded down the hallway toward the argument. He bypassed the adjunct professor's office (Jyn was never found in there, these days) and walked straight into Cassian's. Cassian was in the middle of muttering something incomprehensible about predictive learning that he choked off when Bodhi entered.
"Hello Bodhi," he said gravely. "How are you today?"
"Oh no don't you dare change the fucking subject—hi Bodhi—backpropagation only explains so much and you know it." Jyn slammed her hands down on Cassian's desk, demanding his attention.
Bodhi sighed and walked past both of them, going over to a bank of computers mounted along the far wall. Bodhi sank down into the chair next to the computer bank. "Heya Kay. Do you understand what they're arguing about?"
The fans next to him started whirring, and a moment later, a voice—electronic, but still clearly amused—came over the small speaker bank perched next to his chair. "Yes."
"Is it actually important?" Bodhi asked.
"Of course it's important you English major with delusions of grandeur," Jyn snapped.
"Not your strongest insult, needs work," Bodhi said with a wink.
Jyn stuck out her tongue, as Cassian answered, "It does lead to some interesting questions regarding - "
"Not really," Kaytoo informed Bodhi. "They think I know too much, and they're trying to figure out how I learned it."
"That's always what they're arguing about." Bodhi rubbed his temples.
"It's a different behavior than we've seen before, and it's lead to some—" Cassian tried to explain.
"It's wrong," Jyn cut him off with a snarl.
Bodhi raised an eyebrow. "About..."
Cassian, three-time champion of emotional repression, started blushing. And Jyn, who had turned correcting wrong people in great detail into an olympic sport, just folded her arms and looked away.
"What did you say?" Bodhi asked, utterly fascinated by the response.
"Nothing of import," Kaytoo said. "I merely pointed out that their courtship had proceeded to the point where arguing was no longer bringing about sufficient interpersonal growth, and they should probably try something else. Possibly kissing."
"Ah," Bodhi said blankly, staring at Jyn and Cassian.
And that, right there, was Bodhi Rook's problem.
Somewhere in among the quiet conversations and the easy companionship Bodhi had managed to fall in love with Jyn. And then Jyn had come here and fallen in love with Cassian, even if she was nowhere near being ready to admit it. She and Cassian were perfect for each other, brilliant high-achievers with a passion for the electronic. They had similar interests, they respected each other's expertise, and as soon as they figured out how to talk like normal human beings, they'd work that out.
Bodhi had expected to be jealous. That would have made sense, after all, considering the woman he loved was falling in love with someone else. But Cassian was...great. Bodhi had expected to be summarily turned out of the Computer Science department when he came in and Jyn wasn't there, but instead Cassian had invited him in. Cassian had poured him tea, engaged Bodhi in a discussion on Sindhi and Urdu poetry, and then asked Bodhi's advice on poetry as an expression of language development.
Since then, Bodhi spent more time in the Computer Science department than the offices set aside for English professors, and had realized that in addition to his ill-advised love for his uninterested best friend he now had a blooming crush on his best friend's nemesis.
Complicated.
If Bodhi were a better friend, he probably would have nudged them towards each other before now. But he was too swept up in his own feelings to take that step.
Fortunately for everyone, it seemed Kaytoo did not have that issue.
"See!" Jyn protested, having a hard time meeting Bodhi's eyes. "He's wrong."
Bodhi swallowed, and decided to be the better man. "I'm not sure he is."
"Bodhi!" Jyn exclaimed, sounding betrayed.
"Jyn," Bodhi responded gently. "Look at Cassian."
Jyn furrowed her brow and darted a glimpse over to Cassian. Cassian was still a miserable shade of red, a stricken expression on his face as he looked from Bodhi to Jyn. He, bluntly, did not look like a man about to deny any romantic attachment.
Jyn swallowed her next protest, looking at Cassian almost wistfully.
Cassian turned, and met her eyes. Their gazes held for a long moment, as the longer they looked, the more their expressions softened.
"Cassian," Jyn said, the word carrying wonder. "I..."
And then Jyn turned back to look at Bodhi, and Cassian did too, and Bodhi abruptly realized he was watching a very private moment.
"I should go!" he said quickly. "Jyn, I'm sure you can geta ride home with Cassian. Or not, don't feel the need to come back if you're...yeah, I'm just going to go...see you Kay!" Bodhi gave the computer bank a wave as he headed out the door.
Tonc poked his head out of his office as Bodhi walked by. "Well I don't hear any yelling."
"Yeah," Bodhi summoned a smile. It was very fake, but he didn't think Tonc knew him enough to notice. "They've got some...more stuff to work on, but I think they'll be quieter now."
"Thank you," Tonc said emphatically.
"I finally know freedom from fear," said Rey in the same flat tone, still not looking up from her computer screen.
Bodhi gave them both a wave and escaped the building.
He felt some tears coming, but he held his head high and managed to make it to his car without breaking down. Sitting in his driver's seat, he rested his head on the steering wheel, and groaned softly to himself. "Come on, Bodhi. They're great. They'll be great together. Your friends will be happy. Stop...being dumb."
His heart refused to listen. Bodhi sighed, and started his car. It'd take some time. He'd get over it. But for right now he'd go...somewhere...and have a truly epic personal sulk.
Bodhi stumbled back to the apartment late that evening, tripping over his feet in his exhaustion. His eyes were red and puffy, they prickled with the aftereffects of tears. He fumbled with the key in the lock, failing to get it in once...twice...
Before he could try a third time, the door was pulled open, and Jyn's exasperated face greeted him. "There you are. I was starting to get worried."
Bodhi blinked at her. "Wasn't expecting you to be home."
"And where would I be?" Jyn asked briskly, impatiently gesturing him through the doorway.
Bodhi sighed. She was going to make him say it. "With Cassian."
"The two aren't mutually exclusive," came Cassian's voice from the couch, and oh no, this was pretty much the worst possible situation to come home to. Bodhi should have just...stayed at the bookstore. Sure, it was closing, but he could have hid between the shelves. It wouldn't have been the first time.
Cassian stood up from the couch, turning to look at Bodhi. He tilted his head. "Were you drinking?"
"No!" Bodhi said, overly defensive. "I was just, just doing some shopping." He waved the bookstore bag defensively in front of him. "Anyway, nice to see you, I'll go to my room, you guys have fun ton—"
Jyn grabbed the bag out of Bodhi's hands. Bodhi protested as she pulled it open, then looked up to give him a disappointed look. "Keats? Really?"
Bodhi groaned, burying his head in his hands. Talking to Jyn about poetry was a mistake. Talking to Jyn at all was a mistake. He should have just stuck to pouring coffee.
"Is something wrong with Keats?" Cassian asked, sounding confused.
Jyn sighed. She waved the slim book in the air accusingly. "This is Bodhi's version of fudge ripple ice cream and movies where the good girl gets cancer and then a nice guy shows her time of her life before she kicks the bucket."
Cassian blinked.
"Don't worry about it," Bodhi said, debating making a grab for the book, and giving that idea up quickly. "It's just roommate teasing."
Cassian walked over to Jyn, and took the book out of her hands. He looked down at the book, running his thumbs over the cover carefully. "You were distraught."
"I..." Bodhi sighed. He had never been able to hide his emotions very well. "I'll get over it. I just need to mope for a bit."
"Why?" Cassian asked.
Bodhi sighed, feeling very tired. "I don't want to talk about it. Can you just trust that I'm happy for you?"
"No," Jyn said bluntly. "Because you ran out on us while we were still staring at each other in shocked horror."
"Horror's a bit strong," Cassian protested.
"For you, maybe," Jyn took a breath and shook her head. "Not the point. The point is, about forty seconds after you walked out the door, Kaytoo said, 'Oh dear, I miscalculated.' Which, let me tell you, is not the most reassuring thing to hear when you're undergoing a personal crisis because of the aforementioned calculations."
"He needs to have more faith in himself. He was right."
Cassian stepped forward, offering the book of poetry back to Bodhi. "He then said that our dynamic would quickly grow unstable without a mediating force."
Bodhi reached out and took the book. "I can't referee your relationship."
"I don't expect you to," Cassian said. But he didn't let go of the book, and after two tentative tugs against Cassian's grip, Bodhi looked up to find Cassian staring at him like Bodhi was an unfinished refrain, awaiting the perfect word to fit the rhyme scheme. Or, since this was Cassian, like Bodhi was a tricky bit of code, and Cassian needed to figure out where he dropped the parenthesis.
Bodhi swallowed, made nervous by the close examination.
Finally, Cassian said slowly, "It seems prudent to mention that I am not particularly attached to the concept of monogamy."
Those words slammed into Bodhi, and he struggled to take his next breath. Not trusting he understood Cassian's meaning, Bodhi shot a frantic look over to Jyn. Jyn gave him her private smile, the one that spoke to secrets shared between them. She stepped closer, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I'm greedy," she said simply. "I want you both."
Bodhi looked away from her, down to the book held by both him and Cassian. Helpless, impossible hope choked in his throat. "I…" he looked back up. "Really?"
"Aren't you supposed to be a poet?" Jyn asked, and then kissed him. It was sudden and sure, no hesitation in her approach. She pulled back, and Bodhi had barely a second to smile at her in impossible wonder when a more tentative hand found his jaw. Bodhi turned back to find Cassian looking as nervous as Bodhi felt.
This time, Bodhi closed the gap. He used his grip on the book to reel Cassian in. Cassian fell toward him with a startled step, releasing the book. But he was close enough that all Bodhi had to do was lean in, pressing their lips together. He was giddy with joy, and he kissed with slightly sloppy enthusiasm. Cassian didn't seem to mind, a contented groan as he pressed back into Bodhi.
Jyn's hand went to his waist, and her lips to his throat, as she muttered, "We could have had this hours ago if you hadn't gone to the bookstore to mope."
"I was trying to give you privacy," Bodhi protested as Cassian's kissing moved away from his lips, along his cheek. "I was trying to be considerate."
"We don't need it," Cassian whispered next to Bodhi's ear.
Bodhi gave a delighted laugh, and let himself get wrapped up in affection. "I'm going to need to buy Kaytoo a gift for putting this all together. What does he like? Special...metal? Fancy electricity?"
"Never become an engineer," Jyn laughed against the skin of his neck. "Stick with words."
"Just tell him he was right," Cassian pulled back far enough to say. "That'll be gift enough."
Bodhi looked down at the book he was still holding. Keats. Hardly seemed appropriate now. Bodhi tossed it onto the counter with a derisive flick. More interesting things to hold, he thought, as he settled one hand on Cassian's waist and reached behind him to wind the other up through Jyn's hair.
Bodhi Rook was a poet who, for this precious moment at least, had no problems at all.