and the old religion humming in your veins - for @fulcrumstardust
The problem was twofold. One: she hated being told what to do on principle.
Two: her heart was already set on someone else. Someone who would never be politically beneficial or even acceptable for the heir of House Gerrera.
After writing a killer exposé on the notorious Orson Krennic, Jyn Erso is at risk of not only losing her job at Rebellion Press, but her citizenship. Enter Cassian Andor: her work rival, with an intriquing proposal.
Or The Proposal 2009 AU
Suprise @vesper-1898 !
‘Tis I, your RCSS gifter!
I was a little stumped at first as to what to write- a romcom is a daring feat-, but then I sent you an ask on your favorite romcoms, and you mentioned The Proposal being your favorite! I'm not going to lie: I was a tad hesitant given the current political climate in the US right now. I hope I handled the situation with the delicacy it deserves.
I really hope you enjoy this I had so much fun writing this au. If you enjoy there's potential for an expansion *winks*
Happy Rebelcaptain Solstice Swap! I am your failure of a gifter who nonetheless hopes you enjoy this offering! Based on the prompt: second chance romance. I hope you enjoy!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
And because we are almost there, HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🎊
'Then I must leave my own people, man of Gondor?' she said. 'And would you have your proud folk say of you: "There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North! Was there no woman of the race of Numenor to choose?"
'I would,' said Faramir. And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many.
And with a sharp, nearly imperceptible inhale, the man froze.
That bastard.
He wasn’t bloody supposed to be here either!
Jyn nearly said so aloud, and if she had, it would have come out admiring despite herself. But there were more important things to do. Like, for example, ducking under his barely-loosened blade arm, giving a vicious kick to his left insole, and darting back into the shadows, leaving the lanky fucker to the lothwolves.
or, a thief and a grifter walk into a vault.
HELLO wonderful @incognitajones, it's me, your RCSS!
Life has Lifed, as it is wont to do, so this is only Chapter One—keep a look out for Cassian's chapter and the conclusion of the shenanigans hopefully in the next week. It's been a real treat to work on this fic, especially as it's a gift for someone who's given so much to this fandom (and whose encouragement has meant so much to me!). Also a treat to hear about your baking adventures! I love fic exchanges!! Happy Winter!
Also, every single thanks to @brynnmclean, beta reader extraordinaire, for all their support and appropriately-timed cackling. Thank you also to the @therebelcaptainnetwork RCSS mods for making my first gift exchange a genuine delight. And thank you to this fandom who has welcomed me so warmly! Happy Gregorian New Year!
For Rebelcaptain Solstice Swap 2025 @therebelcaptainnetwork
Merry giftmas @jemmasimmons !! I hope you enjoy post-war Cassian and Jyn and their little home together!
Read on AO3
Some days it was easy, breathless laughter and hushed whispers framed in the golden light of their escape. The edges of those memories were gilded in bravery and luck, not the oxidized blood of her friends. If she allowed herself to pretend, there had been softness and relief in the victory, a life worth living.
When she thought about it logically, recited back the numbers that K2 had calculated, they knew there would be casualties. Jyn knew that people she loved would become wreckage, indistinguishable from the smoldering machinery that littered the beaches on Scarif and the forests of Endor. That she could make sense of. She was no stranger to war.
But some days, the smallest thing could set her off, send her hurtling through the dark like she had missed a step and leave her gasping for air, laid out flat on the ground below. Fire in her rib cage smoking out her lungs. A blue sky bleeding black from the crumbling citadel tower. Hope fading.
The green shoot of a weed poking through the wet dirt of their garden was somehow the Death Star beam finding her no matter how hidden she thought they were. The red of the peppers swelling was overzealous rebel blood, spilled before it knew what for. A kaleidoscope of suffering twisted her vision sometimes, the sky spun above her and she felt like she was hurtling towards the end. Funny how innocence could always be asphyxiated by the fist of Vader even years after his demise.
Today, it was a child at the market, no older than three, babbling to his mother about the sweet bun he had tightly grasped between his chubby fingers. His mother brushed a frizzed lock of hair back from his forehead, and suddenly Jyn was in the square on Jedha. A child was crying for her mother, and sometimes Jyn couldn’t place if it was her or the little girl she pulled from the fray.
Cassian must’ve noticed the far off look in her eyes, because the warmth of his hand cradled the underside of her arm, and she drew in a quiet breath. His eyebrows knit together in a flash asking a wordless question, to which she nodded and attempted to smile, though it came out a grimace.
“I’m fine,” she said through barely parted lips, and he nodded. The corners of his eyes softening while he assessed her for a millisecond more. He turned to finish chatting with the vendor, laughing deeply in his throat and returning a quip in huttese. All that took place in the span of a moment, but to Jyn it felt like hours crawling by, bleeding out in front of the entire bustling bazaar with everyone stopping to point and gawk at her misery.
Jyn’s gaze followed the child once more, and her chest tightened as she glimpsed into the future. Would the suffering ever end? Were the tendrils of the beast gaining power in the darkness still? Could they ever do anything but buy time?
She forced herself to focus on Cassian. The russet of his eyes the tan of his skin the ebony of his hair all becoming the solid ground beneath her. The thing she could tether herself to to make the sky stop spinning. He was sand and earth and wholeness when she felt herself tilting off her axis.
They strolled through the crowd with no sense of urgency. Cassian’s hand sat anchored loosely on her hip, his arm resting around the small of her back while their other limbs balanced overflowing sacks of food, laundry soap, and a socket wrench for Cassian. Here, they had become locals. While they walked against the crowd, they exchanged quick smiles with a few familiar faces as families began to retreat into their homes for the evening meal. In the shadow of the city wall, it was just the two of them climbing into their speeder and heading to the outskirts of town. There was no sound between them but the whining hum of the engine as the stars took their place in the fading light of dusk. In the sandy hills to either side of them, pairs of yellow eyes caught the passing light and called out to each other, chittering and croaking the opening notes of their twilight song.
Wordlessly, they gathered their groceries and shuffled inside, wiping the dust from their boots on the faded mat in front of the door. Lights flicked on in the corridor leading them to the small kitchen where B2 powered on and stuttered out a greeting.
“N-n-n-nice to see you, Jyn and Cassian,” he chirped cheerfully.
“Hi, Bee,” Jyn smiled as she used her hip to hoist her bags onto the counter. She swallowed down another pang of guilt each time they came home to him and he tried his best to be helpful. Jyn couldn’t help but wish K2-SO had made it off that blasted planet with them, that the four of them had found sanctuary in the outer rim together.
“Hey, where are you right now?” Cassian asked, pulling her into his warmth. She snaked her hands under the back of his shirt to feel the press of his skin, paying no mind to the layer of sweat they always seemed to carry here. At least it wasn’t blood.
Jyn shrugged her shoulders against him while he rubbed gently down her spine. “Not here. Scarif. Endor. Yavin,” she mumbled into his chest.
The expanse of his lungs as he breathed deeply helped to quiet some of the noise in her mind. He nodded his head down slightly to press a kiss to the crown of hers. They had minced all words at this point. Scrubbed each other of guilt and blame, rinsed clean in absolution and tenderness time and time again.
“You can’t stay there forever. We’ve gotta keep moving,” he said softly.
Jyn knew he was right. She had a tendency to re-open the same wounds for a decade or more if left to her own devices. Replaying the things she could’ve done differently, bailing out the ocean of grief that poured into her lifeboat with no more than a teacup. Cassian had pulled her to shore, helped build a shelter from the fragments of her past. He turned the wreckage into something whole again.
“Let’s get dinner going,” she pulled herself back to look him in the eyes with a real smile this time, soft and thankful.
He pressed a slow kiss to her lips, pinching her hip as she drew away so her mouth turned into a smile against his own.
Jyn looked lighter as she flicked on the sink and began to scrub her hands before washing the vegetables for their meal. Cassian flushed across his cheeks as he watched her— hair falling across her eyes, the tip of her tongue sticking out from between her lips as she concentrated. The warmth that came over him wasn’t from the climate this time, but the affection that stirred in his belly whenever they were close, which was always.
“Bee, turn on the radio,” Cassian called to the droid, turning his attention back to sorting the bags of supplies, stowing them in the appropriate cabinets while music crackled from Bee’s speakers.
Candlelight flickered across the walls of their bungalow while Cassian pulled the shutters tight. All the daylight was spent, and the new moon tonight did no help to illuminate the hills they were tucked behind.
“Roz said there would be a sandstorm tonight,” he remarked.
“Guess you’re stuck with me,” Jyn flashed her eyes at him from where she stood at the stove, a quirk of a smile on her plush lips.
Cassian crossed the living area to her like his body was magnetized to hers. There was an inexplicable draw between them that never faded, even after years of it being just the two of them. His arms wrapped around her waist, and he nuzzled her neck with his nose sending a wave of goosebumps down her arms.
“I can think of much worse company to wait out a storm with.”
“I thought you were cooking tonight,” she remarked, lifting a hand to cradle his jaw and fluff the hair behind his ears.
“Hmm, I like watching you do it,” he hummed into the crook of her shoulder, pressing a kiss there.
“You say that about everything,” she laughed, ducking her head as he chased it with scruffy kisses. Her hands were busy browning meat and sprinkling it with spices while it sizzled in the cast iron pan.
“It’s always true,” he smiled all the way to his eyes. They crinkled at the corners now and gleamed with a mischief that Jyn loved.
She rotated in his arms to face him and pressed the wooden spatula to his chest, “But it tastes better when you do it.”
Cassian stole another lingering kiss, the kind that made Jyn’s head spin. She caught herself sighing into his mouth before she broke out of his arms and stepped to the side of the stove.
Cassian cast her a sidelong glance, a mischievous smile still coloring his face.
She smoothed out her hair and the front of her shirt with a stuttering cough, “We can’t burn dinner again.”
Cassian threw his head back in a laugh, and Jyn felt drunk on the sound, on the little life they had built, and on the thought of having him all to herself after dinner.
Happy New Year! Your little elf checking in for the last time before the big reveal. Just wanted to let you know that your gift is written, I just need to complete some finishing touches (editing and all that jazz), and it's going slower than expected. But I will do my best to still post it today, even if a little late at night. You asked for the title, and I haven't settled on one yet, but I can tell you that I'm probably going to go with a line from The Old Religion by Florence & the Machine. I listened to it a lot while writing/outlining, and it has some similar themes. Not particularly shippy, but it's about the vibes and setting. Plus you mentioned Howl as one of your favorite Rebelcaptain songs, so it seemed fitting. If you haven't listened to it yet, you can check it out to get in the mood! Alright, going back to my writing corner now, see you soon 🧝♀️❄️
Happy new year!! I hope it will be full of good things for you 💜
Oh, I hadn't heard that song yet but it's amazing! It has some desperate, bittersweet energy? It totally sets the mood, I'm so excited to see what you've written, I'm sure I'm going to looove it. And don't worry if you can't make it today it's totally fine!
There was a reason Rebel Command had refused to send in operatives.
Hello dear @diana-jannah, it is I, your rc solstice swapper! 🎁‧₊˚🎄✩ ₊˚🦌⊹♡ You requested post canon/grievous injury/competence kink and I hope I did good on that! I had a blast writing this piece for you, I love a good h/c and angsty rescue. I wish you happy holidays and a happy new year!
wanting fic comments is so embarrassing 🤨 yeah I wrote this thing about my blorbos. yeah I wanna hear what you think about my blorbos doing various tasks and tomfoolery. sorry. get real. cmon now
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