for @rover-kelevra. I bet you can guess where this one goes, friend! also, fyi, this is another one of those fics where I just... opened a text post and typed out some stuff, so hopefully it’s not incoherent!!! this is a small thing for a longer thing, so expect more eventually (hopefully tonight!)
Cassian runs cold, he always has. Growing up on a frozen rock of a world like Fest doesn’t actually help him acclimate to frigid climates-- though he’d say in his defense that he jumps from world to world to world, each with its own weather patterns and seasons. It’s hard to get used to anything besides the chill of space travel.
He certainly isn’t used to the warmth of Jyn in his bed.
Jyn is curled up in their bunk on the rattle-trap ship they’re flying on the way back from this mission, a thin sheet twisted around her body and a thicker blanket kicked off so it’s half on the floor. Her back is shoved up against the wall, her hands balled into fists, but her face is smooth and her breath even with deep sleep. Cassian carefully shrugs out of his jacket and tugs off his boots, trying to be quiet as he undresses and folds his clothes into a pile.
He clenches his jaw as his bare feet touch the cool floor of their quarters, and he shivers as the recycled air in their room slips through his undershirt. He glances at the space beside Jyn in bed, the area she’s left him even in unconsciousness. He can just slide himself beneath the blankets and curl up next to her, slotting himself into place at her side, sink into the warmth and belonging.
He hasn’t slept peacefully in days, neither of them have, their mission tense even though it turned out relatively uneventful. His bones feel heavy, stress a hard knot at the base of his spine, a dull thudding behind his eyes. But his toes are like ice, his hands just as much of a lost cause-- his palms itch with the desire to skim along the curves of Jyn’s shoulder and hip, but he can picture her frown if he touches her and drags her out of her rest with his cold fingers on her skin.
There’s a chair in their little room, but his back screams in protest at just the sight of it. He curls his toes against the floor and rubs his hands together. “Jyn,” he whispers, then just a shade louder: “Jyn?”
She doesn’t even twitch. Maybe he can just...
He’s easing himself into bed next to her, hardly daring to breathe, when Jyn’s eyes flicker open and she makes an indistinct sound.
Damn. Cassian exhales in a rush, but keeps moving slowly, trying to keep the damage as minimal as possible.
Jyn blinks at him and hums, shifting and stretching out toward him. “Cassian,” she murmurs, voice low and rough and-- inviting. He busies himself with pulling the blanket that she’d kicked away up and over both of them, and then he folds his arms tight against his chest to stop himself from reaching for her. She radiates heat like a summer sun; he doesn’t want to bring winter’s chill to her.
Jyn sighs and shuffles closer, a hint of exasperation creeping into her tone. “C’mere. You’re shivering.”
He’d hoped she wouldn’t notice. “I’m fine. I’ll warm up in a minute.”
“You’ll warm up faster with me,” Jyn says, giving him no time or room to protest before she tugs his arms away from his chest and plasters herself against him, a line of heat that makes him shudder and groan with relief.
“Sorry,” he says when one of his hands automatically cups her hip, fingertips against the sliver of skin between her shorts and her undershirt.
Jyn nuzzles against his throat, her mouth curving into a sleepy smile against the beat of his heart there. “You’d freeze without me,” she teases, sounding more alert.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he says, letting her manhandle him into whatever position she wants. And she’s right-- he’s warming quickly beneath her, pressing into her touch.
She laughs, scattering lazy, open-mouthed kisses along his neck. “Can’t say I mind,” she says as she wedges a knee between his legs. He can’t help the gasp that catches in his chest.
He isn’t so cold now. Not at all.
