Jyn let him pull her closer — savored it, really, leaning back against him, her hands still clutching his arm. Even this felt pathetically weak, but it was far too late to do anything about it. He'd seen her like this and worse already, and had shown the same kind of vulnerability as well. However angry and aggressive she may have been, there was something to be said, one of her first lessons with the Partisans, for choosing one's battles. She couldn't fight this.
She couldn't fight the way she felt about him, either. If she was going to choose her battles, then she would choose trying to have a future with him. Stupid, reckless, dangerous, but doing otherwise would have been that much more so.
"I love you," she echoed, letting her eyes fall closed for a moment as she exhaled heavily. "Tell me a fact? Please?"
There were too many things beyond his control to make almost any promises, so he gave the only oath he could. I love you. Which he did with everything he was.
A fact. He thought hard about this one. It had to be something… right…
His nose brushed her hair and he got it.
"If you've ever wondered why my nose is so slanted off to the side. It happened when I was twelve and I was trying to climb up a wall I shouldn't have been climbing. My best friend Brasso was there telling me to come down. Of course, I fell, and he caught me, he was always so much bigger than me; but we accidentally headbutted so hard, he broke my nose. I always told people it happened in combat."
In that moment, muddled as her own thoughts were, Jyn couldn't find the words to thank him for it. She wasn't sure she should lead with that anyway. They'd shared much deeper truths already, after all, and she at least wanted this to become normal for them. Wanted to know him, wanted to be known, which was still... maybe not the most terrifying thing about this, but somewhere in the top five for sure. It seemed better, then, something like progress, to let a fact be a fact rather than something exceptional, and to show her appreciation in other ways.
Finally, she rotated back toward him again. She still felt too vulnerable, and probably looked horrendous, but she wanted to touch him, fingertip tracing the crooked bridge of his nose as she summoned up a smile. "I like your nose," she said. He really was beautiful — not in spite of a once-broken nose and a hard lifetime's collection of scars, but because of those and other such features. "And don't worry, I won't tell anyone how it really happened."
He eased his hold for her to turn in his arms. His breath caught at how the redness of her eyes only made the green that much more brilliant; and caught again as she touched his face so lightly.
Sometimes, for no particular reasons and all of them, he was struck speechless by this woman, all the more glorious for not being a general or a myth, rebellion or absolution, no more or less than this stunning human who'd been through so much and now lay curled with him here.
All he could think of, at last, was to smile and kiss the tip of her nose. And murmur breathlessly, "Thanks."
"This is going to sound stupid," Jyn said abruptly, a little sheepish. At least this time, though, it was with quiet amusement in her voice rather than the threat of or actual tears, and that made it an impulse worth following through on. Besides, it was one of those things it seemed right for him to know. Given that their relationship had developed to include being an enthusiastically sexual one, it probably wasn't or shouldn't have been a surprise how she felt about him from a physical standpoint, but saying it wouldn't hurt anything except maybe her pride. Even then, it couldn't be worse than the million other ways she'd already damaged that.
"But I thought it a while ago. That... even if I hadn't loved you, I would still have been attracted to you. And even if I wasn't attracted to you, I would still have loved you." She shook her head a little, rolling her bleary eyes at herself. "Not a bad deal for me, getting both."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2025-06-15 04:31 am (UTC)She couldn't fight the way she felt about him, either. If she was going to choose her battles, then she would choose trying to have a future with him. Stupid, reckless, dangerous, but doing otherwise would have been that much more so.
"I love you," she echoed, letting her eyes fall closed for a moment as she exhaled heavily. "Tell me a fact? Please?"
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 12:01 am (UTC)A fact. He thought hard about this one. It had to be something… right…
His nose brushed her hair and he got it.
"If you've ever wondered why my nose is so slanted off to the side. It happened when I was twelve and I was trying to climb up a wall I shouldn't have been climbing. My best friend Brasso was there telling me to come down. Of course, I fell, and he caught me, he was always so much bigger than me; but we accidentally headbutted so hard, he broke my nose. I always told people it happened in combat."
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 12:33 am (UTC)In that moment, muddled as her own thoughts were, Jyn couldn't find the words to thank him for it. She wasn't sure she should lead with that anyway. They'd shared much deeper truths already, after all, and she at least wanted this to become normal for them. Wanted to know him, wanted to be known, which was still... maybe not the most terrifying thing about this, but somewhere in the top five for sure. It seemed better, then, something like progress, to let a fact be a fact rather than something exceptional, and to show her appreciation in other ways.
Finally, she rotated back toward him again. She still felt too vulnerable, and probably looked horrendous, but she wanted to touch him, fingertip tracing the crooked bridge of his nose as she summoned up a smile. "I like your nose," she said. He really was beautiful — not in spite of a once-broken nose and a hard lifetime's collection of scars, but because of those and other such features. "And don't worry, I won't tell anyone how it really happened."
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 01:52 am (UTC)Sometimes, for no particular reasons and all of them, he was struck speechless by this woman, all the more glorious for not being a general or a myth, rebellion or absolution, no more or less than this stunning human who'd been through so much and now lay curled with him here.
All he could think of, at last, was to smile and kiss the tip of her nose. And murmur breathlessly, "Thanks."
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 02:07 am (UTC)"But I thought it a while ago. That... even if I hadn't loved you, I would still have been attracted to you. And even if I wasn't attracted to you, I would still have loved you." She shook her head a little, rolling her bleary eyes at herself. "Not a bad deal for me, getting both."