That, Jyn knew better than to answer outright, with words. Instead, she arched an eyebrow, lifted a shoulder again, as if to say, Sounds that way, doesn't it? She'd known him for a matter of moments — didn't know him, really — and even if he'd been an old acquaintance, she wouldn't be inclined to openly discuss such things in an Imperial holding cell. With his question hanging in the air, though, she felt for the first time that maybe they were on the same page, both engaging in the careful dance of discerning what to make of someone new.
If he were for some reason a plant, or an Imperial sympathizer looking for something to use against her, she doubts he would ask something like that so blatantly. It wouldn't be the smart play. First time for him though this might have been, she got the impression that he was smarter than the circumstances suggested.
"Plenty of things can happen in transit," she settled on, what still seemed vague enough. "And bucketheads don't make the best wardens."
And there was more or less his current plan in a khadi-shell, one stop shy. Maybe she was planning something similar. Maybe he shouldn't be trying to make friends lest she successfully break out and take him along and he never made it to the base. This and other scenarios flashed fast through his mind and he shelved them as not yet relevant. An unusual amount of projections, though. There was something about her.
"Well." Cassian—no, Will—settled back against the wall and sat down, draping his elbow over his knee, as if her answer had helped him relax somewhat. "What do you do in the meantime?"
As he sat, so did Jyn, a semi-conscious mirror and a way of keeping them on an even playing field. She didn't need him to trust her when she didn't trust him, but it was as she'd thought before: an ally would be better than an enemy. Maybe having someone else working with her would help. Or maybe he'd turn on her the first chance he got, but that was seeming less likely for reasons she couldn't quite put her finger on. Probably it was just that he hadn't done it already, or tried to push her to say something regrettable.
"Wait," she answered, and this time, she actually smiled, slight but real. "Imagine all the different things I'd do to those 'troopers if they hadn't taken all my weapons." That was a lie — there was still a small knife in her boot that she'd managed to conceal — but she didn't need to go broadcasting that.
Cassian returned her slight smile; Willix turned it into a grimace. "That sounds… incredibly stressful. What do you do when there's someone else with you?" (As if it were a matter of course that there would be.)
"Have a slumber party and braid each other's hair," Jyn deadpanned, not missing a beat. It was something she'd only ever seen in various holos, young girls on wealthy planets doing things like painting their nails and playing stupid games. Her life had never had room for that sort of frivolity. Where they got party games, she got war stories; where they got fancy hairdos and nail lacquer, she got sharpened knives and cleaned blasters. She didn't regret that. Maybe it was because this life was the only one she'd ever known, but the thought of that sort of sheltered, oblivious upbringing made her stomach turn.
"I don't know. Usually everyone keeps to themselves." She couldn't tell why, but at least so far, she wasn't minding him being an exception to that.
"Is that what we should be doing?" He (Willix) added immediately, "Please say no. I was going crazy in here. Which I'm sure is doing most of their work for them."
"In that case, definitely not," Jyn replied. Her brittle edges and general distrust seemed unlikely to contribute to anyone's sanity in a positive way, but if they did, then it had to be better than the alternative. "We wouldn't want to give them what they want."
With possibly breaking out no longer the subject at hand, plausible deniability didn't seem necessary anymore. Instead, she was being cautious in a different way, trying to gauge where he stood without revealing too much about herself.
"You mean besides stormtroopers' aim?" Jyn asked, unable to help herself. Thinking of an actual joke took her a few moments longer, but she didn't want to just say no and shut it down. This was better than just sitting in silence, minding their own business.
Straight-faced, she asked, "How do you open doors on Kashyyyk?"
"That's it," Jyn replied, biting back a laugh. She wondered if she should have been disappointed or frustrated that he'd guessed the punchline. Instead, she found herself oddly pleased. "And all I've got for jokes. What about you?"
Jyn frowned thoughtfully, giving what was bound to be a stupid pun more consideration than was probably called for. It was a surprisingly good distraction, though, without requiring her to let her guard down. There were definitely worse ways of passing the time here.
Before she could react, like to groan or hit him or anything between, he added, “Part two. What do you say when you see a cart full of jogan fruit wearing visors?”
Jyn huffed out a quiet laugh, amused and disbelieving. "Wow," she said dryly. "And I don't know. 'Look, there's a cart full of jogan fruit wearing visors?'"
She had a feeling there was going to be an even more ridiculous punchline coming.
When she laughed again, a little fuller this time, Jyn almost didn't recognize the sound of her own voice. It was the laugh of someone younger, less burdened and beaten down by life, definitely not currently sitting in an Imperial prison cell. Strange as it all may have been, she found herself quietly grateful for this stranger, this Will. She still didn't trust him, but she wasn't sitting here feeling like the walls were closing in, and that went a long way.
"Well, now I know how you got yourself locked up in here," she quipped. "Criminally bad jokes."
That laugh upended something in him. —made him want to do nothing else but inspire more. The smile it drew from him was a true mirror: he too looked suddenly younger, less furrowed, less worn, lightened, with a crinkling to his eyes showing how genuine…
“I have a friend who’s a droid,” said Cassian. “He’s interested by organic humor.”
He looked nice when he smiled, Jyn thought, and immediately wondered where
the hell that came from. Under the current circumstances, it didn't
seem worth examining too closely. Nothing had actually changed. They were
still in a cell, even if it hadn't felt like it for a moment, with
'troopers just down the corridor. She was still going to make a run for it
when the first opportunity presented itself. The last thing she needed was
to veer into a stranger's orbit.
She smiled back anyway, deciding there was no harm in it.
"Oh, of course. Blame the droid," she said, nodding as if this was to be
expected. "Sure."
"Oh, no," Jyn said, preemptively amused as she braced herself for a truly horrible punchline. Those were the best sort, though, she decided. They wouldn't be half as funny if they were actually funny. Or maybe she was letting herself enjoy this a little too much. "What?"
"Oh no," Jyn said again, laughing this time. Her smile pulled a little wider, enough that it made her bruised cheek ache, though she was only half aware of it. The injury was far from the worst she'd had, after all, ultimately inconsequential.
"Absolutely terrible. My compliments to your droid friend."
Cassian forced his own smile to falter. "I'll let him know, if I get the chance."
It was the right play, but it would be so nice to just be himself with this one. Damn, when was the last time he'd thought that? He usually hated playing himself. He had to back up. …Well, he was supposed to be inept, so—"Don't tell anyone, but I'm really hoping he has a plan."
Jyn felt her own smile dim a little at that — not upset, just thoughtful. It must have been nice to have someone to turn to, who even might have a plan. That she operated entirely on her own these days was largely by choice, the safer option in so many ways. Still, there were times it might well have been useful. Times like this, when her alternative was winging it and figuring out her own way out of Imperial custody. She could do it, had done it, but she'd have been lying if she claimed that there wasn't some small part of her, the ghost of an abandoned teenage girl waiting in a bunker, who longed to call for her foster father and general to help her.
"Your secret's safe with me," she promised, her voice light enough not to betray the direction of her train of thought. Gesturing around the small cell, she added, "Besides, who am I going to tell?"
Maybe she could use this, if the droid did come through. Hitch a ride, figure out some way to repay him after. "Must be a good friend, then, this droid."
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If he were for some reason a plant, or an Imperial sympathizer looking for something to use against her, she doubts he would ask something like that so blatantly. It wouldn't be the smart play. First time for him though this might have been, she got the impression that he was smarter than the circumstances suggested.
"Plenty of things can happen in transit," she settled on, what still seemed vague enough. "And bucketheads don't make the best wardens."
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"Well." Cassian—no, Will—settled back against the wall and sat down, draping his elbow over his knee, as if her answer had helped him relax somewhat. "What do you do in the meantime?"
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"Wait," she answered, and this time, she actually smiled, slight but real. "Imagine all the different things I'd do to those 'troopers if they hadn't taken all my weapons." That was a lie — there was still a small knife in her boot that she'd managed to conceal — but she didn't need to go broadcasting that.
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"I don't know. Usually everyone keeps to themselves." She couldn't tell why, but at least so far, she wasn't minding him being an exception to that.
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With possibly breaking out no longer the subject at hand, plausible deniability didn't seem necessary anymore. Instead, she was being cautious in a different way, trying to gauge where he stood without revealing too much about herself.
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(It could tell a surprising amount about a person. And even if they hated jokes, it tended to form some kind of bond.)
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Straight-faced, she asked, "How do you open doors on Kashyyyk?"
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He thought for a moment, then said, "With a Woo-key?"
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"What do you say when you see a cart full of jogan fruit?"
(Not to be traced, a fruit found abundantly throughout the Galaxy.)
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"I don't know, what?"
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Before she could react, like to groan or hit him or anything between, he added, “Part two. What do you say when you see a cart full of jogan fruit wearing visors?”
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She had a feeling there was going to be an even more ridiculous punchline coming.
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“Nothing. You don’t recognize them.”
He made a show of holding up his hands in surrender.
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"Well, now I know how you got yourself locked up in here," she quipped. "Criminally bad jokes."
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“I have a friend who’s a droid,” said Cassian. “He’s interested by organic humor.”
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He looked nice when he smiled, Jyn thought, and immediately wondered where the hell that came from. Under the current circumstances, it didn't seem worth examining too closely. Nothing had actually changed. They were still in a cell, even if it hadn't felt like it for a moment, with 'troopers just down the corridor. She was still going to make a run for it when the first opportunity presented itself. The last thing she needed was to veer into a stranger's orbit.
She smiled back anyway, deciding there was no harm in it.
"Oh, of course. Blame the droid," she said, nodding as if this was to be expected. "Sure."
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"You wouldn't be so sympathetic if you heard the joke he made up," said Cassian solemnly. "What do you call two droids on the same side?"
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Right?
"Alloys."
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"Absolutely terrible. My compliments to your droid friend."
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It was the right play, but it would be so nice to just be himself with this one. Damn, when was the last time he'd thought that? He usually hated playing himself. He had to back up. …Well, he was supposed to be inept, so—"Don't tell anyone, but I'm really hoping he has a plan."
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"Your secret's safe with me," she promised, her voice light enough not to betray the direction of her train of thought. Gesturing around the small cell, she added, "Besides, who am I going to tell?"
Maybe she could use this, if the droid did come through. Hitch a ride, figure out some way to repay him after. "Must be a good friend, then, this droid."
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