#bluestockng

Jyn was in the middle of washing her face when someone knocked at the door.

She hoped she was mishearing—seriously, it was too early in the morning to talk to people—but another series of knocks, followed by the doorbell ringing told her that whoever was at the door wasn’t going to leave any time soon.

She stomped to the door, ready to give whoever ruined the quiet of her morning a piece of her mind.

A man, a couple years younger than Jyn with sandy hair and a smart uniform, stood at the door. Jyn blinked at the mass of yellow in a clear crystal vase in one of his hands and looked over the man’s shoulder to the van idling in the street across from her apartment. ‘Alderaan Floral Company’ was emblazoned on the side.

“Jyn Erso?” he said, glancing down at the clipboard.

“That’s me.”

He nodded, smiling cordially.

“Flowers for you. Please sign here.”

He held out a clipboard, which Jyn hadn’t noticed before.

“Ah, thank you.”

She took the clipboard out of his hands and signed the line marked with an X.

“I don’t need to pay, right?” she mumbled.

While this was a surprise, more welcome than not welcome, she definitely wasn’t planning on paying for anything before she left the apartment that morning.

“No, that’s already been taken care of.”

They exchanged what was in their hands, flowers for a clipboard.

It was a lot heavier than she thought it would be.

“Have a good day, ma’am,” the delivery man said, starting to turn away.

“Thanks, you too. What kind of flowers are these?” she asked, pointing at the smaller yellow flowers.

He turned to look at the bouquet in her hands, face twisting in thought.

“Ah, lilies. Astromera or something like that. Sorry, I’m new to the business.”

The man—his nametag said Luke on it—seemed apologetic, but Jyn had her stints in retail and could tell he was just being courteous and really probably didn’t care.

Jyn nodded.

“Okay, thanks.”

She shut the door at his retreated back, hands full of flowers. They didn’t particularly smell like anything, like the sterile inside of a flower shop or the flower section of a grocery store.

Her first instinct was to think that they were from Cassian. It was only slightly out of character for her fiancé to do something like that. He was a soft romantic, deep down, whether he liked it or not.

But these were lilies. Large yellow lilies with smaller lilies with petals pink and yellow. Cassian was always a rose kind of guy. And he would’ve given them to her personally, followed with a kiss or dinner or sex.

He had already left for work—damn investigators and their hours—and wouldn’t be back for a while.

She carried them to the kitchen and set them on the dining room table.

They were bright, almost out of place in the neutral colors of the apartment.

She rotated it, looking for a card and finding it nestled in the mass of yellow.

There was a short message in curly typed script.

To the bride-to-be. Have a good day. ~Bodhi

Jyn’s eyes immediately found the delicate band on her hand as her eyebrows crept to her hairline in surprise.

Okay. Weird.

Jyn liked Bodhi Rook. He was a shy, honest man, one of Cassian’s coworkers and his good friend. She—secretly not so secretly—liked him way more than she liked Kay, Cassian’s other good friend and partner.

Bodhi never showed interest in her other than a strictly platonic sort of way.

The fact that he addressed her as ‘bride-to-be’ didn’t stop this from looking kind of suspicious. What man sends flowers to an engaged woman unless it was romantic or someone died or she did something for him?

Aside from the normal things that one does to be a decent person, Jyn couldn’t think of a reason why Bodhi would send her flowers.

Maybe he was asking for forgiveness for something. She couldn’t recall anything that Bodhi had done to her, intentionally or not, to warrant delivering a bouquet of flowers.

Sighing, she typed into her phone, keeping in mind that soon she needed to leave to go to work. She hadn’t even had breakfast yet and there she was looking up flowers, for Christ’s sake.

‘Meaning of yellow flowers’

The first couple of results said the same thing, even listing some kinds of yellow flowers. And the little yellow and pink flowers were called alstroemeria, not ‘astromecha’ or whatever that Luke kid told her.

“Friendship and devotion, eh?” Jyn mumbled to herself.

So, these were ‘just friends’ flowers? He shelled out likely more than thirty dollars just to say they were friends and to congratulate her on her engagement, over two months after the fact?

Jyn shook her head, took one last whiff of the flowers, and went back to getting ready for work.

…

Jyn was treated to the sound of Saw gruffing and growling over the media coverage of one of their clients as soon as she walked in the door.

A strange tickle clung to the back of her throat, her nose running ever so slightly, but she put it out of mind, as with the flowers. It was getting cold in the city and Jyn never went a winter season without getting cripplingly sick.

Better now than in 4 months when there was the actual wedding.

It was a running joke in the office, how a public defender and an investigator met, did a lot of arguing, and managed to get hitched.

Saw initially hadn’t been too keen on the idea, both as Jyn’s practically adoptive father and as her boss.

When Jyn made it abundantly clear that this was what she wanted, he got over it.

But, it didn’t mean Saw didn’t like to needle and glower at Cassian every time Cassian was around.

When she got home hours later, Cassian’s ridiculous parka—it had been cold the past several days in the city which gave Cassian the excuse to look reminiscent of a marshmallow—already hung from the hook near the door and she could smell that he was cooking.

“Hey, babe. You’re early,” Jyn called out.

“Thought I’d surprise you with dinner.”

She rounded the corner to see Cassian, still in his work slacks and button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He was stirring something in a pot, which she could only assume was a stew of some kind.

“I see you got flowers,” he said, gesturing at the vase sitting on the table.

Jyn hummed and she went to pick up the vase and set it on the kitchen counter.

“Yep. Guy delivered them when I was getting ready for work.”

“They look—nice. Who sent them?” Cassian said, eyeing the flowers. Jyn looked up to see the vaguely annoyed and almost suspicious expression on his face.

Obviously, he didn’t look close enough to see the card still attached to the flowers.

Jyn sighed, closing the gap between them and pressing a kiss to his stubbled cheek.

“It’s not from some secret admirer, dummy. I only have eyes for you.”

Cassian didn’t look totally convinced, though his countenance softened a bit. It was another thing his colleagues liked to tease him about, the near-adoring way he looked at Jyn. Totally unlike the hard-hitting investigator who always seemed incapable of smiling.

“Bodhi sent the flowers. Any idea why?”

He blinked, thoughts clearly rolling in his head for a moment. Realization dawned so quickly it was almost comedic. Cassian groaned, resting his face in his hands.

“Christ.”

“What?”

He sighed, looking a bit guilty.

“Bodhi and Kay both want to be best man.”

Jyn couldn’t help but grin. Yeah, the wedding was coming up in a few months. Leia was the obvious choice for her maid of honor, but Cassian had options. And Cassian always made it seem that it was a no-big-deal, noncompetitive kind of decision between his two coworkers. Like a coin-toss or something.

“They’ve been doing me all these little favors for me the past week or so while I make a decision and it’s been driving me nuts,” Cassian continued.

Jyn asked, “So, this is a bribe?”

Oh, this was too good. She was getting free stuff because her fiancé couldn’t make a decision.

Cassian pouted.

“He technically should be bribing me, seeing as I am the final say.”

Jyn smiled indulgently.

“But I’m sure if I gave my input it would sway your decision. Hence, the flowers.”

Cassian shrugged.

“You already lean towards Bodhi. You don’t like Kay because of that beef you have with him.”

“Beef?” Jyn raised her voice, hands coming up to plant on her hips.

It was less a beef and more of a feeling of animosity that clung between them since they first met.

“Alright,” Cassian amended, “you don’t like him that much and the feeling is mutual. But, I swear, he has nice things to say when you’re not listening.”

Jyn wasn’t convinced. Unless he had video evidence, she would always assume Kay hated her guts, whether she was present or not.

“But he will give bullshit odds to how long it will take for you to divorce me to my face.”

“I told him off about that!” Cassian said, taking his turn to be indignant.

She wrinkled her nose comically. She knew she could trust Cassian to defend her honor when she couldn’t do it herself (which were only the times she wasn’t in the room).

They were not going to get divorced within a year, fuck you, Kay.

“That you did. And I appreciate that.”

Cassian plucked one flower out of the vase and twirled it absent-mindedly, watching the petals spin.

She watched him, the lines and angles of his face. He hadn’t been sleeping much, again, evident in the shadows under his eyes. Jumping his bones the night before probably didn’t help, keeping him up for a good couple of hours, but he wasn’t complaining when she yanked down his pants and made him moan and forget the hellish day he had at work, if just for a little while.

There was that little crinkle in his brow that he always got when he was deep in thought as he stared at the flower in his hands. Jyn loved smoothing her thumb over it, drawing him out of whatever intense thoughts he might have.

He curled the stem and reached out to her.

Jyn smiled softly, getting close enough so he could rest the flower over the curve of her ear. His hand skimmed over and down her cheek, sending a shiver down her spine.

“Beautiful,” he whispered.

“Flirt,” she replied, moving around him to look inside the pot.

Several minute later, after a mix of conversation and companionable silence, they found themselves sat across from each other, eating a warm meal. The vase of flowers sat between them, the flower still in Jyn’s hair.

There was an itch in the corner of her eye, which she tried to blink away. But it stuck.

Rubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands felt heavenly for a few moments, only for the itchiness to return.

She turned her focus back to her plate and to Cassian, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

Cassian was halfway through a story about Baze almost destroying the office printer with his bare hands when she started sneezing.

The first one wasn’t anything to be concerned about. Cassian just quietly said ‘bless you’ and continued with his story.

The second got her another ‘bless you’, this time with a concerned expression.

A third, a fourth, a fifth pass, Jyn swaying with the force of each, spittle flying into her cupped hand. Jyn couldn’t find the time to be disgusted with herself before she sneezed again.

Her eyes itched and wept and her nose ran and what the fuck was wrong with her?

“Jyn.”

Her eyes cracked open—she didn’t remember closing them—to see Cassian holding out a tissue box.

“Are you okay?”

“N—no I’m fine,” she said, right before sneezing into the tissue.

The flower sitting on her ear fell into her lap.

“Jyn, your eyes and nose are red.”

She thought about making a smart comment, but she was too busy wiping her runny nose.

God, it wasn’t fair. All she wanted was to eat a nice dinner with her fiancé and then take him to bed. Apparently, that was too much to ask.

“Pleasetellmewehaveallergymedicationorsomething,” Jyn rambled, barely able to get the sentence out before she sneezed again.

…

“I didn’t know you were allergic to lilies.”

Jyn rolled over to face Cassian where he sat on the bed. The flowers had been set on the balcony, neither of them having the heart to just throw them out.

“I didn’t know either,” Jyn sniffed.

He pushed a couple strands of hair away from her face and she swatted half-heartedly at him.

“Just do a coin-flip. If this is how their fighting for place as best-man’s going to be like, I don’t think I’ll survive to the wedding.”

“You’re being overdramatic.”

Jyn lifted her head to fix him with a baleful glare.

She probably looked like a mess with her red nose and watery eyes. And, yes, she was being a bit overdramatic, but her Tuesday evening had been ruined, so she allowed herself some leeway.

“A coin-flip,” Jyn repeated, a bit more forcefully. “Before Kay sends me chocolates or some shit like that and suddenly I’ll develop an allergy and die.”

Cassian didn’t look convinced. Honestly, sometimes the guy was too nice for his own good. Jyn knew he liked both of his friends and probably didn’t want to hurt any feelings.

And in the end, the choice wasn’t that big a deal. Both Kay and Bodhi would be at the altar, just one a bit closer to Cassian and with a fancier corsage. And they were both likely to get balls-to-the-wall drunk during the bachelor party.

“Please, Cassian. For your poor ailing fiancée.”

She kept her face as the picture of abject misery as she stared him down.

A small sigh from Cassian’s mouth told her she won.

Jyn watched as he hauled himself out of bed, looking very soft and domestic with his bare feet, loose sleep pants and t-shirt as he walked to their shared dresser.

Cassian poked around the top drawer for a moment before returning to sit next to Jyn, holding up a quarter for her to see.

“Heads Bodhi, tails Kay?”

“Fine.”

He placed the quarter on his thumb and flipped it, caught it as it came down and slapped it on the back of his hand.

The two of them looked when he uncovered the quarter.

“It’s tails.”

“Fuck!” Jyn spat. “Not fair.”

“Hey, you came up with the rules.”

Jyn shook her head.

“No, no, not happening. Best two out of three.”

Cassian shook his head. “No, Jyn.”

“Yes, Cassian.”

“Jyn.”

“Cassian.”

They stared each other down until Jyn made it clear she wasn’t budging. They both knew that she would keep them up all night once she got her mind set on something.

“Fine!” Cassian sighed, nudging Jyn when she looked too smug for his tastes.

The next flip had them both holding their breaths.

Tails again.

“Dammit.”

Jyn fell back to the bed with a thump.

Well, that settled it. And she couldn’t ask best five of seven without truly irking Cassian.

She could see it now: the too-tall blond-haired man in a tux standing next to Cassian as she walked down the aisle. She wondered if Kay would find it in his cold robotic heart to at least look like he was happy for the two of them.

“It could be worse, I guess,” Jyn grumbled.

“Yeah. Could be Draven.”

Jyn couldn’t help the noise of disgust. Now, if there was anyone who disliked Jyn more at Cassian’s work than Kay, it was Cassian’s boss.

“Point. Keep him as far from me as possible. If the asshole even shows up for the wedding.”

“Will do. And no lilies as decorations.”

“Fuck you.”

“Is that a challenge?”

Jyn scoffed. “Ask me again when my entire face doesn’t feel swollen.”

Cassian chuckled and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Alright. Jyn Andor.”

Jyn smiled despite herself. She loved thinking about Cassian standing at the end of the aisle, clean and pressed in his tux, waiting for her.