just barely under 500 words so this is still a mini-fic, because i said so
from this list (still accepting)!
There comes a point, late into a night when neither of them are sleeping, that there's nothing to talk about. Anything practical, then, has long since been exhausted, and putting anything to words that's actually keeping them awake is definitely off the table, so for hours at a time, the only option that's left is listening to the hums of the life support systems or to each other's breathing. The latter, often, is a reassurance for Jyn; she's still convinced that Cassian will disappear the second she closes her eyes, and having present, tangible reminders that he's actually still here, his warmth next to her, the reliable rise and fall of his chest.
But when a night is particularly bad, like this one, even that doesn't do much to keep things from feeling so heavy.
No one has spoken for hours. There's nothing to debrief when a mission is over, no plan to finalize when there isn't a next one, and no desire to touch any wounds — fresh or old. And she's restless; she'd kicked the sheets off of her a while ago, and her fingers have spent so much time idly tugging on what's still in her reach that she's nearly taken a thread out of them.
Eventually, she gives that up, too. Casts out, into the silence, just to change something, "I can do an impression of you."
She doesn't have to see his face to know that he's lifting at least one skeptical brow in her direction. "Is that so?"
Pressing her lips together in a hum, she doesn't directly answer his question, instead offering, after a beat: "I'd have to be standing for you to get the full effect, but —" She shifts in his arms, turning to face him fully (which is actually a feat, considering they're two people crammed into a bunk made for one). "It looks something like this."
An elbow knocks against the metal of the wall — which makes her wince, just for a second — but she won't allow that to stop her, not now that she's committed to this. Both hands go to her hips (her other elbow knocking against him as they do), and she makes an exaggerated show of creasing her brows and setting her jaw into her best imitation of how he might frown at some document she can barely get two sentences into before her mind wanders.
In the low light, Jyn can see enough to know that her effort has been rewarded; Cassian's eyes have crinkled in that way she always finds herself fascinated by, and there's unmistakeable fondness in his voice when he tells her, "You look ridiculous."
A smile, slow and soft, tugs on her own mouth. "Imagine how you look."
What he exhales isn't quite a laugh, and neither is what leaves her in return, but in this moment, it's enough to make things seem just a little bit easier.
