part 4 - the dumbest po3 au
its been. nine. montsh im SO SORRY GUYS LMAO
for those of you who dont know what the dumbest po3 au is, click this link
for those of you who have not read the summaries for power of three, part 1 - part 2 - part 3
alright!!!!!!! dovewing time
the fourth apprentice
the book opens w/ ivykit and dovekit in the nursery. ivykit suggests going out to explore the territory and dovekit is like âwow. that sounds like a fantastic idea ivykit you are so smart"
whitewing says No Absolutely Not, and leaves at some point to go make dirt. they sneak out and not 5 minutes later they get lost. dovekit gets blames ivykit for suggesting it and they get into a fight.
they both get really mad & dovekit runs off. because shes like a stupid 2 year old gets distracted, rams her head into a rock and passes out. rip dovekit. she wakes up and sees a fox kit coming towards her. she screams.
her head hurts and shes tired and now shes going to die. out of nowhere a huge cat beats up the fox and scares it away. dovekit passes out (again)
when she wakes up, she is next to a cat messing with a bunch of weird plants. the cat sees that she woke up and introduces himself as littlecloud. he asks what her name is. âdove⌠doveâŚ?? i dont knowâ says dovekit.
he asks her how she got there, and if she has any family. she does not remember. so littlecloud tells her sheâs gonna have to stay here for the time being. he asks her if anything hurts, and dovekit says she thinks may have hit her head.
he gives her some of the weird plants and she goes back to sleep. when she wakes up her head has stopped hurting and she feels a lot better. she gets up to go walk around and is immediately introduced to the tawnyspawn.
tigerpaw is stupid and friendly (and hellbent on being her future best friend). dawnpaw is obnoxious and a bit (read: extremely) condescending but interested. flamepaw is nice and also the only one with half a braincell.
they take her around and introduce her to the rest of the clan. she sees blackstar and is like. âim pretty sure thats my dadâ tigerpaw gasps. flamepaw and dawnpaw are like. âWhat.â âhe saved me from the fox im pretty sure thats my dad,â says dovekit
they go harass blackstar. dovekit follows him around like a puppy and the tawnspawn follow her. he has this train of literal 2 yr olds trailing after him and is wildly unhappy about this development. russetfur is also definitely siccing the kids on him to make him mad.
dawnpaw gives dovekit a passionate speech about the clans, but mostly how evil riverclan kicked completely innocent shadowclan out of their home, and how shadowclan has to set everything right and deliver justice to those cringe fail fishheads, or something.
a few days later the tawnyspawn are off doing their own thing and dovekit goes to see whats going on. dawnpaw tries to shut tigerpaw up but he spills the beans anyways. âweâre going to attack riverclan on a Secret Mission so that we can win back shadowclanâs honor and become WARRIORS so you cant tell anybodyâ
dawnpaw sighs. âdovekit this is for Big Kids Only, so you cant be here.â flamepaw is trying to talk tigerpaw out of doing this in the bg but tigerpaw is being stubborn. dovekit is sad about it but goes back to sulk in camp (and to harass her new dad).
a few hours later tawnypelt runs over to blackstar and is like. âblackstar my children are missing nobody knows where they wentâ
"oh!! they went to go attack riverclan to get back shadowclanâs territory!â informs dovekit helpfully.
âwhat.â says blackstar, tawnypelt, and russetfur in unison. the sky immediately opens up and starts Pouring. tawnypelt freaks out. dovekit is like âwhy cant we just follow the sound of their voices??â but everyone ignores her bc they think shes just being stupid.
âFine!! ill just go find them on my OWNâ says dovekit, following them by the sound of their voices (theyre proally arguing over something stupid).
now four of shadowclanâs children are missing. âyou brought that kid here so you get to deal with her,â says russetfur. blackstar sighs dramatically and goes off to find his new child.
dovekit runs into an old man cat. âwhatre you doin here??â says old man cat. âim looking for my friends!! whats your name :0? im dovekit!!â âmy names purdy!â
blackstar shows up and is like. who tf are you. âthis is my new friend purdy!!!â says dovekit. blackstar doesnt even know how to respond. âlook weâre going to go back to the camp right now and weâre not taking this dude with us.â
dovekit is like â??? no??? we have to get my friends theyre right over there??â she says pointing in their direction w/ her tail. blackstar is ready to cry. so blackstar and purdy follow dovekit as she leads them closer to riverclan territory where they hear the tawnyspawn screeching like banshees.
they run over and find several cats w/ the tawnyspawn who are pinned down. âif you breathe in my direction ill kill all three of these children,â says a snotty dude.
âwho tf are youâ says blackstar
âim darktail you insolent snot,â says darktail.
one of his cats grabs dovekit and blackstar snaps. he lunges at darktail while purdy beats up the dude who snatched dovekit. the tawnyspawn take advantage of the moment, escape, and dogpile the other cats. its a disaster.
darktail swears revenge on blackstar till his dying day or something. nobodys really paying attention to him at this point. he runs off w/ his crew. âalright thenâ says blackstar. this has been a really weird and long day for everyone. blackstar wants to leave purdy but all the children immediately start crying. they bring purdy home.
âholy crap!!! purdy!!!!!â says tawnypelt. âwhy are you here??â but then she sees her children. she and rowanclaw give them a very stern lecture about Not Running Off Without Telling Anyone (in which tawnypelt is a massive hypocrite but to be fair god told her to)
in the meanwhile, blackstar asks dovekit how tf she knew they were there. âi could hear them, Obviously. ???? cant u not???â blackstar just looks at her. dovekit realizes that probably not everyone shares this ability. blackstar shoos her off and calls a meeting w/ the senior warriors.
dovekit goes off to bother purdy for stories and play w/ the tawnyspawn. nothing particularly interesting happens. blackstar and russetfur call her over later and start assessing her abilities. its only slightly a disaster because shes wildly distracted 80% of the time and her powers are unwieldy bc shes a kit.
cue training. there is a lot of trial, error, and tears (on both sides) but it works out in the end (mostly).
time skip. its been a few months. dovekit becomes dovepaw and blackstar mentors her b/c of her powers. at this point shes gotten control of how to pick out numbers, locations, troops, etc. basically she is a living radar.
blackstar calls another meeting w/ the senior warriors and afterwards calls a clan meeting. âalright losers weâre going to take back our territory and kick riverclanâs buttâ
they go over the clan w/ all the cats and begin the trek home. another time skip because that takes a while and nothing particularly interesting happens.
when they get back, the clan stays outside the border while blackstar has dovepaw do a sweep of the territory. she finds a patrol led by a black cat named reedwhisker. blackstar picks a patrol out and they go to ambush the riverclan patrol.
the shadowclan patrol takes reedwhisker + the patrol hostage, but lets one go to tell mistystar. mistystar takes a patrol and comes over. âif you dont give us back our territory i will kill your sonâ says blackstar. mistystar is like âbro. i dont even want your stupid crusty territory anyways. screw you.â
she takes her son and the rest of the patrol and leaves. another win for shadowclan, obviously. maybe they have a party idk. end of book.
fading echoes
cinderheart has not been doing well. sheâs been doing really badly, actually. her best friend died and she blames herself. sheâs still grieving and continually lashing out at everyone around her. poppyfrost and honeyfern attempted to be there for her but after the continual rebuffs they decided to just give her space.
unfortunately cinderheart. doesnt have any other friends in thunderclan, so the only person she can talk to is lionblaze. unfortunately theres only so much he can do from windclan, so mostly shes been just been going into a downward spiral.
ivypaw hasnt been doing great either. she feels extremely guilty because she thinks its her fault that dovekit ran away, and when dovekit is never found, it gets 50x worse.
but she also doesnt want to say anything about her involvement in fear of getting punished. as time goes on, she starts getting babied by the clan (almost like leopardstar when she was a kid) because her sister disappeared and she took it really hard.
and like on one hand, she likes the attention, but on the other hand its too much a lot of the time. she starts adopting this âstop babying me!1!1!!!â/kinda edgy persona. the clan takes it like shes grieving, and sheâll grow out of it, so they dont say too much.
so the book opens w/ ivypaw and fernpawâs apprentice ceremony. brief context about how fern was recently found by the thunderclan border w/o parents and taken into the clan. fernsong is apprenticed to brightheart. ivypool is apprenticed to cinderheart.
firestar probably thinks that they might be able to bond/break through to each other because they recently lost a sister/adjacent sister. neither of them are particularly enthusiastic about it.
cinderheart isnt particularly invested in ivypawâs training. ivypaw can tell and gets rightfully frustrated, bc brightheart and fernpaw are getting along great and making lots of progress, while ivypaw is falling behind becuase cinderheart is being a terrible mentor.
ivypaw starts fighting back (disobeying, talking back, etc.), partially because this is the only time she gets paid attention, and partially because shes just mad, which makes cinderheart mad, which then makes ivypaw fight back more. this causes cinderheart to become more and more distant. in short: ivypawâs apprenticeship is a disaster.
at some point during training, theyre practicing climbing trees and cinderheart tells ivypaw to do something. to spite her, ivypaw does the opposite and ends up falling, dislocating her leg. cinderheart panics and cinderpelt emerges.
cinderpelt basically possesses cinderheart and relocates her arm. they go back to camp and take ivypaw to the medicine cat den, gives ivypaw some poppy seeds and ditches.
âwow um. wtf was thatâ says cinderheart. leafpool is like, âhahahaâŚâŚâŚâŚ about that. youâre um⌠cinderpelt reincarnated.â
âwhat.â says cinderheart
âCINDERHEART IS CINDERPELT REINCARNATED???â screams foxleap at the top of his lungs in the middle of camp. whatever was left of cinderheartâs life shatters.
so now instead of ignoring her, the entire camp wonât leave her alone - except now they just treat her as they would cinderpelt. âhey cinderheart remember when [enter something that happened in the old forest here]??â âhey cinderheart can you fix my paw??â âhey cinderpelt-â âare you going to become a medicine cat then??â
to pour more salt into the wound, cinderheart now gets a free commentary on everything in her life!! (this definitely includes lionblaze) there used to be sort of a barrier between cinderheart/cinderpelt but since cinderpelt emerged/took control, it shattered.
so between cinderpelt complaining about all the terrible decisions sheâs made and the entire clan pretending that sheâs cinderpelt instead of a Completely Different Person, when hawkfrost shows up w/ an invite to fight club on the weekends cinderheart is more than happy to take him up.
sure hawkfrost is wildly annoying and clearly hates her guts for some reason (no matter how hard he pretends not to whenever tigerstar is around) but this is great for three reasons.
1) nobody in the dark forest has any idea sheâs cinderpelt. 2) warrior training!! emphasizing she is a Warrior not a medicine cat. 3) time away from cinderpelt!! they arent the same soul so they cant read each otherâs thoughts (unless theyre trying to communicate) and cant share dreams
so she might be purposely oblivious. whatever. she doesnt even know who hawkfrost is b/c anybody outside of riverclan immediately forgot about him because he really was not very effective at all. and its not like hes about to start spilling the beans until shes ready to be indoctrinated w/ dark forest propaganda.
meanwhile, tensions between shadowclan and thunderclan have been rapidly rising. again. prey is being stolen, scents are on other territories, patrols get into skirmishes often.
firestar is hurt because he was trying to get mistystar to lay off on the territory and blackstar is mad because they literally Just got back and thunderclan is ALREADY trying to reinstate old rivalries.
cinderheart really isnt paying attention to whatâs going on cuz shes. more than a little wrapped up in her own problems. until it turns into a war.
this battle feels way more vicious than normal. cinderheart tries to recall how this whole thing started and realizes she has absolutely no idea what tf is going on???
throughout the fight she notices weird stuff happening. mousewhisker and redwillow nod to each other. ratscar + blossomfall swap glances. applefur pulls snowbird off thornclawâs back. literally wtf thinks cinderheart
and then russetfur takes a stab at firestar. out of nowhere, thornclaw goes for her throat. cinderheart barely saves russetfur in the nick of time - the injuries are bad enough that she is forced to retire.
âscrew literally everyone in thunderclan except uâ blackstar says pointing @ cinderheart âand i hope the rest of you rot in the dark forest.â he rounds the rest of shadowclan up and then leaves.
âwell that was weirdâ says cinderheart. she goes off to find ivypaw and realizes that shes. not responding. oh thats a lot of blood-
cinderpelt pops up again and works w/ cinderheart to patch up ivypaw until sheâs stable. they bring her into the medicine den together and let leafpool look her over. she says that they made it in time and ivypaw will live. she leaves to go look after the other patients, leaving cinderheart with her apprentice
cinderheart realizes that this is her fault. had she actually paid attention to ivypaw and given her proper training, this wouldnât have happened. she resolves to try a lot harder to be a good mentor for ivypawâs sake.
cinderpelt approves and apologizes for being so intrusive on cinderheartâs life. she really doesnt want to be in here either - this was a decision the idiots in starclan forced on her. she was taking it out on cinderheart, which wasnât fair for her.
cinderpelt promises to try to give cinderheart as much privacy as she can (while trying to figure out how to get out of her brain). cinderheart thanks her. thereâs a brief bonding moment.
cinderpelt says that since ivypaw seems stable sheâs going to go to sleep now, since she exhausted herself earlier.
just as cinderpelt goes out to the back of cinderheartâs mind, blossomfall comes storming in about how cinderheart messed the plan up and how cinderheart screwed everything up for everyone & sheâs a traitor to the cause, Honestly cinderheart youâre so useless-
âliterally wtf are you talking aboutâ says cinderheart
âyou saved russetfur,â blossomfall says. âif we take out the leaders and deputies, we can destabilize the clans enough that taking over will be a piece of cake. are you a dark forest trainee or not, cinderheart?â
end of book
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Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are
the food travel auÂ
3 ½ month film schedule. 31 countries. 24 episodes.
2 people who might just fall in love along the way.Â
(read on AO3)Â
Chapter 1: LondonÂ
Author: @moonprincess92nzÂ
Itâs her first fucking day and sheâs late.
âSHIT, SHIT, SHITââ Jyn dodges through suitcases, around security guards and even leaps right over an empty bench at one point as she races throughout Heathrow Airport. She practically slams right through a holidaying family and nearly bowls into a couple of kids with giant backpacks on their backs, but nothing slows her down because if there is anything worse she can do than being goddamn late on her first day, she canât think of it. Her rep is bad enough, she needs this job â
ARRIVALS, the sign blares.Â
Her poor battered suitcase screeching to a halt next to her, Jyn stops to stare around at the hordes of people pouring out of the arrivals gate. The production crew is flying in mostly from USA, she thinks she is one of maybe three people who are from the UK. They told her to meet at the airport, and she checks the email on her phone for the billionth time before scanning the crowd once more.
Finally, she catches a familiar face.
He isnât so much familiar because she knows him, but rather because she may or may not have binge-watched Cassian Andor videos on YouTube for about eight hours the previous night. Thing is, Jyn honestly wouldnât call herself a foodie. She knows how to scramble eggs and burn chicken nuggets, but that is about the extent of her cooking skills. Half the time she doesnât know how she even ended up getting this job, but there she was balls deep in some popular Mexican cooking show because apparently, his face wasnât so bad to look at. It was only when her roommate barged unceremoniously into her room at four in the morning to ask, âDonât you have to be at the airport by like, 7am?â when she figured that she might have a bit of a problem.
(âShut up, Bodhi,â she threw back at him).
Operating on as little sleep as she is, seeing Cassian Andor in person kind of makes her ovaries feel like exploding.
SHIT.
Luckily, before she says something and makes herself look ridiculous, it appears that someone notices her. She hastily says her name, and sheâs pulled into the sea of formal introductions by who is apparently their production manager, Mon Mothma. Jyn has never been good at this part. Sometimes, she thinks that she chose the wrong profession entirely â she should be working in a lab or office, somewhere with as little human interaction as possible â but rather unfortunately, sheâs chosen a profession where itâs impossible to get by without kissing arse and playing nice with others.
Sheâs learned over the years how to put on a polite mingling face, but Jesus, it takes it out of her.
âHi! Iâm Luke, the social media manager!â a bright-eyed blonde says.
âWedge Antilles,â their sound engineer introduces. âLooking forward to working with you!â
â⌠Kes Dameron. Sorry, I havenât had coffee yet,â It turns out their head of security is about as sociable as she is this early in the morning.
Honestly, sheâs doing fine until suddenly sheâs face to face with Cassian Andor and thatâs about when it strikes her what sheâs really gone and gotten herself into. Sheâs standing in front of an honest-to-god celebrity, here. Sheâs never worked on something on this large a scale in her life! It doesnât help that thereâs really something about his jawline as well, but either way she is a professional, goddamn it. She holds out her hand and says,
âJyn.â
Cassian quirks an eyebrow.
âIs that⌠your favourite drink, orâŚ?â he asks in confusion.
âWhat? Oh, bugger,â Jyn curses as he tentatively shakes her hand. âI donât mean gin, I mean â itâs my name, Jyn with a J â and a y â apparently my parents hated me as a child,â She tops it off with a slightly awkward laugh.
God, she is bad at this. Â
âOh. If it helps, I often get called Caspian whenever I go to Starbucks?â Cassian offers.
âWell, that was your first mistake going to Starbucks.â
âWhatâs wrong with Starbucks?â
âTalk about commercialisation!â Jyn points out. âWhatever happened to supporting your local businesses?â
Incredibly, he laughs. âIâm sorry, youâre the new camera operator, right?â
âRight, right â I was offered the job a little last minute.â
âOf course â Kay unfortunately got sick â that was the guy who was originally hired.â
âAh, I see,â Jyn tries to lean casually on her suitcase. âI wasnât given any details, just a contract and a place to meet â sucks to be him, amiright?â
Cassian frowns. âHeâs my best friend.â
Jyn blinks. Of fucking course he was his best friend.
She just gestures vaguely behind her somewhere. âIâm gonnaâŚâ she says, weakly. He smiles politely back.
If it was at all appropriate for the setting she would be SCREAMING.
â⌠so all in all,â Jyn eventually says through Skype later that night. âwithin the first minute of us meeting, I convince him Iâm an alcoholic, criticise him for going to bollocking Starbucks and also somehow manage to insult his best friend!â
Little Bodhi through the screen shakes his head. âOh my god, JynâŚâ
Oh my god, Jyn sounds about right. She snuggles down into the hotel bedsheets and is at least thankful that sheâs on a production that can afford actual stars underneath their accommodation. The last time she had a job, she was put up in a student hostel, and sheâs pretty sure sheâs still washing fleas out of her hair to this day. Most of day one was dedicated to production meetings with only a few establishing shots being filmed that evening. After hours of listening to Mon Mothma drone on and on (3 ½ month film schedule, tight deadline, 31 countries, 24 episodes, etc., etc.) Jyn was thankfully able to clear her head down by the Thames. With only her and the essential crew, she was finally able to breathe as she captured her city by sunset.
She honestly doesnât know what this job is really going to entail. The travelling she is relatively familiar with thanks to her job, but even then she technically hasnât been out of the country since she was 16, and she mostly tries to forget her time with Saw anyway. She might not have had a family for a long time, but sheâs at home here in London as much as sheâs ever been. Itâs the only place sheâs ever felt truly safe, felt like she has ground beneath her feet and sheâs a little (a lot) terrified to actually leave it.
But hell, bills need to be paid and a T.V. show needs to be filmed.
âWhat am I doing, Bodhi?â Jyn mutters underneath the blankets.
âI believe itâs called âflirtingâ,â Bodhi smirks back in their flat on the other side of the city. âand, if I might add, youâre not doing it very well.â
âFuck you, mate.â
âJust calling it like it is.â
âSeriously,â Jyn stresses, then. âwhat am I doing here? Iâm working on a travelling food show and I barely know how to cook!â
âYouâre the camera operator, not the bloody caterer,â Bodhi says, exasperatedly. âIâm fairly certain you donât need to know.â
âButââ
âJyn, listen,â Bodhi cuts her off. âLord knows Iâd prefer to just wrap you up and bring you back home, but honey, you gotta stick with this, ok? No more flaking! You think you donât fit in, fine â fake it until you do. Go get bloody lost in Germany or finally learn how to make pasta or something, I donât care, just get out and do it, because we both know youâre not really living here.â
âIâm living!â
âYouâre existing,â Bodhi sighed. âand I know your life has had its fucked up moments. I know. It sucks. But itâs time, Jyn.â
She snorts. âYou know, when I called you it wasnât for another therapy session. How much do I owe you this time?â
Her best friend rolls his eyes. âA lifetime of free pancakes.â
âYou know I canât make pancakes.â
âLifetime supply of Jammy Dodgers, then.â
âThat, I can do,â Jyn points at the screen.
Bodhi laughs, only it quickly turns into a violent yawn. âBLIMEY, Iâm tired.â
âYeah, yeah, Iâll take the hint,â Jyn smirks. âbut, um, before you actually do go â on a scale of 1 to 10, exactly HOW bad was the flirting?â
âMinus 5,â Bodhi deadpans. âDonât insult his friends next time.â
âYeah,â Jyn grimaces. âIâll do that.â
He grins. âLove you, Jyn.â
âYeah. Love you, too.â
tellmewhatyoueatofficial check out that view! #tellmewhatyoueat #london #tower bridge #filming #cinematogropher #travel #sunsetwiththecrew #bts @jynserso
bodhitherook JYN BABE U MANAGED TO MAKE IT ONTO THE OFFICIAL INSTA ACCT Â
bodhitherook also how the fuck are u not wearing a jacket
tellmewhatyoueatofficial @bodhitherook i confess we might have asked her to take her jacket off for the #aesthetic
bodhitherook WHO RUNS THIS ACCOUNT JYN BC CLEARLY THESE PEOPLE ARE TRYIN TO KILL U ITâS OCTOBER
jynserso pfffft sun was out, was a solid 15 degrees thatâs basically sunbathing weather
jynserso but still calling you out @walkstheskies his name is Luke Skywalker go stalk himÂ
Jyn manages to corner Luke Skywalker in the hotel hallway.
âWHY ME,â she despairs. Her phone is open on the showâs official Instagram page, and itâs pretty clear what sheâs talking about, although she quickly adds, âand before you say anything, I KNOW signing the contract means technically I consented to my image being used on multiple forms of social media, but stillââ
Luke just shrugs happily. Â
âI belong behind a camera, not in front of it,â she protests.
âHey,â Luke counters. âyou look beautiful in that shot! Also, I should be the one complaining, after you sicced your best friend on me.â
âOh good, Bodhi did his job then,â Jyn says. She steps out of the way hastily as several of their fellow crew members run down the hall between rooms, someone cheering something about shots in the background.
âHeâs sent me about a dozen messages insisting that I look after you and treat you right,â he laughs. âNice guy!â
Jyn just smirks slightly before eyeing down the hallway once more. Itâs been two days, and their insane shooting schedule is already starting to hit them all. Quite frankly, none of them have any business still being awake at this time, but it was a long day and apparently they are all still so hyped that trying to sleep with the racket theyâre making would be fruitless anyway.
âWe should get out!â someone calls enthusiastically from one of the open rooms, and Jyn turns to see their lighting directorâs face beaming when she notices her. Shara Bey dashes over and clings hold of her shoulder. âHey! Where should we go?â
âWhatâre you looking at me for?â Jyn asks in bewilderment.
âWell, youâre the local girl,â Shara points out.
Jyn stares at the over-tired, wired and enthusiastic faces all staring back at her. Theyâve all spilled out of their rooms, nodding and asking and between this and the Instagram post, Jyn isnât sure sheâs been on the receiving end of this much attention in her life. Thereâs a reason she stays behind the camera! She glances at Luke, although the man just shrugs at her in response.
âIâve never been to London! Where do we get good food around here?â he asks.
Shit.
âUhhhh... I know a place that sells killer fish and chips?â
âItâs an adventure and itâs happening - câmon, guys!â Shara leads the way.Â
She ends up bringing them to The Cantina, of all places.
A fun fact to rattle off is that there are literally thousands of pubs throughout London, and somehow she always ends up here. Her and Bodhi almost haunt the place at this point. Itâs objectively not the most popular in London nor even relatively famous, but in Jynâs opinion it captures the very heart of British pub culture (you know, getting shit-faced and yelling about football). Itâs kind of what the entire show theyâre filming is supposed to be about, so⌠yeah, here they are. The place is always dark and a little shady, the music always slightly too loud and the lights slightly too piercing, but Jyn feels almost relaxed here.
âI moved back to London when I was 16,â she explains as they approach. Shara Bey has already filmed several snapchat videos of herself by this point and now seems to be flirting with the security guy. Most of their group is hanging onto her every word and she adds, âWeâd come here on the weekends with our fake I.D.s and get hammered.â
âMy kinda party,â Luke grins.
They all pile inside The Cantina, Jyn dutifully avoiding Cassianâs eyes. Honestly, she had no idea that he was even coming - did famous T.V. presenters even do that? - but someone called out to him just as they were walking out of the hotel doors to go catch a train and he dashed out to join them. After embarrassing herself so spectacularly, she figures the only way to handle tonight is the true British way: ignore all emotions and pretend everything is fine.
She notices a gap at the bar and she manages to quickly order two shots as everyone piles into the pub. She thought she had avoided all scrutiny as her colleagues get caught up in which drinks to order, but apparently nothing gets past the social media manager. Luke gives her a look of bemusement from over his shoulder and Jyn bites at him,
âWhat?â
âSteady on,â he says.
âShut up,â Jyn accuses.
âYou know, if you want to talk to him all you have to do is open your mouth and start saying words,â Luke says, slyly.
Jyn glares. âWhat dâyou know? You know nothing.â
âI know that look! Trust me, I get it. Iâm a huge fan too.â
Jyn finally meets his knowing gaze.
âYou also watch three seasons in eight hours?â
âWithout subtitles!â Luke nods. âMy Spanish got a LOT better.â
âStalk on Instagram?â
âIâm a social media manager,â Luke scoffs. âRaise me something actually valuable.â
âImagine marrying someday?â
Luke laughs. âJyn, we all know that heâs out of both our leagues, but with you⌠ehhhhh, thereâs potential.â
âIâm sorry, EHHHHH?â
âI also said potential!â
Jyn was going to offer one of the shots to Luke, but with that statement, she keeps them both for herself. Itâs true, sheâs been filming this man for the last two days and she still technically hasnât had any kind of one-on-one conversation with him that isnât to do with camera angles. Besides the disastrous first attempt, that is. She isnât even sure whatâs stopping her at this point. Itâs not like sheâs kidding herself that something is going to happen â theyâre on a schedule, theyâre going to be travelling in a tight knit group for months without space to get away, and who even looks at her like that anymore? â so itâs not even the fact that heâs hot that makes her like this.
Sheâs just never done anything on this kind of scale before. These people all have established careers, been featured on Ellen, have followers on Twitter⌠this is the first time Jynâs worked on a project where the director isnât some uni student filming a sex scene in their parentâs garage. Bloody hell, what could she even say to him?
âOk, look,â Luke sighs next to her. âexactly how many shots is this going to take? Because I will literally buy them all if it will get your ass over there.â
âI donât know,â she says honestly. âbut at least one more.â
tellmewhatyoueatofficial rumour has it that somewhere round here you can get some killer #fishnchips! @theofficialcantina #tellmewhatyoueat #bts #london #camden town #camden market #london pub #the cantina #filming #cinematogropher #travel Â
Her ass inevitably did not end up over there.
âOk, weâre going for the casual âweâve just stumbled upon this placeâ feel,â Their director, Draven, is running backwards somewhere behind her, trying to keep up with the action as Cassian walks down the street. Sheâs aiming for the vision of him being in amongst the crowd, just one with London, which is kinda contradicted by the fact that they have blocked off one side of the entire stretch of street outside the restaurant theyâre currently featuring and their security guy is letting through a controlled amount of people to walk through their shot. Still, she gets to watch Cassian stroll down the footpath with his hands in his pockets, contently gazing around the streets, so sheâs probably got the good end of the deal, here. Voiceovers will be added in later, so literally all he has to do is walk and smile as Draven yells out direction.
âOk! You reach Rebel Rebel,â he calls out. Cassian pretends that his eye is caught by the actually previously chosen restaurant, glancing up at it. She zooms in on his face.
Yes. Definitely has the best deal, here.
âCUT,â Draven yells. âPerfect, weâll shoot it once more, then head on in.â
They take a break before moving into the restaurant to do more filming and she listens to Draven rave to their producer about how big theyâre expecting their audience to be for this particular episode. She probably doesnât try hard enough to hide her scoff, but sheâs exhausted from being up until 2am that morning and still too pissed off at herself to care. Despite all of Lukeâs encouragement, she still hadnât managed to get herself over to the table where Cassian had been sitting. She had an opening and alcohol, and yetâŚ
âLook, Iâve worked on this show before and Iâm yelling you,â Luke nodded at Cassian last night. âHeâs a good guy! Heâs worth getting to know.â
She was sure he was. It was just getting to the point of knowing him that worried her. She glances bitterly up at Rebel Rebel. Honestly, of all fucking places in London, they just had to choose the most clichĂŠ.
âWhy do you not like this place?â
She whirls around in a slight panic, heart practically leaping into her throat. Cassianâs watching her curiously, water bottle in hand and please Jyn, please remember what proper words are.
âWho â who says I donât like it?â
âThat expression on your face,â Cassian points out.
Sheâs almost impressed that he noticed. âIs filming going to be this forced the entire time?â
For a moment she isnât sure if heâs going to give her a real or diplomatic answer. She supposes his jobâs on the line, but just as that thought occurs he admits, âA lot of things are pre-shot filming this kind of show. Itâs like reality T.V., we pretend it was all filmed on the spot when actually we planned the entire thing. But the food and the reactions, thatâs going to be real. You canât fake taste.â
âWhat if you donât like something? Are we allowed to include that?â
âUsually depends on who Iâm allowed to piss off,â he mentions.
âWell, I dunno who chose Rebel, Rebel, but this place sucks,â If he can figure it out from the look on her face, then thereâs no point denying it. Jyn points out the restaurant that is technically one of Londonâs top places to eat. Recommended on Trip Advisor, stars and celebrities were known to dine there and even Jamie Oliver did a special there once, but as far as Jyn is concerned the entire place was overrated.
âHow do you know that?â
âLike I couldnât possibly know great food,â She winces a little at the tone. Blimey, she needs to work on not sounding so defensive.
âShow me,â Cassian suddenly challenges. âAfter filming today, take me to the good food.â
He canât be serious. Surely he isnât? They have a schedule, they have deadlines, they canât just go bloody rogue! Yes, fine, she does have somewhere in mind. She might consider wine and a can of tinned soup a decent meal, but that doesnât mean she canât recognise great food when she sees it. The memories suddenly hit her, of meat sizzling, of swinging on vinyl chairs and knives clinking against plates. She remembers being allowed to stand on a stool behind the counter to take customerâs money and running through the kitchens trying not to get caught by the chefs. Whenever she hears classical music sheâs taken back and theyâre literally only around the corner, butâŚ
Itâs a stupid idea.
She shrugs. âI think Dravenâs gonna burst a blood vessel if we donât get back to it.âÂ
JUST TAKE HIM TO THE FUCKING RESTAURANT JYN
DO IT
DOOOOOO IIIIITTTTTTT
FKJDJFKJDFJKFJKDF
KILL ME
Also are u still harassing luke to be nice to me bc honestly bodhi
Im just lookin out for mah gurl
Also turns out heâs kinda funny so
But not the point, just take him Jyn seriously
But itâs such a personal place and we barely know each other
Donât make it about you then. Just say u know a place thatâs better, bring ur camera and film the magic. Oooooh, get baze to make his special, that shit is GOOD
Plus this way youâll get to know each other eeeyyyyy
Iâm going to regret this
No u wontÂ
It eats at her, until eventually Bodhi manages to make her snap. Damn it, it will not leave her alone and apparently, her way of asking people out these days is just turning up at their hotel room door and demanding them to come with her, since the moment Cassian answers her slightly too hard knock on his door she blurts out,
âGet your coat on, weâre going somewhere.â
Cassian blinks slightly, but seems entirely non-phased as he ducks to the side to grab a jacket and follows her out the door. âWhere are we going?â
âTo the good food.â
Itâs a bit far to walk and sheâs still not used to the T.V. glamour of being able to take taxis everywhere, so she drags him out into the cool, drizzly evening and onto the tube. Taking the Piccadilly Line into Covent Garden, the night is fresh and just starting to buzz when they climb up into the street. She wasnât going to get her camera out until they reached Lahmu, but the side street they cut down is strung up with multi-coloured lanterns and his face is honestly too good to not try and capture.
âTo be honest, Iâm not entirely sure if weâre even allowed to do this,â Jyn admits, as she points out the way. âLike, filming outside of scheduled shooting. Have I just violated my contract or something?â
âDepends if Draven likes what he sees,â Cassian answers her.
âIâll delete it later, then,â Jyn says, walking sideways as she filmed and hoping that nothing got in her way lest she accidentally go flying. âNo one has to know a thing. And if you talk, Iâll kill you.â
He laughs a little into the camera. âIâm starting to think I wouldnât put it past you.â
âBut anyway, welcome to Covent Garden again,â she makes a deal out of saying, ensuring that she can still see his face through her lens. He pauses under a lamp post and thankfully, no one seems to recognise them in the dark and without the addition of an entire film crew. To someone else, they could literally be any random YouTube vloggers or something. âNaturally, this damn show only brings you to the touristy side of London, but there are some admittedly great places to eat in this area. Not fucking Rebel, Rebel though, I mean shit thatâs actually edible.â
âWe might want to edit that last part out.â
âYeah, post can handle that,â She would wave a hand if she had one to spare. âTell me, superstar Cassian Andor, how are you enjoying London so far?â
He smiles a little against the backdrop of lit restaurants. âItâs cold.â
âOf course itâs cold, itâs fucking England.â
âBut itâs exciting,â he adds. âThereâs so much history here, buildings that have been around for hundreds of years⌠itâs great to see.â
âYouâre supposed to say you love the food, stop going off script.â
âSorry â I love the food.â
âGood,â she says. âbecause if you donât love where weâre going, then Iâll buy the next round of drinks.â
âWhere exactly ARE we going?â
She points across the street and she films him turning and seeing the lit up sign of Lahmu. Owned for the last fifteen years by Baze and Chirrut Malbus-Ămwe, itâs known for its wildly eccentric yet still somehow delicious menu. Jyn leads Cassian there, waving to the matireâd on their way in and asking if Baze is around.
âYouâre a regular?â Cassian asks.
âKind of,â Jyn hedges. âitâs weird to explain.â
She doesnât rest until they find Baze in the kitchen, the co-owner and chef shaking Cassianâs hand vigorously like any person who was vaguely familiar with food would. Jyn keeps the camera rolling the entire time until finally, he tries Bazeâs famous Secret Special and the unearthly sounds that come out of his mouth Jyn deems a little too inappropriate for their G-rated show.
âThis is fucking amazing,â he practically moans.
âIâm glad,â Baze says warmly as Jyn hastily cuts the recording.
âAnd you seriously wonât tell me what kind of meat this is?â
âOf course not, thatâs the secret part.â
âItâs not going to have me arrested, right?â
âNo. Well⌠I donât think so, at least.â
Cassian just shrugs. âGood enough for me.â
Carefully working on packing the camera away in the bag she has strung around her neck, Cassian continues to enthusiastically shovel whatever mystery meat it is into his mouth. Over by the kitchen bench, Baze leans in and squeezes her shoulder.
âSo can I expect to actually get on T.V. here, or not?â he asks in undertone.
âProbably not,â she admits.
âAh, well. It was a nice idea while it lasted,â Baze sighs, gruffly.
âYou guys are still doing well, right?â Jyn asks, casually.
âStop worrying. Weâre fine,â Baze shoots her a look. âExposure never hurts, however.â
âJust let Cassian tweet about this place,â Jyn points out. âYouâll have people coming in hordes.â
Cassian cuts in to scoff, âIâm not THAT popular.â
âWhen you have a follower count with 5 digits or more, youâre considered popular, mate.â
Cassian protests, but honestly theyâre mostly silent after that as he apparently just savours the flavours Jyn knows have to be hitting his tongue. She realises at one point that sheâs closed her eyes and she hastily snaps them open because Jesus, Jyn, get a grip, she can listen to the boiling soup and scraping of pots without looking weird about it. Itâs only when Baze moves away to carry on directing his kitchen, however, when she finally says,
âLook. I think we got off on the wrong foot when we first met,â she says. âI swear I usually know how to talk to people normally. Iâm a big fan?â
Thankfully, he laughs and she lets out a slow breath of relief. âIâm honoured.â
âNo really,â Jyn points out. âI donât even speak Spanish, and I watched all three seasons of your last show.â
âThatâs dedication.â
âSorry again.â
âHey,â he shakes his head. âItâs fine â Iâm a big fan of yours too.â
âPiss off,â Jyn says before she even stops to think whether that might offend him or not. âI film obscure niche documentaries and indie films that lose money rather than make money, thereâs no way you like any of that shit.â
âNo really, I looked you up when we knew you were coming,â Cassian points out. âOr, ok, Kay sort of insisted that we look you up, he was feeling a bit territorial. But we watched a little of that one documentary you did on the abandoned insane asylum?â
âOh god,â Jyn shivers. âthat place was creepy as all fuckinâ hell. I had nightmares for weeks.â
âBut the camera work was beautiful! Wait, exactly how creepy?â
âIâm pretty sure that one of the film crew got possessed.â
âYouâre not serious?â
And itâs weird, but he finishes his Secret Special and she tells the quite frankly terrifying story of when one of her crew members had gone a little nutty and claimed that they were having visions of dead people and it kind of⌠goes well. Her heart is still pounding, but theyâre finally talking. It at least makes her feel a little more grounded, a little more like she actually fits into this project that until this point made her feel like she was just floundering under water. This isnât another weird documentary about haunted buildings, this is something that will eventually air on prime time British television⌠Â
âSo how did you end up as a T.V. presenter, of all things?â Jyn asks once his plate is scraped clean.
âI started in regular journalism. Believe it or not, but Iâm not the best cook.â
âShut the hell up,â Jyn insists.
âNo really,â Cassian says, earnestly. âI can appreciate good food, but I still cannot make anything like my mother can.â
âWell, I burn toast so together, weâve got this show covered.â
âThank God, I was starting to worry.â
She laughs. Fucking laughs. But heâs laughing too, so she hopes itâs ok and he asks her then, âHow did you get into camera work?â
âThe professional answer is that I have always appreciated the entire filmography of whoever happens to be employing me at the time,â Jyn says. âThe real answer is that I was running out of time to pick an elective at uni and I chose this random media studies paper on a whim.â
âSo we pretty much started in the same place.â
âI guess, yeah,â Itâs hard to imagine herself having literally anything in common with the celebrity, but what the hell does she know in the end? Theyâre quiet for a moment, Cassian moving to wash his own plate and Jyn pretending that she isnât watching. Itâs only when heâs finished and everything is put away when he turns back to her and says,Â
âSo whatâs the story?â
âSorry?â
âThe story,â he reiterates and Jynâs chest thuds painfully. âabout why this place. Donât try and tell me there isnât a story.â
Itâs true, there is one. And she honestly wasnât sure whether she was going to say it when she first brought him in here, but thereâs something that makes her want to say it now. She takes a deep breath and answers,
âMy father used to own it.âÂ
He nods, but doesnât say anything else. He waits, clearly willing to let her talk when sheâs ready, and she eventually sighs in exasperation. âFine, my father owned it and itâs how he met my mother,â she adds on. âI practically grew up here, but they died and it got sold when I was eight and itâs never felt exactly the same since. I guess I still try sometimes, though.â
Itâs a very glossed over version of the story, but it will do for now. He nods in understanding before gesturing to her camera once more. âDo you mind?â
She frowns. âWhat do you want to film?â
âI have an idea â just roll with it?â
She humours him, once again pulling out the camera. Sheâs at least thankful that the kitchen lights are kind of perfect for filming as she sets it on top of an upturned saucepot in lieu of a tripod. She prompts, âWhat are you thinking?â and Cassian looks up right at her through the lens.
Blimey.
âWeâre going to be taking Europe by storm, right?â he says, and she almost thinks his words arenât even intended for the camera. âThe idea is that we experience multiple cultures and different kinds of foods, but I love that thereâs one thing that seems to be universal. No matter where you are in the world, food has this ability to connect things. We associate food with the places we come from, certain celebrations, smell with memories, a restaurant with homeâŚâ Her heart is definitely somewhere up around her throat and he smiles at her. âand thatâs pretty awesome.â
tellmewhatyoueatofficial rumour has it if you order the #SecretSpecial youâll become a changed person! #tellmewhatyoueat #restaurant #food #filming #locations #london #covent garden #bts @lahmurestaurant
k-lara7Â omg I love this place!!!!
yavemiel @ pingou7 we are so going here next time you come visit me
bodhitherook I had no idea they were filming here @jynserso??????
doptimous Definitely would recommend @lahmurestaurant. The owners are so nice, youâre never waiting long and itâs honestly a great experience every time we go.Â
In the end, Draven loves their side project so much that it turns into his idea.
They were all supposed to be on a flight to Cardiff at this point, but the network has apparently let them delay by twelve hours to allow them to shoot additional footage and anything that gets her favourite restaurant exposure is fine with Jyn. But despite their filming obviously fake candid shots outside the restaurant, Dravenâs admitted that thereâs a lot of charm in the real candid-ness of what they filmed the previous night and hopefully, a lot of their original footage will end up being used in the final cuts.
âIâm going to miss London!â Luke says cheerfully as they wait at the airport. Definitely not a big enough production for a private jet, they get a few looks waiting amongst everyone else but luckily at 4am not many people care all that much about the moderately famous food show host and crew. Jyn is attempting to sleep in her cold, plastic chair but itâs kind of hard when Luke wonât stop chatting.
âDo you ever stop?â she asks.
âWhat do you mean?â
âNever mind,â she mutters. She gets up and leaves Luke to his cheerful trawling through Twitter and notices Cassian slumped down near the phone charging station. With his hoodie pulled over his eyes itâs difficult to tell if heâs awake or not, but he stirs when she sits down next to him.
âNaturally the network couldnât wait for tomorrow and literally had to book us on the next flight to Cardiff,â she says. âWho the hell even flies to Cardiff at this time in the morning?â
âRight?â he smiles a little. Then, after pausing he adds, âHey, um⌠Iâm sorry if I stepped over a line or something before. When we were filming at Lahmu. I know you didnât really intend on it being a part of the show and it got kinda personal so I just wanted to make sure youâreâŚâ
âItâs ok,â Jyn says softly.
She isnât sure what it is. Itâs 4am in an airport, itâs one of those liminal spaces where time stops existing and only vacant expressions and stress endures. But she turns to glance over at him and heâs looking at her and shitballs, her stomach twists itself inside out. Â She still doesnât know what to expect from this entire project and she certainly doesnât expect anything ever from him, but a part of her is really, really pissed off to know that they have to part ways at the end of all this.
But then again also, they have 30 more countries to go.
Finally, the announcer is declaring that their flight is beginning boarding. All around, tired people stand and yawn, stretching and picking up suitcases and rousing sleeping children. Cassian sighs before pushing back his hood and giving her a determined look.
âLetâs go to Wales,â he says.
âLetâs go to Wales,â Jyn agrees.Â
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