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The air was stifling but still in the late night muggy heat of Yavin IV. Din left Grogu’s side, the little boy curled up around a small plush Leia had brought from Coruscant, picking his helmet off the ground as he went.
He didn’t bother to put it on until he was back in the hallway, knowing the other students were careful not to see his face and should all be asleep anyway.
His quiet footsteps padded down the hallway, checking in on each of the other students to the tune of their soft snores before he made his way to the main room of the Jedi Temple where he had left Luke two hours ago to help the children to bed. He had cleaned his armor after, then checked on Grogu since the little boy had trouble sleeping, so he was half expecting Luke to be gone already.
Then again, Luke had been on his 5th cup of caf, pouring over the Jedi texts when Din left him, so maybe not.
He came into the main room to the low lights and quiet, steady breaths. He couldn’t see Luke, and supposed he had probably left and just left the light on for Din to clean up his bits and bobs around the room before bed. But when he rounded the couch, there was Luke.
Luke was laying down, book over his face, a quiet, steady snore tickling the pages.
Din sighed, carefully removing the book from Luke’s place, using the ribbon on the table to mark Luke’s place and piling up the various books and files neatly for the morning. He took away the pile of dishes, putting them in the wash and setting it to run, before he came back to Luke’s side.
“Luke,” he murmured halfheartedly, not sure if he actually wanted to wake Luke up when the Jedi slept so little. He shook Luke’s shoulder, only to get no response, and so with a sigh he picked him up. Luke’s weight was like nothing to him, and he wondered if he should be concerned if Luke was eating enough. Then again, why should he be worried about a man he barely knew?
Well, Luke was his son’s teacher. That’s how he justified it to himself. Grogu needed Luke, so it was in Din’s best interest to keep him healthy and safe. No other reason.
Nothing.
That’s also why he had spent the past 4 months on Yavin IV with Luke at his Jedi school. He was just visiting Grogu, not helping Luke fix things up because he liked Luke and wanted his life to be easier.
That was preposterous. Nope.
He adjusted Luke in his arms until he got his head on his shoulder, body cradled between his forearms, legs thrown off one side, and set down the halls carefully toward Luke's room.
It was a bit of a puzzle to make it through the doorway, but once he had, he was happy to plop Luke down on his bed, pulling off his boots and then tucking him in under the covers.
Right as he turned to leave, a firm hand gripped onto his wrist. “Stay,” Luke mumbled, half asleep. Din wondered if Luke thought he was someone else, Leia maybe, or Lando. One of his found family members that he’d actually want to be close to, instead of an average acquaintance like Din. That worry was quickly squashed. “I won’t look. Please, stay, Din.”
Din murmured back a nervous, “okay”, and then pulled himself out of Luke’s grip. Carefully, he pulled the armor off piece by piece, setting it down on the ground softly so as to not startle Luke, and then toeing off his own boots, finally throwing his gloves on top of the pile.
He climbed into bed, hesitant and slow, nervous that one sudden move would wake Luke up and cause him to scream for Din to leave. Instead, Luke rolled over, curling up with his head pressed into the crook of Din;s neck, arms tight around Din’s middle. “Night, Din,” Luke mumbled.
“Night, Cyar’ika,” Din murmured back.