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“Comfortable there, Beroya?”
Din jolted as Mer- Jaster’s voice suddenly sounded from the other side of the small shuttle, startling him out of his thoughts. Silently cursing himself for losing track of his surroundings, Din nodded jerkily in reply.
With a low, throaty chuckle, Jaster slowly approached, helmet tucked beneath his arm as he plopped down gracelessly in the co-pilot’s chair adjacent to Din’s own with a low clatter of beskar. “Are you thinking about the Bounty?” Jaster asked, head tilted slightly to the side and humming thoughtfully at Din’s answering nod.
Din watched, dumbfounded as Jaster let out a deep sigh before slumping back in his chair, the man’s gloved hands absentmindedly playing with the dome of his helmet. “I’ve said this before, Din, but I’ll say it again. We all appreciate it, but you don’t have to take bounties for the Haat’ade. You help more than enough just being a part of the main attack party on Manda’Yaim.” Jaster leaned back in the chair, the low squeak of the bantha leather almost drowning out the other Mandalorian’s low chuckle. “I know that Rhydor and Juniper appreciate you distracting the Foundlings.”
A hot red flush crawled up the back of Din’s neck, heart thrumming hard in his chest as Jaster smiled softly, the soft blinking blue lights of the ship’s controls dancing across his face, chocolate brown eyes locked on Din’s visor. “You’re great with Ade, you know?”
Thump
Din’s eyes widened behind his visor as his heart skipped a beat, ever thankful for the comforting barrier of his helmet as his cheeks burned at Jaster’s words. Din’s hands reflexively clenched in the soft material of his cape as he struggled for words. I-Is he flirting with me..? No, he can’t be- He probably doesn’t know what complimenting childcare means to a Mandalorian- Wait- Kriff. He is a Mandalorian! Din’s hands tightened in his cape as his eyes flitted over Jaster’s smiling face, his frantic search turning up nothing, the man oblivious to Din’s plight. Unable to speak through the lump of embarrassment rising in his throat, Din’s thoughts raced. He obviously didn’t mean it like that, you idiot! You’ve seen how he is to his people, he’s just being nice.
Heart caught in his throat, squirmed in silence, watching as Jaster’s eyes roamed over the expressionless (Thank the K’ara) face of Din’s helmet. The air in the small shuttle felt… heavy, as if a spell had thickened the air as electricity seemed to spark between their gazes. Din felt his flush deepen as a small smile quirked the corners of Jaster’s lips, heart jumping as the man opened his mouth to say-
Beeeep
A shrill screech blasted from the shuttle’s nav-system, the sudden noise breaking the heady atmosphere that had descended over the cockpit. Sending both Jaster and Din jumping in their seats.
“Well,” Jaster’s head tipped back in a breathless laugh, the joyful sound tugging the corners of Din’s lips up into an involuntary smile at the other man’s joy even as his cheeks still burned from his earlier fluster. “I think that’s our cue to go over the plan before we land.”
Din swallowed heavily, resisting the urge to fan at the back of his neck as his heart slowly calmed in his chest. “Y-Yeah.” Wincing as his voice cracked, flush returning with full force, Din slowly swivelled in his pilot’s chair to fully face Jaster, forcing his hands not to fidget in his cape as he focused on the matter at hand. “So, who’s the Bounty?”
Instantly, Jaster’s joyful grin sharpened into a nexu-like smirk, a predator’s instinct flashing in the man’s usually kind eyes at the prospect of a hunt. The sudden shift had Din’s heart skipping a beat once again, blood staining his cheeks beneath his helmet. Those are the eyes of a Beroya…
“I’ve picked a relatively simple bounty this time, Din.” Jaster set his helmet down on the floor by his feet, intertwining his gloved hands in front of his face, smoldering eyes burning into Din’s visor over his steepled fingers.”I’m not here to observe you work, I’m just here to walk you through the Haat’ade’s collection and payment procedures. They’re a little different from what you’re used to in the Bounty Hunter’s Guild.” Din gulped heavily as Jaster’s smirk softened into a grateful smile. “I know exactly how capable you are, after all, you’ve helped our people more over the past month than I could ever imagine.” Jaster clenched his eyes shut and shook his head, a grimace of pain twisting his lips. “I don’t want to even think about what would have happened on Galidraan and Melida/Daan without you, Din. I thank the Manda every day for bringing you to us.”
Din’s eyes widened with every word out of Jaster’s mouth, the flush to his cheeks and ears deepening so much that Din could practically hear the sizzling of his skin against his helmet. Mouth opening and closing like a goldfish, Din floundered, struggling to find the words to reply to Jaster’s pure earnestness. Conflicting emotions warred in Din’s chest as he reflexively searched for signs of deceit in Jaster’s face, memories of the man’s kindness and how he decidedly was not like Din’s previous Alor clashed with the instinct that his- any Alor would never show appreciation, let alone gratitude to someone like Din-
“Ah- I can see that I’m making you uncomfortable.” Jaster chuckled sheepishly, eyes breaking away from Din’s visor to glance off to the side, a gloved hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck.”Sorry for going all mush on you, I just don’t know what I’d do without Jango…” Din felt his heart clench in sympathy, the cloying apprehension at Jaster’s gratitude dissipating. He didn’t even want to even imagine losing either of his Ad’ike, the incident with the Darktroopers and Gideon was already more than Din’s heart could handle.
The sound of Jaster awkwardly clearing his throat snapped Din out of his thoughts, drawing his attention back to the present. “So, back to the bounty.” Jaster coughed, gaze sharpening once more. “As I said before, the bounty is simple, just a regular catch and retrieval. The issuers don’t care whether the bounty is alive or dead upon delivery, they’re more interested in retrieving an item that the bounty stole. It’s not meant to be a test of your abilities, I purposefully chose an easy, quick one to show you the Bounty procedures.”
Procedures? Din tilted his head to the side in confusion, not noticing Jaster’s stifled smile at the sight.
Jaster nodded his head, coughing discretely behind a clenched fist as he shifted in his seat. “Yeah, the Haat’ade handles bounties differently than the Guild. Instead of taking a cut of the reward as a handling and processing fee, we take the entire reward.” Jaster leaned back in his chair with a chuckle, shaking his head in fond exasperation. “Well, credits that is. If the issuer decides to throw in anything else, you’re welcome to keep it. One of ours came back with an entire baby Bantha once.”
A shocked, rough chuckle involuntarily bubbled out from Din’s chest. “A Bantha? ”
“Yeah, a Bantha.” Jaster grinned, the soft lights of the ship’s dash dancing across the weathered planes of his face. “You should ask Skirata about that some time, they love to talk anyone who listen’s ear off about it. But yeah, the Haat’ade will take the entirety of the Bounty reward, and instead, you will be paid a weekly wage. You’ll get a standard rate that every Haat’ad gets for inactive weeks, and an increased rate for active weeks, even if the bounty is lost.”
What…? Din’s jaw dropped behind his helmet, mind going blank with shock as Jaster’s words slowly registered. “A-A wage?” They’ll pay me? But that’s not how things work, right? “But- Beroyas don’t get paid?” Din tilted his head to the side, flummoxed by the horror spreading over Jaster’s face, deepening the lines around his eyes.
“Wha- Don’t get paid?! What sort of group did you hunt for-” Jaster cut himself off, visibly taking a deep breath to calm himself down.
Why is he so confused? Isn;t that how things normally work? Din thought confusedly to himself, watching in silent befuddlement as Jaster visibly composed himself.
“Yes, we pay you.” Jaster said finally, voice cracking on the first syllable, bringing up a hand to pinch wearily at the bridge of his nose.
Deciding to drop the subject for now and just ask Boba later, Din nodded along, pretending to understand until a thought stopped him in his tracks. “Wait, if you’re even paying me for for failure, then how do you afford to pay wages when the Beroya aren’t bringing in the bounty money?”
Jaster chuckled, leaning back in his chair, tension draining from his shoulders. “Not all of us are fighters, Din. We have non-combatants back on Manda’yaim who oversee trade and commerce, we were never stripped for credits, Din, and we pay everyone fairly. Besides,” Jaster snorted in amusement, a crooked grin spreading across his face. “With the majority of the New Mandalorians joining our work-force as non-combatants, business is booming.” Jaster leaned forward in his chair, resting his chin on his intertwined hands, a passionate glint in his eye that stole the breath from Din’s lungs. “We Mando’ade still take bounties because the hunt is in our blood. The credits are just an added bonus. And the banthas.”
A raspy chuckle involuntarily left Din’s throat at the unexpected joke, not noticing the besotted smile on Jaster’s face as Din tipped his head back in mirth, before a thought struck him. “Wait, why did you come to shadow me? The Alor? Why not send an underling instead?” Din tilted his head in confusion, a perplexed frown tugging at his lips. “Doesn’t the Mand’alor have more important things to do than follow me?”
Jaster’s lips quirked in a crooked smile, nudging gently at Din’s shin with a booted foot, the light contact sending a shiver of pleasure down Din’s spine. “I don’t get to go out often as leader, you know? Being Mand’alor comes with a lot of time consuming duties, and I miss the thrill of the hunt. Besides,” The laugh lines around Jaster’s eyes crinkled as a sunny grin brightened his weathered face, melting away the years. “How could I say no to such stirling company?”
Din’s barely dissipated flush returned full force at Jaster’s words, mind racing a mile a second. S-Stirling company? Din thought, absentmindedly fiddling with the tattered hem of his cape as he struggled to fight down the urge to squeak in shock. I-Is he being sarcastic? There’s no way he means it in- in that way. It- it’s gotta be a joke! No one in their right mind would want to spend time voluntarily with someone like you, Djarin. Not after the osik you pulled when you first met. Yeah, he’s just being a good leader and helping the newcomers settle in- You’ve seen how kind he is to his own people, stop making things awkward!
This time, Din did squeak when Jaster tilted his head in silent question, the motion exposing the long expanse of tanned skin of Jaster’s neck. Though thankfully, the noise was too quiet for Din’s vocoder to pick up. Kriff, Djarin! Stop looking at him like that! Din stubbornly forced himself to look away from the tempting stretch of Jaster’s neck, suddenly finding the scuffed durasteel walls of the shuttle extremely interesting. Come on, Djarin. He doesn’t mean it that way, don’t disrespect him by allowing yourself to think these thoughts. Besides, Din thought miserably, he might not even be attracted to males, and even if he was it doesn’t mean that he’d be attracted to you, Djarin. I mean look at you, Din gulped heavily, staring down at his own fidgeting hands and bouncing knee, throat dry as bone. Who would be attracted to a sad little man that gets flustered at one little joke and can’t even hold a proper conversation with anyone who’s not your friend or a bounty issuer without finding an excuse to stay silent or leave.
Beeeeep
Both Din and Jaster jolted once again as the shuttle’s Nav-computer shrieked insistently once again, signalling their imminent arrival.
“Well,” Din startled as Jaster’s voice suddenly sounded from across the shuttle. “I think that’s our cue to gear up.”
Din nodded absently as Jaster heaved himself to his feet, taking deep even breaths to calm his racing heart and heated blush, resolving to keep himself in line over the course of the bounty and to avoid making his Alor- friend? Uncomfortable with Din’s unwanted attention.
sWs
I can’t believe that I got so lucky! Jaster hummed to himself as he glanced at Din discreetly out of the corner of his visor, relishing in the chance to be in the Beroya’s company. A smug smile tugged at Jaster’s lips as he walked side by side down the street with the Beroya. As the proud winner of the second ‘Beroya tournament’, Jaster had won the right to accompany Din on his first bounty under the Haat’ade, much to the disgruntlement of his Commandos. Although, Jaster thought to himself with a smirk, Rhydor seemed plenty happy to stay behind with the Beroya’s Ori’vode.
“Ah, I think that’s the place.”
Jaster jolted out of his thoughts Din’s raspy voice, resisting the urge to simply melt at the man’s soft tone. “Oh?” Jaster dragged his gaze off of the Beroya’s eye-catching beskar, cursing himself for getting distracted on the job, but trusting implicitly in Din’s ability to keep them both safe in the face of danger. “Ah, so it is.” Jaster hummed to himself as he scanned the sprawling luxurious estate juxtaposing the drab cityscape of the rest of the planet. The estate’s gleaming ivory roofs towered above the dull, stout durasteel apartments cramped together across the street. Jaster winced inwardly at the enormous floor length windows adorning the gleaming gold walls of the mansion, dreading the state of the inside . Kriffing hell , that’s a security nightmare, no wonder they got robbed.
Exchanging a short nod with Din, the duo strode purposefully up to the intricately carved double doors at the entrance to the estate. “Right, so the bounty issuer is the Lady of the house. We already negotiated the payment before hand, so all we have to do now is get the details from her.” Jaster said lowly as they drew up to the doors, raising a fist to knock loudly on the dense lacquered wood with a dull thunk thunk thunk.
Almost immediately, the doors swung inwards, revealing a gaunt looking human woman clad in servant’s attire a size too large, the baggy material spilling off of her bony, pockmarked shoulders. Greasy grey hair pulled back loosely into a low bun glinted softly in the harsh light. “Ah, Messeres. The Lady is expecting you in the drawing room. If you would follow me…” The lady droned, drooping lifeless eyes burning a hole through Jaster’s visor until she turned back and retreated into the estate.
Exchanging a look with Din, Jaster stepped over the threshold of the estate, Din hot on his heels as they followed after the scurrying servant. Instantly, Jaster was struck with the sheer security risk in the main hall alone, almost rivalling the New Mandalorian palace in Sundari. The floor length windows that he had spotted stretched across the entire hall, providing clear sightlines into the main house from the surrounding apartments. The hall itself was barren, not a item of furniture in sight to take cover behind, the airy, arching high ceilings provided no foothold for arbourne defence. All in all, it was a kriffing security nightmare, and Jaster wanted out as soon as possible.
A quick glance over his shoulder at the Beroya’s stiff shoulders revealed a similar discomfort in his companion. Resolving to get the bounty over as soon as possible, Jaster sped up his pace, wincing at the echo of the halls betraying his approach, the soft pads of his footsteps amplified sevenfold by the cavernous halls. Wait a second, Jaster thought to himself incredulously, eyes widening behind his helmet. There’s only two sets of footsteps. Jaster subtly glanced over his shoulder at Din behind him, or more accurately, Din’s feet. Karking osik. His footsteps are completely silent. Jaster gulped heavily, flushing lightly as his vocoder cackled at the sound. That’s hot…
“We have arrived, Messeres. The Lady awaits you within.” Jaster jolted as the servant’s droning voice snapped him out of his appreciative thoughts. WIth one last wooden bow, the servant pushed open the overly intricately carved door and retreated into the shadows of the hallway.
With no further ado, Din and Jaster exchanged one last comiserating look with each other, before striding into the room. Immediately, both Jaster and Din winced at the sheer opulence of the room within. Nearly every surface gleamed with encrusted jewels and generously slathered gold leaf. By the Manda, Jaster winced, taking in the obnoxious show of wealth, no wonder they got kriffing robbed if they’re falunting their assets like this… But no matter, credits are credits, and a bounty’s a bounty.
“Lady Grisnd?” Jaster called out, watching as a dark haired human woman clad in swathes of fine blue silks nodded at their arrival, her sheer black stilletto heels betraying her approach with soft crunches in the carpet.
“Lord Mereel, I assume.” Grisnd simpered, thin lips turning up in a sickly smile that had jaster suppressing a wince, and judging from Din’s uncomfortable shifting at Jaster’s side, he felt the same way. Opting to speed up the interaction as quickly as possible and commence the thrill of the hunt, Jaster simply nodded in reply.
“Charmed, I’m sure.” Grisnd’s gaudy gold rings glinted in the low lighting of the cramped drawing room as she ran her fingers through her meticulously styled hair. “Now, down to business.” Grisnd grasped the silken material and tugged at her long sleeves irritably. “I want you to hunt down a traitorous wretch.” The Lady sniffed derisively, turning her long, beak-like nose up into the air with an aura of disdain. “I don’t particularly care as to the fate of the fool, I just wish for the retrieval of the property they stole from me.”
Jaster hummed thoughtfully, several missing details from Grisnd’s request jumping to the forefront of his mind, but just as he opened his mouth to question his temporary employer further, Din shifted at his side, the sudden movement halting Jaster in his tracks.
Jaster’s mouth went dry as the Beroya’s awkward shifting morphed into the graceful stalk of a predator. The faint air of uncertainty hanging over Din like a cloying miasma melted away like water off the back of a Nexu as the man entered his element. Din tilted his head, visor locked on the Lady Grisnd like a predator with its prey in its sights. “Who is the bounty, and what is the object up for retrieval?”
Jaster shivered at Din’s voice, the man’s usually soft-spoken tone had simultaneously hardened and deepened into a low, promise filled drawl. By the Manda… He’s a born hunter… Mandokarla.
A disgusted sniff from Lady Grisnd jolted Jaster out of his appreciative thoughts, drawing his attention (regrettably), back to the frowning woman. “The miserable wretch you are looking for is one of my very own servants. A Twi’lek girl who goes by the name Serin. But she is of no consequence, alive, dead, it doesn’t matter. What I want, is the necklace that the fool stole from me!” Both Jaster and Din winced as Grisnd’s nasally voice grew into an indignant shriek, the grating tones echoing off of the opulent walls. “Now go and do what I am paying you to do, and find it!” With one last impatient yell, Grisnd turned on her probably exorbitant priced heel and stormed out of the room, fine silks fluttering in her wake.
Jaster’s brows climbed towards his hairline as the walls reverberated with the force of the door slamming shut. “Well, I think that went well.”
A gentle warmth filled Jaster’s chest as Din snorted softly at his side, the other man shaking his head in exasperation. “At least we have enough to start with. Let’s get to the servant’s quarters and pick up the trail.”
sWs
Jaster bit his lip to stifle a gasp as he followed Din through the streets, ever thankful for the obscuring layer of his helmet as he felt his cheeks stain red at the Beroya’s graceful stalk. It hadn’t taken the two long to follow the servant woman’s trail out of the estate. Jaster was right when he said that their bounty had no previous espionage or combat training, the blatant footprints right in the centre of the hallway’s carpet leading away from the scene of the crime and out of the servant’s entrance had been almost child’s play to follow, and even now, Din effortlessly followed an almost invisible trail through the cramped, narrow streets of the city.
Jaster clicked his tongue under his breath as he scanned the passing buildings for any threats or signs of their target, the dank, borderline dilapidated apartments rankling after witnessing the obnoxious splendour of their employer’s estate. So this is the divide between the rich and the poor. Why are they even surprised that they would be robbed when they drive the very people that they are sworn to protect to the brink of desperation? The Haat’ade will have to pay this planet a visit once our contract is complete…
Jaster’s hand flew to his blaster holster as the Beroya stopped in his tracks in the centre of the street, visor locked on the damp duracrete. “What is it, Din?” Jaster asked over private comms, scanning his eyes over the surrounding buildings as he turned his back to the other man, trusting him to protect his six.
“The trail ends here, they must be close-”
A bright flash flared in Jaster’s peripheral vision, and Jaster could barely get his mouth open to shout a warning before a searing pain erupted in his temple, and everything went dark.
sWs
Din jolted as the harsh crack of a cheap blaster rifle tore through the air. drawing his blaster at lightning speed and jerking himself around, Din caught the tail end of a bright red flash of light from one of the surrounding buildings before he reflexively brought up his blaster pistol to return fire. Cursing as his shot fizzled out harmlessly against the side of the building, Din geared up to give chase as a dark shadow flitted away from one of the crooked windows, the soft patter of hurried footsteps echoing down the cramped alley.
Ready to take off in a dead sprint after their Bounty, Din stopped in his tracks as he caught sight of Jaster’s swaying form out of the corner of his eye. Osik! Din whipped around, frantic questions on his lips as his heart jumped into his throat, a cloying sense of panic and dread descending over him as his Alo- his friend began to tip to the side.
Kriff kriff kriff-! Din shoved his pistol back into its holster with none of his usual finesse before lunging forward and shoving his arms between Jaster’s head and the fast approaching duracrete, barely stopping Jaster’s head from cracking off the unforgiving ground. Din’s eyes widened behind his helmet, panic clawing at his throat as his trembling hands moved on autopilot, patting down jaster’s torso and frisking for injuries even as his fingers trembled with nerves. Heart dropping to the pit of his stomach as his search turned up nothing, Din gingerly slid his fingers beneath the high collar of Jaster’s kute, pressing his fingertips into the man’s pulse point.
For a split second, Din’s mind raced in sheer panic as his fingers registered no pulse, mind racing a mile a minute. Kriff, no! Please! I haven’t even told him- Don’t take a person as good as him away so soon! Not from Boba, not from Jango, not from me-
Thump
A shaky breath of relief left Din’s chest with a stuttering exhale. Jaster was alive. With renewed confidence, Din checked Jaster over for injuries ince again, tutting under his breath as his eyes alighted on a smear of carbon scoring on the temple of Jaster’s helmet, the dark smudge almost invisible against the black of the buy’ce. A head injury…
Din bit his lip as he weighed his options- at that point, the bounty was long gone, and Din felt a bolt of pure icy rage jolt through his chest at the realisation that their employer had left out the minor detail of the bounty being able to kriffing shoot- and there was no way he was leaving Jaster’s incapacitated and vulnerable form out in the open. No, he was taking Jaster back to the relative safety of the shuttle. He was taking no chances with a head injury, he could always come back later and track the bounty once he had taken care of and secured Jaster. Mind set, Din wove his arms beneath Jaster’s shoulders and behind his knees, hefting the other man carefully into his arm. With practiced movements, Din carefully pinned Jaster’s knees beneath his elbow and shifted his other arm until Jaster’s head lolled to the side and came to rest against Din’s shoulder. With Jaster’s legs and head secured against his own body, Din swiftly ignited his jet-pack and took to the skies.
sWs
“Ungh…”
Jaster groaned as his consciousness slowly returned, face scrunching as a sharp pain pierced through his temple. Screwing his eyes shut, Winced as the familiar sensation of air rushing by slowly registered, the feeling of strong beskar clad arms wound around body slowly becoming tangible through the thick fog in his head.
In a move bourne of extensive experience in being air lifted, Jaster wound his arms around his rescuer’s neck, anchoring his body to theirs and making their flight pattern more steady, and easier to manouvre. Mind foggy and memories of the past few horse slipping out of his grasp like water, Jaster opened his mouth to ask for a sit-rep, only to snap it shut and and squeeze his eyes closed as a burst of intense nausea wracked his body.
“Ugnh…” Jaster groaned, tightening his arms around his rescuer’s neck in an attempt to ground himself, before a familiar vocoder processed squeak had him stopping in his tracks. Beroya…?
And just like that, memories of the day passed hit him all at once. The shuttle ride, the walk through the city, the employer’s estate, getting shot right in the fucking bucket like a rookie-
“J-Jaster? You awake?”
Jaster jumped at the voice so close to his helmet’s mics, a flood of hot shame at being caught off guard by a kriffing civie staining his cheeks red. “Ungh- yeah.” Hurriedly, Jaster realised his position- arms wrapped around Din’s neck and Jaster’s face pressed into his shoulder. “Osik- I mean, uh- You can put me down now, Din. I can walk.”
Jaster felt more than saw Din’s head tilt with their position pressed against each other, and felt the other’s chest rise and fall with an irritated huff. “No. You have a head injury.” Din shook Jaster gently and nodded in affirmation as the other man pressed his face into Din’s shoulder in an attempt to quell the resultant wave of nausea. “And probably a concussion.”
Jaster opened his mouth to protest, but drew up blank. Unable to argue, Jaster buckled down for the rest of the journey, stubbornly fighting down the hot flush at being pressed so close to the beroya.
After a few minutes of air travel, the two finally touched down where they had secured their borrowed shuttle in the city’s docking bay. After the two hobbled into the shuttle, Din set Jaster down in the co-pilot’s chair with a grunt, and when Jaster went to stand up to retrieve the med-kit himself, nailed him with a look so unimpressed that Jaster shrank back in his seat with a wince before stalking back into the bowels of the shuttle.
While Din was gone, Jaster leaned back in his chair and drifted, letting the persistent fog clouding his mind and the throbbing pain in his temple cloud his senses, mind blissfully empty as he trusted the other to watch his back. Jaster didn’t know how much time had passed as he floated on a sea of haze and pain, head lolling back against the headrest of the chair, but before he knew it, Din had returned, gloved hands carefully rubbing up and down his armoured arms to bring Jaster back to himself. The gentle contact through his Kute guided Jaster back into his own body, the anchoring sensation a steadfast ally in the undulating haze of pain and confusion clouding Jaster’s mind.
Din tilted his helmet, visor locked on Jaster’s own as he waited patiently for Jaster to anchor himself to reality once again. Jaster gave a grunt of acknowledgement as soon as he realised what Din was waiting for, before humming contentedly as Din’s gloved hands ran firmly up his arms and shoulders to rest pointedly at Jaster’s neck, just below his helmet, head tilted in silent question.
Jaster went to nod in reply, but the stabbing pain in his temple stopped him short, instead electing to reach a trembling hand up to pat weakly at Din’s elbow in acquiescence. With a silent answering nod, Din reverently slid his hands beneath the rim of the helmet, releasing the seal with a practiced ease before gently sliding it off of Jaster’s head.
Immediately, Jaster flinched away from the harsh lighting of the shuttle, the bright light seemingly sending bolts of pure pain through his eyes and directly into his brain. Someone in shuttle made a high whining noise that Jaster very much agreed with until a warm, gloved hand settled gently over his eyes, blocking out the painful light, another cupping the back of his neck. Jaster sighed in relief and leaned into the grounding weight of Din’s hand, the faint body heat soaking through the glove calming the nausea roiling in his stomach.
After a couple of stretched seconds that seemed to last forever, the hand eventually slid away, leaving Jaster to mourn the loss of the grounding weight, blinking blearily in the now softened lighting of the shuttle cockpit. The Beroya’s helmeted face appeared in Jaster’s vision, Din’s visor stopping a hair’s breadth from his own eyes. Fighting down a flustered blush at being close enough to give the Beroya a Keldabe Kiss, Jaster resisted the urge to lean out of Din’s personal space, something niggling in the back of his mind that the other man needed to be approached slowly and gently- though through the thick fog in his mind, and Din’s warm hand stabilising his neck, Jaster found it difficult to remember why.
Jaster twitched as a harsh hiss escaped Din, the low noise cackling through the other’s vocoder. “ Definitely a concussion. One of your pupils is blown wide open.” Din murmured, pulling away from Jaster’s face, though he tellingly kept his hand pressed soothingly to the back of Jaster’s neck. “The best I can do without a med-droid or an actual medic is give you some bacta until we get back to Manda’yaim.” Din mumbled, rifling through the open med-kit at his side, though his soft tone did little to penetrate the thick fog settling over Jaster’s mind.
Jaster groaned lowly as his eyes drooped with a sudden exhaustion, weariness tugging at his leaden bones.
“Hey.”
A hoarse moan tore from Jaster’s throat as he was gently shaken by the shoulders, the sudden movement making his head throb in renewed agony. “Sorry, but you can’t sleep just yet. Not until I get some bacta on you.”
“Ungh…” Jaster groaned, giving up on keeping himself upright and instead choosing to flop forward against the Beroya’s chest, the intense dizziness sapping the strength from his core. Through the haze of pain, Jaster didn’t notice Din’s shoulders going as tense as steel, before going limp, a tiny shiver wracking the other’s form.
Much too tired to muster up the strength to be embarrassed, Jaster nuzzled his face into the soft material of Din’s kute between his pauldron and neck. After a prolonged pause, Din continued with his task as if nothing happened, gloved fingers smoothing a thick layer of bacta gel over Jaster’s temple and earning a deep sigh of relief in return.
But all too soon, the soothing fingers retreated, and the grounding hand at the back of Jaster’s neck trailed down to his shoulders, gently pulling him away from the soothing cool of Din’s cuirass and settling him back against the bantha leather of the co-pilot’s chair.
“Sleep.” Din rasped, vocoder crackling as it struggled to pick up the man’s soft tone. “I will be back.” Din gave Jaster’s shoulder one last pat before he rose gracefully to his feet, gloved hand tracing over the blaster pistol at his thigh. “I have a bounty to catch.” Din spun on his heel and strode back out of the cockpit towards the landing ramp, pausing at the doorway. “I can’t let an attack on our Mand’alor like this stand.” Din tossed over his shoulder before striding out of the shuttle, predator-like steps noiseless even against the hollow durasteel of the shuttle ramp.
The last thought that wandered through Jaster’s mind before he drifted once again, confident that Din wouldn’t let anything happen to him while he was incapacitaded-
Action in defence of the Mand’alor… Mandokarla...