Chapter Text
Before you , the endless expanse of hyperspace was suffocating. Din was stuck alone with his own thoughts, cycles bleeding into one another, time becoming entirely non-existent. It was just something he tried to get over with as fast as possible. He would choose bounties that required no more than a few days in hyperspace on purpose, because there was truly nothing to keep him from tumbling into the pit of despair that Grogu’s absence had created. His nightmares got worse, and his mind grew restless. He went from job to job, in between seeking solace in only cheap whiskey and solitude.
But then, there you were. You had stumbled into his life at just the right time, helping him fix his badly damaged ship after a crash landing a mile or so outside your village. He would sit there, handing you screws, bolts, passing you the welding torch,just doing whatever he could to keep himself busy. He was frankly embarrassed that he sustained so much damage to his brand new ship within a few months of buying it.
The way you worked was really a sight to see. You seemed to enjoy being a mechanic, getting lost in your tasks for hours at a time and sometimes even forgetting to eat. He basically only got to talk to you on your breaks, if you ever took them, and even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself, it was always the highlight of his day.
Either you would ramble on about something like what type of wire was best for cooling units, or you would ask him questions about his job, pushing him to tell you stories or jokes or whatever you could get out of him. He was tight-lipped and cranky at first, stressed and bogged down by a dark cloud of depression. But you slowly pried him open, one day at a time.
Honestly, Din preferred to just sit there and listen to you talk. He found himself entranced by the way your mind worked, watching the wheels turn in your head as you jumped from story to story to joke to question to story, and so on and so forth. The sparkle in your eyes when you talked about something you were really passionate about, the soft laughs you let out when you were embarrassed about tripping over your words, the way your eyes flitted about as if the thoughts were displayed in front of you like a data pad that only you could see. Those were only a few of the many reasons why he thought you were the most interesting woman in the entire galaxy.
It became a ritual for you two. He would bring you lunch to make sure you ate something, you would clear off your work bench for the two of you to sit at, and conversation would ensue.
Din was never much of a talker. He felt like he didn’t have much to talk about. Nothing that people would want to listen to anyways. But, when you listened, Maker, you listened to him like every word he had to say was the most important and interesting thing you had ever heard. In the beginning, it was just harmless stories about life as a Mandalorian or a few tales about particularly unruly bounties. But, eventually he found himself telling you about Grogu. About the little guy’s bad habit of snacking on various amphibious creatures. About Peli and how much she spoiled him. About how happy he looked on Sorgan with Winta and the other kids.
Your words rang through his head.
He sounds like such a bright soul, you had said. Din never heard anyone talk quite like you did. You had funny ways of saying things sometimes, and he admired that about you. It kept him on his toes.
Eventually, your days together neared an end, and every time he thought about leaving, he felt himself slipping back into that familiar sorrow.
But then, he found himself piecing together your conversations. You had talked at great length about how you ended up here and why. You were on the run, just trying to get away from your past. Same as him. So, if he asked you to come with him, would you? It didn’t even have to be anything romantic. He rationalized it, saying he needed a crew member like you and that having someone to watch the ship while he was on hunts would be beneficial.
When it came down to it, he was nervous. So nervous, in fact, that he barely touched his lunch before bringing you yours. Over the past week or so, you became fairly skilled at reading his body language, and he knew that unfortunately nothing would get past you.
Are you okay, Mando?
Yeah-- yeah. Just thinking, that’s all.
Did you wanna talk about it?
He took a deep, shaky breath, measuring his next words carefully.
I just wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for me-- I mean-- for my ship.
You cocked your brow at him.
Well, that was no problem at all , you said matter-of-factly. I had a lot of fun. But, are you sure that’s the only thing on your mind?
Now you were looking at him directly, brow knitted in concern as you reached a comforting hand out to place on his knee, your pinky brushing the unarmored patch of fabric above his knee pad. He knew it was nothing more than an act of friendship, but kriff , you had never touched him before. Well, besides light brushes of your fingers against his gloves as he handed you tools, and the occasional awkward hand grab as you reached for the same wrench or wire crimper. It took everything in him not to flinch at the contact.
Your eyes burned into him, convincing him you could see through the thick layer of beskar that hid his face. He had to coach himself in his head. After all, what was the worst that could happen?
I was just-- I could use someone with your skills. As a crewmate. If-- If you were interested in that. I’ll pay you good money, but if you’re happy here that’s also fine, I--
I’d like that a lot, actually.
Din was extremely thankful you interrupted his rambling before it got out of hand. Your soft tone soothed every worry he had about the situation and left him embarrassed about how anxious he was acting. If you didn’t know how he felt about you before, he was sure you had at least an inkling now.
Uh-- great. Would you be ready to leave by the time you’re done with the ship?
Yeah. I can be finished by tomorrow for sure.
Tomorrow? Like the day after today? Less than a cycle away ? He needed to clean a few things up on that bachelor pad of his before you could even step foot on the cargo ramp.
Yeah-- yes, that would be perfect.
The conversation lulled, and the two of you sat there, briefly processing the new development in your relationship. Then, you broke the silence.
I hope I can meet some of these friends you’ve told me about. I think Peli and I would really get along, you chuckled, remembering all of the jokes about how he needed to call her to brush up on his engineering terms before he came to see you every day.
His heart warmed at that. The fact that you, someone so intelligent and hilarious and beautiful, took such a great interest in his friends, in his kid, in him . He couldn’t help but huff out a laugh at the thought of his two favorite mechanics enthralled in a deep conversation about something as trivial as durasteel for hours on end.
I think she’d like you a lot.
You gave him a gentle smile, and he swore that even through the tint of his visor, he saw a blush form on your cheeks.
For the first time in a while, his future felt brighter.
-
Now, as you both sat in the cockpit, tired from packing up your supplies and belongings, loading everything up, and triple checking the ship’s airlock and various other systems, everything fell quiet.
It wasn’t an uncomfortable quiet. In fact, it was quite the opposite. You were both content. Relaxed. Happy, even. Din was in his element, clicking buttons and pulling levers, getting ready to lift off.
You had a strange fluttery feeling in your stomach. Telling yourself it was just pre-flight jitters, you shoved it down and asked him an important question.
“Where to?”
Din hadn’t really thought about that. But, what he did know was that he was low on credits and needed a quick and easy job.
“Tatooine,” he said, still facing the control panel and gently coaxing the ship higher, finally exiting the atmosphere. “There’s always work in Mos Eisley.”
“Cool,” you replied, smiling to yourself and fidgeting with your hands in your lap. Once you heard the familiar beeps of the nav pad cease, you looked up to see him turned to you.
This definitely wasn’t the first time you’d taken a job like this, but with him, it felt… different. The little voice in your head wasn’t telling you to be scared for your life like usual, and Din wasn’t a stranger like your previous crew mates were. But, something new tugged at the back of your mind.
After a few seconds, you realized you were staring directly into his visor for far too long. His warm voice returned you to reality.
“Everything okay?”
“Oh— yeah. Sorry, I’m just tired.”
“You should head down to the cabin to rest,” he said quietly, concern lining the edges of his words. “Just so you know, we’ll be spending about three standard cycles in hyperspace.”
This time, he knew for a fact that you were blushing. Nodding and giving him a soft smile, you excused yourself from the cockpit, craving privacy and the warm embrace of a bed.
The cabin had two twin sized beds that folded up into the wall, and naturally you took the one tucked in the corner. Removing your shoes and crawling under the thin blankets, you were lost in your own thoughts.
Your work was your life, and you rarely ever made the time to get to know people. Fixing things, inventing things, that’s all you really did. But, with Mando, the relationship just felt natural. He was standoffish at first, which was understandable. You would be cranky too if you had just crashed your ship in the middle of nowhere. Hearing his voice, his stories, his jokes. It all quickly became the most important part of your day.
Not to mention, he listened to you like no one ever had before. You knew the effect you had on people in the past. No one shared your level of passion for your work and your hobbies, and they got snippy with you if you talked for too long or got too excited. You learned to shut down, resorting completely to your internal dialogue and shoving everything back inside.
Whether or not he was actually listening, or if the beskar just shielded his bored facial expression, you couldn’t deny that he made you feel happy and safe. Despite the cold metal shell, Mando emanated a warmth that you craved from the moment your work day ended to the moment you went back the next day.
Even with all of these new realizations, it didn’t take long for you to slip into a peaceful and much-needed sleep. For now, the weird warmth in your chest could wait. You knew it wasn’t going anywhere for as long as you were on this ship. His ship.
Meanwhile, Din sat in the cockpit, worried about the way you were acting. Were you actually just tired, or were you uncomfortable with him? Did you know about his stupid little crush?
Crush . Just thinking about that word made him cringe. He’d never really felt this way about someone before. He had a few lovers in his younger and wilder days, but it was always just quick hookups to blow off steam. This was definitely something more. He could feel it.
He had to remind himself that you easily could have said no when he asked you to tag along. You were never really one to hide your feelings or thoughts. But, did something change? A sick feeling twisted in his gut, and he turned back to the control panel to launch the ship into hyperspace.
Sleep was on his mind now too, but he opted to stay in the cockpit to give you space to settle in. Resting his helmet against the back of the chair, he let his eyes slip shut and slowly drifted off, dancing between the worlds of sleep and consciousness.
-
“Come here,” a voice said, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the cargo ramp.
The figure in front of him held what looked like a squirming bundle of cloth close to its chest, and he followed, looking up to see a beautiful open field peppered with wildflowers and the occasional glare of the sun that reflected off of the marsh.
And suddenly, he was sitting on a woven blanket, looking out toward the landscape before finally turning to the two figures on his right.
It was her. Eyes bright and scrunched up from a massive grin as she looked down at her lap. Green ears perked up and a tiny claw reached out to grab her finger as she held it out to the child, the pair suddenly finished with what looked like a game of peekaboo.
And then, as if she could sense his eyes on her, she tilted her head up to meet his gaze. He just about dissolved into the soft grass, an unforgiving mess of emotions crashing into him and rendering him unable to speak or think.
Her hand reached up to touch his bare cheek, shards of panic stabbing into him after realizing he was missing his helmet. It quickly subsided at the feeling of her skin on his. It felt right. So unbelievably right. So real and beautiful and—
Din jolted awake.
What the fuck was that ? He had to lift his helmet to rub the sleep from his eyes, and his heart pounded against his chest. He had only known you for a couple weeks, and now he was dreaming about you playing with his son ? It sounded harmless enough, but to Din, it held heavy implications. Implications that he didn’t want to think about right now. Retreating to the ‘fresher, he decided to splash some water on his face and attempt to get his shit together.
You were still fast asleep in the cabin as he carefully walked past, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Stars , what was he going to do? He could resort to his usual tactic and shove his feelings back in the dark hole that they came from. But, after losing Grogu, that wasn’t how he wanted to handle things anymore.
Despite his shiny exterior, he wasn’t a droid. No matter how much he may have acted like that in the past, it just wasn’t him anymore. He realized, after the kid, that keeping his emotions separate from his work actually makes him a worse bounty hunter and a worse human.
Setting his helmet on the floor beside him, he stared at his reflection in the tiny mirror above this sink. Why would you, such a vibrant light in this dark galaxy, ever want to be with him? He’s done horrible things. Life had hardened him, and it showed in the lines on his face, the scars peppering his skin, and the bags under his eyes.
He realized there was nothing he could do to fix this. It wasn’t something he was an expert at, like catching a bounty, where he had one set goal that he had to accomplish at all costs. This was terrifying. Unpredictable. Volatile.
All he could do was wait it out and hope that you felt the same. You were his crewmate now. He was your employer . It was inappropriate for him to make the first move. Inappropriate for him to even feel this way. Maker , what was he even thinking when he asked you to come with him? You could easily get hurt. You could easily get killed .
He didn’t deserve you. That was his final thought.
Din was gripping the sides of the sink hard, and a dull pain ached in his forearms, snapping him out of it.
After all, she probably just came with you for the extra credits.
-
A dull hunger gnawed at your stomach, waking you from your peaceful, dreamless sleep. It was a good thing you insisted on bringing what was left of your groceries, because you quickly found out that all Mando really owned was ration bars and a few cans of soup.
You decided on some sort of canned meat/potato combination. I mean, you didn’t make that much money as a mechanic in a farming village. As you set to work on the small stove in the cargo bay, the smell of spices quickly reached the cockpit.
Din came down to see what was happening, only to find you holding a plate of food out to him.
“You don’t— you didn’t have to do that.”
“You brought me lunch everyday for like… two and a half weeks,” you reminded him, smiling softly as you nudged the metal plate back toward him.
He sighed and took the plate from your hands.
“Thank you.”
You nodded, moving to clean up in an effort to hide your flushed cheeks.
“I’ll eat up there because—“ he said, motioning to his helmet. “But, uh— feel free to join me after. If you want.”
“It’s a date,” you said, smiling up at him from where you were cleaning some crumbs on the floor and not realizing the nature of your words until after they came out. But, something inside your brain stopped you from correcting yourself.
After nervously clearing his throat and nodding, he turned back toward the ladder, plate held precariously in one hand as he began his ascent.
It’s just a figure of speech, he scolded himself.
But, kriff. There was something about the situation that made his insides melt. It wasn’t a weird misogynistic thing about you making him dinner. It was the thought that someone cared for him. The thought that the person he cared for cared back.
You finished your food, and after cleaning up the mess, you retreated back to the cabin to read. Unfortunately, you found yourself not being able to focus, and your brain kept wandering back to how flustered Mando acted at your offhand comment. You really had never flirted with anyone. Was that even considered flirting? Did you make him uncomfortable or was it something else entirely?
Stars , how do people do this?
You stood, heart beating a little faster than normal and thoughts shaken up like a snow globe. Walking toward the ladder, you decided to yell up there first just in case.
“Mando?”
“Come on up,” he said quickly.
Then, you appeared at the top of the ladder, grin on your face, sweater sleeves a little too long for your arms, and hair slightly mussed up from when you were curled up in bed with a book. Din’s eyes widened under the helmet. Maker , this was becoming an issue.
If I even had half a brain, I would leave her on Tatooine.
But that wasn’t how he really felt, and he knew that.
“Hi,” you said, squirming slightly under his prolonged gaze.
He cleared his throat.
“Hey.”
Then, you sat in the co-pilot’s seat to the right of him, warmth traveling between your bodies and making you both shift uncomfortably. He had to break the silence, something he never does.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah,” you said, entranced by the stars rushing past you. It was like the ship was a submarine in a river of light. Then your head snapped back to him.
“Did you sleep? You need rest, Mando.”
“I did. I slept up here,” he answered, his mind inevitably drifting back to the dream from earlier.
“You could’ve come down to your bed,” you scoffed. “I slept like a rock. There’s no way you would have woken me up.”
“I know. I just— I wanted to give you some space, that’s all.” What Din really wanted right now was there to be no space at all, but he wouldn’t admit that, even to himself.
His tone was different, so you decided to drop the subject.
“So,” you sighed. “What do you do when you’re up here all the time, anyway?”
“I guess when there’s nothing to work on, I just… think.” Kriff , he thought. I probably sound like the most boring person in the world.
“That’s fair,” you remarked. “I do that a lot too. It’s a good skill to have. I guess we both had a lot of time to learn how to be alone.”
Your response caught him by surprise a little.
“Yeah— yeah, we did.”
“Well, the good thing is, now we’re not.”
Feeling your eyes on him, he turned too, tilting his helmet down to look directly at you. Of course, you were blushing again. He had that effect on you, and by now, you both knew it.
Din decided that maybe your cheeks were just always flushed, because there was absolutely no way someone would ever react to him like that. He was used to people being scared, but he knew this wasn’t the case for you. Or was it? Were you just so scared of him that you were only being nice so he wouldn’t kill you? It was times like these that he wished his brain would just shut up .
“Are you okay?” You were starting to worry that you said something wrong.
Kriff .
“Yes— yeah, sorry.”
“That’s okay,” you said, looking down at your hands in your lap and measuring your next words carefully. “You can— you can talk to me if there’s something wrong, you know. I get you’re used to being alone and all, but sometimes it helps to say things out loud.”
Din practically shattered into a million pieces, and it felt like the beskar plates were all that were holding him together. It was still hard for him to digest that someone was interested in what he had to say. Interested in what he was feeling. Could he trust you enough to be vulnerable? To bare his heart, his emotions, and his worries to you?
“I’m really okay.”
He took a deep breath, and the next words that came out of his mouth surprised him. This was about to sound pathetic, Din thought.
“But, can I ask you something?”
You looked up at him, concern evident on your brow.
“Of course you can,” you reassured him.
“You’re not scared of me, are you?”
You couldn’t stop yourself from huffing out a laugh at the thought. Sure, he was six feet tall and covered in armor, and you’d be lying if you said he wasn’t at least a little intimidating the first time you saw him. But, Mando? Scary? Absolutely not. Not after you heard the way he talked about his son so sweetly. How he brought you lunch every day, making sure you ate and took a break. How he told you stories of his adventures, painting colorful, exciting scenes in your mind and not even once sounding boastful.
“No, Mando. There’s no way I could be scared of you. You’ve given me no reason to be.”
A visible tension left his body as his shoulders relaxed.
“That’s— good.”
But was it? You should be scared of him. Or at least that’s what he thought. He looked back out of the window in front of him and his gloved hands clenched and unclenched in his lap.
You wanted desperately to reach over and hold them in yours, reassuring him that you really do enjoy his presence. You wanted to admit that you weren’t in this for the credits. That you just wanted to spend more time with him. Because, it was true. He was the first real friend you’d had in years.
The starlight reflecting off of his armor made him look like a piece of space. Beautiful, mysterious, and captivating.
“He would have liked you a lot.”
This time, you did reach out to take his hand. You couldn’t stop yourself, because there was nothing you could say that would be enough. You knew exactly who he was talking about. The most important part of his life.
He snapped his head down toward where your hand held his, and you were concerned that you might have overstepped. But then, after a few seconds of stillness, he interlaced his fingers with yours. You let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding, and those butterflies were back in your stomach.
Din couldn’t even remember the last time someone besides his son touched him outside of a fight. Not like this . So soft and tender and innocent.
“You should tell me another Grogu story,” you said softly.
And so he did. The weight of his hand in yours. His quiet, smoky laugh as he looked back on the memories. The beautiful sparkle of the stars against his black visor. It was all too much and yet not enough all at once. You listened intently to his words, knowing that this wasn’t easy for him.
This time, the story was about an unexpected but brave passenger who, thanks to Grogu, ended up with less eggs than she came aboard with. As disturbingly funny as the story was, the ending warmed your heart. A husband reunited with his wife and their new children, and Grogu with a whole litter of new friends.
“You really are a good man, Mando.”
He scoffed. Good ?
“Really. You helped them start their new life.”
You had him all messed up inside.
“I don’t think I would have kept going if she hadn’t pushed me.”
He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and dipped his head down. Shame burned deep inside of him. It was something he’d kicked himself for before. He was selfish . But, you were relentless.
“That doesn’t matter, because you did . A bad man wouldn’t have cared enough to even think about doing those things.”
Din decided to give up. Even if he didn’t believe it himself, it was nice to know that someone else did. You gave his hand a squeeze, and his head tilted back up to meet your eyes. You were being too kind, and he wanted to give you something in return. After a long pause, he caved.
“My name is Din. Din Djarin.”
Your look of concern quickly turned into a big, bright smile.
“I like it,” you said. “Din.”
Hearing his name fall from your lips fueled a liquid warmth that spread throughout his body. All he really wanted to do was hold you in his arms. To just feel the weight of you, your soft skin against his. But, the two of you just sat there, a foot apart, hand in hand. He didn’t know if he was ready for more than that right now, no matter how much he wanted it.
Little did he know, you wanted it too.