Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

The woman glanced up from her computer, her expression bland, and returned to her search.  “That sort of language doesn’t open up classes, Mr. Djarin.”

Din took a deep breath and pushed all of his frustration down.  Down as far as he could shove it.  Then down a bit more.  “I apologize, I shouldn’t take out my frustration on you,” he said evenly.  “It’s just that, the class was wide open when I looked at it.  A few minutes ago.”  He took another deep breath.  “In the hallway while I was waiting to speak with you.”

“That’s the way it goes with these electives,” she mused.  “You should’ve signed up through the online portal - it’s much quicker than coming in.”

Din nodded.  “Yes, you see, I tried to do that.  But the last time I took a class, the portal was different.”

“And whose fault is that?”

He silently counted to five, each number pushing his irritation down where it wouldn’t threaten to spill over.  “Ma’am, my login credentials no longer worked, and when I tried to reset them, the system said that I had to come in person to the Registrar’s office to be able to sign up for classes.  I’m assuming because it’s been a few years since I last took a class.”

“Quite a few years, Mr. Djarin,” she murmured.  “Truthfully, you’re lucky you came in when you did.  This is the last semester we can reinstate your active student status before some of your credits start falling off.  It looks like you’re… three courses shy of finishing this degree.”

Din nodded.  “Two next semester, and one over the summer.  I was hoping to have the elective this semester count towards -” 

“I’m sorry, that’s not going to be possible.”

Din tried desperately to keep his expression neutral.  “I’m not able -”

“The course is full,” she repeated.  “And I’m not going to bump a student who registered on time.”

Din sighed.  “Okay.  Can I register for the two I need next semester now to make sure I get them?”

She shook her head.  “No.  And unfortunately, as I said before, you’re going to need to take a course this semester to retain your active status so that you’re even able to register for classes next semester.”

“So I need to pay for and take a class that I don’t need, that won’t count towards anything, in order to be able to pay you next semester to take the classes I do need?”

“Or else you can start retaking some of the earliest classes because it’s been -”

“I know how long it’s been, thank you,” he sighed, absolutely not needing the reminder of how old he was.  “Look, that elective fit into my work schedule.  Do you have anything else that’s available in that time slot?  Something easy?” he added with what he hoped was a charming grin.  Or at this point he’d take pathetic, if pathetic would get through to her.

“Are you insinuating that we offer breezy, unimportant courses here?”

Din tilted his head.  “No?” 

That got a smile out of her.  “I’m pulling your leg.  There are some absolutely terrible courses that I’ve tried to have removed but… I digress.”   She absently scrolled through her list.  “Not too many courses slated for 8am, for obvious attendance reasons… wait, I have a literature course available.”

“I’m not sure that’s the best fit for-”

“You’re registered for the literature course, Mr. Djarin,” she said, clicking a few keys before looking up and smiling.  “Just think, you’ll be able to use your deep seated frustration with both myself and the system you find yourself locked into to perhaps write the Great American Novel this semester.”

“There’s nothing else?”

“Mr. Djarin,” she said, “at this point you should feel grateful that I even have that slot available.  And who knows, this course could end up changing your life.”

Din lifted an eyebrow.  “Really?”

“No, but we’re done here and you can leave now.”

“So why am I adjusting your schedule starting next week?”

Din poked his head out from behind the truck.  “Classes start next week,” he explained.  Again.  Peli was a talented mechanic, and a decent boss, but her hearing was selective at best when it had to do with anything other than the shop.  “I’ve got an 8am a few days a week, but I’ll be in by 10:30.  It shouldn’t disrupt the schedule too much.”

“Classes for what?”

“I’m finishing up my Bachelors.”

“You’re still working on that?”

Din set his wrench down and sighed.  “Yes, still,” he mumbled.  “I haven’t been able to take anything in the past couple of years.”

“You can’t blame me for that.”

Din shook his head.  “I got a kid, Peli.  Time became a little scarce at that point.”  

The kid - Grogu - came into his life a year and a half ago.  Tiny and helpless, and with an immediate vice grip on Din’s heart.  He never planned on single fatherhood.  Hell, he’d never planned on fatherhood at all.  His previous life never left room for anyone else.  He joined the Army at eighteen, spent years moving around between bases and getting shot at when Uncle Sam deployed him, and finally retired when his body gave out and he decided he wanted to build something instead of tear it down.  Something permanent.

Grogu was as permanent as it got.  He burned out on classes for a few years after retirement, convincing himself it would be easy to pick it back up the next semester and then the next and then before he knew it, it had been years.  But now with Grogu in his life?  Din wanted to set a good example for his son.  He wanted to finish what he started.  And if he could just get through this waste of time literature class, he could be finished with his degree in under a year.  

“And you think time’s just easing up now?” Peli asked.  “I think that means you’re not busy enough.  There’s always more work to do around here.”

Din huffed a small chuckle.  “Yeah, but I’m gonna make time for this.  I’m trying to set a good example.  He’s gonna grow up one day and… I want him to be proud of his dad.”

Peli’s shoulders dropped and she placed a hand on her heart.  “Din Djarin, that might be the softest, most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Really?”

“No,” she tossed back.  “It sounds sappy and like the lines right before a commercial on a made-for-tv holiday special.”  She watched him for a second before sighing, and grinning.  “Fine, okay, maybe it was sweet and sincere.  You’ve gotten soft since the kid came along.”

“You enjoy any excuse for me to bring him by.”

“He likes me the best, and I can’t blame him.  He has excellent taste.”

“He does.”

“But he’s a handful.”

Din nodded.  “Yes, he is a handful.”

“You know what would help with that?”

“More affordable daycare options?”

“A partner,” Peli said matter-of-factly.  “A second body around.  Another set of hands.  To love and to cherish and all that.”

Din picked up his wrench and ducked his head back under the hood of the truck.  “Now who sounds sappy?”  He didn’t want to endure this conversation again.  He’d made the mistake one night after work, and after a couple of beers, of mentioning that single fatherhood got lonely.  Peli took that as a challenge and brought it up every few months or so.  He didn’t need the reminder, he knew it would be easier with someone else, and he knew he wanted someone else.  But folks itching to date a middle-aged man just getting by and single parenting a toddler were few and far between.  He could get by just fine on his own - he had for years.  No partner was better than the wrong partner, for both him and Grogu.  “I’m too busy right now to think about dating.”  Maybe that’ll buy him another few months.  “Maybe after I finish my degree.”

“What are you finishing?” came a woman’s voice from the other side of the truck.

Din looked up.  “Hey, Cara,” he said.  “Truck’s almost ready. I've just got to make sure everything’s tightened back up.  Ten minutes?”

“No rush,” Cara said.  “Shift ended so I got dropped off here.  Hey, Peli.”

“Sherriff,” Peli replied.  “You know, we’re good, but at some point you’re just going to have to replace the whole rust bucket.”

Cara shrugged.  “Look, when the county says I can replace it, I’ll replace the truck.  Until then, I’ll depend on you to keep it running.  You’re saying you’re not up to the challenge?”

Peli gasped as she turned to glare at Cara.  “I can’t believe that you would insult me like that in my own home.  My own home!  Quit pestering me and pester him instead.”

“What do I need to pester him about?”

“Peli, no,” Din tried.

“He’s alone, and sad, and refuses to date in order to no longer be alone and sad,” Peli replied.  “And if he’s not going to listen to me, maybe he’ll listen to someone else.  The only way to not be alone and sad is to get out there and try to meet someone.”

“I’m not alone and sad,” Din said.

“I’m surprised,” Cara mused.  “Handsome guy like you, I figure you’d get a lot of hits on your profile.”

Din sighed.  There was no way around this conversation, was there?  “I don’t… I’m not on a dating site.  Any of them.”

“Why not?”

Din shut the hood of the truck and placed the wrench back in the box.  “It’s weird.  Shopping for people like a pair of pants.  Wrong size, wrong shape, wrong color.  And what am I supposed to put on there?”

Cara put her hand out.  “Give me your phone.”

Without thinking, Din handed it off.  “Tired single dad, attempting to fit in dating between everything else that needs to be done?  Is that really what’s going to get someone to click on me?  I think there’s maybe two pictures of me that don't have some kind of baby stain or oil stain.”

“I see three in your photos,” Cara mused, grinning, as she scrolled through his phone.  “One of them’s from the beach so obviously no stains… oh and the kid looks so cute in his frog hat.”

“Three,” Din relented.  

“Just gonna crop him out...” Cara murmured.

“What?”

“Nothing, how tall are you?”

Din shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Five eleven, somewhere around there.”

“You’re so fucking honest, not even going to round it up to six foot?” Cara chuckled.  

“Why do you care how tall I am?”

“Just making conversation.”

Din sighed again.  “I just… I just wish that it was easier, okay?  Why is it impossible just to meet someone?  People used to meet other people all the time.  Out and about, doing normal things.  And you could meet them without having to exist as a close up photo of eight-pack abs.”

Cara looked up from Din’s phone and cocked her head.  “How much going out and doing normal things do you do?”

“I -”

“That doesn’t involve coming here, or picking up the kid at daycare?” she clarified.

Din paused.  Then sighed.  “We go to the park sometimes.  And the grocery store.”

“He’s taking a class at the university this semester,” Peli piped up.  “Maybe his soulmate will walk into that lecture hall and sweep him right off his feet.”

“I’m not going out with some eighteen year old college student.  I’m already raising one kid, I don’t need another,” Din protested.

“Well, if the universe doesn’t provide you with the perfect mate, delivered directly to you in class, you can get some action here.”  Cara handed Din back his phone, with a dating app open and a profile set up.

“Cara, come on,” he said, scrolling through what she’d set up.  “I don’t need this.  I’m just going to delete this.  Huh, okay… at least I don’t sound completely pathetic here.  Thank you for not putting pictures of my kid up.”

“If anyone seems interesting, you can tell them.  In person,” Cara said.  “This is something just for you.  And maybe it’s just a fuck or two to get you warmed up.  You’ve been out of the game for a while, so a few practice dates aren’t a terrible idea.  So that when you magically run into this perfect person in real life, you’re not stumbling over yourself because you’ve forgotten how to flirt.”

Din considered.  Maybe it wasn’t a terrible idea.  The chances of meeting anyone worthwhile on his phone were slim, but she was right.  He was woefully out of practice.  A date or two wasn’t a huge commitment, and Grogu was getting better with other people putting him to bed so leaving him for a couple hours here or there in the evening wasn’t completely out of the question.  

“Fine,” he relented.  “I won’t delete it.  For a few weeks,” he clarified.  “We’ll see what happens.”

“Does helping you find love translate into a discount on the repair?” Cara asked.

Peli shook her head.  “No discounts.” 

Din walked into the classroom acutely feeling every year of his age.  He reminded himself as he parked, and as he walked in, and as he picked an open seat at random that this class didn’t actually count.  He needed to be signed up for it, and he needed to pass it, but he didn’t need to retain anything in order to sign up for the few remaining classes that actually would count and would get him his degree.  

Actually, he wasn’t even certain he needed to pass the class.  He only needed to pay for it to retain active status.  There was a good chance he could just walk out now and nothing would be any different.

He wouldn’t do that, though.  It’s the same argument as that cursed dating profile from a couple weeks ago.  He’s been out of school for years, so taking something that didn’t actually count towards finishing his degree would be good practice for the courses that mattered.  This was practice.  He was warming up his brain for next semester.  

The dating app had remained closed since Cara created it.  She’d originally set it to give him a notification each time someone messaged him, but he immediately shut that off.  He’d look at it when he was ready, and if anyone had sent him something when he was ready to look… so be it.  But he wasn’t living and dying by it.  Having it out there was fine, but he wanted to focus on things that really mattered.  His son, his work, finishing his degree, hell, even whether the easy peel mandarins were on sale this week was more important.  Grogu loved chomping on each section hard enough to make them squish and then laughing like it was the funniest thing ever.  That was more important.  

He needed Grogu.  He didn’t need to date.

“Hey.”  Din turned at the insistent voice next to him.  The girl smiled brightly and motioned to his backpack.  “Do you have a pen I could borrow?”

“Sure,” Din said.  He pulled an extra pen from his pocket and handed it to her.  

“Oh awesome, thanks!” she beamed.  She pulled a laptop from her bag and woke it up, then leaned back with the pen still in her hand.

Okay.  “Why did you need the pen if you have the laptop?” he asked.

“Oh, sorry, yeah, just to mess with,” she replied.  “Sometimes you just have to have something in your hand to play with while you’re listening.  I promise not to pop the cap off and lose it if that’s what you’re worried about.  I will return it in exactly the condition that you loaned it to me.  I’m Rey, by the way.”

“Din,” he said.  “And I understand that.  I’m the same way.”

“See, we can be pen buddies.  I like you, Din.  Oh, this is Finn, by the way,” Rey added, leaning back so the guy sitting on the other side of her could wave hello.  “So I’m guessing you’re here cause you need an elective, cause if you were here for the major I’m pretty sure I would’ve seen you in the building at some point.”

Din nodded.  “It’s been a few years.  This was the only class available that fit into my work schedule when I registered.”

“Ah yes, the curse of the 8am class,” she agreed.  “No one signs up for an 8am unless they absolutely have to.   But this class should be great.  The books are interesting, and it’s mostly just talking and then writing about what you’re talking about.  Honestly, as long as you can form an opinion you’ll be fine.  Plus, I can personally vouch that the professor doesn’t absolutely suck,” she added with a grin.

“Good morning and wake up - an 8am class is not the crisis that y’all fear it is,” came a voice from the front of the room as the classroom door swung closed behind him.  “I’m Dr. Vanth, and you’re here because-”

It was entirely Cara and Peli’s fault.  All that talk about dating and someone being delivered right to class had his brain distracted and looking for things he normally wouldn’t.  

Things like the tall, handsome professor breezing into class.  

He tried to pull his attention back to the instructions at hand.  Dr. Vanth was writing something on the board, his explanations accented by turning, smiling, motioning with the marker held loosely in his fingers, before returning to… c’mon, pay attention, Din scolded himself.  But he couldn’t.  Dark, snug jeans and a well-tailored blazer with fucking elbow patches aside, his heart ended up in his throat each time Vanth turned around to smile at the class.  Neat silver hair moved with each turn, and his whole face lit up each time he shared… what, a joke?  A story?  An instruction?  Din had no idea, but he really wanted to reach out and rub his hand along Vanth’s bearded jawline and-

“Well, shit.”

Din snapped out of his musing and focused on Vanth - staring at him?  Oh shit, did he completely miss a question?  “Sorry, did I miss something?” he murmured.  Pay attention, Din.  Pay attention to what’s going on in the class and not to how good the goddamn professor looks.

Vanth shook his head and cleared his throat as he capped the marker and slipped it into his back pocket.  “Apologies.  I lost my train of thought.”  He clapped his hands together and grinned broadly.  “I think we’ve got a good group here this semester.  I see a few familiar faces, and a lot of new faces.  So we’re going to have some fun, probably make each other a little angry, and hopefully learn a few things y’all can take out there into the world.  Let’s meander through the syllabus since I’m sure none of y’all did the first reading yet, and honestly, I wouldn’t have either.”

The rest of the class went by surprisingly quickly.  Vanth rarely stood still for longer than a minute or two, Din discovered.  He’d walk and talk, hands moving as he made a point or slipped easily into his pockets when he leaned against the desk situated at the front.  He laughed at his own jokes - a few that elicited groans from the rest of the class, but Din couldn’t help but smile.  Vanth was knowledgeable, and charming, and passionate, and… fuck.

He had a crush on his professor, didn’t he?

Not that that would do him any good.  Cara was right - he should just get on the app she set up  for him and find someone to flirt with.  At this point anyone would be good practice.  And anyone on there would actually be available , instead of his literature professor.

Cobb hung out in the classroom for a few minutes while the students filtered out.  Smiling, nodding, answering a couple of questions from students as they exited.  But the student he was hoping to speak to must’ve slipped out while he was occupied.  The man - Din Djarin, thank you attendance list - looked strikingly familiar, but he didn’t dare check while he was around other students.  

With everyone out, and nothing but meetings and office hours on his calendar for the rest of the day, he headed down the hallway towards his office.  The dating app on his phone was open and pulling up his suggested matches before he even reached the door.  He hadn’t meant to swear or startle the man, and honestly this is what he got for swiping through matches right before class, but there he was: Din D., 41 , and a picture of him sitting casually on a beach, hair damp and wavy, and the most genuine smile.  It was obviously cropped, probably nixing out an ex, but he looked genuinely happy and Cobb was immediately intrigued.  He would’ve messaged him too, if he hadn’t been running late for class.  Figured he would match and message him as soon as class was over, but… he guessed he should be thankful for small favors that kept him from making that mistake.  No students, that was the rule.  Which was easier when all the students were nineteen and very obviously off limits.  But this guy?  Why couldn’t he have popped up last week, or at least the day before…

“Vanth, how did the first day go?”

Cobb looked up to find the Dean approaching, and realized that he’d made it as far as leaning against the door jamb to his office before getting distracted.  “Hey, Ben,” he said, tapping his screen dark.  “Everyone showed up, and on time.  I think that’s as good a start to the semester as I can hope for.”  He’d known Ben Kenobi for twenty years, first as his thesis advisor back when he was a poor and exhausted graduate student, then as a colleague whom Cobb assumed was the entire reason he got hired in the first place, and finally now as the Dean.  He was pretty sure Kenobi only agreed to move into the Dean’s office because it let him teach the one class he had a deep interest in, and then wander the halls sticking his nose in everything, or as he insisted, ‘imparting wisdom’.  

“Good, good,” Ben replied.  “But more importantly, what about the fella I saw you with last week at the grad student mixer?  How’s that going?”

It took Cobb a moment to remember.  “Oh… oh, yeah, that’s not a thing.”

“He seemed nice.  Very attractive.”

“Yeah, but not the best conversationalist,” Cobb pointed out.  “I think your words were ‘he’s dumb as a brick and half as charming’,” he added with a grin.

Ben shrugged, conceding the point.  “But still, very nice.”

Cobb laughed.  “Yeah.  No, he’s not still around.  I, ah, have them around for a good time, not a long time.  There’s plenty of fish in the sea and I haven’t tasted anywhere near enough.”

Ben shook his head, but the affection was obvious.  “You know, one of these days someone’s going to stop you in your tracks and you won’t know what to do with yourself.”

“Is that why you stopped by?  To harass me about my love life?  Don’t you have real work you should be doing?”

“I’m multitasking,” Ben mused.  “The gossip in the administration building isn’t nearly as juicy.    Also, the scholarship committee meeting is in an hour and I wanted to make sure you had a chance to review the three candidates that were added for consideration at the last minute.”

Cobb nodded.  “I’ve got it handled.  I’ll see you then.”

Ben reached over and gave Cobb a pat on the shoulder.  “You never know when you might meet them…”

“Go away, Ben,” Cobb responded lightly.

“That’s ‘go away, Dean Ben’,” Ben chuckled.  “Respect your elders.”

Cobb shook his head and closed his office door behind him before opening up the app once more and staring fondly at Din D.   He couldn’t, no matter how much he might want to, but he didn’t have the heart to decline the match either.  Nothing wrong with letting it sit for a few days.  No shame in that at all.

The app buzzed with a new message from someone matching and wanting to chat.  Toro C., 20 , and a shirtless pic.  Yet another face he recognized from class this morning.

That one was easy to decline and delete.

Chapter Text

The literature class, for the most part, wasn’t terrible.  

Sure, it wasn’t Din’s first choice… or second, or third.  It didn’t count for anything other than keeping his status current.  But the books were interesting, and his classmates were good kids.  Kids, absolutely, but they were interesting and were mostly engaged with the subject material.  A lot of wanna be writers, and teachers, and a few scattered ‘in need of an elective’ like him.  He lucked out sitting next to Rey, who he was certain had never met a stranger in her life, and lucked out even more that she’d decided he was part of her study group - not that he’d been given a say in it.

She texted him to meet at the coffee shop by the admin building, and a time.  No questions about if he wanted to join or did he have the time available.  Simply here’s where and when to show up.

He considered making an excuse - a problem with childcare, or a work conflict - but it fell in a small corner of free time and he decided to accept.  

Focusing on how much he enjoyed his classmates, and the chance to study something that in the end didn’t matter if he retained, helped keep his focus off the real distraction in the class.

Dr. Vanth.

Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t been on a date since Grogu was born.  Maybe it was how Vanth moved across the classroom and through the materials with an ease and confidence that Din envied.  

Or maybe it was the fact that the man was tall, well-dressed, in great shape, and handsome as fuck.

Mostly he blamed Cara and Peli for even putting the idea in his head.  He’d been perfectly fine on his own for years, and he’d been getting by ever since Grogu came into his life.  Sure, it would be nice to have someone else there.  Someone who wanted to be a parent, and a partner.  Wanted to build a life together.  Yes, all of those things would be great, but he didn’t need them.  He and Grogu were their own little family, and as long as he had his son he didn’t need anyone else.  

Din made his way to the back counter to find his coffee order because after a long day at the garage yesterday and Grogu crying half the night, caffeine was a necessity.  Grogu had finally fallen asleep for good around 2am, and Din crashed in the chair next to the crib.  It was uncomfortable, and the ache in his back was a sharp reminder of how old he was.  He remembered being able to fall asleep in any position when he was deployed and jump up immediately when he woke - now he was thwarted for at least 24 hours by a toddler and sitting at a weird angle for longer than ten minutes.

At least he’d made time to change into something appropriate for leaving the house.

“Mr. Djarin?”

Din turned around and came face to face with his professor, who had a book in one hand and was grabbing a coffee from the shelf with his other.  “Dr. Vanth,” he replied. 

“Please, we’re out of class.  It’s Cobb.”

“Cobb,” Din replied.  Of course Dr. Vanth - Cobb - looked just as good outside of class.  Snug jeans, dark sweater, and his hair just slightly falling over his forehead.  Din absently patted the hem of his hoodie, hoping he’d grabbed one this morning free from baby stains or motor oil.  “Yes, sorry… it’s Din.”  Smooth, Din.  Smooth.  “If I’m calling you Cobb, my name is Din.”

Cobb grinned, glanced over at the line of names on cups, and pulled Din’s order to hand it to him.  “Black coffee, no milk, no sugar,” he mused.  

Din nodded as he gratefully took the cup.  “I like the taste of coffee.  But this morning it’s mostly a caffeine delivery device.”

“No sleep, or big meeting?”

“A bit of both,” Din admitted.  “I’m meeting a few folks from class to go over some of the questions from yesterday.  The professor there is demanding,” he added, unable to fight back a smile.

“Yeah, I heard he can be a dick,” Cobb grinned.  “But that’s good.  I’m glad that you’re in my class.”

Din lifted an eyebrow at that.  “You are?”

“You know… adults,” Cobb clarified.  “I’m always glad to see adults coming back in my class.  I think it adds a… unique point of view that the discussion is missing when everyone is eighteen to twenty-two.  Life experience is a hell of a thing.  Empathy for hard choices that characters face.”

“God, everything was so black and white when I was eighteen,” Din mused.  

“Right?” Cobb chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee and leaning slightly against the table behind him.  “The world is clear cut, right and wrong are self-evident, the solution to a lot of problems is just to be the bigger asshole.  Or maybe that was just me,” he added with a grin.

Din smiled and nodded knowingly at that one.  “No, I did that too.  And then you grow up and if you sit in one position too long you can’t turn your head all the way to the right for three days.”  He reached a hand up to rub the back of his neck.  “It was a rough night,” he added, trying to hide his own smile by taking a long sip of his coffee.  

“You don’t seem any worse for wear,” Cobb said.  “Besides, I can beat that - I had one too many rough nights in a row, and went fully grey by thirty-five,” he laughed.  

The words slipped out before Din could stop them.  “You still look good.”  His eyes went wide and he breathed out awkwardly.  “Sorry, I don’t know why I said that.”

Cobb just grinned wider.  “Well… I wasn’t fishing for a compliment, but I certainly appreciate hearing one.”  He leaned in a little closer.  “So, tell me, Din-”

“Hey Din!”

Din jerked around at Rey’s voice behind him.  “Hey, yeah, I got here a bit early.”

“I see that.  Hey, Professor,” she said brightly.

“Rey,” Cobb replied warmly.  “Glad to see you taking this guy under your wing.”

“You know me, adopting all sorts of strays.  Hey, so Finn and Toro grabbed a table by the window and I’m gonna grab something to drink.  Do you need anything?”

Din lifted his cup and shook his head.  “No, thank you.  I’ll be right over.”

“Cool.  See ya, Professor.”

“See ya, Rey,” Cobb said, as she slipped into line and Din looked around for the rest of his classmates.  “So, I’ll let you get to your study group.”

Din nodded.  “I shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

Cobb looked for a moment like he was going to reach out and touch Din’s arm, but stopped.  “I know it’s hard going back to school at our age, so you should absolutely take advantage of my office hours.  Just stop in whenever, or… let me know if they don’t work for your schedule.  We can set up something else.  For anything.”  

Din pushed down the small part of himself that swore up and down that his professor was flirting with him as he watched Cobb retreat to a small table in the corner.  He was simply being friendly.  Look at how friendly and familiar he was with Rey.  This wasn’t flirting.  He was just tired from being up all night, and Cara and Peli got into his head, and now he was reading into things with his literature professor of all people.  He needed to relax.  Or get a full night’s sleep.  

“But she never actually says what she wants, so we can’t just assume that the narrator is truthful!” Rey insisted.  

“Then what’s the point of the narrator if he isn’t telling us what’s actually going on?” Toro replied.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be depending on a male narrator to filter through her wants and desires,” Rey tossed back.

Din tried to keep up with the conversation, nodding at the right points, and turning pages when someone was looking for a particular passage, but his thoughts kept drifting over to the professor in the corner.  Vanth had long ago finished his coffee but stayed at his little corner table by the window reading his book.  Every so often his lips would turn up in a smile, or his eyebrows would lift, or he’d tilt his head and flip back a few pages to check something.  It felt intrusive, but Din couldn’t keep himself from glancing over and watching.  

Was their chat earlier flirting?  By the end, it sure felt like it.  Dr. Vanth - Cobb - leaning in and laughing as Din shoved his foot in his mouth.  ‘Oh, I think you look good’.  C’mon, Din.  Sure, he said he appreciated the compliment, but that… didn’t have to be flirting.  Besides, he was Din’s professor, and weren’t there rules against that?  Legally, or at least ethically?   On the other hand, it’s not like he’s nineteen and ripe to be taken advantage of.  He’s… got a couple decades on nineteen and he can fend for himself.  

Or was this loneliness mixed with the fact he hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in almost two years, and it was causing him to see flirting when there wasn’t really anything there?  And there’s not really anyth-

“Din?”

Din turned at Finn’s prompt.  “What?  Sorry, I didn’t hear the question.”

“There wasn’t any question,” Finn said.  “You just… you were staring into space.”

“I apologize,” Din tried.  “I had a long night.  I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”

“Uh huh, tired ,” Rey mused.  

Din lifted an eyebrow.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She pointed to Cobb’s table.  “You haven’t been staring out into space.  You’ve been staring at that corner.  I think someone has a crush,” she added with a grin.

“No, I don’t.”

“I don’t blame him,” Toro said.  “Vanth’s a fucking silver fox.  I’d fuck him.”

“Hey!” Din and Rey said at the same time.

Toro shrugged.  “Look, it’s a well known fact that he dates at least one student a semester.  He can't help it - look at him.  And why is a guy that looks like that single if he’s not fucking left and right?”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Rey said.

Toro shook his head.  “Nope, I know it’s true.  My roommate’s frat brother had him for 100 last year, and he absolutely hooked up with him.  And this semester, it’s gonna be me.  Easiest way to ace the class - fuck the professor.”

“I’m pretty sure professors aren’t allowed to date students,” Din tried.

“And even if they were,” Finn added, “you think he’s going for you?”

Toro grinned.  “I’m a fucking catch.”

“He’s not interested in you,” Rey insisted.

“How do you know?”

“I just know, okay?” Rey added quickly.  “He’s not available, especially for you, end of story.  Can we stop talking about the professor’s sex life, it’s none of our business.”

“Someone sounds jealous,” Toro pointed out.  “What, are you fucking him?”

“Rey’s right,” Din jumped in.  “All of this is none of our business.  And anyway, I have to get to work.”  He closed his book and stood up from the table.  “I’ll see you guys in class.  Thank you for inviting me, Rey, this was helpful.”

“Any time,” she replied.  

Din nodded, said goodbye to Finn and Toro, and weaved his way through the tables towards the front door.  He turned, slipping by one of the tables, and caught Cobb’s eye as he passed.  

Cobb smiled and waved, and without thinking Din did the same.

For a moment he considered going back over and saying something, but he saw Rey’s eyes go wide as she broke into a grin, and then she winked at him.  She fucking winked at him.  

He didn’t have a crush on his professor.  And he certainly wasn’t going to give her any more fuel for that fire.  So with Cobb’s nose back in his book, Din turned and headed out to work.

Some mornings were hard.  Some were a shit show.

He was up far too late the night before, Grogu unable to settle down for sleep and sobbing every time Din tried to lay him down.  The sobs turned to wails and grasping at his neck with his sharp little baby nails, and Din’s heart couldn’t take the look of betrayal in his son’s eyes each time he tried to dislodge him.  He could pull him off, put him in the crib, and let him cry it out.  He probably should.  Self-soothing was good, right?  Or was that bad?  Would a good father let him cry to teach him he would be okay on his own, or would that make the kid feel abandoned?  Was he setting his kid up for a lifetime of attachment issues just because he was tired and wanted sleep?

Din finally gave up and settled in a chair, murmuring every story he could think of until his voice went hoarse and Grogu finally quieted down and tucked his head against Din’s neck to fall asleep.  The small, breathy puffs of air against his skin and the slack weight of his son on his chest finally gave Din the assurances to fall asleep himself.  Or at least to try to.  

He got a few hours of uncomfortable sleep before the sun rose and Grogu started babbling to get his attention.  

The babbling quickly turned to crying because he was hungry, because the diaper rash that cleared up last week was back again in full force this morning, because Papa put him down, because Papa picked him back up, because Din needed one arm free to brush his teeth (shaving was out of the question).  The crying turned to small, hiccuping sobs as Din wrestled his son into his shoes, grabbing their bags and heading out the door in an attempt to get Grogu settled at daycare and then get to his class on time.  

He knew he looked as rough as he felt, but he didn’t care.  Grogu perked up as soon as he was deposited in the middle of a group of his daycare friends, so whatever had bothered him all night and all morning evaporated for someone other than Din.  He tried not to take it personally.

Most of his classmates were already in the room, which signaled Din was much later than usual, and he dropped into the seat next to Rey with a groan.

“Shit, Din, closing down the bar last night?” she asked.  “You look dead.”

“My son didn’t sleep, which means I didn’t sleep.”  He hoisted his backpack up into his lap and unzipped it to search for the book and his notepad.

Why wasn’t it… wait…

He pulled out a stuffed frog and swore softly.  

In the confusion this morning, he left his class backpack at Grogu’s daycare and brought the diaper backpack to class.  

Of fucking course he did.

“Wait, why do you have a frog?”

Din turned to look at Rey, who’d already nabbed the toy from his hands.  “I grabbed the wrong bag this morning.  That’s my kid’s favorite nap toy, which means I’m headed back to his daycare after class finishes.  Hopefully he hasn’t… he already had a bad night, he doesn’t need a bad day too.”

“I’m sure he hasn’t missed it at all,” Rey insisted.  “Besides, this means that he gets to see his dad in the middle of the day and that’s always an awesome surprise.  Hey, aren’t most diaper bags just full of everything?  What else do you have in there?  Does the frog have a name?”

Finn leaned across Rey’s desk and pointed at the bag.  “You wouldn’t happen to have any snacks in there, would you?”

“Mr. Jumpy Legs,” Din murmured as he rummaged through one of the pockets and pulled out a small bag.  “I have Cheerios,” he said, offering Finn the baggie.

“Anything more substantial?” Toro asked from behind them as Finn happily started snacking.  “Like, a protein bar or a sandwich or something?”

Din turned and fixed him with a look.  “He’s not even two, he barely has teeth.”

“So… yes?”

“No,” Din said.  

“Useless,” Toro murmured, leaning back as the door to the classroom swung open.

“Good morning y’all, and welcome to Pop Quiz Wednesday,” Cobb announced to the collective groans of the class.  “None of that, just something simple, want to make sure that you’ve been paying attention to - what’s that?” he asked, pointing at Rey.

Din realized she was still holding the stuffed toy.  “Sorry, I grabbed the wrong bag this morning.  It’s mine.”

“His name is Mr. Jumpy Legs,” Rey supplied, much to Din’s chagrin, and, apparently, Cobb’s amusement.  “And he’s going to be our good luck charm this morning.”  She set the frog on the corner of Din’s desk and grinned.  “Good luck charm.”

“So when y’all pass the quiz with flying colors, all the glory is going to go to the frog with complete disregard for the brilliant instruction that I’ve provided over the past couple weeks?” Cobb asked.  “I am eager to experience the power of the frog.  I’m gonna pass the papers from the end, use your book, use your notes, just a couple paragraphs and we’ll take, oh, twenty minutes.”

Din looked down at the blank sheet on his desk, and then over at the frog staring up at him.  At this point he was too tired to appreciate the absurdity of it all.  Maybe he’d look back on this and laugh.  He hoped he did.

“Hey,” Cobb said softly, approaching Din’s desk with his copy of the book and a pen.  “Figured you might want to borrow these for class today.”

“Thank you,” Din said.  “I apologize for this.”

“Happens to the best of us,” Cobb murmured.  “Just get it back to me after class.”  He glanced at the snack bags on Rey and Finn’s desks.  “Are those from you, too?”

Din almost laughed.  “Do you want Cheerios?” he asked.

Cobb grinned.  “I think it’s a fair trade.”

Din pulled the last snack bag of Cheerios from an outside pocket and handed them to Cobb.  “I’ll remember to bring more snacks next time,” he added.  “Didn’t realize they’d be popular.”

“Who doesn’t love Cheerios?” Cobb added, popping a couple bits of the cereal into his mouth and winking as he stepped back.  “Twenty minutes, y’all, just a couple of paragraphs,” he said to the class.  

Cobb was out of the classroom by the time Din got everything back in his bag.  The frog was declared the unofficial good luck mascot for the class and promises were made to bring it to the next exam.  

But good luck charms and amused students couldn’t make up for the fact that it was a dumb mistake, and one Din was embarrassed about.  He was supposed to be old enough to know better.  Old enough to have his life in more order than this.  He was exhausted, sure, but that wasn’t an excuse.  

And even if he didn’t need the class, Din didn’t want Cobb - Dr. Vanth - thinking he was… what would he assume about him?  He’s a single father to a toddler, honestly anything he assumed was probably correct.  

Why did Vanth’s opinion matter so much?

He needed to return the book and make his apologies.  It took a few minutes and the deciphering of a truly ridiculous numbering system, but Din found Cobb’s office in an adjoining hallway.  The office appeared empty at first, but the top of Cobb’s head emerged from behind his desk.  “Dr. Vanth?” Din called out, tapping softly on the door jamb to get his attention.

Cobb poked his head over the desk and beamed.  “Din!  Come on in.  Sorry, I dropped my phone and the knees aren’t what they used to be.  Gotta get all the way down, and then hope I can get all the way back up,” he chuckled.  “Ah, there you are, you slippery son of a bitch.”  He grabbed the edge of the desk and hoisted himself back up and into his chair as Din settled in across the desk.  “So I’m assuming you had an eventful morning.”

“Yes, I came to apologize for that,” Din said.  He set the borrowed book on Cobb’s desk, and the pen on top.  “Thank you for the book.  It won’t happen again.”

Cobb just laughed.  “Now that’s a hollow promise if I ever heard one.  You think you’re the first student to forget the book?  Hell, at least you showed up.  Don’t worry about it.  No harm, no foul.  But I have to ask - where did Mr. Jumpy Bottom come into play this morning?”

“Mr. Jumpy Legs,” Din clarified, which only got a bigger smile out of Cobb.  “He’s my son’s.  It was a shit morning, apologies for my language, and I grabbed the diaper bag instead of my class bag and everyone thought that was hilarious.  And so he ended up on my desk.  Honestly I was too tired to fight with a bunch of teenagers about it.”

“And the snacks.”

That got a laugh out of Din.  “And the snacks,” he agreed.  “If there’s one thing a bunch of teenagers love first thing in the morning, it’s the guy who brings snacks.”

Cobb shrugged.  “I mean, I’m pretty sure I also stole some Cheerios, so I’m partly to blame.”

“And I’ll make sure my kid knows it’s my teacher’s fault there are no snacks in the bag when I drop this off at his daycare.”

“Tell him that your teacher also promised to make it up to his dad by offering an equitable exchange in the future.”

“And he would reply by trying to stick his shoe in his mouth,” Din said fondly.  “We’re working on that.”

“A noble struggle,” Cobb replied.  “So… just the one?  What’s his name?”

“Grogu,” Din replied.  “Yeah, just the one.  Although he makes enough of a mess for four,” he chuckled.  He fished his phone out of his bag and opened up his photos.  “Here, this is him,” he added, offering the phone to Cobb.  “He’s almost two.  Getting into everything.”

Cobb leaned back in his chair and slowly scrolled through the photos.  “Well isn’t he adorable,” he said softly.  “Got the soft curls just like his daddy.  Oh, and there’s the frog.  Bunch of frogs.”

“Yeah, it’s his favorite,” Din said, trying to fight a smile at Cobb’s comment on their resemblance.  “Kid loves frogs.  Can’t get enough of them.  He’s a handful and a half but… he’s mine.”

“Got a lot of respect for folks getting their degree with kids at home,” Cobb said, handing the phone back.  “I know how hard it is.  It’s rough on the whole household.”

“The whole household is me and the kid,” Din explained.  Was Cobb fishing to see if he was married?  “So… yes, it’s a lot but I’m trying to get it done so I can show him that I accomplished something.  Even if he won’t understand it until he’s older.”  Din shrugged and leaned back into the chair.  “I’ve been working on this thing for over a decade, ever since I got out of the Army,” he continued.  “A class here, a class there.  Couple of years went by, and then Grogu came along and a couple more years went by and, well, I found out I had to sign up for something this semester or lose my active status.”

Cobb nodded.  “Fucking bureaucracy.  So is my class the ‘something’ you had to take?”

“Sort of,” Din replied.  “It was the only class that fit into my schedule because I was too late signing up for anything that would count.  So this is a ‘get to take so I can stay a student’ class.”  

Cobb leaned back and laughed.  Din couldn’t fight the smile any longer - it was a wonderful laugh.  “I am honored to be your class of last resort.  Not a lick of interest in dissecting literary themes?”

Din shrugged.  “I love to read.  Don’t get enough time these days, but that?” he said, pointing to a stack of paperbacks by the wall.  “That looks like heaven.  Days get shorter, couch gets softer, and the kid’s quiet?  Heaven,” he murmured.  “I mostly read crime fiction currently, so not the meaningful and important works I assume you’re interested in.”

“Well I enjoy just about anything you can put into my hands, including a pulpy whodunit,” Cobb insisted.  “Ain’t nothing wrong with entertaining.  And not everything in here is for class,” he added.  “A lot of these are overflow from home since I need to build myself another bookcase but I haven’t had the time to get the wood I need.  So if you see anything you like, you’re welcome to borrow it. or I can play book matchmaker and make my best guess on something you’d enjoy.  Got a more lenient lending policy than the library,” he added with a grin.  “Return it at some point, and if I get antsy for it, I know where to find you a few days a week.”

“And now I’m curious about what you’d pick for me.  I might have to take you up on that, Dr. Vanth.”

“What did I tell you before?  We’re not in class - you can honest to god call me Cobb.”

“Cobb,” Din murmured.  This was too easy, too comfortable.  The nerves from when they ran into each other in the coffee shop were gone and in their place were stacks of lovingly dog-eared books and stories about his kid.  If they’d met in any other way, he’d say Cobb was flirting with him.  But Din was just a frazzled single dad in a class he didn’t really want to take.  Nothing that a handsome academic who obviously had his shit together could be actually interested in.  But light flirting… well, Cara had been insistent that he needed practice if he wanted to get himself back out there.  Cobb could be safe practice, since nothing would come of it.  “You’ll probably have to remind me again.  I spent years automatically replying with ‘sir, yes sir’ so titles are my default.”

“You just need to come by outside of class more often,” Cobb suggested.  “I’ll remind you as many times as you need.”

“That sounds-”

Din was interrupted by a sharp rap on the door jamb and Rey popping her head around with a grin.  “Hey,” she said brightly.  “Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt anything.  Am I interrupting anything?”

“Not at all,” Cobb replied.  “He was just returning my book and telling me how you ate all the snacks out of his kid’s bag.  Like a vulture.”

Din shook his head.  “Not a vulture,” he added to Rey, before standing up from the chair and grabbing his bag.  “I should get going.  I need to run this bag to daycare and get to work.  Thank you, Dr. Vanth.”

“Any time, Din,” Cobb said.  “Any time.  And remember what I said about the books, you’re welcome to any of them.”

“Thank you.  I’ll keep that in mind.  Rey,” Din added with a nod.  

“Hey, could you pull the door closed behind you?” Cobb asked.  “We need a little privacy.”

Din glanced between the two of them and nodded.  “Sure.  I’ll see you later.”  He pulled Cobb’s office door closed behind him and took a deep, centering breath before heading back down the hall and back to daycare.

“I wasn’t interrupting anything, huh?” Rey asked, perching herself on the corner of Cobb’s desk.  “Cause it sure looks like I was.”  She reached over and grabbed one of the photos next to his laptop.  “Oh my god, I thought you agreed not to put any pictures of us on your desk.  And I look ridiculous here.”

Cobb plucked the photo from her hand and placed it back gently from where it came.  “You look cute, and it’s one of my favorites of us.  None of your classmates see this angle of my desk, so your secret is safe.”  He crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair.  “And you can wipe that look off your face, cause I know that look.”

“And what look is that?”

“The look where you’re about to excitedly make an assumption that’s gonna get me into trouble.”

“I don’t do that!”

“Yeah you do,” Cobb insisted.  He smiled warmly at Rey and reached over to give her knee a pat.  “But I love you anyway.  So what do you want?”

“I wanted to see if we were still on for dinner tonight.”

Cobb quirked an eyebrow at that.  “Yes, are you trying to cancel on me?  I already have chili in the pot.  I have been slaving over a slow cooker all day.  My hands,” he added, lifting his hands towards her, “my hands will be raw crafting sustenance.  And biscuits.”

Rey rolled her eyes and groaned.  “Oh my god, you’re so dramatic, Uncle Cobb.”

“Of course I’m dramatic when it seems like someone is about to ditch our standing Wednesday night dinner,” Cobb pointed out, grinning.  “Besides, your mother is coming too and she wanted to get a family picture, and there’s no family picture without you, sunflower.  So why are you asking if you can get out of it?”

“Because Mom texted me and said she was sad she wouldn’t see me at dinner,” she said.  “So I wanted to check if that was because you had to cancel and dinner was actually not happening, or if she was just ditching me again.” 

“I’m not cancelling,” Cobb sighed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.  He loved his sister, he did, but she had never been the most dependable person, even if she’d gotten better over the past few years.  And making Rey assume that he was the one cancelling on her was pretty shitty, but not unheard of.  Still, he’d come to the realization long ago that nothing he could do would ever change her.  Focusing on Rey was always his best option.  “Even if I was, you know I’d never filter the message through her.  I love Wednesday dinner.”

“Me too,” Rey admitted.  “And, since there’s one less person…” she trailed off, smiling her best innocent grin. 

“Yes, the boys can come,” Cobb replied.  “They’re always welcome.  Y’all three come in a pack, I’ve accepted this.”

“That’s not true.”

“It’s true.”

“It’s not entirely true.”

“You got Finn to take the class with you.  Two out of the three of you are in my class.”

“It’s not my fault you’re a great cook, Uncle Cobb.  Anything you make is way better than anything the dining hall has.  Or that we can make ourselves,” she added.  “Remember the Great Pasta Tragedy of a few years ago?”

“The spaghetti was covered in water - I still don’t understand how you caught it on fire…” he trailed off.

“Your food is just so good, we love eating at the house.  I love eating at the house.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.”

She beamed.  “Flattery will get me two guests for dinner,” she pointed out.  “And of course… you could bring a guest.”

This felt like dangerous footing.  “And whom would you like me to invite?”

Rey shrugged and hopped off his desk to nose through one of the stacks of books.  “Din’s cute, isn’t he?”

And there it was.  “Din’s one of my students,” Cobb pointed out.  That really was the sticking point, no matter what else he thought about it.  Din was one of his students.  They could toe up to the line, and lord knew he was toeing right up to that line each time he talked to Din, but crossing it… 

“Yeah, but he’s not, like… a student student,” she pressed.  “He’s old, and has a kid, and a real job.  Did you know he used to be in the Army, and he’s currently a mechanic?”

Yes, but only from repeatedly pulling up the Din D. dating profile that Cobb refused to decline and unmatch.  And since it hadn’t disappeared from his list of matches, Din hadn’t declined the match either.  Which… was something he tried not to think too much about.  

“And he’s surprisingly well read for a mechanic,” Rey continued.  “He’s always really thoughtful in study group.  And funny, but in, like, that dry and soft guy kinda way.”

“What have I told you about assuming things about folks based on their job,” Cobb tossed back.  “I raised you better than that.”

Rey shrugged.  “He’s coming back for his degree - isn’t that impressive?”

“I think it’s great when anyone wants to gain knowledge, at any time,” he replied, his tone measured.  “I also know that it’s incredibly hard to balance work, and classes, and a kid, and so he’s obviously very busy.  And the last thing he needs is his literature professor making creepy advances on him.  Even if it wasn’t entirely unethical.  Which it is.  Which means nothing’s happening - no matter how much you want to play matchmaker, sunflower.”

“He thinks you’re cute.”

Oh really?  “My personal life is the last thing you need to be concerning yourself with,” Cobb tried.

“Oh, I’m not concerned about you ,” she tossed back.  “What is it that Mom likes to call you?  You’re ornery,” she added with a grin.  “Nope.  Din’s my friend, and as my friend, I’m invested in his personal life.”

“Does he know that?”

“I’m just throwing it out there.”  She circled back to his desk.  “You deserve to be happy, Uncle Cobb.  You know what Dr. Ben would say?  Don’t let hesitation be the thief of joy.  Or, waiting is the choice that allows you to avoid making a choice, but if you wait too long the choice is made for you.”

"Eloquent bastard," Cobb grumbled, begrudgingly acknowledging the truth of it.  "But I swear, I’m very happy,” he insisted as he stood up and wrapped his arms around her in a big hug.  “I’ve got everything I need, and extra guests for dinner.”  Cobb pressed a kiss on the top of her head.  “Promise me you’ll let this drop?”

“Fine.  I promise.”  She glanced back over at the photo on his desk.  “Mom ditched me that night too,” she added softly.  

Cobb remembered all too well.  “She wanted to be there.”  It was a well rehearsed statement with many years of practice behind it.

“But she wasn’t.  I’ll see you at dinner.”

“See you at dinner.”

Chapter Text

Fall break was a welcome pause in the routine for students, less so for Cobb and the rest of the faculty.  There were still papers to grade, writing to catch up on, and meetings to attend - even if Kenobi tried his hardest not to schedule holiday meetings for his departments now that he was the Dean, cross-departmental and cross-school meetings were still slated over the break.  Cobb made it a point not to schedule anything for his undergrads over the break, other than promising he’d have a chunk of office hours available on Friday to end the holiday week if they had any questions before coming back.

But for now, it was Friday evening and the start of hopefully a few non-interrupted days of writing at home.  

There was just one errand he needed to run first.

In the couple weeks since he’d learned about Din’s kid and his long road to finishing his degree, Cobb had made a point to catch up with him after class most days.  Just to make sure he knew he had the support if he needed it, to give him another adult in the class especially since it wasn’t something Din chose to take.  It didn’t have anything to do with enjoying Din’s company, or wanting to learn more about him than what he could gather from returning to his dating profile - repeatedly .  He was just a good guy who if Cobb could help in an academic manner he would.

Like… providing something new and interesting to read over the break.  Din mentioned he liked to read, Cobb mentioned he was willing to share any of his books, and Din hadn’t taken him up on the offer yet.  But when he was organizing his newest shelf, he stumbled on an old favorite.  A man with a secret past, a town under siege from forces without, and conflict in the town from forces within.  It might be just up Din’s alley.

And, as selfish as it might be, Cobb wanted to see him one more time before the break.  As a concerned educator, of course.

He texted Din to see if he was nearby campus, and no he wasn’t.  He offered a I could run it by your place? before he thought better of offering to show up at a student’s home, and got an almost immediate sure! we’re here all evening and an address.  

An hour later, Cobb stood on Din’s doorstep and couldn’t help but smile at the tell-tale sounds of a kid running around after the doorbell rings.  He missed that noise.

Din opened the door, smiling, before taking a deep breath and leaning against the door frame.  “Hey, Cobb,” he said, and Cobb realized this was the first time he hadn’t needed to remind him to use his first name outside of class.  It felt good.

Cobb held up the book he’d brought and the two wrapped cookies.  “I thought the book by itself wasn’t a good enough reason to hand deliver.  So I was going to get you coffee, and then realized it was already way past when I can drink coffee and not be up all night, so you might be the same way.  So I thought… cookies.”

“This is great,” Din replied.  “I never turn down a cookie.  You really didn’t have to come all the way out here, but I appreciate it.  Oof,” he grunted, as a toddler ran up against his leg and wrapped his arms around to hold on.  “Hey kiddo, I thought you were playing with your blocks.”

“Juice,” Grogu said, looking up at his dad seriously.  “I want juice.”

Din shook his head.  “We already had our juice, remember?  We had juice with dinner.  And now it’s play time for another ten minutes.  Ten minutes, okay?”  Grogu grumbled, turning to look at Cobb, before hiding his face in Din’s pant leg.  “Hey, I want you to meet someone.  This is Dr. Cobb.  He’s my teacher.  Can you say hello to Dr. Cobb?”

“Hi, Grogu,” Cobb said brightly.  “Your dad’s told me a lot about you.”

“Hey, kid,” Din said softly, placing his hand on Grogu’s head.  “Let’s practice our manners.  Can you say hi?”  Grogu didn’t turn his head, but he did lift up his hand to wave.  “I think that’s what we’re getting,” Din sighed.  

“He’s adorable,” Cobb said.  “Grogu, your dad told me that you liked frogs.”

That got Grogu’s attention.  He whipped his head around and smiled brightly.  “Frog!” he exclaimed.  He let go of Din’s pant leg and ran back into the house.

“Oh, Dr. Cobb said the magic word, didn’t he?” Din chuckled.  He reached out and took the book and the cookies from Cobb.  “Thank you.  For bringing this by.  But, ah… unless you’re ready to be introduced to all of his frogs, you can slip out now.”

“Are you kidding?  I want to meet the frogs,” Cobb said as Grogu reappeared with three stuffed frogs in his arms.  He knelt down closer to Grogu’s level and held his hand out.  “Oh wow, how many frogs is that?” he asked.  

Grogu grinned and placed his hand on one of the frogs’ head.  “One,” he said, handing the first frog to Cobb.  “Two,” handing off the second.  “Three!” Grogu shoved the frogs at Cobb, and disappeared back into the house as soon as Cobb took possession of them.    

“Oh wow, buddy, that’s so many frogs,” Cobb beamed, rising to standing and motioning his handful of frogs towards Din.  “So many frogs.”

“Do you want to come in?” Din asked.  “Just so you’re not standing outside getting frogs dropped at your feet.  Remember, it’s almost bath time,” he called back to Grogu.  “Five more minutes to show off your frogs.”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt the evening routine,” Cobb said, even as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.  “I’m ashamed to admit I forgot what the toddler timetable was,” he chuckled.  “Don’t feel like you need to let me hang around.”

Din waved off the concern and motioned towards the couch.  “As long as you don’t mind if we disappear for a few minutes for bath time and book time,” he replied.  

Cobb held the frogs close - Grogu kept glancing back to make sure that his frogs with the stranger were okay - and sat down on the couch.  “So which friends am I holding right now?”

“Ah, those don’t have names,” Din said, as he busied himself picking up the scattered toys Grogu wasn’t currently playing with and tossing them into the toy box in the corner.  “So those are Raincoat, Green One, and…” He looked over to make sure which ones Cobb had.  “Really Green One.”

“I think those absolutely count as names.”  Cobb lifted up the one he assumed was ‘Really Green One’ and gave it a little squeeze.  “You’ve got such a great set of frogs here, little man.  I’m kind of jealous.  I don’t have any frogs at my house.  I’m obviously not livin’ right,” he chuckled.  

Grogu came up to him again, took Raincoat and pressed his face into the soft fuzz.  Cobb couldn’t help but be charmed by the kid.  Rey at his age had been obsessed with horses - stuffed horses, horse cartoons, horse storybooks, ‘Uncle Cobb, be a horsey’.  The obsession would burn bright and hot, but ultimately quick.  At some point soon the frogs would be tossed into the toy box for the last time, and no one would realize it was the last time until long after.

He’d bet money Din would keep one of those lovingly worn out frogs in a special place to pull out when he was missing his baby being a baby.

Rey’s favorite stuffed horse from back then was on a bookshelf in his home office.  He hadn’t thought about that horse in a long time, but sitting here with Grogu, and with Din trying to sneakily clean up while company invaded, plucked a thread of nostalgia in his heart he assumed had been long buried.  Rey had grown into a wonderful young woman, but there was something about this age…

“Alright kid, it’s bath time,” Din announced, pulling Cobb from his memory.  “It’s bath time, and then book time, and then bedtime.  Can we say goodnight to Dr. Cobb and tell him thank you for bringing Papa a book?”

Grogu dumped Raincoat unceremoniously in the box and came back over to pat Cobb’s knee and softly say, “Thank you.”  

“You’re welcome, little man,” Cobb beamed.  “You’ve got such nice manners, putting your toy away without having to be asked.  Your Dad’s gotta be so proud of you.”

“Bob,” Grogu said confidently as he gave Cobb’s knee another pat.  “Bob.”

“Oh, am I Bob?” Cobb chuckled as Din sighed and scooped up the kid into his arms.  “I’m absolutely Bob.”

“Pronunciation is a work in progress,” Din explained.

“It always is at this age.  I think he’s doing great.”  Cobb stood up and held his hand up, getting a less hesitant high five in return.  “It was so nice to meet you, Grogu.  I hope I get to see you again soon.”

“Alright, bathtime, kiddo.”

His moment of easy compliance faded, and Grogu dropped his head to Din’s shoulder and replied, “Nooooooo.”

“I don’t want to contribute to the ruckus I assume is coming,” Cobb chuckled.  He smiled again, and figured he should give Din an easy out since he’d come as an unannounced interruption to their evening routine.  “I can see myself out.”

“Yeah, sure,” Din murmured, rubbing Grogu’s back.  “Or, you could stay,” he offered.  “If you don’t have somewhere you need to be.  Once I get him down, you could tell me about the book?”  He absently pressed a kiss to Grogu’s cheek.  “But I understand if you need to get going.”

“I was just trying to be polite,” Cobb replied, relieved to have an excuse to stick around.  “Didn’t want to be underfoot.  I can occupy myself for as long as you need.”

Din smiled and nodded.  “Okay.  I’ll be back out in a few.  There’s drinks in the fridge if you want anything.  Make yourself comfortable.  Say goodnight to Dr. Cobb, kid.”

“Goodnight, Grogu,” Cobb said, his wave mirrored by Grogu over Din’s shoulder.

As soon as Din and Grogu disappeared back to the bathroom, with Grogu making all of the standard complaints about how much he didn’t want a bath, Cobb let himself wander through the living room and the adjacent kitchen.  He told himself he wasn’t being nosy.  There were pictures on the wall, and pictures on the mantel, and a couple stuck to the fridge he could see from across the kitchen, and he wanted to know Din better.  Nothing but innocent curiosity.  

The pictures were mostly of Din and Grogu, or just Grogu.  One with a group of guys from Din’s time in the army.  And one with a dark haired woman holding Grogu when he was just a little thing.  That was the only picture of her - maybe she was Grogu’s mother?  Cobb tucked that away to casually bring up later.  

The house was small but cozy, and delightfully lived in.  The toys, the scattered sippy cups, a couple of comfortable afghans draped haphazardly across the back of the couch, a pair of Grogu’s pajamas balled up on the end table.

He didn’t expect the pang of nostalgia when he picked up the pajamas, fully intending to find a hamper, but looking around the cozy chaos of Din’s home, he was struck with memories of when Rey was little. His home had long ago tucked away any clutter that wasn’t his own after she stopped living with him full time.  He didn’t miss it - after all, that sort of chaos meant dirty diapers, and spilled milk, and crayon on the walls, and late nights and worry when they’re sick, and their head tucked against your neck when they sleep, and happy yelling when they see you come home, and scrunched up noses when they’re trying hard to remember how to do something you taught them…

…maybe he did miss it.  Everything when Rey was little felt so temporary.  He was on edge the entire time she lived with him, waiting to see what her mother would do when she came back, or if she’d come back at all, and trying to set Rey’s expectations but at the same time never speaking ill of his sister.  He never got to settle down into a real routine, always having to toe the line between Uncle Cobb and Dad because what he was and who she needed him to be were often two very different people.

But that was okay, he wasn’t looking for fatherhood.  

Cobb V., 46 was looking for a good time.  

“For a good time, not a long time,” he murmured, sitting down on the couch with the onesie still in hand.  

It took forty minutes for Din to get Grogu settled and in bed, if not completely asleep.  He half expected Cobb to have ducked out, and he wouldn’t have blamed him if he did.  But when Din reemerged in the living room, Cobb was sitting on the couch absently flipping through the book he’d brought by.  

“I’m sorry for the wait,” Din apologized as he turned on the baby monitor that sat on the end table.  He could hear Grogu still babbling, but no one was upset and he’d eventually fall asleep.  “I wasn’t sure you’d still be here.”

“It wasn’t a problem at all,” Cobb replied.  “Besides, I promised I’d give you the synopsis,” he added, holding up the book with a grin.  “The first chapter is still great.”

“Can I get you anything?” Din offered.  He looked around the living room - it was a mess - and then back into the kitchen - also a mess - and sighed.  He wasn’t used to having non-toddler related guests in the house and he hated the chaos.  “I’m sorry about the mess.  Every time I clean it up…”

“He wakes up and starts all over again?”

Din laughed.  “Yeah, something like that.”

Cobb shrugged and set the book down.  “Nothing to apologize for.  The little guy being fed and clothed matters more than a trail of clothes through the house.”  He grinned as Din came around and sat down on the neighboring chair.  “I say as long as you’re not cleaning poop off the walls, you’re doing great.”

Din laughed again.  “He hasn’t done that yet.  All over me, sure, but not on the walls yet.”

“On yourself is expected, that never surprised me,” Cobb continued.  “But the walls .  And high up on the walls, it’s just…” he shook his head.  “I haven’t thought about that in years.”

“Oh, now I want to know how you got poop on the walls,” Din pressed.  “Do you have kids?” he asked, trying to remember if he saw anything to indicate kids, or a partner for that matter, when he was in Vanth’s office.  “Or was this an embarrassing story of being drunk and doing this to yourself?” he added.

Cobb laughed again and shook his head.  “No, no it wasn’t me.  I don’t have kids, but I spent a lot of time with my niece when she was little so I’ve changed my fair share of diapers and had the full range of kid fluids on my person and, as much as I hate to say it, my walls.”

“Really?” Din asked.  “What’s her name?”  Cobb paused, glancing down at his hands, and Din regretted the question.  It was too personal.  They’d had a few conversations, but Cobb was first and foremost Dr. Vanth, his literature professor.  He brought a book and a snack to his home on a whim, but they weren’t friends .  That sort of question was inappropriate from a subordinate and Din wanted to kick himself for putting Cobb in that sort of position.  “Hey, I -”

“I call her Sunflower,” Cobb said, his lips curling into a smile, and Din releasing the breath he was holding.  “It’s… not her given name, but I’ve called her that since she was little and it stuck.  She gets that look of exasperation too, but she never tells me to stop,” he chuckled.  “She’s a whole ass adult now and it’s strange to think about.  Cause when I look at her all I think about,” he added, picking up the onesie he’d found earlier and handing it over to Din, “is how she used to be small enough to fit in that and then I feel old.”

“That’s how I feel now ,” Din sighed.  He leaned back in his chair and considered.  They weren’t friends, he reminded himself.  His professor didn’t come over to listen to him complain about being tired, or overwhelmed, or… But Cobb was sitting there, expression open, just waiting and listening, and maybe just this once… “I go to pick up the kid and so many of the parents are ten, fifteen years younger, and I just think about how much easier it could be if I was ten, fifteen years younger.  Not that I would’ve been any good at any of this then, fuck I could barely take care of myself back then,” he admitted.  When Cobb didn’t look away, just leaned more comfortably back against the couch, Din realized it was all going to tumble out.  “And then I’ve just got this kid, and I don’t know what I’m doing and it’s like ‘hey you’ve moved into the back pain phase of your life, here’s a kid now too’.  And I know you know what I’m talking about,” he added as Cobb nodded, knowingly, “and she wasn’t even your kid , but they’re exhausting, right?”  

He ignored the clinch in Cobb’s jaw.  “But I love him, and I feel terrible for just wanting to sleep.  But Cobb, I’d give anything for a good night’s sleep,” Din pressed.  “Anything.  I feel terrible for saying that because I chose this.”  He took a deep breath.  “He’s my kid, I couldn’t…”

“Hey, slow down there,” Cobb said gently.  “You’re allowed to be tired.  Doesn’t matter how much you wanted to be a parent, you’re still allowed to be tired.  Those are two separate things.”  He shifted closer on the couch and draped his arm across the back.  “You can tell me to fuck off if it’s too personal, but is there… another parent…”

Din took a deep breath and considered his answer.  He’d already said more than he intended, and started a story he had no intention of sharing.  “No,” he said.  “It’s just me.  She doesn’t have any right to him,” he mumbled bitterly.

“Din, I’m sorry I asked.” 

“She didn’t want him,” Din added.  He could stop here.  Cobb looked like he wouldn’t ask any more questions, but… “Want to hear a story?”

“If you want to tell me.”

What was it about Cobb Vanth that made Din want to be that open book?  To let Cobb pick apart and analyze him like the books they read in class?

“I didn’t want to be a parent,” Din said before he could talk himself out of it.  “Never did.  And after I retired, I was… lost,” he sighed.  “I don’t know if lost is the right word.  Maybe adrift.  Angry.  I didn’t have any plans, I was just tired of being someone else’s weapon.  I made some bad choices, hung out with some shitty people, never stayed in one place too long.  And then I landed here.  Peli gave me a job that was supposed to be a temporary, two-week thing to get money to pay for replacement parts on my car and I just stuck around.  Took advantage of my benefits and started taking classes to get my degree and just… building a life I wanted.”  

He took a deep breath and leaned back.  “An ex-girlfriend of mine would show up once a year or so,” he continued.  “We’d reconnect for a few weeks, and be reminded why we were bad together.  She’d want money, and I realized I needed more than she could give.”  He shook his head.  “I hadn’t talked to her in about a year, and I got a call from a social worker at a hospital saying my son was born and did I want to claim him?”

“You didn’t know she was pregnant?”

Din shook his head.  “She listed me on the birth certificate and gave them my contact information.  Told them it was mine because we were together.  And then she just… left him.”  He could see Cobb pausing, doing the math in his head, and wanting to ask the question everyone asked.  That Din asked.  “She asked me if I would confirm I was the father and I didn’t say anything.  Just asked where they were and I would be right over.”

“Shit, Din,” Cobb murmured.  “That had to have been a shock.”

“I got there, and the social worker let me hold him while we were talking and I just…” Din trailed off.  “Nothing mattered after that.  He was my son.  Didn’t matter how we got there.”

“Even if…” Cobb trailed off.

“Even if,” Din agreed.  “He’s just looking up at me with big brown eyes and I’m promising he’ll never be abandoned again.  She mentioned paternity testing but I confirmed it right there.  Yeah we were together when she got pregnant.  He’s mine.  I accept.  No question.  And then all of a sudden, I was somebody’s dad.”

He glanced over at Cobb and watched for his reaction.  Only a handful of people knew that story.  He didn’t need pity or confusion or questions from other people.  Grogu was his son .  What-ifs didn’t matter.  

“Isn’t that how it always is,” Cobb murmured.  “No matter how you get there, it’s always all of a sudden you’re somebody’s dad.  Grogu is a lucky little fella to have someone like you as his dad.  He’s a great kid.”

Din released a breath he was holding and nodded.  “He really is the best.  A handful,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, but that’s to be expected,” Cobb insisted.  “Where would be the adventure if he wasn’t?”

“Adventure is one way to put it,” Din grinned.  Cobb’s phone chirped and Din tried not to look curious as he checked it.  “What am I keeping you from?” he asked.  “Hot date tonight?”

Cobb shrugged and admittedly looked a little sheepish.  “I’d actually forgotten about my hot date tonight,” he said.  

Oh.  Of course.  “I didn’t mean to keep you,” Din apologized.  “You just stopped by to drop off a book -”

“What do you think?” Cobb asked, offering his phone to Din.  

It was open up to a dating profile - fuck, that’s the site that Cara put his profile on, isn’t it? - of a shirtless guy in sunglasses double fisting beers and smiling in front of a lake.  “He seems…,” like a jerk, Din wanted to say.   Like he’d have a mattress on the floor, and a neon beer sign for decoration, and no responsibilities, and demand nothing more than a good time, and young and eager… was he jealous?  “Young,” he decided.  “He looks young.”

“He’s twenty-nine,” Cobb tried.

“Young,” Din repeated with a small grin.  “But he looks nice.  He’s handsome.  He’s just… young.”  Did he sound jealous?  He hoped he didn’t sound jealous.  Nothing to be jealous about.

“They’re all young,” Cobb sighed, taking back his phone.  “Dating is the worst.  I feel like I’m waiting for everyone’s first husbands to die or cheat or something.  Is that terrible?”

Din laughed.  “Maybe a little, but you’re not wrong.  Dating is the worst.  I mean, my friends made me a profile and I haven’t even checked it yet.  I’m just…”  He shook his head.  “It seems weird.  Is it weird?  I used to meet people through other people back when I had a social life.”

Cobb shrugged.  “No weirder than any other way to meet people.  I can’t depend on attractive strangers walking into my workplace like the protagonist of every novel I teach because they’re all my students.”

“Because they’re too young,” Din added with a grin.

“Way too young!” Cobb laughed.  He glanced down at the open profile, shook his head, and shoved his phone back in his pocket.  “He looks like a good time,” he added.

Dump an unwanted life story on him and then criticize his taste in men, good one Din.  “He does,” he agreed quickly.  “I didn’t mean to imply anything.  He’s hot.  Absolutely looks like you’ll have fun.  And I don’t want to keep you,” he added.  He should let Cobb go.  He obviously had places to be and sexy twenty-somethings to flirt with, and Din had a load of laundry to fold and a dishwasher to run once he figured out something to eat for dinner now that the kid was down for the night.  “Thank you.  For the book.  See if I can’t find some time to read since I don’t have class this week,” he added with a grin.

“Absolutely,” Cobb said.  He stood up from the couch but didn’t move for the door.  “You’ll have to tell me what you think you think of it.  There’s a character that reminds me of you that I’m interested to hear your take on.”

“Is he overwhelmed and in need of a good night’s sleep?” Din chuckled.

Cobb smiled and hooked his thumbs on his pockets.  “He’s determined,” he said.  “And stands faced with noble sacrifice for what he loves.”  He cleared his throat and turned towards the door before Din could respond.  “Plus, there’s a cool shoot out in the back half.  It’s a lot of fun.”

“Should I write a book report?” Din asked.  

Cobb pulled the front door open and turned to grin over his shoulder.  “Nah.  But… maybe coffee?  If we happen to be in the coffee shop at the same time, we could discuss the book.  Over coffee.”

“Over coffee,” Din repeated, unable to hide a smile at that.  “Sounds like a plan.”

Cobb nodded, lingering another moment before he pointed to the picture of Din and Grogu next to the door.  “Good lookin’ kid.  Reminds me a lot of his daddy,” he added.  “See you in class, Din.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you in class,” Din murmured, closing the door and taking a deep breath once he was alone.  

He was jealous of a handful of pictures on a dating app, and decided to spill his life story as a result, all to a guy who was off limits anyway.  What the fuck was wrong with him?  This was all Cara and Peli’s fault, opening up the possibility of dating again when he was perfectly happy not thinking about it before.  If they’d never brought up that app…

He wasn’t lying when he told Cobb he hadn’t checked it once he turned off the notifications.  It was too much, it felt too intrusive, too pushy.  But now seeing Cobb’s barely-legal date…

Fine.  The curiosity was going to kill him.  He retrieved his phone from the table and opened up the app, surprised at the number of suggested matches and the little red number signaling messages waiting for him.  Huh, guess there was some interest.  He popped open the matches list and most of the profiles were… fine.  These folks seemed normal enough, many of them weren’t his taste, a lot of them seemed like they were just looking for a quick fuck.  But, maybe that’s what he should be looking for?  Cara made a good point that he was terribly out of practice, and maybe just breaking the seal was what he needed to soothe this jealous streak and nip this crush in the bud.  

Oh, there was lake guy in his suggested matches too.  Guess he had a type.  He was hot, he had to admit.

He scrolled through, back from the most recent to the first suggested when he put his profile up.  

Cobb V., 46.

Even the app was going to taunt him now.  Could Cobb tell if he clicked to view his profile?  Did this mean the app suggested him to Cobb?  What did he think about that?  Did he look at it and think Din was hitting on him - Toro insisted Vanth was the ‘fuck to get an A’ professor, but Din had never seen any evidence of that.  And it wasn’t like he matched Cobb himself, it was just a suggestion from a robot in his phone.  

Wonder what pictures he has up , Din mused, his thumb hovering over the profile.  Most of what he’d flipped through had been a parade of thirsty shirtless pics and close ups that obviously edited out other people in the photo.  Which, now that he thought about it, was at least one of the pictures that Cara put up for him .  

Did he want to see Cobb’s?  Would it sate his curiosity or just inflame that spark of jealousy and make his crush worse ?

Cobb’s profile was up and open before Din realized he’d answered his own question.

…and he was not disappointed.

Cobb - Dr. Vanth, he reminded himself fruitlessly, his off-limits literature professor Dr. Vanth - was just as attractive in photos as he was in person.  Din could hate Cobb a little for being so goddamn photogenic, if he wasn’t also so goddamn appreciative of the fact right now.  

There was the one with him in the well-fitting deep red sweater the man’s worn to class a few times while holding what looks like a tumbler of whisky, the one with a few friends that looks like a birthday party and Cobb clean shaven, a couple more full body shots outside doing outdoor activities, and… yep, there it was.

The last one was shot from the side of a pool, and Cobb was pushing himself up out of the water.  Naked to the waist, water dripping off and highlighting each rounded shoulder and flexed bicep, the man absolutely grinning like he’d just had the best swim of his life, the sun peeking out around his…

“Fuck.”  He shouldn’t have looked.  Now he can’t unsee it.  He knew Cobb was attractive in person, but part of his little crush could be chalked up to being out of practice, and his friends putting ideas in his head about getting back out there, and Cobb just being so friendly, and him being admittedly a little lonely.  He could almost convince himself that it wasn’t the professor specifically, but the idea of him that Din was crushing on.  

Not any more.

“You cannot.  Date.  Your professor,” he muttered, swiping out of the profile and forcing himself to open another non-Cobb profile.  “No matter how good he looks… soaking wet…”

Ok, that’s enough of the app for this evening.  Cara was right - he needed to go on a date and one soon, just to relieve this pressure.  He’d message someone tomorrow.  That was a tomorrow problem.  No, opportunity .  A tomorrow opportunity.  Tonight he just needed to relax, especially now that the kid was down and quiet.

He glanced over at the side table, at the book Cobb left for him with the suggestion that he thought Din would like it.  That a character reminded him of Din.  

It wasn’t a hot date, but he was curious to see what Cobb thought would interest him.  Just one chapter, he promised himself.  Then the laundry.  Just to see what made Cobb think of him.

hey sexy ready to have some fun tonight??

gonna take me somewhere niiice??

my roommate’s gone so we can come back here but i bet you have a better place, right?

Cobb glanced at the rapid fire messages on his phone while he searched his desk for his watch.  He was usually better about keeping things where they lived, but he’d apparently taken it off while typing yesterday and it never made it back to the dish in the bedroom where it lived.  

Everything in its place, this made life easier.  

The missing watch wasn’t the only thing throwing him off balance tonight.  

He hadn’t intended to stick around after dropping off the book for Din.  He really did plan on dropping off the book and the cookie (remembering it was too late to take coffee was the first moment he was thrown off today), and heading out.  But the kid was too cute.  And Din’s home was too cozy.  And sitting with Din and listening to his story… it was too comfortable.  

Why had he shown Din the guy he was going out with tonight?  Cobb wasn’t embarrassed, exactly, but Din’s reaction did throw a little clarity on his choice of guy tonight.  He wasn’t looking for anything serious, he just wanted to have some fun.  And guys like this one were a lot of fun.  Cobb got to be sophisticated and interesting, and his date would be… fun.

show me a great night daddy

Fun.  He was looking for fun.  So what if he was young and pushy?  It was sexy.   It’s not like Cobb would rather go back to Din’s and, say, watch a movie and hear more about his life.  Tell Din about how lonely it could get when he was raising Rey but that it was absolutely worth it.  Maybe fall asleep on the couch together because they were comfortable.  But the maybes didn’t matter.  None of this was an option, because again, Din was his student.  Showing up at his house was probably a step too far, let alone going back and just hanging around.

Cobb turned, having exhausted the top and drawers of his desk to see if he put it on one of the shelves while grabbing a book to reference.  “Ah, there you are!” he chuckled, finding it next to the last book he referenced.  Must’ve taken it off without thinking.  He reached for it, but hesitated when he realized what else it was next to.

Rey’s horse phase had lasted for three intense, obsessive years.  Most of her toys had been cleared out - most were sent up to his attic when she got too old, some went with her when she went to live with her mother.  But he’d kept her favorite one out, displayed on the bookcase behind his desk, as a memento of his favorite little horse girl even after she wasn’t with him full time.  

He ran his finger along the horse’s lovingly worn ear and smiled.  It had been so hard when she was little, but he’d loved it.  He wanted more, always thought he’d meet someone and have a kid or two of his own to expand the little family he’d built with Rey.  

But it didn’t work out that way.  You can’t always get what you want.

Easier to not think about that now.  He was older, that time had passed.  Replace those wants with new ones - a good time, a sexy body, no strings attached, and easy to fit into the spare moments of his work and the rest of his life.  

Cobb Vanth wanted a good time.

And that… wasn’t with the lake boy tonight.

Hey, sorry bout the late notice but something came up and I have to pass on tonight, he sent.  I’m sure you can have plenty of fun without me!

He muted the conversation without waiting for a reply, and dialed a new number instead.  “Hey, Ben, it’s Cobb.  You, ah… are you up to anything tonight?”

“Working on a report I’d rather not be working on.  Do you have a better offer?”

Cobb smiled at that.  “Yeah, maybe.  Want to come over and sit on my deck and complain about grad students?”

“That’s usually a Sunday afternoon project, and usually you feed me.  Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just…” Cobb trailed off.  If anyone would understand it, Kenobi would understand it.  He’d sat through Cobb’s complaints the first time around, when Cobb was the irritating grad student.  He didn’t have to explain his story to Ben, because he’d been there from the beginning.  “I’m in a mood,” he decided.  “And I could use some company.”

“Well that sounds infinitely more interesting than this report.  How about I bring a bottle of bourbon, and you figure out something to feed me.  I can be over in… half an hour?”

“That sounds great.  Oh, hey, before you go… dating a student.  That’s bad, right?”

“Yes, that never turns out well.  Also a violation of university policy if it’s a current student.  Why?  Is there something I need to know?”

Cobb shook his head and cleared his throat.  “Nope, just came up in conversation a few days ago and I was thinking about… something.  I’m worried about nothing.  I’ll see you in a few.”

He hung up and dropped down into his office chair with a sigh.  Cobb Vanth was only in it for a good time, he reminded himself weakly.  Cobb Vanth didn’t want things it was too late to have.  

He’d believe those words again tomorrow.  

It had taken Din three days to finish the book Cobb loaned him.  The man had excellent taste and was exactly right about the sort of thing that would suck Din into a story.  And it wasn’t hard to pick out the character Cobb claimed reminded him of Din.  The quiet, reluctant hero, making sacrifices and then a final stand when he could take no more - and flattering if that’s really how Cobb saw him.  

He wanted to talk about it, wanted to pick it apart, wanted to hear why it was one of Cobb’s favorites and tell him he was right and had great taste.  He made himself wait until the Friday of break, when Cobb promised he’d have office hours before classes started up again next week.  If he showed up now, maybe they could get that coffee and discuss the book.  A chat between student and professor.  For class reasons.

Din tucked the book under his arm and weaved his way through the nearly deserted building.  There were closed office doors and a few students scattered in corners, but it seemed everyone was taking advantage of the last bit of break before the second half of the semester started.  He turned the corner in the hallway for Cobb’s office and… stopped. Cobb and Rey were standing outside of his office, talking quietly but fondly from what Din could tell.  Cobb’s hands came up to cup her cheeks and kissed her on the forehead, and Din…

Din pivoted and walked quickly back out of the building.  

It was quiet, they hadn’t expected anyone else in the hallways.  No one would expect to be disturbed.  They expected privacy.

What was Vanth doing kissing a student?

If anyone asked Din later, he wouldn’t be able to articulate just how his thoughts got to this point.  Was it protectiveness over a young and impressionable student who reminded him too much of the kids he had to protect when he was serving?  Was it that Rey was his friend and didn’t deserve to be taken advantage of?  Was it, in a small corner he would never acknowledge, a flare of jealousy that it wasn’t Din ?

He yanked open the door of his car and took a deep breath, forcing himself to count to five as he considered.

Toro was right.  You could fuck Vanth for an A.  Rey had always insinuated that she knew Vanth better than most, and Toro insisted he knew first hand Vanth had done this in the past.  

Regardless of how Din got there, that’s where he landed.  And he couldn’t let that stand.  

Fuck. That.

Before he realized what he was doing, Din slammed his car door shut and made his way back into the building.  Sure she was an adult and could make her own decisions, but Cobb was her fucking teacher and honestly knew better than to take advantage of someone who depended on him for a grade.

But Din didn’t need this grade.  And didn’t give a shit about this class.

Rey was gone, but Cobb’s office door was open and he was messing with something on his laptop when Din entered.  “Hey!  I was hoping you’d stop by,” Cobb beamed.  He pointed to the book in Din’s hand.  “Did you read it already?” 

Din closed the door behind him without a word and turned to hover over Cobb’s desk, giving himself to the count of five to focus.  Count of five to turn the anger and frustration into something useful.  One, two, three… fuck it.  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he hissed, letting his anger sharpen before release.

“I…” Cobb trailed off.  “Doing about what?”

“I saw you.  Kissing Rey.  In the hallway.”  Din kept his voice quiet, but he couldn’t filter out the anger.  He dropped the book on Cobb’s desk and crossed his arms across his chest.  Rey deserved better than to be taken advantage of by her professor.  “Look, I don’t give a shit what you do in your private life.  You have every right to do whatever with whoever and that’s none of my business. But Rey is a good kid, and you have to know better than to take advantage of nice kids like her who aren’t going to say no when their hot fucking professor hits on them.  You’re her fucking teacher,” he growled, leaning over and planting his hands on the edge of his desk.  “Or if you’re leading her on because sweet co-eds like to flirt with guys twice their age, you need to be the responsible adult and cut it the fuck out.  You’re responsible for her while she’s your student.  Do.  Better.”

He pushed off from the desk as Cobb stared up at him.  It didn’t really matter which angle was the truth - Cobb flirting and pressuring Rey, or Rey flirting and Cobb taking advantage of it.  Cobb was the responsible party here who needed to cut it the fuck out.  She was going to get hurt, and Din had grown fond of-

“I’m not dating Rey.”

Din focused back on Cobb and drew a long breath.  Cobb had leaned back in his chair and was scrubbing his face with his hands and Din hoped that was guilt.  Sit in your fucking guilt.  “I saw you kiss her in the hallway, so what the fuck was that?”

Cobb shook his head and smiled.  Din considered reaching out and slapping that smile off him.  “Din, she’s my niece.”

“What?”

“Rey is my sister’s kid,” Cobb explained.  “I was saying goodbye and that’s what I’ve always done.  I kiss her on the forehead, she rolls her eyes and says I embarrass her.  But that’s half the fun, right?”  He grabbed the framed photo from beside his laptop and handed it to Din.  There was Cobb with his arm draped around a school-aged Rey, holding up a blue ribbon and smiling a big, bright, front tooth missing grin.  “She’s my niece.”

His niece.  His niece who he spent so much time with growing up.  His niece who Din gathered meant the absolute world to him.  His Sunflower.  That niece.  The anger seeped out of Din and left him hollow… and embarrassed.  “Shit,” he mumbled, sinking down into one of the chairs.  “Shit,” he repeated.  Rey was his niece, and he’d stormed in here and accused him of… shit.  “Cobb, I… shit.  I need to apologize.”

“Oh, there’s no need to apologize,” Cobb beamed.  He was entirely too amused at this conversation, Din decided.  “One, Rey made me promise not to talk about it with people when she enrolled.  Most of the professors in the department know because she’s hung around with me for years and she practically set up her own sleep-away camp in Kenobi’s old office years ago.  And two…. fuck, Din, you were gonna hit me,” he pointed out.

That was unfair.  “I wasn’t going to hit you.”  True, but unfair.

“I’ve been in enough fights to know when someone’s gonna hit me,” Cobb insisted.  “You were gonna hit me.”

“I wasn’t going to hit you.”

“You were thinking about hitting me.”

“...the thought crossed my mind.”

“Shit, that’s fantastic,” Cobb laughed.  “Y’all, that’s great.”

Din tilted his head, completely thrown off his game at Cobb’s reaction.  He’d been in enough fights in his life to know how this story usually plays out.  They didn’t end up with the guy in front of him laughing his ass off and beaming like he won the fucking lottery.  “The fuck am I missing?” he murmured.

Cobb leaned across the desk and smiled again.  “Din, you thought I was taking advantage of Rey and you were ready to beat the shit out of me if I said something disgusting about her.  She means the absolute world to me, and knowing that you care enough about her to storm into my office and fight me in public?  That’s everything I could ask for in her friends.  Don’t get me wrong, she can take care of herself.  But all I want for her is to not have to do it alone.”

“Well…” Din trailed off.  “You’re welcome?”

“Thank you for being willing to beat the shit out of me,” Cobb agreed.  He reached over and picked up the discarded novel and smiled again.  “So, what did you think about the book?  Was I right?  Did you enjoy it? When the man in black agreed to help the town - that seemed right up your alley.”

Din stopped himself from answering automatically.  How could Cobb just change topics like that after he’d stormed in here ready for a fight?  And accusing him of taking advantage of a student?  “So that’s… it?” he murmured.  “That’s the end of that conversation?  You don’t care that I was going to hit you?”

“I thought you said you were only thinking about hitting me,” Cobb pointed out.

“I was going to hit you.”

Cobb’s grin, if it was possible, grew even wider.  “I knew it.”

“So we’re just letting that slide?”

“Unless you want to talk about why you thought I was the type of guy to take advantage of a student like that.”  Cobb set the book on a stack behind his desk and moved the picture of him and Rey back to its regular position.  “My guess is you’ve heard through the grapevine that I date students.  Or that I have in the past.  Or that the best way to ace my class is to fuck me.  Any of these sound familiar?”

Yes.  “No,” Din answered, quickly and unconvincingly.  

Cobb shrugged at that, but Din could tell he was bothered by it.  “I’m single, I’m on a lot of dating apps, I get hits from students all the time.  And there’s always at least one student who thinks they can fuck their way to an A.”

“But you haven’t?” Din murmured, mostly as a train of thought, but he regretted his phrasing as soon as he caught the tightness around Cobb’s mouth.  

“No,” Cobb said firmly.  “I haven’t.”

“Because they’re too young?” Din offered lightly, wondering just how he was going to make up for this.  Or if Cobb really was as unbothered by it as he seemed.

“Way too young,” Cobb answered on cue.  “Hey, Din,” he added.  “We’re okay.  Don’t worry about this, really.  I’d rather you threaten to beat the shit out of me than for her to get taken advantage of.  This can stay between you and me.  And now I’ve learned a valuable lesson about you.”

“That I make stupid assumptions and haven’t apparently grown out of the urge to fight about it?”

Cobb leaned back and smiled.  “That you only pick a fight you intend to win.  You were gonna win this one, no matter what I said.  I could see it in your face.”

Din felt exposed.  Cobb was right, of course, but that sort of immediate clarity about him made him feel exposed.  He thought he wanted Cobb to open and analyze him like their books, he thought what was missing from his loneliness was someone knowing him, but this was too much.  He’d made a fool of himself.  And Cobb’s easy acceptance of all of it, all it did was make him want more.  

“Yeah,” Din murmured.  “Still.  Threatening to fight your professor isn’t the way to go.  And I… ah… need to get to work.”  He stood and nodded, trying to gather what little bit of his dignity he had left.  “I loved the book.  You were right when you said you could figure out what I wanted.  That was exactly it.”

“If you’re interested,” Cobb said, “the offer still stands to discuss it in detail.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on the central conflict between duty and desire.”

Din nodded.  He shouldn’t.  “I’m free after class on Wednesday,” he said before he could stop himself.  “Coffee?”

Cobb beamed.  “I look forward to it.”

Din excused himself before he had the chance to embarrass himself any further and escaped through the quiet building without looking back.

Chapter Text

“This really doesn’t seem like a fair trade,” Rey said as she searched for Din’s requested classes on his phone.  “I mean, you’re doing a hell of a lot more work than I am.”

Din slid out from under her car to grab the new oil filter.  “Last time I tried to register for classes, I ended up in the Registrar’s office with my only option as a lit class I didn’t need.  Not that I haven’t had a great time getting to know you, but I need these two classes next semester.  And you needed an oil change.  Seemed like a win-win for both of us.”

“Are you sure I can’t pay you?” Rey insisted.  “There’s one down,” she added absently.

“It’s on the house.”

“Four words that should never be spoken in my garage!” Peli called out.

“We’re not open yet,” Din pointed out.  “No one heard me say it.”

“She did,” Peli replied.  “And I don’t know who she is.”

“Hi, I’m Rey,” Rey beamed from a stool next to her car.  “I’m in Din’s class, I’m a sophomore, and whenever Din decides to take me up on my offer, I might also be the babysitter for what the pictures on this phone tell me is the cutest baby in the entire city.”

“I told you, next time I go on a date, I’ll give you a call.”

“You said that weeks ago.”

“That should give you a clear picture of my social life.”

“Kid, we’ve been telling this sad sack the same thing for months,” Peli interjected.  “Can’t complain about being alone if he’s not going to do something about it.  So many fish in the sea.  Just gotta drop a stick of dynamite in there and see what floats to the top.”

Din slid the tray of used out oil from under the car and finally stood up.  “You skip fishing all together and jump straight to dynamite?”  

“Subtlety is a young woman’s game,” she pointed out.  “I don’t have time for that.  You know why I’m successful?  I don’t give anyone the chance to say no to me.  I go right up, tell them we’re going out, and then bam, a great time is had by all.  And, sometimes, a discount on tires, but a lady never kisses and tells.”

Din wanted both more and less information, but decided on silence.  Sometimes the best way to distract Peli from asking too much about his own personal life was to toss a question to her because, in the best way possible, she only shared half of any story but it was always the completely ludicrous half.  Anything to keep him from offhandedly admitting that the closest thing he’d had to a date lately was grabbing coffee and discussing books with Cobb after threatening to assault him in his office.

And realizing each time he opened the app that coffee with Cobb would win out over any sexy possibilities with the unending list of unknown faces and profiles.

It wasn’t healthy, he knew this.  He needed to bite the bullet and get out there and stop thinking about his professor, but the options were overwhelming.  What did he want?  There were too many choices - hair color, eye color, hobbies, likes, dislikes, gym rat, hedonist, good time… Cara was right from the beginning - he needed practice so he was ready when a good thing came along.

But practice sounded exhausting compared to the easy and comfortable choice of sitting at the coffee shop with Cobb talking about why books didn’t have to be ‘well written’ to be ‘good’.  Din wanted to skip straight to that, to easy time spent together, instead of having to go through the frustration of flirting and first dates.  He wanted to already fit into someone’s life and have them fit into his, instead of trying to shove a hot square peg into a complicated round hole.

He wanted… 

“All signed up,” Rey said, yanking Din’s attention back to the matter at hand.  “The classes you wanted, the times you wanted, and no angry lady at the registrar to tease you.”

Din pulled off his gloves and tossed them back into the garbage can.  “Rey, you’re a godsend.  The oil change was worth not having to fight that fight myself.”

“I feel like I should get to tease you for being old and unfamiliar with technology, but also you were the only one in the study group who seems ready for next week’s exam, so who’s really laughing at this point,” she chuckled.

“Your uncle’s not going to fail you, you’ll be fine,” Din assured her, only realizing his error when he saw her eyes go wide.  “Oh…”

“Did he tell you?” she pressed.  “Because he wasn’t supposed to say anything, that was our agreement.”

“No, he didn’t say anything.” 

“Then how did you find out?”

I thought he was harassing you, so I threatened him .  “I saw the picture on his desk.  Made a guess.  Don’t blame him for something I did.”

Rey rolled her eyes, but the irritation was gone.  “I told him to take that picture down, but he just can’t.  He’s stubborn.”

“Seems like a family trait.”

Rey laughed at that.  “Yeah.”  She grinned, glancing down at his phone, and obviously considering something.  “You know,” she mused, “I’m not surprised he told you.  He likes you.”

“Who likes him?” Peli asked, appearing at Din’s side as if summoned.

“My uncle,” Rey replied.

“He does not,” Din tried. 

“Oh, perfect, you don’t even have to look far!” Peli exclaimed.  “Is he single?  Is he handsome?  Even if he’s not, beggars can’t be choosers, and you could use a little practice.  Trust me, ugly men try the hardest and make up for it with excellent technique.”

“He’s very handsome,” Rey insisted.  She handed Din back his phone and started to dig through the photos on hers.  

Din could feel the heat rising in his cheeks - this was a conversation he wanted to avoid, and one he did not need getting back to Cobb.  The last thing he needed was Rey confirming his little crush on her uncle and deciding to interfere.  

“Here, see?” she said, handing her phone to Peli.  “Very handsome.  And very available.”

Peli looked at the picture, then over at Din with a look of shock.  “What the fuck are you waiting for?  This silver fox is single and willing to mingle with you, and you’re sitting here complaining about ‘oh no being alone is terrible’?”

“He’s our professor, Peli,” Din replied.  “He’s off limits.”

“Fine,” Peli grumped.  “Be like that.  See if I try to help you any more.”

“Some things just aren’t meant to be,” he pointed out.  “And that’s fine.  There’s a whole slate of people in that app Cara put me on.  I’ll pick one of them.”  He looked between the two of them, realizing neither of them believed him.  He barely believed himself.  “I promise, we get through this next exam, and I’ll message someone.”

“You should - you’re a catch,” Rey said.  “So then the question is… what are you looking for?”

“Yeah, Din, what do you want?” Peli agreed.

What did he want?

Din hoisted Grogu into his arms, making sure not to jostle either his backpack or the diaper bag slung across his shoulders.  “Okay kid,” he said, kicking the car door closed. “Here’s the deal.  Papa’s gotta take a test, and since your daycare teachers are all sick today, and nice Mr. Kuill is out of town, you need to take the test with me.  Which means you’re gonna be on your best behavior, right?”

“I want school,” Grogu grumbled.  He tucked his head over Din’s shoulder and started waving to everyone they passed.  “Doggie!” he yelled right into Din’s ear.  “Hi doggie!  Papa look, doggie!”

“I know, kiddo, so many fun doggies on campus today.  But we can’t stop and say hi to them right now.  Maybe they’ll still be outside after I take my test.  Papa’s not going to work after this so we can say hi to all the doggies after the test.  I just need you to be on your best behavior for the next couple of hours.  Can you do that for me?”

“Wanna say hi to the doggie,” Grogu whined.

And look, Din would rather be saying hi to the dogs too.  There was a non-zero chance Grogu would sit quietly the entire time it took for Din to take the exam, but the chance was so slim as to be ridiculous.  The goal was to write fast enough that he could get something acceptable on paper before Grogu decided to melt down, or go wandering through the classroom, or god forbid hurt himself in some way.  

Asking Rey or Finn or someone to help box Grogu in so he couldn’t escape wasn’t an option either.  The last thing he wanted was for one of the kids who needed a good grade in this class to get thrown off because he couldn’t find a babysitter.  

His words didn’t need to be brilliant, they just needed to be quick.  And passable.  

“Wanna see Iggy,” Grogu whined as Din maneuvered his way into the building and through the hallway towards his class.  “Iggy, Iggy, Iggy, Igg-”

“I know, I know,” Din tried.  “But we can’t see Iggy today.  We’ll look to see if any of the other dogs are still outside after we finish, but we’re going to be quiet and let Papa take his test, right?.”  He stopped outside the door and shifted his hold on Grogu to look the grumpy toddler in the eye.  “We’re going to be so quiet in here,” he said softly.  “We’re going to be so good, I know you are.  And after I finish, we can go get a cupcake, would you like that?  I will get you a cupcake if you are quiet.  Can we do that?”  Grogu stuck his tongue out, but didn’t say anything.  High stakes toddler negotiation, reduced to a stuck out tongue and the desperate promise of cupcakes.  

B+ parenting skills at work, but that’s all he had to go on right now.

“I’m doing this for you, you know,” he murmured, and Grogu’s reply was a soft ‘awoo’ like a puppy.  “You know what, I’ll take it.”

“Hey Din, you ready for the - oh my god, he’s here!”

Din turned to find Rey, followed close by Finn and Toro who looked deep in conversation over something on Toro’s phone.  “Hey, yeah, daycare’s closed today so someone had to come with me.  Grogu, I want you to meet some of Papa’s friends from school.  This is Rey.  Can you say hello to Rey?”  Grogu grinned… and barked.  “With our words,” he sighed.  “Let’s say hello with our words.”

“Hi,” Grogu said, lifting up his hand to wave.  He was met with an enthusiastic wave from Rey.

“You really are just the cutest thing,” she beamed.  “Oh my god, and you have little curls.  I’m dead.  I’m absolutely dead.  I told you that if you ever needed a babysitter, you could call me,” she added.  

“You’re in the class.”

“Minor detail.  And Finn is great with kids too, aren’t you?”

“I just don’t get why you’d go by a fake name and a headless torso shot if you know they’re eventually going to meet you and see you,” Finn said, handing Toro his phone back as they rejoined Rey.

“Cali is close enough to my name, and nothing wrong with being slutty in my photo,” Toro fired back.  “I look hot.  Cali, 25 is going to get the job done.”

“Guys,” Rey pressed.  “Behave, there’s a little person here.”

The guys looked up, and Finn broke into a wide smile at the baby.  “You brought him!  How’s it going, little man?  I’m Finn, this is Toro.  You’re the one with the frogs, right?”

“Frogs!” Grogu exclaimed.  He twisted in Din’s arms, reaching for the diaper bag, and almost twisting right out onto the floor.  “Papa!  Frogs!  Mr. Jumpy!”

“I know, I know, you can’t twist like that or I’m going to drop you.”  Din readjusted his grip on the kid.  “Hey, can Finn hold you while I look for the frog?  Is that okay?” he asked Finn.

Finn reached out to catch Grogu as the kid all but twisted the other way right out of Din’s arms and into Finn’s.  “Oh wow, you’re a big guy, aren’t you?  It’s nice to meet you.  We’ve heard so many things about you.  Thanks for letting us borrow your dad a couple hours a week.”

“See, I told you Finn’s great with kids too,” Rey said.  

“I had a lot of cousins,” Finn explained.  “A lot.”

With Grogu safely in another set of arms, Din shuffled around in the diaper bag to find Mr. Jumpy Legs and offer him to the grabby toddler.  “You know, they’ve met Mr. Jumpy Legs before,” he explained.  Grogu gave the frog a big squeeze and then pressed the frog’s head into Finn’s neck.  “They met him in class a while ago.”

“How?” Grogu asked.

“Cause Papa made a mistake and brought the wrong bag to class one day.  But that’s okay, cause we all make mistakes sometimes.”

“Oh my god, he calls you Papa ,” Rey murmured.  “This is so cute.”

“Oh no,” Grogu said, twisting again as Din scooped him and the frog up from Finn’s arms.  “Okay, Papa,” he added, patting Din’s cheek.  “It’s an oops.”

Din chuckled and gave his son a kiss on the top of his head.  “Yes, it’s an oops.”  

“Not that this isn’t precious as fuck,” Toro interrupted.  “But we’ve got a test to get to.  And I need an A in this class.  You sure that Vanth is gonna let you have a kid in there?”

“He’ll be fine,” Rey said, pushing the door open and holding it for the group.  “Besides, Jo’s the one that proctors the tests and she’s cool with whatever.”

“There’s not really any other choice,” Din sighed.  If it hadn’t been last minute, he’d have texted Cobb to make sure.  Or at least to give him a heads up that Grogu was coming.  But he’d already been out the door when daycare called and told him they were closed for the next three days after everyone called in sick.  That sent him into scrambling mode, and today was a ‘make do the best he could’ day.  

Luckily Rey was right - Cobb’s grad student Jo had proctored the previous two tests and she was as easy going as she could be.  If he could claim the two seats in the back next to the door, he could slip out easily if Grogu started to act up.  And if he wrote fast, hopefully he could outrace any toddler meltdown that was looming.

“You can’t have a kid in here.  No one who’s not in the class can be in here for an exam.”

Din looked up at the guy stationed in the front of the class where Jo usually sat.  “It’s my kid,” he explained.  “Daycare’s closed.  We’ll just sit back here by the door and I’ll take him out if he gets loud.”

The guy moved through the gathered students, pointing out the papers on the front desk.  “I don’t think you heard me,” he explained.  “The rules say you aren’t allowed to have anyone in here who isn’t registered for the class or a service animal.  Which one is he?”

Din’s shoulders went stiff and his jaw hardened at this asshole making comments about his son, but shoved everything down as best he could.  Count to five, take a moment before responding.  “Who are you?” he asked, forcing the softness into his voice.  “Where’s Jo?”

“I’m Scott,” he replied, assuming that that explained everything.  

“Where’s Co–Dr. Vanth?” Din quickly corrected himself.  “This is an extenuating circumstance.  We’re going to sit quietly in the back and write as fast as I can.”

“Dr. Vanth will be here in a few minutes, but that doesn’t matter because I’m running this test.  And I don’t care how fast you write,” Scott shot back.  “You can’t be in here with something that’s going to cause a problem for the rest of the class.”

“You seem to be the one causing a problem here,” Din said softly.  

Scott’s eyes went wide.  “What did you just say to me?”

Before Din could reply, Cobb entered from the front of the class and dropped a thick book on the front desk.  “Good morning y’all, how’re we feeling?  I need everyone to stretch and relax, I know everyone is going to do great.  I can see that…”  His eyes met Din’s and he burst into a grin.  “Hey, would you look at that!  Everyone, make sure you grab one of the packets from the front,” he added, weaving through the desks back to where Din was in his standoff with this asshole.  “You brought a friend today!  Hi buddy.”

“Bob!” Grogu exclaimed.  He shoved his stuffed frog forward, which Cobb took happily.  

“You remember me?” Cobb beamed.  “Oh buddy, it’s so good to see you.  What brings you to class today?”

“Daycare is closed and the babysitter is out of town,” Din explained.  “I should’ve let you know, but it was a last minute issue.”

“And I told him,” Scott pressed, “that it’s not allowed and he needed to get out, Dr. Vanth.”

“Oh, that’s so harsh, Scott.”  Cobb shook his head.  “Rules like that are guidelines.  But it is gonna be hard to write with an arm full of kid, isn’t it?  Scott, why don’t you get everything set up in the front and I’ll take care of this.”  Scott glared at Din once more, before nodding and retreating back to the front to finish the exam set up.  “He’s new,” Cobb added apologetically.

“I’ll keep him quiet,” Din sighed.  “I’ll duck out if he starts interrupting everyone.  I just… don’t have any other option.”

“Oh, I think we have at least one other option.  Let him come hang out with me.”

“Are you sure?”

Cobb took Grogu from Din’s arms without a fight on either Din’s or Grogu’s part.  “We will hang out in my office until you finish your test.  I’m gonna be in there anyway just in case any of y’all have an issue.  Little man can keep me company.  Isn’t that right?”

Grogu howled his soft little ‘awoo’ again much to Cobb’s amusement… and Din’s embarassment.  

“He saw dogs on the way into the building, and I promised him we could go find them after class.  So I’m sorry if he starts trying to be a puppy.”  Din draped the diaper bag over Cobb’s shoulder and kissed his boy on the cheek.  “And if he starts complaining about wanting to see Iggy, we can’t go see Iggy today but I promise we’ll see him soon.  There should be everything he needs in the bag, including a few snacks.  And he’s not taking a morning nap anymore, so I don’t think he’ll conk out, but-”

“Hey,” Cobb said softly.  He placed his hand on Din’s arm and Din took a deep, shuddering breath.  “He’s safe with me.”

Was that the concern?  Of all the people in the room, Cobb absolutely knew what he was doing with a kid.  Din didn’t question that for a moment.  There was nothing that could come up that he wasn’t certain Cobb could handle.  Add to that how happy he looked to have Grogu here, and how comfortable his hold on the kid was, and how warm Cobb’s hand felt on his arm… 

Din swallowed and nodded.  “Of course he is.  Ok,” he said softly, running his fingers through Grogu’s curls, “you’re gonna go have fun with Dr. Cobb while Papa takes his test.  And I’ll come get you in a little bit.  Be good.”

“We’ll both be good,” Cobb promised.  “Everyone is going to do great here too,” he added, louder for the whole class.  “If you need anything, Scott’s got it handled here.  I’ll be in my office if anything more comes up.  Can you tell everyone good luck, bud?”

“Good luck!” Grogu yelled.

Cobb gave Din’s arm one last squeeze.  “We’ll be in my office whenever you finish.”

“Thanks,” Din murmured as the pair ducked out of the classroom.  

Write fast, Din.  Write fast.

Cobb took the long way back to his office.  If asked, he’d never admit that some part of him deep down just wanted to hold the baby.  As soon as Din dropped Grogu in his arms, it was as if he was twenty years younger and he was meandering up and down the halls with Rey while taking bets on whether his sister would show up that evening.  And Grogu really was a sweet little guy.  He’d point out something on the wall, and Grogu would do the same, then usually followed by him pointing Mr. Jumpy Legs at the topic of conversation as well.  It felt comfortable.  Cozy.  

It felt ri-

“Vanth, what do you have there?”

Cobb turned to see Ben approaching from the adjoining hallway.  “One of my students had his daycare fall through, so this little guy is hanging out with me while the exam runs.  Grogu, say hello to Dean Ben.”  Grogu ducked his head against Cobb’s neck, but gave the frog a shake in Ben’s direction.  “He’s a little shy.”

Ben chuckled.  “I can see that.  Oh, but you’re a handsome fella, aren’t you?  Are you boys just going for a walk up and down the halls?”

“Nah, we’re headed to my office.  Figured we’d take the grand tour and then settle in.”  Cobb shifted his shoulder to keep the diaper bag on.  “Did you need anything?”

“No, not at the moment,” Ben said.  “I’m headed to a meeting that could easily be an email.  You boys have fun.  Don’t you go driving this old man nuts,” he added, giving Grogu a boop on his nose, which was rewarded with a giggle and a soft bark.

“It’s a dog thing today,” Cobb interjected, and Ben shrugged in easy acceptance.  They waved goodbye as the dean retreated to his meeting, and Cobb met Grogu’s look.  “Guess we need to get to my office before we get caught lollygagging again, huh?”  Grogu babbled an incomprehensible response, but Cobb took that for agreement.

They doubled back to his wing of the building without delay this time.  With his door closed behind them, Cobb finally let Grogu down and surveyed the area.  Not a lot of space for the kid to run around, if that’s what he was prone to do, and the stacks of books along the wall could cause a problem if Cobb stopped paying attention.  The desk in the middle cut out a chunk of area, so it probably made the most sense to pick either in front of or behind the desk to clear a space.  

“Alright, little guy, looks like we’re gonna have to rework this a bit,” Cobb murmured.  If he wanted to get any work done, it made the most sense to set up the kid in front of the desk and he could glance away from his screen at regular intervals.  “Let’s see what your dad has in this magic bag of his.”

“Juice?” Grogu asked, clutching Mr. Jumpy Legs tightly as Cobb dropped the diaper bag and then knelt down next to him as best he could.

“Perhaps,” Cobb murmured.  To no surprise, the bag was stocked full and Cobb quickly found the sippy cup Grogu was asking for.  “Here we go, that looks like your juice.”

With Grogu happily looking around the room with a frog in one hand and a sippy cup in the other, Cobb pulled a large beach towel out and spread it behind his desk.  “Let’s be honest, I’m not getting any work done this morning,” he chuckled, mostly to himself but when Grogu matched his laugh he realized the benefits of an audience.  “So here,” he continued, “let’s set up behind my desk.  And if you don’t mind me joining you, I think I’ll just stay down here too.”  He lifted Grogu to set him now behind the desk on the towel and tipped one of his chairs on the side to form a makeshift barrier that hopefully Grogu wasn’t coordinated enough to jump over yet.  

It had been a long time since he’d had to create a toddler barricade, but necessity was the mother of invention.  Besides, he was still faster than a toddler.  He was ninety percent sure of that.

Eighty percent, with certainty.

Cobb sat down on the towel with Grogu as the kid grabbed at the diaper bag to look for… something.  “Whatcha looking for, bud?” he asked, getting a non-committal babble in response.  “Did you dad pack other toys in there?  I know he said the frog is your favorite nap toy, but I bet he’s got a bunch of other things in there.  He seems like the type of dad to have every option on hand in case you need something.  Just, the kind of guy who’s always prepared.  Is that what your dad is like?”

Grogu started yanking blocks out of the bag and tossing them onto the ground.

“Just between you and me,” Cobb continued, “I’m not upset at all you came with him today.  Been a long time since I got to hang out with a little kid.  And you’re just a tiny version of your dad, aren’t you?  Got the same wavy hair, and the same sweet eyes… bet he gets just as excited for the dogs on the yard as you do.”

Grogu perked up.  “Iggy?  Iggy!  See Iggy!”

“Oops, sorry kiddo, shouldn’t’ve brought that up,” Cobb chuckled.  “I’m not Iggy.  But I can help you with whatever you’re building there.  Is that a tower?”

The question was met with a disgruntled huff - Cobb assumed it was more directed at the fact that he was not whomever or whatever Iggy is, and less at the idea that Grogu would need help with his building project.  

With Grogu occupied by the blocks, Cobb leaned back against the wall and tried to settle himself into a comfortable position.  “If I tell you a secret, do you promise not to tell anyone?” he asked softly.  The kid ignored him, as kids often do.  “I think your dad might be the handsomest man I’ve met in a long time.  And I wish…”  He trailed off.  Grogu moved to looking through the diaper bag again.  “He won’t be my student forever.  But I just don’t know if I can offer what he’s lookin’ for.  Or if he’d even be lookin’ for me.”

Cobb Vanth was here for a good time.  Everyone he met was looking for nothing more than a good time.  

Asking for more than that, well… 

History taught him that only led to disappointment.

“Your dad deserves a real partner, and I ain’t done that in… probably at least a half dozen of you.  Cause you’re, what, two?”  Grogu looked up from the bag and took a sip from his juice.  “Yeah, that’s a real long time.  More years than I’ve got fingers on my hands,” he chuckled, holding his hands up and wiggling his fingers.  “You know he loves you more than anything.  Going through all this trouble just to make you proud of him.  You gotta promise me that one day you’re gonna tell him you’re proud of him.  I’ve told him, but it doesn’t mean a lick coming from a stranger like me.  Not like it would be from you.  You’re his whole world, little man.”

Grogu pulled a cardboard book from the bag and walked it over to drop it in Cobb’s lap.  “Book,” he said, pointing insistently.  “Book please?”

“That is a book,” Cobb agreed.  “What’s this… Click Clack Moo .  Well that sounds like fun, what do you…”  Grogu then dropped himself into Cobb’s lap, with his juice in one hand and his frog in the other.  “Is it story time?  I do love story time.  We’ll read this and then go back to our blocks, okay?”

“Mooooo,” Grogu said happily as he leaned back against Cobb and tapped on the book for him to begin.  “Cow go moooooo.”

Cobb couldn’t argue with that.

The exam took longer than Din anticipated, but it may have been more the lingering guilt of forcing Cobb to become an unwitting babysitter distracting him than any issue with the writing.  

Cobb didn’t seem to mind the imposition, but was he really going to tell Din no?  He wasn’t the type of guy to throw a student out of an exam for something beyond their control.  He was the type to help them with whatever they needed.  Any student, Din insisted.  Not just him, any student.  

Cobb was just doing what he’d do for any student.  No need to feel guilty about that.

Din paused outside of Cobb’s office, glancing through the window and hoping that Grogu hadn’t caused too much of a mess.  His son was usually behaved enough at daycare, but he had a difficult time warming up to strangers.  There wasn’t a fuss or a meltdown when he’d handed him over to Cobb, and he had full faith that Cobb could handle a fussy kid when he did protest, but still.  Grogu was still so shy and standoffish with strangers.  The last thing he wanted to do was make him - either Grogu or Cobb - uncomfortable.  

Although looking through the window, ‘uncomfortable’ appeared the least of his concerns.  Cobb was leaning back in his office chair, feet kicked up on the filing cabinet, and Grogu clutching his frog while curled up on Cobb’s chest.  He had one hand on the kid, and the other holding a novel and they looked for all intentions… comfortable.

Was Grogu asleep?  Din couldn’t tell from this angle.  He could knock, but everything looked so peaceful.  Instead, he cracked the door open and was met with Cobb reading softly from the book in a low, even tone.

“...was seeing her at the time he shot the gangster in Miami Beach, and Joyce had trouble accepting the fact he had deliberately shot and killed a man.  She told him he had an image of himself as a lawman, meaning an Old West lawman but without the big mustache, and he believed it might be true in some deep part of his mind…”

Well, not exactly appropriate for a toddler.  But with the door open, he could see Grogu’s eyes were closed and his little back moving up and down as he breathed.  

“...another time Joyce said, ‘The way you put it, you said you called him out.  What did you think, you were in a movie?’  Her saying it caught him by surprise, because at times he did see it that way, as something he had borrowed from a western movie.”  Cobb smiled as Grogu snuffled softly, still asleep, and settled again.  “He liked westerns a lot.”

Din would like westerns a lot too if Cobb was reading them.  The man had a soothing voice, and the sight of Grogu asleep so comfortably without questions sparked something deep in Din.  An ache?  A want?  A desire for this scene to be repeated in a different place, in a different chair, while Din could listen to him read and Grogu could stay comfortably sprawled out on someone who wasn’t going anywhere, and had no place he’d rather be?

That was the issue with all of the profiles, and Cara and Peli’s insistence that he pick someone for a good time.  He wanted a good time, of course, but he had other things more important to him.  Anyone he let into his life had to know his son was a vital part of the package.  He didn’t want someone who’d simply accept his kid as part of being with him - he wanted someone who wanted Grogu to be a part of their life just as much as they wanted Din.  Who wanted family, and partnership, and wanted to take on all the messy parts, and hard parts, and joy, and struggle, and sleepless nights, and hurried connections…

It was too much to put on a first date.  It was too much to expect of a first meeting based off of a picture and a few mindless texts.  He had to be open to giving someone a chance.  But what he wanted… 

What he wanted was this .  If only he was brave enough to let someone try.

Din cleared his throat and knocked lightly on the door jamb, unwilling to let his mind wander any further along thoughts of what ifs and I wants.  He was already taking up too much of Cobb’s time sticking him with babysitting duty when he probably needed this time for work.  “How’s it going?”

Cobb turned his head and smiled.  “Hey, Papa,” he said softly.  “Little one’s asleep and I figured you wouldn’t be opposed to a nap.”

The ache in Din’s chest deepened before he could reply.  A constant heart beat of I want, I want, I want …

What do you want, Din?  What do you want?

Not now.  Not here.  

“Interesting nap time story,” he said.  “Pretty sure that’s not one from my bag.”

Not someone you can’t have.

Cobb chuckled, closing the book and setting it on his desk.  “We got through all of the books in the bag.  Click Clack Moo , Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus , We Are In A Book … that one was fun, we read that one twice.  And I guess something about my voice just knocked the little guy out.  We drank our juice, and changed our diaper, and he just… zonked out.  I figured I’d keep reading something just to see how long he would snooze.”

Din picked up the chair Cobb was using as a gate, and righted it to sit on.  Not across the desk from Cobb as usual, but behind the desk with the two of them.  Close enough to reach over and take Grogu whenever Cobb wanted to pass him along.  Although he didn’t reach for his kid yet, and Cobb didn’t offer him up either.  “He hasn’t been a morning sleeper in a few months,” he explained.  “But he’s still in that phase where he does better if he has a morning nap.  Plus, you should feel special.  He’s usually a lot more hesitant with strangers.”

“But we’re not strangers,” Cobb insisted.  “Remember, he showed me his favorite frogs a few weeks ago.  Can’t be strangers after that.”

“A valid point,” Din agreed.  “I know we’re probably keeping you from work you should be doing.  I can take him so you can get back to whatever you’re really doing right now.”

Cobb frowned and tilted his head.  “Oh, five more minutes,” he pressed.  “It’s a shame to wake a sleeping baby.  Five more minutes.”

Din couldn’t disagree with that.  Grogu really did do better with a morning nap.  “Five more minutes.  I’m guessing you’ve done this before.”

“Not my first nap and diaper rodeo,” Cobb chuckled.  “Hell, not even the first time in this building.”

“You and Rey?” Din asked.  Cobb said previously he’d spent time with his niece growing up, and he knew they were close, but he looked far too comfortable for ‘spending time’ to be the extent of it.  

“Hmm,” Cobb murmured in agreement.  “She used to come with me to the office when she was little.  Kept a towel in my desk drawer so I could change her in my tiny grad student closet office since they didn’t have changing tables in the men’s bathrooms then.  Had a stool instead of a chair so she could nap in one of those back carriers while I typed, too.”  He shook his head.  “I haven’t thought about that in years.”

Din reached out to nudge the photo of Cobb and Rey set next to the laptop.  “I might be making an assumption, and you can tell me to mind my own business,” he offered.  “But you did more than just ‘spend time’ with her when she was growing up, didn’t you?”  Cobb didn’t immediately answer, and Din realized he overstepped.  “I apologize,” he backtracked.  Cobb was still his professor, and that was too personal of a question for a student to ask.  “It wasn’t my intention to pry.  We can-”

“My sister,” Cobb said suddenly, “she means well.  And I know she tried.  But she wasn’t built for parenting a kid, or didn’t have any interest, or… I don’t know.”  He took a deep breath, careful not to jostle Grogu too much.  

Din recognized the wound even before Cobb got into the details - parenthood without preparation, the sudden responsibility for another person.  

Cobb’s ease with Grogu made sense now.

“She was in and out for a while in the beginning.  But… Rey lived with me.  From when she was, I guess, a little younger than Grogu to when she was… thirteen?  Fourteen?  It was right before she went to high school.  She and my sister moved into my place a few months after Rey was born, and I thought it would be temporary.  While she got on her feet.  Well, she got up on her feet and walked the fuck out a year or so later.  So it was the two of us for the most part.”  Cobb brushed his thumb over Grogu’s back and watched the baby instead of watching Din.  Din understood.  “She’d come back every few months, then every few years.  Never knew when.  Kept us on our toes.”

“That had to have been hard for you.”

Cobb shook his head.  “That didn’t matter.  It was hard on Rey.  I tried to give her something stable.  Someone she could depend on.  Doesn’t matter what the rest of the world was doing, she could always count on Uncle Cobb.”

Din wanted to reach out and… he wasn’t sure.  Take Cobb’s hand, or wrap him in a hug and say ‘I understand’ because for the past couple of years he’d been so lonely, lonely in a way he couldn’t articulate because it wasn’t just being a single parent to Grogu or having to make all of the decisions for the two of them by himself - it was feeling set apart from his friends, and the other parents, and even the idea of dating because how could he explain what it was like to have that sort of responsibility thrust upon you without warning?

The ache in his chest came back, the steady beat of I want, I want, I want finally found an answer.

I want to be understood .

“I understand,” Din murmured, as he clutched his hand in his lap to keep from doing something stupid here in Cobb’s office.

“I know,” Cobb nodded.  “Honestly I don’t know why I didn’t tell you before.  I guess I’m just not used to folks… really understanding it, you know?  They just want to express pity cause I had to take care of a kid that wasn’t mine, or make me out to be some saint for taking her in.  And I’m a lot of things, but saint ain’t one of them,” he added with a grin.

“It’s just - what else were you going to do, right?” Din replied.  “She needed you.”

“And boy, I thrive on being needed,” Cobb chuckled before sobering again.  “She’s my sunflower.  I’d not trade any of it.”

“Did you want kids?” Din asked.

Cobb nodded.  “Oh yeah.  Definitely.  Always figured I’d have some, and still figured I’d have some after she got older and my sister came back with a new husband and a desire to actually pay attention to Rey this time around.  But…”  He trailed off.  Let the moment sit.  “I dunno, life’s funny.  Didn’t work out that way.  But that’s a-ok.  Can’t plan everything,” he added with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Do you want more kids?” Din asked softly before he realized why he was asking.  

Cobb tilted his head, smiled, and… there was a knock at the door.  “Come in,” he called out.

Scott poked his head before swinging the door wide, causing it to bang loudly against the wall, and jostling Grogu from his sleep with a cry.  “Dr. Vanth… oh, sorry, the kid’s still here.”

“Yes, the kid is still here,” Cobb said as he passed off a grumpy toddler to Din’s outstretched hands.  “What’s going on, Scott?  Everything went well with the exam?”

“Yup, everyone’s finished, I’ve got everything organized,” Scott explained.  “I figured unless you needed this started right away, I could start the preliminary grading tomorrow.  I have some writing I was hoping to get done this afternoon.”

“That’s fine,” Cobb agreed.  “I’d just like your notes done by the end of the week.”

“Can do, boss.”  Scott glanced at Din, and Din met his glare with one of his own.  “Still shouldn’t have brought a kid to the exam.”

Din tilted his head, but didn’t break eye contact.  “I’ll keep your disapproval in mind.”

Scott appeared to consider a retort, instead lingering a moment before nodding once more at Cobb and retreating back into the hallway.  

Cobb took a deep breath.  “I think I’ll grade your test myself.”

Din nodded.“Probably for the best.”  Grogu whined again, and rubbed his eyes.  “Hey buddy, sorry you got woken up like that.  Did you have a good nap?”

Grogu rubbed his eyes again and looked up at his dad.  Then over at Cobb.  “Hi Bob,” he said softly.

“Hi, little guy,” Cobb replied.  “You did such a good job while your papa was taking his test.  I told him how well behaved you were, and how you followed directions, and how we had a good time together.”

“Three books,” Grogu insisted, leaning back to look up at Din again.  “One, two, three.”

“I heard,” Din beamed.  “I’m so proud of you, buddy.”

“Doggies now?” Grogu asked.  “Iggy?”

Din chuckled.  “No, we can’t see Iggy, remember?  But we can go out and see if there are other dogs.  We have to clean up Dr. Cobb’s office first and get everything into the bag.”

“Oh I can get that for you,” Cobb offered.  “If you don’t mind me asking, who’s Iggy?”

“Iggy is our babysitter Mr. Kuill’s dog,” Din explained, setting down Grogu and shoving everything back into the diaper bag as Cobb unpinned the towel from under his chair.  “He’s big and dumb, but he’s sweet as can be with Grogu.  Follows him around and they’re just two peas in a pod.  He wins for our favorite dog.  Thank you,” he added, once the diaper bag was full again.  

“Don’t mention it,” Cobb insisted.  “I told you - I get it.  I’m glad you brought him instead of just skipping the exam.”

Din nodded, and belatedly realized Cobb had a dark, damp stain where Grogu had apparently drooled on him in his sleep.  “Oh… shit,” he mumbled.  “Your sweater.  I’m sorry about that.”

Cobb looked down, chuckled, and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket.  “Oh that?  What’s a little drool between friends?  Nothing a run through the laundry can’t fix.”

“At least let me…” Din trailed off, grabbing the handkerchief from Cobb’s hand without thinking and started to dab at the stain.  “It’s a nice sweater, too,” he sighed.

Cobb placed his hand on Din’s to steady it against his chest.  “Hey,” he murmured.  “It’s okay.  Kids are a mess.  I’m not bothered at all.”    

Din swallowed, lingering in the moment, before he remembered where they were, and who Cobb was… and how little it mattered how good Cobb’s hand felt on his.  “Yeah.  Good.  If it doesn’t come out, just… I can get it dry cleaned.”

“Really, it’s not a problem,” Cobb assured him.  He took the handkerchief back from Din and slipped it into his back pocket.  “You can drool on me any time, Grogu,” he added with a wink, to Grogu’s delight.

“Okay.  Well.  Alright, bud, let’s go,” Din said, reaching down to pick up his son as he tried to gather up the last shreds of his dignity, only to be met with a sharp ‘no!’ and a squeal.  “What’s that?”

“I can walk!” Grogu insisted.  “Walk!”  He offered the hand not currently holding his frog.  “Walk.”

“Okay, we’re gonna walk,” Din agreed.  “Say thank you to Dr. Cobb for keeping you company while Papa took his test.”

“Thank you,” Grogu said.

“Any time,” Cobb replied.  “Thank you for spending some time with me .”

Din nodded.  He should let Cobb get back to his work.  Surely he had another class or a meeting or something he needed to be doing more.  “Hey, you wouldn’t want to stretch your legs and come with us to see if there are any dogs still hanging out, would you?” he asked.  “Figure… sitting in one spot for a long time, could use the excuse to stretch things out.”

“Now that you mention it,” Cobb replied brightly, “I could use an excuse to walk around.  I’m old, and inflexible, and need to keep things loose after sitting too long,” he chuckled.  

Walking around and finding not one, but two dogs eager to make friends with a toddler was the highlight of Cobb’s morning.  Din offered to buy lunch to say thank you for watching Grogu, and Grogu countered with chants of ice cream.  If it wasn’t for needing to prepare for his class at 2, Cobb would’ve jumped on either offer.  Spending time with Din and Grogu was easy.  Grogu, once properly warmed up to someone and in the presence of his father, was downright chatty, narrating what they were doing, who they were seeing, why Din wasn’t walking fast enough, and why Cobb should pick up this, that, and the other thing for everyone to see.  Din too, once properly warmed up and in the presence of his son, had an easy laugh and a dry sense of humor Cobb discovered he was eager to hear more of.  

It was comfortable, and he wanted more of it.  

If only he could have more of it.  

Din was still his student.  And even if he wasn’t, Din was looking for something more than Cobb could give.  Sure, Cobb had wanted more kids once upon a time.  He thought he’d done a good enough job with Rey, and would’ve loved to do it again.  But he’d looked for that, he’d offered it before to guys who said they wanted the same time, and each time he came up empty.  He was wanted for a good time, and Cobb was very good at a good time.  At this point in his life he’d taken the hint, accepted what he was good at.  Cobb Vanth was good for a good time.

Din deserved more than that.  And Cobb was tired of getting hurt.  It was easier to stop wanting it.

“Vanth!  Where did your little friend go?”

Cobb looked up from his lesson plans to find Ben leaning against his door.  “His dad finished the exam.  An hour and a half ago,” he added.  “Hadn’t babysat in a long time - had to remind myself that we don’t let kids chew on cords like we did in the past.”

“Ah yes, the perils of responsibility,” Ben chuckled.  “He was a cute little thing.”

“Yeah, he really was.”

“You looked comfortable.”

“I’d hope so,” Cobb replied.  “If I looked panicked, I hope you would’ve offered to help.”

“Like you wanted to keep him.”

Cobb scoffed automatically.  “Keep him?  No.  I don’t have a spot for a little nugget like that, even if his head did have that amazing baby smell,” he added offhand.

“Cobb.”

“Hmm?”

Ben fixed him with a look, and it took everything in Cobb not to look away.  He knew that look.  Knew what was coming.

“You know it’s obvious.”

“What’s obvious?” he tried, gambling to see if clueless would work.

“I’ve known you too long for you to play stupid,” Ben sighed.  “Cobb… if you want kids, which you do , you need to find people who either want or already have kids.  It’s not my place to mess around in your dating life -”

“You’re right, it’s not -”

“But everyone I’ve heard you talk about for the past, god, years have been in no way the type of people you’d have kids with.”

“I don’t need more kids.  Getting Rey settled was enough,” Cobb tried.  The hairs on the back of his neck were bristling as he fought the urge to shut the whole conversation down.  

“You were just talking about how good a random kid’s head smelled,” Ben pointed out.  “You looked happier than I’ve seen you all semester.”

“I tried, okay!” Cobb snapped.  “I tried.  It never worked out.  I took the hint.”  He fished out his phone and started swiping through messages.  “I’m too old to worry about that now.  What I’m not too old for,” he added, tapping ‘match’ on a headless torso pic that looked fucking sexy and was interested in him and already wanted to meet up with him…

He took a deep breath and turned the phone around to show Ben.  “What I’m not too old for, is a good time, with this sexy twenty-five year old.  His name is…”  Cobb turned it back to recheck the name.  “His name is Cali, and he’s going to show me a fucking good time.  Okay?”

“Is that what you want?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I want,” Cobb snapped.  “A good time.  Nothing more.”

Cali, 25 was exactly what he wanted.  Nothing more.

Chapter Text

Of all the people to make a promise in front of, Din had to pick Peli ‘I can’t keep a secret to save my life’ Motto and Rey ‘It is my solemn duty to see you courted and not left unwed in social scandal’ Vanth. 

Over the past week, Din had received the following texts from Peli: 

    Have you found someone yet?  Texted them?  Flirted?  Do you even know how to flirt?

    You should make a list a pros and cons list

    It’s important which oil you use in my 67 Cobra, ITS NOT important which profile you message first

    DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

    I told Cara you’re doing it she says BUCK UP BUTTERCUP

Followed by the gem from Cara:

    An annoying little bird told me you’ve decided to FINALLY go on a date.  GOOD!  Let me know by Sat who you choose or I’ll pick someone for you - remember I set your pw?

Not that the messages from Rey had been any less insistent:

    You’re a catch!  You deserve to be happy!  Don’t let fear be the thief of joy!

    Link: Dating over 40 - where the fuck do we start?

    Link: Top 10 pick up lines when you don’t want to sound like a creep

    Link: How to tell if he’s into you within 30 sec | FIRST DATE PREP (YouTube)

    Remember I’m happy to babysit!  And Finn and Poe too (have you met Poe yet??  I’m not sure if you have, he’s great, he’s our third roommate and excellent with kids plus he has a dog and I know Grogu looooves dogs)

    If you’re looking for first date spots, Uncle Cobb likes Twin Suns - but only if you trust his taste :wink:

    Also if you’re looking for inspiration, he likes cooking, building things (ask him how much renovation he did on the house himself!), swimming, and books and movies set in the Old West

    JUST SAYING

    Finn and Poe agree.  They say hi, btw

He admired her tenacity. 

Which all led to Din sitting on the lip of the bathtub on a Friday night scrolling through photos, while Grogu tried to see how many ducks could hide under the pile of bubbles surrounding him.  

“I dunno, kid,” he grumbled, deleting obviously unsuitable matches from his suggested list.  “This still feels weird.  Is this how Papa is supposed to meet someone?  Or am I just putting off trying because getting rejected sucks?”

“Sucks!” 

“Yeah, that one’s on me,” Din chuckled.  “You’re getting pretty good at repeating me like a little mimic.  I’m gonna have to be more careful.  Let’s not repeat that one outside the bathtub, okay?”  Half of the suggested profiles deleted, and the list was looking significantly more manageable.  

But Cobb’s profile still lingered at the top, the AI unknowingly taunting him.  He’d almost made it through the whole semester.  Finals were only a few weeks away, and after that he wasn’t Cobb’s student anymore.  He was still a student, but not Cobb’s student.  Did that make a difference?  It did to him, but… would it to Cobb?

It was long past time he figured out what he wanted.  His friends were right, though - some low stakes practice on the app would do him good.  There was no commitment and he could duck out at just a conversation.  Getting a drink was easy.  He wasn’t completely inept, just… out of practice.

“Gotta bite the bullet and just message someone, don’t I?”  

Grogu babbled, in the affirmative Din assumed, and blew a happy raspberry to put a real point on the matter.

Fuck, he loved his son.  Sitting here with Grogu, watching him pop bubbles indiscriminately and trying to parse out words just out of reach of his newfound pronunciation skills was… wonderful.  He never wanted kids, never thought that was something he’d do in his life, but now?  

It wasn’t the life he imagined, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

First decision made - he refused to hide he had a kid just to make flirting with someone easier.  He wanted someone in his whole life, not just a sexy aside when he could find a babysitter.  Cara and Peli would disagree, but he refused to wait to find out if the most important person in his life was a deal breaker.

“Okay, kid, let’s help Papa make a decision.  There’s too many choices on here.  So give me a number and I’ll message that profile.  Tell me a number, any number.”

“One!”

Din automatically looked at the list, before realizing he absolutely knew who was in the number one spot on that list.  He lifted an eyebrow at the kid, who was giggling as if he was in on the game.  “Can’t do number one,” he explained regretfully.  “Not yet, anyway.”  He shook his head.  “Let’s not repeat that either.  But that’s Cobb, so Papa can’t ask his teacher out on a date right now.”

“Bob!” Grogu exclaimed.  “Bob!  Bob come play?”

“Oh, Rey would have a field day with this.  I don’t know what I’d do if the two of you ganged up on me together.”  He reached out and poked Grogu’s nose, eliciting a giggle.  “You’d both be trouble.  Give me another number, bud.”

“Two!”

“Two!” Din laughed.  “Okay, let’s look at number two.  Number two… number two…”  

Number two was… handsome.  Din could work with this.

“Good choice, kid,” he mused, scrolling through the pictures.  “He looks nice.  Handsome.  An appropriate age,” he chuckled.  Grogu giggled back and started quacking as he unburied his ducks from the rapidly depleting bubbles.  “He looks normal and I… just have to say hi, right?  This is the practice part.  So I can do it better when it matters,” he murmured.

“Papa!  Look!”  Grogu lifted up his duck.  “Quack!  Quack quack quack.”

“You’ve got the best ducks there,” Din agreed.  “What should Papa say to the nice stranger?  Should I just say hi?”

Grogu waved.  “Hi.”

“A smart choice, I’ll follow your advice.”  Din took a deep breath, clicked ‘match’ before he could talk himself out of it, and started typing.  Hey!  I’m new at this so apologies if I’m not doing this right.  But I thought you were cute - no, not ‘cute’ - But I thought you were handsome and I’d like to get to know you.

He clicked send and realized there was no bubble of anxiety behind his ribs.  It was unusual for something he’d been debating about and putting off for months.  He assumed there would be panic, or at least a small flare of nerves once he put himself out there.  He’d been worried about this for so long, going back and forth with himself to get to the point where he’d just do it, and now… it was there, but it wasn’t anything that made him pause.  Or need to take a moment.  Or count down to refocus.  

One of the many scars that lingered after his retirement - his nerves, a slowly healing wound that had scabbed over to only bother him when something mattered.  He didn’t jump in grocery stores any more, or pour out his anger at the smallest of impositions.  Years of work, and now it only really bubbled up in the most important of situations.  When the results mattered, when his response mattered, when it could affect people who mattered.  

And here he was.  Calm. 

There’s something I should tell you upfront , he added.  I’m a single dad.  My kid means the world to me.  If that’s a deal breaker, I don’t want to waste your time.

He looked over at Grogu, who was fascinated by his pruney fingers.  “You and me are a package deal,” he promised softly.  “Anyone who wants to spend time with me has to enjoy spending time with you too.  You know what that means?”

Grogu looked over and, deciding he was done with bathtime, tried to climb and slip his way out of the tub.  “Bob.  Bob come play.”

“No, not Bob,” Din chuckled.  He scooped the kid up out of the water before he could faceplant over the side of the tub.  Din almost missed the days when Grogu was too small to escape.  Almost.  Every day his personality was emerging more and more.  Every day he was becoming more than the cute baby he was, and more into who Grogu Djarin was going to be.  And if the trade off for getting to meet the sweet boy his son was growing up to be was catching him climbing too high or running too fast or getting into places he shouldn’t, that was a price he’d enthusiastically pay.  “Although if you want, we could send a little video to Bob.  To say hi.  Would you like that?”

Grogu beamed at the suggestion, and Din ignored the flutter in his chest.  Nothing wrong with sending Cobb a hello video since he was on Grogu’s mind today.  They’d gotten along well when Cobb looked after him during the exam, and Grogu was usually so shy around other people that he wanted to encourage his son’s openness and excitement.  Strangers could become friends, just like Dr. Cobb.  

Surely Cobb wouldn’t object to a short after-hours message.  

“Okay, here’s the deal,” Din explained, drying off Grogu and wrapping him in his favorite frog hooded towel as the pair shifted to sit down on the bathroom floor.  “We’re going to record a little video for Dr. Cobb just to say hi.  But he’s not on the other end so he can’t say hi back.”

“Bob, hi,” Grogu said, dropping down into Din’s lap and leaning back against him.  

Din wrapped his arms around his son and peppered the boy with big, loud kisses against his cheek, eliciting giggles and twisting as Grogu tried to escape his father’s hold, neither of them really wanting the other to let go.  He loosened his grip just enough to hold up his phone and get the pair of them on screen.  “Let’s give a big grin to say hi, okay?” he asked, pressing record as Grogu stuck out his tongue and opened his mouth in what was nowhere near a smile, but good enough.  “Hi Dr. Cobb.  Someone kept saying he wanted to say hi, so I figured I’d let him.”

“Bob!”  Grogu turned to look up at Din and added, “Where’s Bob?”

“Remember, this is a video,” Din explained.  He pressed a kiss to the boy’s head.  “We’re just saying hi.  He’s not going to say hi back now, but maybe you can come with me to campus again and say hi in person.”

“Hi Bob,” Grogu repeated.  “Quack.  Quack quack quack…”

“He has a lot of rubber ducks in the bath,” Din chuckled as Grogu continued to quack.  “Anyway.  He just wanted to say hi.  Have a good night.”

Save, and send, with a quick explanation of Nothing important - Grogu wanted to say hi.  Hope you’re having a good night.

Din reached over to pull the plug on the bathtub and start fishing out the flotilla of ducks.  “Kid, you did such a good job saying hi.  You’re getting so much practice with your words.  Papa is so proud of-”  Cobb’s picture and the Facetime ring interrupted his thought.  “I could be wrong about him saying hi back now.  Hey,” he added, answering the call as Grogu tried to stick one of the duck’s heads in his mouth.  “Wasn’t expecting a response.”

“Not expecting a response?” Cobb laughed.  “Are you kidding?  I get what’s possibly the best message from the cutest little green bean saying that he wanted to say hi, and you expect me not to say hi back?  Hi Grogu!”

“Bob!” Grogu exclaimed, dropping the duck and leaning his face close to the phone.  “Hi Bob!”  He waved with both hands, squishing the air with his fingers in his excitement.  “Papa!  There Bob!  Hi Bob.”

“I told him you weren’t going to say hi back right now.  Way to make me eat those words.”

“Papa needs to learn that Dr. Cobb just can’t say no to cute brown eyes like that. What are you boys up to?”

Din smiled as Grogu, content that he’d gotten to say hi to Cobb, settled back against his arm to focus on his ducks.  “We’re just finishing up bathtime.  Next is our book, and then a trip to snoozeland.”

“Someone figured out what b-e-d time is?”

“Yes, and I’d like to avoid the screeching while anyone else can hear it.  Wouldn’t want you to think less of us.”

“Not a chance.”

He should let Cobb get back to what he was doing.  It was Friday night and surely he had more interesting plans than chatting with a toddler wrapped in a towel and… licking his duck.  Not worth telling the kid to stop that.  “What are you up to tonight?  I hope we didn’t interrupt you.”

Cobb flipped the view around to show his laptop and a stack of booklets before switching it back to his face.  “Grading.  This time of year everything is coming due at the same time.  Which I try hard to avoid, but… end of the semester is just like that.  Jo and Scott are working on what they can, and I have the rest.  Honestly?  This is a welcome distraction.”

“At least the semester is over soon.  That’s something to look forward to.”

“I’m very much looking forward to the end of the semester.”

Din wondered if it was for the same reason he was.  

“What are you up to tonight?  Once you get the kid to snoozeland, please tell me you have something to look forward to other than laundry.”

“There’s always more laundry.”

“Yeah, but it’s Friday night.  You’re young, you’re hip, you’re attractive.  At least sit outside with a beer and read a book.”

“I haven’t been young or hip or -”  His thought was interrupted by the notification of a message from the dating app titled ‘hey sexy, no wor’ flashing at the top.  Of course, that was the original reason he had his phone in here in the first place.  Getting out there, meeting people, flirting with someone other than his professor...

“Din?  You alright?  You froze there for a moment.”

Din blinked, refocused on the conversation, and shook his head.  “A notification distracted me,” he explained.  

“I can let you go if you have something you need to handle.  I should get back to grading.  Once it gets too late, I get real snarky in my comments and the kids don’t deserve that.  But hey, do something fun other than laundry.  That’s your homework.”

“Is that an official assignment?”

“The last one before the final,” Cobb laughed. 

“I’ll let you know how my attempt at fun goes.”

“I look forward to hearing about it.  I’ll see you Monday.  Goodnight, Din.”

“Night.”  Din closed out of the video and took a deep, deep breath.  Of course that guy would have to reply when he did.  Even if it was ostensibly a good thing.  It was a good thing.  He’d get out there, and meet someone, and have a good time, and not think about Cobb calling him attractive.  “Guess Papa’s popular tonight,” he mused, glancing down to find Grogu’s eyes closed and little mouth open as he dozed against his arm.  “We got too close to bedtime, didn’t we, kid?”

He shifted a matter of inches, just enough to get a better handle on the bundle of sleepy toddler, and checked his messages: hey sexy, no worries - I have two kids myself.  but they live with their mom so we don’t have to worry about them.  I can’t wait to get to know you too.  tell me about yourself??  fave food, fave drink, swallow or spit :wink:

Well… that was fast.  “I’m not great at texting,” Din murmured as he typed.  “Would you like to get a drink and chat instead?  I’m more comfortable in person.  Twin Suns, tomorrow… 8pm?”

The reply ping was immediate: it’s a date!  proving how much you look like your photos in 24hrs is a bold move - i love it :wink: :wink: :kiss:  see you tomorrow!

“It’s a date,” Din murmured, pulling up Rey’s contact to text her.  Remember how you said you’d love to babysit?  I have a date tomorrow at 8 - can you help?   “Can’t back out now.  Now if I can just…” He shifted, doing his best to get up off the floor with Grogu held tight enough that he didn’t wake the sleeping toddler.  Bedtime was currently ‘scream at Papa because the mean man insisted on sleep’ time and if he could successfully get from the bathroom to the nursery without waking the kid?  He’d take that as a sign tomorrow night was going to be the best date with the most attractive man in his life.  Absolute perfection, if the kid stayed still.

Once standing, he paused, took a breath, and checked to make sure the kid was still asleep.

Made it out of the bathroom - still asleep.

In the hall, nursery door open, nightlight on, monitor on, white noise machine on… Towel carefully switched for pajamas, and still nothing but gentle snores and little fingers trying to hold on to his sleeves.  

“Really promising me a good time tomorrow, aren’t you?” Din whispered, brushing a featherlight kiss on Grogu’s head before laying him down and taking a step back.  The most successful bedtime in weeks.  

If this was the result of a Goodnight Bob call, Cobb was going to be spending a lot more time on Facetime.  Din wouldn’t give him a choice.  An easy bedtime was worth whatever he’d have to offer Cobb.

The text sound surprised him, but Grogu didn’t budge.  That was too close, too much of a risk to linger in the baby’s room.  He ducked out, pulling the door behind him, and waited a moment to listen for any movement or sign he’d woke up.  None, thank god.  

YES!!  Oh I’m so excited!!  We’ll be there!! 

“We?” Din mumbled, but decided not to ask.  He’d find out soon enough.

‘We’ was apparently Rey, Finn, and their third roommate Poe, who came with pictures of his red and white corgi named Butterball much to Grogu’s delight.  There were promises to bring him round next time, as long as it was okay with Papa - as if Din could say no after that sort of immediate begging.  

“He’s not really great with new babysitters,” Din explained to Rey, even as Grogu climbed happily on Finn’s shoulders and Poe gave voice to a toy box full of frogs.  “If he gets antsy -”

“I think you’re the one that’s antsy,” she pointed out.  He didn’t disagree.  “Are you looking for an excuse to cancel?”

“No,” Din insisted.  Like a liar.  “I just… call me if there’s any problem.  Anything.”

“He’s going to be fine,” Rey promised.  She reached up to brush lint off his sweater before giving him a light punch to the shoulder for good measure.  “You’re both going to be fine.  Go.  Throw yourself into the unknown.  Consider it an adventure.”

“Who’s the lucky fella this week?”

Cobb grinned as his favorite bartender at his favorite bar set a glass of his favorite bourbon in front of him.  “Why couldn’t it be the same lucky fella as last week?” he asked.

“Because I can count your repeats on one hand.”

“Taanti, you wound me.”  Cobb took a sip of the bourbon, letting it warm him and start the evening off right.  “Just haven’t found someone worth following up with yet.”

“So who’s tonight?  You got a picture?”

Cobb opened the app to find the profile of Cali, 25 and handed it over.  “If that’s not a delicious set of abs, I don’t know what is.”

Taanti nodded in agreement, swiping through the two pics offered which, admittedly, didn’t differ much.  “He ain’t got a face.”

“His face wasn’t what I was interested in,” Cobb chuckled, taking another sip of the bourbon and glancing around the crowd.  

“And I figured you’d spend enough hours of your week hanging out with kids in their 20s,” Taanti mused.  

Cobb grabbed his phone back with a scowl.  “I don’t need judgment from you, too.  I got enough of that earlier.”

Taanti lifted his hands and shrugged, before moving down the bar to help another customer.  Cobb knew it was the end of it, at least the spoken judgment, but he’d be catching glances from the bar all night.  And the worst part was?  Taanti wasn’t wrong.  Just like Ben wasn’t wrong earlier.  This was probably a bad choice, but it was his bad choice, and god dammit he was tired of folks trying to get him to admit to feelings he’d long buried.  Was a twenty-five year old something for the long term?  No.  He wasn’t foolish to assume that.  It was more likely he’d be a good fuck, one he may have to coach a bit but Cobb loved nothing if not teaching, and a good story to tell later.  

It kept him from dwelling on things he wanted, but couldn’t have.  

He’d asked Cali for a picture with his face so he could find him in the crowd, but the man demurred.  Said he knew what Cobb looked like, and he’d find him.  Sexy man with the broad shoulders and silver hair and looking like a fucking zaddy, I’d find you in a crowd anywhere.  Let me surprise you, sexy.  Before I surprise you with a lot of things I’m a good student at.  You’ll give me a fucking A by the time I’m done with you!

The guy wanted to play teacher and student?  Cobb excelled at that game.  

So Cali wanted to find him?  Fine.  With no expectations other than a good fuck and a story to tell later, he could accept the unknown.  He was happy to settle at the bar, sip his drink, and let Taanti continue to judge him through pointed glances as he paced back and forth behind the bar.  

It only took ten minutes before there were a pair of arms around Cobb’s shoulders and a kiss and a bite to the back of his neck.  “Hey professor,” a voice murmured against his ear.  “Told you I’d find you.”

“You don’t have to call me professor,” Cobb said, reaching back to set his hand on a firm thigh and tilting his head to give the man better access.  “Can’t say I don’t like it, though.”

“I figure if you’re gonna teach me things, I should address you right.”

Cobb chuckled at that, set his glass down on the bar, and turned to get a good look at his date. He could usually make a pretty good guess, especially from the body, that he’d be getting a good jaw that was still a little soft with youth, pouty lips, and neck prime for nibbling.  “I’m gonna show you all sorts of -” 

What he got instead was Toro Calican.

“Fucking hell!”  Cobb shoved the boy back before he could kiss him again.  “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Meeting my hot date,” Toro answered, reaching out to touch Cobb’s cheek before getting swatted away again.  “You’re the one who messaged me.  I’m just here looking forward to what you’ve got planned for me.”

“Mr. Calican,” Cobb enunciated as best he could between clenched teeth.  “This is inappropriate.  If I’d known-”

“You got real dirty in some of the messages.  You had to know.”

“You used a fake name and a headless torso shot, and you’re saying this is my fault?” Cobb hissed.  This was bad.  This was very bad.  He’d been on terrible dates before, but never on a terrible date with a current student before.  No, no this wasn’t a date.  This was a set up by an overeager student that needed to be shut down immediately.  “This is not happening.”

“But it can if you want it to,” Toro murmured.  He leaned in close again and licked his lips.  “You messaged me first.  This was on purpose.”

“It was an accident ,” Cobb snapped, shoving Toro back again.  He got up off the stool, crowding the boy, and shoving his finger into Toro’s chest while glaring down at him.  “This never happened.  For either of us.”

“Something wrong here?” Taanti asked, pulling Cobb’s attention away from Toro, and away from doing something he might regret out of anger.  And embarrassment.  

Toro shrugged.  “No, this guy is just -”

“Take a walk, kid,” Taanti said.  Toro opened his mouth to respond, but Taanti shook his head.  “Take a walk.”

Cobb couldn’t breathe until Toro glanced up at him and shrugged, grabbing Cobb’s bourbon from the bar and downing it, before lifting his hands in surrender and stepping out into the gathering crowd.  “Fuck,” he murmured.  He sank down onto the barstool, Taanti pouring him another drink without asking, and dropped his head into his hands.  “Fuck.”

“Take it you recognized your date?”

“He’s one of my students this semester.”  He took a drink of the new bourbon.  And then another.  “A pain in my ass.  Didn’t think he’d pull something stupid like this, though.”

“You want me to refrain from pointing out how trying to pick up a headless 20-something contributed to this?”

A third sip for good measure.  “Yes.”  He knew it was a bad idea from the get go, but he’d been cornered.  If he hadn’t enjoyed spending the day with Din and his son so much, if Ben hadn’t seen fit to needle him about all the things that he wanted, if he had just taken a minute to accept that maybe, maybe, matching and messaging the opposite of what he knew was good for him…

“I need to take a break,” Cobb decided.  “I just…”  He shook his head.  “Dating is the worst.”

“You want my advice?”

No.  “What’s your advice?”

Taanti grinned and motioned around the corner to the other end of the bar.  “There’s an attractive gentleman sitting alone at the end of the bar near the door to the patio.  He’s not twenty-five, he tipped double on a beer, and he seems like the kind of nice guy you should be interested in.  Instead of… whatever this was.  Go say hello and buy him a drink.”

“Taanti…”

“Dating isn’t terrible, your choices have just been terrible.  Make better choices.”

Cobb wanted to be mad, tell him to fuck off and then head home to soothe his wounded ego, but… oh, what the hell.  Couldn’t be any worse than Toro.  

Din flipped his phone over to check the time, check his messages, check anything to distract him, for the third time in as many minutes.  He’d gotten to the bar early ostensibly to make sure he wasn’t late, but honestly because if he hadn’t left when he did he’s certain he never would’ve left.  What had been exciting at first (...was it ever really exciting , or was it resignation that if he doesn’t want to be alone he has to eventually date?) was now a lump sitting in his stomach.  Was the guy normal?  Was Din approachable?  Was Grogu okay with his new cadre of babysitters?

…okay, he didn’t worry about Grogu.  Of the two of them, the kid was the one having an absolute ball being the center of attention for three adults.  He should be in bed now, anyway, even after he more than likely successfully drug out bath time, and story time, and ‘can I introduce you to all my frogs’ time.  

How did he go down? he texted Rey, and turned his phone over without waiting for a reply.  He went down fine, of course he did.  Din didn’t need to worry about what was going on at home.  He needed to relax, have a drink, and calm his mind to enjoy the night.  The guy was handsome, he thought Din was handsome, they’d have a drink and a conversation, and then… who knows.  

“Hey stranger, you look like you could use a refill.”

That voice sounded familiar.  Din turned, and found Cobb walking up towards him - and looking just as surprised to see Din as Din was to see him.  “Hey.”

Cobb’s smile absolutely blossomed in recognition, and Din’s shoulders relaxed.  “Din!  Hey, sorry, I didn’t know it was you.  I just…”  He shook his head and kept on smiling.  “Hey.”

“Was that your standard pick up line?” Din asked, shifting on his stool enough for Cobb to maneuver in beside the group taking up space at the bar next to them.  

Cobb looked admittedly a little sheepish.  “One of a few in rotation.” 

“You didn’t know it was me?”

Cobb shook his head.  “If I had, I would’ve come up with something much more witty.  Give you the VIP stranger at a bar treatment.”

Din tried to hide the look of interest behind taking a sip of his beer.  This was not the person he was supposed to flirt with tonight.  Save it for - “I’m half curious what that would be.”  

“Any other night, I’d be eager to show you.”  Cobb sipped his drink before setting it down on the bar next to Din’s.  “So, you look nice.  Are you… meeting someone?”

Yes, but Din wished he wasn’t.  “I fell to peer pressure.  So I’m meeting someone.  Here.”  He shook his head.  “I got here early, figured a drink beforehand would help me relax.”  

“Is it helping?”

Din shrugged.  “Maybe.  I’m out of practice.”

“No need to be nervous.  Anyone would be lucky to be meeting you.”  Cobb turned to lean back against the bar.  “So what’s their name?”

Din hesitated.  “Do you really want to know?” 

He watched Cobb pause, and consider.  “No, I don’t think I do,” Cobb admitted.

Thank god.  Naming the guy would make him real, breaking whatever this moment was, and Din wanted to hold on to it as long as he could.  He wanted to sit here with Cobb, he wanted to drink with Cobb, and laugh with Cobb, and… not go on this date with someone who wasn’t Cobb.

“What about you?” Din asked.  “You meeting someone?”

Cobb laughed, the sound hollow, and reached for his drink again.  “I was.  Turned out to be… not what I expected.  So, if you don’t mind, I could just… hang out with you until your date comes to sweep you off your feet?  Distract you - keep you from getting nervous.  Because,” he added, placing a hand on Din’s arm, “anyone would be lucky to be meeting you.”

Was what he wanted to do going to make him a shitty person?  Maybe.  But for the first time in a long time, Din chose to go for what he wanted, however selfish that was.

“I need to… check on the babysitter,” Din said, flipping over his phone and finding the message chain with his date.  “Grogu doesn’t have the best track record with new babysitters, but I have a good feeling about this new one.”  Hey, I hate to do this last minute, but something came up with my kid and I have to cancel.  I hope you understand.   “Oh no,” Din murmured, setting his phone back down on the bar.  “I think I’m getting ditched.”

“Seriously?  That’s pretty shitty, last minute and all.”

Din agreed.  It was pretty shitty.  “Yeah, but I guess that happens.  Dating is the worst, right?”

“The worst!” Cobb laughed.  “Well, you and I are both having a stellar night, huh?”  He lifted his glass to Din.  “A toast, to attempting and failing at the dating world.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Din chuckled, lifting his beer and taking a sip.  He expected it to taste like guilt.  

It tasted like opportunity.

“Do you mind watching the spot for a minute?”  Din stood up from the stool, not trying terribly hard to avoid brushing up against Cobb as the crowd grew at the bar.  “I’m just going to run to the restroom.”

“How about I try to find us a table?” Cobb suggested.  “Let these folks find spots to flirt with bartenders, and I’ll get us a bit of breathing room.”

Din nodded, and tried not to look like he was running away as he said “sounds good” and retreated to the side hallway.

With the restroom door closed behind him, and no one else in the room, Din grabbed the sides of the sink, stared at his reflection in the mirror, and released a long, slow breath to center his nerves.  “Alright,” he murmured.  “You’ve ditched your date in a cowardly last minute text, left your son at home with a trio of babysitters, only two of which you knew before tonight, and all of this so you can, what, flirt with your literature professor who doesn’t date students.”  He shook his head.  Can’t say that any of these were good choices, but they were absolutely choices.  And wasn’t that part of the whole get out there and date thing that Cara wanted for him?

No, it wasn’t part of it.  That was the whole of it.  What he needed to do, what he needed to do for years, was decide what he wanted and go after it.  For too long life was something he let happen to him, instead of living it on purpose.  Returning to finish his degree was the first step, and it felt good .  He was finishing something that made him proud, could help him figure out next steps to build the life he wanted for his little family, and in time would make Grogu proud that his dad set his mind on something and did it.  

Din Djarin finally knew what he wanted.

Tonight? He wanted to have a drink and flirt with an attractive man.  

No, he wanted to have a drink and flirt with Cobb.

“You deserve to get what you want,” he murmured at his reflection in the mirror, as the door to the restroom opened and… “Hey Toro,” Din said, recognizing his classmate and the scowl of irritation he came in with.  “Rough evening?”

“Shitty date,” Toro replied.  “Were you talking to yourself?”

Din shook his head.  “Bathrooms like this echo, you hear all sorts of things.  Sorry about your shitty date.  Me too.”

“It’s shitty now,” Toro added.  “But it’s gonna get me everything I want.  I have receipts,” he added with a grin.

“...okay.”  He didn’t need the details of Toro’s love life.  The guy was fine as a study partner but not someone whose personal life Din wanted to dive that deep into.  Besides, if anything really interesting came out, he’d hear it from Rey, who’d hear it from Finn.  The gossip ecosystem in class was well maintained.  “Have a good night.  Hopefully it looks up for both of us.”

Cobb settled in at a small corner table with his drink, Din’s drink, and Din’s forgotten phone.  Taanti had shot him a glance of ‘see?’ after Din disappeared and it was all Cobb could do not to clarify that no, this was one of his students too.  So it was absolutely not a date, even if Din was different from the others.  Sure he was a student, but he wasn’t… a student student.  He was still a student, with an adorable son, an amazing smile, and a voice Cobb was excited to hear no matter what he was talking about.  That’s all.  

He’d settled onto the bench next to the wall so he could lean back, and placed Din’s drink and phone at the setting across from him.  Did he take a glance at the phone to see what Din’s background was?  Maybe.  Did he melt a little at the picture of Din and Grogu making funny faces at the playground?  Perhaps. 

He wasn’t kidding yesterday over their impromptu video call when Cobb said he couldn’t say no to those brown eyes.  It just wasn’t Grogu’s eyes.  It was getting harder and harder to ignore how much he wanted to spend time with Din, student dating rules be damned, and now here?  After his petty, childish attempt to refute Ben’s pointing out the obvious blew up in his face?

It would be a jerk move to take advantage of Din getting ditched on his first date in years.  The guy had to have been looking forward to it.  No, he didn’t want to know details - didn’t want to think about someone else getting to wine and dine him, make him laugh, spend time with him and the kid, or getting confirmation that his lips were just as soft to kiss as they looked when he smiled.  Didn’t want to know their name, didn’t want to make it real in his head.  

Din’s phone flashed with a notification, and Cobb, too curious by half, couldn’t resist.  Of course Din was the type of guy to have the full text come up.  Why was that so endearing?  So… open and trusting.  Or maybe just not great with his phone.  Either way.  

It was from Rey - Grogu went down great!  Everything quiet and we’re watching a movie.  Sweetest kid ever.

So Rey was babysitting.  Actually, if the ‘we’ gave any indication, he’d bet money all three of them were babysitting.  The kid was in good hands, then.  Finn and Poe were good for Rey, and the three of them would be good for Grogu.

He’d have to ask her how it went.  Although that would just encourage her to ask questions like ‘how did you know I was at Din’s?’ and ‘were you with Din?’ and ‘Uncle Cobb, you know it’s obvious you’re halfway in love with Din, why are you fighting it?’ like the nosy, undeterred, stubborn, and wonderful young woman she was.

He’s fighting it because he has to, he’d explain.  Din was still a student, for a few weeks anyway, but after that?  After that… why fight it?  He’d tried to convince himself that a young kid isn’t what he wanted - and Din and Grogu were a package - but that wasn’t true.  He did want that.  He wanted another kid, he wanted to pull more people into his little family, he wanted to build a house and a home and a life, and he wanted to stop trying to chase twenty-five year olds to… what?  Prove something?  Keep from getting hurt?  Din wouldn’t think it was foolish to want those things.  Wouldn’t think that Cobb wasn’t built for those things.  

Cobb could be more than just here for a good time.  Maybe… someone could believe he was here for a good life .

But none of that mattered while Din was still his student.  And it might turn out that Din wasn’t interested in him or what he had to offer, but after the semester ended he could at least try…

A second message flashed on Din’s screen, from a name Cobb didn’t recognize - Shitty move to cancel on me at the last minute. Something with your kid?? Bullshit.  

And another - it’s fucking rude

And another - just let the kid’s mother handle it, but whatever.  lack of preparation on your part is rude.  

Cobb quickly flipped Din’s phone face down to do his best to pretend he hadn’t seen it.  But… Din’s the one that canceled.  And if Cobb had to guess?  It was when he was texting and ‘got ditched’.  

Din wanted to spend time with him, not his date.

Wasn’t that interesting?

Cobb reached over to grab Din’s beer and move it from the seat across from him to the seat next to him.  And placed the phone, face down, next to it.  Din could always pick another seat if he wanted.  Nothing stopping him.  

Moving the other chairs to a neighboring table might be a step too far.  

“You found a table.”

Cobb looked up to find Din having returned, sitting down next to him without hesitation.  Their knees brushed as he settled in, and neither of them made any move to avoid it.  

“I did indeed,” Cobb replied with a grin.  “Had to push some folks out, real strong man stuff.  And when that didn’t work, I started in on my lecture on the impossibility of there ever existing a Great American Novel and just bored them away.”

Din laughed, and Cobb decided that might just be his favorite sound of all.  “Your lectures are never boring,” he said.

“A bold statement from a man who didn’t want to take my class in the first place.”

Din tipped his beer towards Cobb in acknowledgement before flipping his phone over to check messages.  “I’m happy with how it turned out,” he said softly.

Cobb was too.  How easy it would’ve been for Din to find another class, any other class.  Would they have ever crossed paths on campus?  “Any word from your babysitter?”

“Apparently Grogu was the most angelic of little angels and he has them all completely fooled.”  Din smiled again, slipping his phone into his pocket this time.  “Rey is babysitting,” he added.  “Well, Rey, Finn, and their friend Poe are babysitting.”

“Ah, the trio,” Cobb mused.  “Where one goes, all go.  They’re all good kids.  Grogu is in very safe hands.”

“I know.  I feel a little guilty staying out,” Din said.  “After my date ditched me.”

Liar, Cobb thought with pleasure.  “You had already planned on an evening out.  Just because your date, and mine to be honest, were terrible choices, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy an evening out with what I dare say is sparkling conversation.”

Din leaned forward, his knee slipping between Cobb’s and, again, neither of them made any move to avoid it.  Cobb resisted reaching out to feel if Din’s thigh was as firm as he imagined.  Too much, not now, not yet.  “Are you offering to keep me company?” he asked softly.  “I don’t want to keep you from your evening.  I know you had a date too.”

“My date was catfishing trash,” Cobb answered too quickly.  “I’d much rather spend the evening with you.  Even if this… isn’t a date.”

“If we buy our own drinks, it can’t be a date,” Din assured him.

The logic was flawless in Cobb’s eyes, and he raised his glass to Din once more.  “Then here’s to an evening of platonic conversation, while drinking a responsible number of drinks, paid for on separate tabs.”

Din tapped Cobb’s glass with the neck of his bottle.  “I’ll drink to that.”

One drink on separate tabs turned to two.  Then three.  

The chair on the side of the table moved closer to Cobb’s bench, and before long Din offered the chair to a group of friends the next table over.  The bench was big enough for the both of them, he assured them.  Barely, but what was sitting hip to hip between friends?

Cobb stretched his arm out along the top of the bench cushion behind Din’s head, and Din took the opportunity to lean in a little closer.  It was getting louder as the night went on, of course.  No one wanted to have to yell.  Better to shift and speak directly against Cobb’s ear.  Better to try not to find out if his skin was as soft as it looked.

Din kept an eye out for any time Cobb wanted a bit of distance.  Any time he wanted to assert the separation between professor and student.  Any time he was looking for an opening to say he was tired, or needed to get home, or… or… or…

But each time Din thought Cobb might be looking for an out, he asked about his son and traded for a story when Rey was little.  And then asked about his time in the army, and offered up how he owed his tenured position to Ben and he never felt like he could repay him.  And then asked what was next after his degree, and admitted how some nights his house seemed too big and too empty now that it was just him.  

If the goal was to get Din to fall in love with him a little more with every story…

“I’m afraid I’ve talked your ear off all night,” Cobb said, loosely gripping Din’s bicep to pull him close enough to be heard against the noise of the Saturday night crowd.  

“I’m not surprised the professor knows how to spin a good story and pick apart my responses,” Din chuckled.  He slipped his hand gently onto Cobb’s shoulder.  “I’m sorry I’m going to have to call it a night soon.  Grogu -”

“I know.”

“I have to relieve Rey.”

“They’re probably asleep on the couch in a pile.”

“Probably,” Din laughed.  “She’s a great kid.  You have to be really proud.”

“I’m really proud of her.”

“No,” Din insisted, leaning in closer as his hand moved from Cobb’s shoulder to brush his neck.  “You have to be proud of how you raised her.  You did an amazing job, Cobb.  Any kid would be lucky to have you as their father.”

“Really?”

“I think that’s what you want,” Din said.  His hand slid up to cup Cobb’s cheek.  “To maybe… do it again?”

Cobb stared at him, and Din held his breath.  Had he overstepped?  Had he made an assumption that Cobb wouldn’t appreciate?  Had he crossed a line?  

No, no not yet.

“What do you want, Din?” Cobb whispered.

The question that plagued him for months.  What do you want, Din?   He’d ignored it, denied it, and even when he started to answer it for himself he pushed it down as something he couldn’t have.  Not now, not yet.  That was the line he couldn’t cross, because as soon as he admitted it, as soon as he put it out there…

Before he could talk himself out of it, he threaded his fingers into Cobb’s hair and pulled him in for a kiss.  It might have been a mistake.  It might have been out of line, and inappropriate, and a poor choice, but it was also inevitable, and thrilling, and for the first time in years, Din knew exactly what he wanted.

As soon as Cobb’s hand on him tightened his grip, Din pulled back just enough to whisper, “you.”  When Cobb didn’t respond - just looked at him, wide-eyed and swollen lipped - Din let himself smile and added, “What I want, Cobb Vanth, is you.”  

He’d struck Cobb speechless, which might be first.  “You can ignore this happened,” Din continued, sliding out from his seat and finishing off his drink.  “I won’t hold it against you.  Come Monday morning, I’ll be in class and studying for the final.  Which… you told me to do something fun this weekend,” he pointed out with a soft but slightly manic laugh.  What had he done?  Just… kissed his literature professor in a bar?  What was he doing?  He cleared his throat and stared at Cobb, who was just… watching him.  Still exactly what Din wanted.  

“Din…” Cobb managed to say, but Din cut him off.  No need to make him say anything now.

“I’ll see you Monday morning.”  

Din opened his front door to find, just as Cobb predicted, Finn and Poe sound asleep on the couch and Rey barely awake scrolling her phone.  “Hey,” he said quietly.  “How did everything go?”

“Grogu’s the best,” Rey said through a yawn.  “Sorry, I just gotta get the guys up and -”

“Stay here,” Din insisted.  “It’s late, everyone’s tired.  I don’t want you out on the road when you’re tired.”

“Okay, Dad ,” Rey chuckled.  “How was your date?”

Din took a deep breath.  And smiled.  “Amazing.  I had an… amazing night.”

“Oh, I’m so glad,” she said.  “You deserved it.  You deserve to be happy.”

“Thanks.  You’re going to stay?”

He expected more of a fight, but apparently everyone was exhausted, himself included.  With extra blankets and pillows procured, and the promise of breakfast in the morning, he left them to settle back in as he moved to get himself ready for bed.

He made it as far as pulling off his shoes before falling back on top of the sheets and staring up at the ceiling.

He’d done it.  Figured out what he wanted and put it out there.  Unambiguously out there.  There was only one question left.

What did Cobb want?

Chapter Text

What Cobb wanted, currently, was for his goddamn phone to stop goddamn ringing at this goddamn obscene hour in the morning.  

He was an early riser by nature, but it was 5:17 on Sunday morning and he’d finally fallen asleep a couple hours ago.  There were only three numbers he allowed to break through his do not disturb settings.

His first panicked thought was Rey was in enough trouble to call instead of text, but it wasn’t her, thankfully.

Second thought was his sister, but she would never call him this early, and never wanted to speak to him so badly that she’d call repeatedly.  

Which left Kenobi’s face and number as the one flashing in the dark, pausing for thirty seconds when his voice mail picked up, and then starting back up again when Ben called him back.  

And again.  

And again.

After the fourth time through of Ben not getting the hint, Cobb grabbed for his phone and cut off any discussion before it had a chance to start.  “Ben, I swear to god, it’s ass o’clock in the morning, I had a late night, and unless there’s something on fucking fire, I need sleep.  I will call you back at 10, you can come over, and we can talk about whatever bee’s in your bonnet, but I’m going back to sleep and I respectfully invite you to fuck off for a few hours,” and hung up before anyone could respond.

And for 45 glorious minutes, that was that.  

Forty-six minutes later, there was a knock at his front door.  No, a knock was a polite request for attention.  This was a full fist banging that showed no sign of stopping until Cobb answered.  

Fucking.  Hell.

Cobb yanked on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and made his way to the front door, swearing with each step until he threw open the front door and found Kenobi standing there, unapologetic, and holding his phone like a weapon he was too eager to use.  “Ten,” Cobb snapped.  “Does this look like ten in the morning?”

“What did you do?” Ben hissed.  

“I was trying to fucking sleep, but someone kept fucking interrupting me.”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.”

“Cobb,” Ben said gently.  Too gently.  “I’m here right now as your friend.  Because if I’m not here as your friend right now, on Monday morning I’m going to be in your office as your boss.”

Cobb leaned back against the door jamb and paused.  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“What happened last night?”

“I had a date.”

“I think you had a hell of a lot more than that.”

“The fuck does that mean?”

Ben looked pained.  He’d had opinions about Cobb’s dating life before, but was never panicked about it.  And never early morning panicked about it.  And what was there to be this concerned about, anyway?  His date… technically not-date… with Din had been amazing.  Sure, he was still technically Cobb’s student, but not for much longer.  And it was Din that kissed him, and told him he wanted Cobb, and it would’ve been so easy to just say yes, but Din came with baggage and a whole life and expectations that Cobb would most certainly fail at, and sure he said he wanted him but he didn’t know how Cobb had pushed too hard in the past -

Cobb pushed the thoughts that had kept him up for hours out of his mind, and crossed his arms now that the autumn chill was catching up to him.  “Look, it’s still dark, I’m cold, I haven’t slept enough to be having the ‘you can do better, Cobb’ conversation.  I’m going inside.  You’re welcome to stretch out on my couch if you want, or just go home.”

“There was a complaint,” Ben said.

“What kind of complaint?”

“A formal complaint.  Through the Dean’s office.”  Ben shoved his phone back in his pocket and started to pace across Cobb’s porch.  “You think I would show up here this early for fun?”

“You’ve done weirder things,” Cobb murmured, but the gravity of the situation had started to settle in.  What would get the usually chill Ben to go full Dean Kenobi at this hour, and in person…

It had to be a student.  But…

“What was the complaint?”

“Sexual harassment,” Ben said, and Cobb felt his stomach drop.  “Unwanted advances.  Threatening a student’s grades depending on if they… you know… with you…” he trailed off.  “Apparently you had your hands in places they weren’t invited.  And with a student, for god’s sake, Cobb.”

“I did not…” Cobb tried, mentally going over what happened last night with Din.  It’s not like his were the only hands that were wandering in that booth, and it’s not like either of them were doing anything to discourage the other.  Din was just as much of a willing - and eager! - participant as Cobb was.  “It was consensual.  He did just as much -”

“You shouldn’t have done it in the first place, you know better!” Ben snapped.  “I have shot down rumors between grad students and adjuncts and whomever for years because I know you never crossed that line and it’s just because you look like… you.”

“I can’t control rumors, and I have never once crossed a line.  You can’t seriously want to fucking penalize me for living my life.”

“Yesterday I would’ve backed you up without question, and I’m still in your corner,” Ben pressed.  “It’s why I’m here now, instead of waiting until tomorrow morning in my office.  But Cobb… they sent me screenshots of what you talked about.  The things you said.”

What had he said to make Din contact the fucking dean?  They talked about their jobs, and their families, and Cobb had found himself vocalizing wants and fears and worries that he’d never admitted out loud before.  After so many years of shallow dates, and guys who just saw him as a good time, he thought Din understood him.  He thought they were connecting.  Cobb had spent the evening falling little by little for a man who was, what, stashing away their conversation to use against him?

“I thought we had something,” Cobb murmured, as the immediate hurt tucked back behind his heart rolled and solidified into anger.  Anger that Din wouldn’t just say something if he was uncomfortable.  Anger that Cobb had let his guard down.  Anger that he’d let himself believe for the first time in a long time someone thought he was good for more than a good fuck and paying the tab.

How could he have been that wrong about Din?  Why would Din lie about what had happened between them?  Had he lied… or had Cobb been so blinded by what he thought was a connection, he missed the signs?

Ben reached out to hold on to Cobb’s shoulder.  “I’ll protect you the best I can, but this doesn’t look good.  I’ve known you for twenty years, and I know you know better than to take risks like this.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

“I know it’s been rough the past few years, and maybe I should’ve figured this out with the kind of folks you’ve been dating lately, and I don’t want to comment on your choices because it’s your life and I know that, but Cobb, you aren’t an idiot and this was an idiotic choice.”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“And with a teenager?” Ben sighed.  “A teenager, really?”

That was it.  That’s what finally broke him.  Din had chosen lies, and for why he couldn’t fathom, but for all the lies for Din to hide behind…  “He’s forty,” Cobb spat.

Ben paused, dropped his hand from Cobb’s shoulder, and pulled back.  “What do you mean, he’s forty?”

“He’s not a fucking teenager, he’s-” Then Cobb remembered…

Din wasn’t the only student he’d had a run in with last night. 

…shit.

“Ben… what was the name of the student that complained?”

“You know I can’t -”

“Was it Din?” Cobb asked, his voice catching.  

Ben glanced away, pursed his lips, and after a long moment shook his head.  “No, it wasn’t someone named Din.”

“Oh, thank god.”  Cobb took a deep breath and slumped back against the door frame.  The relief that washed over him was almost enough to make him forget that Toro was actively trying to get him fired.  Almost.  “If I tell you who it is, and what I’m guessing the screenshots are of, can I explain myself?”

Ben exhaled and nodded.  “Of course.  You know that I’m always in your…” he trailed off, belatedly realizing the implication of Cobb’s phrasing.  “If you know which student it is, by asking which student it wasn’t… there’s a student you are involved with.  The student with the kid?” he asked, although Cobb wasn’t sure why he phrased it as a question.  The answer was painfully obvious.  “The one you were watching while he took a test.”

“Involved is… not exactly,” Cobb tried.  He could feel the headache brewing from that potent mix of lack of sleep and rapidly retreating anger with nowhere to go.  “Not entirely.  Not yet,” he added, almost as an afterthought.  He stepped back and motioned for Ben to come inside.  “I’ll make coffee.”

Din yawned, rolled over, and buried his head in the pillow once more.  Everything was silent over the monitor, which meant it was still early.

He did hear chatter coming from the main room, which meant the three of them were already up.  Although what college students were doing waking up at - he grabbed for his phone and lifted it up close enough to his face that he didn’t need his glasses - 6:32 on a weekend was beyond him.  He figured they’d be unfortunately woken up as soon as he got Grogu up.  His son was sweet, but he was loud in the morning, greeting the day with all of the enthusiasm of someone who found everything new and exciting and needed to tell Papa everything about it all at once.

Should probably be a good host and put on some coffee if everyone was already awake.  He rolled over, and let his eyes soften their focus on the ceiling.  The bed was so comfortable, and everything was still so quiet, and Grogu so rarely slept in, that maybe the kids could fend for themselves in the kitchen for just a little while longer.  

Which, unfortunately, left him to mull over the events of last night.  

He didn’t regret it.  Any of it.

He didn’t regret canceling his date last minute, which he fully understood was an asshole move.  He didn’t regret kissing Cobb, which he also understood broke at least one university rule on his end, and probably half a dozen more on Cobb’s.  He didn’t regret telling Cobb how he felt.  He did regret putting Cobb in an awkward position, with Din still his student for the next few weeks, but Din didn’t expect anything to come of it until after the semester, if at all.  No grand gestures, no pronouncements of feelings, no immediate choices to be made.  Din said his piece, because he couldn’t hold it back any longer.  They’d chat on Monday after class, and if Cobb preferred to pretend it didn’t happen, he was okay with that.  

They were friends first.  If Cobb wanted it to stay that way, Din was okay with that.  

He was okay with that.  

He absolutely was.

And if he repeated it enough times to himself, perhaps he’d start to believe it.

Just because he wanted Cobb, didn’t mean that Cobb wanted him.  

A crash, a laugh, and a couple of ‘oh nos!’ pulled him out of his mulling and convinced him it was time to move.  He’d let Grogu sleep for as long as he wanted, but the kids might be looking for a polite way to escape from his home.

Din slipped on his glasses and found a t-shirt to match the Mickey Mouse pants he’d received for his birthday as a joke - joke’s on them, they were comfortable and he’d long given up any notions of shame or embarrassment in his own home - and emerged into the main room, ready to apologize to what he assumed would be three bleary eyed college students for sleeping in so late and offering to make coffee.

What he found instead was a pile of every pillow he’d pulled last night, and every couch cushion available on the floor, and Finn and Poe taking turns tossing Grogu into them while Rey took pictures.  His son was laughing so hard with each toss, that even when he rebounded off of the pillows and onto the floor - eliciting another round of the ‘oh no’s from the three who should know better - he popped right back up and ran to the one whose turn it was to toss him next.  

He leaned against the door jamb, arms crossed and smile wide as he cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.  “I didn’t realize he was awake already, but thank you for going to get him from his crib.  I hope he wasn’t crying too much.”

“Papa!” Grogu yelled at the top of his lungs, rolling off of the pillows and throwing himself bodily into Din’s arms.  Din scooped him up, cradling him against his shoulder as his son chanted “I fly!  I fly!”

“I know, I saw you, kid,” Din assured him.  “You were having so much fun.  We need to thank everyone for getting you up and out of your crib while Papa was being a sleepyhead.”

“Ah… we didn’t get him out of his crib,” Rey said.  “We thought you got him up and just… sent him to us.”

Poe nodded.  “Yeah, he showed up with a blanket in his hand and crawled up onto the couch with us.  We asked where you were, and he said ‘sleepy’.”

“We figured you wanted to sleep in a little more, and… I mean, he’d already woken us up,” Finn added with a shrug.

“We didn’t mind!” Rey insisted.  “He was so sweet about it, and you got home late last night.”  She winked.  “Very late.”

“I didn’t…”  Din sighed.  “Grogu, did you get out of the crib all by yourself?”  The kid laughed and murmured what he could only assume was ‘yes’ against his neck.  “Are you supposed to do that?”  That didn’t get a response.  “Grogu, are you supposed to get out of your crib without Papa there to help you?”  

“Yes,” Grogu said matter-of-factly.

That was a new development Din wasn’t happy about.  He figured he had a bit more time before the kid figured out how to escape, but apparently not.  “Guess it’s time to start looking for a big boy bed, huh?”

Grogu leaned back, and fixed his dad with a very serious look.  Din hoped he understood the gravity of the danger that trying to climb out of the crib on his own accord invited.  “Juice?  Please?”

No, the kid was focused on the real questions this morning.

“Let’s start with milk and get you breakfast.”  He looked at the three, now putting the cushions back on the couch without prompting.  “You guys are welcome to get out of here, but I’m going to put on a pot of coffee and make breakfast if you want to eat with us.”

“Eggy!” Grogu said.  

“I can make eggys.  And toast,” Din promised.  

“I mean, as long as you’re offering…” Finn trailed off.

Poe nodded.  “It would be rude to say no.  But, coffee… right?”

“Thanks,” Rey beamed.  “And hey, you can give us the rundown of how your date went!  You got back late, so I’m guessing it went well.”

Din tried to hold back his smile, but found he couldn’t.  Went well was an understatement.  “Coffee first.”

“So, the handsome single father you ran into at the bar and had a completely platonic drink with was not the one who made the complaint,” Ben said, leaning back in the chair and taking another long sip of the coffee.  “What’s his name?  I should refer to him as something other than ‘the handsome single father’.”

“Din,” Cobb sighed, taking another sip of his coffee in an effort to fully become coherent.  “Din Djarin.”

Ben nodded.  “Absolutely not the student who made the complaint.  And the student who made the complaint?”

“Toro Calican.  One of my undergrads.”

“Yes,” Ben confirmed.  

Cobb pulled out his phone to open up the dating app.  “He catfished me,” he explained.  “I thought I was talking to… not him.  And I don’t know what screenshots he sent you, but I can show you our entire chat history in the thread… fuck.”  He looked up at Ben, who was understandably worried, and sighed again.  “He messaged me last night, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t screencap this part.  ‘You made a poor decision, so I’ve sent screencaps of these naughty messages to the Dean.  You really should know better than that.  Where’s my A and I can make this all go away or else someone is looking for a new job.’  Oh come on,” he snapped.  “He’s not even a good blackmailer.”

“A skill that we usually reserve for graduate level courses,” Ben added dryly.  He plucked the phone from Cobb’s hand and pulled up the copies of the messages sent to him on his to compare.  “You want to lick him where?”

“Please don’t,” Cobb groaned.

“His mistake was assuming that we wouldn’t compare the threads,” Ben continued.  “If I were him, I would be betting on the assumption that you deleted messages in a panic after receiving his threat.”

“You can’t delete messages on this app, it’s one of the features.  So you can get creeps banned.  And he's calling me a creep.”

“Yes, his version has you explicitly calling him Toro and saying you’ll trade an A for…”  He glanced up at Cobb, unable or unwilling to hide his grin any longer.  “Sucking your enormous dick and emptying you like a milkshake.”

Cobb groaned louder, dropping his face into his hands.  “I never want to hear you talk about my dick again.”

“He’s very adamant.  Well… you’re very adamant.”

“It’s a lie.”

“Obviously,” Ben agreed.  “And I can see from your thread that you never knew it was Toro, that the profile is named Cali, 25 - which is another thing he changed in his screenshots.  Look, Cobb.”  He set both phones down on the table.  “He’s obviously trying to set you up, as a… I’m guessing you rejected him.”  Cobb nodded.  “Is there anyone who can vouch for that?  Din, maybe?”

“I hadn’t run into Din yet.  But, the bartender at the Twin Suns overheard and intervened when Toro wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Then I’ll handle this,” Ben promised.  

Cobb looked up.  He felt wrung out between everything with Din and Toro and - “Is my job okay?”

Ben nodded.  “I’ll handle everything.  You’re not the first professor to deal with something like this.  Just don’t delete any conversations with him.  You don’t have to deal with him any more.”

“Thank you,” Cobb breathed.  “And I should apologize about Din, too.”

“Why?”

“He’s also a student.  I know I shouldn’t have let it get as far as it did.”

Ben got up and retreated to the kitchen to refill his coffee.  “Din, the handsome single father who is only taking this class as an elective?”

“Yes.”

“The handsome single father who is in an entirely separate degree program in another college on campus?”

“Yes.”

“And will never be in another one of your classes, nor technically needs anything more than a pass from you?”

“He doesn’t even need that,” Cobb explained.  “He just… he took time off once his son was born and he needed a credit to stay current in the system until the classes he needs next semester.”

Ben hummed, his sound of ‘mulling things over’ that Cobb learned to both love and hate as Kenobi was reviewing the chapters of his dissertation so many years ago.  He deserved to get yelled at for letting Din kiss him, that wasn’t up for debate.  And Cobb was ready for the scolding.  It was irresponsible, Cobb knew better, Cobb was the person in power here and he let it go too far, he knew better than to get attached to someone like Din and his adorable son, he knew better than to want…  

“Tell me about Din,” Ben asked as he returned with a fresh cup.  “I know he’s handsome, I know he’s a father.  I know he’s an appropriate age,” he added with a grin.  

“I… what do you want to know?” Cobb sighed.  “He’s… quiet.  Until he gets to know you.  He’s absolutely devoted to his son.  He threatened me when he thought I was being a creepy old man with Rey,” he chuckled.  “Just told me to get my shit together and didn’t care if I failed him or not. Unflinchingly willing to stand up for what he believes is right.”

“And handsome?”

“So handsome,” Cobb sighed.  “But not the smooth, polished handsome of some twenty-five year old, you know?  He’s lived in.  A man with some history to his face.”  He smiled.  “A man whose scars have stories.”

“He sounds a lot like you.”

“Maybe,” Cobb allowed.  

“Are you in love with him?”

“No.”  Cobb answered quickly, and it wasn’t a lie.  Not entirely.  “We haven’t even been on a real date yet.”  

“Could you?  Love him?”

He should steer the conversation away.  These were the answers that would get him into trouble if he allowed himself to think too hard on them.  “Yes,” he murmured.  “Easily.”  

“Cobb,” Ben said gently.  “I’ve known you for a long time.  And I know that you…”  He sighed.  “Something changed when Rey stopped living with you.  You can deny it all you want,” he added, cutting off Cobb’s automatic attempt at changing the subject.  “But I saw it.  You closed yourself off and started making some really confusing choices.”

“I’ve done some of the best work in my career -”

“I’m not talking about anything you’ve published or taught or anything like that,” Ben pressed.  “You didn’t want to be alone - you told me so, don’t bother denying it - but the only people you spent any time with were inappropriate for anything long term that you wanted.”

“I didn’t need anything long term -”

“Do you want kids?”

“I had a kid,” Cobb murmured, bitterly.

“Do you want more kids?”

“I don’t -”

“Cobb…”

“Yes,” he whispered, giving voice to a fact he’d denied for years.  

“Then what you need is someone like this handsome, loyal, loving single father in your life.”

“He has a kid.”

“Yes, that usually comes with the father portion of the single father description.”

“But, I can’t…” Cobb swallowed hard.  He didn’t want to think about it, he didn’t want to say it out loud.  “When I told guys in the past I wanted more kids, it didn’t… they didn’t…”

“Cobb.”

“What happens when we break up?”  Cobb realized he was sounding panicked at this point.  “What happens… I can handle Din leaving.  I think.  Probably.  But I don’t…”  His voice broke and he swallowed hard.  “Ben, I don’t think I can have another child taken away from me.”  He wanted Ben to say something.  Cobb spent so much of his life getting Ben’s guidance in his studies, his career, his life and now when he needed direction, desperately needed direction, Ben just sat there and watched him.  

Cobb sucked in a breath, feeling it hitch again.  Ben wasn’t going to save him from himself this time.  Wasn’t going to cut him off and let him leave words unspoken.  They just sat there, watching each other, and waiting for the other one to -

“Grogu is wonderful,” Cobb whispered.  “Din’s son.  He’s wonderful.  And when I spend time with him, I…”  Please don’t make me say this.  “I love spending time with him.  It feels right, and I wanted more kids.  But no one wanted them with me.  I made my peace with that.  And here’s this wonderful little boy, and I know I could love him.  It would be so easy to love him.  Just like it would be so easy to love Din.  They feel right.  But Ben…”  Please don’t make me admit this.   “Ben, he’s not my son.  And if it doesn’t work out with Din, I’d lose both of them.”  He caught a glimpse of a picture of Rey on the wall behind Ben.  She couldn’t have been much older than Grogu when it was taken - her hair a mess, her smile wide, and the two of them trying so hard to figure out what a family was between them.  “Just like I lost Rey.”

There it was.  He’d never put a point on it quite as hard, but that was the fear that lingered in the back of his head for years.  After the first few potential partners had balked when he told them about his years with Rey and how he wanted more children, and the realization that as he crept further into middle age his family would be likely built by bringing in a partner who already had children of their own, the fear that he’d fall in love with a child only to have them ripped away when their real parent was finished with him started to gnaw at his heart.  And bit by bit the fear ate away, until in an effort to protect himself he decided shallow connections served him best.  Cobb Vanth was here for a good time, not a long time.  Dates who wouldn’t want or weren’t good choices for a long term connection.  It was safer for his heart that way.  And he was having all of the fun he’d put on hold in his youth when his sister left a helpless baby in his arms and promised she’d be back soon.  

Fourteen years later, the family he’d worked so hard to build with Rey was gone and his house empty.  

When Din kissed him, the possibilities became real.  Absent flirting and time spent with Grogu had the possibility of becoming a real relationship.  The possibility of partnership.  The possibility of family.

And it was too much, and Cobb froze.  All of the fears gnawing back at his heart, and he froze.  Din laid out what he wanted, and gave Cobb an out, and when he’d tried to explain he just… couldn’t.  He couldn’t.

It would hurt too much when Din - and Grogu - left.  

He couldn’t.

“You never lost Rey.”

Cobb shook himself out of his own thoughts.  “What?”

“You never lost Rey,” Ben said.  “She went to live with her mother, and yet most evenings she showed up at your house for dinner.”

“I know, but -”

“And as soon as she became an adult and made choices for herself, what did she do?” Ben continued.  “She came to study at your university, in your college, and the only difference now is that she brings the other two boys with her for dinner at your house.  The foundation you built for her is a house that has you as the keystone.”

“I could still lose Din, and Grogu,” Cobb added, but the fight was knocked out of him.  “Rey is one thing, but Din and Grogu…”  He shook his head.  “What happens when what this… it’s not even ‘is’ anything yet.  What happens when whatever this could possibly become breaks down?”

Ben shrugged, and Cobb wanted nothing more than to shake the answer out of him.  But he just sat there, staring at Cobb, like the answer was obvious and he was waiting for Cobb to come around to it.  He was a grad student all over again, with the infinitely frustrating ‘but what do you think about it?’ rolling over and over in Ben’s expression.  What I think about it is obviously wrong, or else you wouldn’t be looking at me like this.  

Doesn’t matter that he used the same expression for his students, that was different.

“But what if it doesn’t break down?” Ben offered gently.

Cobb shook his head.  “But what if it does?”

“But what if it doesn’t, ” Ben pressed.  “What if this is your last first date?  What if this doesn’t fall apart and instead you get exactly what you’re looking for?  What did Din tell you he wanted?”

Cobb leaned back, looking around the room again.  “Me.  He said he wants me.”

“Maybe instead of doubting yourself,” Ben said, “you should believe him.”

Cobb shook his head, but a smile broke through as he milled Ben’s advice over in his mind.  “That’s a good one.  I’d circle it on a paper and doodle a star next to it.  How long have you been waiting to use that little nugget?”

“It is a good one, isn’t it?” Ben chuckled.  “Some nice symmetry to it, calls back to the thought at the beginning of the argument.  Brings everything full circle.  And in the midst of all that, it’s true.”

“Yeah… you have a point.”  Cobb grabbed his phone to check the time - it was still early, but Din should be up by now.  He owed it to himself to be honest with himself for the first time in a long time.  No more pushing things down, or expecting less.  No more making the easy choice to avoid getting hurt.  No more waiting.

What was it Rey had said the first time she harassed him about how he looked at Din?  Wait too long and the choice will be made for you.  And that hesitation was the thief of joy.

He refused to wait any longer.  He needed to see Din.

“I need to go,” Cobb said suddenly, nearly knocking over the lamp as he jolted up from the couch.  It all seemed so critical now.  He needed to tell him now, right this minute.  He’d wasted too many moments over too many years to waste even a single moment more with Din waiting for his answer.  

He barely heard Ben ask ‘where are you going?’ as he shoved his wallet and his phone into his pocket, and grabbed the extra house key from a kitchen drawer.  “You can stay here, I have coffee, you… you know where everything is,” he said, tossing the extra key to Ben.   

Cobb paused at the front door, the weight of the moment catching up with him, and turned back to glance at Ben.  “My job is safe?”

“I’ll handle Toro,” Ben promised.  “Do you know what you’re going to say?”

“Yes,” Cobb replied.  “The truth.”

Din had hoped that the standard weekend breakfast chaos would be muted with the inclusion of three responsible, trustworthy young adults.

What ever gave him that idea?

Grogu was animated as usual, making his toast sticks dance and sticking them anywhere except his mouth, and the other three were egging him on with breakfast food backstories of their own.  The winner by far was Poe’s flying toast that Grogu was instructed to ‘chomp out of the air like a dinosaur’.  Plane noises, a toddler roar, a reaching chomp, and Finn holding Grogu’s highchair steady so it didn’t tip over if Poe wasn’t reaching over far enough.  

It was chaos, but they were so good with him, and Grogu was having the time of his life.  He could deal with a little morning chaos seeing how happy it made his son - and, honestly, the other three as well.  They were all on the cusp of adulthood and life would force them into seriousness all too soon.  He remembered being their age, but he’d never had the chance to be this loose, this carefree.  At their age, he’d deployed for the first, but not the last, time.  At their age, he’d spent most of his newly found adult days dusty, uncomfortable, and asked to do things he could never unsee.  At their age, he’d gotten used to shoving anything gentle about him down, way down where no one could see it or use it against him.  And he’d been paying the price for it ever since.

Grogu changed his life, and anyone else who wanted to be a part of his life had to appreciate that.  Had to want Grogu to be a part of their life as well.  They were a package deal, and Din refused to compromise.

He hoped Cobb could be that person, but he wouldn’t know anything until tomorrow after class.  Din had done his part, laid out what he wanted, and now everything was in Cobb’s hands.  

Nothing to do now but wait.  

There was a rapid fire knock at the front door, just as he finished pulling the last of the scrambled eggs off the hot pan.  And then a second, more insistent knock.

“Door!” Grogu said, mouth full of toast as Din set the bowl of eggs on the table and pulled the kid’s cup back from the edge of the table.  “Door!”

“I know, I know, I’m going to get it,” Din said.  “Rey, make sure he doesn’t try to get down.”

“On it.”

“Who there?” Grogu asked.  “Door!  Who there?”

Din had the same question.  “I don’t know, bud, but Papa’s gonna see.”  At barely eight on a Sunday morning, the list of possible visitors was slim.  “Ask Rey nicely and see if she’ll put some eggys on your plate.  Please and thank you, kid.”

He should’ve called ahead, Cobb realized after banging on Din’s door too early to be polite on a Sunday morning.  He should’ve called, or texted, or thought this through in any way other than just showing up and demanding to be seen.  But he hadn’t thought, he just acted.  Ben was right - expecting the worst was no way to go through life.  He could still be cautious.  He could still hold back his heart just a bit, feel out whether Din was serious, take these few weeks before the end of the semester to really think about what it would be to take Din at his word.  He could test the waters of something he really, truly wanted, instead of falling back on old habits and an easy lay.  

He could do all of those things, but he couldn’t wait twenty-four more hours to see Din.  

There was so much he wanted to immediately tell Din - and every single word of it escaped him as soon as Din opened the door.

Din, with his sleep tousled hair and threadbare t-shirt, both looking soft enough to touch.  Ridiculous cartoon pajama pants.  Glasses, because it was still early and there was no need to put in his contacts yet.  Did he wear contacts?  Or were these reading glasses?  Cobb wanted nothing more than to find out.  He’d been in Din’s house before, but he’d never seen him like this.  This was intimate.  Private.  Cobb wanted to see more, to know more, to stick around long enough with a person to see this side.  And to show Din this side of himself, as well.

“Cobb?” Din murmured, and Cobb’s heart skipped a beat.  Any doubt he had disappeared at the sound of Din saying his name.  This is what he wanted.  Who he wanted.  “I wasn’t expecting to see you until tomorrow.  In class.  What are you -”

Cobb’s plan was to apologize for not responding last night.  For leaving Din questioning if his feelings were returned.  Instead he reached out, cupping Din’s cheeks and crowding into his space to kiss him.  Right there, just a few steps inside the doorway, because Cobb couldn’t wait any longer.  He swallowed Din’s words and confusion, pressed against him because his heart demanded it, and only spared a single thought for the fear that Din might’ve changed his mind in the past few hours - until he felt Din’s hands grip his arms and a smile bloom in the middle of the kiss.

A dying man can ignore his thirst until his face is dipped in the water again.

Cobb was eager to drown.

Moments rarely last long, and this one was interrupted by a squeal and banging on a table.  “Bob!  Bob!  Hi Bob!  Me go down!”

Cobb broke the kiss enough to turn and look, and be immediately reminded that of course they weren’t alone.  Grogu was trying to wriggle out of his high chair, and Rey, Finn, and Poe were all sitting there grinning like idiots as well.  

“Hi Bob!” Grogu yelled again.

The trio looked at each other, then back at Cobb, and grinned as they repeated just as enthusiastically, “Hi Bob!”

Cobb let go of Din just long enough to give the gathered crowd a small wave, as Din chuckled and dropped his head to Cobb’s shoulder.  

The casual, easy intimacy and feel of Din relaxed against him filled his heart almost to bursting.

“You can let him down, he’ll tip it over if you don’t,” Din said.

Rey unstrapped the kid from the high chair, and as soon as his feet hit the ground, he was running and squealing over to wrap himself around Cobb’s leg. 

Cobb thought his heart was full before, but the kid’s happiness to see him pushed him over the edge.  He let go of Din and scooped Grogu up into his arms, tucking the little boy’s head against his neck and giving him a squeeze.  “Hey little guy, sorry I interrupted your breakfast.  I’m so happy to see you.”

“Hi Bob.  Look,” Grogu said, pulling back and pointing to his pajamas.  “Frog.  See the frog?” 

“I do see the frog,” Cobb assured him.  “Oh they look great.  Are you having breakfast?”

Grogu shook his head.  “No.”

“No?” Cobb asked, putting on an expression of utter bewilderment that amused Rey so much when she was Grogu’s age.  “But you’re all at the table!  And it’s breakfast time!  What could you possibly be doing if not breakfast?  Are you building an airplane?  Plotting world domination?”

“No,” Grogu giggled.  “No.”

“Yes, we are having breakfast,” Din said.  “And the eggs are going to get cold if we don’t eat them now.  So here,” he added, taking Grogu from Cobb’s arms and walking him back over to Rey and the boys.  “I want you to eat the eggys, give me three bites, okay?  And if you promise not to squirm, you can sit in Rey’s lap.  Are you going to behave?”

“No,” Grogu giggled again, as he settled into Rey’s lap and reached for her fork.  

“Yes, we are,” Din corrected, exchanging her fork for Grogu’s, much to the kid’s grumpy disappointment.  “Cobb and I are going to step outside for a minute, but we’ll be right back.  Listen to Rey, okay.  And don’t get up from the table.” 

If Cobb had a nickel for every serious conversation held on a porch this morning, he’d have two nickels - but that’s more than he expected for one Sunday morning.

He took a deep breath of the morning air as he waited for Din to get things settled with the crew and pull the front door shut behind him.  The anticipation and coursing need to act on it that brought him without planning or forethought to Din’s home this morning was dissipating and now the second guessing could begin. 

“I should’ve called,” he apologized, as Din zipped up the hoodie he’d grabbed to beat back the autumn chill.  “I know it’s early, and you weren’t expecting visitors.”

Din pressed against him, hooking a finger in Cobb’s pocket to hold him close, and kissed him once again - Cobb assumed to get him to stop talking, and… it was effective.  How could he have questioned this?  How could he have questioned Din?  Ben was right, although fuck if he was going to admit that to him any more than he already had.  

“As you can see, I already have a full house this morning,” Din explained.  “What’s one more?”

“About that - what are they still doing here?”

Din shrugged, and Cobb could swear he looked slightly embarrassed.  “It was late when I got back, and everyone but Rey was already asleep.  I told them just to sleep here.  Didn’t want to worry about them getting home.”

“I shouldn’t have kept you out so late.”

“I wasn’t complaining.”

Cobb rested his hand on Din’s hip.  “Did you mean what you said last night?” he asked softly. 

“About what?”

“That you want me.”

Din pulled back just enough to fix Cobb with a look he couldn’t exactly place.  “Yes.  I want you.  More than I’ve wanted anything in years.  Since… since I brought Grogu home.  And I know I’m putting you in an awkward position,” he added.  “I’m still your student, and I threw that out there with no warning last night.  But I wanted you to know.”  He smiled slightly.  “No pressure.”

“I’ve been thinking about it constantly since last night.  So, you know… a whole, what, seven hours?”

That got Din to laugh, and Cobb couldn’t resist joining in.  “Yeah, a whole seven hours.  That’s the latest I’ve been out in a long time.”

“You’ve got other priorities.”

“I’m too old to be out that late,” Din laughed again.  “Fuck, today is going to be hard.  I’m so tired.”

“You kept trying to leave, I should’ve let you go.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

Cobb took a deep, shuddering breath and settled into relief.  “Me too.  I didn’t want the night to end.  And I didn’t want to wait until Monday to tell you that.  Not after I got the sense knocked into me this morning.”

“How?”

“Ben showed up, and I guess Toro is trying to get me fired for exchanging grades for sexual favors, but then we got to talking about how I need to stop letting my experiences with past relationships cloud how I avoid things that I want and could be good for me just to avoid getting hurt -”

Din jerked back.  “What?”

“No, it was a real emotional breakthrough that I honestly needed,” Cobb explained.  “Because I haven’t made the best dating choices -”

“Not that,” Din cut him off.  “Toro’s trying to get you fired?”

“Oh… yeah,” Cobb confirmed.  “My catfishing date that went so poorly last night?  It was Toro, and then he complained to Ben that I was catfishing him, but we have proof that I obviously didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Obviously.”

“And it’s being handled.”  Cobb reached up to run his free hand along Din’s shoulder, feeling the tension relax as Din processed this information.  “It’s being handled.  I’m okay.”

“Okay,” Din murmured.  “What a little shit.”

“Exactly.  But, I guess I can appreciate it, because if he hadn’t then Ben wouldn’t have shown up and smacked some sense into me, and I might’ve wasted more time realizing that… I want you too.  Din, you’re exactly what I want, and what I need, and I needed… to tell you that.”  Din smiled again, softly again, and Cobb again realized how easily it would be to fall in love with him.  Will be, he corrected.  It will be easy to fall in love with him, because he’s already halfway there.  

“I do have one condition,” Din explained.  “It’s the same one I told the guy last night.”

“What is it?”

“Being a good father to Grogu is the most important thing in my life,” he said.  “And I can’t be with someone who wants me but not him.  I need someone who wants us both to be a part of their life.”

“Din,” Cobb murmured, “That little guy is…”  He smiled again - how could he even put into words how much Din’s son had already nestled into a spot in his heart?  “I wouldn’t even consider this if you wanted anything different.  I want you both in my life so much,” he admitted out loud for the first time.  “I know it’s not the same, but I couldn’t be with anyone who wanted me to choose between them and Rey.  She’s all grown up, and she’s my niece…”

“Cobb,” Din cut him off.  “It’s the same.  Doesn’t matter what she calls you, it’s the same.  And I wouldn’t want it any other way… either,” he chuckled.  “I’m not as eloquent as you are.”

Cobb disagreed.  A simple ‘I want you, Cobb Vanth’ was enough to bring them here, to this moment, and cut through the haze and inertia of all of Cobb’s misgivings and bad dating habits.  They’d be tattooed on his heart regardless of when, or if, this ever ends.  

Din cleared his throat and tilted his head back towards the door.  “Do you want to come in for breakfast?”

That was everything Cobb wanted.  “I shouldn’t.  You’re still my student for another few weeks, and with this Toro thing…”

“I understand.”

“Grades are due Dec 15th by 5pm,” he continued.  “So… what are you doing at 5:15?”

Din smiled again, and Cobb realized he’d do anything to keep that smile on his face.  “I’m free. And I think with this much lead time, I can find someone to babysit.  Maybe even the ones who have their noses pressed against my window and making marks that I’m going to make them clean up before they leave.”

Cobb turned to look at the window they were standing in front of, and found four curious faces pressed against the glass.  

“What about Toro?” Rey called out, as Grogu opened and closed his mouth and licked the window as they all got a very clear view of his tonsils.  “You guys got too quiet to hear after that.”

“Rey, y’all are gonna clean Din’s window before you leave today, understand?”

“What?” she said, completely unconvincingly.  “We can’t hear you.”

“Uh huh.”  Cobb shook his head and pressed a last kiss to Din’s lips.  “Three weeks,” he promised.  “Three weeks is easy.”

Chapter Text

Three weeks was not easy, Din realized halfway through class on Monday morning.  In less than forty-eight hours, he’d confessed his crush to Cobb, had Cobb reciprocate, and set a plan to see each other, really see each other, in a couple of weeks once he was no longer Cobb’s student.  He was a grown man, and had functioned perfectly well over the semester, but now that everything was out in the open?   

It was the first class all over again.  Cobb talking animatedly at the front of the class, dark fitted jeans and a snug red sweater doing more than hinting at the shape underneath, a lock of his hair falling into his face each time he turned around to make a point… 

The bearded jawline that felt as good against Din’s skin as he’d imagined all those weeks ago.  

That was the problem - he knew what Cobb felt like pressed against him, he knew what Cobb tasted like while kissing him, and he knew what Cobb sounded like whispering stories into his ear.  He knew all of these things now, and didn’t realize how hard it would be to pretend he didn’t want more.

Three weeks.  Three classes and a final exam, and then as soon as the exam period was over and grades were submitted…

His phone flashed with a new text and he figured might as well check it, he wasn’t following the lecture today anyway. 

You realize it’s VERY OBVIOUS you’re half in love with him, right??

Din glanced over at Rey, who was too amused at the situation.  Shouldn’t you be paying attention to the lecture? he texted back.  I’d hate the reason you fail to be because you couldn’t mind your own business.

I’m invested in two old men in love :kiss: :innocent:
Do I need to call you uncle din??
I have your date night circled circled circled on my calendar 
Also I need to point out I told you so, I told you so from the beginning

Yes you did

You should listen to me more - I’m the expert in my uncle

Yes I should

He really likes you, you know.  Like… really likes you.  You’re good for him.  I haven’t seen him as happy as he was yesterday in a long time.  I just want him to be happy.  He deserves someone who really cares about him because he says he’s not lonely but I know he is.  Promise me you’ll be kind to him?

It’s just one date

PROMISE ME

Din glanced over and caught her looking at him.  The teasing was gone.  This was a plea from a kid who, as much as Cobb thought he kept her from it, saw first-hand what he’d given up to take care of her when her parents refused to do so.  Watched him close himself off.  Actively clung to a connection even when they were apart.  She was desperate for assurance, as someone who loved him more than she knew what to do with.

How could Cobb ever question how much he meant to her?  Two stubborn Vanths, so sure that the depth of their love was underestimated by the other.

I promise.  He’s in safe hands.

Thank you.  
I mean, he’ll probably do something dumb so just make sure you laugh at his dumb jokes even if they aren’t funny.  
He’s not as cool as he thinks he is.  

Good thing I’m not cool either

Rey grinned at her phone, finally satisfied, and Din tried to focus on the lecture once more.  

Three weeks.

Cobb slumped against the wall of his office and took a deep, centering breath.  In and out, once.  In and out, twice.  A third time for good measure.  There had been nothing different about class this morning, except for everything, and his nerves were fried.  It wasn’t even ten, and he was already exhausted.  

The empty chair behind Rey where Toro normally sat haunted him all class.  Ben said he was dealing with it, and Cobb believed him.  There was no leg for him to stand on, and Cobb knew first hand how tenacious a defender Ben could be when someone lied with the singular intention of causing pain.  It made him an invaluable friend, but even more than that here, it made Ben an excellent boss and an excellent dean.  He’d take care of his faculty.  Cobb would be okay.  

The kid’s ambition and eagerness to take the easy way out of hard work outstripped his talent.  A fatal flaw that, if he’d been paying attention to the readings in class, perhaps he would’ve recognized in himself.  

Or he was twenty and thought with his dick too much.  

Regardless, the empty chair brought his mind back around to it each time he looked in that direction.  Nothing he could do about it now.  Better to concentrate on things he did have control over.

Like Din.

Not that he could control Din, but he could at least control how he reacted to Din.

There was nothing different about Din today versus any other day in his class.  He sat in the same seat next to Rey, wearing the same shapeless hoodie, and carrying the same black backpack.  Although, not the black backpack that he used for Grogu’s diaper bag - he could tell that one by sight now.  And the same pen and paper he used to take notes instead of a laptop - he said it helped him remember what they talked about better, and he couldn’t doodle if he was typing.  Everything was the same as it was last week, but now?

Now, when he turned around and caught Din watching and listening, Cobb’s heart skipped and he struggled not to grin like an idiot.  

…maybe assuming he could control how he reacted was a stretch.

When was the last time he’d been giddy about the prospect of a date?

Too long, if he was honest with himself.   And it wasn’t because he didn’t know what he was going to get with Din - he knew exactly what he was getting.  Din wasn’t an open book, but he was consistent.  And over the past few months, each time they got coffee, or had a chat in his office that lasted far beyond the original question, or hung out with this kid, Din opened up just a bit more.  Then a bit more than that.  And each time he showed himself to be a steady man, with a dry sense of humor, and warmth to him that pulled Cobb in before he even realized what was happening.  Just existing in the same room with Din felt comfortable, and Cobb desperately wanted to wrap himself up in that feeling.  To luxuriate in it, to relax fully in it.  To rest in it.  

When was the last time he got to be just Cobb with someone he was interested in, and not the ‘here for a good time not a long time’ Cobb Vanth mask he put on so often it stopped feeling like a mask?

Far, far too long.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door, and Ben poking his head in without waiting for an answer.  “Just wanted to see how you’re doing this morning, since you ran out of your house so quickly yesterday morning.”

“I had things to do,” Cobb replied.  He pushed off from the wall and stood up straight.  “People to see.  I’m hoping you’re here to return my house key, since you were gone by the time I got back.”

“Well, I didn’t know how long you were going to… see people,” Ben chuckled.  “Figured it could take all day.”  He pulled the key from his pocket and tossed it to Cobb.  “How did it go?”

“How’s it going with Toro?” Cobb countered as he slipped the key back into his pocket.  

“Everything is being taken care of, you won’t have to see him again,” Ben promised.  “Icarus flew too close to the sun.  But you didn’t answer my question.  How did it go yesterday?”

Cobb fully intended to downplay it.  Being excited in the quiet of his own mind was one thing, but putting it out in public was another.  Not that Ben would be anything but supportive, but… it would make it real, and hurt more if something happened and he had to backtrack.  No, he’d play it cool, say it went fine, and they were taking it slow, and it could be something interesting but nothing was set in stone, and he was cool about it and in control and not fucking giddy …

He would’ve said all those things, if Din hadn’t picked that moment to poke his head into Cobb’s office himself and give a little wave of hello before motioning that he could wait outside.  Cobb’s plan to say all those things was betrayed by the smile he felt bloom across his face.

Which, of course, Ben caught.  He whipped around and found Din, and of course… did what Ben does best.  “Well hello,” he said brightly.  “I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess… Mr. Djarin?”

Din nodded, and Cobb mouthed ‘sorry’.  “Din Djarin.  And you must be Dean Kenobi?”

“Please, call me Ben,” he insisted.  He rubbed his hands together, looked back at Cobb with a wink, and started moving back towards the door.  “I was just checking in, and I think I’ve got the answer to my question now.  Cobb, make good choices and remember the semester is almost over.  Din, know that I enjoy a good bourbon and have known Cobb for twenty years and have enough stories to fill multiple evenings.  Oh, how’s your son?”

“He’s good,” Din replied.  “Just about to turn two, and he’s… my favorite little gremlin.”

Ben just beamed, and Cobb tried not to look relieved.  It’s not that he needed Ben’s approval, but… knowing that both Rey and Ben liked Din… it lifted a weight he hadn’t known he was carrying.  

“Oh, how wonderful,” Ben said.  “Cobb is so good with children, I know he enjoys spending time with yours.  Anyway!” he added before Cobb could try to shift the conversation again.  “I have to run.  Din, it was so good meeting you and I can’t wait to get to know you better.  Once the semester is done.”

“Once the semester is done,” Din agreed.  Ben moved to leave, but was stopped by Din’s hand on his arm.  “Ben,” he added.  “I don’t know what you said to him yesterday, but… thank you.”

Ben gave Din’s hand a pat.  “Be gentle with him,” he added quietly.  “Others rarely are.”

Cobb swallowed hard as Din nodded, and Ben pulled the office door closed behind him.  “So that’s Ben,” he said.

Din dropped his bag on the chair and glanced back to make sure they were out of the view of the window in the door, before crowding Cobb up against the bookshelf to kiss him.  “I know I’m not supposed to be here,” he breathed against Cobb’s lips.  Cobb wanted to tell him he could be anywhere he wanted to be.  Instead he fumbled around and slipped his hands into the back pockets of Din’s jeans and squeezed, much to Din’s delight, judging by the huff of laughter, assumably as he tried to stay quiet to keep from it being too obvious what was going on behind a literally closed door.  

“If you think I’m gonna tell you no, you give me more credit than I deserve,” Cobb murmured as Din pulled back, but not without a nip on his bottom lip.  “We shouldn’t, but…”

“But three weeks is longer than I thought,” Din agreed.

Cobb tilted his head to press a soft kiss against Din’s neck.  And then another.  “We can do this,” he said, voice muffled against a soft hoodie and Din’s even softer skin.  “Fuck, I’m gonna show you such a good time on our date.”

“Oh yeah?” Din growled against his ear, and Cobb felt it like a shot through his body.  “What are you gonna do?”

Cobb sucked a small bruise on Din’s neck in delicious retribution.  “Make you dress up.  Impress you by taking you to a restaurant with no kids menu,” he murmured, which got a laugh from Din.  Fuck, Din’s laughs were delicious.  “Get you a little wine drunk, see how well I can undress you in your car, and have you home in time to relieve the babysitter.”

“Mmm that’s a good plan.”

Cobb reluctantly pulled back, and reached up to cup Din’s cheeks in his hands.  “I told you in the bar.  When it’s you, I’m gonna pull out the VIP treatment.”  Din let his head tilt to rest in Cobb’s hand.  The last thing Cobb wanted to do was leave, but they were already pushing it.  It was only a matter of time before someone came knocking at his door again, especially at this point in the semester.  “I hate to say it…”

“I need to get to work anyway,” Din sighed.  “Peli will ask questions.”

“What are you going to tell her?”

“To mind her own business.”

“Is that going to work?”

Din laughed full-throated at that.  “No.”

Cobb shook his head, allowing himself to kiss Din one more time before letting go and shifting to straighten up his back from leaning against the bookshelves.  He’d have a crick in his back for the next hour, but fuck if he cared about that.  “Three weeks,” he mumbled.

“Three weeks,” Din agreed.  “Enjoy the end of the semester, Dr. Vanth.”

“Good luck on your final exam, Mr. Djarin,” Cobb chuckled.

“You never told me how your date with the guy went,” Cara said as she re-racked her weights.  “You said you were going to message him, I know you know better than to lie to me, so… how did it go?”

Din wiped the sweat off his face with the towel and dropped down onto the bench.  He was surprised it took her a week and a half to ask, but cornering him once they were halfway through their workout was brilliant on her part.  What was he going to do - leave and give up the extra thirty minutes of Grogu being occupied in the kiddie corner here?  “It went fine,” he said.  

“Fine?  Really?  Just fine?  The picture you sent of him was cute.  What happened?  Did he turn out to be an axe murderer?”

“I don’t know,” Din sighed.  He was antsy.  Too much energy to burn off and not enough places to direct it.  And impossible to direct it in the direction he wanted to.  Nine more days until he could.  Nine.  Not that he was counting.  “Maybe.”

“What do you mean maybe?”  Cara crossed her arms as Din dropped to the floor for push ups, mostly to avoid the curious glare.  

He wasn’t even sure why he was reluctant to tell her the story.  She just wanted what was best for him, and he knew she was invested because she’s the one who put him on the app in the first place.  But sharing it too much felt like tempting fate.  They still hadn’t actually gone on a date, just planned one.  And made out a little bit in a bar.  And on his porch.  And who knows how many hours of casually getting coffee and chatting after class, but that didn’t count.  Did it count?  “I never actually met him,” he admitted.  

“Did he ditch you?  Is he local?  I’ll kick his ass.”

Din chuckled.  It wasn’t even a threat, but a promise.  He appreciated the sentiment.  Alright, she deserved the story.  It was, after all, her badgering that put the idea in his head from the start.  How could she know that the app would prove fruitless and he’d meet someone in person?  Might as well make her work for it - she was going to have a field day with this by the end of it.  “No, I ditched him.  Are you tired?  Work your arms too hard on that last set?  Usually by this point we’ve moved to competing one armed push ups.  Need a break?”

Cara laughed at that.  “Never.  I need answers.  Why did you ditch him?  Show me his profile, I want to see what he did to fuck up so badly that you peaced out.”

“Can’t,” Din said.  He stood up and lifted his arms up over his head to stretch.  “I deleted the app.”

“After one date that you didn’t go on?”

Din shook his head, but smiled.  “I met up with someone else instead.  So you were right I needed to get out there, I just… I told you about this literature class I was taking.  Ah, the professor and I hit it off.”

“What!” Cara laughed.  “Are you serious?  Good for you!  Hot for teacher is a classic for a reason.  Is he hot?”

Din opened his phone and pulled up the camera roll.  Sure he’d deleted the app, but he’d saved the pictures on Cobb’s profile.  For reasons.  “His niece is in my class and we hit it off, and he was on the app, and it just… he’s good with Grogu, too,” he added.  “Grogu loves him.  But we have to wait until the end of the semester because I’m still technically his student and that’s technically against university policy.”

“Fuck, look at him,” Cara mumbled, scrolling through the pics.  “I can see why you wanted to bone the sexy professor.  So how long until the semester is over?”

“A week and half,” Din grumbled.  “We had our last class this morning, and then we'll take the exam next Monday.  Grades are due in for him on Friday and then he sure as fuck better show up at my house right after because I’m done waiting.”

“You get one little crush and all of a sudden you’re acting like a fourteen year old who just discovered his dick.  What’s his name?”

“Cobb.  And I’m not pathetic.”

“I never said you were pathetic,” Cara pointed out, as she continued to absently scroll.  “Honestly, I’m happy to see you this excited.  I was afraid she’d broken something in you.”

“Yeah, well.  If I never see her again, we’ll all be better for it.  Grogu especially.”  He took a deep breath, pushing down the flare of anxiety at the mention of Grogu’s mother.  She had broken something in him.  How they left things, and then how she left Grogu, had done a number on him.  She’d be thrilled if she ever found out how much destruction she’d left in her wake, but Cobb didn’t care about any of that.  Cobb didn’t see him as something broken to be fixed.  Cobb wanted him just as he was now, and every piece of baggage that came with him.  “Cobb is the complete opposite,” he continued, making his way to a pull up bar and stretching once again.  “And yeah, now that I know it’s mutual?  No, I don’t want to fucking wait any more.  I’d like him to discover my dick instead of me,” he mumbled to himself.

“Does waiting mean you can’t sexy text or something in the meantime?” she asked.

“You had to make my dating profile, you think I can come up with sexy texts that won’t make him laugh and rethink this whole thing?  And no,” he cut her off before she could offer.  “You aren’t typing for me.”

Cara shrugged, his phone still in her hand.  “Sure, okay.  Stay frustrated, teenager hiding a boner.  Hey, you were having issues with your form last week.  Take off your shirt so I can see what your shoulder is doing.”

Din nodded, surprised she’d let it drop so easily.  She’d pushed and pushed on the dating app.  But she did, at the heart of it, want what was best for him.  And, if he was honest, he appreciated the push.  He pulled off his shirt and jumped up to grab the bar, dangling into a full extension for a moment to get his bearings.  “I’m not sure why I had an issue last week,” he said, pulling himself up and slowly lowering himself.  The burn felt good.  He felt in control.  “Rotator cuff was doing something weird, but it feels better this week.  How does it look?”

If he’d been paying closer attention, he’d have noticed the record feature bing on his phone.  If he’d been paying closer attention, he would’ve noticed Cara hadn’t moved from standing right in front of him to keep him in frame.  If he’d been paying closer attention, he would’ve realized exactly what she was doing.

However…

“Looks better this week,” she said.  “Really go down slow, I want to see full extension and I want to see control.  Pull your chest to the bar.  I want to see you work for it.”

Din grunted, following her instructions and relishing the burn and the tension.  It’s exactly what he needed to move the anxiety up and out.  “Better?”

“Yep, keep going, I want you to go through it to failure,” she said.  “I mean, c’mon, look at those biceps.  Solid chest.  And that’s some strong core work.  Bet you don’t see that in the class, do you professor?”

“What?”

“Keep going.  I’m just gonna circle round here, check out your back.  Again, gotta make sure your form looks better this week.”

“It feels better this week,” Din said.  “How does it look back there?”

“Looking good.  Very good.  Go, Daddy.”

“Alright.”  Din dropped from the bar and turned to find Cara texting.  On his phone.  “What are you doing?”

“Cobb… Vanth, right?”

“Yes.  Why?”

“Just sending him a little something.”

Din caught his phone as she tossed it back to him and scrambled to check what she’d done.  “You were recording that?  Why?”

“You said I couldn’t sexy text him, but you didn’t say anything about sending a sexy video.”

“That’s not a sexy video,” Din protested.  “That’s just a forty-one year old man who should put his shirt back on.  He’s been dating twenty-somethings, and I’m not… twenty-something,” he decided.  He was in shape, but he was in shape for a guy his age, not one of the twenty-somethings Cobb had filling out his matches.  Surely that wouldn’t matter to Cobb - would it? 

“I mean, he knows what you look like,” Cara pointed out.  “If he saw you on the app, he saw the beach picture.”

“The one where I’m sitting at a weird angle and you cropped out my son?”

“This is just showing everything in action.  Trust me,” she assured him.  “You gotta give him something to think about before your date.  Wet his whistle.  Get him as wound up as you are,” she added with a laugh, as Din attempted to protest that he was not wound up but was cut off.  “His reaction is not going to be ‘damn, I’m disappointed, he should put his shirt back on’.  Trust me.”

“Do you mind if I stay here tonight?”

Cobb looked over his shoulder at Rey absently highlighting one of her textbooks at the kitchen table.  She’d come home for Wednesday night dinner without the usual crew and dropped four classes worth of textbooks on the table before she even said hello.  He hadn’t had the heart to move her from what he recognized as her exam panic nest and instead just set the table around her.  Dinner wouldn’t be ready for another twenty minutes - he’d deal with it then.  “Of course, sunflower, you know you’re always welcome to stay.  Your room is your room, always will be.  There are clean sheets on your bed and everything.  Are you looking for some quiet?”

“Poe has an annoying habit of working out equations by reciting them to BB, and BB has learned to bark when he asks ‘does that make sense?’ cause it gets him a treat,” Rey groaned.  “Which is fine until he starts questioning himself and asking it out loud every five minutes!  I can’t take it!  And THEN,” she added, highlighting even more vigorously now, “Finn is pacing through the apartment because moving helps him remember things, which yes, I totally understand that, but between the two of them I was going to strangle someone just to get a little peace and quiet so I could try and make sense of this chemistry class I was forced to take as a non-major because it’s good for my well rounded whatever, and so I figured… you would take pity on me, and maybe also buy the popsicles I like if I looked super pathetic when I showed up.”  She looked up from the book and tried to smile.  “Do I look pathetic enough?”

Cobb reduced the flame under the pan to low and crossed to the table to plant a kiss on the top of her head.  “Sunflower, you don’t ever need an excuse to come here.  And I think there’s still half a box of those popsicles in the back of the freezer from when you freaked out over midterms.”

The phone in the middle of the table started buzzing with a text and Rey just about threw a book at it.  “I swear it’s just noise noise -” she complained, reaching for it before realizing it wasn’t her phone - but her uncle’s.  “Oh, wait, this is yours.  Din’s texting you.”

“Oh really?” Cobb said, trying to play it cool and not yanking the phone right out of her hand to see what he said.  They were trying to give each other space, after almost climbing up on each other after class Monday last week.  A few texts here and there, a picture of Grogu in his new snowman pajamas that Din ‘insisted Grogu wanted to share with Bob’.  It was the best incentive to throw himself into the chaos and the oppressive work load of the end of the semester, because if he stopped to think too hard he’d miss them both terribly and do something stupid.  Like show up at Din’s again before grades were in, which was exactly what they were trying to avoid in the first place.   Ben had taken care of Toro, but even with the accusations disproven and Toro ‘invited to explore different higher education opportunities’, he knew he was being watched for the time being, at least by the other members of the disciplinary committee.  

Just another week and a half to keep it all above board.  A week and a half.  Not even that - nine days.  This was something he had complete control over, he reminded himself as he opened his phone to pull up the message.  He was a grown man and not some yearning teenager, who couldn’t keep his dick in his…

“Well, shit.”

“What is it?” Rey asked.  “Is something wrong?”

It was a video, which he hadn’t clicked on but the preview frame was a shirtless Din hanging from a bar in what he assumed was his gym.  And a text below it: Thought you might want to see what’s underneath his terrible hoodie collection.  Treat him well or I’ll kick your ass.  Cara.

Followed immediately by: Deputy Sheriff Dune if you fuck up.

Cobb’s mouth went dry and he didn’t move fast enough to pocket his phone before Rey was poking over his arm to take a look.  “Is that… wait, is he sending you gym selfies?  You have to play it!”

“Rey, I don’t -” 

She clicked play before he could stop her.  

Which was fine, it was fine, because his friend Cara surely wouldn’t send him something that it looks like she recorded in public that wasn’t acceptable for someone else to see.  Din - sweet, quiet, slightly awkward Din -  also wasn’t the type to send a dirty video… was he?  

And it wasn’t dirty, but Din definitely didn’t know he was being recorded.  Especially with Cara’s side comment of, ‘bet you don’t see that in class, professor’.  Fuck, she was recording it especially for him.

“Oh my god, since when does Din look like that?” Rey said. “I just assumed he looked, you know… like a dad under all those layers.”

“Watch the pan and make sure nothing burns,” Cobb said quickly, closing the video before Rey could protest and retreating down the hall into his office.  

He didn’t breathe again until the click of the door assured him he was by himself.  It was just a video of his workout, but Cobb has found himself coiled tighter and tighter with each passing day that he was left to his imagination of kissing Din, finally getting his hands on a little bit of him in his office, and the promise of what he would feel like once there was nothing standing between them.  He’d allowed himself his fantasies in between meetings, and grading, and panicked students insisting that it wasn’t fair to grade them according to the rubric set out in the syllabus at the beginning of the semester.  

Now he didn’t have to imagine anymore, at least for half of him.  He opened the video again to play from the beginning, and blessed Cara for zooming in enough to give him what he wanted.  

Din looked good.  Din looked strong.  Din looked solid, and firm, and like if he wanted to he could throw Cobb right up over his shoulder without complaint.  Which sent a jolt through Cobb he wasn’t expecting.  He’d gone out with gym bros before, never lasting long - and ha those boys never ‘lasting long’ themselves - but those were always display muscles.  Those boys were good for posing in front of a mirror, or the pool, or the bed.  Din looked…

The video moved to show his back and his ass bobbing up and down in those little shorts with each pull, and Cobb resolved to send Cara flowers.  Or a cake.  Or something because this was exactly what he did and absolutely did not need during this exile.  Nine days.  

He licked his lips and pressed play again, only to have it interrupted by another text from Din.

Hey I’m sorry about Cara - she has no boundaries.  I hope this wasn’t awkward.

Cobb laughed.  Genuinely laughed that Din could think this little glimpse of him looking so deliciously sweaty while fucking shirtless would do anything other than drive him nuts.  How was he supposed to focus on grading when he’d rather be watching this on repeat?  This is my new favorite video!  Damn I knew you were handsome but now I want an excuse to get you to help me move furniture.  

:blush:

How do you expect me to focus on grading after this??  Now that I want to lick from your nipples down to your navel

…wow

Too much?

No!  No.
It’s just… if I’d known I would’ve sent something myself.  Earlier.  
I told you I’m not good at texting
Next Friday you can lick all you want

Is that a promise?

Absolutely
Nine days…

Nine days, Cobb sent with a sigh.  Nine days.  Not that he was counting.

OMG DIN SINCE WHEN DO YOU LOOK LIKE THAT??

…like what?

I saw the video you sent to uncle cobb and like way to go and also good job I never would’ve expected that!

I don’t know how to respond to that - thank you?

He ran into his office so I’m hoping he was talking to you and not doing anything that would scar me, a pure innocent child, who on one hand is like ew that’s my uncle but also yessss go get it my friend Din.  
ANYWAY I thought you deserved to see this.  
Attached: video | Faculty charity mixed doubles championships
It’s not shirtless, but I hope he’s athletic enough for you.

…yeah, that’ll work. 

So, Din, guess what came into the office today?
Attached: photo | a dozen donuts in a bright pink box
Had a note that said ‘Deputy Sheriff Dune - Thank you for your service to the community.  Dr. Cobb Vanth’

Oh god

I like him

Me too

The final exam was administered by Cobb’s grad student Jo, and it was all Din could do to pay attention long enough to write a decent enough essay to pass.  Not that he needed the grade - his classes for next semester were already registered and paid for, and this class didn’t matter one bit in his degree.  But after an entire semester spent reading and pining for his professor, he should at least get a decent grade to show for it.

Which would be the third best thing to come out of taking this class as a last resort.  

In second place was Rey and the boys.  She was a great kid, all three of them were, he’d always be thankful for the easy way they let him into their group and the enthusiastic way they care about Grogu.  

In first place, without a question, was Cobb.  What would’ve happened if he’d been offered another class?  Would he have ever crossed paths with Cobb here on campus?  Would they have matched on the app?  Only if Cobb took the first step, because Din was sure he would’ve taken every opportunity to talk himself out of messaging the handsome, put together, obviously out of his league top match on his list.  And if Cobb had messaged him in that forward, confident, slightly pushy style he’d seen in other messages without the context of how warm and friendly he was in person?  Would he have responded to Cobb’s messages?  Would it have been too much?

What-ifs could overwhelm a person if they lingered too long with them, and Din knew better than to give them a rest stop in his mind.  It played out the way it did - with Din meeting the warm and caring Cobb first, and Cobb chipping away at Din’s walls in person.  Any other way and he wouldn’t be here, counting down the days until they can test out all of this potential for real.

He was never so thankful for a confusing online portal, and a stubborn registrar, as he was right now.

Exam finished - everything’s in your hands now, he texted Cobb as he exited the building.  Stopping by Cobb’s office would be too much this close to the end.  Best to avoid the temptation.  

Then all that’s left is holding on until Friday.  
I have big plans for us.
Wine and dine and…
Wear something pretty for me?

I’ll put on a tie and everything, Din sent with a chuckle.  He’d already gotten his suit back from the cleaners, ironed his shirt, and shined his shoes.  He didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

Fuck I can’t wait to see you.  Four more days.

Four more days.

Nothing was going to get in the way of this date.

Nothing, except Grogu picking up whatever crud was going around his daycare.  

Thursday evening when he picked his son up, there was coughing and sniffles among the kids that were still there, but Grogu seemed fine.  A little tired, but he wore himself out with his little friends.  Bedtime was a struggle, but that wasn’t too out of the ordinary.  It was like the kid couldn’t get comfortable, and Din spent the entire night rocking him and hoping it was just growing pains, or the room was too hot or cold, or he was tired of being in his crib, or anything other than getting sick.

Friday morning, Din woke up after too little sleep to coughing and crying over the monitor and he knew his luck had run out.  

The fever was mild, not even enough to make his normally hair-trigger anxiety flare, but he didn’t want to risk it.  A call to daycare to tell him Grogu was staying home, and a call to Peli to tell her that he was staying home too.  It was the third call he put off making as long as possible.  

Cobb’s grades were due by five, and there was still a chance that Grogu would miraculously feel better by the evening - at least enough that he’d feel comfortable leaving him alone for a few hours.  Sure he was still coughing and sniffling, but at the mention of staying home with Papa and the promise of pancakes, the kid was moving almost as fast as usual through the house.  And each time Din almost convinced himself that Grogu would be well enough to leave for the evening, the kid would run till he coughed, sit down and wipe his nose with his frog, and try to take off his shirt cause he was too hot now.  

By one, Din couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer.  

Hey I hate to do this but Grogu woke up sick this morning and I have to cancel.  I’m sorry.

The wording felt familiar enough that he almost laughed.  Was this the universe paying him back for lying to get out of his date with the guy from the app?  Perhaps.  And honestly, he wouldn’t blame Cobb if he was angry about it just like that guy was.  Having your schedule dependent on the whims of a toddler was frustrating.  Cobb insisted he was okay with Din and Grogu being a package deal, but now that it was ruining long standing and highly anticipated plans?  And Cobb had made reservations, pretty sure prepaid reservations, because he’d insisted on them going somewhere nice for their first official time out.  Cobb had done his time, raised his child, and he deserved to enjoy being more carefree with his life.

Not stuck fitting into Din’s ever fluctuating schedule.

It was an hour later before Din heard the text vibration and he was loath to check it.  Cobb had every right to be disappointed, and Din had just about convinced himself that this would be a perfect excuse for Cobb to say this was for the best and go their separate ways.

Oh no!  Is he okay?  Is it serious?  How’s he feeling?
I’m sorry I was grading and turned my phone off
How’s he doing?

The relief at Cobb’s concern knocked him back down onto the couch, and the knot in his chest loosened.  Cobb cared about both of them, Din knew that.  He knew that.  Stop questioning it and stop looking for a chance to be disappointed.  

He woke up with a crud he caught from daycare.  He’s eating and drinking but I know he feels bad  
I don’t feel comfortable leaving him alone tonight
I’m sorry I was really looking forward to tonight

These things happen - I’m just glad he’s okay.  Had me worried there for a minute!
Do you need anything?  I can run by the store as soon as I get my paperwork finished.  Can I bring you boys dinner?

Din looked over at Grogu, who was playing at his toddler workbench and banging away with a wrench.  I don’t want to tie up your evening with a sick toddler.

You act like I wasn’t already planning on coming by.  Don’t say no just because you’re afraid it’s a bother.
Chicken nuggets?

Was he really that easy to read?  “Hey kid, what do you think about Cobb coming over for dinner tonight?  It can be you, Papa, and Cobb.”

“Bob!” Grogu called out, leaning over to bang the floor with his plastic wrench.  “Okay.  I fix it.”

Grogu says yes
Thank you
I’m sorry it’s not the date we wanted

Truthfully all I really care about is seeing you :heart:
This week has been fucking rough and I keep hoping each knock on my office door is you
I’ll wear something pretty when I come with chicken nuggets

It wasn’t the date they’d planned for, but it was the one that felt right.  Din’s life was complicated and what he needed was someone who could fit into all of it.  Who wanted to fit into all of it.  

If he wasn’t halfway in love with Cobb already…

Cobb Vanth wasn’t one to be thrown off his game by something as small as a change in plans.  Had he been looking forward to this restaurant for weeks?  Yes.  Had he been looking forward to seeing Din in a suit he could then peel off of him as they made out in his car like a couple of teenagers?  Also yes.  Was the thought of licking that man from navel to nipple what kept him going through an absolutely soul crushingly busy end of the semester?  Fucking accurate.

But, as with anything where kids are involved, there was at least a fifty percent chance of plans going to shit.

If he didn’t know any better, he’d think Din assumed he’d get mad at the inconvenience.  The texts had been too apologetic.  Maybe he was reading too much into it - Cobb was exhausted by the end of the semester himself and maybe he was reading a tone that wasn’t there.  But how could he get mad at a kid who got sick?  Or at dad who just wanted to take care of the little guy?  Din had his head on straight and knew with confidence what his priorities were, and fuck, Cobb admired that.  Din took his responsibilities seriously, and Cobb would never fault him for it.  

As much as he had been looking forward to the specifics of their date, at the heart of it he wanted to see Din.  While part of it was that he’d gotten a small taste and feel and desperately wanted to explore that more, a larger part was… he just missed spending time with him.  Cobb hadn’t realized just how much he’d come to look forward to grabbing coffee after class, or Din listening patiently as he complained about faculty meetings or edits for a book Din had no interest in.  Something would come up, Cobb would immediately want to talk to Din about it, and then he’d remember that he couldn’t right now.  Just to keep up appearances and avoid giving anyone keeping tabs anything that could be used to call him unprofessional.  Was he being too careful? Perhaps.  Din and Toro were two vastly different situations.  But a few weeks of being too careful were worth it now that the semester was over, and they were free to see what this could be.

And what this could be…

Well, there was no hell nor high water that could keep him from finding out.

Din sighed in relief as he opened the door to Cobb standing on his porch, wrapped up to the chin in a beautiful black wool coat and arms full of various plastic bags.  “His shirt is the wrong color blue,” he explained blankly as Grogu continued to scream and express his displeasure at everything .

“A mighty struggle,” Cobb agreed, as he dropped his collection of bags by the front door.  

“You weren’t kidding about wearing something pretty to come see us,” Din murmured.  Cobb was unwrapping his scarf and Din couldn’t resist reaching out to rub his hands up and down Cobb’s arms.  “I’m afraid you’re overdressed for whatever’s left of our date tonight.  But you do look… incredibly handsome.”

He was expecting a flirty quip, or agreement that he looked good.  He wasn’t expecting Cobb to step back and pull off his coat - revealing sweatpants and an obviously ancient college t-shirt.  “I figured I should get comfortable,” he explained, hanging up the coat and giving Din a flirty little twirl.  “Told you - I’d wear something pretty.  Tell me I’m pretty.”

“The prettiest thing I’ve seen all day,” Din assured him, meaning every word.  No complaints about the change of plans, no insistence that they could still do something fancy, and obviously no intention of dropping off food and making a run for something more interesting.  

Cobb had chosen Din, and Grogu too.  How had he gotten so lucky? 

He leaned over to kiss Cobb, but the long anticipated proper hello was cut short by Grogu finally realizing who was at the door and shifting his screaming to pleasure at the new visitor.

“Boooooob!” he yelled, running through the main room and stopping just before he barreled into Cobb.  Grogu raised his arms in an unspoken demand to be lifted up.  “Bob!” he insisted.  “Hi Bob!  I sick!”

“Oh no,” Cobb mouthed against Din’s lips, breaking reluctantly to hoist the kid up into his arms.  “Papa told me that you were sick. Said we should spend an evening here making sure you’re taken care of.  Are you feeling any better?”  Grogu answered the question by draping himself over Cobb’s shoulder and wiping his runny nose against his shirt.  

“No no no, he’s not a tissue, kid,” Din tried, but Cobb took it in stride.  

“Oh, you think you’re the first person to blow your nose against me?” he chuckled.  “Not at all.  I’ve taken care of a toddler and I teach college and I’ve dated idiots right out of the frat house,” he explained, giving Grogu a little squeeze which got a giggle from the boy and a big smile from Din.  “I have lived in a world of gross fluids, yes I have.  And Papa has a washing machine if things get really bad, doesn’t he?”

“He does,” Din agreed.  Grogu’s little curls were falling in his face as he draped himself across Cobb.  They’d need to get those cut soon.  “And he has extra shirts for Bob to wear if we need to wash them.  Bob won’t have to go naked.”

Din caught Cobb’s little wink in response to that.

“I should put dinner in the fridge,” Din said.  “Unless you want to let Bob go and come to me.”

“I think he’s pretty well octopused himself right to me,” Cobb chuckled.  “Dinner’s in the white bags.  I tried to see if the place we had reservations tonight would let me pick up our meal instead, and they were not amenable to that idea.  So I got Thai for us, and some nuggets for this little nugget.  Oh, and the blue bag has some other necessities I thought you might need.”  He grabbed the blue bag to carry it to the table as Din put away the food.  “Baby vaporub, some menthol bubble bath, pedialyte… I didn’t know if he was keeping liquids down or not, and I figured better safe than sorry.”

“Yeah, he’s doing okay,” Din said, fighting back a yawn now that he was standing still and without an armful of baby for the first time in almost twenty-four hours.  “It’s the cough and the sniffles.  Fever’s down to the point where I think he’s just warm and red from crying so much.”

Cobb reached over to brush Din’s curls from his forehead.  “When’s the last time you slept?” he asked gently.

That was a good question.  Din was so tired, it took him a moment to do the math.  “Two days ago?  Three?” Last night had been the worst, but he’d barely slept most of the week.  It wasn’t terribly out of the ordinary, and he’d fully intended to try and take a nap when Grogu snoozed for a few minutes this afternoon, but… he’d been texting with Cobb.  Wasn’t going to admit that right now, though.  “I’m okay,” he insisted.  “I’m okay, really.  We’ve got a whole evening to enjoy.”  Cobb didn’t look convinced.  “I’m okay.  Let me get Grogu’s dinner ready and we can eat after he goes to bed.”

“Maybe we should eat now,” Cobb suggested.  “With the little guy.  I’m starved and…”

“And what?”

“Not sure I trust you not to fall asleep as soon as he does.”

Din wasn’t sure if Cobb was teasing or serious, but eating first probably wasn’t a terrible plan.  Again, not something he was going to admit right now.  “I’m not going to fall asleep,” he insisted.  

Din groaned.  His neck was in a weird position - why was his neck in a weird position?  He opened his eyes and groaned again, stretching his back as he sat up from where he’d… fallen asleep at the kitchen table.

Dammit.

They’d sat down to eat, and Cobb insisted on being the one to help Grogu so Din could relax and not worry about anything while he ate.  He remembered propping his head up in his hand to watch Cobb help Grogu with his nuggets, and in between dinosaur roars and answering toddler questions, to eat his own dinner.  Every so often, Cobb would turn and catch Din’s glance, meeting his smile with one of his own, but never trying to pull Din into the conversation.  It was the first time Din had in days to just… sit.  Which apparently meant he, in direct opposition to his insistence earlier, absolutely fell asleep at the table.  

Cobb could’ve woken him.  It was embarrassing, falling asleep like that.  This was supposed to be their first date.  Their first real date, and Cobb had already been forced to change plans and come hang out with a sick toddler and his exhausted father.  Now he was… wait, where were they?

The kitchen was cleaned, and the high chair wiped down - again, more things that Cobb really shouldn’t have felt he had to do - and there were sounds of giggles and water splashing from the bathroom.  He felt guilty about that.  Cobb came over out of the goodness of his heart, not to be the kid’s babysitter.  This was more than he should be doing on a first date, even one where the highlight was going to be the kid finally going to bed so they could, what, make out on the couch like teenagers?

Actually, that sounded great right now.  The couch would be so soft, so comfortable…

Din pulled himself up from the table to take Grogu off of Cobb’s hands, but once he poked his head in, all his worries evaporated.  The bathroom smelled like menthol, so he must’ve opened up the bubble bath he brought, and Grogu was only coughing a little bit in between introducing Cobb to all of his favorite ducks.  

The little scene of domesticity was almost too much for Din.  He leaned against the door jamb and just watched - Cobb taking to caring for his son like one of the kid’s ducks to water, and Grogu happily quacking along.  It was exactly what he wanted, and nothing like what he’d thought he’d be able to find when he decided he didn’t want to be alone any longer.  It was his one rule: they had to want Grogu in their life as much as they wanted Din.  And Cobb?  Cobb perfectly fit with them both.  There was no learning curve, there were no sharp edges, or corners that needed to be sanded down to help him settle in.  No, from the first time Cobb showed up with a cookie and book to suggest, he fit in.  Din’s heart felt whole for the first time in years.  

Halfway in love with him was an understatement.  If Din has his way, he’d never let Cobb go.  For all of their sakes.

“Hey, look who woke up,” Cobb chuckled, finally catching a glimpse of Din standing in the doorway.  “We were just finishing up in here because I’m guessing it’s very close to b-e-d time for this little guy.”

“Papa look!” Grogu said.  “Bob made bubbles!  Bubbles!  Quack!”

“I see, we’ll have to thank Bob for being so helpful while Papa took an unexpected nap.  And cleaned the kitchen,” he added.  “Sorry, I don’t know what happened.”

“You’ve had a long day and a long week, from the sounds of it,” Cobb insisted.  “We were fine.  Not my first rodeo.  And this little guy was just the best little helper.  He could put my grad students to shame,” he chuckled.  He looked up at Din and smiled, and Din… well, Din wanted to hold on to this moment as long as he could.  “I can finish up in here if there’s other things you need to do to get him ready for ‘you know what’ time.  Figured we’d put on jammies and read a story, does that sound like a plan?”

“Yeah,” Grogu said, yawning himself and reaching up to rub his eyes before grumbling at the soap now on his face.

“Sounds perfect,” Din murmured.  

Three stories, two sets of pajamas (because the first pair wasn’t the right pair, Papa), one swipe of the vaporub, and ten minutes of rocking later, Grogu was down and Din emerged from the back bedroom to find Cobb stretched out on the couch and engrossed in a book.  “He’s down.  Finally,” Din sighed.  Cobb swung his legs off the couch and patted for Din to sit next to him.  Din bonelessly dropped down, the exhaustion hitting him as he started to sink into that comfortable, comfortable sofa.  The nap at the dinner table should’ve at least helped, but Din felt himself fading fast.  “Sorry, this isn’t the date you were expecting,” he chuckled.

Cobb set his book down and cradled Din’s chin in his hands.  For the first time this evening, they were alone, and he took full advantage of the quiet to press his lips to Din’s, kissing him slowly.  There was no rush, nowhere to go, and Din wanted nothing more than to just melt against him.  He wanted to taste this man fully, every inch, and memorize each and every sound he’d make as Din explored.  He wanted Cobb.  He wanted Cobb more than anything else he’d wanted in years.  

“Cobb,” Din murmured, as Cobb’s hands slid under his shirt to press directly into his skin.  “Hang on.”

He just wanted to be awake enough to enjoy it.

Din watched Cobb lick his lips as he caught his breath.  Fuck, how did he get so lucky?  “Has anyone ever told you how fucking attractive you are?” he breathed, trying to catch his own breath.

“Once or twice,” Cobb admitted.  “Sounds more honest coming from you.  What can I do for you?” he asked.  

“Believe me when I say that I’m not turning you down, but…”

“You’re exhausted,” Cobb said gently.  “It’s been a long day.  We could always just find a movie.  Curl up and let you relax.”

Din chuckled.  “I’m going to fall asleep as soon as I’m horizontal, and it’s going to be embarrassing.  Cobb, I know this wasn’t the evening we planned.”

“Hush,” Cobb murmured, pressing a lighter, less insistent kiss against his lips.  “I was just happy to spend time with you.  Nothing stopping us from a second first date, as soon as you want.”  He reached up to thread his fingers in Din’s hair, and Din couldn’t help but lean into his touch.  “I can get going.  Let you sleep.  I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”

“Or,” Din said quickly, reaching up to cover Cobb’s hand with his.  “We can turn on that movie, and you can tell me everything I slept through… over breakfast tomorrow?”

Cobb's smile was like sunshine.  “I’d love that.  I haven’t overstayed my welcome then?” he chuckled.  “Not ready to kick me out?”

Never, Din wanted to say.

But he could tell him that tomorrow.  Over breakfast.

Chapter Text

Din woke up with a start, reaching across the bed and finding it empty.  The monitor was quiet, so Grogu was still asleep, and the bathroom light was on. 

Cobb.  

He hadn’t been kidding when he said he’d fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.  He remembered Cobb scrolling through a few screens looking for something to watch, he remembered taking off his glasses and lying down, and he remembered hearing something like, “oh have you seen this one?”  Din thought he was opening his eyes to look at what Cobb had found, but apparently not.  He was out immediately, rousing only slightly when Cobb pulled the blanket up and maybe he remembered the lights turning off.

Not the end of the evening he’d hoped for, but not unexpected after dealing with a sick baby.  

And the mention of Grogu being sick, coupled with the silence from the monitor, inflamed a small, entirely expected, bit of anxiety in the middle of his chest.  What if Grogu was quiet because something was wrong?  He hadn’t taken his temperature before putting him down, just went by feel.  He didn’t feel too warm, but was Din distracted by having Cobb there?  Had he not caught something he should’ve?  

The anxiety pushed him out of bed and he padded as softly as he could to Grogu’s room, opening the door slowly, and listening to the tell tale soft breathy inhales and exhales.  His son was okay.  He was okay.  He hadn’t missed anything, he hadn’t been distracted, he hadn’t let something slip by him.  

He was okay.

But now Din was up, and the nerves flooded his system to the point where he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep for a while.  Out of habit, he walked down the hall to the kitchen, turning on the monitor on the counter, and started to pace around the table.  Years in the army had given him many scars, and these flares of anxiety in the middle of the night were some of the deepest.  He’d gotten better through the years, but worry for his son brought it out more often than not.  Last thing he needed to do was keep Cobb up, and walking seemed to be the easiest way to alleviate his nerves.  He’d pace around the table, silently as he could, and hopefully neither Grogu nor Cobb would be the wiser.  He didn’t want his son to worry, he didn’t want Cobb to worry, no one needed to worry except for him, and if he’d just keep it under control, he’d be the only one who knew.

The whimpering started softly, but quickly built to a cough, and another whimper, and Din just stared at the monitor, willing Grogu to go back to sleep.  He shouldn’t have opened the door.  He shouldn’t have stuck his head in.  And when the whimpers turned to a full sob, the ball of anxiety hardened and almost pushed Din to the edge himself.  He was so tired, doing this alone was so hard, and if he’d just kept his head out of Grogu’s room…

He’d count to ten.  Sometimes if he just gave him a moment, the kid fell back asleep on his own.  If Grogu was still crying when he hit ten, he’d go in there.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

There was another sound over the monitor - a door opening and a shuffling sound as Grogu’s sobs turned to a couple little coughs.  “Hey little guy, shhhh,” came Cobb’s voice.  “You’re okay, I’ve got you.  Let’s not wake up Papa, hmm?  Okay?  Papa really needs his sleep, and I think you do too.  Are you okay?”

Din felt his heart leap into his throat, and the tight ball of anxiety that had settled into his chest finally started to release.  The anxiety was a liar, because he wasn’t alone.  He didn’t have to do this alone.  Cobb wanted in, and Din was going to let him.  Let him into his home, let him into his heart, let him into his family.  Cobb was in there right now, comforting his son like it was the most natural thing in the world, and this… this was exactly what Din wanted.

This was everything he wanted.  And he had it.

Cobb emerged with a half asleep toddler on his shoulder and frowned when he saw Din standing there leaning against the table.  “Hey darlin’,” he murmured.  “Did we wake you?”

Din shook his head, not trusting his voice not to wobble as he looked at Cobb holding his son like he was the most precious thing in the world.  “I was already up.”

“He was coughing so I figured another swipe of the vaporub couldn’t hurt,” Cobb explained.  “Did we leave it in here?”

“Yeah, it’s… here, it’s on the counter,” he said, grabbing the jar and reaching for Grogu.  “I’ll take care of it and put him back down.”  With the baby now in his arms, he pressed a desperate kiss to Cobb’s lips and pressed their foreheads together, just taking in the moment.  

He wasn’t alone. 

He had a feeling he’d never be alone again.

“See you back in bed?” 

Cobb nodded.  “Yeah, I’ll be right there,” he promised, pulling out his phone from his pocket.  “I just have an email I need to deal with before I lose my train of thought.  I’ll be there in a minute, darlin’.”

Darlin’ sounded too sweet to argue with, so neither of them did.

As Din took Grogu back to bed, Cobb opened up his phone to illuminate the dating app and the screen he’d been in the middle of when the kid started crying.

Are you sure you want to delete your account?  This will permanently delete your data.

Cobb hit yes and closed out the window, deleting the app from his screen before hurrying back to bed, and to Din.