Chapter Text
The Frog Pin
Something about taking the New York train gave him a slight feeling of pride. Din Djarin had been living in the loud, smelly, absolutely chaotic city for five months and he had managed to solve the impossible puzzle of public transport. Anyone would be proud of that achievement. The novelty, however, tended to fade pretty quickly once he was on the train with a kid on one hand. Then it’s less about solving puzzles and more about hiding his disgust to keep Grogu calm.
He carefully maneuvered the kid away from this week's mystery stain to the cleanest-looking seats in the train. The move to the new city and the horror stories of the commute had made him slightly paranoid at first. But the exhaustion of the extra shifts and monotony of public transport had soothed those worries. Now he let Grogu drop down to an empty seat and staked one for himself before reaching for a picture book to keep the kid distracted. But it seemed that it would take more than vibrant pictures to keep Grogu busy for the commute. The kid ignored the book as he slumped against his seat with a deep pout.
Din blamed his lousy apartment and New York’s chilly winter mornings for this behavior. Neither of them had to deal with the biting cold in California. He himself wanted to brood about the water failing to heat for his morning shower. But he had to set an example and seeing Grogu unhappy was always a stab in his heart.
“Come on, kid,” Din gently placed the book on Grogu’s lap. “Hot chocolate later?”
The promise of the drink seemed to mean little to Grogu as he tucked his little arms in closer to his body. Perhaps it would have meant something if they weren’t stuck in a smelly train. The J Line was notorious for its delays and sudden blackouts in carts. Din had learned it the hard way to leave his house with extra time to spare to compensate for his delays.
He let out a soft sigh before gently patting Grogu on the back to show he understood. Maybe the kid just needed to sulk before moving on; no one could be bright-eyed and cheerful all the time. But Din will get Grogu that hot chocolate when they are off this blasted train. He couldn’t let Grogu have an entirely lousy day.
Din leaned against his seat, stretching out his legs as much as he dared before getting ready for what is hopefully a quiet trip to school. But his hopes were dashed when a shadow blocked the fluorescent lights overhead.
Great. The literal last thing he needed was some subway freak bothering him and his kid.
Din shifted his body closer to Grogu before warily glancing up. His eyes caught the blond hair and sun-kissed skin first. The stranger wore a bright gold jacket with countless patches and badges of symbols with a gray beaten backpack. His left hand had grasped the train’s hand-rail overhead, setting Din on a higher guard until he realized that the stranger was trying to avoid the sudden crowd of the rush hour. There was something familiar about him that Din couldn’t place.
The stranger then turned his eyes to Grogu’s sulking form and smiled even wider. “Long day?”
Grogu kept his wide eyes fixed on the stranger before – to Din’s shock and relief – smiling. He scooched closer as if to get a better look and continued to stare as if he was the most fascinating thing that Grogu had ever seen.
“Don’t stare,” Din gently chastised the kid before pulling him back, slightly concerned that he would start pulling at the jacket. “It’s rude.”
Grogu pulled himself back but kept his eyes on the stranger as the latter laughed. “I don’t mind. Not enjoying the morning?”
“Not in the slightest,” Din answered. “The cold isn’t much of a help.”
The stranger nodded in agreement. “The fun wears off after the holidays.”
Din couldn’t agree more. Grogu had been ecstatic at the slightest flurry of snow in December. Now halfway through January, Grogu openly glared at the gray clouds as if daring it to offend him further. Din had to admire the kid’s willingness to challenge Mother Nature.
Grogu’s last shred of patience seemed to have disappeared as he started to point at the golden jacket openly. Or, more accurately, at one of the pins. It was slightly bigger than the tip of Grogu’s pinky finger with a bright, vibrant green coloring of a cartoon frog.
“You like this?” He held up the pin for a clearer view and laughed at Grogu’s eager nods before removing it. “You can have it.”
“You don’t have to,” Din protested as Grogu eagerly held his hands out.
“I insist,” the stranger smiled and dropped the pin on Grogu’s open hand. The kid eagerly clutched the gift and said a bashful thank you.
“Very good,” Din praised Grogu’s manners before he could think to protest further.
The train shuddered in its tracks as it entered the dark tunnel. The last thing Din saw before they were plunged into the darkness was the jacket and a flash of blue eyes. A handful of seconds passed before the lights flicked on, and Din was greeted by an empty space in front of him.
Knitted Beanie
He mainly had forgotten the incident when he had shuffled himself and Grogu on the J Train to return home. With the flood of customers at work, his mind wasn’t precisely granted the luxury of thinking of mysterious strangers with sky blue eyes and kind smiles. So it was a little wonder that he had nodded off the moment he had sat down on an empty seat.
He hadn’t even noticed that he had until he heard Grogu’s giggles followed by another’s. Reflex kicked in before he could comprehend what was happening. He sat up straighter, his hand darting for Grogu.
“Oh, your dad is awake,” a cheerful voice said as Din’s eyes focused on the golden jacket. Din found Grogu still sitting in his seat while the stranger sat several seats away.
“Thanks for looking after him,” Din muttered, hoping that he didn’t sound as tired as he felt. “And, uh, for the pin. He loves it.”
The stranger’s eyes sparkled as he sat up straighter. “He’s been a good company.”
Grogu seems to grow twice the height at the compliment.
“The pin suits him more,” the stranger continued. “It goes with his hat.”
Grogu continued to grow at the compliment and the added mention of his favorite hat. Din didn’t know what animal those pointy ears belonged to, but Grogu had been taken by the knitted hat when they had been thrift shopping.
“Besides, it looked like he needed it. At least until he got his hot chocolate.”
Din let himself smile. “It’s about the only thing he likes about the cold.”
“I do too,” the stranger shoved his blond bangs (who had a hair cut like that nowadays?) back to smile at Grogu. “You got it with large marshmallows, I hope?”
Grogu gave a nod and started to talk about the proper sprinkles and other confectionaries that he had with his hot chocolate. The strange listened with rapt attention, occasionally laughing and talking about his favorite way of drinking hot chocolate.
“What about you?” He unexpectedly turned to Din. “Are you more of a coffee guy?”
Grogu gives a disgusted frown at the bitter concoction. “You’ll understand when you’re older,” Din said, trying his best not to laugh at Grogu’s deepened grimace.
An announcement came over the intercom, more garbled than usual, but Din managed to make sense of the words with a glance to the board. “That’s our stop, kiddo.”
Grogu reluctantly stood from his seat, giving a wave towards the stranger. “Bye, Mister!”
“Call me, Luke,” the stranger – Luke – waved back. “Later, kid and Coffee Dad.”
Din was tempted to turn back and give his name at the ridiculous nickname from Luke. But Luke had slipped on clunky vintage headphones, and the train doors have already shuddered to a close.
Well, it’s not like they were going to find each other again.
Ruined Coat
Din was proven wrong when he had boarded onto the train the very next morning with spilled coffee and a sore bottom. Grogu, fortunately, hadn’t fallen victim to the piece of ice on the sidewalk as Din had. He had found the whole situation hilarious as he giggled while Din had cursed the icy pavement and his spilled coffee. It was far more preferable to having the kid be unhappy.
He thought that Luke wouldn’t notice them among the crowd of other grumpy passengers. But the blue eyes had caught Din’s as he gave a cheerful little wave and slipped off his headphones. The kid slipped away from Din, eager to sit beside his fascinating new friend.
“Yikes,” Luke gave a sympathetic wince to the fresh coffee stain on Din’s coat. “Long day?”
“My gloves took most of the damage,” Din motioned to his bare hands futilely wrapped around his lukewarm coffee. “But yes.”
“At least you’re having a good day,” Luke said to Grogu with a smile. The kid eagerly returned Luke’s grin and went on a long spiel about his plans for today.
Din found himself staring at Luke’s strange headphones with the attention away from him. It was 80s era style, complete with the speakers and thick wire connected to an actual cassette player. He had to admit that he respected the guy for his commitment to the hipster aesthetic. It certainly was more admirable to Din’s style of grabbing whatever is the cleanest from his laundry hamper—and dumping his coffee on it.
“And you look like you have a long day ahead, Coffee Dad,” Luke said, either ignoring Din’s stare or unaware of it from Grogu. “Sorry about your drink.”
“I’ll get another one,” Din shrugged, and before he could think better, “And it’s Din.”
Luke smiled at the introduction. “Din,” he said experimentally. “Huh, suits you.”
“Thank you. It’s better than Coffee Dad.”
“Fair enough. I was just starting to think it might be a little too on the nose now.”
“What else were you thinking of then?”
“Hmm,” Luke’s blue eyes did a careful sweep of Din.
A sudden wave of insecurity over his appearance hit Din with the motion. He had managed to shower this morning, unlike yesterday, but he hadn’t bothered to fix his hair. And he couldn’t recall the last time he shaved. Not to mention his coffee-stained coat and dirty boots.
“Frog Dad,” Luke said with finality and a nod.
“Frog?”
“From the pin I gave to your kid yesterday.”
A surprised huff of a laugh escaped Din before he could stop himself. “If I am ‘Frog Dad’ then were you calling him ‘Frog Boy?’”
“It seemed to suit him,” Luke admitted, as Grogu gleefully clapped from being associated with his favorite animal. “Not in a mean way, I wasn’t insulting you or your kid. I thought it would be adorable if you were a little family of frogs with you, your kid, and your wife–”
“No wife,” Din automatically corrected. “It’s just the kid and me.”
And his roommates, neighbors, coworkers, and passing acquaintances that all took a liking to Grogu. But they were a whole another story.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to assume –”
“It’s fine. You’re not the first to think I had one, but I adopted the kid by myself.”
“Adopted?” Luke tilted his head in a puzzled manner. “Huh.”
“Is it strange?”
Grogu’s wide, curious eyes turned to Luke. Din wanted to tell the kid that Luke’s opinion didn’t matter. They were family, even if it was outside the norms.
“Well, no. But you two looked very similar when sulking,” Luke raised a hand to point between his eyebrows. “You both get a little crease around here.”
It hardly counted as a compliment, but Din felt the little fuzzy happiness at the pointed similarity. There was the underlying relief as Grogu gave a bright grin. Luke’s opinion shouldn’t matter, but he was one of the people that Grogu had instantly liked.
“And what should I call you?” Luke asked the kid. “Unless you want me to continue with the nickname?”
Din gave a nod of permission as Grogu’s eyes turned to him. “Grogu.”
“Very nice to finally learn your name, Grogu,” Luke said solemnly and extended out his hand. “And you know my name is Luke.”
Grogu returned the nod with the same serious expression before turning to Din with an expectant look. Din bit back a sigh as he extended out his hand to Luke. “Din.”
“Luke,” he reached out and offered his hand. Luke’s hands were surprisingly calloused, with his knuckles covered in scars. A prickle of electricity shocked them both as their fingers touched.
“Oops,” Luke pulled his hand back with a laugh. “Sorry.”
Din wrapped his hand back around his paper coffee cup, still feeling the itch of the shock and confused as to what Luke is apologizing for. “Don’t worry about it.”
Dark Boots
“Watch your step,” Din gently warned Grogu as they boarded the train cart. Luck seemed to be on their side today for once as they arrived at the train stop without any delays. Rush hour, fortunately, hadn’t occurred yet as the train cart only had a handful of passengers. And by some strange coincidence and crazy miracle Luke was there.
Grogu immediately let go of Din’s hand with an excited squeal and ran towards his new friend. Luke seemed startled at Grogu’s sudden presence but quickly caught the kid with his outstretched arms.
“Hello to you too,” the young man laughed before politely nodding at Din and removing his clunky headphones. “No coffee this time?”
“No,” Din answered before claiming a seat, not even surprised by Luke’s presence. “It seems we run into each other quite often. Is this your regular commute?”
“I’ve been taking this train for a long time,” Luke said and huffed out a laugh as if he told a humorous joke.
Din couldn’t recall seeing someone like Luke on the train. But it’s a little mystery why they haven’t found each other sooner. He had lived in New York for only a handful of months and considering the size of the city, the chances of boarding the same train cart were too astronomical to count. But they had somehow met those chances and continued to do so in an unbroken streak.
The train had traveled about three stops before giving a lurch and slowing down to a hesitant halt. The lights gave a stubborn flicker before failing, plunging the train cart into the darkness. Din instantly reached forward at Grogu’s startled cry, his hand finding the kid’s coat. He heard the other passengers mutter and curse, too frustrated by the sudden development to make their way closer to them.
“I got you,” Luke said, his voice pitched low for comfort and it took a moment for Din to figure out that Luke was talking to Grogu. “Emergency lights are going to turn back right about … now. ”
True to Luke’s word, the fluorescent lights do flicker on. Din blinked against the sudden onslaught of light and found Grogu clinging onto Luke’s arm. Din gently ran a comforting circle at the kid’s back before realizing that he was sitting a lot closer to Luke than he was before. He could just make out his eyelashes from the close distance, followed by his blue eyes. A small scar ran on the right side of his forehead that was nearly covered by his fringe. His lips were tilted in an amused smile and Din wondered how his lips remained so perfect and unbroken with the winter air before he realized he was staring.
“Sorry,” Din moved back a seat, hoping that he hadn’t been too obvious.
“It’s fine,” Luke waved off his apology as Grogu hesitantly pried himself away and leaned towards Din.
A loud crackle of speakers broke the silence, followed by the muddled voice of the conductor. Before Din could even hope to decipher the words, the speakers had shut down and returned the silence. “Did you catch that?”
“Trains delayed indefinitely,” Luke answered. “Electrical problems.”
Passengers cursed at the news as Din let out a weary sigh. Luke leaned further against his seat to get comfortable. He didn’t seem bothered about being trapped with strangers on a New York train. “Where were you two heading?”
“Work for me,” Din answered. “School for him.”
Luke let out a sympathetic hum. “Hope your boss is fine with you showing up late.”
“He knows I take the subway. He’ll understand.”
“What do you do?”
“Mostly wait tables at Tatooine Grill.”
Luke sat up straighter at the name. “Tatooine Grill?”
“You’ve heard of it?”
“I used to work there!” Luke gave a wide excited grin. “As a– uh, a waiter!”
“Huh.” That was a strange coincidence. “How long?”
Luke frowned and titled his head back. “Not long,” he answered after a pause.
He didn’t seem interested in discussing anymore as he looked to Grogu. “What grade are you in now?”
They spent the next ten minutes asking and answering questions. Grogu seemed to be the only one interested in giving details of each answer, while Din gave the barebones answers. Luke never mentioned his life outside the train. But the mood never turned awkward with Grogu's thrill of spending time with his new friend and Luke’s attentive listening.
“What is that?” Grogu pointed to Luke’s cassette player, his eyes wide with curiosity. Din tried not to feel too old as Luke held the little technology out and explained everything to Grogu. He even started to rifle through his bag to let Grogu hold each of the cassettes.
“Why do you listen to cassettes?” Din asked as Grogu turned each tape with wide eyes.
“It’s easier to carry than vinyl.”
Din studied the clunky player. Despite its age, it was well taken care of and still seemed to function as it should. “I haven’t seen one of those in years. Where did you get it?”
Luke blinked and shook his head. “I don’t remember.”
He turned his attention to Grogu and held out his dozen tapes. “You want to try playing one?”
Grogu eagerly nodded and started to sort through each tape with careful consideration. Din didn’t think Grogu knew what he was looking for besides the tape looked the prettiest. He was proven right as Grogu plucked out a single cassette tape covered in stickers and tape with Sharpie scribbles.
“Good choice,” Luke accepted the tape with a grin. “This one is my personal favorite.”
He expertly inserted the tape into his player and unplugged the headphones.
Din’s heart stopped as Luke started the tape without hesitation. “What are you –”
His words were interrupted by the first lines of the song. Grogu giggled and held up his hands as Luke turned the volume up.
“ Turn that off ,” Din hissed, his neck burning with embarrassment as eyes turned to look at them.
Luke didn’t seem remotely discouraged as he laughed at Din’s embarrassed face. He removed his jacket and threw them at an empty seat, revealing his bare arms. “I think these commuters deserve a little something, don’t you?”
Din was about to retort that no New York commuter deserved more pain and inconvenience when Luke had leaped out of his seat. Din watched in horror as Luke grabbed a pole and swung himself around to the beat of the music. His dark boots reflected the sickly yellow light of the train cart and squeaked from the plastic floor in rhythm to the music.
Grogu’s laughter grew as he started to throw his arms out to accompany Luke’s dancing. At least one of them was having fun. The other commuters were openly staring at them now, he heard several teenagers snicker at Luke’s little performance while the rest looked on with mild amusement.
The attention only seemed to encourage Luke further as he started to shout out the song's lyrics. A new layer of stress was thrown onto Din as he realized just how suggestive the lyrics were. Grogu was fortunately too young to understand the words while the teenagers started whooping along. He continued to belt out the words of the song before settling his eyes to Din. He grinned wider and shot him a wink without missing a beat.
Din could have sworn his heart had stopped beating right that second as his breath got caught. Luke only laughed at his redder face before dancing through the rest of the train.
He was either enjoying stomping around the train aisle or he really, really enjoyed embarrassing Din.
Gray Bag
Luke appeared a lot more on his mind after that impromptu dance party. He had continued to swing around the poles and shout the lyrics until the train finally started to move. He had even managed to get Grogu to dance along to a handful of the songs, giving him the sincerest compliments as the kid tried to keep up. His eagerness to see Luke in the mornings has grown exponentially after that.
He no longer frowned and fussed over the cold weather in the mornings. If anything, he seemed upset that Din couldn’t get ready faster. Din had ignored Grogu’s accusation of being slower than usual and pointed out that they had never been late to their train. Even if he did take a minute to comb his hair instead of running it through his fingers as he usually did.
Maybe Din shouldn’t care so much about the opinion of a guy that dressed the same every day. They only see each other in the New York subway, for crying out loud. But Din found himself occasionally glancing at a mirror to adjust his coat or rearrange his hair. At least he hadn't become entirely shallow like some people.
The lady across the train cart gave an nth spray of her perfume. Luke gave a polite cough as Grogu wrinkled his nose. None of them had noticed the lady applying her makeup until she had practically sprayed the entire train car before finally becoming satisfied.
“She’s trying to kill us all,” Luke muttered under his breath as Grogu nodded in agreement. “Who even sprays that much perfume?”
“She probably doesn’t realize it’s too much,” Din waved his hand across his face hoping that it would dissuade at least some of the sickly fumes. “She’s too worried about something else.”
“How could she not?”
“If you smell a specific scent a lot, then you are less likely to notice it. So most people usually end up over applying their favorite perfume or cologne just to pick up on its scent again.”
Luke titled his head curiously. “What is she so worried about then?”
“She’s running late for her date,” Din carefully pointed out. “Her hair isn’t properly dried out and the straps of her heels are uneven.”
“How do you know it's a date?”
“That blouse is way too revealing for it to be considered professional, so she’s not going to work. But she’s dressed elegantly enough to be going somewhere important. She couldn’t be meeting with her friends or family since they would have given her a ride if it was that important. And no ring on her fingers, so she’s not married or engaged unless she’s having an affair. But I highly doubt that since it would have been way more subtle to take the taxi.”
“Impressive,” Luke started to clap. “Were you a detective?”
Din cringed as it fully registered what he had done. Old habits were hard to break.
“I read a lot of mystery novels, so I just developed that habit,” he lied. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s fine! I think it’s cool,” Luke held out his hands, looking excited. “What can you guess about me?”
“About you?”
“You had a pretty good guess on that lady. What can you guess about me?”
Din tried very carefully not to remember the number of nights he had thought about Luke.. The songs from the 80s that he searched up. And the number of times he had wondered if he would ever see Luke away from the reeking train cart.
“I think you’re an astronaut,” Grogu guessed and pointed to the rockets and UFO badges on Luke’s jacket.
The young man let out a laugh and fondly ruffled Grogu’s hair. “That would be so cool.”
Din considered it and quickly let the theory go. There was no way someone as well paying as an astronaut would regularly commute on the New York subway. But the pins did give an excellent headstart.
“You’re a sci-fi fan,” Din started. “You regularly take the train, so whatever it is that you do for a living, it’s very routine. You mentioned that you used to wait tables at the Grill, so maybe you’re doing something similar now. And judging from the callouses and scars on your skin, you did more demanding physical labor.” He thought of the old cassette player that Luke carried around. “Maybe you’re working in a vintage or a retro store now.”
Luke blinked at stared down at his fingers. “Huh, good guess.”
“Was I close?”
“Close enough.”
“What part did I get wrong?”
“I don’t work at a vintage store.”
“Then what do you do now?”
Luke’s smile turned mischievous as he shook his head. “You have to guess, remember?”
“Astronaut,” Grogu insisted.
“Maybe.”
“You’re trying really hard to be mysterious,” Din pointed out with a bemused look.
“I’m not!” Luke held up his hands in surrender before reaching for his bag. “Here, I’ll give you some clues.”
Before Din could blink, Luke had upended his bag and emptied its contents.
“Help yourself.”
There were over a dozen cassette tapes that Din could count and Grogu, unsurprisingly, had reached for them first. The old player wasn’t far behind with its equally old headphones. Besides those items laid a set of keys, a Swiss Army knife, a pack of gum, a retro postcard from California with well-worn edges, and a small notebook. His cellphone and wallet, Din noticed, were absent from the pile. They must have been securely kept in his jacket pocket.
“Well, you’re definitely a Brooklyn hipster with these things,” Din nodded towards the cassettes and reached for the postcard. The message on the back was brief with the sender asking Luke to stay in contact, followed by a phone number. Judging from the folded ends and slight creases, Luke had carried it with him for a long time.
“Anything else?”
“A Brooklyn hipster and a sci-fi fan, you’re probably saving up money for a passion project.”
“To go to space,” Grogu helpfully put in.
“Yeah,” Din agreed. “To go to space.”
Luke let out a laugh in good humor as he carefully tucked away his items back into his bag. “You might be right.”
Din decided not to mention anything more. But the gears in his brain were already turning to fit in every piece of the puzzle that Luke had offered. Not even the reminder that he, Din Djarin, had no business poking his nose into Luke’s life could stop it even if Luke had tempted him dearly by not just tipping over his bag but by making Grogu smile and laugh in the dreadful chilly mornings. By the teasing jokes and small kind gestures that took Din by surprise. And worst of all, having a smile that seemed to make the whole damn train cart brighter.
It was a little offensive that the city had chosen Luke to shake his life up and throw him out of motion. A leaky ceiling or a sudden flood would have done the job just fine. But he would have known what to do in those situations. He could have easily overcome it with only the slightest complaints about his typical luck. Luke was something that left him unsure of what he was supposed to do.
Just as he had the thought, he could almost hear his roommates slap their hands against their foreheads and roll their eyes. Alright, fine, he did know what to do. He wasn’t that oblivious enough to not understand what was happening.
“I still haven’t properly thanked you for the pin you gave to Grogu,” Din started only to hear a whine of protest from Grogu. “Right. We haven’t properly thanked you for the pin you gave to Grogu.”
“You don’t have to,” Luke started only to be silenced by Grogu’s insistent look.
“I will be working at the grill until eight. You can drop by and I could sneak over a free cup of hot chocolate to your table. And Grogu could get you some extra marshmallows.”
“That sounds really nice,” Luke said with a smile. “If I could, I would.”
“You don’t have to come by today if you can’t,” Din quickly reassured. “I will be working there tomorrow too, if that’s more suitable.”
Luke’s smile quickly tapered down as he stared at Din as if he was the strange puzzle he had to solve when he had made it seem the other way around not a few minutes ago. But the smile quickly returned as Luke nodded. “I would like that.”
Grogu threw his arms out with a cheer as Din fought to calm his expression. “Great. Cool.”
From Luke’s amused smile, he had probably failed.
Golden Jacket
Din’s chest had spent the last several days coiled up with the familiar and the unfamiliar. The first he had felt ever since he took in Grogu as his own and became flooded with the need to protect. He no longer had the privilege to be so reckless when a kid was waiting for him at home. So he started to second guess every decision that he would usually take without the bat of an eye. That was anxiety, a sense of nervousness that he became intimately familiar with all because of a kid.
The second was far more of welcoming emotion in Din’s standards. It was far quieter but easily palpable. Something that he had felt every time he had thought of starting his own family. Some day , he would think as he heard a child’s laughter. Some day . Some day . Until the world had grown impatient and threw Grogu into his life. Hope it was called.
He had thought he had gotten used to those mix of emotions until his heart got caught in its tangles. Now he was hovering outside the kitchen, his eyes quickly turning to the door when he heard someone come in. He is greeted by dark eyes, a lopsided smirk, and an armband tattoo.
Cara Dune looked particularly smug as she strolled through the door. “Disappointed?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Sure you do,” Dune claimed a seat for herself in a nearby booth. “You’re waiting for that Subway Boy, aren’t you?”
“Grogu told you,” Din let out a sigh.
“Wouldn’t shut up about it.”
“So you’re here to what? Interrogate him?”
“Relax, Djarin,” Dune laughed. “I just want to see who finally got you to start looking into the mirror.”
“Is that what’s happening?” A loud voice shouted, followed by Cobb Vanth sticking his head out of the kitchen. “I just thought he got a midlife crisis.”
“Table 5 is still waiting for their wrap,” Din shot back and was pleased to see the cook duck back into the kitchen.
“So, where is the guy?” Dune asked. “You invited him did you not?”
“I said he was free to drop by during my shift for a drink. Nothing major.”
“‘Nothing major,’ he says!” Dune cackled. “Come on, Djarin, are you hiding him?”
“If he was, he would be tripping over himself!” Vanth yelled from the kitchen.
“Table 5 still waiting!”
“Alright! Alright! It would be ready faster if there was another cook you know.”
“Take it up to the owners,” Din grumbled and turned back to Dune. “Are you going to order something or loiter?”
Dune’s smile didn’t fall as she leaned against her seat. “I’ll take the usual.”
Din rolled his eyes at the order but moved back to the kitchen to help Vanth. They really could use the extra hand in the kitchen. He wondered what poor teenager would take up the job offer to work in this greasy place when he saw it.
The restaurant walls were decorated with photos of the restaurant in mismatched frames. He only gave the giant wall a single glance whenever he would pass by it during his shift. But now, he stood gaping before it. Some pictures showed celebrities dined in while others had regulars smiling at the camera with their thumbs held up. News articles and reviews featuring the restaurant were also tacked up, clumsily framing around the main picture in the middle of the wall. The sepia colors of the photograph had slightly faded with age, and a handwritten note had been taped below: Tattoine Grill, Grand Opening Summer, 1976.
The restaurant was shown in its full glory without the grease stains and the worn-out furniture. Its early employees stood smiling at the camera along with the owner and her husband. Din gives the photo one more glance before tearing it off the wall and shoving it into his pocket.
In the bottom right of the photo stood a young man. He wore a smile that matched the rest of the subjects in the picture, his blond hair and blue eyes still so clear despite the faded coloring.
Luke in the summer of 1976, young as he had been when Din had invited him for a drink.
Perhaps it wasn’t Luke. It could be his relative smiling in the photo. A relative with uncanny similarities, but it was the far more logical answer then … what? That he’s an unaging immortal? A time traveler?
Din let out a scoff at those scenarios. He must be bored out of his mind to develop fictitious scenarios about him. It had to be a relative or an eerie doppelganger at best. Every other nonsense that came into his mind was the result of going cold turkey to the adrenaline.
But there were patterns. How Luke never seemed to wear anything but the golden jacket even though it's mid-January. The collection of cassette tapes and the cassette player in general. How Din and Grogu always run into Luke when the chances were a million to one in a city like New York.
Din had just tucked Grogu into bed when he had opened his laptop and started to scour the internet. He thought he would at least be a little rusty at the typical hunting process with the year-long absence from the field. But he had easily typed in his LexisNexis password, placed a request for public record, and had started to sift through criminal records as an added measurement. It was rather unsettling how some hipster had immediately sent Din spiraling to his old habits.
It was even more unsettling when Din couldn’t seem to find a trace of Luke anywhere besides the old photo of the restaurant. He scanned the image countless times for some sign of editing or Photoshop. But the picture was untouched.
Din was honestly stuck on how to proceed from there. He couldn’t drop it since it kept nagging in his mind. But what else was he supposed to do? Ask Luke if he was stuck in an MTA purgatory?
He wearily glanced over to the clock to find it half-past three o'clock. He should go to bed, try to salvage some amount of rest within two hours before his alarm could ring. Grogu had school tomorrow and Din had work.
But he found himself quietly throwing on a heavy coat and pocketing the photo. He’ll be back before Grogu wakes up and Dune was in the next room over if he does. She’ll call him if anything is wrong.
The city seemed to hold its breath in silence as Din shuffled his way to the train platform, occasionally stomping his feet to rid of the chill settling in his bones. A logical part of him demanded to return home. Go back to bed and get some precious sleep instead of freezing himself at the train platform. But the photo burned in his pocket, insistent on him getting some answers.
Light flooded out of the tunnel, shining on Din’s shoes before quickly spreading. He heard the screech of breaks as the train cruises by before slowly coming to a stop. Deciding on which train cart to board didn’t matter. He was going to get his answers one way or another. Din stepped through the door.
And there he was, lying on the seats with his jacket folded into a makeshift pillow.
Luke.
His eyes flicked to Din before he blinked and sat up. He seemed just as confused to see Din as Din was confused to see him. “Where’s Grogu?”
“It’s nearly four in the morning.”
“Is it?” Luke quizzically turned his eyes to the windows. “Huh.”
The train gave a slight jolt before starting to move. No one else had boarded the train cart. It was just him and Luke, staring at each other with barely concealed puzzlement.
“You must have a long day ahead then,” Luke made a welcoming gesture to the seats across from him. “Make yourself comfortable.”
He didn’t seem to flicker and fade out of existence. His skin was tan and sunkissed instead of pale. It was just Luke. A guy who happened to be on the same train cart with Din and Grogu every time.
“I found a picture of you at the grill,” Din started. “I barely recognized you.”
“Oh?”
He reached for the photo and held it out. “Is that you in the corner?”
Luke stared at the washed-out booths, the faded signs, and the smiles of the employees frozen in time. He let out a quiet sigh, his hands shaking in the slightest. “Yeah … that’s me.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” Luke accepted the photo, his thumb running over the corners. “I told you I used to work there.”
“Luke,” Din said and braced himself. “That photo was taken during the opening of the Grill.”
Din waited for Luke to look confused. Tilt his head and ask Din to repeat what he just said. Ask if he was joking. None of that happened. Something flashed through Luke’s face and is gone within a heartbeat. He smiled at Din. “That sounds about right.”
Did he not know? Or was he just messing with Din?
“I was curious,” Din said, feeling his chest coil with anxiety. It wasn’t too late to escape this situation. He could shrug it off and forget this whole incident. He didn’t need to be involved with anything. “With those cassette tapes and player, I thought you were just a regular hipster at first. But now I’m starting to wonder.”
“Wonder about what?”
“Everything about you,” Din took a deep breath. The train took a turn, its wheel loud against the tracks. Din ignored the pit growing in his stomach as he kept his eyes steady on Luke. “What year is it?”
The smile finally faltered. “Are you trying to play some kind of a joke?”
“No. What year is it?”
“It’s –” Luke stammered before giving a different smile. It was tense and couldn’t quite reach his eyes. “Oh, I get it. Very funny.”
“Luke –”
“ I get it, ” Luke snapped, his face twisted with fear that was difficult to fake. “I know something is … something is wrong. But you don’t have to joke about it.”
“I’m not joking,” Din said carefully. It was too late to back out now; he had missed that opportunity when he had torn the photo off the wall. “How long have you been on this train?”
“I –” Luke started only to falter. His eyes turned wide and panicked. “I … don’t know. I don’t know. I, um. Everything is so blurry and – God . Something is wrong with me.”
“Hey,” Din said calmly as he could, reaching out a comforting hand to Luke. “Nothing is wrong with you. But something must have happened to you.”
He gently held onto Luke’s limp wrist. Guilt gnawed at his stomach for turning this confident carefree guy into a panicked, stuttering mess. But Luke had never seemed more real now. The fear, the sudden feeling of being lost, Din understood those far too well.
“I think,” Din started as gently as he could to break the news, “you’re stuck on this train. Whatever caused it had kept you here for a long time.”
Luke slowly inhaled, his hands still shaking, but his shoulders squared. “How long?”
“The picture was taken in 1976, so that’s, uh, over forty years.”
Luke pulled his hand away and curled into himself, the last of his confident bravado slipping away. “That’s a really long time.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Din quickly reassured. “What can you remember?”
Luke lifted his head, his eyes glassy. “Not a lot.”
“There must be something. Do you remember boarding the train?”
“No,” Luke frowned, frustration clear on his face. “I don’t remember how I got here. There are brief flashes of my life outside the train. But it’s like trying to recall a dream.”
“But you know that you worked at the grill.”
“Only because you mentioned it. Everything else is blank.”
“You remember your name.”
Luke’s frown deepened before reaching for his jacket and unfolding it. He pulled at the fabric tag from the collar and held it out for Din to see. Blocky letters from a permanent marker were scribbled.
Luke .
“Only because of this jacket,” there was a dry humorless laugh. “Assuming that it is mine.”
Din stared at the jacket before internally cursing. That did make things difficult.