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You were no stranger to the way the cold bit into you after the twin suns had set, having 'worked' in the Hutt's palace for many years. The stone palace was quick to chill once the warmth of the suns dissipated, and tonight was no different.
You had worked for new Diamyo for a few months now after he killed Fortuna and took the throne for himself. While being enslaved working for the Hutt's, and then later Fortuna, you expected Boba to be just as cruel as the previous Diamyos. You heard the stories of his life as a bounty hunter and mercenary, succeeding his father, and heard the tales of his cruelty. But, when he arrived at the palace he offered you, and the other slaves, freedom.
The offer was too good to be true, you had thought. The few friends you had within the walls took him up on the offer, but you on the other hand, didn't. Where would you even go? You lived most of your life as a slave for the Hutts and it was all you knew. The few things you had wouldn't get you very far.
Even though you had heard the awful tales of the great Boba Fett, some part of you felt safer inside the palace. So, you stayed. Boba made sure you knew you no longer were a slave and you insisted you had nowhere else to go. He actually employed you, you acted as a sort of maid around the palace, though you much preferred the kitchen, and he paid you good credits.
This was intriguing to Boba, he offered you freedom and you turned it down. From the moment he first saw your little frame in the sea of bodies, your wide eyed gaze, he was captivated.
Since then you had gotten to better know your new boss. Boba was hardened after the life he lived and his walls were built sturdy and high. But somehow, much to his surprise, you managed to see past the cold mask of beskar. To you, Boba wasn't any of the horrors people say he was. He was never hostile towards you, and in your mind that made him kinder than most you'd met.
You two had something akin to a friendship. You would tell him about your day, and he would hang off your every word, not that you noticed. You would never truly believe that the Great Diamyo could thing of you as anything but a maid beneath him. He wouldn't admit it, not even to himself, but you had him wrapped around your little finger. It truthfully, it scared him. He knew you for so little time, and yet he was enraptured by you. He barely knew you and yet somehow you managed to make him feel like he hadn't felt in a long time. You made him feel like a man, not the most fearsome bounty hunter in the galaxy, not the new ruler of Tattooine, but something human.
So now, while you're freezing under the thin blanket in your quarters, you're thinking of him. You recall him telling you that if you ever needed anything to let him know. You don't know what you need. The day was long, and that same familiar feeling of panic wedged between your ribs again. The years you spent as a slave took a toll on you, they conditioned you to live in fear. And while some of that fear has dissipated, sometimes that dread comes back to haunt you. Like tonight, all you want to do was curl up and cry. You're cold and exhausted, and that weight is sitting on your chest, and all you want is comfort. And you decide to go to the only comfort you've ever known.
You've got the thin blanket wrapped around around your shoulders as you pad across the palace, now shivering from the cold floor. When you reach Boba's room you lightly rasp your knuckles against the door, hoping he isn't asleep.
Boba cautiously opens the door, not knowing who would be at his door at this time of night, except Fennec but the knock was too gentle to be hers. When he sees you on the other side of the door panic fills him. What are you doing here, are you hurt? Did something happen? He automatically assumes the worst and gently pulls you into the room, somewhat checking you over. Once he's content that you are, in fact, physically okay, he absorbs the fact that you're here. In his room, shivering under a thin blanket. He thinks you look absolutely adorable draped in the blanket and, just for a moment, allows him self to indulge in the thought of you actually being here -- with him.
"Little one, are you okay?" His brows are knit in worry, you note. He's without his armor, and shirtless. Maker, he's so beautiful. His body is littered in scars, some old and some newer from his brush with the sarlacc. You've never seen him so vulnerable before, so human.
"Oh, yes. No. I dono. I'm just, I'm cold Boba. An' scared." You're fiddling with the hem of your blanket, looking at your sock covered feet. Your face heats up, now suddenly embarrassed as you think of how dumb he must think you are. You just worried him for no real reason. "M' sorry, I'm just gonna go back to my room. Sorry Boba, have a good night!" You attempt to turn swiftly on your heel to leave but Boba catches your arm.
"No, no sweetheart, come here." He walks you over to his bed, your hand felt cold in the warmth of his larger one. Now you're seated on the edge of his large bed and he stands towering above you, looking down at you. He's holding both of your hands in his now. "Whats wrong? You're freezing, here," He wraps you up in a much larger, thicker blanket -- one that smells like him, the scent easing that weight inside you.
"I dono, it's just heavy? I'm so sleepy but I can't sleep, its too cold and its-" You don't finish your sentence, you don't know what to say or how to explain it. You can feel the tears building up behind your eyes, it's all too much.
Boba brings your hands up to place a gentle kiss to the backs of your knuckles, the rugged feel of his large hands over yours. "It's okay, little one. It's okay. Come here." Even to him its shocking, he's never felt like this before, never felt like he needed to comfort anyone before. But seeing you like this hurts a piece of him, somehow. He brings his big arms up around you, cradling you in the warmth of his body. You feel so little, so delicate, in his arms and for one of the first times in his life he feels like he needs to protect someone other than himself.
The weight of his body wrapped protectively, comfy, around your frame lifts some of the weight off your chest. You loosen up in his hold, the tension in your shoulders easing as you soak up the heat of his body.
"You're so cold, baby. There you go. Do you want to stay here, will you stay here?" He's asking before he can stop himself, you're so vulnerable in his arms and he can't bear the thought of you returning back to your quarters, not like this. He wants to wrap you up in his arms and hold you for as long as he can, to feel you protected and warm snuggled against you.
"Boba I can't," You trail off, you want nothing more than to lie comfortably in his arms, but you can't. Trying to remember that you're just a maid in his palace, merely a friend.
But Boba isn't having any of it, "If it will make you feel better, stay. If I can help you, please little one, let me help you." He's looking into your eyes, care shining in the most beautiful brown eyes you've ever seen. Realizing he wants you to stay, you nod your head at him. Boba lets out the breath he'd been holding, his lip curls up into something reminiscent to a smile; he feels something he's never truly felt before: trusted. You trust him enough to come to him for comfort and the thought fills him with bliss.
He's tucking you into his bed, you look so little in the large bed, wrapped up in thick blankets. "Do you want me to join you?" He asks after he's satisfied with the number of blankets you're now covered with.
"Yes, if you would. Please, Boba." Your response is quick, and after realizing how egger you were to welcome him into bed with you, your cheeks heat up all over again. Boba, on the other hand, is quick to accept your answer as turns off the lights and climbs in behind you.
He can't help himself from pulling you into him once more, wrapping your petite frame in his arms. Your legs are tangled together and your head is resting on his large chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. Your hands were brought up to your chest as you curled into him. One of Boba's calloused hands is resting on your hip and the other is cradling your ribs, the heat of his body chasing off the chill in your bones and the feeling of his comfort eased your fears.
Boba had never known something so soft, at least not for a very long time. He lived the majority of his life simmering in violence, aching for revenge, and ignoring the loneliness that ate away at bits of him. But now, here he is; holding you so gently in his arms, he feels grounded. He didn't know he was capable of being so tender, he didn't know he could feel so light.
As for you, you haven't felt comfort like this in so long, you can't recall ever feeling this comfortable. You're snuggled up in the big bad bounty hunter's arms and you have never felt safer, no body has ever held you with such gentle hands. Your eyes are fluttering closed and your breathing levels, you cuddle impossibly closer to Boba and drift off in his arms, the last thing you remember is the heat of his body that enveloped you and the sound of his softened voice. "Sleep, little one. You're safe with me, I won't let anything happen to you, ever."
In the near darkness, Boba watches as you drift away in his arms and he holds you tighter. He hasn't felt home in a long time, but with you in his arms -safe and sound- he feels like maybe, just maybe, he's found his home again.