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This is bad. Really bad. Blood is seeping out of your pants, soaking through the dark material. The red doesn’t show easily through the color of the material, but there's obvious dark blotting where the wound is. You quickly shove your blaster into your thigh strap before reaching up to grab at the rubble to pull yourself up. The movement shakes you to your core, pain permeating your body as you pull yourself up right. It’s enough to make your vision blur and tears prick the corner of your eyes. You hiss as you take a step forward, the affliction shooting hot flashes up your leg with the sudden movement.
You had no idea when you got shot during the fight, but the adrenaline was obviously wearing off now. The bounty proved to be more elusive than previously thought as the bounty had backup . I know right, who’d have thought that the bounty would be such a coward as to hire backup fighters.
Yet, here we are , you thought with a wince. Suddenly, the sound of a jetpack fills your ears. You twist your head to the side and watch as Din gracefully touches down, meticulously avoiding stray rubble. You straighten your spine as you watch him slowly walk towards you, his hand holding his side. Din approaches and stops a few inches from you, breathing hard. “You okay?” he grunts out, clutching his side tighter.
“I– yeah I think so” you push out, twisting your leg away from his field of vision with a small wince.
“Your side, is it…?” you question him, pointing a finger towards where he had his hand covered.
“It’s probably nothing, just took a nasty hit there” he drones out, shifting his weight on his feet. You nod, unsure of what to say to him. Another shooting pain rushes up your leg and you bite your lip in an attempt to subdue the pain. He stares at you for a moment.
“Let’s head back” he says definitely, turning on his heel and making his way towards the direction of the Crest.
“Right” you call after him, inhaling a shaky breath. You hesitantly test out your footing, the gash searing with pain with the movement. The afflicted area begins to throb now, pain permeating throughout your whole body. Your head is pounding. You shiver, your whole body quivering in pain.
“Din–” you cry out, knees quaking under the overwhelming pain. Your vision blurs, tears pricking the corners of your eyes.
The glint of his armor dances in the blur of your eyes, his body turning around at your cries. Your body begins to give out, you stumble over your own feet, pulling at the skin and muscle around the wound. You go to take another step forward, but immediately your legs give out from under you, landing hard on your hands and knees.
“I don’t…” you slur, squeezing your eyes shut. The last thing you see before collapsing fully on the ground are a pair of dark boots running towards you, your world fading to black.
- - - - -
Your eyes flutter open, stirring from the grogginess of sleep. A dull pain radiates from your leg, a rush of consciousness pours into your mind. Your steady breathing increases, your chest taking a deep inhale.
“Sweetheart.”
A husky voice rings out, your eyes opening wider at the sound.
You groan out in pain, shifting slightly on the soft surface you were laying on. You’re brought out of your trance when a sudden stabbing pain erupts from your leg. You shriek, shooting up from your position on the cot, the blood rushing to your head. A strong hand plants itself on your chest, spanning across your stomach. The hand moves up and down on your stomach as your breathing comes out ragged, your face flush with color.
“Lay back down” he says gruffly, pushing you back down with a gentle yet firm hand. You gulp, nodding your head quickly before plopping down on the cot. You scrunch your eyes shut, letting out a quick breath through your nose.
He’s touching your leg. He’s touching your leg. He rolled up your pant leg and now he’s prodding the wound with some bacta spray and antiseptics.
You twist the sheets in your grip, a hiss escaping your lips through gritted teeth as he applies antiseptic to the open wound. Your eyes follow his hands, noticing his gloves are discarded.
You’re snapped out of your trance when he huffs out impatiently.
“How long did you think you could hide that?” his voice is strained, anger seeping through the cracks of the modulator. His helmet glints in the dim light of the ship.
Your mouth hangs open a little, unsure of how to respond. Your mouth opens and closes, thoughts trying to formulate in the fogginess of your brain. You flounder, hands gripping onto the sheets tighter, twisting it in your hold.
“I didn’t…I thought I could fix it up myself” you blurt out.
He yanks his helmet off his head, setting it down with a loud thunk on the floor. His nostrils are flared, his jaw is set. He looks angry. But he also looks worried? He looks conflicted on what to feel, emotions flashing through his eyes. Your eyes widen at his sudden action, taking in his face. It’s been a while since you’ve seen it. Same old brown eyes, hooked nose, tousled dark hair.
“What do you mean? I just don’t understand how you thought you could successfully heal and bandage a blaster shot without me noticing.” His words tumble out quickly, his raw voice ringing in your ears. No modulator, no helmet. It’s like music to your ears, but it’s hard to think about that when he’s jumping down your throat for being so secretive. As if he hasn’t tried to pull similar stunts before.
You scoff at his words, entertained by the irony of them.
“Oh, so you’ve let me help you on the countless occasions of you coming back home with injuries far worse than mine? Help me understand that, Din” you spit out, sarcasm dripping from your voice. Your brows furrow as you speak, a frown erupting on your face. It’s always a struggle trying to get him to let you help him with injuries after encountering elusive bounties. You nearly have to wrestle him to the ground on occasion just to let you assess the damage dealt under his armor.
“That’s different.”
“How?!”
“It just is.”
“Enlighten me, please.”
“I’ve lived by myself for years. I know how to handle myself, how to handle my injuries. I’ve healed them all.”
“That doesn’t mean you did a good job at it. You’re covered in scars!”
He stills at your words. Regret creeps into your stomach, realizing your words went too far. You shouldn’t have said that, shouldn’t have pointed out something that is so painfully obvious to him, something that is a sore subject for him. You didn’t mean to, it just spilled out in the heat of the moment. Your face flushes as his mouth opens and closes, struggling to find something to say.
“So what do you want me to do?” his voice growing louder, his eyes widening. His jaw is ticking now, anger present on his face.
“I want you to let me help you!” you cry out.
“I try my best Din. I really do. I just don’t know how to help you sometimes” your throat hurts from straining your voice. You cross your arms over your chest and turn your head away from his gaze, huffing from his words.
“Then you can begin by letting me help you with this blaster shot in your leg, sweetheart” Din exclaims, his hands reaching to grab your leg again. His large hand gently pulls your leg towards him, a stark contrast from his sharp words. He begins pulling out bandages to start dressing your wound.
You don’t resist, no matter how much you want to. He’s made you so upset, a range of emotions pouring out from a deep feeling in your chest. The room is quiet, save for the soft humming of the ship.
“Maker, I don’t know if I want to yell at you more or kiss you” you say, reaching out and grasping Din’s hand tightly.
His head shoots up, soft brown eyes studying your face. Your heart stutters to a stop in your chest. Your eyes dart up to his face, his expression wrinkled and conflicted. He drags his hand from his chin up to his forehead, eliciting a deep sigh. He runs his hand through his hair, blowing out a breath. He looks at you impatiently before leaning towards you slowly, entering your personal space.
Din pulls your hand up gently, kissing the knuckles before giving you a slight nod. You take this as permission to kiss him, leaning forward from your position on the cot and sitting fully upright with a small grunt. Your whole body tingles, heart racing from your own words. You tilt your head forwards until your lips connect with his.
As your lips meet, your eyes slide closed and you let out a sharp inhale through your nose, savoring the feeling of his lips on yours. You rest your hands on top of his shoulders, pulling him in closer to you until his chest is touching yours. Din pulls back a little faster than you want, breaking the kiss in order to breathe. Your eyes meet his, watching his chest slightly heave in the dim room.
“You want more?” he breathes out, voice husky and low. You reach your hands around his neck, nodding your head quickly.
“Please.”
Din surges forward once more, kissing you harder this time. He slowly pushes you into the cot, resting his body weight over your chest. You’re horizontal now, bringing your hands up to thread through Din’s tousled hair. His arms rest on both sides of your head, kissing you like there’s nothing else in the world. You finally break the kiss, gulping in the cool air of the ship. His ears are red, face flushed. You hum to yourself, wondering how you were able to get him so undone after your argument. Which you realized you still have not resolved.
“Sweetheart…” his voice comes out hoarse, he takes your hand in his. Din’s thumb rubs circles around your palm, an act of tranquility in an environment where emotions are running high.
“I’m sorry” he says quietly, eyes downcast.
“No, I should be the one apologizing, Din” you say, tugging his hand slightly, causing him to look up at you.
“I– I should have told you earlier–”
“I know.”
“But you also need to let me help you , Din” you say pointedley. His lips part in surprise, as if he were about to say something, brows furrowing as he takes hold of your hand again.
You squeeze his hand tightly. “I know that you’ve been alone all this time, but you have someone now. Someone who cares about you, and someone who knows how to take care of you.” His hand tightens in your hold, his fingers softly rubbing your knuckles. “Just let me take care of you” you whisper.
He nods slowly, cupping your face with a gentle touch. You bring a hand to his, leaning into his touch. “Ok” he says quietly. You hum in acknowledgement as he releases his hands from your face.
“But sweetheart,” he pauses. You look at him expectantly, fidgeting with the sheets around you. “Don’t hide something like that from me ever again” he says darkly, eyes narrowing. You shiver under his gaze.
“I can’t risk losing you over something like that. Promise me you won’t” he says, voice low and tender.
You wrap your arms around Din’s neck, pulling him into your shoulder. He rests his forehead on your shoulder, bringing his hands up and around your torso, pulling you in close to him.
“I promise.”