Archive of Our Own

// 1 //

Luke has loved his uncle’s medieval fantasy park since his childhood. He can hardly remember a summer when he and his sister, Leia, didn’t go out to visit for a few weeks; the little ramshackle village was like a home away from home. It only made sense that he would end up joining the cast roster once he was all grown up.

Nowadays, it seems to Luke that he spends more time as ‘Zephyr the Snowflake Fairy’ than as plain old Luke Skywalker. He prefers it that way– at least for now. Outside of his sparkly costumes and extravagant makeup, he’s just a guy with a half-finished doctoral thesis, a basement apartment full of books, and no friends he isn’t related to. Here, though, on his little platform near the entrance with his samoyed, Artoo, and the pretty paper snowflakes he punches out for the kids, life is joyful and bright. The festival-goers are enthusiastic, and his coworkers are so kind… or perhaps for some, intriguing is a more accurate word…

Uncle Ben had hired a new wandering performer this season. The man brands himself as a bounty hunter — going by simply ‘the Mandalorian’ as his stage name — and he makes his tips by letting guests pay him to ‘hunt’ and ‘capture’ their friends. He wears full armor and a helmet everywhere outside the employee rest spaces, which adds to his air of mystery. He’s been popular from the start; the guests all seem to either want to play along with his game or stare at him from a short distance with pure, unbridled lust. 

Frankly, Luke isn’t much better. He’s done his fair share of staring, though in his defense, the ‘mystery’ applies to him just as much as the guests. He’s yet to meet up with the guy backstage, so all he knows is the gleaming armored appearance and ass you could bounce a quarter off of.

That is, until today.

The weather has been up and down the last few weeks– Indian summer, the locals say– and today is unseasonably warm. The performers are encouraged to take extra breaks throughout the day to rehydrate and cool down, which means Luke finally runs into the Mandalorian for the first time. 

Literally. He turns around looking for Artoo and nearly knocks his forehead directly into a lightly stubbled chin. “Shit- sorry! I was just… oh. Hi.” Looking up, Luke immediately notes the gorgeous brown eyes and messy curls. The guy is hot, unfairly so. “You must be the new hire. I’m Luke.”

“Luke,” he says softly, as if committing his name to memory. “I’m Din. Uh, Djarin. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You as well. Though, it might’ve been nicer without all this get-up, I suppose.” He laughs weakly, suddenly hyper-aware of his white eye makeup and glittery lace costume. 

Din cocks his head slightly. “Would we have met out of costume at work?”

“Well, no, fair point. Even so, I always feel kinda weird talking normal but dressed like this. Y’know, half Luke half Zephyr? Anyway…”

“Actually… For what it’s worth, I think you’re beautiful.”

Luke is stunned into silence for a moment. How is one supposed to respond to a handsome man dropping compliments like it’s just common knowledge??

Fortunately (or unfortunately, perhaps), Artoo chooses that moment to come bounding over and shove his way in between the two men. Din stumbles back a couple steps, eyes locked on the fluffy white beast currently doing his best to get Luke back out to his station. 

“Artoo, a little patience please!”

Luke gets in reply a series of discontented barks, whines, and growls that more or less come across like a human cussing him out in traffic.

“Okay, okay, I’m going! Din, it was lovely meeting you. I’m sure I’ll see you around.” He waves one last time as Artoo shoves him backwards through the curtains separating staff areas from the general fairgoers. He just barely manages to catch a glimpse of Din waving back before the fabric flutters closed and blocks his view. 

Luke hurries back to his spot and settles in with Artoo to begin making paper snowflakes for the children again, putting Din and their whole interaction out of his mind. He doesn’t have the time to be getting swoon-y over a coworker… besides, there’s no way a man that ruggedly gorgeous is single. Or into men. It’s just not worth daydreaming about.

But, of course, if Luke ends up looking around for that shiny silver armor more than usual, that’s not anyone’s business but his own.

// 2 //

Moods are a fickle thing, sometimes. 

Luke does his best to be bubbly and bright wherever guests can see him (especially the little ones), but some days are just tougher than others. Today, the skies are overcast, and Luke is feeling cloudy and gray on the inside too. His shitty ‘98 corolla wouldn’t start this morning, so he had to beg for a ride from Leia, who decided to lecture him about everything under the sun in the 20 minutes between their house and the park. 

It started with the classic – “You know I’d never throw you out, but I do worry about you living in that basement all by yourself.” – and then moved on to – “It’s fucking chilly, Luke. I know you don’t agree, but you at least need a light jacket for 50 degree weather.” – and of course one can’t forget the age-old – “Have you given any thought to starting dating again?” – which is where he promptly cut her off with a shout of thanks before jumping out of the SUV and running inside to finish getting into costume.

Anyway, now he’s sitting on his little wooden platform with its pillows and rugs, leaning into Artoo for extra warmth and grumbling about Leia being right. His tips are down today; the kids have likely caught on to his sour mood and are steering clear, but he can’t bring himself to perk up.

Artoo whines and nudges him as a child runs up from his side. He forces a smile, greeting the little girl with a toss of confetti and a cheerful, “Suilad!” 

The girl laughs, and Luke feels a bit of the ice in his chest melt away. He punches out a paper snowflake and babbles at her in elvish before helping her pose with him for a picture at her mom’s request. The little girl stuffs a few bills in his tip jar and waves goodbye as her mom carries her further into the park. 

Luke waves back until she looks away… and he slumps against Artoo’s side again. He loves the kids, but his energy levels are just super low today. He thinks he maybe catches a flash of silver armor passing by, but he doesn’t even have it in him to look around right now.

Hours pass, his lunch break comes and goes, and the sky doesn't get any clearer. His tip jar fills up anyway (thank god) after a surprisingly large group of rainbow-haired teens stop for pictures and snowflakes, and it’s as they’re walking away that Luke’s mood finally takes a turn for the better.

“Cocoa?”

Luke whips around in surprise at the vocoded voice coming from behind him. “Oh my god, Din– or sorry, Mando, I wasn’t expecting you to stop by.”

Din stands a few feet away in his full armor, helmet and all as per usual, with one arm stiffly at his side and the other holding a steaming paper cup out in front of him. “I… brought you this.”

Luke stands and steps closer, telling Artoo to sit and stay and there’s a good boy . “For me?” He takes the cup from him and sniffs pleasantly at the dark liquid inside.

The helmet bobs as Din nods. At his height, Luke can see just a hint of scruff where the cowl has slipped down a bit. “Cocoa. With cinnamon and cayenne.”

Feeling the last of his dreariness fall away, Luke laughs brightly. “Oh my god, that’s exactly what I needed. It smells like home. What, did you ask around until someone told you how I like it?”

“Didn’t have to. The tavern owner owed me a favor.”

“Kinda sketchy there, Mando,” he teases. “What could Boba Fett possibly owe you? Did you overlook one of his bounties or something?”

Din leans back on one hip, cocking a knee casually. It seems like he’s finally starting to relax. “No, it’s not a character thing. He’s my brother. I lent him my motorcycle last week.”

Oh shit… he’s hot, he’s sweet, and he rides a goddamn motorcycle? He’s seriously too good to be true. “I see! Well, thank you for cashing in a favor for my sake.” He sips carefully, closing his eyes as he savors the rich heat.

“Of course. If you don’t mind me asking, why do you drink it that way?”

Luke nods. “It’s not a secret or anything. I grew up mostly in New Mexico, and this is how my babysitter made it. I like the kick.”

“It smelled good when Boba was making it,” Din says softly. “I'll try some later, I think.”

“You definitely should. Thank you, again. This has pretty much made my entire day.”

“It’s nothing. I just noticed you seemed down. I hoped this would make you smile.”

At that, Luke feels the stretch of a genuine grin in his cheeks. “It definitely worked. Speaking of work, though, we should probably get back to it…”

“Right. Sorry to keep you…” Din stiffens again and glances around.

“Not at all! I’m really glad you stopped by. Actually, wait a second–” Luke plops down onto his pile of pillows, and quickly punches out a paper snowflake. “For you. As a token of my thanks.”

Din reaches out and takes the snowflake from Luke’s outstretched hand, holding it between two fingers like it’s a delicate bit of treasure. “Thank you, Luke. Truly.”

“It’s nothing,” he replies with a wink. “Stop by anytime, okay?”

Din bows and turns to walk away, silent as ever despite the armor. Luke watches until he can no longer see him.

// 3 //

It’s cold. Not like it has been, not slightly chilly or whatever, but cold like a few degrees above freezing.

That in and of itself wouldn’t be an issue. After all, it is December. Except that Luke’s warmer Snowflake Fairy costume hasn’t arrived in the mail yet, so he’s stuck shivering in the mesh-glitter-tulle option he’s been using throughout November. The weather doesn’t normally turn this quickly, so he hadn’t anticipated needing anything heavier until after new years… if only he hadn’t bulked up over the summer, the top part of his old one would still fit.

Nevertheless, he has a job to do and a uniform to do it in. Luke shivers as he punches out snowflakes, his face tinged pink from the chill in every smiling photo. 

Once, between guests, Luke sees Din pulling someone along by a rope tied around their wrists, a small group following behind and laughing. He waves quickly before tucking his hands back into his sides to conserve heat. Din stops in his tracks, and his bounty walks straight into his back. “Dude, seriously?”

“You cold?” Din shouts in Luke’s direction.

Leaning into Artoo, Luke shrugs one shoulder. Noting the people watching them, he answers in character, “Ha na dilthen echor. Baw baur na worrui.”

“I don’t understand, uh, ‘Fairy’.” Din somehow manages a decent impression of a deer in the headlights despite the armor. “Do you speak… Huttese?”

Luke laughs freely, caught off guard both by the pop culture reference and Din’s strained attempt at playing along. He briskly rubs his upper arms and mimes warming his hands over a fire before waving Din and his party along.

“...I’ll come back soon. Don’t turn into an icicle.” With a tug of the rope, he drags his bounty off to the stocks in the center square. Luke watches him go, waving to the drunken posse stumbling after him. 

The afternoon is a bit easier to bear, temperature-wise. The sun is shining brightly overhead, and Luke soaks it in like a salamander on a rock. He gets up and plays with Artoo once or twice, running through simple choreography and playing a memorable game of chase instigated by a couple of teenagers. He warms up for a while – even manages to break a sweat.

By evening, though, he’s quietly hoping for another cup of cocoa from a handsome Mandalorian. The sun is fully set before six o’clock, and Luke is back to being fucking cold. He’s giving serious consideration to going home early when he suddenly feels the weight of body-warm velvet being draped across his back. “What-?”

“I know it doesn’t match your sparkle, but I figure no one will question it at this time of night.” Din settles onto the pile of pillows with a soft grunt. “Unless you were hoping to get pneumonia?”

“No, definitely not,” Luke says with a laugh. “Thanks for this.”

“Anytime. You deserve to be well cared for, Luke. Just… promise me you won’t be dressed like this all damn winter.”

“Hell no, I’ve got warmer gear coming this weekend. I won’t keep your cloak after tonight.” 

“You hang onto it as long as you need to.”

Luke burrows into the warm fabric. “I’m usually much more prepared than this, I swear. I’ve been in this job for a while now.”

“I figured as much.” Din looks around briefly before slipping his helmet off. “You’ve mastered the art of talking nonsense in character at the very least.”

“That is not nonsense! That’s genuine Sindarin elvish, and I have mastered it, thank you very much.” Luke gives him a playful wink. He thinks Din may be blushing, but it’s probably just a trick of the light.

“Sindarin, huh? So you’re – what, a Lord of the Rings nerd?”

“Rude as fuck tonight, Djarin,” he grumbles. “You’re definitely right though. I mean, technically learning elvish was a combination of pettiness and nerdiness, but yeah. Right on the money.”

Din glances at Luke’s tip jar and starts to get up. “Sorry, I didn’t intend to monopolize your time like this. You’re just easy to talk to, I guess.”

“What? It’s fine, Din, I’m happy for the company…”

“No, I should be going anyway.” He steps down off the low platform. “I was serious about the cloak; keep it as long as you need to, okay?”

Luke nods. “I really appreciate it.”

Din reaches out but seems to change his mind halfway through the motion, dropping his arm back to his side. He nods to Artoo, who kind of snuffles back at him, and goes on his way.

“Artoo… If he keeps this shit up, I’m gonna be absolutely fucked.” Luke scratches under the dog’s chin. “Got any advice?”

Artoo offers an incredibly sage and well thought out woof as well as a few lovely tippy-taps with his front paws.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought you’d say.”

// 4 //

“Wait, I’m sorry. Run it back one more time for me? There’s no way I heard you right.” 

Luke sighs through his nose and slumps forward onto his elbows. He’s been sitting at the kitchen counter while Leia makes dinner. Usually their routine of cooking together and swapping stories about their week is one of his favorites, but he already knew this one might set his sister off. “No, you did. Biggs showed up at work the other day.”

Leia shakes her head and gives the pasta sauce she’s standing over a rough stir. “I should’ve given that man a piece of my mind a long time ago. What does he think he’s doing? Arrogant asshole.”

The pitter-patter of tiny bare feet can be heard down the hallway and pausing in the doorway just then, announcing the appearance of Leia’s son. “Mama said a bad word.”

“Luke,” Leia whines, gesturing to the organized chaos around her, “Can you…?”

He nods and hops off the barstool to scoop up his nephew. “We talked about this, little guy. They’re only bad words before you’re a grown-up. Mama can say stuff like that when she’s mad about literally nothing,” he says, giving her a pointed look.

“He’s right, Benji. Now maybe Uncle Luke will finish his story about ‘literally nothing’ so we can make our final judgment? Hm?”

Luke rolls his eyes fondly. “It really wasn’t a big deal. Anyway, he’s been trespassed now, and–”

“Skywalker, if you don’t quit beating around the damn bush and get to the point, I swear on all that is holy I’ll–”

“Okay, okay, fine! He walked through as I was packing up to leave…”

…

“Hey, Wormie. I was hoping you’d be here.”

Luke stands up so fast he nearly gives himself whiplash. “Biggs. I thought I told you to quit coming around.”

“It’s been more than a year, I thought you’d be over that by now.” Biggs crouches and holds out a hand to Artoo. The dog just growls at him and stands protectively in front of Luke who quietly commands him to settle.

“Not sure I’ll ever just ‘get over’ you being a serial cheater. I’m not interested in catching up or making up or whatever the hell you were hoping for today. You should leave.”

“Luke, I apologized for that. I just wanna talk–”

“We have nothing to talk about.”

“Come on, don’t be like that. Let me take you out tonight, make it up to you–”

“He asked you to leave.” Luke nearly jumps out of his skin when Din speaks up from behind him. There’s no telling how long he’s been there; he’s a master at stalking around silently in that armor.

Biggs frowns at him, undeterred. “This doesn’t involve you, tin man. Fuck off.”

“He asked you to leave,” Din repeats firmly, “and if I have to ask next time, it won’t be nearly as polite.”

“Din, it’s fine, I can handle this…”

Din turns to Luke, stepping in between him and Biggs. “Is he bothering you? I can go get security if you’d prefer.”

Luke opens his mouth to respond, but Biggs gets to it first. “We’re just trying to have a conversation, man. Stay out of it.”

What happens next feels like it’s in slow motion. Luke watches in horror as Biggs reaches out and grabs Din by the arm, and as Din reacts by whirling around and knocking the idiot out cold with a punch to the face. Artoo huffs and trots over to stand on his chest.

“…good boy,” Din says softly through the helmet’s vocoder. “Luke, I’m going to call security and get the medics. Why don’t you take Artoo and head home? I’ll finish picking up your things.”

“Oh my god, are you sure? I feel like this is partly my fault.”

“It’s not your fault at all. I just really don’t want you here when he wakes up.” Din is already digging his phone out of his pocket and punching in the number for the park’s security team. 

Luke grabs Artoo’s leash and clips it on. “I really can’t thank you enough, Din.”

“It’s alright, Luke.” Din takes his helmet off, a flash of concern crossing his expression before Luke is lost once again in deep brown eyes. “I’m sure you had it well in hand before I stepped in and made things messy, but… even so. I was worried about you.”

“I mean… I typically prefer to leave the violence to a last resort, but maybe this’ll finally get the point across to him. Thank you again. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yes. Tomorrow.” Din brings the phone up to his ear. “Yeah, we need a medic and a couple officers over here…”

Luke waves goodbye and whistles for Artoo to start moving.

…

“Jesus, Luke, you always find yourself in the weirdest situations. You sure you’re okay?” Leia ladles out bowls of pasta for everyone and overall seems to be handling the story better than Luke expected. 

“Yeah, I’m okay. Thank you.” He gets up to help Ben set the table. “Honestly the weirdest thing has been how Din’s dealing with it.”

“Your coworker? Why’s he still involved?”

“Beats me. But he’s been walking me out to my car at closing for the last couple days. It’s sweet, I just didn’t expect it, y’know?”

Leia doesn’t respond, and eventually Luke looks up to find her giving him a mild glare with one hand on her hip.

“…what? Am I using the wrong forks?”

“Luke. If you didn’t seem so relaxed about it, I’d be offering to get you a restraining order against this Din guy too.”

“Wait, why?? He’s just being nice!”

“‘Nice’? He’s blatantly flirting with you, dipshit.”

Ben tugs on Luke’s pant leg, and he absently ruffles the kid’s hair to acknowledge him. “Leia, Din is straighter than a ruler. He’s not flirting.”

Leia rolls her eyes. “Like you’d know. It’s a miracle you ever had an S-L-U-T phase with how bad you are at picking up signals.”

“Oh, so we can say dipshit where little ears can hear, but you’re gonna spell that out?”

“Hang on, Princess, you’ll let him curse in front of the baby, but I still can’t?”

The tension in the room evaporates with Han strolling in — a brewing twin-fight being one of the rare occasions in which he doesn’t cause more problems with his mere presence. Ben runs over to him for a hug, still a bit wobbly on his three-year-old legs, and Leia moves in to kiss her husband. “With my luck, you’d teach him something too colorful and interesting for him to ignore. Welcome home.”

“Good to be home. What’s our pre-dinner drama today, Skywalkers?”

Luke crosses his arms and huffs, still feeling prickly. “Leia’s insisting my coworker — who she’s never even met — is flirting with me, and she’s just plain wrong.”

“Uh-huh. Remember that time you came over for breakfast totally uninvited, and you didn’t even question why I was already there?” Han hobbles to the fridge to grab a coke, Ben hanging off one of his legs and giggling.

“We were all friends, Han, why would I just assume you’d been there all night?”

“I was wearing her kimono, kid.”

“That proves nothing.”

Leia ushers everyone to the table and makes Ben take a few bites of his food while she fills Han in on the sparknotes version of everything.

Han, mouth half full of garlic bread, replies without hesitation, “yeah, that man is full-on flirting. Too bad it’s wasted on Luke.”

“Hey!”

“I’m not wrong, so don’t act like it. Just pay a little attention to the details when you see him tomorrow, okay? You’ll see.”

Luke, despite his efforts not to, pouts. “Fine, whatever. If it’ll shut you both up.”

// 5 // 

Another week of walks, conversation, and cocoa goes by, and Luke has come to the conclusion that Han was wrong and Din is just an affectionate sort of friend. That has to be it – he’s never asked him out, he doesn’t touch him (casually or otherwise), and, quite frankly, he’s never once hinted at being gay. Luke is sure he would’ve picked up some signals by now if there had been any.

Unfortunately, the lack of movement in their relationship has done nothing to lessen Luke’s attraction. He looks for Din during every spare moment at work just to wave at him, and he sometimes thinks about maybe just asking him out anyway, but the potential rejection stops that thought in its tracks every time. It’s nice finally having a friend that isn’t his sister. He can’t risk fucking it all up.

So here Luke lies with his dog on his pile of pillows and furs, lounging like a roman emperor in between entertaining guests, longing for a literal knight in shining armor to come sweep him off his feet. Another day in paradise.

“Mr. Luke?”

Luke sits up quickly, launching into a greeting before he even registers the person in front of him. “Hi- uh, suilad !” 

It turns out the voice belongs to a young boy, no older than five or six. He’s bundled up from head to toe in warm winter clothes with a sweet little crochet frog hat on his head. He stares down at Luke with wide eyes, but doesn’t say anything else.

Luke opens his mouth to start the usual elvish babbling when he realizes something important. “Wait- where are your parents?”

“Um… I…” The poor kid looks completely lost and increasingly nervous.

Luke gives him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, buddy, we’ll get it figured out. Do you like dogs?”

The kid nods, so Luke helps him up onto the pillow pile and introduces him to Artoo. Once the two are settled in, he stands and looks around for security or a frantic mother or– well, really anyone who can help. It’s not long before he finds what he’s looking for – Din is moving quickly through the crowd, his head sweeping back and forth as he searches for something. He’s out of costume, dressed instead like any other guest of the park. 

Luke calls out to him. “Din! Missing someone?”

Din sprints over as soon as he hears his name. “Grogu! You can’t just run off like that, ad’ika.”

“Buir, I found Mr. Luke!” The child – Grogu, apparently – looks relieved to see Din there, though he makes no effort to let go of Artoo, who is bravely allowing the little one to climb on his back.

“Yes, you certainly did. Didn’t I tell you I’d take you to see him?” Din adjusts the little frog hat to better cover the kid’s ears before turning to Luke. “Thank you for watching my son. I’m sorry about this, he doesn’t normally just disappear. We were just in the tavern with Boba…”

“It’s no trouble, Din. Besides, it’s only been a few minutes, and he warmed up to Artoo straight away.”

Din gives the dog a long look before eventually nodding to him. Artoo nods back, seeming to have come to some mutual understanding with him. Luke decides not to question it. 

“Buir,” Grogu calls softly, “Will he make me a snowflake? Like yours?”

“Why don’t you ask him?”

Grogu looks at Luke with those big brown eyes before hiding his face in Artoo’s fur.

Luke chuckles softly. “It’s okay, kiddo, I’ll make you a snowflake.” He sits and reaches for his punches and paper. “So… did Grogu’s mom come with you guys today?” It’s far from subtle, but he can’t help himself.

To his credit, Din doesn’t seem bothered. “It’s just us. Our clan of two, right ad’ika?”

Grogu nods, not taking his eyes off the snowflake coming together in Luke’s hands.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry-“

“It’s alright, Luke. I know I haven’t talked about myself much, but it’s nothing against you. The adoption hasn’t been finalized long, and I just… worry. About everything.” Din reaches down and brushes a bit of Grogu’s hair off his face. 

Luke mulls that over as he finishes the snowflake. “I think it’s normal to worry. It just makes you a good dad. And this,” he says, unfolding the paper to reveal the beautiful pattern left behind, “makes me a good snowflake fairy. What do you think, Grogu?”

The kid beams at him and gently takes the paper snowflake, holding it carefully so as not to crease it. “Thank you, Mr. Luke!”

Luke smiles and leans back on his hands. “You’re very welcome, kiddo. Thank you for coming by to see me, even if it did give your daddy a heart attack.”

He glances up at Din with a smirk and is surprised to see the guy looking almost nervous. He’s definitely blushing at least. Interesting…

“Buir told me all about you. He said you’re magical, and you make everyone’s days better,” Grogu says matter-of-factly. He doesn’t even look up from the snowflake. 

“He said that, huh?”

Din nods at the same time Grogu does, and Luke feels something in his mind click into place, like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle. He sits up suddenly and focuses on the child beside him. “Well, I am honored. That’s high praise coming from you both. Now, I don’t want to use up all your time at the park just chitchatting here; you two go explore, have some fun, and be sure to say goodbye on your way out, okay?”

Grogu stands up quickly and hands his snowflake to Din for safekeeping. “See you soon?”

“Real soon, kiddo. Thanks for stopping by! I’m so glad I got to meet you.”

Din gives Luke a genuine smile and waves over his shoulder as his boy leads him by the hand further into the park. Luke waits until they’re gone before bolting for the nearest employee lounge area and digging out his phone.

“C’mon, pick up pick up pick up… Leia? You got a second? It’s about that coworker I was telling you about… yes, him. Don’t tell Han yet, I just know he’s gonna be so smug about this…”

// +1 //

Din stares at the plastic cup on the bar in front of him. “Boba… I can’t fucking drink this. I’m on shift.”

“You’re between jobs, vod,” the older man replies without casting him a second glance. “Besides, it’s one beer. Since when is that enough to get you drunk?”

“Never, but that’s not the point.”

“If you’re just gonna sit at my bar and whine about pretty fairy boys not giving you enough attention, then you are not working, and I’m just gonna keep handing you liquid courage until you fucking do something about it.”

“I have been doing something about it!” Din scrubs a hand through his hair, frustrated. “He’s just not interested. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Boba gives him a half-glare and sighs. “Right. Because you’re not famously bad at communicating your feelings.”

“You are such an ass sometimes, vod.”

“And you’re being a mopey little princess! Get out there and be fucking honest with the guy, Din. You’re wasting my time and scaring off my patrons.”

Din’s tablet pings with a new bounty request. “You’re in luck; I just got another job. I’ll come bother you again later.”

“Feel free to reconsider that.” He sighs again. “And good luck.”

Din puts his helmet back on and scans over the request as he steps outside, snow gently falling around him and sticking to parts of his armor. The submission was sent in by a ‘Leia Skywalker-Solo’ and suggested that the bounty could be found in the market section with his family. Din glances over the basic selections (requesting character/agency, charges, sentence, blah blah) before he clicks over to the bounty details section and nearly trips over his own feet upon seeing the image attached.

Smiling up at him from his tablet screen is a candid shot of Luke Skywalker, out of costume and looking like sunshine personified.

Shit.

Din takes a deep breath and starts moving towards the street with all the shops and vendors, pausing occasionally to let people take selfies with him like he usually does. He tries to take his sweet time looking for Luke. 

Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your perspective), Luke isn’t even remotely hard to find. He’s standing right in the middle of the street with a toddler sitting on his shoulders, laughing at something the woman standing in front of him is saying. She must be Leia, the one who set up the bounty. Din takes in the scene in front of him and wonders why Luke never mentioned being married. No wonder he’d ignored all of Din’s advances… Shit.

He presses on despite the churning in his stomach; he’s been paid to do a job, and he’ll see it out. “Luke Skywalker!” he calls out as he gets closer.

Luke turns towards him and smiles that beautiful beaming smile that Din has come to treasure over the last few weeks. “D- uhh – Mando! I was hoping we’d run into you today. Are you on a job or do you have some time?”

Probably-Leia snickers and reaches for the little boy on Luke’s shoulders. “Come here, Benji. Looks like Uncle Luke is going to be busy for a little while.”

“Why, mama?” the boy asks, looking worried.

“Yeah, why, mama?” Luke repeats, even as he passes the kid over to her. 

Din clears his throat. “Luke Skywalker, I am here to collect on a bounty placed by the Lord of the Sith. You’ve been charged with inciting rebellion against the Empire and evading capture.”

Luke stares at him a moment, stunned, before turning back to the woman beside him. “Seriously, Leia?”

“Sorry, blondie, I don’t make the rules,” she says, fighting back laughter somewhat unsuccessfully. “You’d better get moving.”

Din holds up the soft coil of rope in his left hand. “I can bring you in warm,” he pauses and rests his free hand on the hilt of his sword, “or I can bring you in cold.”

Luke smiles a bit, and Din can see the spark of mischief in his eyes. “Oh, woe is me! Betrayed by my own kin! I surrender, Mando. Take me away, though be gentle with me, I beg you.” He holds out his hands with a wink.

Din says a silent prayer to whoever’s listening, unwinds the rope, and loosely binds Luke’s wrists together. “You’re sentenced to the stocks. I trust you know where we’re headed?”

“Sure do. After you, sir.”

Din takes a deep breath and turns to lead Luke through the crowd. “She paid for the usual fifteen minutes or however long it takes to finish the drinking challenge. Since you’re here with your family, I’m going to assume you don’t want to be drinking heavily, but I’ll let you go a little early anyway. Since we’re… friends.”

“Kind of you, Din, thanks. My nephew’s probably been exposed to more than he should at the tender age of three given the language everyone at home uses, but I think I’d like to wait a few years before getting drunk around him.”

“Wait… Nephew?” Din stops walking for a moment, and Luke narrowly avoids bumping into him.

“Yeah, Ben? Little kid back there? He’s my sister’s son.”

“Sister?”

“...Yeah?”

Din stares at Luke in shock. “So you’re… not married?”

Luke looks bewildered at first. Then deeply disturbed. “Married? Hell no, oh my god. First off, I’m gayer than the month of June, and second – and perhaps even more importantly – even if I was even remotely attracted to women, my sister would not at all be on my radar.” He visibly gags and shakes his head. 

“So… you’re…”

“Single. Yeah.”

Din abruptly turns on his heel and starts walking again, though not towards the stocks this time. He leads Luke to the employee lounge in hopes of some privacy. By the time he turns around again, his captive has slipped out of the rope and is holding it out to him.

“Take your helmet off?” Luke asks, his voice soft.

Din doesn’t hesitate to comply, tossing the helmet onto the ground. “Luke–”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Please.”

Luke grabs the fabric of Din’s cowl and tugs him down into a heated kiss, practically melting into him. Din backs him up until he’s pinned against the wall. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for weeks, cyar’ika,” he murmurs against Luke’s mouth.

“I know. I’ll make it up to you,” he whispers back.

Din kisses him again, softer this time. “Let me take you out? Sunday?”

“I’d love that. I’m sorry I took so long to catch on.”

“Don’t be. We got here eventually.” He laughs and presses a kiss to Luke’s forehead. “I’ll let you get back to your family for now.”

“Wait.” Luke ducks under Din’s arm and grabs a pen off a nearby table. “Glove off, gorgeous.”

Din raises a brow at him. “This is twice now you’ve had me take off clothing in front of you in the last few minutes.”

Luke rolls his eyes. “So funny, ha ha, do you want my number or not?”

Din pulls his phone out of his pocket, unlocks it, and holds it out to him. 

“See, now that just makes too much sense,” Luke grumbles, taking the device to add his contact information. “So rude…”

“You’re cute when you pout, cyar’ika.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere.” Luke steps closer and slips Din’s phone back into his pocket. “Call me when your shift ends.”

“I will.”

Luke, rising up on his tiptoes, kisses Din one last time before he slips back outside into the snow. Din watches him go with a smile.