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They made it through another day. As night was upon them, Din found a motel. When he had parked the truck and was putting on his bandana, Luke jumped out of the vehicle and raced around to Din’s side.
Unsure what to expect when he opened the door, it definitely wasn’t Luke standing there with his arms crossed and a determined expression.
“I’m paying for my room,” he announced vehemently.
Din eyed him critically; the set press of Luke’s lips, the hardness in his eyes, and the ridged, confrontation of his body. Din knew he was serious.
Dubiously and frankly, Din asked, “Do you even have the money?”
He expected some pushback, but Luke huffed and reached into his jacket. He pulled out a wallet and opened it to briefly flash a few $100 bills. Then he closed it and grinned triumphantly at Din.
Din raised an eyebrow, tempted to ask where he came by that kind of money and why he needed a ride if he had that kind of cash. But decided for his sanity not to ask.
He stared at Luke for a moment more, debating, before he nodded. “Fine.” He climbed out of his cab. “But you’re paying for your own room and any room we stop at on the road from now on.” He figured he’d add that to avoid any more arguments on the subject. “I am staying in my truck.”
When he stood solidly on the ground with both feet, he looked at Luke. His lips twitched, hidden, by the other man’s wide-eyed expression.
“Just like that?” Luke asked as if he had been expecting a fight.
Din shrugged. “I know to pick my battles.” He had plenty of practice with Grogu. And he wasn’t going to waste time when he timed this stop to match up with his son’s bedtime.
Luke smiled and DIn would almost say that subtle guardedness lessened even more than he had seen since yesterday and today. However, he figured that was his mind playing tricks on him.
The two of them walked inside and Din stood back silently as Luke went about getting himself a room. They did receive some strange glances from the person behind the desk but there weren’t any problems. Luke was his cordial self, making small talk to calm the person, as he had done lots of times when they stopped. Din wondered if that was just some sort of supernatural ability he had over people.
After checking in, they went back to the truck for Luke’s bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, he asked, “Five A.M. leave?”
Din raised an eyebrow and nodded. He half-expected negotiation for leaving so early.
As if reading his mind, Luke chuckled. Turning, he waved over his shoulder. “I know when to pick my battles,” he said. “Goodnight, Mando.”
Din huffed goodnaturedly under his breath as he nodded his own farewell.
As he got into his truck and started to get ready for bed, Din realized that through the whole interaction, he hadn’t felt the familiar heat of annoyance in his chest. In fact, his heart was light. It was a different sort of light than his banter with Cara or Boba but it was there, putting him at ease.
Laughing to himself and shaking his head as he grabbed his phone, Din changed that ‘possibility’ to ‘definitely’ that Luke had a way to make others feel comfortable around him.
For the next three days, Din and Luke built a semblance of a routine. The first day was the same as the last two: waking up early to hit the road with a stop here and there. At the end of each day, their talks didn’t leave Din drained and irritated, which was good when he spoke to his son.
The second day, however, was different: not in the routine but in the mood.
It wasn’t hard to nice the dark circles under Luke’s eyes and a barely-there smile the morning they met up. There wasn’t much talk that day with a heavy edge that hung in the air that had the hair on the back of Din’s neck stranding and him with a tight grip on the steering wheel.
Luke attempted some casual talk but gave up when it became clear that it tired him. So he sat in the passenger seat, staring out the windows or reading a decrepit book that he had in his backpack.
Din didn’t ask what was wrong, feeling that Luke wouldn’t want to speak about it. And it wasn’t as if he didn’t realize a man who was dealing with some lingering demons from the previous night. He had plenty of those nights too.
That didn’t mean it didn’t cause an uncomfortable itch under his skin. Something he wanted to fix but couldn’t. Which left him frustrated as to why he even cared.
He had no answer to that question even as they found a motel and said quiet goodnights. The only thing that broke the funk was being able to speak to his son that night.
The next day, Luke was in a better mood- closer to the self Din had become used to than the one from yesterday. There was still a fog that hung around him yet it couldn’t linger strongly against Luke’s radiant and strong personality that Din got to see hints of.
On the fourth day, Din stopped at a gas station longer than normal. They had gotten gas or bathroom breaks before, yet this one was specifically for truckers: one with showers.
Bandana over his face, Din slipped on his hat as he stepped out of the shower area, clean and beard trimmed. His skin was still too wet for him to put on his flannel which left him only in his jeans and a black tank top. He didn’t particularly like not covering up- it earned him a few stares at his tattoos and scars- yet it would only be for a little while. Just from the gas station front doors to his truck.
At least that was his plan until he saw a group of people right next to his truck.
Cursing under his breath, he stuffed his shirt into his bag while he made his way over. Normally, he would’ve ignored such a scene but they were right next to his vehicle.
It wasn't hard to discern the group was made of truckers; their postures and dress gave them away. Some noticed him right away and moved, pulling others out to create a path for Din. For those that didn’t, Din slid through without causing alarm until he passed.
When he could see just inside the circle, his annoyance turned to shock when he saw Luke standing almost in the center. His pace picked up then and he didn’t bother to prowl past people.
Breaking into the center, Din saw Luke standing between a husky man and woman. Both of them glared at each other while Liuke wore a neutral expression. Luke had a hand on the man’s shoulder and, while it was a simple grip, it appeared to be a leash on the other man.
When Luke noticed Din, his eyes widened. Din’s throat suddenly went dry and his heart skipped a beat as the other man’s eyes roved over him. He tried not to fidget but ended up crossing his arms over his chest. The action served to snap Luke out of whatever thoughts he was having.
He returned to a neutral expression and focused back on what was happening. But then he glanced at Din again and then looked away. But not before a touch of pink graced his cheeks.
Din didn’t understand why- or why his cheeks were feeling hot- when Luke spoke to the two people.
“What happened wasn’t either of your faults,” he stated. Something tickled at the base of Din’s spine at the commanding smoothness in Luke’s tone. “It speaks to both of your skills as drivers that there wasn’t a serious accident.”
He let go of the man and stepped between them so both of their lines of sight were on him. “It would be best to move on,” he looked between the two, “now that things have been cleared up.”
Neither of the people moved. Everyone around them was silent, air still where they were as the world went on around them.
Din tensed his legs, ready to jump in if a fight broke out. And in the center of this tornado of tension was Luke, a pillar of calm.
Then much to Din’s surprise, the man and woman took a step back before turning away. The air of conflict escaped as everyone slowly parted ways. There was no longer anything interesting going on.
Din stood there, staring at Luke, ignoring everyone else around him. Luke watched everyone disperse before he turned to Din. In the moment, it was all in slow motion to Din watching the daylight shining off of the strands of Luke’s hair, highlighting those sparkling blue eyes, and enhancing the other man’s smile.
Luke's eyes trained on him. “Good shower?” he asked, his voice losing its commanding edge.
The words were slow to process but when they registered Din remembered his bareness- the lack of his outer shirt.
He hummed and turned away, refusing to think of himself as running away. Yet even as he approached his truck, he knew that he wasn’t fooling himself as he reached into his duffle bag as quickly as possible to put his flannel on.
As he threw his bag into the back of the cab and finished dressing, he heard footsteps coming up behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see it was Luke. Feeling better now that he was covered, Din turned around to face him.
It had been an impressive display Luke did. Truckers weren’t an easy sort to calm down when angry- well, most were but some were always looking for a good fight. And in the middle of the day, at a gas station, Din had a feeling at least one of the two in the argument was from the latter group. And there wasn’t an inch of worry on Luke’s body- no release of tense muscles or something similar. As if he knew he was in control of it all.
It made Luke all the more mysterious and, now, even wondrous.
Wanting to express his admiration, he said, “Ah, good job. Back there.” He winced at his tone. He was much better at this with Grogu and other kids.
Luke’s smile widened and, Din swore, he stood taller, even as he ducked his head. “Thanks.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t too big of an issue though.” He folded his arms and kicked his foot against the ground. “The man was angry that the woman cut him off on the road but she was avoiding a small car he couldn’t see.”
He glanced at Din. “Of course, he didn’t know that until I stepped in. Heard them arguing and they were about to fight. I figured I would stop them from punching each other. I learned violence isn’t the answer if they can just talk it out.”
Din tilted his head. Before he could think better of it, he asked jokingly, “Did you learn it from that book you carry around?” He paused, surprised at himself. He hardly intentionally attempted to joke with anyone since his tone was never conveyed quite right.
Much to his surprise, however, Luke laughed. The kind that came from the belly with a smile that reached his sparkling eyes.
Din felt his heart flutter and cheeks warm up. This didn’t feel like embarrassment but something akin to what he felt when Grogu laughed. It wasn’t the same; something that left him a little breathless that he could give Luke that kind of laughter.
When he calmed down, Luke shrugged with a small smile. Din noticed though that it didn’t reach his eyes and his mouth was tense. “I was taught better than through that,” he chuckled.
Din nodded, not sure what else to say.
They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Din mentioned they should get on the road. When they pulled out of the gas station, it was a few moments before Luke suddenly asked, “What do you know about the Jedi religion?”
Din frowned in confusion as he turned straight ahead. Din frowned in confusion as he turned toward Luke. The other man stared straight ahead. Din tried not to focus on the way the wind from the partially opened passenger window ruffled his hair.
Slowly, Din directed his attention back to the road. “Nothing,” he answered. Which wasn’t entirely true; he only knew a small amount when he started his searches for Mandalorian history that was intentionally left out of his teachings. As he turned the while on a curve he asked, “Are you a Jedi?”
Luke made a surprised noise that drew Din’s attention again. Only, what he saw was Luke wearing a calm expression.
“I am,” he murmured, meeting Din’s eyes. There was a steadiness in them which let Din know that Luke was speaking the truth.
Din nodded respectfully and looked back to the road. However, he wasn’t sure why Luke would bring up the topic of his religion.
It was a few breaths later when Luke spoke again. “One of the Jedi beliefs is to be a consular of conflicts to keep peace in the world.”
Din glanced at Luke to see him staring downward- possibly looking at his backpack at his feet. “This was because of an energy that all beings have. An energy that connects everything- people, plants, everything.”
Frowning, Din really didn’t understand what that all meant or what this was leading up to but the heavy reverence in Luke’s voice let him know it was important. So he continued to listen.
“There is a balance in all of it. Too much of one side can destroy the balance.”
Din thought about that for a moment. “What happens when it is destroyed?” Out of the corner of his eye, Din saw Luke lift his head and turn to Din with surprise.
He didn’t say anything at first but then answered, “Chaos.”
Humming, Din thought more about Luke’s previous words. “If there has to be a balance, does that mean there can be too much food of something?” Having too much bad was a given to him.
There was another pause. Longer than the first. Din glanced at Luke again. The other man now stared at his lap with a frown. “...Yes, I suppose,” Luke answered, lifting his face to Din. “If there is too much of Darkness, there can be too much of Light.”
Din had no idea what those terms meant but they must be part of the Jedi faith.
Luke sighed heavily and looked out the front window. His eyes grew distant as he rested an elbow on the window and rested a cheek on a fist. “...Maybe having too much Light is more of a curse than a gift then,” he mumbled. Din was pretty sure he wasn’t meant to hear that but felt compelled to say, “Not all gifts are curses.”
Luke jolted and turned his head sharply to Din.
Din hoped Luke would understand the meaning of his words but when the other man just continued to stare, Din sighed heavily. As he drove, he thought about what he could say.
He realized quickly that there wasn’t any easy way to explain something he had no basis for knowing. So he fell back onto something he did know.
With one hand, he rolled up his flannel sleeve, slowly revealing his tattoos and scars there. Din’s skin felt on fire as Luke’s gaze watched his movements.
Keeping his eyes purely on the road, Din rotated his arm to show off his tattoos. “My beskar'gam.”
It was a moment before he heard Luke say, “Your what?”
Trying not to sigh again, Din repeated., “My beskar'gam- my armor.”
He paused and pulled on all of his internal strength to glance at Luke. A tightness that Din didn’t realize was in his chest loosened when he saw Luke’s wide-eyed, curious expression.
Focusing back on the road and taking a calming breath, Din went on., “My gift and my curse. It makes me a hunter and prey.
“As Mandalorians, we are taught to live in the present, look to the future, and remember the past.” If those who are keepers of that history share it, at least. He had learned that the hard way when he traveled- meeting other sects of Mandalorians- and learned how much his buir kept from him. How much she felt he needed to know. As he grew, he couldn’t exactly blame her since their sect practiced old- nearly ancient- Mandalorian customs that weren’t welcome by others. In her own way, she was trying to protect him. But that old sting remained.
“Our beskar'gam is a sign of our faith.” Especially for his sect. “There is pride in carrying it on our bodies. He pursed his lips sourly. “But it also is a burden.” He had been stared at openly, been in more brawls than he could count, been harassed by enforcement officers, and been ostracized by other Mandalorians because of his belief- especially by the New Mandalorians. There was some reconciliation now but Mandalorians were still separated.
“...Does the burden weigh on you?”
Din glanced at Luke. A new heaviness sat on the man’s features that made him look tired and defeated. His eyes were distant though, as if he wasn’t really asking the question to Din but to himself.
Still, Din took a moment to think before he answered while looking away, “Sometimes.”
He tightened his hand on the steering wheel. He stated plainly, his conviction surfacing deep from his core- his very bones, “It is my gift. ” He refused to see it as anything other than such. Even when sometimes he may get into trouble for it. His armor was very much him ; to deny it would be to deny himself. He had done that once before when learning about the full Mandalorian history before he came to terms with himself once more. It was a hard-fought battle.
He turned to Luke who eyed him questioningly. “You can choose which you want,” Din murmured, bringing the conversation back around to Luke’s faith.
Luke broke their connection to look down at his lap again. “And what if fate already has chosen which one I will carry?” he asked softly.
Din huffed softly through his nose. “Your fate is your choices,” he stated, looking away. “Make your choices on what you feel is best. Learn to live with them.” Manda knows he made a lot of mistakes but each one turned him into the person he was today.
Silence stretched between them, a thick contemplative one. Then it broke with a small- something between belittling and manic- chuckle.
Din turned his head with a raised eyebrow. Luke stared at the ceiling of the truck with a conflicted smile on his face.
Sensing him, Luke turned his head. The heavy tiredness was still in his eyes but there was some humor now too. Din wasn’t sure what was so funny but he didn’t think it was about their conversation. Not with the soft expression in Luke’s eyes.
“Haven’t thought of it that way before,” Luke said.
Din shrugged and turned away, heart rising to the back of his neck for some reason. “This is the Way,” he stated. The familiar words of prayer echoed in the cab.
They were quiet for a while then. Din would sometimes glance over at Luke, but the other man would only look up at the ceiling or out the window.
Din focused on the road when Luke finally spoke. “Do you know about the Force?”
Din couldn’t help but turn to Luke as if he had grown a second head. Luke’s small smile grew with a little twinkle coming to his eyes that overshadowed the melancholy.
“What’s the Force?” Din asked, completely confused.
The two of them then spoke about their respective religions. This was the first time Din had spoken to anyone outside of his faith about his beliefs, let alone someone who seemed interested in his words. Din was also fascinated by Luke’s faith, even if he didn’t understand much of it. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t respect it.
The air in the cab was deep and reverent. It was also easy to speak with each other without the fear of condemnation. It was mostly Luke doing the talking, as usual, but it seemed to be more of him talking about his beliefs to believe what he was saying.
When night came and they pulled off to another motel, they went through the routine of getting a room. But instead of separating at the office, Din walked Luke to the room.
As Luke unlocked the door, Din couldn’t help but feel a sense of sadness. He enjoyed their talk, allowing him to speak more freely about his faith. But he had to go and get ready to talk to Grogu.
Bidding Luke a good night, Din walked away but stopped short when Luke called, “Mando!”
Din looked over his shoulder. The room’s light was off, but Luke stood in the doorway with a gentle smile that kicked the air out of Din’s lungs.
“Thank you for listening,” Luke said. “And giving me some good for thought.”
Din frowned, hidden under his bandana, at the last part. He didn’t do anything but if Luke thought he did it was best not to argue about it.
Turning, Din bowed his head deeply, also thanking Luke for listening to him. When he raised his head, Luke’s eyes sparkled in understanding.
The two of them stared at each other. Din’s feet wanted to carry him forward but thoughts of his son pulled at his back. So with slow steps, he turned away and headed back to his truck.
He tried not to think about the look of disappointment on Luke’s face for the rest of the night.
A day after their discussion, Luke was out of sorts again. Din partially thought it was because of their talk since the other man was quiet as he read his book- an old religious text Din learned- that Luke admitted he reread multiple times when he stumbled upon it in a used books store. But the day before Luike had been fine, his usual self as far as Din was aware. Which just made things more frustrating that Din couldn’t do anything.
Or Din’s frustration stemmed from something deeper. Something that clawed through his body and dug deep into his bones. His mind buzzed with thoughts that weren’t clear- like static on a television. At the same time, the silence felt loud, so deafening and suffocating.
He gripped the steering wheel tight, feeling each bump through his thick gloves. He desperately wanted to crawl into the back, into his bed, and sleep the day away. That wasn’t an option though, so he kept his bandana up and over his face to feel hidden.
This wasn’t the first time that he had felt like this. A beast caged that didn’t know what it really wanted. He was going to be destroyed by his own mind if he didn’t do something soon.
Unfortunately, that would mean destroying Luke’s peace.
Din had felt the urge rising slowly as he drove. Higher and higher, making his skin itch and his jaw tight.
Finally, he had to give in. Luke’s peace be damned.
He reached out and tapped the app on the touchpad installed in his console. It was a few more seconds before the dulcet tones of a man speaking about a manual for a Naboo N1 Starfighter car played through the speakers.
Din silently sighed as he started picturing the metal parts the man was describing that made up the frame of the car. He knew from previous experience that the description would slowly build up until the car was completely built.
Before Grogu, this was the only way to get his mind to focus on days like this. Sometimes it would be something in a language he was learning or the chatter of the CB radio.
After Grogu, it became the soft babble of his son. When both of them would be in a mood, it would be audio his son loved.
Slowly, Din’s body began to relax. The beast began to calm.
“...Is this an audio to build a car?”
Din glanced at the other man. Luke wore open curiosity as he looked at the screen of the touchpad while his book was loosely held in his hands.
“Hm,” Din answered as he looked away.
There was a moment of silence before Luke asked, “Do you listen to other stuff like this?” His voice wasn’t condescending or annoyed which drew Din’s eyes back to Luke. His book was closed now, all of his focus was now on Din. His smile was still strained and dark bags under his eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Din answered slowly, “Sometimes it’s nature documentaries.”
Luke perked up a little. “Like David Attenborough?”
The corner of Din’s mouth twitched up as he nodded. “My favorite narrator,” he admitted, feeling the back of his neck heat up from a little bit of embarrassment. Though the reason the man was his favorite was mostly because of Grogu. His son adored the man’s voice.
Luke chuckled. “He is good,” he agreed. “I prefer listening to music but nature documentaries are a good choice. Morgan Freeman is a good guy to listen to as well.”
Din frowned. “Who?”
Luke's lack of response had Din turning to see what was wrong and he held back a laugh at the wide-eyed, jaw-dropped expression he wore.
“You’ve heard of David Attenborough but not Morgan Freeman!?” Luke asked incredulously.
Rather than be offended, Din shrugged. Greogu’s favorite narrator was Attenborough. Why should he learn of any others?
Luke made a choked noise in his throat- a high-pitched laugh with a heavy sigh. He stuffed his book back into his bag as he asked, “What about James Earl Jones? Patrick Stewart?”
Din knew none of those names. “I don’t keep up with the news or media,” he grunted. Well, unless it dealt with kids shows like Bluey.
He started when Luke let out a sudden laugh, head thrown back. Din couldn’t appreciate the beauty of Luke in that moment but his laughter brought warmth to his heart.
After calming down, Luke joked, “Why am I not surprised?” Din glanced at the other man at the softness in his tone but quickly looked away at the gentleness in the expression. Din wouldn’t dare call it “fond.”
“So you don’t know actors,” Luke hummed, “But what are some of your favorite movies? Music genres?”
Din thought and then shrugged. “Never thought about it before,” he confessed.
“Never?” Luke asked, disbelief dusting his voice.
Din glanced at Luke again to see the soft surprise. He shrugged; he wasn't really interested in those things.
Luke hummed and Din turned away to watch the road. A few seconds later, Din heard a soft, “Here you go again; surprising me.”
Din frowned and turned to Luke again. And his heart stopped at the same soft expression from before.
“Well if you don’t mind,” Luke’s grin widened, “I can tell you some of my favorites?”
Din paused and then reached out to stop the audio. When he glanced at Luke, he saw momentary surprise on the other man’s face before he smiled warmly and excitedly.
As Luke started to talk, the beast inside of Din settled more- more than any technique had done before. He didn’t look at it too much at that moment, however. He was too busy paying attention to Luke’s words and watching the darkness around Luke slowly ebb away.