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Despite the attempt at secrecy, Din knew that he’d been hired by the Rebellion.
But at least it wasn’t the Empire.
It had seemed like a simple enough job after all: keep an eye out for Imperial cruisers during a “supply run”.
At least that was the first job.
Then he’d been brought back to their base, a strange green world of stone temples and radio towers, having passed some unknown test to be trusted.
And he’d seen a soft head of blond hair that seemed strangely familiar.
Suddenly, Din wanted to work for the Rebellion a lot more often.
+++
“You hired a bounty hunter?!” Luke Skywalker didn't have a lot of say within the Rebellion. Destroying one of the Empire’s greatest weapons only gets one so far in rank compared to years of experience.
“It’s a perfectly common practice.” Princess Leia sighed for the umpteenth time, her hair pulled up into an intricate knot on the back of her head so she wasn’t bothered by any stray strands bending over her desk.
There were a lot of folders on her desk. And there was a line starting to form in her brow from how much she scrunched it.
“Yeah, maybe if you’re a sleemo Hutt.” The pilot petulantly said, crossing his arms and hunching his shoulders.
It was one thing to hire a smuggler like Han, they weren’t outright killers, they had some morals. Sort of.
“If the Empire is going to use them against us, I’d rather we make use of all available resources.” Luke hated how logical that was. It made him feel once again like a foolish Outer Rim boy who should know better.
“Well I hope I never meet them,” he muttered as he turned to leave, door sliding open of Leia’s quarters.
And then he promptly shut the door again with a hiss.
“You didn’t tell me you hired a Mandalorian.”
+++
Din had doors slammed in his face all the time. It came with people being scared of a bounty hunter, trying to keep him out as though he couldn’t get through a door.
He hadn’t experienced a door opening before he ever knocked, coming face-to-face with a beautiful blonde boy with remarkably wide blue eyes, and having the door slide shut without a word shared between them.
A laugh choked out from under his helmet as he pressed the ringer on the door.
This time when the door slid open, the young woman he was expecting opened it with a smirk on her face.
And back by her desk stood the man with flaming red cheeks.
“Mando. I see you’ve met one of our pilots, Captain Luke Skywalker.” Din made sure to glance over at the man with a tilt of his head.
“I always thought your name was Wormy,” and the strangled noise the blonde made was well worth it.
Leia looked between them both with squinted eyes.
“Well you’ll both have plenty of time to clear up this misunderstanding. Luke, I need you to work alongside Mando this next month in preparation for establishing a new base.” The boy did not looked pleased. But he nodded his head sharply, almost running from the room.
The leader of the rebellion rolled her eyes, and motioned Din further into the room to sit.
“So here’s the deal…” and information about what they needed to find, the sort of infrastructure that would need built out flowing. Din only paid it half a mind.
He was mostly thinking about what he would say to the blonde man when he saw him again.
+++
Luke found a cozy nook in the hangar, with a perfect view of the hall that Leia’s quarters were located down. But he wasn’t obviously visible to anyone coming from it and that’s the way he wanted it.
It had never occurred to him that his past would catch up to him in this way. After his aunt and Uncle, Obi-wan, and even Biggs had died, he expected no one of consequence would ever show up from Tatooine.
Least of all the one that got away.
So lost in thought, Luke almost misses the approach of the Mandalorian, but then a glove is wrapping around his ankle, causing him to startle briefly.
The shine of the helmet staring up at him is both familiar and surprisingly new.
“Hi.” He finds himself almost sighing out. It sounds perhaps a bit too eager, and a rush of blood floods his cheeks.
The Mandalorian is looking him over from underneath his helm, he can feel it.
“You gonna come down or do I need to get up there?” Luke scooted back into his hiding spot without a word.
The Mandalorian is surprisingly limber as he heaves himself up, and then the pair are in close corners, hidden from the world.
“Hi,” the Mandalorian finally replies, and Luke smiles at him, reaching forward to squeeze his arm in greeting.
“So I see you didn’t end up going to the Imperial Academy,” Luke groaned and put his head in his hands.
“Isn’t that the most embarrassing thing to look back on?” The Mandalorian laughs at him, not unkindly though.
“It’s nice to meet you, Luke,” and the pilot peeks out between his fingers to blink at the other man.
His name sounded good on the other man’s tongue.
+++
“Come on Wormy, is that all you got?” Din watches the young men shove at each other, bright sand kicked up at their feet.
They seem like very close friends, the dark haired one more well dressed, as if he’d come from a city, while the blonde seemed to have rolled in from the very desert around them.
They didn’t seem to be the type to have any worthwhile knowledge for Din to use on his hunt, but he couldn’t help how his eyes kept being drawn to the joyful young man.
And that was why, definitely not because he was entranced by floppy blonde hair and blue eyes, when he saw the boy come by later without a friend and a pitiful frown on his face, Din called out to him.
“Hey kid, you got any info about a devaronian around here?” The boy looked around with surprise, and when he got a nod from Din, he trotted over to where the bounty hunter had set up shop in the covered patio outside a cantina.
Din felt a pang in his heart when he saw the wetness around the young man’s eyes that was already starting to evaporate in the cruel heat of Tatooine’s day.
He shoved a chair out with his boot, surprised when “Wormy” actually did take a seat.
The boy liked to talk, giving Din no info that he asked for, but obviously wishing he had a friend to talk to.
He complained about his family’s farm, but also spoke with such love for his aunt and uncle. He talked about flying like it was everything he needed to live.
Din was a bit enamored with the kid and the easy smile that remained on his cheeks as he talked.
“You know, you could leave with me.” The bounty hunter had offered without thinking it through.
He winced within the protection of his helmet. His razor crest barely had living space for him, much less a tag along.
And what sort of image would that portray to his covert?
Here’s the bounty, and oh yeah a new teenager I stole.
Luckily after a moment of wide eyed excitement, the young man shook his head.
“It’s just one more season with my aunt and uncle, I can survive on this rock until then.”
And that had been it. A few more words and they’d parted ways.
They’d never given each other names, both expecting to never see each other again.
+++
“Kriff, kid, I’m sorry to hear about your family.” Somehow they’d fallen into talking about everything that had happened between their meeting and now.
Which was quite a bit.
Somehow they had both fit in the alcove, out of the way of the hustle and bustle, backs to opposite walls, their legs resting against each other just slightly.
“Sometimes I wonder if I had left with you, if none of this would have happened.” Din was glad his face was hidden in that moment, because he’s sure a sort of twisted grief warred across it at the same time a sort of hope crossed it.
“So you weren’t running away from me back there because you hate the idea of traveling the galaxy with me?” That breaks the melancholy moment, and gets Din a bit of a knock of a knee against his.
The blonde still has an easy smile at times.
Din hopes he keeps it.
Din wants to make sure nothing else steals any of its shine.
“I suppose there’s worse things.” Luke squints his eyes for a moment, seeming to consider the Mandalorian closely.
“Are you gonna let me fly sometimes?” And Din’s laugh echoes in the space. He strokes the edge of his helmet as if it were a beard in consideration.
“If I must.” Luke attempts to kick him for the sass, seeming to be uncaring for the amount of metal he could hurt himself against.
Din grabs a flailing ankle with a laugh, pulling the boy off course, their legs getting tangled up.
It makes a warmth curl in Din’s gut. Especially when the blonde considers him then shifts up on his knees, closing the gap between them.
The Mandalorian holds his breath under his helmet, lest the tremble in his breath be too loud.
Luke’s eyes flick over the featureless helm, as he leans forward and wraps arms around Din’s shoulders, hugging the bulk of the man with a squeeze.
“I’m glad to have met you, Mando.” Luke murmurs, close to the base of Din’s helmet, cheek resting against cold metal.
“Din. My name’s Din, Wormy.” A petulant smack rings against the beskar on his chest, as Luke pushes back and crosses his arms, his cheeks pink once again.
“That’s a nice name. Nice to meet you Din.”
“Should we get out of this hold and start making a plan for our grand adventure?” The Mandalorian leapt from the space, startling a mechanic nearby. He held out a hand and Luke took it carefully, seeming to land with no jarring effects on the hangar floor.
The mechanic was staring at them abashed, and there would probably be stories swirling around the Rebellion by tomorrow about the new bounty hunter getting cozy with the guy who blew up the Death Star.
“Leia didn’t actually get a chance to give me mission parameters,” Luke admitted, ducking his head to allow blonde strands to hide him for a moment.
“I was a bit distracted as well, maybe she’ll forgive us if we go back and ask for a re-brief.” Luke raised an eyebrow askance.
“You haven’t worked for the princess long, have you? She doesn’t do forgiveness." Din daringly places a hand on the blaster on his hip,
“Perhaps we will force it out of her then!” Luke was two steps ahead now, essentially leading the Mandalorian with his laughing back,
“Now I know you haven’t spent any time around Leia.” He threw a grin back over his shoulder at Din,
“Come on, I want to see her beat your ass.”
And Din followed, because nothing felt more right than trailing after Luke Skywalker wherever he wanted to go.