#also at the risk of sounding like a dumbass who doesn’t know puck —

[significant-narratives]

……… i miss the leafies :(

[brokenbeskar]

Babysitter

Chapter Two of Memories Reforged ( Din Djarin x F!Reader )

Word Count: 7.8k

Summary: Instead of landing to collect your bounty’s reward like you had expected, the mysterious mandalorian you’re traveling with leaves you to babysit his wrinkly green child-- a job you definitely don’t feel cut out for.  

Warnings: no real warnings in this one! let me know if there's something I missed!

A/N: I hope you all like it! as always let me know if you see any mistakes or anything! I know nothing crazy happens in this chapter but I hope it’s still entertaining and fun! afterall who can resist Grogu shenanigans? Also there may be some more hints about your past in this one so 👀

You hum lightly as you adjust in your seat, slowly blinking your eyes open as you gain consciousness, only to jolt upright at the unfamiliar scene of the cockpit around you. You had completely forgotten yesterday’s events in your sleep, so when you woke up initially you were expecting to be back in your old ship. Maker, you hurt all over. You don’t even remember falling asleep, the last thing you remember was the discussion you had with that stranger mandalorian. You quickly look to the pilot's seat next to you, suddenly remembering the armored man you were hitching a ride from. It's empty. He must have set the ship to autopilot while you snoozed away. How embarrassing. You usually wouldn't let yourself fall asleep in front of a stranger so readily, but after the events of yesterday--you must have been more exhausted than you thought. You stretch your shoulders back with a grimace, being sure to keep a hand on the helmet in your lap so it doesn’t fall. Kriff, you feel like you got swallowed up by a sarlacc pit and spit back out. The soreness from the crash yesterday has set in completely. You can feel the bruises lining your entire body, and all your muscles ache at even the slightest movement--not to mention your pounding headache. 

You’re pressing the base of one of your palms to your forehead to try and relieve some of the pressure when the cockpit door slides open. The mandalorian you met yesterday striding in, the babbling green baby in his arms. 

“Good, you’re awake. We’ll be landing on Corellia soon.” He explains as he sets the baby in the seat opposite to yours, buckling him in as he coos sleepily. 

“Corellia? Your guild outpost is on Corellia?” You squint up at him questioningly, palm still pressed to your head. Marker, the stars reflecting off his armor is making your head hurt worse. 

“No.” He doesn’t bother to look at you as he settles into the pilot’s seat. “No? What do you mean ‘no’? Why the kriff are we landing on Corellia then?” You lower your palm only a little off your head, as you continue to squint at him, growing irritated with him already. Can one person be any more frustrating? Maybe you're just in a bad mood because you're sore and tired…

“I have another bounty to collect.” 

“You--you what?!” oh no, your pounding headache has nothing to do with this. What the fuck does he mean, another bounty? This wasn’t part of the deal. 

“I have four pucks, I need four bodies. We’ll head to Nevarro after.” He tilts his helmet in your direction without looking at you while he explains. 

“You didn’t think to mention this before?” You’re glaring daggers into the side of his helmet, you couldn’t be more pissed off at this guy--

“You didn’t ask.” Nope. You were wrong, you could definitely be more pissed, and that response alone has almost sent you over the edge. “You’re more than welcome to find your own ship and meet me there if it’s a problem.” What an asshole. What an absolute fucking asshole. Maker, you hate him. He’s not even worth responding to. Turning back to stare out the cockpit window angrily, just absolutely seething as you sit there. 

The two of you don’t exchange another word as you drop out of hyperspace and descend into Corellia’s atmosphere. The mandalorian lands you in a remote forest area. You’ve taken more than your fair share of bounties on Corellia before. Honestly the planet is a shithole. Riddled with crime, and polluted to all hell. When you notice the mandalorian getting up to leave, you sigh and stand up yourself. You're sliding your helmet on, when he stops to  turn to you, “What are you doing?” You tilt your helmet at him confused, “What do you mean? Aren’t we leaving?” your voice comes out through the modulator of your helmet in a higher frequency than your natural voice, distorting it, making it sound tinny and strange. It always takes a minute to get used to it when you first put it back on.

“We?” He tilts his helmet back at you. 

“Uh? Yeah...didn’t you say you had one more bounty?” 

“Yes, but I don’t ever remember saying I needed your help. I need you to stay on the ship, watch the kid.” He notions over to Grogu still buckled in his seat, watching your conversation intently. 

“What? Ohhhh no! No way! I’m a bounty hunter not a fucking babysitter! You can’t surprise me with a pit stop, then expect me to watch your kid while you fuck off to do whatever. Give me your puck, I’ll go get the quarry, and you can watch your own child.” You hold out your hand expectantly for his bounty puck, but he doesn’t move. 

“You’re not doing my job for me. I’m not splitting anymore bounties with you. Watch the kid, make sure he stays safe.” He leans down and unbuckles the child, handing him to you, but you don't take him.

“We’ll get this over with faster if we both go, I don’t want to be on this shithole longer than we need to. He’ll be okay by himself for a little while, won't he? That’s what you would have done if I wasn't here isn't it?”  You cross your arms over your armored chest. How dare he? Make a surprise pitstop so he can run errands and just expect you to watch his kid for him without even asking you first. He’s still holding out the baby for you to take, like an idiot. 

“This planet isn’t safe and this quarry is dangerous. He’s an escaped convict and has been evading hunters for far too long. I’m not risking it. Stay on the ship, watch the child, or you can find your own ride.” he takes a step forward pushing the child into your arms, and this time you reluctantly take him. Not that you have much of a choice in the matter. Oh but the child is thrilled, babbling happily and reaching up to pap the edges of your helmet.

“Whatever asshole,” you hiss out, “just make it quick.” And with a nod, he turns and heads out. Maker, he is absolutely insufferable. Maybe you should just steal his ship and head off to Nevarro without him. Cash in his bounties, and leave him stranded. You chuckle to yourself at the thought of that shiny dumbass returning to find his ship is gone. You imagine he would panic, what an idiot he would feel like realizing you got the best of him. You’re snapped out of your daydream by the kid squealing at you excitedly as he lightly taps your helmet with his tiny hands. You can’t help but smile down at him under your helmet and offer your finger for him to hold. 

You realize, suddenly, what an actual dumbass that shiny wall of metal actually is. You 100% could steal his ship, and his quarries, but also his son. He’s trusting you with his child, after only having just met you the day before. You’re a bounty hunter, that fact alone makes you inherently untrustworthy. Let alone the fact that you’re wearing beskar armor. Armor which according to him belongs more to him than it does to you. What in the galaxy was he thinking? You look down at sweet little Grogu in your arms. If this was your child, you would rip apart the whole galaxy to find him if he ever went missing. You would reign war on anyone who dared touch him. There's no way you would dare to ever bring harm to any child--let alone this one. What an idiot...he got lucky this time. 

“Alright you little bean,” you move the child to your hip and make your way out of the cockpit to the ship's hull, “What should we do while we wait for your idiot dad to get back, hmm?” You boop his little nose gently with your finger and he giggles at you, grabbing onto your hand with his tiny fingers. “Lets see…,” you look around the hull for some toys or something--anything remotely looking like it belongs to the kid, but...there's nothing. In fact, if it weren’t for the child cooing on your hip, you wouldn’t know a baby lived on this ship at all. 

“Weird...where are you toys, little bug?” You cock your helmet at him, then decide to set him down on the ground. Maybe he knows where they are, and will help himself. When you set him down though, he just stands there at your feet, staring up at you with the biggest smile on his face, his little hand holding onto the side of your boot. Kriff, this kid is cute. “Alright buddy, we can look together. Lets go!” 

You start searching through the crates scattered about the hull. There's a lot of...junk? Some of it is important: Spare parts, tools, that kind of thing. You can’t even tell what some of this stuff is though, why the hell did he have so much junk on this ship? And better yet, why was there nothing for the baby? You search through everything, the child happily running around while you toss things around to search. There's nothing. A pit forms in your stomach, did this child really have no toys? What on earth was that mandalorian thinking? You’ll have to bring it up with him when he gets back. If it weren’t for the fact you were on kriffing Corellia, you would have taken the child to a market yourself and gotten him anything he wanted. 

You realize it's probably not on purpose. He was a mandalorian after all. If what the mandalorian you once knew told you was true, then the stranger mandalorian you met yesterday probably didn't have much of a childhood of his own. Mandalorians aren’t raised as children, they're raised as warriors. As if they came out of the womb with daggers for teeth. They're raised to be fierce and aggressive, for the whole galaxy to fear. You look down to the child happily clanking away with some tools on the floor, he’s so precious. He deserves more than that. This child is no mandalorian, in the same way you aren’t. You’ll definitely have a discussion with his father about it, nothing can change your mind now. 

You scoop him up in your arms and swing him up, lifting him into the air, and he squeals loudly at the sudden movement. His squealing turns into bursts of uncontrollable laughter while you swing him down and back up again, making a dramatic “Woosh!” through your helmet. He fails his arms up like he's on a rollercoaster, and you can't help but let out a chuckle and squeeze him back into your chest. Maker, he's so precious. You plant him on your hip and begin dancing with him, holding his little hand with yours, opposite to the one holding him on your hip as you waltz around the hull dramatically. His laughter is absolutely contagious, the both of you giggling while spinning around the hull like fools. You get carried away, and get a bit dizzy, having completely forgotten about your head injury. You trip over your own heels and fall unceremoniously straight onto your ass with an ‘oof’. You had made sure to fall in a way that wouldn't hurt the baby, but you immediately check on him first to make sure he’s uninjured.

“Oh shit, little bug, are you alright?” You hold him out in front of you, to get a better look. He seems surprised at first, but then breaks out into the biggest, most heart melting grin, and starts squealing and giggling happily like you falling was the best thing he has ever seen. His smile makes your heart swell warmly in your chest. It almost hurts how cute he is. You chuckle out lightly back at him, then collapse the rest of the way on the floor, Grogu sitting happily on your chest.

He crawls up and peers deep into your visor, while your head is resting on the floor. His little hands resting on the hollows of your helmet’s cheeks. You smile at him. You completely forgot you had it on. You lift your head slightly, and gently pull it off for him, setting it next to the both of you. His smile only grows wider, something you didn't think was possible, and he presses his hands to your now exposed cheeks. He must find you fascinating, the way his tiny hands explore every part of your face. He touches your lips and your eyes, seeming to love how you squeeze them tight with his uncomfortable pokes, he touches your eyebrows and the hair falling around your face, he grabs onto your nose, and you gasp dramatically, just to get a reaction out of him, before you're both giggling again. 

This child deserves nothing but the best, you think to yourself as he nuzzles into your neck. You bring a hand up to gently stroke the top of his fuzzy head, your other coming up to tweak those big ol’ ears. His little body is so warm, you can feel his tiny heart beat against yours as your snuggles into you. You don’t yet know how the mandalorian came upon this child, but you understand why he took him in. How could anyone resist those big bug eyes, or his expressive ears, or his wrinkly green skin, soft as a peach. You’re kind of glad you got stuck as the babysitter today. 

You turn to look at the helmet resting next to you on the floor, and you feel an ache in your chest when it hits you. This is the most you’ve smiled since he left you. You can’t even remember the last time you laughed, a real laugh, since he left you, alone. You’ve been nonstop on the move trying to distract yourself after he passed. Taking bounty after bounty never stopping to rest. The baby squirms a bit in your arms, and you pull him closer to you, squeezing him ever so lightly. You push away your sad thoughts as you press your face to the top of his fuzzy head and take a deep breath. Savoring the moment with this precious child. 

------------------------------

You should have appreciated that moment more while it was happening. You had no idea how much of an actual nightmare this child could be. He was running you ragged, you couldn’t keep your eyes off him for two seconds without him trying to either break out of the ship, or getting into trouble somewhere on it. At one point he even snuck behind the control panel and was hiding in the wires, poking at things he definitely shouldn’t be. It took you a full hour to coax him out of there, terrified the whole time he was going to electrocute himself, and you would have to explain yourself to his beskar adorning father. Whatever precious being you thought he was earlier? Long gone. Grogu was a monster, a demon in disguise. The most terrifying creature in the galaxy.

“What do you have?” you call out to him, when you notice he has something he probably shouldn't in his hands. He breaks into a full on sprint, running to hide from you, popping whatever it was into his mouth. “NO!” You yell so loud as you launch yourself at him and tackle him reaching in his little mouth to grab a piece of--you don’t even know what--and take it away. He struggles against your grip and takes off again hiding somewhere in the hull. You spend the next 30 minutes, at least, looking for him. The worst game of hide and seek imaginable.

Now, he's wailing, screaming out in a shrill, terrible cry in your arms. Maker, if you didn't know any better you would think he was dying. As much as you were judging the mandalorian’s parenting earlier, you admit, you have no clue what you're doing. You’re a bounty hunter, you don’t know how to care for a child--a baby! You’re bouncing him helplessly in your arms, shushing him lightly, “It’s okay little bean, everything is okay shh...it's alright…” but it's not working. If anything he's crying even harder now in your arms. Maker, you're at your wits end. You’re exhausted, and so sore. You thought you hurt when you first woke up? Oh boy, nothing could have prepared you for how you feel now after running around after this child all day. His screeching is only making your head pound harder than it already was. You sigh raggedly and slump to the floor in the corner of the hull next to where your things are still laying, Grogu still wailing in your arms. 

You tiredly turn your head to look in the direction of your bags. What could you possibly want? What can you do to help him? Maybe you just have to wait it out...wait a minute--wait! He's probably hungry! Oh maker, how did you not realize it sooner? Neither of you have eaten all day. You quickly start digging through your things with one arm, Grogu sobbing helplessly in your other. You’re a fool, you could have saved you both so much suffering. You find what you brought of your rations as quickly as you can. The baby’s crying immediately settles down to a couple weak hiccups and sniffles when he hears the wrapper of a ration bar in your hand. 

You settle him down gentle in your lap, facing him forward so he can lean back against you. He reaches his little hands out impatiently while you unwrap the ration bar for him, “hang on little bug, it’s coming. I'm sorry you're probably so hungry…” you finish unwrapping it and break off a piece to give to him, and he swallows the whole piece immediately. “Whoa little guy, don’t eat too fast, take it easy.” you let out a laugh as you break off another, smaller, piece and feed it to him. You take a bite for yourself too. You don’t have much of an appetite to be honest. You’re not sure if it's because you're so sore from the crash or what, but you make sure you eat anyway. 

He eats 2 whole ration bars himself, it's pretty impressive. As soon as he was done eating, he turned around facing you and reached up with his little grabby hands to be held. When you held him in your arms, he almost immediately fell asleep. Nap time, thank the maker. You stand ever so carefully as to not wake him, and head to the little alcove on the other side of the hull. You assume this is where the mandalorian sleeps, you wouldn’t think it's big enough for a man of his size, but the pillows and blankets lining it tell you otherwise. There's a hammock on the inside, you assume that's for the baby, it's perfectly his size. You set him in it and wrap him tightly in his blanket. You let out a sigh of relief at the sight of him sleeping peacefully, instead of reigning anymore terror on you and the ship. He was probably acting up because he missed his dad. You stroke his little head gently a couple times with your thumb, he's back to being the most precious creature in the universe. You press a button on the wall besides the alcove and a metal door slides down enclosing the peacefully sleeping baby so he won’t be disturbed. 

You stretch your arms over your head, then twist your waist to let out some of the tension. You feel like you got absolutely steam rolled. You decide to head to the fresher, just to splash some water on your face, something, anything to help with the utter exhaustion your feeling. When you step in, you’re surprised just how small it is. It's cramped in here for sure. You sigh as you lean over the sink, your arms barely managing to support your weight as you lean into it. When you look in the mirror you're shocked at your own reflection staring back at you. You’re a mess. You have a huge bruise across the left side of your face, which must have been from when you hit your head on the console yesterday. You didn’t even realize how tender it was because of how much pain you're in altogether. Your fingers brush over your swollen cheek. Maker, your hair was a mess too. You pull it out of your ponytail and smooth it down the best you can. 

You glance at the miniscule shower next to you. The mandalorian wouldn’t mind right? Y'know what? Who gives a kriff! He's the one who made you babysit his child without warning, he owes you this shower. You leave the fresher momentarily to grab some fresh clothes, before returning and starting the water, filling the tiny fresher with steam. You begin the tedious task of removing all your armor. You’ve gotten much quicker at it, and with each piece of beskar you remove, you instantly feel relief, your body no longer having to support all that weight. 

You think back to the first couple times you put the armor on. You had the hardest time with it, all of the different fasteners and magnetic pieces, you couldn't figure out what went where. Not to mention everything was way too big on you, so you had to figure out a way to layer underneath it so it would fit. You looked so awkward the first few times while you went through trial and error, figuring out what worked for you and what didn’t. And taking it off? You don’t want to be reminded.

You’ve come so far since then, easily stripping down all your layers, your beskar now a pile on the fresher floor. You look back to yourself in the mirror, seeing all the dark purple and blue bruises lining your whole body. A clear ‘X’ across your chest from your seatbelt in the crash. You definitely took quite the beating. No wonder you were so sore. Stepping into the hot water was instant relief against your aching muscles, and you savored every minute of it. Nothing beats the feeling of hot water running through your hair. Maker, a shower has never felt so good. 

You make a point to get out quickly, in case the baby gets up. You definitely didn't want to, but you had to be practical. You dry off and change into new under clothes, before armorning back up fully, and exiting the fresher. You check on the baby, he's still sleeping soundly, so you close the door to the alcove again to allow him to finish napping. You grab your helmet off the floor where you left it and climb up to the cockpit, settling down in your respective seat. You hum as you lean back, you feel so much better. You’re tempted to get a nap in yourself, but you can’t. Not until the mandalorian comes back and you leave the surface of this planet. He was right when he said it wasn’t safe. Corellia was absolutely crime ridden, polluted, and dangerous. You dreaded coming here every time, but you know you’ll always have bounties to grab that will bring you back here. 

You really hope he doesn’t take too long grabbing this quarry. You’re not sure how long you can handle watching this child. Grogu was adorable, but after today you’re dreading the thought of being alone with him again for much longer. You groan remembering you chased a bounty for two weeks once--and how he mentioned this bounty was an expert evader. You shudder at the thought of being alone with this child for two weeks. No way, you wouldn't be able to handle it, you would be taking more from his cut of your bounty, it's not worth the 50/50 split at that point. Suddenly it dawns on you, you're paying this asshole five thousand credits to watch his kid for him! He should be paying you! 

“Asshole!” Your voice rings out through the cockpit, with no one but you to hear it. You’re glaring out the front window when you notice movement, you sit up straighter and peer out more intensely hoping for that shiny beskar to reveal itself through the trees, but it’s not him.

----

Oh the relief he feels when he sees your seemingly abandoned ship in the woods. “Thank the maker…” He breathes out to himself, then hurries up to it. He’s been stranded on Corellia far too long, he ended up here on complete accident and had no way off. He felt extremely lucky the underground gang rings on this planet were keeping the bounty hunters busy. 

He walks up and is surprised to find the ramp to the ship is already lowered, “hah, morons!” he chuckles to himself as he happily boards the mysterious and worn down ship. It's old, but as long as it can get him off this planet, he doesn't care. Should be easy enough to hotwire at least. A quick look around and he can see just how much junk is in here. Crates everywhere. “Jackpot…” he knows he can find some idiot to sell all of it to, and he’ll be walking away with not only a new ship, but a pocket full of credits too! 

Lost in his daydream of what he’s going to spend his future credits on, he heads up to the cockpit and sits in the pilot's seat, “alrighty...let’s see...how do I---” he’s cut off suddenly by the feeling of cold metal to the side of his head. He gulps audibly as the sound of your safety flicking off echoes through the cockpit. “l-listen--I….I don't want any trouble okay? I’m just--just trying to get a ride out of here...”

“Oh, you’ll be getting a ride out of here alright.” Your voice modulated and tinny as it runs through the highpass filter of your helmet. “You picked the wrong ship to board my friend…” Your voice lowers to a threatening level, “who are you?” 

“C-cadan Vamma...please...I’ll leave right now, no trouble! Like I wasn’t even here!” He turns his head slightly to look at you, his hands held up in surrender, and you allow it. The gasp he lets out at the sight of your visor fills you with satisfaction. He starts rambling in his panic, “L-look! I...I dont---I dont know how much they’re offering you--but--but I can...I-I can double it!” 

Suddenly you have an idea of what's going on here, was this the big bad bounty the mandalorian was hunting? The one he said was so dangerous? You want to laugh, but not with the quarry himself in front of you. “Get up.” You snap out at him and nudge him with your blaster. He immediately shoots up without hesitation, hands still out in front of him in surrender. 

You nudge him towards the exit to the cockpit, towards the hull, “move it!” You press your blaster into his back to encourage him forward, and he complies, easily. There's no way--nooo way this was the bounty the mandalorian was talking about earlier. This guy is a joke, trembling as he moves to the hull of the ship. You force him to make his way to the middle, right in front of the ramp. 

“Sit.” You command, blaster still at his back. He complies without any hesitation, it makes you smile under your helmet. This was easy, you could do this anyday. You stand next to him and stare down at him, squaring your shoulders to try and seem as imposing as you can. He stares into your visor, absolute fear written all over his face. You don't even have to try, you almost feel bad for him. You grab a pair of cuffs from your belt and toss them down at his feet, “put those on.” You can’t help but smile under your helmet as he does. His trembling hands struggling to do so. You take a seat across from him, not moving your visor off him for a second. Simply to mess with him. You know he won’t run, but you’re having fun making him squirm under your stare. 

“Uh...what--uhh...so what now?” He has no idea what your plan is, why you haven't thrown him in carbonite yet is an absolute mystery to him. 

“Shut it.” 

“O-okay no problem.” 

You both sit there in absolute silence. You don’t move the gaze of your visor off him, and he’s trying to look anywhere but. Lets see how long it takes that moron of a mandalorian to get back here.

“Can I use the fresher? I haven’t gone since earlier today and let me tell you--” “I said,” you tilt your helmet and point your blaster back at him, “Shut it.” 

You both hear footsteps come up the ramp, then halt suddenly right at the entrance, and you see Cadan’s eyes widen in horror. You finally break your gaze from the quarry, “ahh finally you made it back.” you quip at the armored man towering at the entrance. You see the shiny mandalorian just staring at the quarry, sitting in the middle of his ship, cuffed, and you can tell he's confused. His visor snaps to you, and you nod to confirm. That's the bounty he's been looking for all day, waiting for him at his ship. You almost wish he could see the shit eating grin on your face right now. This whole scene is hilarious. 

“Guess I didn’t have to come with you after all!” You shrug 

Cadan finally shakes from his horror, “They sent not one, but TWO mandalorians after me? For some petty property theft? Is this a joke?” 

You lean back from where you’re sitting on the floor, relaxing your whole stance. Oh this just keeps getting better. “Oh man, property theft huh? One hell of a criminal.” You’re not even looking at Cadan, instead you’re tilting your helmet mockingly at the mandalorian in the doorway with your words. He just stares back at you in silence. Oh he's mad, you realize. Doesn’t like being mocked in front of his bounty apparently. You can't help the light chuckle that escapes you for just a second. 

The quarry snaps his gaze to you when he hears you, “Are you--are you laughing at me?!” He seems beyond offended, and that makes you want to laugh more. The mandalorian suddenly strides over to the quarry and lifts him roughly by the collar. “H-hey! Hey! Okay come on now--you don't gotta be like that--we can work out a deal or something?” The armored man says nothing as he walks Cadan to the carbonite chamber.

“I don’t bargain with quarry.”  He spits out finally through the modulator of his helmet as he hits the button, filling the carbonite chamber with gas, freezing Cadan Vamma in a permanent state of fear. Now you laugh, like really laugh. You can’t help it. 

“So that was your super dangerous bounty? The one you’ve been hunting all day for? The one who just wandered onto the ship like a moron?” 

“Where's the kid?” He’s clearly not finding this as hilarious as you are, which only makes it better. 

“He's sleeping.” You nod towards the alcove, “Don’t wake him, he's been a nightmare.”

“Figured he would be.” and with that he's making his way up to the cockpit, closing the ramp behind him. You decide to follow him up after a moment, you have to relish in this a little longer. 

By the time you make it up he's already sitting in his seat, and you bounce over to sit next to him. Oh you are in a fantastic mood now. You pull off your helmet and take a deep breath in, you turn to look at him only to find he's already looking at you. 

“What? Sorry, did I embarrass you too much in front of the bounty?” you tease lightly, but he just looks away from you and back to the control panel in front of him, already starting up the engine, saying nothing in return. 

“Aww,” your tone only growing in its mocking nature, “Got nothing to say big guy?” 

“Nope.” 

“Ooo...,” You pretend to wince at his short response, “I must have really embarrassed you then,” and you can't help but laugh a loud hearty laugh. What a fool you made of him back there. “Escaped convict,” you continue to chuckle to yourself, “Evading hunters for for too long,” you mock and continue to snicker. 

“You done?” He finally turns his visor to you, and you can’t help the shit eating grin still smack dab across your face. 

“Oh don’t be such a stick in the mud, shiny!” He deserves to be kicked down a couple pegs, it's what he gets for being such an asshole earlier. He just shakes his head with a distorted, modulated sigh, and continues takeoff. 

The two of you sit in silence while you break through the atmosphere and into the familiar darkness of space. He sets the autopilot, punching the coordinates for Nevarro into the nav comp, before standing and making his way out of the cockpit. You take the moment alone to get comfortable, slouching in your seat, pulling your knees up and resting them against the dashboard. You pull your helmet in close to your chest and take a deep breath in, gazing out at all the stars. The sight still takes your breath away. 

You thought by now you would be used to it, but you couldn’t have been more wrong. Everytime you see the beauty of starlight surrounding you, you fall more and more in love with the sight of it. And now, the stars hold a whole new meaning for you, every single one of them, the sight of them clustered and beautifly scattered around, the sight of them blurring past you in hyperspace, no matter where or how they looked, they all remind you of him. You let your mind drift off to a memory, the first time he whisked you off in his ship and through the atmosphere of your home planet.

*** You squeezed your hands to the arm rests of your seat as you ascended through the atmosphere, clenching your jaw tight. Maker, you were absolutely terrified. You hear his laugh cut through the roaring engine of the ship as he catches sight of just how scared you are. You want to yell at him, be angry with him, how could he be laughing at you right now? But you can't, Your stomach is in knots, and your grip tightens on the seat. You’re too scared right now to form any sort of retaliation at him. The rattling of the ship is so forien to you as it rushes to break through the planet's gravitational pull and into space.

“Relax, sweetheart!” He looks back to you for just a second, touching his hand to yours, which is still desperately gripping the armrest for dear life. “Don’t you trust me?” 

“Not really!” You admit, your voice coming out as just a squeak through your tight lungs. You swear you haven’t breathed since the ship left the surface. He lets out another hearty laugh at your honesty, turning his attention back to his flying. 

You get the feeling he can definitely fly smoother than this, he must be showing off, trying to impress you. It’s not working. You clamp your eyes shut, not being able to keep them open while the ship rushes into space.

Suddenly though, the whole ship settles, relaxes, and everything is calm, you can barely feel the ship moving anymore. The engine beneath you now reduced down to a low hum. You open your eyes and--

“Maker!” You gasp out, lifting out of your seat as much as you can with your seatbelt on. The sight that hits your eyes through the cockpit window is unlike anything you have ever seen. The faint twinkling of thousands of stars stretching over and painting the darkness of space in front of you. You’ve never seen anything more beautiful, it swells in your chest, and you feel tears begin to well up behind your eyes. You’re barely breathing, but for a whole different reason now. 

“You like it?” His voice is so soft, barely above a murmur, as he stares longingly at you. The way you’re totally mesmerized by it fills his heart in such a special way, a way he doesn't quite have a word for yet. You can’t even respond, you’re so blown away by the beauty in front of you, unable to find words to describe the stunning sight in front of you. He turns completely towards you and carefully takes your hand in his.

“This is-- I…” You reluctantly take your eyes off the view from the cockpit window, and into his visor, “I’ve never-- It’s...it’s beautiful…” You wistfully stare back out the window unable to focus on anything else. You want to soak it all in, commit every single star to memory, and store it away so you can dream of them every night. 

“Not nearly as beautiful as you, cyar’ika…” He squeezes your hand lightly, taking in every detail of you, in the same way you are the stars. You can’t help but break your gaze to look back at him again. Hearing the endearing term in his mother tongue never fails to make your heart race. He just continues to stare at you, visor tilted, while he gingerly runs his thumb over your knuckles. 

“Pick one.” He nods out to the sea of stars before you.

“Huh?” You once again look to the stars, “What do you mean, pick one?” 

“Any one of them,” he scoots to the edge of his seat and grabs your other hand in his free one, leaning closer to you, “Just point, point to any of them, and that's where I’ll take you.” There's a sort of excitement in his voice, some kind of...something you can’t quite place.

“I...What are you saying?” You can't help but laugh lightly at how ridiculous he’s being. Suddenly he stands from his seat, unbuckles your seatbelt and pulls you up with him. He walks you up so the both of you are pressed against the control panel, as close to the front of the ship as you can possibly be. He wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you in close, squeezing you to his chest, and turning to the side so you can still admire the view with him. 

“Come with me, mesh’la.” He leans forward resting the front of his helmet to the top of your head. You look up at him, surprised, not quite understanding. “Come with me, and I will take you anywhere you want to go.” He rests a finger under your chin to pull your gaze even farther into his, “Come with me, and these stars will be yours to look at every single day. Let me take you to see every single one of them, until you can’t bear to look at another star ever again.” He pauses to take a deep breath, spilling his heart out to you is making him breathless, “I want to show you every planet, every moon, I want to show you the most beautiful things this galaxy has to offer…I want to travel the galaxy with you by my side, mesh’la. No one else.” He slides a hand up to cup your cheek, stroking his thumb gently over it. 

You feel like you’re shaking, your tears are threatening to spill out any second at the beautiful confession laid out before you. Your words are stuck in your throat, you can’t respond. You just stare wide eyed into his visor, your heart practically beating out of your chest. You can’t say anything, your words caught in your throat. “Will you come with me?” His voice is so quiet, so caring, so genuine. He tilts his helmet slightly and touches it gently to your forehead, and you close your eyes at the gesture, wanting to soak it all in.

You pull away from him just enough that you can turn back towards the window of the cockpit in front of you. He’s confused, his hands holding onto your waist as you take a moment to stare out at the vast amount of stars in front of you. You can feel him nervously grip you the longer you stare out without saying anything, worried you might reject him, but then you shoot your arm out and point out the window, taking him by surprise, “That one.” It’s truly all you can manage, and you hope he understands. You know he does, when he steps behind you and leans his helmet to your level, right next to your ear.

“That one? Are you sure?” His voice is barely above a whisper at this point, but you can still hear the smile in his voice.

“I’m sure,” You turn your head to smile at him, “that's the one.” 

***

You’re suddenly sucked back to the present when you hear the mandalorian make his way up the ladder of the cockpit, Grugo tucked in the bend of one of his arms. You lower your knees and sit up in your seat, as he lowers into his, setting the sleepy baby in his lap. 

“You woke him?” You question. Doesn’t he realize what hell you went through to get him to sleep? “He was fussing when I got out of the fresher.” He gently strokes Grogu’s wrinkly green skin with his thumb and you can’t help but smile. “He missed you.” You tilt your head and boop the baby gently in the nose. He’s so sleepy he barely reacts. Back to being the most precious creature in the galaxy. “Oh yeah, that reminds me!” The mandalorian turns his attention to you, so you continue, “Please tell me I just wasn’t looking hard enough and you have some toys for this child.” You give a firm glare to the visor. 

The armored man just reaches out and unscrews a metal ball from the top of a lever on the control panel, “He likes this.” The baby immediately coos and sleepily reaches out for it as the mandalorian drops it into his tiny hands. He...he can’t be serious? 

“I...you’re joking right? That's not a toy! That's a hunk of metal!” you groan exasperatedly and run a hand through your hair, trying to keep your cool. For someone so shiny, he was pretty damn dim in the head. “As soon as we get to Nevarro, I’m getting this kid some toys, and it’s coming out of your half of the cut!” You point at him sternly. “Stars, you really don’t know what you're doing do you? He’s a baby! He probably wouldn't act out so much if he had something to do!” The mandalorian doesn't say anything, just watches the baby in his arms while he sleepily plays with the smooth metal ball in his hands. You aren’t sure why you were expecting more of an argument from him, but maybe you were right. You get the feeling this mandalorian truly had no idea what he was doing at all, just trying his best to take care of the baby, alone, the best he could, while turning in just enough bounties to get by. It must be hard for him. It was hard enough for you all alone, you can only imagine how much harder it is with a child to care for. 

“How’d you find him?” Your tone has softened significantly. As much as you don’t like this guy, you feel for his situation.

“He was my bounty.” He only lifts his gaze to you when you audibly choke on air, nearly shooting out of your seat. 

“He what?!” You don’t mean to shout that loud, but that was definitely not the answer you were expecting. 

“I turned him in, but I had to go back for him. Didn’t feel right. We had the whole guild after us for a while. I couldn’t let them bring any harm to him.” There's a certain softness in his voice that you haven't heard from him before. “So I took him in, a foundling, just as I once was, until I can get him back to his kind.” 

“You’re a foundling?” The question came out quicker than you meant it to. You aren’t super familiar with mandalorian culture, but you know some, and the concept of a foundling was one you knew. Mandalorians that are adopted, rather than born into the culture. Orphans, picked up and adopted by mandalorians and raised as their own. The shiny wall of beskar next to you only nods before returning his attention to the child. The baby is barely able to keep his head up, using all of his remaining willpower to clutch the metal ball between his hands as he nods off. 

“Looks like it's time for someone to go back to bed,” you reach out gently stroking the child's cheek with the back of your finger. The mandalorian slowly stands, careful not to disturb him, and starts to make his way out of the cockpit. 

“We have a ways to go before we make it to Nevarro. You should get some rest.” He calls out to you before descending the ladder to the hull.

“You too, shiny!” You return, but don’t get a response. You shift in your seat to get comfortable, resting your head on your shoulder as you bring your knees back up to where they were earlier. You hold your helmet on your hands and peer into the visor, letting the familiar gaze comfort you with old memories, until you drift to sleep.

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