#but he has a mythosaur toy to hug for now

[itstimeforstarwars]

How about a doodle of Myles and Derry when they were kids?

Here we are!

Derry had a (first) date, but Throckmorton broke their arm while spaceboarding so now the sibling who was supposed to babysit Myles is taking Throckmorton to the doctor, and Derry has to stay home with Myles.

They'll end up playing Bounty Hunter together and then watching a movie and stealing all the good bangcorn that Throckmorton keeps in their room.

[incorrectpizza]

So...Nerd Club watched the Star Wars Holiday Special*

"Wookiee domestic drama."

"So. Wookiees have regular 70s kitchens."

"Was this the first appearance of Kashyykkk?" "Yeah." "You see. Even the worst Star Wars stuff has cool lore."

"Star Wars. Stop traumatizing me."

"Is this like. A pawn shop or something?"

"That's kind of cool, actually."

"Is this the Imperial toy shop?"

"Next to 'I hate sand,' I think people should be memeing this. I know maybe people are trying to respect George Lucas, but I don't care."

"Back to Wookiee sitcom."

"This is me getting home for Christmas."

"Man, his wife needs better things to do."

"Honestly, I feel like this could be good...like, show the domestic impacts of fascism."

"Gotta love George Lucas's obsession with scantily-clad alien women."

"Okay. Were they high when they did this?" "Yes."

"I want to know what they were on because that was the good stuff."

"I will say this is an actual depiction of a very lame Christmas. Like, watching some random stuff on the TV when you're just bored. Like, I can understand. This is very low-fantasy for Star Wars. This is some gritty stuff."

"This is like an Empire, high-ranking member, just breaking into someone's house, sitting down and watching YouTube."

"The environmental animation, at least, is good."

"Clone Wars should have been animated in this style."

"That's like a cereal box dinosaur!"

"It's a Mythosaur!" "That's kind of awesome."

Pointing at C-3PO "The fact they made him blink AND GAVE HIM EYEBROWS."

"All right. I think I will officially be dead after this."

"I think it's kind of funny how it's just wookiees watching TV. While Imperials are in their house."

"They were so high during this."

"Star Wars was high. I feel so bad for Star Wars."

"Isn't she from the Golden Girls? Oh yes, she is!"

"Is that Kool-Aid, or is that Mountain Dew."

"This is kinda cute. This is kinda cute. He's kinda cursed, you know. But he's also cute."

"I just wanna know when Leia shows up."

"This is very Orwellian. Like, 1984."

"Where are they going off to now?"

"The wookiees are going to heaven?"

"WAIT, DID THE DROIDS GO TO HEAVEN TOO?"

"If you look at Luke, the makeup stylist just had an off day." "Everyone had an off day." "Everyone had an off year."

"It's so bad it's so good."

"I feel like if you didn't have enough of a budget you shouldn't have made this. I don't know if it was budget, but it was something."

"The only worthwhile scene from that was Han hugging Chewie's family. And Boba Fett riding a dinosaur is pretty cool."

*Not the entire holiday special, just a few scenes here and there, it was pure torture for some, hilarious for others.

[theeasternempress]

Baby’s First Stuffed Animal

Chapter One of “All in One Day”

There are going to be four total “Baby’s First”s in this part, which is different from what I’ve done before. 

Summary - A stop at a local market gives Din and his son something that money can’t buy. 

AO3 

Just like every morning since they left Nevarro after their final fight, Din woke up calmly without jolting awake like he used to. The time Din was spending with his son had left him the happiest and most relaxed he had been in decades. The baby was still sleeping in Din’s lap, snoring softly. Looking out the windows of the cockpit, Din saw that the snowstorm from yesterday had ended and a blanket of snow had fallen across the ground. It was only a few inches, so it wouldn’t cause any problems for their trek to the market. The early morning sun reflected against the ground, highlighting certain spots to make them appear as if they were glowing.

Din preferred going to markets early in the morning because there would be less people and he would draw less eyes. The child was still asleep, so Din tucked him into his bassinet and began the walk to the market with the bassinet floating at his side. The child would wake soon and would cry if he saw that his father was not near. Din also wanted to buy the child some new toys and clothes and wanted the child’s approval before he bought them.  

The snow crunching under Din’s boots was the only sound of the early morning in the market town. The few people awake at this hour were either merchants or other people who wanted to shop without the presence of large crowds. Din wanted to stock up on supplies for at least another month, but he also wanted to buy some street food for the child and himself as a special treat. The child loved any kind of meat that Din provided for him, so he was sure that he would find something from a street vendor that the child would gobble up. 

The first stall that Din came across sold portions of veg-meat and polystarch bread, of which Din bought many. They also sold dried fruit, which contained many of the same nutrients as regular fruit but didn’t go bad as fast, so Din traded credits for those as well. 

Moving on, Din heard soft babbles from the bassinet on his right and looked over to see that the child was awake and staring at him. Din reached out to affectionately stroke one of his son’s ears and the child sighed sweetly in response. 

The next few stalls had nothing that Din was interested in, but he could see that the child was absorbing everything he saw with curious eyes. Din eventually found a stall that sold clothes and found a set of pants and shirt that would fit the child. As Din reached into his pocket to pay, the vendor, who had just finished with another customer, asked, “Is that your child?” as she pointed to the bassinet at Din’s side. The child was peeking his head out and staring at the clothes in front of him with wide eyes. 

Din responded with a quick, “Yes,” before dropping a few credits into the vendor’s open palm.

“If you are looking for supplies for a child, there’s an old woman named Eila a few stalls over that sell things for children.” The vendor said, pointing Din in the direction of said stall. Din nodded and began his way over to said stall. Even from a distance, the stand stood out to him because of the colorful toys on display. The child must have noticed as well because he began to coo excitedly. 

A woman with grey hair, whom Din presumed to be Eila, noticed him making his way to her stall and smiled at him with a, “Welcome, Mandalorian. What can I help you with?”

Din nodded at her and said, “I’m looking for some toys for my son.” As Din finished his sentence, the child reached out of his bassinet and grabbed the table, using it as leverage to pull himself out. Din instantly reached out to grab him and pull him to his chest, but Eila only laughed.

“It seems he is excited for some new toys,” she said with amusement in her voice. The child was reaching above his head with grabby hands, clearly seeing something he wanted. Din looked to see what it was and saw that it was a stuffed animal in the shape of a mythosaur. Its face looked almost identical to the pendant that the child refused to part from, which was probably why he was drawn to it. There was only one problem; the stuffed mythosaur was at least three times the size of the baby. If he kept it in his bassinet, which he was bound to do, it would easily engulf him with its size. 

Eila laughed again and said, “He likes the mythosaur. I admit that I’ve been trying to sell that for a while, and no better client than a Mandalorian’s child. Would you like to have it?”

“Yes, please. How much do I owe you?” Din asked, putting the baby back in his bassinet. 

Eila shook her head as she pulled the mythosaur down and placed it in Din’s hands, “You can have it free of charge. I haven’t seen a child this cute be this excited over a toy in a long time.”

Surprised by her kindness, Din only managed to say, “Thank you.”  

Seeing the toy he so desperately wanted in his father’s hands, the child reached out of his bassinet and grabbed at the toy while whimpering. Quick to stop any possible crying, Din placed the mythosaur into the child’s outstretched arms. He quickly disappeared behind the huge toy, but Din saw him wrap his arms around it and snuggle into it. 

“May I ask you a question?” the vendor whispered, pulling Din from the moment he was having with his son. He nodded, knowing she was probably going to ask him a question about his culture.

“Do you remove your armor to hold him?” she asked unexpectedly. Din had never thought to do so as the child seemed perfectly content whenever Din held him. 

“No, I do not,” Din replied. 

Eila nodded and expressed, “Babies form better bonds when they can feel the warmth of their parent’s skin. I understand that you are a Mandalorian, but surely you are able to take a private moment to remove your armor to hold the little one. Skin-to-skin contact is necessary for proper development in children and while I know nothing of his species, I’m sure it would only help him.”

Din wasn’t sure what to say back. He wanted to be the best possible father to his son, so would that mean removing the armor that was meant to protect himself and his son? It would not be against the Creed to remove his armor to hold his son, so why did the idea of doing so scare Din so much?

“I’ll think about it,” was Din’s response. For most, such a phrase has a “no” hidden behind it, but Din is someone who chooses his words carefully to ensure the meaning behind them. The woman smiled and replied, “I understand. May I recommend some other things for you to take home with you for your little one?”

In the end, Din walked away with several illustrated children’s books, a music box, some art supplies and paper, and two more sets of clothes for the child. Din also purchased two meat kebabs from a vendor as breakfast for himself and the child. Happy with his purchases for the day, Din began to make his way back to the Razor Crest. The child was still happily snuggled into the belly of his new toy, grasping it tightly as if he never wanted to let go. 

Once back on the Razor Crest, Din began to put his purchases away while the child ran around the ship, dragging the mythosaur behind him by its tail and giggling loudly. Din couldn’t help but smile at the happy image of his tiny baby dragging his huge toy behind him. Din’s thoughts brought him back to the words of Eila and he sighed deeply. As he watched his son run in a circle with the mythosaur at his heels, he was reminded of the fact that he would sacrifice everything for this child. He had already risked his career and life for his son, now he would sacrifice his armor.

Din began the process of removing his chest and shoulder plates while continuing to watch his child playing. After running in a circle for so long, the child became dizzy and tired, plopping onto the ground and breathing heavily. Din reached down to pick up his son, who was more than happy to be held. Pressing him to his chest, Din heard the child sigh at being able to feel the warmth of Din’s chest. He brought his little hands up to grasp at his shirt and rested another hand over Din’s heart. 

The affection and love of the moment brought a flow of unstoppable words from Din’s mouth, “Listen, little one, I’ve never really had another person to spend my time with so I’m not really good with my words or actions. I … I want to be a good dad to you, but I’m not sure how to do that. No matter what, I promise you that I’m always going to take care of you, protect you, and keep you happy. You make me very happy and if you’re even half as happy in my company as I am in yours, then I think I’ve succeeded.”

As Din continued to feel his son against his chest for the first time, the words just continued to spill from his mouth. He told his son of his own parents and how they sacrificed themselves for him and that Din was prepared to do the same for his child. He told him how the foundlings were highly valued among Mandalorians and that family was extremely important to them. How to be a Mandalorian was to be prepared to lay your life down for your family at any time. 

“You are my ad, my son, and I am your buir, your father. I will protect you always and I will love you always,” Din finished, leaning down to press his forehead to the top of his child’s head. The baby cooed and Din leaned back up to look at his son. The baby grabbed the fabric near his shoulders to pull himself up in order to wrap his arms around Din’s neck in a hug. Din sighed and embraced his son, grateful to the wise old woman who had helped him bond with his baby.

[theeasternempress]

Baby’s First Mess

Chapter Three of “All In One Day”

Summary - Din’s baby gets into his new art supplies when Din isn’t looking and creates the biggest mess that Din has ever seen. 

AO3 

After reading his son to sleep, Din realized that he had nothing to do to occupy his time. When he was caring for the child and bounty hunting, he felt like there weren’t enough hours in a day to complete everything he had to get done. Now that he was taking some time away from his job, there was nothing for him to do once the baby was tucked away in his bassinet. 

Looking out the window of the cockpit, Din stared at the snow-covered ground in front of him. The child usually slept for an hour or so once he was napping, so Din figured that it would be fine to leave him alone for a bit while he did some work on the ship’s exterior. He had been meaning to do so for some time and now seemed like the perfect opportunity. Grabbing his tools and doing a quick check-up on his son, Din dropped the hatch to begin his work. 

The first thing that Din cleaned was the ship’s headlights. A simple thing, but vital when you needed them. After all, a cloudy lens was practically useless. Moving on to the landing gear, Din used his tools to tighten every screw and ensured that the landing gear’s sensors were functioning properly. Once all three landing gears were cleared, Din made his way to the repulsor grilles along the side of the ship. They were always hard to clean and maintain, but they were extremely important during takeoff.  

Soon enough, Din had finished his repair of the grilles. Time had slipped by and Din wasn’t sure how long he had been out for, but he hoped it wasn’t long enough for his child to have woken up. There was more repairing to do, but Din would leave that for another day. Packing up his tools, Din dropped the hatch and stepped into the ship.

When he heard soft noises as soon as he stepped inside, Din was instantly alarmed. Had his son not slept well without his father there? Had he had a nightmare and woken himself up in fear only to see his father was not there to comfort him? Had he been sick again and for a second time, Din hadn’t noticed?

Din’s questions were soon answered when he spotted his son, paintbrush in hand, splattering paint across the walls of the ship’s hull. Laying around him were the paints and crayons that Din had bought him earlier that morning and as Din looked around, he could see scribbles and splatters across the ship. They didn’t reach very high, but they were all along every wall in the hull. He could see that the paint was still wet, but the waxy residue from the crayons would be difficult to remove. 

The clatter of Din’s toolbox hitting the ground after falling from his grip in shock alerted his son to his presence. He giggled and cooed, dropping the paintbrush in his grasp to happily make his way to his father. Din was still stunned speechless as he stared at the colorful streaks along the walls. Even the tugging at the hem of his pants didn’t pull his attention from the mess his child had made. As soon as the child whimpered and yanked at his leg, Din tilted his head down to give him his attention. Seeing that he had his father’s attention, the child waddled to a corner of the ship and pointed.

Looking in that direction, Din’s heart softened. He was staring at a crude crayon drawing of himself with his son next to him, hand-in-hand. Din sighed, no longer knowing how to feel. He was upset, even angry, that his child had drawn all over the ship. He would never have yelled at the child, but he was still unhappy. Even if the child was still young and may not have known any better, he had never done anything like this before. 

Kneeling down to his son’s level, Din began, “This drawing of us is very nice, but you should have drawn it on the paper I bought instead of the walls. You also shouldn’t have drawn all over the walls because now I have to clean it all up. This behavior is unacceptable and from now on, you won’t be allowed to use your art supplies unless I’m with you. I’m a little upset right now, but I’m not going to yell at you.” Din’s tone of voice was firm and stern because he was still unsure how to discipline a usually well-behaved child. 

The child lowered his head and made a noise of sadness as he realized that he had done something wrong. Slipping off his gloves, Din softly brushed a finger across his son’s cheek to show him that he still loved him. In return, the child rested his hand against his father’s knee in apology. Din sighed and picked his son’s hand up to run his thumb over it.

“Now the two of us need to start cleaning up your mess.” Din spoke, breaking the moment. The child babbled and kicked his feet out in response. 

Din grabbed two rags and filled up a bucket with hot, soapy water. He knew that he would do most of the work, but he wanted the child to see that when you did something wrong, you had to do something to help fix it. 

Dunking one of the rags in the water, Din handed it to the child and directed, “You’re going to start cleaning the paint because it’s still wet and should come off the easiest.” The child cooed and began smearing the wet rag against the paint. As Din thought, the paint came away with minimal effort. 

Turning to the crayon art, Din began to scrub away at the colorful wax. With the heat of the water, the soap, and elbow grease, the crayon began to gradually disappear. Din sighed in relief, happy that his ship wasn’t going to be a permanent piece of art. 

He was nearly done cleaning when he found himself in the corner where the drawing his son had made of the two of them was. Din paused, rag inches away from the drawing. At his side, he heard a coo as the child stepped forward to place his hand against the drawing of Din. Mimicking his son’s action, Din reached forward to rest his hand against the picture of his son. Seeing how much the child liked it and knowing how much Din himself loved it, he decided to leave the drawing in the ship. It was tucked away in a corner, so it would be easy to miss if anyone else was ever on the ship and it could also easily be covered up. 

Taking a look around, the rest of the ship was clean of all remnants of the child’s fun. Picking him up in his arms, Din asked, “How about I show you how to properly use your art supplies? That sound like fun, little one?” The child babbled and rested his head against his father’s chest as he was carried. 

Sitting on the floor next to the bag of art supplies, Din ripped out two sheets of paper and grabbed the crayons that littered the floor. 

“I have an idea,” Din spoke, “How about I try drawing you and you try drawing me?” The child let out a high pitched squeal and clapped his hands together in delight. Grabbing the green and brown crayons, Din got to work. Din was never artistic, even as a child, but he didn’t think it mattered how good or bad his drawing skills were because it was the thought behind the drawing that mattered. 

Looking up from his drawing to peek at his son, he had his tongue sticking out of his mouth and his face scrunched up in concentration. The crayon wobbled in his three-fingered hand, but he was clearly doing his best to draw his father. Din laughed at the sight and returned to his drawing. 

After about a minute, the child let out a noise of excitement and held up his drawing with pride. The drawing was mostly scribbles of brown and grey that made up his body, but Din’s helmet had clearly had a lot of thought put into it.

Reaching forward to grab the drawing from his child, Din lovingly said, “Wow, this is great. You did an excellent job drawing me.” Pleased with his father’s approval, the child dashed forward and rested his head in his father’s hand. 

“My drawing isn’t nearly as good as yours,” Din mumbled, showing the child the mostly green and brown drawing. The child grabbed the drawing of himself from his father’s hand before crushing it to his body in a tight hug. He babbled before running off to his mythosaur toy to show it the drawing. 

Holding his son’s drawing in one hand and taking one more look at the father-son drawing in the corner of his ship, Din’s heart was content. 

[theeasternempress]

Baby’s First Sugar Rush

Part Nine of the Baby’s First Series

Summary -  Cara visits Din and his son and brings a gift for the little green boy; candy.

AO3 

Even though Din was the most happy he had been in his entire life traveling the galaxy and bonding with his son, he was happy to receive the transmission from Cara asking to meet up. Landing on Nevarro, Din lowered the ramp to the Razor Crest once the shock trooper was in sight. The last time they had seen each other, Din had nearly died and their group narrowly escaped with their lives. Still, that mission allowed Din to leave to live a good life with his son and from the smile on Cara’s face as she approached, he could tell she was happy with the life she was building for herself. 

The shock trooper stepped onto the ship and smirked, “I’d challenge you to an arm-wrestling contest, but we both know how that ended last time.”  Din sighed and shook his head, extending his arm to greet his friend with a handshake.

“It’s good to see you, Cara.” Din spoke, ignoring her statement about arm wrestling. Cara opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the soft babble of Din’s son. He walked forward slowly, unsure of who their guest was, but smiled and ran to Cara once he realized it was her. He wrapped his arms around her ankle in a hug and sat himself on her boot. Cara looked to Din with surprise on her face, but was laughing a moment later. 

“Hey there, troublemaker,” Cara began as she bent down to pick up the child, “Have you been taking good care of your Dad?” The child’s only response was reaching his hand into Cara’s hair and giving it a tug. Cara winced and untangled his fingers from his hair before placing him back on the ground. 

“I actually have a gift for you, too,” Cara said as she dug around in a bag slung over her shoulder. A moment later, Cara pulled out a small clear bag and handed it to Din. 

“It’s just some candy, but I figured I’d let you be in charge of when he has it,” Cara spoke. 

Din took the bag from her hand and replied, “Thank you. I’m sure he’ll enjoy this.” Kneeling down to his son, Din opened the bag and pulled out a stick of pink hard candy for his boy. 

“Cara bought you some candy. It’s a sugary treat and I think you’ll like it. Do you want a piece?” Din asked softly. The child curiously took it in his hands to inspect it before putting it in his mouth. A moment later, a wide smile took over the child’s face as he happily enjoyed his treat.

“Seems like he likes it,” Cara spoke with a smirk. Din smiled at his son and made a mental reminder to buy candy the next time they went to the market.

The two old friends sat down and began to catch up with each other. Cara had immersed herself in her work, happy to be living the life she wanted while also not having to hide in fear of being arrested. Din admitted that he hadn’t been up to anything exciting, but getting to travel the galaxy raising his son was all he wanted. 

The conversation continued until Din’s son came up to his father and tugged at his pants. When Din looked down at his boy, the child presented his hands up to his father and babbled. Din could see that his hands were sticky from the candy, so he asked, “Do you want me to clean your hands up for you?” The child shook his head and opened and closed his hands repeatedly, which Din understood as him asking for more candy. 

“You can’t have any more candy right now. You can have another piece tomorrow,” Din told his son. The boy pouted and pulled on his father’s pants again. The child looked up at his father with his sweet brown eyes that looked as if they were saying, “please, dad?”

“Do you think you can look at me with those cute brown eyes and get whatever you want?” Din asked his son. The child continued pleading and Din sighed. 

A moment later, the child had another piece of candy in his mouth and Cara was laughing. 

Din gave her an exasperated look to which Cara replied, “Don’t look at me, you’re the parent here.”

“Yeah, but you’re the one who bought him the candy,” Din retorted. Cara rolled her eyes and changed the subject. The two quickly began a new conversation with Cara doing most of the talking while Din listened. Unbeknownst to Din, multiple pieces of candy were floating towards the child behind him. Cara managed to suppress her smile at the sight and let the little boy have as much candy as his heart desired. 

After his fifth piece, the child toddled away from sight towards the back of the hull. A moment later, the sound of little feet pattering towards them drew both the attention of Din and Cara. The child showed both adults his mythosaur toy before he began to run around the ship with it in his arms. The child continued running around the ship and Din was surprised that the child had this much energy while Cara could tell that a sugar rush was beginning to set in. 

The child stopped running for a moment, so Din picked him up and said, “I need you to start settling down for your nap.” Din settled the child in his lap, but his son instantly started trying to wiggle out of his grasp. In an attempt to calm him down, Din bounced his knee so the child would bounce in the air. The child giggled and cooed, but he was still full of energy.

“He’s probably just having a sugar rush from all that candy he ate. I doubt he’ll be able to have a nap,” Cara said as she noticed Din’s struggles to calm his son.

“He only had two pieces, but I’ve never given him candy before,” Din replied. Cara tilted her head in confusion and asked, “You didn’t see him taking the candy so he could have more?”

Din was shocked but managed to ask, “Did you see how much he had?” Cara nodded and replied, “Five pieces. I thought you knew and were just letting it slide.” Din sighed and looked at his son. Cara had been right when she called him a troublemaker. 

The child eventually crawled off of Din’s lap and over to Cara, who picked him up and tossed him in the air. The child laughed as Cara continued to throw him and catch him, which made Din smile. He was happy that his son enjoyed the company of someone else and trusted them to take care of him as he did. 

“Hey, Mando,” Cara said, “Catch.” She tossed the squealing child over to him and Din was quick to grab him and pull him to his chest. 

“Don’t do that, Cara,” Din said sharply. He seemed to be the only one upset as the child in his arms giggled and Cara smiled.

“He likes being tossed around. It’ll help get some of his energy out,” Cara responded. Din sighed, but he knew Cara was right. Taking one look at his smiling son, he tossed him straight up before catching him again and throwing him to Cara. The child squealed with delight and laughter at their new game. 

Eventually, the child wanted to play a different game. Cara and Din would sit on the floor and the child would run back and forth between the two of them. When he got close, he would jump at their torsos and they had to catch him. Din and Cara looked at each other and laughed as they let the little one control how they played. 

The child then decided that he wanted to bring his mythosaur toy to play, so he would run around with that and throw it at Cara and Din instead of himself. They would catch the toy and gently pass it back to the baby, who would snuggle it as close to him as possible before starting the process again. 

At one point, the child ran over to his father but instead of throwing the toy at him, he climbed into his father’s lap and rested his head against his torso. A moment later, his eyes were closed and he was drifting off to sleep.

Cara laughed, “It looks like he’s crashed from his sugar rush.” The child had fallen asleep faster than Din had ever seen and Din was grateful that his sugar rush was finally over. Din wasn’t sure he was going to be able to handle all of his energy for much longer. 

“Let me put him in his bassinet and I’ll be right back,” Din whispered to Cara. She nodded and Din made his way up to the cockpit where the child’s bassinet was. He gently placed him in the plush bassinet and ran a finger over his hand. Even in sleep, the child’s instinct was to wrap his hand around his father’s finger and sigh happily. Observing such a cute sight, Din knew that he was grateful that Cara provided the gift that brought his son so much joy.