#competing for christmas
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something-tofightfor · 2 years ago
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Competing For Christmas 6: Let It Snow (The Aftermath)
Pairing: Modern Din Djarin x Female Reader
Word Count: 6,387
Rating: M. Language.
Summary: You and Din have laid it all out and established some ground rules ... where do you go next - and how do you cope with the looming end of the competition ... and the lack of a legitimate reason for the two of you to see each other? 
Author’s notes:
Still plugging along on this - please accept this first half of the 6th part as I finish the second half - and cover the final event. Thank you again for your patience. 
Questions, concerns, comments? My inbox is open!
I’m so glad that everyone still seems to be enjoying this story, it’s definitely taken on a little more of a life of its own than I anticipated - but I’m still having fun with it. 
To get alerted when I post new chapters/stories, follow @somethingtofightfor-shares​ and turn on post notifications - you can also ask to be added to my tag list (link in bio or at the top of my taglist reblog)
Masterlist  / Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5.1 / Part 5.2 / Din’s POV Interlude
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Din’s desk was empty and his office light was off when you stopped by on Monday afternoon. 
At first, you thought that maybe he’d stepped out to go and complete a work order, but when you looked around the room and saw his powered off computer and completely closed blinds, you realized that he hadn’t been in at all that day. 
“If you’re looking for Djarin, he called out today.” Turning at the sound of the voice, you saw one of the other IT guys across the hall, arms crossed over his chest. “There something I can help you with?” 
“No.” You fought the urge to cross your arms, too, and just shook your head. “I was just stopping by to say hello, I didn’t know he wasn’t here.” 
“Yeah, he sent an email this morning that said he was taking a personal day. Should be back tomorrow.” The man nodded. “I gotta get back to work. If you need anything, I’m here and so’s Mike.” Thanking him, you turned back toward your office, biting back a frown. 
You hadn’t expected Din to clue you in to everything he was doing after the discovery of the picture the previous day, but you’d thought that he would have at least let you know he wouldn’t be at work. 
Making your way through the hall, you let yourself get lost in your thoughts and hoped desperately that no one would stop you and try to start a conversation, because you were in no mood. 
He’d frozen the previous morning, eyes fixed on the glowing screen of your phone - but instead of getting mad about it, Din had only reached for the device, taking it from your hands and setting it down before turning to face you. 
“Hey.” His hands framed your face, Din saying your name quietly. “It’s not your fault. I’m not mad at you. We’ll figure it out.” 
“But this is exactly what you didn’t want to happen, Din. It’s why we have to be careful. We just talked about -” He cut you off with a kiss  - just a quick press of his lips to yours, but it was enough to stop your speech. 
“I’ll fix it.” Mumbling the words against your mouth, he wound his arms around you. “Give me some time.” 
You didn’t know what he meant by “fix it”, but when you’d left fifteen minutes later, Din assuring you that it was fine for you to go, he’d watched from his front window, waving at you while you backed out of the driveway. 
You’d spent the remainder of Sunday worrying, though you hadn’t reached out because you figured that you’d either see him at work the next day, or he’d get ahold of you to give you an update. Neither had happened, which was what brought you to his office door once things had calmed down in your afternoon … and led you to the realization that he hadn’t come in. 
Against your better judgment, you pulled your phone out to stare at it,  trying to decide whether or not you wanted to text him. He’s not mad. The worst he can do is ignore the message. It would crush you to know that that’s what he was doing, but you didn’t think Din would shut you out - and so you typed a quick message, hastily shoving your phone back into your pocket when you were done. 
Hey. Just tried to go to your office and saw you’re not here. Hope everything’s alright. 
Keeping yourself busy, you didn’t check for replies until almost an hour later, the weight lifting from your chest when you saw his response. 
Working on it. Was going to let you know but I’ve been on the phone all morning. 
That made sense - if Mandalore was in a different time zone, he’d need to take care of things whenever was convenient for everyone involved - which meant making things work across an ocean. It wasn’t an explanation, but it also wasn’t a dismissal, and that was enough. 
Just before you stepped out of your office to meet with a coworker about a project, your phone vibrated again. 
Can I stop over tonight after you’re done with work? 
You didn’t even think about it - typing back a message immediately. 
Of course. Bring Grogu if you want. My yard’s fenced in. 
He sent back a thumbs up, and you stowed your phone and locked your office door, trying to push your growing anxiety down. It’s going to be fine. It’s got to be. 
— 
He showed up at a little after 6, standing on your doorstep with Grogu’s leash in one hand and a take out bag in the other, and with no hesitation, you let them both in. “You didn’t need to bring dinner. I was just going to make -”
“Now you don’t have to.” He set the bag down and unclipped Grogu’s leash from his collar, hanging it over the back of one chair. “I guessed about what you like, so I hope that I did alright.” He held the bag out to you and you took it from him, eyeing the contents.
“Looks good, Din.” Pausing to glance up, you bit your lip. “Plates? Or just eating out of the containers?” 
“Is that something you do here?” You laughed at the sincerity of his question, Din’s lips set into a frown. “I didn’t know that.” 
“Sometimes.” You shrugged. “But if we wanted to share, it’s easier to use plates.”
“Whatever’s easier for you.” He ran a hand through his hair, unblinking. “Can I help you with anything?”
You told him no, and only a few minutes later, the two of you were seated on your couch and using the coffee table to eat from, your tree and the TV the only lights on in the room. 
You ate in silence for a little while, Din only speaking to tell Grogu no when he tried to jump on your loveseat. “It’s fine, he can lay there.” You were smiling at the sight - the dog standing in front of your tree, backlit by the bright lights. “It’s just dog hair, Din. As long as he doesn’t chew the cushion, I don’t mind.” 
“Maela, Grogu.” Din’s voice was quiet, but as soon as he spoke, the dog jumped up and onto the furniture, curling up so that he could still watch as the two of you ate. “I’m really sorry I didn’t let you know I wouldn’t be in today. I was on the phone with Boba for hours last night, and then this morning, I had a call with him and Fennec and the Council, and then we had to -”
“You don’t need to explain.” Swallowing a bite, you shook your head. “As long as you got things taken care of, you don’t owe me an explanation.” 
“I do, though.” He set his fork down, turning his body toward you and resting his hands on his knees. “Because this involves you. Have you looked at the site today?” You hadn’t - though the page was still open on your phone, you hadn’t refreshed it. “Go ahead.” 
Pulling your phone from your pocket, you did what he asked - refreshing the page. The pictures were still there - people gathered by the gazebo, all of you beneath the warming tent before the competition started, the different teams throughout the night. Why is he making me… But when you got to the pictures from after the end of the competition, you were shocked to see that even though the one of you and Din and the snowmen was there… the one of you kissing was gone - and so was his name. “It’s gone.” Looking up, you widened your eyes. “Din, how did -”
“A lot of phone calls. A lot of explanations.” He sighed, rubbing at his forehead, and for the first time, you realized how exhausted he looked. “The event organizers were much more understanding than I thought they’d be, but I’m also almost positive they never thought they’d have a King calling them, so…” You laughed at that, wetting your lips and waiting. “Have you heard anything from any of your friends? Did any of them see it?”
“Not that I know of.” You’d texted both Stacy and Cara to catch up that morning, and neither of them had said a word about seeing a picture of you and Din kissing. “And my friends would have been the first to say something if they’d seen it. I don’t know about the rest of the town, but -”
“The page views were really low after they uploaded. They didn’t even post anything until yesterday morning, so I think we caught it pretty fast.” He scooted closer. “I have to be careful, though. Really careful moving forward, because even though Boba understands, he wasn’t …”
“I know, Din.” You tilted your head. “I didn’t even save it, so if it’s not on that site, then … then it might as well never have existed.” I should have saved it. 
“Oh, it existed.” He reached for you, his fingers trailing over yours. “I’m sorry that I had to have it deleted. I don’t … I don’t like the idea of …” You knew what he was trying to say, and could tell that he was having trouble getting the words out, so you saved him, moving closer and putting your free hand on his knee. 
“I know why you did it.” You met his eyes, holding his gaze. “You don’t have to explain that part to me. I’m just glad you didn’t get in trouble with Boba.” 
“Trouble? Nah. No way.” He grinned. “And it wouldn’t really even be trouble, it would just be … more explanations if the Mandalorian press got ahold of it - now or later.”
“Yeah, especially if I’m not in Mandalore with you, right?” You squeezed his hand. “I get it, Din.  It’s what we’d consider a wake up call over here. Actions have consequences, and -” He said your name, shoulders rising and falling. “What?” 
“Why are you so understanding about all of this? The secrecy, me being next in line to rule, the limited time we have… it’s a lot to take in, and you’re just … acting like it’s nothing.” 
“What do you want me to do?” You snapped at him, the reaction an unconscious - but immediate - one. “Get mad about it? Tell you that you need to make a choice between doing what you’re obligated to do and me, someone that you’ve only really known for a few weeks? Try to make you feel guilty for doing exactly what we agreed we’d do?” You pushed to your feet, moving away from the couch. “Believe me, I want to, Din. I want to look you in the eye and tell you how unbelievably unfair this is - how shitty it’s going to be when you tell me that this has to end because you’re going back home.” You spun back to face him, Din frozen in place on your couch and looking up at you with wide eyes. 
He looked beautiful in the low light of the room and it gave you pause, your anger and frustration abating slightly before it rushed back full force. But it’s the truth. And he asked. 
“It’s not nothing, Din. But if I let myself get emotional about this, all it’s going to do is make us feel worse and give us more of a reason to cut this off as soon as the competition ends instead of in a few months.” You wiped away a tear, squeezing your eyes shut. “And I definitely don’t want that because I’d rather have a few months more with you than nothing at all.” 
Din stood, fingers flexing as his arms hung by his sides, but he didn’t move closer to you. He wanted to - you could tell by his posture. But at the look on his face, you understood that he wouldn’t, because he didn’t know what to say or do after he did. Yeah, I don’t know either. 
“I shouldn’t have asked you to be my partner.” You covered your face with one hand, lowering your head. “But fuck, Din, I wanted to get to know you. And because I was attracted to you even when I was with James, it felt disrespectful to do it before we broke up. Not because I would have acted on it, but -”
“You … were attracted to me before?” He did step closer at that, surprise written all over his face. “I had no idea.” 
“You’re a good looking guy, Din. Physically, yes. I thought you were very attractive. And we didn’t talk much, but from what I knew of you, you seemed … nice. And you’re smart, and like I said, I wouldn’t have done anything about it when I was with someone else, so…” Sighing you rubbed at your temples. “So I was respectful of James and our relationship, and did what every other woman in the office did and admired you from afar.” Trying to crack a smile, you shrugged. “Kept the work days interesting, that’s for sure.” 
Din closed the distance between you, reaching out and waiting until you’d taken his hand to speak. “I know you’d never ask me to choose. And it is unfair, and it is going to be kriffing awful when I have to go back, but I’m glad you asked me.” He squeezed your hand, raising his other one and dragging his knuckles over your cheek slowly. “Because these last few weeks have been … the most fun I’ve had in a long time.” Yeah, me too. “I hate seeing you so upset though. I’ve been… trying to make you smile.” 
“Yeah, well.” You rolled your eyes upward. “I’m horrible at hiding what I’m feeling, so get used to it.” He didn’t have a reply to that right away, Din keeping his eyes on your face. And the silence was charged - you could feel it. The two of you were at a tipping point; your irritation and sadness at odds with his cool and collected demeanor, Din’s posture loose as you stood in your living room, barely any space between you. 
It would have been easy to lean in and kiss him then - to give yourselves the moment you were so familiar with from TV and movies; emotions winning out, the physical pull toward each other too much to keep at bay any longer. 
You had condoms in your bedroom - an almost full box that had been purchased only a few months prior. Even though you didn’t want the first time you and Din got physical to be the result of an almost-argument, you could feel that neither of you would stop things once they got started. Should I? I shouldn’t. This is - 
“Not like this.” He murmured the words, groaning. “Every single thing you’ve said tonight is what I want to hear, but …” He swore under his breath - the words a mixture of English and Mando’a, straightening his fingers against the side of your face and cupping your cheek with his palm. “We are supposed to hide our emotions. And I’m pretty damn good at it, but with you, it’s… muun. It’s hard.”
“I’m sorry.” You had your hand on his hip, fingers tightening as you spoke. “Din, I didn’t mean to -”
“I’m not.” He tilted his head then, taking a deep breath. “And you shouldn’t be either.” His mouth glanced off of your cheek, his mustache tickling your skin. “But we’d both be sorry if we let them get the best of us right now.” 
“That’s a nice way to say you don’t want to -” 
“Stop it.” He nearly growled the words, his grip on your hand tightening further. “You think it’s hard now? If we … You deserve better.” There was finality in his voice, and even though you were thankful for it, you were surprised. 
You weren’t used to men being the ones to shut down the progression of a physical relationship, but Din was - yet again - exceeding your expectations in every way. “So do you.” Wetting your lips, you lowered your head, resting your forehead on his shoulder. “We should finish dinner. Otherwise we’re just going to keep going around in circles, and … that won’t help anything.”
“It won’t.” He let go of your hand and then moved both of his to your arms, his thick fingers wrapping around your biceps. “I wish it wasn’t like this. You have no idea how much I wish you and I could… do this normally.” 
“That’s my luck.” You looked up at him, trying to smile - and succeeding, at least partially. “I’m just being dramatic, Din. It’ll be fine.” He didn’t look like he believed you, but he nodded nonetheless, flexing his fingers before he let go. “Am I allowed to ask you what Boba said about the picture? And how should I refer to him? I don’t want to be disrespectful,and I know that I probably won’t ever meet him, but …”
“You can call him Boba when you and I talk about him.” The two of you settled back onto the couch, picking up your containers again. “And in public, I refer to him as Lord Fett, which is acceptable. You, as someone not from Mandalore, could call him either that or just Lord Mandalore. He isn’t very picky about it, but he keeps up with tradition when it comes to Mandalorian culture.” I’ll remember that. “And he was just … surprised. Especially since for the majority of the time I’ve been out here, I haven’t been interested in anyone like that.” 
“I find it hard to believe that you haven’t found anyone out here, Din.” Chewing thoughtfully, you waved your fork in his direction. “Eight months, and there was no one?” 
“I had drinks with a few people, but I never considered them dates.” He took another bite, glancing over at Grogu before he locked eyes with you. “I was just trying to enjoy my time here, and my last months of freedom, so dating never … I couldn’t run the risk of getting close to someone and then having to tell them about Mandalore and the fact that I had to leave.” But you told me.
“But there are people that get married in less than a year, Din. So if you’d met someone right when you got here, it wouldn’t be out of the question for you to tell them and then invite them back with you to keep the relationship going, right? Or is that not allowed? Does Mandalorian tradition require you - as someone on the throne - to marry within your -”
“No.” He set his food container down, dropping the fork into it. “We can marry whoever we want. Most people do choose to marry other Mandalorians, including people in positions of power, but there’s no laws that that has to happen. And …” He sighed. “There are political marriages, just like anywhere else. But they aren’t as common as you’d think, because the number of…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “You don’t want to listen to this.”
“I do.” Reaching forward, you settled your hand on his knee. “Tell me, Din. I asked, and I wasn’t just doing it to be nice.” He was quiet for a few seconds and  then shifted on the couch, leaning back and getting comfortable before turning his head to look at you. 
“There aren’t a lot of noble families left in Mandalore, but there are a few, and everyone’s always looking to increase their influence, you know?” You nodded, though you stayed quiet. “It’s not like Game of Thrones where everyone’s trying to overthrow the Mand’alor and restructure the way the country’s run, but there are … families that we have to look out for, families that feel that the highest positons should be one determined by birthright.” 
“That makes sense.” You finished your dinner, too, mirroring his position as you leaned back. “But you said Boba isn’t married? So he avoided all of that?’
“He did. And I plan on doing the same, unless … unless I find someone that I want to marry - that can handle the requirements of my title and the demands of this kind of life on Mandalore.” He looked away, his eyes lingering on Grogu. “There’s not separate terms in Mandalorian for husband and wife - a partner is just called a riduur, and a wedding is a riduurok, and there hasn’t been one of those for the Mand’alor since before I was born. So I’m sure the people would love to see it, but …” Din sniffed. “It’s not something I need. I can be a good leader without a wife.”
“I’m sure you can.” Tracing over your lower lip with the tip of your thumb, you nodded. “And you don’t seem like the type that would settle for a political arrangement, Din. So I… I hope that never happens to you.” 
It wasn’t what you wanted to say. The idea of Din marrying anyone was enough to make your stomach twist uncomfortably in your belly, but there was no way you were going to tell him that. That’s too much. Even if we’re being honest with each other, that’s too much honesty. “There anything else you want to know?” 
“Yeah, a ton of things.” You laughed, running a hand over your hair as you exhaled. “But I think that’s enough for tonight.” 
“If you say so. I meant it the other night, though. You can ask me anything, and as long as I can tell you, I will. I won’t lie to you, but there are some things - “
“I get it.” Holding up a hand to stop him, you nodded. “No explanation necessary.” 
“Thank you for understanding. This is the Way. I wish … I wish it wasn’t, but …” He trailed off, and for a few seconds, the room was almost completely quiet. You didn’t know how to fill the silence, and when Din spoke up again, you were thankful. “So, what’s the rest of this week look like? I know the scavenger hunt is the 23rd, but is there anything on Christmas Eve?”
“No. The 23rd is the last day of events, and the winners are announced that night at the Winter Carnival. We have from 11 am until 4 pm to complete the clues and turn everything in, and then while they tally up the points, we have time to go home and relax and get changed and all that before the carnival kicks off.” 
“So we’ll know who wins as soon as they announce the winner of the hunt, right?”
“Yes and no. They don’t always announce the rankings for the scavenger hunt before they announce the overall winner, because usually the winner of the hunt wins the contest, and that’s anticlimactic.” He grinned. “So they’ll probably tell us who won overall and then release the points for the different clues and the scoring for the day. We’ll know how many points we get, but it won’t be until we already know the outcome.” 
“And the carnival is only for that night?” You gave him a nod, staring at him where he sat on the couch next to you. “Is it a real carnival?”
“No rides, but yes. There’s food and games and sleigh rides. There might be a band, depending on if they can find someone to play and what the weather’s like. It’s usually from 7 to midnight, but I don’t think I’ve stayed past ten in five years. They announce the winners between 8 and 8:30, so there’s not much reason to stay really late.” 
“Maybe we can have lunch together for the rest of the week.” Din sat straight up, blinking slowly. “We can come up with a list of possible clue answers, and -” Shit. He doesn’t know. 
“I’m… I’m actually not going to be there all week. Tomorrow’s my last day for the year, because I saved vacation time to take.” His face fell, eyes clouding over briefly. “I’ve gotta finish my last minute shopping, Din. I do this every year.” 
“Well, then we’ll have to get a lot done tomorrow.” He winked at you, the smile returning. “We’ll figure it out.” 
“Is it alright? With the picture, I didn’t want to push it, and -” 
“Yeah. It’s fine. We’re partners, so of course we’d have lunch together. I’m not worried about it.” He sighed. “I will not be kissing you in the cafeteria at work, though.”
“I think I’ll cope.” Wrinkling your nose, you held back a laugh. “It’ll be hard, but…” He leaned forward and wound his arms around you, pulling you closer to his chest, Din laughing, too. It’ll be hard, but it it’ll be worth it. 
— 
You finished your Christmas shopping on December 22, right around the time you would have gotten off of work. The weather had held out - though there’d been snow overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday, it stopped in time to let you get things done, and you were thankful. 
Your final stop was a trip out to Peli Motto’s shop for a basket of assorted goodies for Grogu - more of the frogs that he’d had at the tree lighting along with something called a Bantha bone, a bag of dried meat treats, and toy that the woman assured you was chew-proof: a shiny silver ball with a ridge around the center to dispense treats that you loaded into the core via a dark blue circular opening. 
The woman threw in a small bag of freeze-dried shrimp that she’d promised he would love - “Bright eyes is gonna love these. I can tell. I know these things. He won’t want to stop eating them.Trust me on this and make sure that man who owns him brings him to see me next time.” 
Grogu’s present had been simple - but Din’s? That was a struggle. 
You hadn’t wanted to  get him anything big that he wouldn’t be able to take back with him. You didn’t want to spend too much on him, since you didn’t want to seem like you were trying too hard, though you wanted to let him know that you were thinking of him. 
And so you’d put together a stocking for him, including a few practical things that had been the norm for you growing up - a new toothbrush, a pair of thick socks, complete with strands of Christmas lights on them, a tin of mints - along with a few other items like a gift card for the coffee place downtown, a replacement tube of the styling product you’d seen in his bathroom, a bag of assorted beef jerky … and the one thing you were still uncertain about. 
As you finished wrapping your presents later that night, you paused with his actual gift in your hands, staring down at it. It was more sentimental than you’d intended, but it was a good gift, and one that you knew he’d understand the significance of. 
You planned on giving him his and Grogu’s gifts the following night after the carnival, and telling him that he could open his then or wait until Christmas morning - but there was no part of you that assumed you’d see him on the actual holiday. Even though I want to ask him what he’s doing. If he’s going to be alone, I can … I can make it so that doesn’t happen. “Shit.” You set the gift down, covering your face with both hands. “He’ll say no.” 
Doing Christmas activities together was one thing, but actually spending the holiday together was another. Not only would it raise questions with your family so soon after your breakup, but it would mean needing to be careful with what you and Din said throughout the day… and that was something you were unsure you were ready for. 
So giving a gift - even one that was arguably heartfelt - was something that you could do, and you hoped that no matter where he was or who he was with, he’d take it with him so that he could remember his time in Mistletoe. 
You wrapped it in glittering silver paper, creasing the edges around the small box and carefully taping them shut before you tucked it into the stocking with everything else and carried both up to the kitchen table, setting them aside from the other wrapped gifts under the tree. 
Glancing at the clock, you groaned when you saw how late it was - and that you’d be rushing to finish getting ready in time to meet your friends unless you immediately got into the shower. 
Sending a quick text to Cara and Stacy, you eyed the stocking with Din’s name on it for a few more seconds while you waited for a reply, one finger idly running over the soft white fur of the trim. 
Getting ready to shower. Still meeting at 7:30? 
It would be the last time you saw them before the holiday, and the three of you were meeting to exchange gifts over dinner - and to gossip about everything that had happened since the last time you’d seen each other. 
Yep. There’s a pitcher of margaritas with my name on it. 
Laughing, you set your phone down and turned toward the bathroom, some of the unease leaving you. You needed the distraction - and even a few hours out with friends would help immensely. 
— 
“Can you believe it? She’s on her third job in the last two months. I don’t think she knows what she wants to do.” Cara held her drink in one hand, gesturing with the other. “I want to be supportive, but it’s really hard when I can’t even keep up with what she’s doing.” 
The three of you had finished dinner and exchanged gifts before switching over to the drinking portion of the night, and as always, Cara’s stories were full of updates from her life away from Mistletoe and the people she interacted with on a daily basis. 
You didn’t mind, because the more she talked, the less you had to, but you knew that it would eventually come back to you - and what you’d been doing with Din for the last few weeks. “So are you ready for the scavenger hunt tomorrow?” Stacy leaned in. “I can’t believe the competition’s almost over.”
“Yeah, neither can I. And yes, I think I am. Din and I met for lunch on Tuesday before I left work for the year and made a list of a bunch of the popular places in town that have been clues in the past, and -”
“Wait, so you haven’t talked to him since Tuesday?” Cara set her drink down, laying her palms flat on the table. “I’m shocked.” 
“Why?” You dipped a chip into the table’s salsa - the fourth refill that the three of you had requested - and popped it into your mouth. “It’s not like we’re dating. We don’t need to talk every single day.” It was the truth - you hadn’t actually spoken to Din since Tuesday but you had texted back and forth. “I’m going to call him when I leave here tonight though, we have to figure out where we’re meeting tomorrow morning.” 
“Because you two were getting close.” She leaned in. “I mean the two of you kissed, and -”
“Yeah, about that.” You drummed your fingers against the tabletop. I’m going to have to do this sooner or later, so why not now. “I found out why he put a stop to that the other night.” Both of your friends widened their eyes and waited, neither of them speaking to interrupt you. “He doesn’t want to get involved with anyone while he’s here because he isn’t staying. He’s going to have to go home in a couple months for work - not what he does here but what he did there before he took this time off.” 
It rolled off of your tongue smoothly, and you were proud that it wasn’t quite a lie, even if it wasn’t the whole truth. “What did he do over there? His friend’s the King’s bodyguard, does Din -” 
“No. He doesn’t work for the King or anything like that.” You waved her off, eating another chip. “But he basically arranged to take a year or so off to be able to travel, and that year’s going to end.” Lifting your glass, you sipped your drink. “So it’s easier not to get involved when keeping something going is … next to impossible.”
“But you like each other.” Cara shook her head. “We can all see it.” 
“We do.” Shrugging, you looked away for a few seconds and then met her eyes again. “But we’re both being realistic.” 
“So after tomorrow, you’re just going to stop seeing each other? Just go back to whatever your friendship was before this competition? You’re going to skip out on -”
“Cara.” The woman was getting annoyed, her eyes flashing as she whipped her head from side to side. “No. But we were both very clear about what this is and what it can and can’t be. So … we’re going to be friends. And whatever happens with that happens, but I’m not under the impression that he’s staying around long term, and we both … we’re both alright with that.” Or at least that’s what we’re telling ourselves.
“Bullshit.” You had to admit that she was right - and it sounded incredibly false coming out of your mouth, but as long as you stuck to what you were saying, you thought you’d be alright. “God, that’s unfair.” 
“It is what it is.” Finishing your drink, you leaned back. “And like I told him, it might be better right now to know that there’s nothing long term on the table. This is easy, This is … what I need.” You wondered if you’d ever convince yourself that it was the truth, or if it would just be words coming out of your mouth, the same thing repeated long after Din had left for Mandalore. “It’s good, guys. We’re having fun together. We talked everything over on Saturday night and Sunday morning after the snowman c-”
“Sunday…morning?” Stacy raised an eyebrow. Shit. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”
“No. Well, yeah. I spent the night, but nothing happened. I went over to decorate the tree with him, and by the time we were done it was snowing really hard, and he offered me his spare room.” They didn’t need to know that you hadn’t used the bed, or that that night and morning had been a definite shift in your feelings for the man, despite everything you’d learned. “And I woke up the next morning, the streets were plowed, and after he shoveled his driveway, I went home.”
“I don’t know how you slept in the same house as him and didn’t try to jump his bones.” Stacy groaned. “I know I’m married, but he’s … he’s really good looking, and -”
“I know.” You glanced down at your phone, checking the time. “Believe me, it was hard, but all we did was sleep.” Cara muttered something under her breath that you didn’t catch, Stacy rubbing at her forehead while she stared at you. “You guys, I promise you. This is fine. I know where he stands, he knows where I stand, and this is just … fun. It’s two people getting to know each other without expectations.” But no expectations doesn’t mean there’s no feelings. 
“If you say so.” Cara tipped her head back finishing the last of her drink. “But you know we’ll always be here, right? If you ever want to talk, or ever want to tell us what he’s like in bed, or -”
“Believe me, if it ever comes to that, you’d be the first two people I talked to.” Winking at them, you started to gather your things. “I really do need to get going, though. I want to get to sleep early so that I’m not slow tomorrow.” 
All three of you stood, tossing money onto the table for a tip after you’d packed your presents up, Cara leading the way out of the restaurant and into the parking lot. She held the door open for a couple walking in as you exited, the red-haired woman giving you a nod and her dark haired companion thanking your friend as you passed them and stepped out into the parking lot - and the softly falling snow. 
A few steps into the parking lot, you paused, glancing back over your shoulder. I know her from somewhere. But they were already inside, the door shut behind them, and so you let out a breath, following your friends until you reached your cars. 
Once you’d said goodbye and exchanged one more round of “Merry Christmas” between you, you were seated in your car and waiting for it to warm up. You used that time to message Din, a smile on your lips as your fingers flew over the keys. 
Heading home from dinner now. Going to get to bed early. Want to meet at my place at 10 tomorrow? 
It didn’t take him long to answer, the reply short and simple. 
Sounds good. I’ll bring the coffee
As you typed out a reply, another message from Din came through. 
I hope you had a good night with your friends. You’ll have to tell me what you got tomorrow morning. 
In a perfect world, you would have sent back another message - telling him that you were on your way over and you could tell him that night. You would have asked if you could bring anything, or requested that he light a fire and pick a movie before you got there.
But instead, when you pulled into your driveway - and then into your garage, closing the door behind you before you stepped into the silent, dark house, you finally replied, closing your eyes to stop the tears from spilling over once the text had sent. 
Yeah. Just remind me tomorrow when we see each other. Goodnight, Din. 
— 
maela = go on
muun = hard
spouse = riduur
ridurrok = love bond (marriage)
--- 
Tag list reblog coming soon! 
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veryberrybad · 5 months ago
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this scene from Competing Frequencies owns my heart and soul and i just couldn’t go on with my life without drawing it. please please PLEASE read it, it is a journey and a delight and one of my favorite fics of all time!!!
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moongothic · 2 months ago
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Kinda started rereading Dressrosa and... Although I always chalked up the similarities between Crocodile's plan to take over Alabasta and how Doflamingo took over Dressrosa as nothing but Oda reusing similar plot elements but in a slightly different way (just to show us what could've become of Alabasta had Croc gotten away with his schemes, what Luffy helped prevent from happening to begin with)...
Robin's reaction to hearing the story of Dressrosa and HOW Doflamingo took over the country, that simple little "...!!", actually does kind of speak volumes
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Like if you wanted canonical evidence to Crocodile having been "inspired" by Doflamingo, then yeah, Robin would be The Person who would pick up on that, she'd be the person who'd be like "hey, that story sounds awfully familiar to what Crocodile did", since he was her boss
Do want to note that, timeline-wise, Doflamingo only took over Dressrosa 10 years ago, where as Crocodile had been Scheming and establishing his position as the Hero of Alabasta for 16 years. Like Croc's intent to obtain Pluton and create his military nation utopia absolutely pre-dates Doffy's takeover, so that wasn't and can't have been inspired by Doflamingo at all. It's more just the plan and method Crocodile ended up going with (framing the king (through a bloodbath) and putting the country in a position without a ruler where he could just yoink it for himself with ease) where the similarity becomes more obvious. But it is also kind of where it ends. Doflamingo wanted Dressrosa because he felt like he was entitled to the island (as his family had been its original rulers and he was a Tenryuubito), and was using the island for his own gains (Smile manufacturing etc, for his dealings with Kaidou), all while having a great distain and hatred of the world and how he had been "wronged" (=Tenryuubito rights revoked). Meanwhile... yeah, Crocodile wanted to create a "utopia", only targetting Alabasta because he believed Pluton was there and because Pluton would be needed for his ideal military nation. That minor difference and Crocodile's clear and great distain and hatred of Doflamingo combined...
Yeah, I dunno, this is just interesting to me. God I need Robin and Crocodile to have a lil reunion chat
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effen-draws · 1 year ago
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Painted a little fish for tomorrow’s rafleleg:-)
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simonsquest · 15 hours ago
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joemerl · 17 days ago
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I'm watching a special called Alien Xmas on Netflix, and it is blatantly someone's Invader Zim fanfic with the serial numbers filed off.
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thesmokinpossum · 20 days ago
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Didn't felt like mentioning it immediately but shoutout to my sick and twisted brain for getting so triggered by an unexpected Christmas parade that I ended up havin the absolute worst panic attack of my entire life (potentially the only real one? I've had a couple other episodes I thought of as panic attacks but they were not even close to that so who knows) to the point where I spent the very last day of my 30th year on this earth in the ER, good times, good times 😊
#that was 10 days ago and i honestly was fine immediately after it ended so don't worry for me <3#but yeah this shit was crazy holy hell#like i knew intellectually that 'feeling like you're dying' is a symptom of a panic attack but *actually* feeling it is another thing...#and even at the worst i was like 'ok i'm clearly having a panic attack it's not nice but it's gonna be ok'#but there was a piece of my brain that was like 'ok but what if your mom or grandma had told themselves that...'#'when they were having heart attack? They would have died and so will you 😊'#and i was like shit can't argue with that better get my ass to the hospital before i die#spoiler alert: i didn't died#ironically enough the revolting state of our healthcare system is lowkey what helped me calmed the fuck down#because i was tiny but i do remember when my mom had her heart attack and they sure as hell didn't let her wait for 7h+#so when i realized that this is what was gonna happen after i spent a brief moment with a nurse i was just like...oh i'm fine actually lol#and then i had to go take the bus in my fake crocs that i usually never wear outside of the house smh#interestingly enough my phobia of hospital seems to have competely disappear! which makes me believe that it was more a trauma response#than an actual phobia#not that the name changes that much but still interesting development#also no i'm not wearing a mask because nobody gave me one#that's actually one of the thing that made me leave lmao#oh and btw the christmas parade is true but also a bit more complex than that#basically i had a full sleepless night and i was mad so i decided to go buy myself some weed#turned out that there was a huge christmas parade 5 minutes away from the weed store so i hade to find another way#and then i got lost on the way back#and saw no less than 3 big fights between different homeless people#including one man randomly kicking another man's dog (which kinda really messed with me tbh)#and then i smoked a big joint (first one in like 10 days) with 0 sleep and zero food in my body#and then i took the bus#and then the bus driver yelled at an elderly man for not waiting at the right place#and then i took a sip of water and for some truly strange reason my brain decided that the water had gone in my lungs#and that i was actively drowning#and the rational part of me was like...girl that's not what drowning feels like what are you even talking about??#and then my brain went 'well if we're not drowning than we're having a heart attack'
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freshthoughts2020 · 2 months ago
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#Best Sneaker Releases October 2024 Week 4 Nike LeBron TR1 “Purple Rain” Wales Bonner x adidas Samba & Superstar Nike Dunk Low & Air Force 1#Sneaker Politics#The stage is set for not only the World Series#but the beginning of the NBA season as well. Major matchups between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics#as well as the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers#will kick things off tonight as the league looks to carry over the momentum built from the 5-game WNBA Finals series that concluded over th#basketball sneakers continue to play a key role in our latest rundown of the best footwear drops of the week#which sees Nike#adidas#On and Jordan Brand all competing for access to your wallet across the next seven days. Before we go shoe-by-shoe down our new list of rele#let’s look back at what news caught our eye this past week.#On the feature side of things#Nike presented its 20th Doernbecher Freestyle collection#which Hypebeast had the privilege of learning more about directly from one of the patient-designers. The six special pairs were unveiled al#which notably featured several unique PUMA sneakers and plenty of designer kicks.#As for the typical news#Nike Basketball unveiled the Nike LeBron 22#which is set to debut on shelves at the start of November. We also got first looks at this year’s Nike Kobe 9 Elite Protro “Christmas” and#as well as a preview of the new Air Jordan 7 RM. Rounding things out for the Swoosh#an updated release date for the postponed launch of the Air Jordan 1 High OG “Black Toe Reimagined” was shared.#Elsewhere in the industry#we got an official preview of the adidas Harden Vol. 9#which is expected to launch in early 2025#while Lionel Messi and Bad Bunny teamed up to drop an adidas Gazelle and F50 Cleat. New Balance stayed in the mix as Up There revealed its#ASICS’ latest projects with JJJJound#HAL STUDIOS® and Ronnie Fieg all made noise.#With all of the past week’s footwear news recapped#let’s pivot to what sneakers to look forward to this week#starting off with LeBron James’ new Nike LeBron TR1 in a Prince-inspired “Purple Rain” colorway. Don’t forget to hit up HBX to shop sneaker#Nike LeBron TR1 “Purple Rain”
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Lock's part, now starting Shock's...! Love these kids.
Barrel + The Mayor's Quests
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justabunchofdragons · 6 months ago
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*takes a long drag of a cigarette* i watched 5½ episodes of house today i need to finish it before mid august because if i don't get into medical school i'll never be able to watch a medical drama again. and i must know how fucked up the queerbait gets!
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tamagotchikgs · 4 hours ago
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suddenly realizing tomorrow is christmas which means the tree messages i sent will b revealed n the potential humiliation i hav brought myself by my words will become Real & Judged
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true-bean · 24 days ago
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Today feels like one of those days where I should be allowed to bite someone
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hestiasroom · 1 year ago
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does anyone else's mom think they are "mean" for having boundaries? or is that just my mom?
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juniperjellyfish · 5 months ago
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Scariah Carey/Arianna Griande rivals to lovers au
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zelda-deep-wilds · 1 year ago
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We Need A Little Yiga Now
Here is my first Tumblr post of my own fanfiction! Summary: A Christmas lyric parody for my beloved Yiga Clan! Written in their perspective, as they see themselves: the heroes fighting for justice. Oh, and there are bananas.
Consistent with my Unshed Tears series, but random enough to be a stand alone. Enjoy! And Merry Christmas!
Rating: General Audiences AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52528327
We Need A Little Yiga Now
Call out the clansmen Find lots of ripe bananas, make us strong again Sharpen the sickles To keep a vow we made ten thousand years ago now
For we need a little Yiga, right this very minute Trusting in a future, fighting to begin it Yes, we'll take a stand for justice, right this very minute Link is tough, he makes us worry, but Kohga says we're in a hurry
Search all the kingdom Refine the strongest Earthwake move we've ever seen Serve Master Kohga We'll take the hero's life and prove our faithfulness now
Time to get a little madder, act a little bolder Be a little meaner, let our spirit smolder And we'll leave a few bananas, sitting by a boulder Need a little ambush now
For we'll keep our ancient promise, raise our ancient master Ganon will awaken, Hyrule face disaster And we'll prove that we are Yiga, steadfast ever after Call out all the Yiga now!
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br1ghtestlight · 1 year ago
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tbh you could make an argument for rudy being in those top 10 saddest bob's burgers episodes lists. beyond the surface its a very sad protrayal of childhood isolation and family seperation and the trauma that comes with that vs the longing for a family that always loves and understands each other. works better on those lists than the plight before christmas and snow mama from the grave At least.....
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