#i will never fully write this but god. doesnt it just make you ACHEEEEEEE

[djarinova]

dinem miscommunication you say... 👀🎤

(my unpopular opinion is miscommunication is actually be a very good and realistic trope and it's the realism that frustrates people hehe but it can be so good for plot and tension !!)

i do indeed say miscommunication with din 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ (although this is probably a more general x reader miscomm than anything selfship related)

AND @stevebabey and i have been yelling about this for days in the dms so everybody say thank you ruby for having such a huge brain and for screaming about this entire concept w me <3 divider by @/saradika

i just think miscommunication goes hand and hand with who din is as a character—he's stoic, almost unreadable at times (and the helmet certainly does not help with that), he doesn't say anything more than is necessary and he has such a complex and interesting childhood and backstory and many of his romantic... viewpoints, shall we say, are deeply traditional and seem very old school to an outsider.

the miscommunication itself will come when he's finally ready to confess his feelings for you (if i was to write everything that came in-between the first meet and this moment then this would become a fully fledged fic but let me just say this: he grappled with his feelings for a l o n g time, im talking years of knowing you, and i know it's implicitly implied but he trusts you more than anyone else in the galaxy and there have been afew moments were he's almost slipped up and spilled his feelings for you—or so he thinks—and he's agonised himself over how best to approach the subject with you) and you completely misread his intention.

he offers you something—an object of great value to him, something that he feels will bring you security and safety or something that he wants you to keep close to you whenever he is far away (a weapon with an engraving, a compass with a glimmering star along the rim, a small piece of cloth embroidered with a word that you can't read in a language you don't understand)—and you reject it. it looks too clean, too fancy, too nice. and so you politely say "Oh. Din, no... I-I can't take this from you..." and you can actually visibly see his disappointment, it's only for a split second, but his head tilts and his shoulders deflate just ever so slightly, but it's there and it makes you a little confused, it's just a gift, there have been plenty of times when I've offered him something and he's said no, why is it only a problem when I do it??

it ticks you off, just a little, but you let it go. turning and stalking back into the hull of the ship as din watched you disappear feeling crestfallen and embarrassed. because he really thought you would accept it.

and here's the thing, this object, this gift that din was trying to give you, it isn't just an ordinary gift. with it came the question of a relationship, it was customary for a man to offer an heirloom to the person he wishes to court—and considering everything he's been through, it was lucky that he had kept that tiny slither of his past with him all this time, after everything he's lost he wasn't even sure he would ever get to offer it to anyone but he had kept it anyway, locked in a box underneath his bed, just waiting, gathering dust... until you came along.

and then comes the angst. he starts acting differently towards you, it's reminiscent of how he acted when he first met you and it makes you sick to your stomach. you constantly worry that youve done something to upset him (which in a way, you have). he barely speaks more than 5 words to you a day and it is enough to make you feel completely guilty over something that you dont even remember doing! and that realisation makes you angry, you dont even remember upsetting him! you havent said anything odd or screwed up a bounty or messed up something with the child and he's acting totally irrationally, ignoring you and treating you like you dont even exist.

the resolution comes after almost 3-4 months of this. youve grown used to your new dynamic now, and even though you wish you knew the reason for his behaviour, and you wish it wasnt like this, you accept how things are. your anger has slowly dissipated and now you mostly feel fine, still hurt and confused, but din has given you plenty of opportunities to leave over the last few months and you have yet to even consider it—you don't want to leave and despite his best efforts, you still care for him.

perhaps you overhear a conversation in a market between two people who are discussing The Mandalorian, or perhaps you hear din talking to a friend or maybe you read something in a book, but whatever it is, something happens and it clicks for you. the reason din has been so distant is not because he doesnt like you, or because he wants you to leave the ship... it's because he felt embarrassed when you rejected his gift, it's because he has been trying to give you space so you dont feel suffocated by his feelings. he's been doing this for you.

and so you storm up to him, wind beneath your sails now, and demand to know what the hell is wrong with him. if he had just been clear about his feelings then neither of you would've had to be so miserable these past few months. and why didnt he just TELL YOU about the meaning behind the gift.

and he's like would that have changed anything?

and you swallow hard, making eye contact with where you assume his eyes sit behind his visor and you say yes, din, in a whispered voice, it wouldve changed everything.

anyways .......