#ridu close-ups

[zenless-zone-archive]

Ridu Close-Ups | "Taking the time to groom oneself is good etiquette, which contributes to a respectable appearance. Presentability is hard to resist, and who could resist someone as presentable as Lycaon? He not only has the looks but also oozes respectability... Btw, do you know where his discarded lint rollers might be? Just curious."

(i want him so bad. — Fairy 🧚‍♀️)

[neweriduarchive]

Ridu Close-Ups: Miyabi

[zzz-updates]

Ridu Close-Ups: Tsukishiro Yanagi

Submitter: Asaba Harumasa

Message: To get our snack-loving colleague to attend the meeting, you'd go this far? Really... um... Deputy Chief, I think I've already gone above and beyond with my workload today. Could I maybe take next week off? 😃😃😃

>> Official Hoyolab post <<

[zzz-archive]

Ridu Close-Ups

Yanagi

Miyabi

Harumasa

[zenzonezero]

Submitter: Koleda Message: Recently, working out has become a popular pastime at the construction site. The one who started all this tried a 100 Bangboo single-handed pushups challenge… As the president, I think I need to emphasize that you shouldn't push yourself too hard when exercising, or you'll get injured.

from twitter

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Thursday 14 May 1840

5

10 ¼

up when we ought to have been off – but George never calls us – has forgot his watch! lies to the last minutes and we awake when we can – breakfast – our rice as at Tiflis – very fairly good room and good station house on an eminence as usual – fine view of the mountains and the 2 headed giant Kasbek peering above the rest towards the Eastern extremity of the range in sight – off at 7 25/.. – A- and I and George and our Cossack all our baggage on a

7 25/.. to 9 ¼ Astaphrinskii Ridu to Gassaiskii cross the Astapha river 12 versts

9 ½ to 10 ¾ G- to Prireska Taus 16 ½

11 13/.. to 12 54/.. to Prireska Dzeagash 15 ½

1 ½ to 3 20/.. P.D- to Shasporsiaia 28 ½

4 5/.. to 6 25/.. S- to Elizabethpol [Elizavetpol'] 25 ½

98

large high heavy chariot drawn by 4 oxen and our kibitka followed - 25 minutes in getting down to the river, Astapha ¼ to ½ m. from the house prettily situated on the high ground above – safer in a chariot because the great high wheels not so soon overturned by big stones brought down by the current, lifted high above the water and at liberty if anything should happen, and oxen generally more to be depended on their horses!

the low wheels of a tarendass [tarentass], or a light calêche easily upset – an officers’ wife and 2 children lost 2 years ago (in May) – the people wished them not to go, but the officer persisted and his wife could not be persuaded to go in a chariot, and she and the 2 children upset in their tarendass [tarentass] (like ours said George) and lost – the officer maid and other 2 children in a chariot escaped – the water now 2 archines deep in places (1 a. = 28in.) we over in 5 minutes – the empty kibitka followed and over in 3 ½ minutes at 7 58/.. – rapid stream – well there was no great breadth 2 archines deep – streams and intervening beds of gravel and bouldery gravel 150 to 200 yards broad – 4 more rivers to pass between this and Elizabethpol [Elisavetpol’] (as under) each close to the station –

Taowski

Zagamski

Shamfort

(and Minaret)

39 minutes packing the kibitka, and off again at 8 ½ - gave the men 4 abasses – George said some gave 1 ab. some 2, 3, or a silver ruble – a gift, for the pay including in the money paid for horses at the post – at 8 50/.. (right) a projecting mountains, in advance from the high range, having exactly the appearance of a huge pyramid probably about the same dimensions as seen here at this considerable distance as the great Cheops sun near – at 9 10/.. pass our Caravan of Camels that had started 1 ½ hour before us this morning from our station – all alongside us from Astapha the station and river fine range of high snowy mountains left

Wednesday 20 May some tops of ditto ditto peeping out right just above the green hills – the mountains (left) seen all along except when our road lies (as once or twice) in a hollow – station house as the last (Astapha) from here (Gassaiskii) oak copse wood along our road in the bottom and very pretty amphitheatre of green hills (mountains) ahead and all round us – the station house on an eminence

SH:7/ML/E/24/0104

as usual – a fine hare ran across our road – plenty of game hereabouts –

3 gradins of green mountain (high perpendicular white rock rises) up to the magnificent range of snow mountain (left) and the Kour? along the foot of lowest gradin – yellow Spanish-like broom – dead wolf (killed recently) lying in the middle of our road at 10 20/.. – at the river at 10 40/.. – over in one minute – at Prireski Taus at 10 ¾ 4 minutes from the little rapid river Taouski – low range running across the vale and terminating in high (bold) conical, rocky head called Kārăōō (as pronounced) seen ahead all this stage – at river Zagamski at 12 54/.. – very fine hot, sunny day – our Cossacks forded the river first – narrow stream and very rapid and muddy – over in 3 minutes – and at the station house at Prireska Dzeagash in 14 minutes at 12 54/.. – nice house like the rest, in walled court, 2 windows on each side entrance door front and back – this last stage copsy and shrubby and pretty – the mountains left approach us come nearer and nearer – seem to sweep round ahead as if we should come up to them sometime – wide plain or bottom of vale – 3 or 4 miles or more? from Green mountains (right) to foot of 1st gradin (vid. line 2 of this page) – the ground red with poppies –

shrubs white thorn

prickly myrtle-leaved shrub

small leafed ditto shrub without thorns

Dog rose and bramble

En route again at 1 ½ - at 2 or before the Minaret in sight – at 3 20/.. at the station house within the inclosure of the old ruined Persian fort, the fine old minaret and nine little domed Mohammedan chapels or mosques (metchets) being just outside – at the foot of the ruined walls of the fort is a narrow moat along which a narrow stream of running water which we had to drive thro’ – very hot – the fort an oblong enclosure – Minaret base about 5 yards square and 13ft. high up to bevel of corners, and the bevel about (near?) a yard more – then 8ft. of octagon counting 3 bricks and the thick mortal between = 1 foot – then 5 yards up to narrow square topped loophole window and as much more from bottom of loophole to borrow of cornice including the inscription immediately below the cornice – say cornice = 4ft. at least formerly supporting a gallery as at Minarette in the val du Terek and as at Bolgari – then say 4 yards of top (round like the rest of the shaft) surmounted by one yard of 8tagon in each side of which a neatly worked pointed arch-window in square top (in the style of the red room fireplace) and above this remains of some [?] of little round posts or pillars as if to support a roof – the minaret seen at 1st in the distance like a long thin stick – A- is sketching – door at the bottom to the S.W. and above (opening on to the original gallery) to the south? towards mecca? a large white owl, or heron, or what? sitting alone on the top – oblong fort, on rising ground – largeish round tower at each corner, and little ruined round tower at each side entrance gate we entered by and 2 square bastions in the wall to the entrance or north side – what a fine view there must be from the top of the minaret! the steps at the bottom very bad – much worn – all ready – had not time to try to climb – but what a view there must be! East (left as we

Minaret bridge about 2 1/2in. thick and 9 ½ in. long mortar about 1 in. ditto – should guess the minaret 30 yards high at least – steps much worn and bad –

 came) long range of snow-mountains west (right) peep of snow mountains thro’ a col or hollow in the range of green mountain – traces of old walls an ancient city? and the minaret once within its walls? Remains of old bridge spanning the broad, deep-valley bed of the Shamfort river a rapid streamy – have to go down the stream from water to dry gravel bed, and then water again till we find a place on the opposite gravelly bouldery bank to get out at – R28° and F95° in the kibitka on alighting at Shamfort as called by our Cossack alias Shasporsiaia of our march-route – the river took us 4 minutes – Few snow-mountain views (can any?) in Switzerland can exceed this from Shamfort – East (left on entering) long line of snow-mountain magnificent and to the Thursday 21 May west fine, long, green, ridge-above-ridge valley closed in by bold amphitheatre of snow mountains which as we proceed onwards soon peep up again in a longish line from behind the green crête of the ridge of grassy mountain – should we have had this snowy range peeping up (right) before had it not been hid by clouds – perhaps our road has all along lain too much to the right to admit our seeing the snow mountains on both sides of us – from nearer the centre of the valley, where 2 ranges can be seen at once, how magnificent the valley must appear – unrivalled in Switzerland certainly – what width from the Kour to the green hills on our right? steep, high, sandstratified left bank of Kour seeming from here (doubtless a wide plateau above) the 1st gradin of the base of snow-mountains – at the Kushkara river (dry in summer) at 5 32/.. – Enter Elizabethpol [Elizavetpol'] – pass sort of irregular walled fortress right – cross stream – drove thro’ the picturesque platanus shaded oblong place du Bazaar and alight at the Caravanserai at 6 25/.. sent our letter to the commandant

Wednesday 22 May Mr. Charlamoff with cards and compliments and saying we should be off very early in the morning – he sent immediately to know if we were in want of anything and to know what he could do for us – very civil – A- sketched the Caravanserai gate from the great square or Place and I sauntered about – Mr. Charmaloff came to call upon us – received his visit in the square where I happened to be standing – sorry we had not driven to his house – we should have done so, but meant to be off immediately and .:. drove to the post where finding we should have to wait perhaps till late for horses determined to say all night – promised to drive to his house on our return where his wife would be glad to see us – regretted he could not speak anything but Russian – had George to interpret – streets behind the bazaar – magnificent Platanus trees round the place and courtyard of the handsome mosque (metched) at the end of the Place opposite the Caravanserai – some of the trees 4 or 5 yards in circumference just above the ground and the [?] on of the great roots – a little tank of water just before the mosque entrance door – the court enclosed by low houses inhabited – in monastery style – the interior of the mosque painted glass windows in the Persian arabesque style very pretty – interesting town – A- found all our 9lbs. rice jolted out of the basket – all lost – tea over at 9 ½ - then sauntered in the Caravanserai court by the fine moonlight did job – the bird singing a nightingale? tho’ her notes not quite equal to those of our own nightingale R14 2/3° and F65 ½° at 9 50/.. p.m. very fine day –

[one-real-wrimonkey]

20 anger with jasTor so. We have a set? 🥺🥺🥺

Prompt- ‘Let go of me.’

Mwahahahahahaha… I mean, please enjoy.

---

"Jaster, stop thinking."

He huffed a laugh as his riduur pressed a kiss to his shoulder and wrapped himself around Jaster, in their shared bed, taking his glasses off and leaning over Jaster to put them on his bedside.

It wasn't his fault he was thinking so hard. They were this close to having a finished treaty with the New Mandalorians, one that both sides could agree to. One that he'd skilfully managed to write out so his people sacrificed little and the New Mandalorians conceded a lot, mainly the racism and exclusions policies. No more restrictions on adoption or migration or culture, no more cosmetic centres to 'fix' dark skin or non Kalevalan features or, Ka'ra, non human features. It would be illegal for shops or restaurants or services to refuse their service because of race or species.

"Jas. Stop."

"I can't help it Tor. This... this treaty could change everything. It could save so many lives, give our people their home."

"So why are you so concerned. Jas, your treaty is well written, it's air tight. It'll be fine."

"I'm just worried about Stevhaan Kryze. He and his keep trying to remove clauses I consider to be non-negotiable. And he keeps making jabs at my age and my race and I'm just... arggg you know?"

Jaster looked human, and quite a lot of his DNA was human, but like almost all Mandalorians, he was a very wide mix of races and species. His most notable non-human features were his eyes, his green-yellow irises betraying his Taung heritage. They could see in the dark with ease, but he still needed glasses to read, especially in normal light. He had far more Taung DNA than most, but the features that did surface for that, they were mostly internal. He knew it unnerved the New Mandos to see his not quite human features, he used it to his advantage because they could never maintain a staring match with him, and that they had their opinions of his skin colour and hair colour, without even getting to his beskar or political opinions.

Ka'ra he wished they just hated him for his politics, it would be easier.

"You're still more patient than me, riduur, and you know, if this does fall apart, we can always just invade. There are a lot of them but they certainly can't stop us, not to mention it was our home before they all moved in and took over anyway, so it's barely even an invasion."

"I'd rather not. Our people are warriors, but we're honourable, we don't just cut down civilians."

"Even when they're horrid people?"

"They're brainwashed Tor. What they say, what they do, it's wrong, and they have to learn better, but I... we can't attack them for being force-fed vile propaganda all their lives. The leadership propagating it, absolutely, but not the regular civilians. And you know as well as I do, even if we ordered it, none of our people would follow those orders. That something I love about them."

Tor laughed softly, and wrapped himself even tighter, and Jaster loved his riduur... he adored him.

"Our people are good and honourable, and you're a big part of that, cyare."

"I dream of a system where all our people are, where we're safe and free of their hate and honourlessness."

"Soon, cyare, soon. I promise."

.

.

.

Jaster cracked his shoulders and shifted in his seat. How was it so hard to convince these di'kut that Sentient Rights were, well, a thing.

Behind him the door hissed open and closed, and chances were that was Tor back from training.

Not wanting Tor to make him jump and knock his water on his work (again) he looked over his shoulder.

It wasn't Tor.

He knew who it was though. Klon Shrela, one of the many hitmen everyone knew worked for the New Mandalorians to take care of their problems without betraying their 'pacifist' ways.

In his rooms with him.

His armour was on the stand on the other side of the room, his comm on the bedside table. He was unarmed, but not incapable.

He dodged the first strike with the knife, but against a trained assassin with armour, he was on the back foot.

His stuff was sent flying off the desk, the desk stabbed instead of him, but despite his best attempts, and several well placed blows, he ended up backed against a wall.

He gasped as the knife drove deep into his stomach, and then his chest, and again.

The assassin stepped back and let him drop to the floor.

The world distorted.

The door hissed open and closed again.

There was yelling, a click-crunch-thump, there were hands moving him.

"Jaster..."

"Tor," he wheezed, "ridu...ur."

Everything was blurry, where were his glasses?

"Oh Jaster, it's ok. It's all going to be ok. Oh my beloved, it'll all be ok. They will pay for this."

"No... the..." he couldn't let his work go to waste when there could be peace, "treat...ty."

"No cyare, no this must be dealt with. Thats why you were the target, because you crafted this treaty, but they have to pay. For what they've done to all our, people and to you. They claim to be pacifists but they have hitmen like that shabuir doing their dirty work. They will pay for this, our people will rally now."

"Tor. Please."

"We can't negotiate with these monsters, words alone won't stop their atrocities, they must be stopped. You were right, our people would need a point to rally around for a war. But our people adore you Jas, you'll be a martyr, you'll be the reason Mandalore finds something better. You'll be the reason our people will be safe."

Had Tor called the medic, where were they? Were his wounds so bad the medic wouldn't matter, Tor was speaking like he was already gone.

"Help. Medic."

“Oh my love. It will kill me to lose you. Oh, beloved, but it was necessary. We had to stop them, we needed a reason. This had to happen.”

Jaster breath caught in his throat.

"What?"

The world was getting darker, darker, darker, and it wasn't just the blood loss.

Tor had arranged this.

"He's still a New Mandalorian assassin, he just took an anonymous hit on you, but everyone will think this was the New Mando's choice, who else would be behind it. The Kalevalans will fall and our people will finally be returned to their homes without fear of their prejudices and cruelty. Just like we wanted, like we always dreamed. It'll be the Mandalore you always spoke of. All because of you."

He said it like it was something Jaster would want, murder, not battle but murder.

"Let... go of... me."

He didn't want this monster touching him, holding him. Not like this, not like the adoring riduur he seemed to believe himself to be, that Jaster had believed him to be. He had arranged to have Jaster martyred, he'd arranged to have his riduur martyred. There were other ways for them to reach their dream, but Jaster was dying, and oh so many would follow him.

Tor ignored him, just cradled him close, brushing his hair with bloodstained hands.

"It will be beautiful. Oh Jaster, I just wish you could have lived to see it."

He could feel himself falling to the Manda's comfortable embrace, he could feel the very Ka'ra calling him.

He couldn't leave, not when such horrors were coming, not when so many would die.

But he didn't have a choice.

---

So anyway, that wasn't dark at all.

Anyway, thanks for the ask, and for reading. Hope you enjoyed.

Inbox always open. (-:

[leiainhoth]

Work summary: For so long, Din fought the reality of giving the child up, giving him to the jetii and moving on. He had prepared for it, packed a bag and left it all behind, so his son could have the life he deserved. All until he didn't have to. Or the one where Luke rescues Grogu on Tython, and Din rescues Luke in return.

Chapter summary: Din, Luke, Cobb and the rest of the caravan begin their journey to Mos Espa

... 

The sun had set hours ago, and Din leant into the sways and dips of his bantha as they traversed the desert. It was late, and the sky was darkening, the deep blues and purples fading into a deeper blue Din hadn't a name for. The stars were blinding, hanging in clusters and constellations, so many of them Din had no need for light. The moons hung deep on the southern horizon, and Din turned his head as the light reflected on his companions, fixing his gaze on Luke as his golden hair glowed silver in the moonlight. Din quirked a smile, watching as Luke talked animately to Scoeeri Plebb, the woman whose bantha he had been following for the past few hours. The child was asleep, lulled by the constant movement and the lack of interesting things to eat. Din smiled, it was going to be a long journey, and the child would need his rest.

He pulled a strip of jerky out of his belt and lifted his helmet to take a bite. He hadn't hesitated to take the rear of the caravan when they set out, letting Vanth and a Tusken by the name of A'Vor lead. He had taught Vanth the basics of the Tusken language that afternoon and told A'Vor that he could translate if need be. They seemed to get along well; the caravan had been moving in a steady north/northwest path for two hours, en route to Mos Espa. If all went well, they'd arrive in ten days' time.

Din was tired for other reasons, ones he wasn't able to put into words. He had taken Luke's hand in a moment of weakness; in the cantina when he thought he would lose Luke to this panic, he held him. Din wished he could offer more, come closer, bring Luke into his arms and rub his back the way he did for the child when he was afraid. It would be too much, too much too fast, and what if Luke refused? The jarring split would be worse than the pain of seeing Luke that way.

He had led,  taken  Luke back to the house after he calmed down some. He hadn't let go of Luke's hand, but the  jetii  didn't seem to mind. The baby settled against Din's chest, and with both hands occupied, he let Luke open the door and shut it carefully, letting the kid crawl out of his arms.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked again, and Luke shut his eyes, his body tense and still. Din wanted so badly to pull the man close to him, to feel his smaller body close to his own. He wanted to pat down that fluffy hair that never quite lay flat, to rub his thumbs up and down his arms like his mother had when Din was frightened. He wanted this and more but balked, not for reasons of his own. He wanted Luke to feel comfortable with him,  safe  with him. He couldn't have that if Din let his feelings get in the way.

Whoever Luke imagined Fett to be, whatever history they had together, it didn't make sense. Fett had called Luke an  aruetti,  an outsider, foreigner. Someone dangerous, someone with ill intentions. But Din didn't see that in Luke. The man was golden, bright as the sun. He was untainted, unbroken, his spirit filled to the brim with joy and contentment. Din wanted that, wanted  him—  this strange man in his life, this  jetii  he had known for less than a day. Something different, something off, something  about  him that drew Din in like a moth to a flame. Luke was a mystery, a man with incredible gifts, a  jetii  who had left his family and his home for the cries of a child on the planet below. The man who had stayed, certainly longer than Din expected him to, to train the baby in the ways of his people. It was a debt Din could never repay. It meant more to him than he had words to explain.

But it wasn't just a debt, now. The man was the first rays of dawn, the feeling of dew in the sand. He was bright, the burning light of the sun, and Din couldn't help but be drawn to his light, to orbit around his brightness, unwilling to admit he was being turned. He had made breakfast for the man with only a twinge of guilt, heating the leftover meal Cobb Vanth had prepared for them with careful attention. He thought back to how Luke fancied the blue pudding, and abandoning his own need for sustenance (surely he'd eat later), he dished out equal portions for Luke and Grogu, wanting desperately to feel useful. If he wasn't, if he was brash and uncaring, Luke would leave. He couldn't bear even the thought of it. The memory of his  jetii  after the battle on Tython stirred panic into his heart. The head wound was serious, much more severe than he was willing to admit to himself at the time. Bacta could only do so much; the rest would come with time. But the blood, there was so  much  of it, pooling and collecting in the creases of the man's nose, in his lips, dripping down his neck. It was on Din, too, and both blood and guilt dipped and flowed over his consciousness as he sat vigil over this stranger he didn't even know the name of. And why?

He had saved the child, of course, he had. Din and Fennec wouldn't have been able to on their own. The child would've died had Luke not interfered. But it was more than that, something Din couldn't admit to on pain of death, knowing, of course, that death might've been kinder. Din had held his  jetii  at arm's length, watching carefully, observing him always. Noticing when he sat and when he stood, what he ate, how he looked for permission before touching his son. Din appreciated it; the care and attention Luke showed for his child stirred something in his heart he thought had long ago calcified. Something close and desperate and warm, something Din had only ever felt with his parents and, more recently, with his son. Something eerily reminiscent of—of—

No,  he told himself later that day, collecting the child's toys from the house.  No, it's off the table. Forbidden. To love is to be known; this vessel is not mine to bear.

And more presently, the child needed him. Or so the excuse to himself went.

So instead, he watched, smiling as Luke did, observing as he swayed back and forth on his bantha. Din turned about, as he did every few minutes, his hand on his pulse rifle, taking care to protect those around him. But the desert was quiet, the sand still over the dunes, the stars hanging like crystals in the sky.

The saddle beneath Din dug uncomfortably into his  shebs,  and he wondered when Cobb was going to stop and make camp for the night. Din understood the Marshal's desire to leave as soon as they were able, but Din's nerves prickled as he watched the empty desert. Any number of dangers could be hiding in caves, ducked behind the dunes. The light was dim, but the stars and the moons, as well as the infrared setting on his HUD made it easy to see danger as they presented themselves.  If  they presented themselves.

Din rode in silence for some time, his eyes finding Luke as he laughed at something his companion said, his voice light and airy.  Did the Jedi need to sleep?  Din thought with amusement, something warm prickling in Din's chest as Luke leant forward and rested a hand on his bantha's side, speaking quietly to the animal.

Din forced his eyes onto the desert, his ears listening carefully to his companions. But he couldn't focus; Din only caught some of Luke and Scoeeri's words to one another and less of what Luke said to his bantha.

"What are you doing?" Scoeeri asked softly, and Din's head shot up, watching Luke carefully as he laughed, patting the shoulder of his bantha with what Din could only describe as affection.

"I'm speaking to him," Luke said.

Huh.

Din looked down at the child. "Can you do that too, kid?" Grogu didn't respond, looking up at his father with wide eyes, his fingers tangled in bantha fur. Din watched as Grogu gummed at the edge of his blanket. "Guess not,"

Din watched carefully as their caravan continued, smiling to himself as Vanth and A'Vod shared a laugh, nervous though it may be. His other companions, two humans and two Tuskens whose names Din hadn't caught spoke rode quietly, one behind the other. Perhaps things could change, even in a backwater desert like Tatooine.

"We'll stop here for the night," Vanth said with a laugh, and Din sighed in relief, pulling the child out of the saddlebag with a careful hand so he could see, settling the baby in his arms. Before them, the path was a gentle decline, the open maw of a cave protecting a small valley filled with scrub grass. Din watched as the others dismounted, laughing to himself as they walked away from their mounts with a bowlegged stance. Maybe his  shebs  wouldn't be the only ones aching tonight.

The baby cooed at the sight, suddenly wide awake as Din swung off the back of his bantha, laying a gentle hand on the creature's nose before leading it to the grass to graze.

"Mando," Vanth said, and Din looked up, watching as the others began to set up camp. Luke came close, suddenly looking so much younger than twenty-eight in the moonlight. He gestured for the child, and Din let the baby spill into Luke's arms without a second thought, walking towards Vanth with a barely contained smile on his lips.

"Anything to report?" Vanth asked, looking past Din into the desert behind. Vanth had picked a good stop to rest; the cave buttressed an embankment too high to climb, with the mouth of the cave being the only discernable entrance. There were ten of them in total, with eight bantha's and a speeder bike loaded with supplies to guard. It shouldn't be too much trouble.

"Nothing," Din said, trying to focus on Vanth, but failing, his eyes catching Luke speaking quietly to A'Vod's  riduur,  a swaddled baby he hadn't noticed held in her arms. Luke ran a hand over the child's head, Grogu peering curiously at the child from Luke's arms. "It's quiet,"

"Yes," Vanth said, clapping a hand on Din's shoulder. "Let's get some grub started, I'm starving,"

Din helped Vanth unload the gear, watching carefully as A'Vod and his companion (Din believed his name to be Cor, but he'd ask later) made a fire, setting a three-legged tripod with a dangling chain over the flames. Scoeeri and her brother Laele were busy over a pot, adding dried pieces of krayt dragon and a prickly vegetable Din couldn't identify with gentle hands. A'Vod gestured for Din, and he stood, following the man as he led him to the mouth of the cave. Instantly, the temperature dropped, their camp conversation fading to silence as they entered the cave.

That was when they found the water.

It was plentiful, flowing gently over stones, looking to be both clear and cold. Din smiled to himself, thanking A'Vod for his discernment (for surely he communicated to Vanth the need for water when they picked a place to stop. Water was precious on Tatooine, and Din felt honoured to have been entrusted with the knowledge).

Din signed thank you to A'Vod, who nodded in recognition, and Din followed as they walked to retrieve the empty water skins.

The camp settled into a steady rhythm, with the water from the cave, Scoeeri and Laele set the pot over the flames to cook. The bantha's grazed, and the children played, Luke and Varre watching and speaking quietly to one another. Din helped Vanth and Cor lead the bantha's to water and then unloaded the tents, setting them up for use.

They ate merrily, Din taking their food and the child away to the edge of the camp under the guise of keeping guard to eat on their own. The child was content to sit on Din's lap, the warm stew disappearing quickly as Grogu ate. Din took the rare opportunity to eat his food without hurrying, revelling in the silence of the desert wind around them. He drained his water skin and put his helmet, gathering the child and their dishes when he stopped short.

Luke was there, standing quietly beneath the ridge, looking happy and calm in the moonlight. His  jetii'kad  hung on his belt, and Din wasn't sure what to say at his sudden appearance.

"I was wondering if you'd like some company," Luke said, taking the empty bowls from Din's hands. "Scoeeri and I are almost done the washing up,"

"Oh," Din said, shuffling the baby to his other arm just for something to do, watching as Luke smiled at him and walked back down the ridge.

"Are you coming?"

Din grinned, looking down at the child with a leap in his heart, following Luke as he led them back to camp.

A'Vod and Varre's  ad  was older than Din initially thought, old enough to walk with help, and Din let Grogu down to play at Varre's direction, turning his attention to Luke and Scoeeri. Luke took Din's dishes and washed them, up to his elbows in soapy water, talking animately to both of them as he passed the dish to Scoeeri to rinse and dry. Din took the bowl as it was offered, looking at the neat pile of bowls and spoons sitting on a towel beside him and stacked the bowl with others.

Once the washing up was complete, Luke helped Din organize the cooking things into a crate intended for their use and tossed away the dishwater.

His companions were sitting and laughing around the fire when Luke and Din returned, and Din grinned as Grogu turned from his new friend and ran into Din's arms. Din nodded at Varre and signed his thanks, which Varre returned. Apparently, Grogu was welcome company.

"There you are," Luke said with a grin, running a finger along the child's ear. Grogu cooed, snuggling close into Din's arms. "Did you have fun with your friend?"

Din let his mind open as he looked carefully down at his son, feeling the thoughts and contentment of the baby wash over him. He was thrilled to have another child to play with.

"Yeah?" Luke said, looking down at the baby with affection. "That's good, then,"

"What's he saying?" Din asked, looking up to meet Luke's eye.

"Oh, nothing," Luke said with a secret smile, looking down at the baby. "Aren't we allowed to have secrets from your  buir,  Grogu?"

The baby warbled something incomprehensible and giggled, and Din smiled, rocking the baby back and forth. He didn't mind secrets, not between Luke and the baby. He was glad that the child had someone to talk to, pleased that he could understand the child's basic thoughts and emotions, content that if the baby had something important to tell him, he could do so.

Din looked over the baby and the fire to where the tents were pitched. He hadn't thought about it when they assembled them in the first place, but there were six; one for the siblings, for the married couple, for Cor and Vanth and Din and…

Oh.

The last two tents were close together, nearly touching. Almost as if…almost if...

Din blushed, blushed harder than he'd blushed in a long time. They had assumed, they had thought…and Din had given Vanth no reason  not  to believe that he and Luke that they were of one body. He hadn't thought about it; Din didn't give a second thought to what others thought of him. But one could've concluded, could've  assumed  that he and Luke were…

What?  Together?

Close enough to sleep side by side?  Riduure?

Din breathed steadily, forcing himself to stay calm. There were still two tents, still enough space for Din to relax and remove his armour for sleep. But they'd be so  close,  nothing but thin fabric separating them from one another.

Something in Din's heart leapt at the thought, a thought he hadn't given any power to since he was an  ad  in Nevarro. His face was his soul, giving someone else the power to see him…see him like  that…

"Bedtime, I think," Cobb Vanth said from the other side of the fire, startling Din out of his thoughts. "A'Vor here volunteered for the first watch, Laele for the second. The rest of us better get some sleep before morning comes,"

Din retrieved his and the baby's supplies from their saddlebags and walked with unsteady feet towards his tent, very aware of Luke behind them, making similar preparations. But there was nothing else to do, nothing Din could do to delay this moment any further, so he turned, facing Luke with trepidation.

But his companion, if he noticed, didn't comment on Din's stiffness, taking a step forward with a smile.

"Goodnight, Grogu," Luke said softly, gripping the baby's hand in his own. "See you in the morning, little one,"

Din watched carefully, his breath catching as Luke's attention turned to him. The air turned, lifting into something sweet and anticipatory as Luke looked up, something in his eyes softening as they considered one another.

Luke took Din's hand and quickly squeezed it, the warmth of his hand almost too much for Din to bear. "Goodnight,"

"Goodnight, Luke,"

And Din watched with his heart in his throat as Luke entered his tent, unable to do the same. It was as if something had cracked and spilled open in Din's chest. Something warm and welcoming, a feeling of  home  he hadn't felt since his parents died.

Din smiled, looking down at Luke's tent before turning to his own and retiring for the night.

Continued 

[zenless-zone-archive]

Ridu Close-Ups | "On my way to work, I saw a row of cats doing morning exercise, and I thought it'd be fun to join them... But then the lead cat asked me what I was doing. She just wanted to stretch... Ah! I'm going to be late for work!"

[zenless-zone-archive]

Ridu Close-Ups | "While I was cleaning up, I caught a colleague taking a nap in a cardboard box in the corner... We—Well, in that kind of situation, is it better to act like I didn't see anything? Ugh..."

[zenless-zone-archive]

Ridu Close-Ups | "Hey, fellow anons. I've a question: how do you set up a spot to be romantic but industrial for giving a love letter? You see, my child gathered her courage to write a love letter and asked me to give it to her crush for her. I'm so happy for her, and I want to do everything I can to support her. I'd love any advice you have! Thank you!"

[zenless-zone-archive]

Ridu Close-Ups | "*sniffle*... My beloved Starlight Knights merch! Boss said we're strapped for cash this month! No bonuses! But she bought a load of toys for the orphanage... How could she... She even said something about only kids needing toys... Well, I have to make a solemn declaration — The Starlight Knights are not toys! They are a way of life!"

[neweriduarchive]

Ridu Close-Ups: Harumasa

[zenless-zone-archive]

Ridu Close-Ups | "We had a pair of strange customers come in today. The short-haired one asked why there wasn't a patty in the burger. I answered following the pink-haired customer's instructions to the letter, telling her that it was a new reduced co— oh, I mean weight loss burger. The short-haired customer replied "A burger is a burger. There has to be a patty in between the buns, even if it's a weight loss burger." And she made me put the patty back. But, I... I only received the money for two buns?!"

[zenless-zone-archive]

Ridu Close-Ups | "Business has been booming lately, so I hired a helper. The young lady said she could do knife work. Um... is cutting barbecued pork with a chainsaw a new kind of art? I'm a little freaked out..."

[zenless-zone-archive]

Ridu Close-Ups | "After Belobog made a comeback, Koleda's had to attend more and more groundbreakings. Gotta say, our prez sure has grown! But, just a reminder to all our partners, maybe check the height of the ribbon next time."