Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One

No Matter Where I Go, It’s Always Desolate

He knew there were other planets like Tatooine; planets of nothing but sand, the sun and the endless, unforgiving heat. He knew There were other planets much like the sand trap that is Tatooine, and he knew how miserable it was to spend any moment of ones life on the planet - though it always surprised him when people managed to build settlements, despite the harsh environments. 

What he knew, yet always forgot, was how many planets there are that are worse than Tatooine. The planet he was on now, Halvarus, was one of them. Rather than gritty sand, the planet was covered in silky smooth grey dust, that clung to everything and made breathing the air difficult without his helmet. The surface of the planet was flat but dotted with odd caves that lead down into the hard stone layer of the landscape, though there was no escape from the dust. Two suns rotated around the planet, making it dry and scorching during the day but as soon as the suns disappeared below the horizon, the temperature would quickly plummet to close to freezing. 

There were only a few small settlements on the planet, all looking nearly identical; made of dark grey stone and scrap metal. Each settlement had their own small green houses set up to grow what food they could manage, since the dusty landscape was useless for cultivation. At the first settlement Din had found, he had been welcomed politely but when he asked to trade for a speeder the tradesman was startled by the food the Mandalorian had on hand - basic ration packs for himself, but a few small packs of sweets and fresh fruit for Grogu. A couple of hyrdopacks, a small bag of sweets and a handful of fruit got Din a decent speeder, far better than he expected to find on the dusty wasteland of Halvarus, as well as a promise to radio other settlements and let them know he was ‘one of the good ones’. 

He made it to the next settlement, which looked almost identical to the one he had just left, as the suns had begun to disappear. The journey had been uneventful and uninteresting; the only thing he’d seen on the way was a lone man standing by a lone speeder a short ways out of town - the man was facing away from Din. Din hesitated for a moment, thinking about stopping, but he could already feel the air growing cold and didn’t want to risk having Grogu out in any worse weather. He’d been told by the tradesman at the last settlement that this town had a decent enough cantina with beds for hire, so after finding the loud building he parked the Speeder and headed inside with Grogu nestled in the sling Din fashioned from his cape. 

The other patrons gave him curious glances as he entered but nobody said anything and the eyes left him quickly as people returned to their own conversations and drinks. 

“Evening, you must be the fella that Tom called through about earlier.” The man at the bar said - a short man who looked built of muscle, wearing a white apron that reads THE DUST BOWL in faded writing. “Said you were alright, told me I’d be clever to give you a free drink and feed for the evening.”

“That’s kind of him.” Din said from behind his helmet. “He was a nice man.”

“Tom’s a one of a kind, honest to god - I’d trust him with my kids if it came down to it. So, a hot meal and a drink for yourself then?”

“A room, if you have one spare.” Din said. 

“Aye, a room I can do. I’ll have the meal sent up there if ya like. Can get a bit rowdy down here when its late and I imagine you’re due a proper rest after the trip here. I’d offer something sweet for the little ‘un but well, ain’t got much of that sort here.”

“That’s alright, I have some sweets for him already.”

“Tom said you had all sorts of goods, good to know he wasn’t pulling my leg when someone traded him proper food!” The man said with a deep chuckle. “I’m a little disappointed you didn’t stop here first, we’ve got a whole gaggle of little ‘uns at the moment after that slaver convoy left em. Six of em! Just left em all out in the dust as the suns were disappearing, poor things wouldn’t have made it til morning with the rags they were wearing.” 

“You have…foundlings?”

“Foundlings?” The man asked with a frown, then nodded. “Ah you mean like orphans?”

Din nodded. 

“We’ve got a small school in town, only one room, but the teacher has opened it up for the kids to stay in while we decide what to do. Good enough bunch of kids, quiet of course, and we’ve managed to get some beds set up for em but…there’s only so much we can do for their morale, you know?”

“I know.” Din said, and placed one of the small bags of sweets on the counter. “I have some more, they should get to enjoy them.” 

“I- ya sure?” Din nodded. “Well, alright then. That’ll put some pep in their step when I go round in the morning. Very kind of you, they’ll appreciate it. You should head up and get some rest though, I’ll send the food up shortly. Room 8, last door on the left.”

“Thank you.” Din said, and accepted the key and it’s tattered number tag from the man before heading up a flight of stone steps that took him to a thin hallway.

The room was small, made of the same grey stone as the rest of the place and while it was cold, Din knew it was better than being outside. A single bed was in one corner of the room, and a table and single chair was in the opposite corner. It wasn’t long before someone turned up with a bowl of hot stew and a glass of some sort warmed, spiced wine. A smaller bowl contained some sort of sweet porridge, which Din gave to Grogu to enjoy. After dinner, the two of them settled into the rickety bed, and after an hour of laying and staring at the ceiling while Grogu snored beside him, Din fell into a restless sleep. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Two

Help Has Arrived (Whether You Want It Or Not)

Din woke the next morning, already hot and sweating in his armour; sunlight streamed through the open window in his room and filled the small bedroom with golden, almost red, light. It was early and he could do with more sleep but, he had a target to find and a bounty to collect, so he wrapped Grogu back into his cape and headed downstairs. It was quiet downstairs, and the barkeep wasn’t there yet, so Din headed out to his speeder and began the next part of his journey - the sooner he got started the sooner he would arrive. He knew the location of the settlement he needed to hit, which would be at least two more days of travel through the flat, disinteresting landscape of Helvarus.

He was desperate to get off of this horrid, dusty, planet - Din wanted to spend as much time travelling as possible, even if that meant being in the unforgiving sun all day. He headed out of town in the direction he’d come in, but he would be diverting to the east after a short while. The speeder and its rider from the day before were nowhere to be seen, so Din figured the man had moved on at some point. 

Dust whipped past as he drove, making seeing difficult but not impossible, and he continued on until he could see the suns beginning to drip once again. With no settlement nearby, Din decided on using one of the caves for shelter for the night. There were plenty of them around, he just had to keep his eyes keen to spot one amongst the dust. It didn’t take long to find one but as he got closer he noticed something that made him slow his own speeder and take stock of the speeder that was already parked at the mouth of the cave, and the group of people who were already there. Din was ready to keep going, when he heard the group break out in panicked shouting. Slowing down even more but not stopping completely, Din glanced back at the group to see a single figure running at a spring away from the others, who seemed to be making chase - the lone figure had some distance but it was closing quickly, and Din knew whoever it was wouldn’t make it far before the others reached them. The limp to the figures gait meant he likely wasn’t going as fast as he could either. 

The figure had run in the direction of Din, but seemingly hadn’t noticed the Mandalorian until now - they came to a sudden halt, eyes wide with panic as they looked Din over, then glanced back at the crowd who were very nearly on top of them. Despite the distance, Din could make out a few details about the man - blonde hair, slightly tanned skin and a face covered in bruises and blood. What clothes he wore were blood stained and torn, and each wrist was circled by a metal shackle which were joint by a small length of chain. 

So the man was a slave, or at least on his way to be sold off as one. 

Din raised his arm, which only made the man flinch, and fired off his whistling birds. The small missles flew through the air, skirting around the man, and striking each of the slavers. The small explosions blasted each man back off their feet, where they landed on the dusty ground unmoving. Din knew that if any of them survived, they wouldn’t be in any condition to be trouble later on. 

The blonde man was staring at the bodies, then snapped his head back round to look at Din again with those wide, terrified eyes. He made no motion to move, he seemed stuck to the spot, so Din climbed off the speeder and began to walk towards him. 

“We need to-“

“Don’t.” The man said and took a step back, but it came as out more of a plea. “Please just…leave me alone.” 

“If I leave you alone, you’ll freeze to death.” Din said. “We need to get into shelter.” 

“I don’t care, just please..leave me alone, I don’t want-“ The man gave a harsh cough and Din saw his body shiver; either the cold was already getting to him, or he was already ill. 

Din wouldn’t be surprised either way, the man was thin and now that Din was closer it was obvious the damage was more than just some bruising; the bruises on his face spread down his neck and chest, with thin cuts dotting his skin. They looked more purposeful than random injuries; they were the aftermath of torture. 

“You will freeze out here.” Din said and came to a stop a short distance from the man, leaving a metre or so between them. 

“I don’t care!” The man whispered and he was pleading with Din - his eyes were wide and wet around the edges, rimmed with tears that threatened to spill over. “It’ll be better than whatever you plan to do to me.” 

“What do you think- don’t answer that, I don’t want to know.” Din said, thinking better of it. “I’m just helping.”

“People don’t just help for the sake of it…and-and…certainly not…you.” The blonde said, but his words were shaky - his entire body was. “They were bad enough…I don’t want anything more.”

He could feel the chill around them and realised the suns were just about gone - they would be in darkness in a few minutes. Din rolled his eyes behind his visor and returned to the speeder. He didn’t grab much, just a few of the most basic supplies to get through the night, and made sure to tuck one of the spare blankets into the bag he lifted onto his shoulder. With Grogu firmly in place in his cape, Din turned back and headed towards the cave. The man was still there, watching Din like how a threatened animal might, and Din knew if he kept going the man would disappear into the darkness. 

“Stop!’ The man shouted, giving a slight yelp, as Din grabbed him on his way past. “Just leave me alone! Please!”

“You’re going to hurt yourself.” Din said as he walked; the man was trying to fight back, but Dins grasp on the mans arm was strong and the man was weak from his injuries, and likely a lack of food. The walk down into the cave was only a slight incline, and the ground inside was thankfully reasonably flat. Din dropped his bag onto the ground without looking at it, and moved a little further into the cave before using his foot to knock the other man off balance, and lower him into a sitting position on the floor. 

The man made no effort to move away from where he’d been put as Din got to work setting up a small fire in the middle of the cave - the survival kit he’d packed was only good for one night, but the small amount of dried wood the kit came with would get them through until the morning. Din couldn’t see the man while he worked, due to the dim light, but he could hear the mans shaking breathing and his quiet sniffles and sobs. 

Din tried to ignore the sounds but in the otherwise empty cave, they were impossible to get away from, no matter how hard the man tried to hide them. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Three

Two Options

The fire wasn’t big by any means, but it gave off enough light and warmth to be comfortable at the very, very least. Din got Grogu settled, or at best he could, near the fire with some food. 

“Stay warm, alright?” He said quietly and ran his fingers across Grogus head, which Grogu cooed at quietly. 

The man in the corner had gone quiet before Din finished the fire and Din that suspected the man had simply fallen asleep from exhaustion. He stirred again when Din walked over to him, and it only took a moment for the man to go from almost asleep to very, very awake. He shrank back against the cave wall and watched Din with pale blue eyes, flickered by orange and yellow from the fire. 

“You need to eat.” Din said. “I have some medipacks, so we can look at some of your wounds.” 

“I don’t want…can you just…stop the act.” The man said with a sigh; his shoulders slumped and he was no longer looking at Din, just looking towards the ground. 

“What act?” Din asked. 

“Like you care. I don’t expect it, so just…do whatever you wanna do and get it over with. Pretending to be nice hardly makes it better.”

“Look, I’ll leave the food and the medick here and you can do whatever you want.” Din said, and slowly placed the items on the ground near the mans feet - Din was just glad he’d decided on taking extra rations for this trip. 

Din sat by the fire, on the opposite side of the cave to the man, and watched at Grogu slowly fell asleep curled up in Dins cape. 

“At least you’re comfortable.” Din mutters. 

Its some time later, and Din makes no comment, when hears the sound of a ration pack being opened. The man is quiet while he eats and Din says nothing, only sits and watches the fire. Eventually, he lays down, and lets exhaustion take over. He doesn’t dream that night and wakes later, with some time before the suns will come up. 

He can smell antiseptic in the air and realises the man must’ve opened the medick during the night, thank god. The man is closer to the fire now, not by much, but he’s at least warmer than he was before. 

“Why are the bounties never on pleasant planets?” Din groans to himself as he gets up from the floor, feeling his joints crick with the movement. “A moderate climate, that’s all I ask for. What about you kid?” Grogu answers with happy cooing. “Yeah well, not everyone can be so positive.” 

A sharp gasp comes from the blonde man; he’s sat up, but is now clutching one wrist with the other hand and wincing. 

“What’s wrong?” Din asks and is met by those same terrified eyes. 

“Nothing.” The man says, too quickly. “I just slept on it funny-“

“We need to get your shackles off.” Din said and the man immediately dropped his hands into his lap, staring at Din in disbelief. 

“…Why? No ones going to care…”

“You care, and I care.” Din says and after Grogu makes a noise at his feet, he adds, “And he cares.” 

The man looked at Grogu, apparently for the first time and something flashes across his face, something besides pain and fear, but it’s gone as quick as it came. 

“Whoever…whoever you sell me to is just going to put another set on…it’s a waste of time.” 

“I’m not…” Din sighed. “We should get going, if we really push we could make it to the next settlement before the next evening. My bounty should be there, so I can finally get off this…miserable planet; and I thought Tatooine was bad.” 

Checking the puck for his bounty, Din was disappointed to see it was no longer giving off a location; which meant that the bounty was dead and he no longer needed to head to the last settlement. 

“Well, looks like we’re heading back earlier than planned.” He said and slowly began to pack up his things and head back out to the speeder. It didn’t take long to pack everything away again and when Din was finished, he found the man had followed him out of the cave and was looking over the other speeder. 

“I don’t think it’s going very far.” Din said, startling the other man and causing him to lose his footing in the dust; Din easily caught the man and gave a few seconds to let him get his footing again before letting go. 

“It broke down, its why we stopped in the first place…”

“And you made a run for it?” Din asked. 

“They…they weren’t paying attention to me for a moment and…things couldn’t get much worse, so I figured it was worth a try.” The blonde answered with a sigh and a slump of his shoulders. “Well, it got worse…”

“How so?” 

“I…I’ve heard about…Mandalorians before. Stories that…well, you’re made out to be rather…cruel. I just…don’t know if I’d rather you sell me or keep me…I don’t what would be worse.” 

“Trust me, being sold would be worse.” Din said. “I’m not in the business of selling people. We need to get moving, come on.” 

Din expected the man to fight, to argue, anything but he just…looked at the broken speeder with a sigh and followed after Din. Either the man was too tired to argue, or he had given up. 

“Where are you from?” Din asked as the other man climbed onto the speeder behind him. “Hold tight, I don’t want you flying off.” 

Din can feel the other mans nervousness even through the armour as they hold tight to Din, as much as they can. 

“Coruscant.” He hears the quiet answer. “I-I have family on Coruscant.” 

Of kriffing course it’s Coruscant of all places.

“Well, that’s…quite the journey.” Din says. “We’ll get you there.” 

They set off, with Din driving them towards where he parked his ship days earlier. Dust swirled around them as they sped across the flat, grey landscape, and the sun beat down as hard ever. Din wished for relief from the heat inside his armour but with the blonde so close, that wasn’t an option. 

He tried not to think about the fact he would be in even closer quarters with the golden-haired man, with his soft blue eyes, once they boarded the ship. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Four

It Wasn’t Safe To Tell You (About Me)

While the blonde had seemingly accepted whatever fate he thought Din had in store for him, he had no intention of accepting any niceties from the Mandalorian. Offers of food and water were rejected, only eaten when Din walked away and left the man alone. 

“I don’t think they’re made to come off.” The blonde said at one point, while Din was looking over the shackles for any way to release them. They had no hinge, no clasp and no key hole - just a smooth band of metal around each wrist. There was no to break the chain either, so the mans restraints were left as they were, which caused something awful and heavy to settle in Dins stomach. 

“Doesn’t matter.” The blonde said. “Didn’t think they’d be coming off anyway.” 

Now they were at the Razors Crest, and Din was itching to get off of this planet. 

“You actually…have a ship?” The blonde asked, blinking as he took in what he was seeing. 

“I said I did.” Din said. “Why would I lie about that?”

“Sounds better than just saying you’re taking me somewhere…out of the way.” He said, shooting a sideways glance at Din, but following after the Mandalorian and boarding the ship. 

“It’ll be about a week until we reach Coruscant, but there’s enough supplies for us both for the trip.” He said. “Hopefully we can find someone there to get…those off, then we can find your family.”

“Mm.” Came from the man, who had crawled into the small bed Din had showed him. He was facing away from Din, curled up as tight as someone could be. Din sighed and got Grogu settled into his hammock, before climbing into the drivers seat and beginning the process of getting the ship airborne. An hour later, and they’re flying amongst the stars, grey stone and dust left behind them, and Din can finally let himself relax. He felt no threat from the man, so he is happy to let himself slip into much needed sleep in the drivers seat. 

The voice that wakes him later is hushed and panicked. 

“You have to go back to your bed.” The voice whispered, pleading. “No- go back- you’re very cute but you need to go back to bed. He’ll be so mad you’re with me, please just-“

Din was looking at the man, who had pressed himself as far back into the small nook as he could, while Grogu sat and babbled happily on the edge of the bed. The man looked…more than terrified, which only got worse as Din moved over to pick Grogu up off the bed and place him back in his hammock.

“I didn’t- he just…he was just there- I didn’t do anything!” 

“I didn’t think you had.” Din says simply. “He doesn’t know he’s…well, he might know he’s doing something he shouldn’t but, you don’t need to worry. I know…kriff, I know you don’t believe it but I don’t want to hurt you. I want to get you home so I can go find another bounty and make some money.”

“I- we- my family…we have some money…we…could…” The man swallowed hard, nervous, and the sight does something to Din that the Mandalorian tried not to think about. “I’d like to stay alive…that’s all…”

“You were going home either way.” Din said slowly. “Money is…a bonus.” 

“You say that…just…thought it might be a good incentive.”

Din only nods and turns away, not wanting to stare at the man any longer. The man is…attractive, Din isn’t blind, but he’s also covered in bruises and blood still, and thin cuts over his skin that Din know weren’t an accident. He can’t, and won’t, let himself look at the man as anything other than a job. 

Get him home, go back to work. 

The rest of the day, and the one after, pass by without incident; the man is quiet, either not wanting to speak to Din or, more likely, too fearful of upsetting the man who had so far caused him no harm. It’s that afternoon that Cara calls him.

“Mando!” She greets, far too chipper for his growing headache. “How was the hunt?”

“Bounty ended up dead before I even found them.” He answered. “Travelling now, will be…ugh, will be back later than planned.”

“Oh? You alright?”

“Yeah it’s…got caught up in some slave trade riff while I was on Halvarus, not surprising given what a shit hole the place is. I found…some belongings, on one of the slaver caravans, and someone at one of the settlements promised credits if I returned it all to the boys family.” Din said - he really didn’t want to deal with the questions that would come with Cara knowing someone else was on his ship. “A kriffing mess but, any credits are good credits after the failure of that last bounty.”

“Huh, wonder who took him out.” She said. “I’ll send you through some jobs then, see if anything takes your fancy. See you when you’re back then, stay safe.”

“You too.”

Cara gave a nod, then the call ended. 

A few minutes later, Din was sifting through the various listings that Cara had sent through; everything from bounties, murder-for-hires, and missing person reports. The scrolling was mindless, since Din knew he would likely not take any of them. He spent a bit of time scrolling through the missing persons reports, trying to commit at least some of the faces to memory, in case he spotted anyone on his journey. 

One of them made him pause. 

The face was more filled out, the eyes were a much brighter blue and the hair was softer looking, more golden without the dried blood that had collected in it. 

Luke Skywalker

Time Since Reported Missing: 372 days

  Reward: Undisclosed

Contact: Leia Organa

“Luke Skywalker?” Din asked himself, and set to pulling up whatever results the name gave him.

It was…a lot. 

Din read through everything; what the boy had done at such a young age, what he had been said to have done, the rumours around his disappearance. One word, out of everything, stuck out to him.

Jedi.

He’s a kriffing jetti? Din thought to himself, then he heard movement behind him. Din rose from his seat, and the movement turned into quick, frantic breathing and a whisper of “Fuck.”

The man, Luke, was no longer in the bed but was instead in the small hallway of the ship, pressed against the wall near the end of the hall. Din walked closer, closing the gap between them. 

“Okay-“ Luke stuttered. “I should have- I know I should’ve said something-“

Din stopped only a short distance from Luke, close enough he could practically feel the man shake. Luke was pressed against the wall, desperate to be anywhere besides where he was now; between a steel wall and a Mandalorian. 

“Who are you?” Din growled. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Five

Wash It Away 

“Who are you?” The Mandalorian asked; even with the modulation from the helmet, Luke could hear the growl in the voice, and oh fuck, that was not a nice sound.

At another time, in another place, the growl might have been more pleasant but…this was not that time or place, and Luke was fairly sure any promises to not hurt him were no longer in place. 

“L-Luke.” He whispered, and it felt like his heart was going to beat out of chest.

“Luke…”

“Skywalker.” He whispered but it ends up as more of a whimper. “Look just- I’m sorry okay just, do whatever you want and I won’t-“

“Fucking hell kid, I’m not gonna do anything to a Jedi!” The Mandalorian growls out. “I don’t have a death wish- ugh, I wouldn’t do anything to you regardless!”

“I just want to go home.” Luke says. “I can’t- they knew, the people who…the cuffs block my connection to the Force, I can’t…do anything.”

“So you’re a Jedi…without Jedi powers?”

“Y-yes…” 

“Stop looking at me like that.” The Mandalorian snapped and Luke tried to move back out of reflex but theres nowhere to go. “I already told you I don’t want-“

“And I’m supposed to just believe that?” Luke snapped. “I’m a slave, I’m not stupid.”

A pause - a horrid silence that Luke expected to end in shouting and pain but nothing comes besides, “I didn’t think you were.”

“I should have said something…I just…”

“If you’ve heard stories, like you said, you would know about our history.” The Mandalorian - the kriffing Mandalorian - said. “It would make sense you wouldn’t trust me. I should have…I apologise. I should have considered that, not to mention…everything else you’ve been through.”

Luke felt his shoulders relax, just a little. It’s hardly the best situation to be in but after the past year, it’s possibly the safest he’s been - it’s the longest he’s gone without anyone inflicting pain on him for fun, at least, so there is a sense of gratitude there. 

“I…in all honesty, even if you…did do anything, I’m just glad for the reprieve…it was…constant, with them, there was never a break. So the break is…it’s a relief, is all.” 

“Get used to it.” The Mandalorian said. “You should get some more rest…and eat something.” 

“I don’t need much-“

“I’d also rather not return you home with you covered in blood.” The Mandalorian said and Luke can only stare for a moment before remembering that yes, he is in fact covered in his own blood, not to mention the dust and grime from whatever planet he’d been on. 

“Oh that’s…a good point.” He said and honestly, he felt a little stupid having forgotten about it. 

“There’s a refresher on board, no water but the sonic is functioning, and there’s some sanitary towels around.” The Mandalorian said, tilting his helmet to the side - even without being able to see the warriors eyes, Luke can feel them on him. Its not the same feeling he got when the slavers looked at him, hungry and cruel, but there is a certain sensation of being watched by a predator that the Mandalorian gives off. “I will leave some spare clothes outside of the refresher for you.”

The armoured man turned away and left Luke in the hallway, where he stayed for a moment to let his heart rate slow down. Eventually he does make his way to the refresher, and a set of clohtes was waiting for him - a simple black shirt and black pants. Both are bigger than what he would usually wear, especially with how much he had thinned out since being captured, but it was an exciting thing to think about having - fresh, clean clothes that hadn’t been tainted by the hands of slavers trying to grab at him. 

It takes time, and more sanitary towels than he would have liked to use, but eventually he felt clean and could finally run his fingers through his hair without it snagging on dried blood, or spots where his hair had tangled together into tight knots. It startled him to see his reflection in the mirror - even without the blood, it was still obvious the last year had been unkind. Bruises littered his face and the rest of his body, and the small cuts that had been so meticulously carved into him…they couldn’t be hidden, not really, there were just…so many of them. It’s not until he’s pulled the pants on and done up the drawstring as tight as it’ll go, that he looks at the shirt and lets out a sigh. The cuffs had prevented him from pulling off the tattered shirt, so he had simply left it in place and cleaned around it. He shook his head and reminded himself that intact pants were at least an improvement, no matter how small of one it felt. With a final look at himself in the mirror, he left the room and headed back to the small bed nook - it was small and cramped, but it was far better than the dirt floors he had been left to sleep on during the past year - hands bound to whatever furniture they could find to keep him from getting too far…chains keeping him tied to the outside of a building, left in the elements while they enjoyed the warmth inside-

He was dragged out of his thoughts by something pushing his hand - a ration pack, held by a tiny green hand. 

“Uh, hel-“

“I told you, thats for the Jedi, not for you.” The Mandalorian called out from the cockpit before appearing in the small space where the bed was. “Hand delivery, huh?”

Grogu only chirped in response and looked up at Luke, pressing the ration pack further into his hand. 

“I- okay?” Luke said, though he was rather confused, and accepted the ration. “That’s very kind of you.”

“He’s like you.” The Mandalorian said suddenly and Lukes eyes snapped to look at the armoured man. “He’s a jedi…just a small one.” 

“I…I’ve met, someone like him before, his own species.” Luke said slowly, unsure if he really wanted to speak to a stranger about his past but…

“Like him?” The Mandalorian breathes out. “How…how old were they?”

“Nine hundred?”

“Years?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Well, shit. You’re barely even a toddler kid.” The Mandalorian said, helmet tilted towards the small green child; the tone of voice caught Luke off guard. It was so…so kind. “You should eat.” The helmet turned back to look at Luke and he felt himself go still as soon as the others gaze was on him. 

He could only nod and sit down on the bed - he was careful to peel the wrapper off of the ration, while the green child watched on happily, and keep his attention off of the Mandalorian.

“We’ll need to stop to refuel soon, there’s a space-station not far so we won’t need to go planet side.” The Mandalorian said. “It shouldn’t take long, then we can start the journey to get you home.”

Luke nodded as he picked pieces of the ration bar apart and ate them slowly, one by one - he couldn’t relax until he felt the Mandalorian’s gaze move away from him as the other man returned to the cockpit. Lukes head tilted back and he let it rest against the cold wall of the small bed nook, and he sent out a silent prayer to any one listening to get off of this ship alive.

He would take harmed - he would accept more pain, he just wanted to be alive at the end of it.

Chapter Text

Chapter Six

Trying To Be Good

Din hated space-stations for refuelling but he didn’t want to waste unnecessary time entering a planet - refuelling didn’t take long, the entry and exit of the atmosphere would be longer. 

“You two stay here.” He told the Jedi and Grogu. “It won’t take long.”

Grogu babbled from his hammock and Din sighed. “You only get a treat if you behave while I’m gone.” 

Another happy babble in response, and Din took it to mean that Grogu was pleased by his answer.

Din threw a quick look at the Jedi, who was sitting in the corner of the bed with his legs pulled to his chest, before leaving the ship. 

“Mandalorian!” The shout was immediate and a man came over to Din. He was, in the truest sense, utterly creepy. A tall, slim man with thinning black hair that he had combed backwards - he had a thick silver ring through the middle of his nose, which Din was tempted to pull at the man got too close to him. “Ahh, we are…refuelling? Purchasing? Any wares?”

“Refuelling.” Din answered bluntly. “And purchasing food, if anywhere sells it.”

“Oh my…my…yes, food- oh, what is on board your ship?” The man asked, voice falling to a whisper. “It smells…delicious, if I must say, have you found yourself something…special? Something for yourself to enjoy? Or…others?”

“Excuse me?”

“I…apologise…it is a unique…gift, one by birth. It’s also a gift that I have made plenty of credits with over the years heh…but, you’ve found yourself a…toy? A slave? I was unaware Mandalorians bought people-“

“We don’t. They’re an injured party, it’s a rescue job.” He snapped. “Refuel the ship and if you consider trying to board it, I’ll find a way to leave you floating in the kriffing atmosphere itself.”

“Heh…very well…it shall not take long.”

The man hadn’t lied.

It took barely ten minutes for the ship to be ready to go. As Din stepped towards the ship, the creepy man returned with a bag. Two small metal containers sat inside the bag, warm to the touch.

“A meal…for yourself and your…present company. I do apologise for my manners…I’ve made sure to get some of my wife’s soup, it’s marvellous for curing all sorts of ailments, hopefully it shall speed up their recovery…”

“Kind of you.” Din said. “Forgiven, but not forgotten.”

With that, he boarded the Razor Crest and let out a heavy sigh before making his way to the cock pit. Grogu was curled up in his hammock, babbling softly in his sleep - he began to stir while Din pulled the two containers from the bag. One was full of some sort of meat and vegetable soup, while the other held some sort of noodle and meat dish. He dug through one of the cockpits cupboards until he found a spare spoon.

The Jedi looked at him with his wide, blue eyes, but quickly looked away again.

“Here.” Din said and placed the soup and spoon on the edge of the bed. “A hot meal. Thought we could do with something proper to eat.”

“Thank you.” The Jedi - Luke - said quietly, and Din felt something twist in his chest at the mans timid tone of voice. 

Din sat in the cockpit while he ate, sharing the noodles and chunks of meat with Grogu - the food was hot and a nice change of pace, if a little blander flavour wise than he would have preferred. He sat and enjoyed the company with Grogu, until it was time to put the kid back into the hammock to rest - he was full of noodles and seemed content, and fell asleep easily. 

With Grogu taken care of, Din let himself have ten minutes to use the refresher and clean himself off - there was still dust caked onto his skin where it crept inside the armour. Feeling clean was…such a small thing but it made such a huge difference to Din, and he felt a little more awake. 

When he left the refresher and headed back towards the cock pit, he saw the Jedi standing in the hallway. He was staring towards the cockpit, apparently having not noticed Din yet.

“How was the food?” Din asked and the Je- Lukes eyes snapped to him - they were…still that pale blue but something was off. His skin was flushed red, blush that coloured his cheeks and travelled down his neck and beneath his torn shirt. “Are you-“

“You’re so nice.” Luke said but the words were soft and the man seemed almost unaware he was even speaking. “Bringing back something for me…looking after me.”

“It was just some food.” Din said, shrugging in his armour and moving to walk past the man. He didn’t expect the man to suddenly shove at him, sending him onto the bed with a metallic thud as his armour struck the wall of the bed nook. “What the fuck are you-“

The weight on his legs was sudden and unexpected - the Jedi was sitting on his lap, straddling him, with his hands pressed against his chest, held there by how the jedi was leaning his body towards Din, seemingly desperate to close the space between them. 

“What the fuck-“

“So nice.” Luke whispered, blue eyes staring into Dins through the visor. “I can be nice too…for you, just you.” 

Fingers pressed gently at the softer parts of Dins armour, between the plates, and it took all of his self restraint to not grab those hands and twist them until they hurt. Something was wrong with the Jedi, he could barely look at Din not even half an hour ago and now…this.

“You need to stop.” Din said firmly, but it seemed to have no effect on the other man. 

“But why?” Luke asked, voice low. “Everyone else told me how pretty I am, don’t you think I’m pretty? You’ve been so kind…so gentle…don’t you want more? That’s what I’m here for, isn’t that why you kept me?”

Din grabbed the chain that connected the manacles around the mans wrists before pushing up and flipping them, so that the man was on the bed and Din was towering over him.

“I want,” Din said with a deep breath as he pulled up on the chain and hooked it over something on the wall, so that the mans arms were held above him and he had no way off the bed.  “For you to stay here.” 

Luke stared up at Din, blue eyes glassy and paler than usual, and Din could see that the mans lip was trembling.

“No…no, I just want to be good-“

“You are.” Din said, keeping his voice level. “You are being…so good.” He felt sick as he spoke; he had promised the man from the beginning that he wouldn’t harm him, would get him home safely. 

Something in the back of Dins mind was oddly….satisfied by the sight in front of him; the beautiful blonde man, powerless, and only wishing to make Din happy. 

Yes, keep him. The voice whispered in the back of his head. He is so very pretty, why shouldn’t I?

“I am?” Luke asked in a whisper, his voice shaking. 

“Yes, I just need you to wait here.” Din said. “I’ll come back, okay?”

Luke only nodded and watched Din as the Mandalorian backed away and returned to the refresher, closing the door behind him and ripping his helmet off; he stared at himself in the mirror. 

The voice in his head had gone quiet, but Din could remember it clearly.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven

Smile For Me

Din had no idea how long  he spent hiding from Luke, well over an hour at least, trying to keep busy with whatever small jobs he could find in the ship. He had no worry over what Luke might do, the man was obviously not himself and couldn’t be blamed, Din just didn’t trust himself.

At all.

It was a horrid feeling; he was used to being in control of himself but this was…something about Luke just…got to him, got underneath his skin in a way that excited and scared him. He wanted to have the man close to him, staring up at him with pretty blue eyes but…yes, he wanted the man to be…he wanted him to look frightened, scared of Din, but he could never do that to someone. He wanted the man to enjoy it, to let Din make him feel good, but Din hated those voices that whispered in the back of his head when he was staring at the confused, almost definitely drugged, Luke and he didn’t want to give them any chance to come back.

So, he kept himself busy, after having accepted he’d have to return to the cockpit eventually, and he really should check on Luke. With a final breath, Din headed back towards Luke. The man was where he’d left him, arms hanging from the wall by the chain and manacles - the skin on his wrists was rubbed raw and red, and Din could see small specks of blood on the skin. 

Luke was still, but breathing, and looked up at Din when he stopped at the bed. 

“How are you feeling?” Din asked. 

“I-I-“ Luke stuttered out. “I didn’t mean-“

“I know.” He answered. “How do you feel?”

“…My head hurts and I feel a bit…tired but that’s it.” Luke answered quietly. 

“I didn’t know…I wouldn’t have done that you on purpose.” Din told the man as he reached forward and grabbed the chain, gently lifting it and lowering Lukes arms. “Careful with your arms, I shouldn’t have left them like that for so long.“

“I know.” Luke said. “I didn’t think you did.”

“…Why not?”

Luke looked away and gave a small shrug in answer. Din waited a few seconds before moving towards the cockpit but stopped when Luke spoke behind him.

“There’s no need for you to drug me.” Lukes voice was soft and Din could hear how it shook. “You could just…take what you want. You don’t seem like the type to resort to underhanded tricks like drugs.”

“I’m not.” Din answered without turning around. “I’m not the type to force myself on others, either.”

Luke didn’t say anything and Din didn’t stand there any longer than he had to; he quickly sat in the drivers seat, pulling Grogu down from his hammock to settle on his lap. Grogu cooed softly up at Din, small green claws making motions at his helmet.

“Sorry kid, maybe later.” Din said gently. “Not much longer and it’ll be just us two again, and we can get back to finding your new teacher, hey? I…I’m sorry it’s taking so long. We’ll find them though, I promise.” 

Din thought back over everything that had happened - the dark troopers, Moff Gideon and the sweet merciful, poorly timed meteor storm that rocked the ship during the final battle. The ship had been damaged, but so had many of the dark troopers before they reboarded the ship. Dispatching the damaged bots hadn’t been nearly as hard as taking down a fully functioning one, which he was thankful for - he could remember how much his head ached after one of them managed to smash his head into a wall. 

Moff had gotten away, of course, during the distraction of the storm and the dark trooper attack but Din wasn’t as worried about Moff Gideon, who was weaponless and injured, having only escaped in one of the few escape pods left aboard. The dark saber hung on his belt, an annoying weight he couldn’t quite ignore. If only the Jedi could do something while on board, but those manacles-

Din called Boba without thinking about it.

The call was answered within a few seconds, and Boba looked at Din for a moment, before nodding and smiling at the armoured man.

“Mando.” Boba said. “Good to hear from you. How are things?”

“…Difficult.” Din said because well, it was hardly a lie. “Do you know much about jedi hunting?”

“A bit, why? You going after a special bounty? Don’t think there’s that many of them left out there.”

“It’s…a proposed bounty, pay out is half even if there’s no jedi in the end. Figured it might give us some leads to the kids teacher.”

“Doesn’t hurt to try, especially if some idiot wants to pay you to chase something that doesn’t exist anymore. What did you wanna ask?”

“They mentioned cuffs, like shackles basically - they can cut off their connection to…the force? Heard of em?”

“In passing, never used em myself - expensive and a pain in the ass to use. Chasing a jedi is a lot of work, and getting the kriffing cuffs on em is even worse.” Boba explained. “Look, I’ll level with you. The last jedi, Skywalker, he’s been missing for a fucking long time now. Run off? Dead? No idea, but if someone has got you chasing after him, it ain’t worth it.”

“No?”

“Fuck no! Read up on him, he’s young but he’s no joke Mando, you don’t blow up two death stars and kill the kriffing Emperor by just being lucky. But you know what, you’re an adult, if you wanna go after him and end up dead for the trouble, be my guest. I’d suggest contacting his sister though, she’s in the senate now, you’d make a way better payday if you returned the kid alive to her.”

“…The senate?”

“Yeah, Senator Organa.” Boba said with a a shrug. “She’s pretty tough in her own right, I wouldn’t underestimate either of them.” 

“…So it might be worth it.”

Boba barked out a laugh. “Mando, you’re a riot, I swear. Look, I don’t know much about the cuffs but I’ll see if I can pull anything up about them and send it to you, you’ll need whatever tricks you can get if you’re going after him.”

“Thanks, Boba.” Din said. “I appreciate it.”

“Good.” Boba said. “It was good to hear from you, keep the two of you safe.”

“I will.” Din said, and the call ended. 

Din let out a groan and got to his feet, with Grogu held safely against his side, and went back to Luke. 

“Well, we might have good news-“

“You know Boba Fett?”

“…Yes.” Din said, caught off guard by the question. “Do you know Boba Fett?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“How much you like him?”

“…Whatever history you have with him doesn’t affect me-“

“My friend tried to kill him.” 

“A lot of people have tried to kill him.” Din said with a shrug. “He’s going to try and get me some information about your cuffs, we might be able to get them off.”

“I hope so.” Was the only response he got from Luke, who was still avoiding looking at Dins visor. 

Makers above, Din just wanted to make the poor man smile for once. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight

The Niceties Are Rare

They were on the fifth day of their journey, and Luke was tired. He was tired of being sore, tired of being hungry, tired of the ratty shirt he was still wearing. Doing nothing but laying in the small bed was driving him mad but what else was there to do? So far nothing serious had happened to him on the ship, he’d been fed and allowed to clean himself off - he didn’t want to do anything to risk upsetting the Mandalorian. Luke was surprised - and thankful - that the man had reacted so well to learning about who and what Luke was. 

The history between Jedi and Mandalorians was…spotty, much of the stories lost to time and to the careful destruction of the two different creeds - both had so nearly been wiped out. Luke knew the basics and that was enough to let him know it was wise to keep on the good side of the Mandalorian, as much as he could. 

The Mandalorian had been…different, since the incident with the drugged soup - which Luke could recall clearly, as he had been completely aware of what he’d been doing…he just didn’t seem to be controlling his body himself, as if he was only a passenger. Thinking back on it only made him feel embarrassed and honestly, a little bit sick. Whatever had been slipped into the soup had affected him completely, making his body painfully warm when thinking about what the Mandalorian might do with him - the feeling had quickly disappeared once the drugs had run their course and left his system, but the memory of the feeling remained and Luke hated it. 

They were docked at some sort of space station, with Luke on the ship and the Mandalorian having disappeared with the small green child. They’d been gone for close to an hour when Luke heard the sound of footsteps on metal; someone was boarding the ship. 

“Okay, okay, now you can have some.” The Mandalorian said, with a hint of exasperation to his voice. “Fine, fine! Down you go.”

A few seconds passed, and the small green child toddled quickly up the hallway and came to a stop at the bed where Luke was sitting. It was holding something in each of its small clawed hands, and quickly held one of the items out towards Luke, staring at him with large eyes. 

“Uh-“

“Oh you’ll share with him, will you?” The Mandalorian asked, but there was no obvious anger in the voice, as he walked past. “No cookies for the person who bought them.”

The child was holding a small blue biscuit of some sort, one in each hand, and had begun waving it towards Luke. He stared at the child, but eventually reached out and accepted the gift - the child stood and watched as Luke slowly, hesitantly, took a bite of the treat and swallowed. 

“Oh that’s…it’s good, thank you.” Luke said. 

It was so fucking good, he could cry. 

The child cooed happily before running off, taking tiny steps, and disappearing into the cockpit. 

“The more you share, the less there are for you to eat.” Luke heard, which was followed by a soft chuckle and the sound of quick steps back towards him. The child returned, holding another cookie out to Luke, which he accepted and ate without question. 

He isn’t sure how it happened but at some point the child had managed to get up onto the bed, and was sitting next to Luke, happily babbling away as it held onto the other biscuit it had brought with it. Luke knew he was staring, he couldn’t stop, because while the child babbled away he watched it float the cookie. 

“You are a tiny jedi, then.” Luke said with a small laugh. “You’re very good already.” 

“He was meant to be given to someone.” The voice came from the side, and Luke hadn’t noticed the Mandalorian standing there, watching them. “They…I thought he had called them, with the magic rocks we found, but no one came.”

“I’m sorry.” Luke said quietly. “I…it should’ve been me…”

“Why you?”

“There’s not really…anyone left, it’s just me.” He explained. “I’ve had no connection to the force for…a long time, I didn’t feel anything…I’m so-“

“It’s not your fault.” Lukes mouth snapped shut when the Mandalorian spoke. “You can hardly be blamed for this.”

“I just- it feels like I didn’t do enough, to try and get away…”

“You had to survive. It’s never easy, doing what you have to do to stay alive but, sometimes you have no other choice. It’s…I know you probably never expected to end up here, of all places, with me…but it’s only a couple more days and you’ll be back with family.”

“I…it’s just so hard to believe that.” Luke said, feeling rather numb. “You say you just want to help but…I’ve heard that a lot, and no one really ever truly wants to help me, they just want to help long enough to get what they want.”

“I just want to make money to send home and to survive, that’s all.” The Mandalorian said. “You’re going home, credits or not, and then I’ll get back to what I was doing before I found you on that fucking dust bucket of a planet.” 

“I thought sand was bad enough…the dust sucked even more.” Luke said and gave a nod. “Especially when they- um, never mind, you probably don’t want-“

“If you want to talk about it, you can.” 

“I…” Luke looked ahead and pulled his knees to his chest so that he could press his face against them. He figured he’d have to talk to someone about it eventually…may as well try with someone who had little attachment to him; get himself used to talking about the past year. Still, the thought of the Mandalorian knowing what had happened….something sat uncomfortable and heavy in his stomach. “They used to…leave me outside, sometimes outside whatever place they were staying, or just in the middle of nowhere with the speeder…just left me alone in whatever god awful weather was happening, just to show me that they could, to remind me…that I couldn’t do anything about it…makers, I hated it. Being on display, being so weak…it was humiliating.” 

“…Alone with a speeder?” The Mandalorian asked, voice low and…slow. “Did they do that before I found you?”

“The night before, I think.” Luke said. “I was fighting too much so they- they shut the speeder down and tied me to it, you can’t move a speeder-“

“Unless it’s powered.” The Mandalorian finished. “Kriff, I saw you.” 

“You did?”

“I flew past…I nearly stopped too I just wanted to get out of the…the cold. Fuck. I didn’t…didn’t know you were-“

“You couldn’t have.” Luke said. “Not many people are going to approach someone in the middle of nowhere anyway, I don’t blame you…and…I’m warm now, at least? You’ve been…nice. It’s been nice.”

“I’m still waiting on information from Boba, but hopefully we can get the cuffs off before you get home.” The Mandalorian said, and gave Luke a slow nod before leaving and heading into another area of the ship. Luke wasn’t sure where the armoured man had gone but…he wasn’t nervous about it, the voice in the back of his mind that screamed at him to keep an eye on any dangers had quietened down some what since arriving on the ship.

It was the first time in a year he wasn’t filled with dread about not knowing who was nearby, who was there to inflict pain.

It was nice. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine

Fett; The Helpful

He waited until he was in a dark, tucked away corner of the ship before ripping his helmet off and taking a shaky breath. He knew things for Luke would have been tough but…Din was surprised the man could even look at him. No wonder Luke had no trust left in him to extend to the Mandalorian who had found him. Could Luke even see it as a rescue, or did he see it as being passed from one horrible master to another? 

Din didn’t want to hurt the man, didn’t want him to be fearful but makers, Dins mind was in overdrive thinking about the man. 

He could imagine it; Luke stranded in the wasteland, only to be discovered by Din. So overjoyed with gratitude at the rescue that he would do anything to thank-

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” Din groaned and ran his gloved hand through his hair. “This fucked up part of me had to surface now?” 

He just had to get Luke home, then he could wipe his hands of this…bizarre, horribly messed up, side of him and with luck pretend it never came up at all. This was not a part of him that he wanted to analyse in any way.

He let himself stand there in the dark, taking in deep breaths of cool air, until he felt more in control. His helmet went back on with a click and he returned to the cockpit, where he stayed and waited for news from Boba - Grogu spent the time sitting with Luke and babbling away. 

Boba didn’t message until the next morning.

Found some stuff about those blasted cuffs - hope it helps. 

Mando, if you do find Skywalker and manage to get them on the guy, just be careful. Don’t let anyone know he’s with you - there are other bounties on his head that are high enough people would definitely consider fighting you to get to him. Keep it under wraps until you get to where ever you’re going. 

Stay safe.

Din spent the first part of the morning going over the rather in depth manual Boba had managed to find and send him. Once he felt confident, he went to get a small tool kit and returned to Luke.

“Can I look at one of your wrists?” He asked, and Luke nodded without word before slowly sitting up and holding one of his hands out towards Din, who had now lowered himself down to sit on the floor so he could work. It didn’t take long for Din to find the hidden release, which he managed to activate with one of his smaller screwdrivers to reveal a small control panel nestled inside the cuff. 

It took forever, and Dins eyes quickly began to hurt as he worked on the panel, slowly figuring out the set key programmed into the cuff. 

“Kriffing helmet.” He muttered to himself.

“What’s wrong with it?” 

“Just makes it a little harder to see what I’m doing.”

“Oh…you-“

“I can’t take it off.” Din answered automatically. “It’s creed - no one but clan can see my face. Not even the kid has, yet.”

“You can’t take it off because I’m here?”

“Right.”

“Can I- I could close my eyes or wear a blindfold…I’m not gonna- I’m not going to risk looking, I’ve done well not upsetting you so far, I’d like to keep that up.” 

“That…would work.” Din said and get to his feet. “Wait here.” 

Din quickly checked that Grogu was asleep in his hammock, before grabbing a length of cloth from the cockpit; it was clean, so he took it back to Luke, who was staring at the cloth with…Din wasn’t sure. It wasn’t quite fear. Apprehension? Definitely. 

“You don’t have to.” He said. 

“No it’s…it’s fine.” Luke said. “You- you’ll have to…”

“Hold still.” Din said, trying to be gentle with his voice. 

Luke was like a statue as Din reached behind him and secured the fabric over his eyes. 

“Are you-“

“I’m fine.” Luke said, too quickly. “I-I’m alright.”

“I’ll get back to work then.” Din said and slowly, watching Luke the whole time, lifted his helmet from his head and set it to the side. Lukes breathing was all over the place when Din got back to work on the cuff, but slowly it settled again. It was slow going but it was far more comfortable to work without the helmet on. “I didn’t even think…when they’re off I’ll get a medipack, I should’ve cleaned your wrists the other day. They must be sore - one is a lot worse than the other though.”

Rubbed raw with dried blood on them after hanging from the wall; Luke must have pulled at them for some time before giving up. 

“They’re not bad.”

“You don’t have to lie.” Din said. “Its my fault they’re like this at all. You can be upset about it.” 

“I didn’t want to-“ Luke paused and breathed in a slow, shaky breath, before continuing. “I didn’t want to make you angry.” 

“I…I would have been, but it would have been at myself.” Din said carefully. “I can imagine that it wouldn’t matter who I was angry at would have mattered….just that I was angry at all. I can imagine it wouldn’t be easy for you to see.”

“It’s…a little easier, with you.” Luke said. “I can’t see your face, so I can’t quite see the expression…it’s a little easier to ignore, and your body language is pretty…controlled. You don’t give away much.” 

“I…watched a few videos of your sister, some of her speeches.” Din admitted. He had been curious as to what Luke’s sibling was like; safe to say, she was terrifying. “She’s quite good at keeping her expression neutral.” 

“Oh yeah.” Luke said, with the tiniest hint of a smile. “She’s good at what she does, even if she doesn’t enjoy it very much. I’m…excited to see her again.” 

“And nervous.”

“Very.” Luke admitted and gave a small, barely there huff of laughter; the sound sent something hot shooting through Dins chest, settling in his stomach and sitting there to gnaw at him. 

“Well, hopefully I can get you home without these on your arms.” Din said. “I can’t imagine you’d want her to see you like this.” 

“I….no, not really.” Luke said quietly and there was something off with his tone of voice, but Din couldn’t pick what the emotion might be. 

Din continued to work, ignoring the ache in his shoulders from being hunched over. Grogu woke up at some point and wandered out to find them, and settled besides Din and watched as he worked. 

Din didn’t expect the cuff to shock him.

“Fuck!” He hissed, letting go of the cuff by reflex when it sent a sudden jolt of electricity to his hand. 

Luke was staring at his wrist, which the cuff had fallen away from; both sides had unlatched at the same time and simply fallen to the ground without warning.

“You did it.” Luke breathed out. “Thank you.”

Din looked at the man and simply nodded.

There was no smile on Lukes face but there was a certain brightness to his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Din hoped they would only get brighter once he was back home with his family. 

“You’re welcome.” He said, and ignored the heat in his stomach that was still there; it only got worse when Luke looked at him properly and those blue eyes seemed to find his through the visor. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Ten

Home Sweet Home

Keep him. The voice whispered, filling the space around him. He would not be scared of us forever, he would get used to us. He would want to please us, to keep him happy.

The world around him was muted, but his helmet was gone. Hands wrapped around the back of his neck, holding firmly but not painfully and when he looked down at whatever he seemed to be on, he saw his hands sitting either side of Lukes head, blue eyes staring up at him. Bright, blue and full of something that looked like fear but…not quite.

Din woke with a sharp breath; he’d fallen asleep in the drivers seat of his ship while waiting for them to get closer to Coruscant. They weren’t far out now, and in barely any time at all Din would be able to return Luke home, and get back to work. He had planned their arrival enough that they would dock late in the night, hopefully limiting the number of people around. 

Luke had been steadily getting more and more nervous the closer they got. Din understood, the man had been away from home for a long time and he was obviously nervous about seeing his sister.

“Incoming ship, state your identification and purpose of visit.” A voice said, crackling over the speakers in the cockpit.

“Mandalorian.” Din said in return. “Here with…information regarding a missing persons bounty put up by Senator Leia Organa.”

“Please state known name of missing persons.”

“Luke Skywalker.”

“Please dock in landing bay two.” The voice said before falling silent again.

Din did as directed and not long after they’d docked, he could see someone in a white dress heading towards their docking site. They were alone, which surprised Din, but he lowered the ramp and exited the ship all the same. 

“You ready?” He asked quietly as he passed Luke, who nodded in response. 

“I was just paged to come down here, to meet with a Mandalorian who claims to have information regarding Luke Skywalker.” Leia said, voice flat and cold. “If you’ve brought a body, I would be less upset than if you simply came here to mock me.” 

“Well…not quite, Ma’am.” Din said and he could hear the footsteps on the ramp behind them, slow and unsure, and Luke didn’t step past Din.

“I- Luke?” Leia voice was quiet and the name came out as more of a sob than a question.

“Hey, Lei-“ 

Din stepped to the side as Leia rushed up the ramp to wrap her arms around her brother; Din noticed the man flinch briefly at the touch but it only took a second before he returned the gesture and wrapped his own arms around his sister and pressed his face into her neck. 

“You’re alive.” Leia whispered, leaning back a little so she could place her hands on either side of Lukes face. “You’re…the senate laughed at me, said I was wasting my time waiting but…you’re here. You’re here and you’re alive.”

“Anything to upset the senate.” Luke said, grinning at Leia.

Din had wanted to make the man smile, but this was…more than he thought he would get to see. His eyes were so blue; they were far brighter than Din thought they would be while he was around.

“What happ- no, that’s not important. You’re home and…you probably need to rest. Both of you.” Leia said, turning her head to look at Din. “Thank you. I can’t…we have spare rooms, you’re welcome to stay the night, I insist on it. You…thank you.” 

“I…” Din went to refuse but really…he did want a proper sleep; one where he could rest without his armour on and have Grogu asleep nearby. One night wouldn’t hurt, not in the long run, and he could probably do a more thorough stock up for the ship if he went shopping here than anywhere else. “One night would be okay.” 

“Wonderful!” She breathed out, and gave Luke a final squeeze before stepping away, but keeping a hand on his arm. “I’ll…let me get Luke settled in and I’ll come find you, if that’s okay?”

“I’ll be here.” Din said with a nod. 

He watched Leia lead Luke away, the two of them walking as close as they could without tripping over one another. Din let out a sigh of relief he’d been holding for days - Luke was finally home and things could get back to normal. He had to…well, he was meant to be finding a teacher for Grogu but…maybe he already had? Luke didn’t seem to dislike him, which Din found surprising given the history that was already there between them due to their own creeds. The man seemed to like Grogu well enough, and he had mentioned that he was of the thought that it was in fact him who was meant to have been there for Grogu when the child called out…

Surely it wouldn’t hurt to ask Luke to teach Grogu. 

Din thought about how it might work; Grogu would likely have to leave with Luke, as Din had already been told once that their attachment, their bond to one another, was too strong and would make Grogus training ineffective, and perhaps weaken him as a Jedi. Din only wanted to help the little womp rat to learn, to grow, and if meant they would be separated…Din had travelled for long enough on his own, he would get used to it again. 

“Are you ready?” Leia called out; Din hadn’t noticed her return.

“One moment.” He said, and returned to the ship to collect a few belongings, as well as Grogu. 

“Oh!” Leia gave a sound of surprise when she saw Din emerge with Grogu. “Well, hello.”

Grogu cooed at Leia and she smiled in return at the sound. 

“Come, I’ll show you to your room and you can both get some rest.” She said, and Din gave a nod before stepping beside her and following her lead. It wasn’t long until they were in a rather…luxurious apartment building; Din immediately felt out of place. 

“Luke is staying at the end of the hall, you’ll be two rooms up from him.” Leia said. “He’s…it’s obvious he’s been through a lot, though he won’t tell me exactly what. I wouldn’t have have him tell me until he’s ready, however long that will take…thank you, for bringing him home.”

“It was by chance I found him.” Din said. “I didn’t know who he was at first, I didn’t find out until later.” 

“And you still brought him back here?” She asked. 

“Well…yes?” Din asked; he hadn’t meant to sound rude but the question seemed odd. “Where else-“

“Half the universe would be frothing at the mouth to give you whatever you wanted in exchange for him.” She said bluntly. “But you brought him home.”

“I only figured out who he was because of your missing persons report…I didn’t know who were either, not until someone else told me. It….family is important to Mandalorians; my ancestors may have had a bad history with jedi but it has nothing to do with me. He deserved to be brought home.”

“Thank you.” She said again. “Luke mentioned you won’t show your face, so I’ll arrange for meals to be sent to your room. Would you like anything before you rest?”

“…Just something small for him.” Din said and gestured to Grogu with a nod of his helmet. 

“Of course. Rest well, Mandalorian.” She said, giving a small smile and a gentle nod before turning away and leaving him in the hallway. Din watched her leave and took a moment to breathe before heading into the room he’d been brought to; it was large and spacious, decorated in whites and chromes, with small accents of blacks and soft blues. 

“What do you think, kid?” Din asked Grogu. “We wait for dinner then have a shower? You can have a bath, I suppose.”

A happy coo from Grogu answered Dins question, and it wasn’t long before a knock at the door let him know someone had brought their food. A young woman passed him a tray and gave a nod before turning and leaving. The tray held a plate of hot food for Din, a bowl of food for Grogu and  another bowl with some sort of baked dessert in it. Everything was hot and well seasoned and just so good. It was a welcome change from ration packs, no matter how much Din told himself he was fine with the ration packs. 

Eventually he went in search of the bathroom, which was just as luxurious as the rest of the apartment, and set about filling up the tub with hot water. He threw in a few squirts of liquid body wash he found on the bathroom counter, causing plenty of bubbles to sit atop the water for Grogu to play with. 

“Not bad, hey?” Din said to Grogu, who was busy throwing bubbles into the air and splashing at the warm water. Din lowered himself into the bath, wincing at the heat but quickly relaxing into it and closing his eyes, letting his head fall back. It was easier than he expected to just relax and let the stress of the last week soak out of his bones with the heat of the water. 

In the quiet, relative privacy of the bathroom, Din let his thoughts wander until they settled on Luke. Soft, golden blonde hair and blue eyes that only got brighter the longer Din knew him. He could let himself imagine what it would be like to have his bare hands on Lukes skin, warm and soft against his own rough, calloused skin. He was glad he had been able to return Luke home but he couldn’t ignore the little part of him that would miss the man. 

At least here Luke would be safe; whether it be from what other dangers were out in the universe for the jedi, or keeping himself safe and away from Din and the nasty whispers in his head. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Eleven

Wash It Away

He hadn’t slept, not really; he knew he was home but he couldn’t let his guard down, it felt wrong to let himself relax. There was no danger here, he told himself throughout the night, but it didn’t help. He had thrown off the spare clothes that the Mandalorian had given him, virtually as soon as the door had closed after Leia left, and immediately had a long, hot shower - it didn’t help to completely make him feel clean, not in the way he wanted, but he did at least feel less grimy afterwards. He scrubbed dust off of his skin and his hair, and washed away the dried blood from his wrists. There were still marks on the skin after the blood had well and truly washed away - small dots of bruising and areas where the red ring from pulling against the manacles still remained on his skin on his flesh arm. Luke couldn’t stop himself from running his fingers across the marks - they no longer hurt, not really, but there was a tenderness there that he couldn’t help but to press his fingers against. 

Luke let out a soft gasp at the tender ache - he stood in the shower, letting the hot water pour over his body, while he stared at the marks on his wrist and let himself feel the tenderness fully. He couldn’t quite say what it was about the marks that held his attention, nor could he say why he let himself get lost in the feeling in his wrists - tender and sore, but not quite painful. 

Finally, he pulled himself out of the shower and dried off - there was a set of spare guest pyjamas in the room that he pulled on once he was dry. He spent some time laying in his bed and staring up at the ceiling, waiting to fall asleep - he gave up after he realised he had been staring at the ceiling for a number of hours and was still wide awake. His mind wouldn’t settle enough for him to sleep; it was just a jumble of quickly changing thoughts and memories that looped together continuously. His capture, being traded between groups of slavers, the awful feeling of his connection to the force severing once those cuffs went on. Amongst these thoughts, were snippets of his time on the Mandalorians ship; promises of safety, the constant fear of doing something to upset the warrior and the surprise when the man didn’t react to Luke with anger or violence, the odd green child who shared their cookies…the horrid embarrassment that had washed over Luke, threatened to drown him, when he threw himself at the Mandalorian. Luke had been completely aware of what he was doing, and what his body and mind wanted at the time, but his body was moving on its own and he could only watch in horror.

The Mandalorian had been confused, and quite possibly furious, at Luke but any anger had quickly dissolved into…concern. No one had been concerned for him in such a long time that Luke hadn’t truly believed it - he waited for the man to return, to take what Luke had offered, to take what he wanted from the jedi- but he did nothing. Luke would have been powerless to stop the man, and well, didn’t that thought stir something in him that was unexpected and more so, unsettling. He was Luke Skywalker - the last jedi, the young pilot who blew up the Death Star, the man who had supposedly killed both the Emperor, and Darth Vader. He was said to be all powerful, something to avoid getting caught in a fight with…so how could he feel himself blush so heavily when thinking about the Mandalorian above him, the weight of the body and the armour surrounding him and pressing against him. 

He wondered what it would be like, to be powerless but safe, to let someone else take over for just a little while and let his mind sink away into blissful nothing. It sounded like something that should make him squirm with discomfort but he didn’t, he simply ran his hands down his face and let out a frustrated groan. He wished he had given the Mandalorian a proper farewell, or left his comm details with the man…he’d likely be gone by the time Luke managed to fall asleep and wake up to face the next day. Luke was frustrated by the whole thing - he had never had such…bizarre thoughts or feelings about someone before, and of course the person they happened to spark from was someone he would likely not see again for a long time, if at all. 

It felt wrong to think about someone, who essentially a stranger, in such a way but at the same time…surely it was okay to think it, and never act upon the urges? No, that wasn’t any better!

It took a long time of laying with his eyes closed and not moving, but eventually Luke woke up sometime in the morning. He had loosely pulled the blanket around himself in his sleep and it took a moment to detangle himself and get out of the bed. He changed into another set of guests clothes; a simple set of light brown pants and a cream coloured v-neck shirt that sat loose against his body. He decided against shoes, figuring he was only going out in search of Leia and something for breakfast. 

He found Leia quick enough, sitting at the dining table with a plate of toast and eggs in front of her while she read from a data pad.

“Morning.” Luke said quietly. 

“Morning.” She said, looking up at him and just smiling. “How are you feeling?”

“…Tired, I didn’t sleep very well.”

“Sit.” She said. “I’ll get you something to eat.”

Luke did as Leia said, and soon a plate of toast and eggs was in front of him, just a smaller portion than what Leia had. 

“Thank you.” He said quietly, and stared at the food - Leia gave a gentle squeeze to his shoulder on her way back to her own seat. 

They ate in silence, with Leia reading off of her data pad and Luke struggling to choke down some of the food, he knew he had to eat…there was just no appetite there. 

“I had breakfast sent to the Mandalorian room.” Leia said, breaking the silence. “I told him he was welcome to stay for as long as he likes, I need to arrange the credit transfer anyway.”

“Credits?”

“I…for your return, there was a reward. He had…said he was coming with information about where you were, not that you were with him.”

“Oh.” Luke said. “That was clever.”

“It was, very much so; I can only imagine the headache it would have been if anyone else knew you had returned…the senate, the public, the media - vultures, all of them.” 

“They…were they bad, while I was gone?”

“The damned nerve of some of them! Asking me how I felt about your disappearance, what I thought had happened…no respect for anyone involved, honestly. They probably knew I couldn’t give any answers that were too…nasty, so they took advantage of it.”

“Well…they’ll get a good story soon enough, I guess, should make them happy.”

“I don’t give a kriff about making them happy, they aren’t going near you.” Leia said, and Luke knew it was a promise.

He was safe here - there were people here who wanted to keep him safe. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Twelve

A Job Well Paid

“Leia!” Han called, followed a moment later by a much louder, “LEIA!”

“Oh for goodness sake, Han, what is it?” Leia asked, rounding the corner and finding Han at the glass doorway that lead out to the balcony that acted as the buildings garden area; Leia knew it was Lukes favourite place.

He never did enjoy the sterile environment of the senate building; too clean, too perfectly planned. 

“Why the kriff is that here?” He asked, nodding towards the glass wall that looked into the garden - the Mandalorian was sitting on a wooden bench, watching Grogu run around through the well maintained grass and flowers. Small insects hopped from place to place, followed by an eager green child. 

“That is a Mandalorian, and his child.”

“His wha- okay, but why are they here?”

“They…he brought Luke back.” Leia said softly - her voice shook, she knew it did, but she didn’t care. Not when it came to this. 

Hans armed wrapped around her and pulled her close, a hand resting on the back of her head and holding it to his shoulder. She pressed her face into his neck and let out the smallest sob and a shaking breath. 

“Force Leia, he’s back?” Han asked in a whisper. “You’re serious?”

“He’s back Han, he’s alive.” She whispered in return. “They got back last night, it was so late…he said he had information about Luke, not that he had Luke himself.”

“Im sure the kid appreciated the quiet welcome home, yeah?”

“Y-yeah…he’s been resting for most of the day, but he did eat a little bit at breakfast.” 

“Good, that’s…I can’t believe he’s back.” Han said. “How is he?”

“Not…good, he’s had a tough year, that’s obvious. I’m not going to make him talk about it, I just want him to feel safe.”

“…So a bounty hunter brought him back?”

“He didn’t even know who Luke was at first.” Leia said with a soft wet laugh. “He said he was planning on returning Luke from the start…I believe him.”

“If you believe him, that’s good enough for me… I guess.”

“I need to arrange the credits for him; it doesn’t matter that he didn’t do it for the reward…the reward was promised, and he’s earned it.” 

“Come on, I’ll walk with you.” He said, keeping an arm around her waist as they walked off into the building together. They missed Luke by minutes.

The blonde man came around the corner, only moments after they had left, and headed out into the garden through the large glass door. He didn’t notice the Mandalorian until it was too late; the man had already seen him enter the garden and his helmet was tilted slightly to one side as he looked at Luke. 

“You know Han Solo?” The man asked and Luke blinked a few times.

“Um, yes? How did you-“

“He was just in the hallway, talking to your sister.” The Mandalorian said. “I wasn’t sure it was him at first.”

“Oh…he’s my…well, should be my brother-in-law but neither of them have proposed yet.” Luke said. “They’re good together, which you wouldn’t expect in all honesty.”

“No, I wouldn’t have.”

Luke found a patch of grass and sat down, a book in his hands, and Grogu was quick to toddle over and try to climb into Lukes lap. 

“Kid, I don’t know if your Dad is okay-“

“It’s alright.” The Mandalorian said, voice gentle. “I don’t mind, if it’s alright with you.”

Luke helped Grogu climb up and the small child settled into Lukes lap, large eyes looking around at the garden before his attention returned to the few small rocks he had been playing with.

Luke watched as the rocks began to float, not too high, and move in small, slow circles. 

“You’re very good already.” Luke said with a smile. 

“I tell him he has to practice.” The Mandalorian said. “He…lifted a mudhorn once, and slept for ages after…I was worried he’d hurt himself.”

“Just tired out, I’ll bet.” Luke said. “A mudhorn? What on earth were you doing around a mud horn?”

“It was trying to kill me.” Din said and added. “Bounty hunter stuff.”

“My old mentor lifted my ship out of a swamp once.”

“Why was it in the swamp to begin with?”

“…Jedi stuff.” 

“Uh huh.”

They sat in silence, with the Mandalorian watching Grogu flat rocks from Lukes lap while Luke read his book. 

“Have you been…settling in, okay?”

Luke looked up from his book and looked at the Mandalorian, who was looking at Luke through the visor of his helmet. Even without seeing the mans eyes, Luke could feel the mans gaze; it made the hairs on Lukes neck stand on end. 

“It’s been…difficult.” He admitted. “I didn’t sleep very well last night…I know I’m safe here but…looking for danger, it’s a hard habit to break I guess.”

“It can be.” The Mandalorian agreed. “It’s…strange, being in one place when I usually move around so much. Especially somewhere so…it’s too clean. I don’t trust it.” 

“How long are you staying for?” Luke asked and cursed himself silently; he asked too quickly, sounded too eager. 

“Oh…I haven’t really thought about it, not long though. I need to…I have to go help the others. I work to earn credits for my covert- my family.”

“That’s good of you.” Luke said. “I know Leia is working on getting you the reward credits, so hopefully that’s a nice amount.”

“Reward credits?”

“…You know, for bringing me back? I know you weren’t aware of the missing persons thing when we met but you technically still fulfilled it.” 

“That would be…helpful, definitely.” 

“I know she’s probably said it but…thank you.” Luke said, quietly. “I didn’t really…expect to ever come back here, I’d given up on the idea. I figured my best bet would be to end up with someone…less cruel than the others, but I have no idea who the end buyer was intended to be, or if there even was one. I just…makers, why can I talk to you about this but not my own sister?”

“You don’t know me.” The Mandalorian said. “You and your sister seem close, so it’s probably harder to give her information that…you worry will make her think about you differently. I don’t have any sort of frame of reference for what you’re like, apart from what turns up if I do an info search.”

“…Please do not do an information search on me.” Luke scoffed. “People like to talk me up, it’s…it gets tiring, being Luke Skywalker and not just…Luke.” 

“I can only imagine it would be similar to if you looked up Mandalorians.” He said. “We’re not all the same, but if you asked anyone else about us…”

“You’re horrid and cruel and I should be terrified of you?” Luke asked and couldn’t keep the slight smirk off of his lips. 

“Are you?” 

“What?” Luke asked with an eyebrow raised; he looked at the Mandalorian but not for long, looking back at the ground while he spoke. “Not…I’m not terrified, not anymore. I’m…just…anxious?”

“Waiting for the other shoe to drop?” The Mandalorian suggested, and Luke nodded. 

“I think so.” Luke said. “I really do appreciate what you did, it’s just…hard, to not expect anything else to follow.” 

“I did…” The Mandalorian paused and looked away, staring at the various speeders and ships zipping past the outdoor garden they had found. Eventually, he turned back to Luke and let out a sigh. “I did want to ask you for something.”

“Oh…o-okay.” 

Here it comes. Luke thought bitterly. I knew there’d be something…always is.

“I know it might be too early for you, since we only just…got the cuffs off but…do you think you could teach him?”

What?

“Teach? Who- oh…oh!” 

“I don’t want to ask too much, you’ve only just come home and need to recover-“

“I’d be happy to.” Luke said. “I can’t imagine Leia would have any issue with him staying here…training would be easier if I see him regularly, but if you wanted to keep him with you and visit-“

“No.” The Mandalorian snapped, then sighed and followed up with, “Sorry, I just…I think it would be better if he was with you. He needs to learn, and my job…isn’t really safe for him.” 

“I’m happy to watch him…and you’d be welcome to visit, I’ll make sure of it.”

“I- thank you.” 

“I’ll talk to Leia about it all, you’ll probably see her before you leave anyway.” 

“Oh, yes. I keep forgetting about the credits…I wonder how you pay compared to a regular bounty.”

“If you’re planning on making me go missing again, please don’t.” Luke said, with a small smile and a scoff. “I think she said it was around five hundred thousand.”

“….I’m sorry?”

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirteen

Gifts

Luke hadn’t been fucking with him.

Five hundred thousand credits, that were now Dins.

Of course, most would go to his covert, and he would keep a sizeable chunk for himself but…he wanted to share it.

He’d never really had others to share it with, not in this way.

Boba had been a huge help, not just with getting the cuffs off of Luke but just in general, and Cara had been a good, if unexpected, source of support in Din’s life. He was doing some shopping to restock the ship, and he decided to…buy some gifts, which he had never done before, apart from small tings for Grogu.

It was more fun than he expected. 

His farewells had been said, and after a few hours alone with Grogu, he was aboard his ship beginning the take off procedure. It was the first time in a few days he felt like he could properly breathe. Luke hadn’t been bad company but…Din couldn’t escape the voices in the back of his head, they had only gotten louder during his last night on Coruscant. 

He didn’t want to hurt Luke!

He knew he didn’t want to, but that didn’t stop him from worrying that he would slip up and hurt the man who had done nothing wrong, who had already been through so much. Luke was Grogus teacher now, nothing more and nothing less; they could be friendly to one another.

As much as those voices pushed at Din, needling him to try and get him to do something to the pretty blonde man. 

Din felt restless and oddly lonely, having just spent so long in the company of someone else. He knew that Cara was meant to be at Tattooine checking in on Fennec and Fett, so he set the ships navigation and began the trip.

It was quiet without Luke and Grogu - especially Grogu - but Din felt more relaxed now that he was away from the jedi.

The blonde, blue eyed jedi who was far more attractive than he had any right to be. Than anyone had any right to be.

“Mando!” Cara called out in greeting from the table she was sitting at with Boba and Fennec, each of them with a drink in hand. “Good to see you, and the little green bean!”

“What brings you round?” Boba asked.

Din sat next to Cara, and placed the bag of gifts on the table; it was quiet while he handed out his purchases.

A soft blanket for Cara to keep in her office, which she always complained was too cold - soft and easily big enough to swamp her and her office chair, made of soft white and blue and green fabrics woven together - the woman who was selling it had made it herself, an older woman who was also from Alderaan. 

For Fennec and Boba, a joint gift - three bottles of a wine Din remembered Boba mentioning once, made exclusively for a specialty store on Coruscant. Boba had mentioned how he had been given a glass of it once, and had wished to enjoy it again but it was expensive and almost impossible to buy off planet, so he had never been able to. There was a small box of fancy chocolates for Fennec as well, as Din had noticed the woman had…a rather strong sweet tooth, though she’d never admit to it. 

“…You’ve been shopping.” Boba said as he looked at the bottle of wine he was holding, the other two sitting on the table in front of him. “Special occasion?”

“…Good pay day.” Din answered. 

“You get a good bounty then?” Fennec asked, looking over the chocolates in the neat little box they had come packed in. “Anyone important?”

Din mumbled an answer and rested his helmet in his hands, eyes focused on the table. 

“Sorry, what was that?” Boba asked. “Didn’t quite hear you-“

“Skywalker.” Din mumbled, louder this time. 

“Kriff, Din, you didn’t-“ Dune said aghast. “I know your people didn’t get along but-“

“He’s home.” Din said without looking up, and he could feel the others at the table go still. Cara sucked in a breath. 

“You fucking found him.” Cara breathed out. 

“You fucker.” Boba said but it was followed by a chuckle. 

“Thanks for your help.” Din said. “They were…already on him, when I found him. Had no idea who the kriff he was at first.” 

“Course not.” Stand said, but she was smirking at him. “How is he?”

“I imagine he’s been better.” Din said. “But he’s home, and I got paid, so I’m finished with it.” 

“Who paid then?” Boba asked. “I can’t imagine the senate wanting to give anything serious up for him. Must’ve been very good for you to be spending on us like this.”

Din hesitated but after a moment, dipped one of his fingers in a small bit of water on the table - condensation from Caras drink - and wrote the number out on the table. Cara gave a whistle, while Boba and Fennec stared. 

“His sister.” Din said. “Dropped him off late at night, told them I only had information…figured if anyone knew he was on the ship we’d get swamped on arrival…he didn’t need that. He’s…going to teach the kid, about jedi…stuff.” 

“You save his life, get him home after over a year of being missing…and he kept your fucking kid?” Boba snarled. 

“No…I-I…let him keep…” Din said and before he could stop it, he choked on his words. “I told him to keep Grogu there, it’d be safer than…being with me.” 

“Mando…” 

“He…said I could visit, when I wanted.” Din said, voice shaky. “I hope…he wasn’t lying about that.”

“Huh.” Boba muttered. “Thought they took the kids and scarpered, that’s what they used to do at least. Well, hopefully he can at least try and get a few quiet days at home before the media find out.”

“It’ll be a circus when people find out he’s home.” Fennec said with a nod. “A kriffing bloodbath, trying to get an interview, a photo…anything. I don’t envy him.” 

“Either do I.” Din said with a groan. 

“What’s the plan now then, Mando?” Boba asked. “That payday…you don’t need to work, not right now. You should take a vacation.”

“A vacation?’ Din asked in disbelief, with a scoff. “Do I seem like the type to vacation?”

“Not at all,” Boba said. “Which is why it’s the perfect time to start!”

“What would I even do?”

“Whatever you want, that’s why it’s a vacation.” 

“Go hang out on Coruscant, see if the jedi will let you visit.” Boba said with a shrug. “Do something besides a bounty hunter.  Go to a spa, get yourself some fancy wine and get piss drunk on your own, go to a brothel and hire someone to take some stress out on. Do whatever you want!”

Din choked on his own spit, which Boba only laughed at. 

“Just rest for a bit, Mando.” Dune said. “You’ve earnt it at this point, I reckon.” 

Din just nodded at Cara - the rest of his visit was spent with the three of them, catching up on what they had all been up to since they last met. Din was at his ship, which was not the Razor Crest and because of that simple fact, he hated it. 

“Mando.” Boba said, catching Din before the other Mandalorian left. 

“Fett.” Din said with a nod. 

Boba reached out, grasping Dins forearm with his hand in a firm grip and gave a single nod. “I hope you get to see the kid again.”

Din returned the gesture, grasping tightly onto Boba’s forearm. “So do I.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Fourteen

I Could Use A Break

Luke was swimming.

Or, maybe he wasn’t swimming, so much as floating in a vast, dark, pool of water. He could feel the cold water around him, but it was pitch black and the water was so cold against his skin. Something swam past and brushed against his neck, then another against his leg. More touches, only brief, but numerous - something long and thin brushing along his body. 

Then, light.

Only a small, quick burst - not enough to show what was around him. 

More light, lots of small bursts.

Not bursts, arcs - small arcs of lightning that bounced along the scale skin of the long, yellow eyed eels that swam in slow circles around him. He had no idea how many of them they were - maybe a hundred, maybe more.

He couldn’t see anything besides eels, slowly swimming in circles around him. They brushed against him again, one at a time, then two, then three. Brushing against him, the small arcs of electricity skimming along his skin and burning. 

Luke pulled away in a sharp, sudden movement - the eels swarmed him. Rough skin grated against his own, leaving behind it a hot, painful trail of electricity that spread across his body. The already scarred skin raised, hot and irritated and alive. 

Hello Luke.

The voice was familiar and Luke couldn’t bear it.

No. He thought but the words wouldn’t leave his mouth - he couldn’t open his mouth, fearful of the water rushing in and drowning him. 

If not me, who?

You were made to serve, to be useful.

Give it up, let it over take you.

You could be so powerful.

“No!” He was finally, finally, able to scream.

No water came, he didn’t drown - it was sand. Hot, dry sand that crashed against his face and made him gasp and splutter until it disappeared, and Luke found he was laying down. 

He knew he wasn’t in his own bed - the sheets were too old, too torn and dirty. The ceiling he was staring at was wrong.

Luke went to sit up, but he couldn’t get up off the mattress - his wrists were attached to the bed frame, held above his head. Heavy shackles had been placed around his wrists and short chains kept them firmly attached to the bed. 

Something pressed down on him - a phantom weight, the weight of a human, pressing down against him and making it so, so difficult to breathe and why was he here? Where was he?

He had gotten away!

He was….at home, he had been…hadn’t he?

Jetti.

The voice was the same - Luke could remember it so clearly. 

The weight lessened, but didn’t disappear, and Luke could feel the phantom touch of two hands resting either side of his face. There was no danger in this touch, only the same tentative safety he had felt whilst on the Mandalorians ship. 

Luke?

Leias voice, more of a sob than anything, seeing him leave that ship. He had come home, he had. 

Jetti?

Luke! You need to wake up! Leia shouted from where Luke couldn’t see her.

Jetti. That voice said again - deep, gravelly and grounding - it was the easiest one for Luke to focus on, feeling the ghost hands press harder against his face, before they moved back and rested firmly against the back of his neck and he felt the touch of something hard and cold press against his forehead.

Wake up, jetti.

Luke sat up with a choking breath - he had become tangled in the soft sheets and blanket on his bed, and his skin was damp with sweat. 

“What the fuck was that?” Luke asked himself in a whisper - his voice was raspy and his throat hurt. 

Artoo made a quiet trilling noise nearby and his dome moved from side to side slowly, worried over Luke.

“I…screaming?” Luke asked and Artoo gave another noise to confirm. “Shit, that’s…I hope no one heard it…”

Artoo gave a series of quick, shy, beeps. He had turned on the soundproofing setting for the room; not an option in all of the rooms, but only those used by more important members of the senate, in case of private meetings. 

“Thank you Artoo, you’re…maker, I missed you.” Luke breathed out, giving the droid a pat on its dome. Artoo beeped happily in response. “What time is it?”

The clock on the bedside table told Luke it was just a little after six in the morning, so he detangled himself from the blanket and sheets and pulled himself out of bed and headed into the bathroom to have a shower - to help him wake up, and to wash the sweat from his skin. The hot water made Luke feel clean in a physical sense, but his mind was still going a million miles an hour - replaying the dream in an endless loop that made him want to pull his hair out. 

Once dry and dressed, Luke headed out in search of Leia - Artoo followed alongside as Luke walked, and eventually they found Leia in her private office, in the middle of a holocall.

“It’s none of your business, that’s why I didn’t tell you.” Leia snapped. 

“Senator, you must understand why it is important for others to be made aware-“

“Obviously I do not!” Leia said, voice stern, unafraid of cutting off whoever else was on the call.  “I am interested in how the information came to be known by anyone besides those involved in the matter. This is not a matter for the senate, this is my personal life - this is my family, I will remind you, and I will not tolerate anyone trying to get involved.”

Luke stopped outside the office and stared at Leia in horror - people knew he was back.

It had barely been two days!

“Senator, please understand.” Someone said, trying their best to appeal to Leia. “Simply because he is home does not mean he is safe, not with this…this…Mandalorian on the loose, not when the darksaber has been reclaimed!”

Luke blinked at Leia, more confused than worried. 

Mandalorian? Darksaber?

He had read about the darksaber briefly but hadn’t paid it much mind; he had never expected to ever run into the weapon. After all, why would he?

Then again, he had never expected to be saved by the ancient enemy of the jedi - his life just got stranger the longer he lived. 

“What importance does it hold?” Leia asked. “Nobody has given me a good reason to pay the rumours, and they are simply that, any real attention.”

“The Mandalorians are ruthless, Senator Organa. We must get control of the situation before they make any grand plans; they are spread far, but we have no idea how many there are, they could have untold numbers. Senator, this could be another-“

“If the word ‘war’ spills out of your mouth, I will find the Mandalorian who holds the weapon and invite him for dinner.” Leia said calmly. “Then I will find whoever let spill the information about my brother returning, and serve them for dinner.”

Silence answered her threat.

“I’m glad you all understand, this call is finished.” Leia said, and ended the call. “Luke-“

“They know.” He whispered and stepped into the office. “It’s been barely been two days…”

“I know, Luke, I…I’m so sorry.” Leia said, her voice threatening to break. “I don’t know who…”

“Leia, it’s not your fault.” Luke said. “Don’t…don’t apologise. Please.” 

Leia got up from her chair and stepped out from her desk; Luke was ready for the hug when she got to him. 

“I missed you.” Luke whispered into her shoulder, where his face was pressed with a firm, but kind, press of her hand. “I missed everyone…I didn’t- I didn’t think I’d ever get-get to come home…and…and then he showed up and he’s a Mandalorian and I just…”Luke sucked in a wet, shaking breath and Leia only held onto him, the fingers on his head brushing through his hair gently. “I-I thought he was going to kill me…or-or keep me, like the slavers…but he-he was nice and…”

The rest of whatever Luke had to say fell away into heavy sobs that shook his body; it had been a long time since he had let himself cry properly, since he had been punished for doing so by the slavers. They had begun with simple beatings, but realised quickly how much Luke disliked the feeling of being cut, so that became the preferred method to get him to behave how they liked.

Quiet and compliant.

“He brought you home.” Leia whispered. “Do you know how much I had to argue to get him to take the reward money? He seemed to confused by it, because in his words, ‘I was bringing him home anyway’. I know you…we, have had a rough go of it, neither of us have been very lucky…you, especially. This…I think this was the universe giving us a break, for once.” 

“I’d like a few more breaks, if I’m honest.” Luke said with a wet laugh. “Long ones, somewhere tropical; I want to go swimming.”

“I wonder if Grogu likes swimming…”

“Only if it’s a frog pond.” Luke laughed; a weak laugh, but it was a laugh. “Thanks Leia.”

“We’ll keep the media away from you,” Leia promised. “And the senate, and anyone else I have to.” 

“Leia you don’t have to-“

“Luke, please, let me take care of you.”

“…Yeah, okay.” Luke said with a soft, tired smile. 

It was good to be home.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifteen

Someone To Fall Back On

“You haven’t mentioned it since you got here.” Boba said, breaking the silence Din had found out the back of the palace, sitting on a bench and watching the sand drift along, moved by the breeze. 

“Mentioned what?”

“The saber.” Boba said and sat down next to Din, who gave a heavy sigh in response. 

“I don’t want the saber,” Din said. “I don’t even want to think about it, let alone talk about it.”

“Why not?” 

“I’m not made for ruling, Boba.” Din said gruffly. “I’m a foundling who follows a strict creed, Bo-Katan called me a cultist…I don’t need anyone else saying it; why would anyone follow me? I don’t know anything about-“

“Mando, if anything comes out of your mouth about not being a Mandalorian, I’m telling you in advance to shut the fuck up.” Boba said bluntly and with a swift movement, lifted his helmet from his head and placed it on his lap. “Who cares what Bo-Katan says about you? You’ve done a good kriffing job of things from what I’ve seen. You got the kid back, didn’t you?”

“By pure luck.” Din said. 

“Hey if it worked in your favour, don’t be upset about it.”

“I’m not upset, I’m just…”

“Lost?”

“Tired.” Din decided. 

“Easy solution.”

“Is that right?”

“Vacation!” Boba said in triumph. “Go somewhere, hire a nice hotel room or something and just hang out with your kid.”

“The kid is busy, he’s not with me.”

“Your kid, thank you, and you know where he is. So, go get him.” Boba said, as if it was that easy. “If you do decide to go for the whole King thing, you’ve got a decent ally now at least.”

“What, you?” Din teased. 

“Okay, so more than one ally.” Boba shrugged. “You’ve got me, and Fennec…and Dune, and you got Organa.” 

“Organa?” Din asked. “But she’s-“

“A senator, whose brother you just saved after being missing for over a year.” Boba said, as if Din had forgotten. “If anyone owes you anything, it’s her.”

“I didn’t do it for-“

“I know, and so does she, which is why she’ll probably want to help you if you explain things to her.”

“Explain that I became the rightful king of a dead planet, by accident, and want her help with figuring out what the kriff I’m doing?”

“Something like that.” 

“Fett.” Din breathed out, exasperated and just so, so tired. 

“Go have a fucking holiday, Mando.” Fett said and got to his feet; there was a hiss as he pulled his helmet back on. “You need a break from life, and I need a break from you.”

“Feeling the love, Fett.” Din said. “I’ll think about it.” 

“Think about it on your way to Coruscant.” Boba said, and got to his feet. 

“I…it wasn’t just because I had the credits.” Din said. “I got the gifts because I wanted to say thank you. I’ve just never…had anyone to get them for, before.”

“They’re appreciated, but not necessary.” Boba said. “You’ve got people to lean on now; bring Grogu back to visit sometime, will you?”

“I will.” 

Boba gave a final nod to Din, bidding him goodnight, before heading back into the palace. Din followed not long after, finding the room Boba had arranged for him - not as large and obviously luxurious as the room he had been given on Coruscant, but it was luxurious in it’s own way. 

Thicker curtains to stop the morning sun from coming into the room, bedsheets that would let his skin breathe and avoid getting too hot - a thicker blanket made of a soft material hung over a chair, to help with the late night chill. Small details that wouldn’t be important to those who didn’t know how miserable it could be to stay on Tatooine, but things that Din knew had been put there for him - Boba’s way of showing he cares, even if he would never say it to Dins face. 

It wasn’t the best night sleep of his life, but it was far from the worst. Din  managed to sleep in a little later than usual, and had just finished putting on his armour when there was a knock at the door.

“It’s Fett.”

“Come in.” Din called back. 

“Morning, sleep well?”

“Not great but…better than I have for awhile.” Din admitted with a shrug. “I can feel you wanting to ask me something just from how you’re standing; what’s wrong?”

“I need to ask a favour.”

“…Alright.” 

“If…if you get a chance to speak to Organa…” Boba gave a hard, tired sigh, before he continued. “We need water.”

“What about-“

“Thieves.” Boba snarled. “Stole and sold it off during the night, and they trashed the few vaporators we have in town. We’re running on low and I don’t want to have to open up our doors to trade with anyone else on this god forsaken planet. I’m not going to ask Cobb for more, I know he’s been worried for his own peoples supply, even if he hasn’t said anything.” 

“I’ll…see.” Din said. “Am I tell them who is asking for it?”

“…Skywalker say something?”

“Heard your name and went into a bit of a panic.” Din said. “But you did help with getting the cuffs off, so…”

 “If they can provide some help, it’d be appreciated but I’m not expecting it.” 

“I’ll see what I can do, but can’t give any promises.”

“You trying is enough. Enjoy your holiday.”

“It’s not a -“ Din sighed. “Sure, okay.”

Only a couple of hours later, Din was headed towards Coruscant. He had tried to contact the senates office using a public call number, but had been told Senator Organa didn’t answer public calls. 

“I’m sorry sir but she-“

“I know, I know…the others said the same.” Din sighed. “Not your fault.”

“I can pass a message on, if that helps.”

Well, no one else had offered to do that, so Din took the offer.

“Tell her it’s The Mandalorian.” He said. “She’ll know.”

“Of course, sir.”

Din got the call from Leia Organa two hours later.

The sudden, loud, ringing from the holocall woke him from the shallow sleep he had fallen into while sitting in the drivers seat. 

“W-what?” He mumbled, before answering the call. “Hello?”

“Apparently you’ve been trying to reach me.” She said. “How can I help you?”

“Oh.” Din sighed out, relieved he had managed to get in touch with the woman.”I was…hoping I could meet with you, about something…it’s rather…private, and I’d rather not discuss it over a call.” 

“Of course, when is good for you?”

“I’ll be on Coruscant soon.” Din said. “I’m already on my way.” 

“I’ll send you through details about private parking, that should make your life a little easier upon arrival.” She said. “I’ll see you soon then, Mandalorian. Safe travels.”

“Thank you.”

With a nod from Leia, the call ended and Din was able to close his eyes again - he figured he could nap, there was nothing else to do on the ship, after all.

It wasn’t long before he finally arrived at Coruscant, the incoming call from the private parking team waking him again. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Sixteen

Unexpected Political Representative

“Welcome.” Leia said, greeting Din with a friendly smile that didn’t look quite right. “Good trip, I hope.”

“Good enough.” Din said. “I don’t want to bother you, I know it’s rather…sudden, I’m happy to wait until you have time.”

“I’ve marked you as an ‘urgent’ political representative, so you have saved me from a meeting I am…rather dreading, if I am honest.” Leia said with a smirk. “They don’t need to know you aren’t a political representative, it can be my little secret.”

“Uh, well that’s good then. I’m happy to help, I suppose.”

Leia only smiled again, before nodding her head in a ‘follow me’ gesture.

“Luke was hoping to join us, if that’s alright.” She said as they walked. “He was hoping to speak to you, but understands you may not wish to.”

“No…no, I don’t mind at all. You told him I was coming?”

“I…well, I thought it might be wise to. How else would he know to bring Grogu to see you?”

“Oh.” Din breathed. “Thank you.”

The office they came to was moderate in size, big enough for two couches and a coffee table to sit in the middle, with a large desk and chairs closer to the far wall. It was the same white and silver colour scheme as everywhere else; Din thought Luke and Leia seemed…out of place amongst the too clean setting of the building, Luke more so than Leia.

Luke was in the room, sitting on one of the couches with his legs pulled up to his chest while he read a book.

“Leia, where did you-“ Luke blinked a few times upon seeing Din enter the office. “You didn’t tell me he was arriving today.”

Leia shrugged and sat down on the couch besides Luke. 

“So, you needed something?” Leia asked.

“Oh, yes. I was hoping for some advice…um, political advice? Guidance? I don’t really know how to- Ah, kriff it.” Din muttered before pulling the swords hilt from his belt and letting the black blade come into life. “Um, it’s the dark saber? It-“

“It’s you?!” Leia all but shrieked and got to her feet. 

Luke only stared for a moment before bursting into loud giggles, which quickly turned into full on laughter. 

“Um?”

“Oh my gosh, it’s you!” Luke said between shrieks of laughter, while holding his arms around his waist. 

“It was you, the whole kriffing time?!” Leia asked, frantic. 

“Uh…yes? Wait, how did-“

“I have spent half of my waking life the past few weeks trying to figure out who the mystery Mandalorian was, who had apparently found the darksaber!” Leia shouted. “The senate has been trying to convince me that some…some…mad man  is going to come out of nowhere and declare war on everyone!” 

“I don’t even want the stupid thing!”

Luke only laughed louder. 

“…How did this even happen?” Leia asked, utterly confused. 

So, Din told them. It was strange how easily the words came to him while speaking to the twins about what had happened. It was freeing, having someone to talk to who hadn’t been involved in the whole mess. 

“I’m sorry,” Luke said. “But, you didn’t even know what a jedi was at first…and now you have a lightsaber?”

“I…suppose. Is it a lightsaber, technically?” Din asked. “Can I even…use a light saber, I’m not a space wizard.”

“Space wizard?” Luke asked in an offended whisper.

“Well it certainly feels like one,” Leia asked, casting the weapon a wary glance. “What’s your plan?”

“I…don’t know, it’s why I’m here? I think…everyone seems to have just…accepted it for me but…I’m no ruler, I don’t want this, but…if I don’t hold onto it, who will take it in my place?”

“Hmm.” Leia glanced at Luke. “I wonder if it would help if you got more…comfortable with it. What do you think, Luke?”

“Well, it can’t hurt.” Luke looked at Din, and Din couldn’t help but to stare at the mans blue eyes. Brighter than they had been on the ship, but there was still something missing. “I could help, if you were okay with it, get you used to using it.” 

“What, learn to fight with it?”

“Pretty much.”

“I…can I think about it?”

“Of course.” Luke said and rose from the couch. “In the mean time, someone is waiting for you to come see them. Leia, did you need us?”

“No, no, you two go see the little green menace.” Leia said but there was kindness to the words. “I will…if you do decide to take up the role, I’m more than happy to help guide you.”

“Uh- there was one other thing…” 

“Boba fucking Fett?!” Leia shrieked once Din had finished explaining what had happened to the water, and what Fett had asked of him. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-“

“I’ll arrange some supplies for him, but I am not going back to that fucking place.” Leia said. “So, you’d better hope Luke agrees to supervise the supply drop. I’m…I’ll see you both later. I need a drink.”

Din watched Leia leave the room, no fake smile hiding what she was truly feeling. Not this time.

“Kriff, I’m sorry-“

“Don’t worry about it.” Luke said, voice much softer than it had been moments ago. “She’s…Tatooine wasn’t great for either of us, but I’ve…made peace with it more than Leia has…and the palace holds some…memories. Nothing to do with you.”

“Still…Fett has helped me a lot and I owed him to at least ask.” 

“Mmm.” Luke hummed. “I suppose I owe him as well.” 

“What do you mean?” Din asked. “Don’t you two hate each other?”

“Oh, I imagine he isn’t too fond of me. So, I’m holding you responsible for keeping me alive during the supply drop.” Luke said, with a slight quirk of his lips. “Whether he meant for it to happen or not, he still helped get the cuffs off me. I…I want to thank him for that.” 

“How are you settling in?” Din asked, then immediately wished he could take the words back. “I’m sorry, it’s not my business….”

“It’s alright.” Luke said quietly. “Let’s go find your son.”

Din recognised some parts of the building as they walked, and he figured out they were heading towards the small outdoor garden from his last visit.

“If you ask anyone else, I’m settling in fine.” Luke said, breaking the silence of their walk. “If you ask Leia, or Han…I’m not doing great.”

“What if I asked you?” Din asked, ignoring how Luke seemed to keep a step or two back while they walked. Din wanted to ask, but knew whatever the answer was to the odd behaviour, it likely had something to do with the mans time on Helvarus. 

“It feels like I never made it off that planet…I just can’t get away from it, whether I’m awake or not, it just…I wake up expecting to be somewhere outside, or trapped in some horrid little room, waiting for someone to come back and…it’s just so confusing.”

“It haunts you.” Din said and stepped out into the garden, where Grogu was busy chasing insects, but came to a stop once Dins stepped outside. “Keep playing, Grogu, you have fun.”

Grogu gave a happy babble, before resuming his insect chasing. 

“No one has…okay, that’s a lie. No one that I respect has asked about what happened, but people want…people want to know, and I can feel their curiosity, and it feels awful. I had to explain to a medic droid yesterday that no, I do not need any testing done, I’m fine. I keep telling myself I’ll get better but…well, I guess I’ve never been all that patient.”

“Testing?” Din asked. 

“Diseases.” Luke said with an odd flatness to his voice. “Strange to think one of the most embarrassing moments of my life was explaining to a droid that no, I was not raped and I do not need testing.” 

“O-oh.” Din was lost.

Of course he had thought about it - it was always a possibility with slavers, especially out on planets like Tatooine and Helvarus. Luke had been with them for a long time, of course it had been something that would have come up; either has threats, or carried out actions. 

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have…I’ve made you uncomfortable.” Luke said quietly, head tilted down and eyes focused on the floor. It was such an immediate shift from the loud, bright-eyed man back in the office. “I-I’m…I didn’t mean to-“

“N-no…it’s…not your fault.” Din said awkwardly. “It um…it’s apparently pretty big news that you’re back. I don’t mean this in a bad way but…I had no idea who you were, at first, I’d never heard of you before. This is all…my life got very strange, very quickly.” 

“Grogu has shown me as much.” Luke said, lifting his head enough to look at Grogu. 

“He seems…happy, being here.” 

“I’m glad.” Luke said. “It’s…nice, to be home…I just wish I could get some actual sleep.” 

“He’s not keeping you up, is he?”

“No…he’s fine, perfect even, my brain just…doesn’t switch off, not really.” Luke said quietly, eyes focused on Grogu as the child played. “I wish I could just…ignore it all, just a little while. There’s no real…escape from it, not really. No matter what meditation I try…and nobody has come to…”

“What?” Din looked at Luke, who had taken a large step away from Din and was fiddling with the single black glove he wore. 

“Nothing it’s…a jedi thing.” Luke said with a weak smile. “It’s hard to…I know that you already know but I see the armour and…can I blame survival instinct?” 

“Personally I’d blame the fact you’ve met Boba Fett,” Din said and noticed how Lukes eye brightened a little at the comment. “But I’ll accept survival instinct. I don’t…I don’t understand any of it but…I’m happy to listen, if you want to talk.” 

“Right well,” Luke said and his lips quirked up at the corners. “My previous Master can come back as a ghost to talk to me.” 

“I’m sorry?” 

Chapter Text

Chapter Seventeen

Hello, Father

Talking with the Mandalorian was…easy, Luke decided late at night as he stared at the ceiling above his bed. The man really seemed to have no idea about Luke, or anyone else related to the jedi order; it was a bizarre thing to realise and witness, and it was incredibly refreshing. The Mandalorian had an understand that Luke was…powerful, and well known, and he had a rough idea of what Luke had done during the war. 

Luke had asked him if he had read much about him, and while the Mandalorian had done a brief look into him, he hadn’t gone much further than surface level information. 

It was so nice to just…be Luke, like he could be around Leia or Han, or Chewie. There was were no expectations there; the man probably had a very twisted view of what Luke was like, in all likelihood, after their bizarre method of meeting one another. 

Luke sat up in bed, the heavy blanket falling away from his chest and pooling in his lap. He let out a sigh, and he heard one in return.

“Can’t sleep?” A voice asked from the middle of the room, where a blue figure stood with their arms behind their back and a sheepish, apologetic look on their face.

“Father?” Luke choked out. “I didn’t…I didn’t think…”

“You would be able to see us still?” Anakin asked, a fond smile on his face. 

“I didn’t think…” Luke swallowed. “That you would want to see me…after…how can you even look at me?”

“Oh, Luke.” Anakin breathed out and within seconds, was at the side of the bed. 

It was something that took a great deal out of Anakin, and he knew it would severely affect how long he was able to spend in the strange limbo between life and death that some jedi were able to maintain.

It would use up some of that life energy, but he didn’t hesitate when he let that power surge through him, giving his form the sturdiness any living being would have. 

The mattress made a soft creak as Anakin lowered himself beside his son and pulled his boy - a man, really - into a tight embrace. He said nothing as Luke sobbed silently against him, the blonde mans body shaking violently. 

“You are so strong, Luke.” Anakin said gently, his hand pressed against the back of Lukes head. “Whatever happened to you, I have no idea. Whatever…cut you off from us stopped us from seeing where you were, what was happening…I’ll only know if you tell me, and Luke, that’s only for you to when you want to, if you ever want to.”

“I’m not though…I got captured and I…over a year, I got dragged around and couldn’t…” Luke whispered into his Fathers chest. He couldn’t look at his Fathers face, couldn’t bear the thought of what he might see. “How could that happen if I’m so strong? I’m not! I’m…Father, I’m so tired.”

“I know, Luke, I know.” Anakin whispered against Lukes hair. “When you came back…when we felt you again, it was something else…it was so bright, Luke. You’re home now, safe with Leia and Han and…I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting a Mandalorian. I’m not complaining, just took me by surprise. Are they all so…shiny?”

Luke sobbed on a laugh and wiped at his eyes with his wrists. 

“I- Oh, Luke your wrist…” Anakin said, brushing his fingers over the still visible ring of red around one of his sons wrists.  

“O-oh, yeah…the Mandalorian-“

“What?” Anakin snarled. 

“Stop.” Luke scolded softly. “Father he…I’d been captured by slavers and after over a year with them…the first person to look at me, to even speak to me was a Mandalorian. I’ve heard the stories, Father, and I’ve had…a run in with another, though not as shiny, and there was some…mildly panicked fighting.”

He doesn’t need to know. Luke thought.  Nobody besides the two of us will ever know, and we shall never speak of it again. 

“Luke, if he-“

“Father, I’m okay.” Luke said. “I…maybe I’m not okay…but, I’m home and I’m alive and…oh no.”

“Luke?”

“I have to back to Tatooine.” Luke whispered. “But I hate it there!”

“It really is a bit of a shit hole, I’ll agree on that.” Anakin said. “Why do you need to go back?”

“He…he’s friends with another Mandalorian there, and they asked if Leia could…try and to arrange some supplies, sounds like some water got stolen and they trashed their vaporators.” Luke said. “It’s…it’s the same Mandalorian I had a run in with before…but he helped get the force blocking cuffs off and…I’d like to say thank you for that.” 

“You don’t owe them anything Luke-“

“I know, but-“

“Luke, you don’t owe them but…if it helps, then you do what you think you need to.” Anakin said. “He’s not a bad one, this shiny Mandalorian you’ve found…I wish I could thank him for bringing my son back.”

“Father, I-“

“I love you, Luke.” Anakin said soft but sure against Lukes hair, and pressed a soft kiss against his boys head. “Stay safe, okay?”

“I-I will.” Luke said. “I…I don’t know if I’m ready…”

“You never have to say it, Luke.” Anakin said. “Just know that I mean it.”

Luke nodded and wiped at his eyes; Anakin was gone when he looked up. 

He was alone again, in the too big bed in the too big room that had been empty for so long in his absence - it felt lonely, the room itself, and Luke felt so cold here despite the thick blanket that he had brought into the room. 

He only felt a little silly, walking through the building in his sleeping clothes, but he didn’t have the energy to change into anything else. He heard the voice before he saw the person, but he knew who it was. 

“Grogu, what’s wrong?” The Mandalorian asked in a pleading whisper. “You’ve never been so unsettled before.” 

Luke rounded the hallway corner to find The Mandalorian leaning back against a wall, Grogu cradled in his arms and looking like the definition of inconsolable.

Until he saw Luke. 

“Are you smiling?” The Mandalorian asked. “Oh thank maker…reckon you can go to slee- oh.”

“Uh, hi..s-sorry for…I didn’t expect to run into anyone.” Luke whispered, eyes on the ground and fingers fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

His sleeping shirt.

Because he was still in his sleeping clothes, and was barefoot.

It’s hardly the most embarrassing thing that could have happened. Luke thought but that didn’t stop his face from growing warm as blush spread over his cheeks. 

“He’s just been so unsettled the last little while, he was sound asleep and just..woke up crying, it scared the kriff out of me.” The Mandalorian said, visor pointed at the now happily burbling Grogu. 

“Oh…oh no, I’m so sorry.” Luke felt sick. “I…had a visit…just before and Grogu must have sensed it.”

“One of your…space wizard visits you told me about?”

“Y-yes.”

“That’s…good, isn’t it?” The helmet tilted sideways, locked onto Luke. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m…n-no, I do’t think I am.” Luke admitted.

“Would you…like some company?” 

“That…would be nice.” Another admission; maker, he felt pathetic. “I just…don’t want to be in my room.”

“We can go to mine, it’s too big for just us anyway.” The Mandalorian said. “Come on.”

Luke nodded and followed after the Mandalorian, making sure not to get in the way. 

The Mandalorians room was similar to Lukes, though even more plainly decorated - it was very much a guest room, designed with the intent to impress who ever stayed in it. 

“Your sister had a cot set up, for Grogu.” The Mandalorian said and looked over at Luke, who was still hovering in the doorway. “Don’t tell her I haven’t used it. You uh, you can come in.” 

With slow steps, Luke finally entered the other mans room. Grogu cooed from the couch, where he had quickly made himself comfortable nestled in a large blanket. 

“Oh, uh…sure thing.” Luke nodded, and sat on the couch next to the blanket pile. Grogu began the process of moving as much of the blanket as possible into Lukes lap, as if trying to bury the man. “What are you-“

“He thinks you need to sleep.” The Mandalorian said, arms crossed over his chest as he watched. “He does the same thing to me, I just need more blanket to cover up.” 

“I- what?” 

“Because I’m…bigger than you- it wasn’t mean to sound like an insult, sorry.” 

“N-no it’s…not wrong.”

“Still…I’m just…not great at talking to people.” The man admitted to Luke. “Fett said it’s probably to do with growing up in a cult…he’s good at saying stuff and it only sounding vaguely insulting. It helps that he isn’t technically wrong.” 

“I don’t know much about Mandalorians.” Luke said. “Well, apart from the brief uh, bits of info I’ve been told…”

“About our history together?” 

“Well, not so much specific things that happened…more of a…general theme of what it was like?” Luke offered weakly. “And the first Mandalorian I met was Boba Fett and he tried to kill me so…”

“Oh…well, if it helps, I don’t know if he considers himself a Mandalorian?” The Mandalorian shrugged. “We ready to kill me when we first met as well.”

“But…his armour-“

“It’s…there’s a lot of history there, which isn’t mine to get into…sorry, but…”

“No, no.” Luke shook his head. “He’s your friend and…it’s not really my business, I understand you can’t talk about it, it’s his history.”

“I- thank you.” Din breathed out. 

“You…mentioned sending money to your covert…is that your family?”

“I…in a way, but…it’s all a bit of a mess now.” The Mandalorian said and his helmet looked down slightly, focusing on Grogu, who had made his way into Lukes lap and had nestled in happily. “They helped me get Grogu to safety…”

And Din talked, so Luke listened. 

It was easy to sit there, with the weight of Grogu in his lap, and listen to the Mandalorian talk about his covert and what had happened with them on Nevarro. The conversation shifted, and Din talked about his creed and what it entails, what it means to him and what it means for him and Grogu. 

Luke could feel himself falling asleep, his eyelids getting heavy and his body relaxing into the couch. He knew he should go back to his room and get out of the Mandalorians way, but he couldn’t bring himself to move.

So, while the Mandalorian spoke, Luke fell asleep. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Eighteen

Eyes Shut Tight

Din knew he should leave the man where he had fallen asleep, but his body had fallen slack and he’d slid into a position that just looked uncomfortable; Din knew the man would have pains when he woke. 

Luke was light, so lifting him off the couch was an easy task and Din carried him through to the large bed he had yet to use. He laid Luke in the bed, carefully lifted the blanket over the sleeping man, and left the room. 

Din had been in such a panic to get out of that room and away from the blonde man, that he had stripped off and stepped into the shower without thinking about bringing anything else to change into. He only had a quick shower, and after peeking into the bedroom from the attached bathroom, he decided Luke was still asleep and he could sneak through to get a change of clothes. 

He was standing beside the bed, looking through the bedside table for the stash of treats he’d hidden away from Grogu - he’d bought a decent supply of chocolates and lollies while he’d been away from Coruscant, and was eager to see Grogus reaction to them. 

It was while he was digging through the drawer that he heard Luke mumbled beside him, and the blonde man began to stir. 

Din knew he panicked.

He knew it was the wrong move while he did it, but he moved without thinking; his bare hand pressed over Lukes eyes and held firm. 

“Don’t open your eyes.” He said, harsher then needed.

Luke went still at Dins touch, and Din heard the strangest, softest whimper come from the man. 

Oh, oh no. Din thought in a panic. That’s a really nice sound.

“I won’t.” Luke whispered. “I-I promise, I won’t look, please…please don’t-“ 

“No.” Din said quietly. “I know you won’t, you’re okay. I’m not going to hurt you, jetti.” 

Din moved slowly, giving Luke time to realise what was happening, and pulled his hand away - Lukes eyes were shut, like he had trusted them to be. 

“I-I…where am I?”

“My bed-“ 

“What?” Lukes voice was weak and Din could see the mans lip trembling. “But you…no. No, they had me for a year and no one…you can’t- it can’t happen here, not when I’m finally home…please.”

“Luke, jetti.” Din said softly. “Whatever you think I was going to do, or have done, please know that I would never. I brought you home to be safe, nothing more.” 

“But why am I in your b-bed?”

“You fell asleep on the couch and you were kinda…folded up on yourself. I was worried you’d wake up in pain but I didn’t want to wake you up…since you haven’t been sleeping very well.”

“O…kay…”

“I shouldn’t have touched you without checking, I’m sorry.” 

“N-no…it’s…I believe you.”

Oh. Din was surprised by that. Pleased, but definitely surprised. 

“I’ll let you sleep.” Din said, finally finding the spare flight suit he had been hunting for. “Goodnight, jetti.”

He turned and left the room before Luke could say anything, and only relaxed once the bedroom door was shut behind him. He stood in the dark lounge and let out a sigh. 

The couch was rather ridiculous in size, so it was no issue for Din to lay out across the couch and tuck himself in under Grogus blanket, as much as he could anyway. He was exhausted and it didn’t take long for him to fall asleep, with his son safely tucked between his body and the back of the couch.

The dream didn’t last long, just long enough.

The room was dark at the edges, with only a small patch of soft white light in the middle; where a figure was kneeling on the ground. Din knew it was Luke before he even began to move towards the figure and when he finally came to a stop, leaving a small distance between them, he was confused when the man didn’t look up at him. 

Luke was kneeling with his head bowed forward, facing the ground. His arms were by his hands and his hands behind his back. A neat, perfectly tied pattern of black rope wrapped around the mans chest and waist, holding his arms to his sides. 

“Luke?” Din asked. “What are you doing?” 

“Whatever you like.” Luke answered without looking up. “I’m here for you to use.” 

“W-what?”

“Your voice is so nice.” Luke said softly. “I wish I could see the face it belongs to.”

“I- you can, just…look up.” Din said.

Luke slowly raised his head to look at Din and to his utter horror, Din was upset to learn Luke was blindfolded. 

Din woke with a pained sound, trying not to make enough noise that might alert Luke to the fact something was wrong. 

He had been disappointed that Luke hadn’t seen his face. 

What was happening to him? Why did his creed seem to fall to the side when he was around the jedi? 

What the fuck is wrong with me? Din thought to himself desperately. He shouldn’t be near me, I’m losing my mind. 

With a moment of horrific realisation, Din notices that he’s not wearing his armour - it was still in the bathroom, where he had left it the night before and been distracted before he could go back for it.

It didn’t help that he had run away and stayed in the lounge all night. 

When he finally works up the courage to go to the bedroom door, prepared to knock and explain that he needs to get his armour, he’s surprised to find it all in a neat pile on the floor, just in front of the closed door.

“Huh.” 

He wants to please, keep you happy. That horrid voice in his head whispered. He can recognise strength, he knows who he should fall to his knees for.

Din let out a growl rip from his throat as he grabbed his armour and began putting it on with more force than was necessary. 

Grogu gave a soft ‘patoo’ when Din dropped onto the couch, and quickly climbed onto the mans lap. 

“I’m alright kid.” Din said when Grogu looked up at him with concern and made grabbing motions with his small green hands. “I’m just…I’m a mess.”

The door to the bedroom slid open with a soft woosh and Luke stepped out, looking at the ground and Din could tell the man was avoiding eye contact. 

“The um- the…s-supply drop for Boba, it’s leaving today.” Luke stammered out, unsure and…wary? Afraid. “We’ll be leaving this afternoon, just after lunch.”

“I uh- I’ll follow you in my ship then?”

Luke gave a stiff nod, before leaving Dins room without another word and without look at Din, or Grogu. 

The little green boy gave a confused noise at the man leaving, and Din could only rub the tips of Grogus ears.

“It’s alright little one.” Din said. “We’ll see him again later, we’re going to go see Boba and Fennec. How about we not tell them you’re coming? You can surprise them.”

Grogu lit up at the promise of seeing his friends, and settled into Dins arms with a content sigh. 

Dins eyes moved to the closed door to his room, and he wished the jedi - Luke - would come back in, even just to tell Din to stay away.

Din could do that - he would do whatever Luke asked.

He owed the man that much.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nineteen

Emotions On Show

“Patoo!” Grogu burst out, waking suddenly and squirming in his bag against Dins side. 

“Grogu, go back to sleep,” Din said and added with a sigh, “Please.”

He heard the footsteps approaching, much too fast for his liking, and he spun round to find the source of them. A blurred flash of golden hair pushed past him, making him stumble, and Din heard the sound of footsteps on metal as the person headed up the ramp and disappeared into his ship. 

“Mandalorian!” A deep voice called from behind him and Din turned to see a well built man dressed in a pilots uniform heading towards him. “Sorry to be a bother, have you seen Skywalker? Blonde, real pretty, you can’t miss him.” 

“No.” Din said. “Haven’t seen anyone.”

“Damn, thought I saw him head this way. He said he was flying on his own but, figured it didn’t hurt to ask if he wanted to fly with us.” The man said and Din hated the smug grin that the man had on his face. “If you do see him…”

“What?” Din asked, annoyed by how the man looked him up and down. 

“Oh nothing just…maybe keep your distance?” The man suggested. “I just don’t know if his sister would appreciate…you know; your lot aren’t meant to like his too much, right? Maybe just…we wouldn’t want him to get hurt, you know?”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Din said and stepped onto the landing ramp. “Maybe telling me that someone is pretty before telling me to keep my distance wasn’t a good idea, though, forbidden things are always more tempting. Have a good flight.”

Din flicked the switch to raise the ramp, pleased at the look on the mans face, before turning and heading to the cockpit. Luke was there, sitting in the drivers seat with his legs hooked over the arm rest and his head hanging back; he looked comfortable, far more so than Din would have ever expected. 

“So,” Din said. “A friend of yours?”

Luke let out a strangled sound and his head snapped up and turned to look at Din; it was easy to forget that Luke was meant to be as powerful as Din had been told. 

“No.” Luke moaned. “He’s…I thought he was just being friendly because were both pilots - well, I was one - but uh…well, that wasn’t quite right.” 

“…I think he tried to threaten me.” 

Luke made another odd noise at that, and Din saw the hint of red spread across Lukes cheeks. 

“Why would he do that?” Luke moaned again, and Din was rather close to laughing at the man. 

“It’s alright,” Din said. “I’m not too worried about him.”

“But-“

“He tried to use your sister to threaten me.”

“Oh.” Luke blinked a few times and tilted his head to the side. “Well that was stupid.”

Din shrugged. “Not everyone is happy to see a Mandalorian.” 

“Don’t I know it.” Luke said but there’s a slight twitch at the corners of his mouth, as if he was stopping himself from smiling. “Leia didn’t…say why you were here, but she said you were working with us and to leave you alone about the whole…”

“Being a bounty hunter thing?”

“Er, sure, we’ll say that.”

“So, are you just hiding here or…”

“Could…could I fly with you?” Luke asked quietly, a sudden change in demeanour. “I’m sorry if-“

“No problem.” Din said. “You can keep Grogu busy…asleep, actually. Please keep him asleep.”

“Been a bit of trouble today?” Luke asked and accepted Grogu from Din with a small smile. “Hey there, little guy.” 

“He was upset this morning and it just hasn’t gotten better.” Din admitted. 

“I…I’m sorry.” Luke said quietly. 

“It’s not-“

“No it….it might be, he’s very in tune with the force and he’s probably picking up on my emotions.” Luke explained. “He’s young, and powerful. He’s had prior training but it was so long ago, and with the trauma from everything he’s been through…he might be trying to not think about it. He’ll get better at blocking other people out, it won’t be forever.” 

“That’s…good to hear, definitely a relief.” Din said with a sigh. “I don’t need him having tantrums about what other people are feeling. Do you…are you the same or have you gotten better at it?”

Luke shrugged. “It doesn’t really go away, you just get better at controlling it. I can still sense what people are feeling, but I’m pretty good at blocking it out.”

“Wait, what-“

“Doesn’t work on you.” Luke said. “Beskar seems to block it. Handy, for someone who is meant to hunt jedi.” 

“That…that’s a good point.” Din said. “Are you okay to…watch him?”

“Sure, we’ll hang out.” 

Din focused on the journey while Luke and Grogu spent time together in varying areas of the ship; it seemed to softly be Luke finding different items to Grogu to try and float around. Din hoped the effort would tire the child out, and he wondered if that’s what Luke was trying to do. If so, Din owed the man even more; he loved Grogu but by the maker, the child had a lot of energy. 

Later, when Luke was asleep in the small bed nook, with Grogu tucked in against his side, Din figured he could have some time to eat. It’s when he’s sitting there with a cup of hot caf in hand, and a ration bar in the other and his helmet on the floor that it clicks; the beskar stops Luke from reading him, but what happens when the beskar is off?

“Fuck.” Din hisses and looks back at Luke, who has curled ever tighter into himself. “This is…this is not good.”

“What’s not?” Luke asked in a murmur. “What- oh, Grogu…um, why are you freaking out?”

Luke looked up at Din but his eyes weren’t open; the man hadn’t quite woken up yet-

“I won’t open my eyes.” Luke said. “You’re not wearing your helmet.”

“When I take the beskar off, you can- you can…”

“Sense you? Yeah-“

“Fuck.” Din said in a low voice and took a step back; Luke sat up more in the bed, being careful not too bother Grogu. 

“Okay, I can’t actually read your mind, so you need to tell me why you’re-“

“I can’t stop them from saying things.” Din blurts out. “I can’t stop them, I don’t want to- you can’t?”

“I’m a jedi, not a mind reader.” Luke said, almost exasperated. “I’ve met a lot of people, and never anyone so…conflicted.”

“I…I can’t tell you.” Din said. “Not…not now.”

“Hmm.” Luke hummed, a soft noise that Din really liked. “I- alright.”

“That’s…it? Just ‘alright’?”

Luke shrugged. “It’s nicer than being around all the people back home who just looked at me and felt pity, or…hunger. It’s…well, you kind of need me alive when we get to Tatooine to give Fett the water, so I’m at least safe until then.” 

“You’re always safe with me!” Din shouted, and groaned. “I’m losing my fucking mind.” 

“Do you want to talk about this now, or later?”

“Never, preferably.”

Lukes head tilted to the side, just a little. “Well, now we’re definitely going to talk about it.”

“Not…not here.” Din said. “It’s too…confined, I don’t want you to feel trapped.” 

“Alright.” Luke said quietly. “When you’re ready.”

Din just nodded, not caring that Luke couldn’t actually see the movement, and returned to the cockpit where he promptly pulled his helmet back on, food and drink be damned. 

He needed to think about this, and how he was going to explain it to Luke without scaring the poor man more than he already had. 

Din needed a drink; maybe Boba would share the wine Din had got him.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty

Bad News Box

Din was thankful for his armour, and the small amount of relief it gave against the dry air and the sand; the heat still got to him, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Boba was waiting at the bottom of the ships ramp, arms crossed over his chest and a pleased grin on his face; he was wearing his armour, sans helmet.

“Mando!” Boba cheered, and pulled Din into a quick, but almost suffocating, hug. Din returned the greeting, though he was taken aback at the show of affection.

“Uh, good to see you Boba.” Din said, pulling away from Boba and looking at the man. “Reckon you can do me a favour?”

“I can think about it; what is it?”

“Make me a promise.”

“Well, now I’m interested.” Boba grinned. “What is it?”

“Just…try not to freak him out.” Din sighed, and the sound of someone else’s footsteps behind him rang out. Feet on metal that came to a stop halfway down the ramp. 

Boba looked up, just past Din, and blinked. “Skywalker.” A happy coo came from behind Din and Bobas confused expression turned into a grin. “Hey kid!”

“Hey- alright! Go on.” Luke said with barely concealed exasperation, and Din could hear the sound of Grogu toddling down the ramp to Boba, who scooped him up without a moment of hesitation. 

“Hey womp rat, you been good?”

“Depends how you define good.” Din muttered; there was the faintest sound behind of an amused huff. 

“Grogu is always good.” Boba said. “Aren’t you? Come on, time for lunch.”

Boba turned, and headed towards the palace. Din looked back a Luke, who was staring after Boba Fett exactly the way someone might look at a ghost. 

“Luke?” Din asked. “You ready?”

“No.” Luke whispered. “I-I can’t…”

“Hey.” Din said, and stepped up to Luke but didn’t touch him. “You’re not going to get hurt; not by me, not by Boba, not by anyone here.”

“I-I…I know you won’t, I just…this was a bad idea.”

“What?” Din asked. “But-“

“No! Not the- not the water, I meant me. I-I shouldn’t have come.”

“Did you want to stay on the ship?” Din asked. “If there’s something I can do to help, please tell me.”

“I-I…I don’t want to be alone.” Luke said quietly. “It’s n-not just him, it’s…slavers don’t work on just one planet… what if someone recognises me? I-I don’t want to go back to them, I w-want to stay home! Please-“

“Luke, you need to breathe.” Din said. “I won’t leave you alone, and you’re not leaving here with anyone else.”

That didn’t sound too possessive did it? Let’s say it didn’t. Din thought to himself. We can yell at ourself about this later.

“I trust him, I wouldn’t have let him walk off with Grogu if I didn’t.” Din said. “If you’d rather stay on the ship, or with the other pilots-“

“Absolutely not.”

“…Alright, well, just…stay with me, okay?”

Luke nodded, and the two of them finally descended down the ramp and headed towards the palace; Boba was already inside, sitting on a large throne while Grogu ran around excitedly in the large empty space in front of it. 

“He’s gotten bigger.” Boba said. 

“I hope so,” Din said. “He eats enough.” 

“I’m glad to hear it.” Boba said and his eyes moved from Grogu to Din, then to Luke. 

Luke was standing behind Din, not completely hidden but tucked away for safety. 

“If you don’t have anything important to do right now, I’d like to talk, in private.” Boba said, and it was clearly not directed at Din.

“Not alone.” Din said, before Luke would have to try and figure out any sort of reason for saying no besides being absolutely terrified of the idea; alone, with Boba Fett?

Din knew there was no chance. 

“Suits me fine.” Fett shrugged. “Leave the kid with Fennec, probably best he not overhear.”

Okay well that definitely didn’t give Luke much hope; why had he come here? He knew it was a bad idea, and yet here he was, because he didn’t want to be at home, where he felt so suffocated all the time.

“Come on.” Din said. “Sooner we get this over with, sooner I can get some sleep.”

And Luke would be alone; he hadn’t thought about that. 

He walked with the Mandalorian, staying a few steps behind the man, and followed his lead to a lower level of the palace, where they made their way into what looked like a private office. Boba had somehow got their first, and was standing behind the desk, taking his armour off piece by piece. 

“Have a seat, gentlemen.” Boba said, nodding towards two armchairs that were on the opposite side of the desk to him. 

“What are you up to, Boba?” Din asked, lowering himself into one of the chairs. 

Luke went to sit, but something in his brain wouldn’t let him; being here was too much like Helvarus, and he was on high alert, waiting for the slavers to appear at any second and if they saw him sitting in one of the chairs, as if he thought he was a person…

He wouldn’t be able to walk after a beating like that. 

“Luke?” The Mandalorian asked and Luke was pulled out of his own spiralling thoughts, and was very aware that both men were looking at him. 

Fuck, he wished he had been better prepared to block out what they were feeling; the Mandalorian was in full armour, so there was nothing there for Luke to pick up, but Fett…

It wasn’t pity so much, there were waves of anger, and some pity, but there was an unexpected sense of…understanding, and interest, which made Lukes skin itch. 

“Luke, you should sit down.” The Mandalorian said. “You’re shaking, are you okay?” 

Luke shook his head; if he tried to talk, he’d just start rambling, and he hated how he sounded when he rambled. He didn’t need Boba Fett, of all people, to hear him sound so completely and utterly pathetic.

“Skywalker, did you want to leave?” Fett asked, and Luke shook his head again. “If you’re listening, I’m happy to talk. You don’t wanna listen anymore? Just leave, and Mando will follow you. Keep standing if you want, I really don’t care.”

Luke hesitated but eventually nodded, and Boba returned the gesture; he was stripped of his armour, which was now in a messy pile on the desk. He was wearing a set of dark grey clothes underneath; form fitting, but loose enough not to be suffocating in the hot air. 

“You know, you could take care of it a little bit more.” The Mandalorian said, with a tone of amusement. 

“And stop annoying you?” Fett asked with a smirk. “Never.”

“Just…what did you want to talk about?”

Fett continued to grin, pleased by the Mandalorian seemingly understanding he wouldn’t win whatever small argument had been going on. 

“We had a small group of people settle outside of town, three men total, who asked if they’d be alright to leave a shipping box outside of town while they stopped for a few nights; just wanted to eat and sleep without having to worry about anyone attacking while they were out in the open.” Fett explained and sat down in his own chair, not even glancing up at Luke, who was still standing; his hands were together behind his back, one hand wrapped around the other wrist. He squeezed, tight enough he could feel the now familiar sensation of the sore ring of irritation around his wrist.

He’d grown to enjoy the feeling, but refused to really acknowledge what that meant. 

“Traders?” The Mandaloian asked.

“Looked it to me, said they sold whatever scrap they scavenged between towns, so I wasn’t fussed about them staying.” Fett said, glancing up at Luke for just a moment before looking back at The Mandalorian; the short lived wave of nervousness surprised Luke, because, what did Fett have to be nervous about? “Now, I’m not having his conversation just because Skywalkers here, it was going to happen no matter what; I didn’t mean for him to get dragged back in.”

“…Back in to what, Boba?” 

“Fennec did her patrol, just walking the outer perimeter of the town before heading in for the night, and she stopped to watch the shipping box for a moment and saw one of the traders leaving it.” Fett said. “We don’t have a number of how many, but…there’s no scrap in that container.”

“What-“

“Slaves.” Luke whispered. “I-it’s…full of people?”

“Don’t know how many, but…Fennec definitely heard a child talking.” Fett said, and Luke had never imagined what the man would look like when he was uncomfortable, it was an odd sight. “She went to look once nobody was near by, figured she could get it open without a hassle but…whatever fucking lock they’ve got on it looks like it’s rigged up to the box.”

“They rigged it to explode?” The Mandalorian hissed.

“Explode, poison, suffocation, I got no idea.” Fett said. “I’ve seen boxes like it before, and they go off if someone enters the wrong code, or if you fiddle with the lock.”

“So why did you want me?”

“Well, the original plan was to ask if you had any ideas but…” Fett looked up at Luke. “You still got your lightsaber?”

Luke hesitated, but nodded slowly; Leia had returned it to him on his first night home, it had been found in a stall in some back alley market. Whoever had seen it had stolen it from the stall owner and turned it into the senate; it had apparently been what had convinced Leia that something had happened to Luke, and he wasn’t just off with his Jedi work.

“Boba-“

“Is there anything a lightsaber can’t cut through?”

“O-oh, uh…” Luke couldn’t get his fucking mouth to work; he sounded like an idiot. “S-sorry…”

“Take your time.” Fett said. 

“D-different materials take…some are easier to cut through than others, but t-the only thing it can’t go through i-is beskar.”

“Good,” Fett said. “Reckon you could cut open a shipping container?”

“I- w-well, yeah.” 

“I’m not expecting your help, but they’ve been here for three days already and have barely been back out to the box, and I have no idea what those people have in terms of food and water.” Fett said. “Even if you decide you want nothing to do with the whole mess, which I’d understand, that box is not leaving my town.” 

“I’ll help.” Luke said, determined to do something. “I want to.” 

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-One

It’s All A Little Overwhelming

Luke didn’t want to be heading out of town with Boba Fett, because it sounded like a death sentence, but the Mandalorian was there as well so Luke felt a little bit better about it. 

The shipping box was smaller than he expected, and the thought of being locked inside the metal box, trapped in the dark, made him feel sick. 

“Excuse me,” A voice called out from behind them. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Inspection.” Fett said without looking away from the box. “I don’t think you were quite truthful about what you’re moving, and I don’t appreciate being lied to.”

Luke walked in a a circle around the box, coming back to the end with the bizarre looking lock on it and tapping his hand against the wall a few times.

“If you can move, move away from this end.” Luke called out. 

One of the men behind them snorted. “This’ll be good.”

“The blonde ones cute,” Another said. “I reckon he comes with us.”

Luke ignored the feeling of panic that was building inside him, telling him to run, telling him to get away. He’d spent a year with people like that, always scared and waiting for the next thing that would happen to him. He raised one of his hands, deciding to forego his lightsaber in favour of showing off what power he held; a reminder to himself, and a warning to them. He focused on the lock, and after a few seconds he pulled his hand into a sudden fist, and the lock bent in on itself with a loud metallic screech and fell to the sand. 

“Do you need me still?” Luke asked without looking at Fett; he had half expected the force to not bend to him. 

“I reckon we can handle it from here, you head back to the palace, Mando can walk you.” Fett said. “Fennec is nearby, she can help clean up.”

Luke nodded and turned, not bothering to look up from the sand; the Mandalorian fell into step beside him but said nothing.

Luke was glad for the silence. 

It was a peaceful walk back, with Luke feeling numb; it wasn’t until they were back in the palace, in the room Luke had been given for the stay, when everything bubbled to the surface and flowed over.

“You’re shaking.” The Mandalorian said and Luke heard the bedroom door click shut behind him. 

“I-I…how long have those people been in that box? How long have they been waiting for help? In a metal box on Tatooine, that’s a death sentence, and they’ve just been left out there!” Luke shouted. “I w-was lucky, in comparison, what did I have to complain about? All I had to do was fucking behave and they wouldn’t have-“

He felt a body behind him, and out of instinct he turned to strike; large hands caught his wrists and held them firmly but not enough to hurt. Lukes breathing was panicked, and he was ready to run but the Mandalorian simply held onto him and gently lowered his arms. 

“You’re not lucky in comparison,” The Mandalorian told him. “Just because your suffering was different doesn’t mean it was easier, or you should be thankful they didn’t hurt you the same that someone else was hurt.”

“But-“

“I can leave, if you’d rather be alone.” The Mandalorian said; it was hard to focus on the man when his grip on Lukes wrists was making the ring from the manacles ache. “I’m happy to stay though, if you need some company. Just…please don’t think anything is your fault.” 

“…You said we would talk.” Luke said slowly and the change in the mans demeanour ws obvious; suddenly tense, ready to run. “Can we still-“

“I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”

Luke blinked. “Why would I be afraid of you?”

“Because you can…sense what I’m feeling?” The man said, and Luke nodded because it sounded like the man needed some reassurance. 

“I can’t read minds, but I can get a general…feel of things.”

“…That’s really no better.”

“We don’t have to talk.” Luke said. 

“No we…we should, it’s only fair you know who you’ve been travelling with.”

The hands left his wrists, and Luke felt an unexpected sensation of loss. The Mandalorian sat down at the small table that was in the corner of the room, and Luke sat in the other chair. It was so strange to see the man move so awkward, as if unsure as to what he was doing.

Luke hadn’t expected the man to undo the latches of his helmet and pull it away; Luke barely got his eyes closed in time to avoid seeing the mans face.

“What are you-“

“My name is Din Djarin,” The man said. “I- you can open your eyes.”

The man was nervous, Luke could feel that, but there was an undercurrent of something else…something warm and pleasant. There was nothing to show the man was lying to Luke, nothing to show there was anything sinister in mind, so Luke opened his eyes.

Kriff, Luke thought as he took in the man that was sitting across from him. He’s attractive. 

“H-Hi.” Luke said, feeling rather stupid, but the man just gave an awkward smile in response. 

“Hi,” Din said. “You look different, without the visor on; brighter.”

“O-oh.”

“I…want to apologise.” Din said, looking at his hands rather than at Luke; there were sitting in the mans lap.

“What for?” Luke asked, tilting his head to one side as he tried to think. “You haven’t done anything wrong.” 

“No but I…I want to, and I don’t want you to be around me when…I think I’m losing my mind, and I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“I don’t understand, you haven’t done anything to hurt me.” Luke said. “Is this about what you were feeling on the ship?”

The man let out a groan and rubbed at his face with his hands. 

“Yes.”

“I don’t…I mean it’s always a little weird when I feel someone else’s arousal but, I don’t…care, you can’t help it.”

“But that wasn’t the only time, was it? It’s happened before.” 

“You’re a human being, you can’t help-“

“It’s you.” Din said cutting Luke off and oh, Luke could feel it pouring off the man; shame, disgust, the mortification at having revealed something to Luke. “It’s always you, and it’s not okay because I shouldn’t be thinking it but I can’t stop the voices-“

“What voices?”

“Ugh.” Din groaned again and his face was resting in his his hands, elbows on his knees. “When it gets too much just…tell me to get out.”

“I am incredibly confused right now.”

“I want to pre-face this by saying I didn’t realise how fucked up I was when I saved you, this wasn’t some sort of…I saved you because it was the right thing to do, that’s all.”

“Okay…” Luke said, still puzzled by all the emotions pouring off the man; embarrassment had joined the others. 

“Fuck…okay, let’s get this over with so I can go back to trying to ignore it. It’s like…I want you to be scared of me but…you’re enjoying it?”

“Oh.”

“And these fucking voices in my head won’t go away, and keep telling me to just…I don’t want to hurt you, not properly but…I think to hurt you, but I want you to enjoy it. I just…after everything you went through, you ended up with some freak who wants to-“

“But you haven’t.” Luke said, and Din looked up at him. “You haven’t done anything to me. I…I’ve been a bit nervous around you still, I can’t help that but…I’m like that with most people now. I…have been thinking though…um, similar things? Not me hurting you, but…I can’t get my brain to shut up, I can’t sleep, and I’m always so on edge, I think it’d help if someone else just kinda…took…control, for a little bit?”

Well, that was mortifying to say to say out loud, and now Din was staring at him and- the sudden, hot wave of arousal could’ve choked Luke. 

“You- what?”

“N-not here, Tatooine freaks me out way too much but…I’d like to try.” 

“You…would?” Din asked slowly. 

Luke felt himself blush, face warm all over. “I um…I’m not very experienced, at…any of it, really. If you…I’d understand if you didn’t to do anything with someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing-“

“I don’t care.” Din said in a rush. “It’s…you’re the only person I’ve ever had these thoughts about. We’ll take it slow, and figure out what you’re comfortable with. Are you…going to be okay with me touching you?”

“I might take a little while to get used to it.” Luke admitted. 

Din nodded. “I can understand that, we’ll go slow and…we’ll probably need to have a talk about what what we’re not okay with.”

“What if I’m not sure?” Luke asked. “I…haven’t thought about it much, I’ve been trying not to but…it’s getting a little hard to ignore, in all honesty.” 

“I know the feeling.” Din said, and a knock came from the door; Din had his helmet on just in time, for Boba to step into the room and close the door again. 

“Why bother knocking?” Din asked. 

“Because it’s technically the polite thing to do, but you’re also technically in my house.” Boba said. “Just came to let you know we’ve got everything taken care of…and turns out, one of them was involved in your original capture.”

Luke stared at Fett, and blinked. “I- what?”

“He seemed rather stunned when he realised what had happened and who had done it.” Fett explained. “Said if we gave them a chance, they’d get you again…for me.”

“No.” Luke said without thinking. “No, no, no, you can’t-“

“He’s dead.” Fett said bluntly. “All three of them are, and the people from the box have been settled into one of the empty houses in town. Just wanted to let you know that at least some of the people involved in whatever happened to you are gone.”

“O-oh.” Luke looked at the floor, feeling incredibly stupid over his moment of panic. “Sorry.”

“You’ve got no reason to trust me.” Fett said. “It’s been a long time since what happened, I’ve moved on, getting hung up on it doesn’t undo what happened. You got us enough water for us to pass some on to another town, which they’ll be thankful for. I’m grateful for that, so, don’t worry about anything from me.”

“Thank you.” Luke said, not daring to look up. “For this and the uh, the cuffs.”

“I told Din not to go after you, I thought he’d picked up a bounty puck with you on it.” Fett said. “Told him it’d be fucking stupid to go after you, but sent the info all the same, glad I did.” 

“Why-“

“Because you’re dangerous, whether or not you feel it anymore.” Fett said, and gave Din a nod. “Get some rest both of you, I’ll see you tomorrow, need to go take care of some people.”

“See you, Boba.” Din said, and Fett was gone. 

“Do…do you mind if I have some time alone?” Luke asked. “I’m a bit…overwhelmed.”

“Course not, I’ll…talk to you later.” Din said. “Come find me if you need.”

Din left, and Luke slouched in the chair; overwhelming was certainly a word for what he was feeling.

Excited, terrified and god dammit, when had he gotten so hard?

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Two

Trying Something Out

Din returned to his usual room, which apparently was off limits to any guests besides himself; it was an odd thing to think about, that Boba Fett of all people, had given him an assigned room, but it made him feel good.

It was good to have people looking out for him; he wished he had made these sorts of allies and friends years earlier. 

He stepped into his room and shut the door behind him, eager to spend some time alone; Grogu was off with Fennec and Boba, being spoilt rotten. 

Luke was on his bed.

What the fuck? Din thought to himself as he unclasped his helmet and pulled it off, putting it on the table in the corner of the room. 

“Uh, hi?” Din asked, walking over to the bed. “Not that I mind you visiting but, what are you doing?”

Luke was laying back on the bed, eyes closed and arms splayed out either side of him, his legs parted. 

“Hiding.” Luke said without opening his eyes. 

“From…” Din was standing at the end of the bed, letting his eyes look over Luke while the other mans eyes were shut. He was a good looking man, too handsome for his own good - not to mention Dins own good.

Temptation was real, and Luke was rich with it. 

“The pilots.” Luke said; his lips had ticked up at the corners, looking oddly…pleased. “You seem in a good mood.“

“Oh fuck.” Din said, now having realised what he’d done. “I took my helmet off.”

“You did.” Luke said with a soft, light laugh. “Can I know what you’re thinking about?”

“I uh…I was looking at you.” Din said, feeling like an absolute sleaze. 

“You’re so interesting when your armour is off.” Luke said. “It’s so strange to feel someone so…turned on, and feeling so…”

“So…what?”

Luke sat himself up, resting back on his elbows; bright blue eyes were staring at Din. 

“You’re nervous.” Luke said. “Scared.”

“I’m…worried.” Din said, trying to think of the best words to describe it. “I don’t want to be like-“

“You’re not.” Luke said. “Can I see you without your armour on? Is that allowed?” 

“…Yes.” Din said, hoping Luke couldn’t feel how fast his heart was going. 

“Can I take it off you?” 

“Y-yes.” Din said and Lukes face was bright with a smile that made Dins breath catch in his throat. 

“Sit on the bed.” Luke said, sitting up and patting the edge of the bed Din was standing at. 

He did; he sat on the edge of the bed, but Luke moved away and Din was about to apologise but stopped when Luke dropped onto his knees on the floor, just between Dins legs. 

“What are you-“

“I’m…testing something.” Luke said, looking up at Din. “Can you tell me how to take it off?”

Din walked Luke through the process of removing each piece of armour, and watched as the man followed the instructions without hesitation, placing each piece of armour carefully on the floor beside him. Once finished, Luke settled down, legs folded underneath him, and placed his hands in his lap, head bowed towards the floor. 

“You don’t need to be on your knees for me.” Din said, letting his eyes roam over the blonde man. 

“Do you mind?” Luke asked, keeping his head down.

“Not at all.” Din answered. “Can I touch you?”

“Please…just…be gentle.”

Din reached out and ran his fingers through Lukes hair, pleased when the man shivered at the touch but didn’t pull away. 

“You’re beautiful,” Din said gently, giving a gentle tug to Lukes hair to pull the mans head up to look at him. “and very powerful, from what I’ve heard.” 

“Not anymore.” Luke said quietly and went to move his head, to look away from Din, but Din moves the hand from Lukes hair and holds his chin, tilting it up so the blonde is staring at Din. 

“Why not?” 

“I’m…” Lukes breath hitches, and Din rubs small circles into the mans cheek. “I’m all messed up, I- just look at me.”

Littered with small scars that will likely never fade, that sit a top even larger scars that branch out like the fine roots of a flower, Din couldn’t see anything about the blonde man he didn’t like; tanned skin, the barest smattering of light freckles across his nose and such bright blue eyes.

“Trust me, I’ve looked.” Din said, pleased by the blush that quickly spread over Lukes face. “I think we should have a proper talk about…this, before we go much further.”

Luke nodded from between Dins legs. “That um, is probably a good idea.” 

“I know you said you don’t want to do anything while we’re on Tatooine; is that everything, or would you be okay talking while we’re here?” 

“I-I…I’m happy with whatever-“

“Luke,” Din said, gently. “You don’t need to be nervous, you can tell me what you’d prefer.”

“I can’t,” Luke whined. “There’s never a right answer. T-they always pretended like I had a choice, but it never mattered, what I wanted never mattered! The council just-“

Din watched Lukes eyes go wide, realising what he’d said. 

“I have a feeling this isn’t just about the slavers, is it?” Din asked, moving his hand to brush some hair behind Lukes ear. 

“Not…entirely.” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“I don’t want to bother you with it.” 

“It’s not a bother; do you want to sit on the bed with me?” 

Luke nodded, and slowly climbed up onto bed; Din sat back, resting against the headboard. Luke was looking at him, nervous, so Din patted his lap; Luke blinked, but moved over near Din. 

He was obviously unsure, but let Din guide him so that he was laying down with his head resting in Dins lap.

“Is this okay?”

“Y-yes.” Luke said. “Just…a little strange is all.” 

“You can move away if you need to, I won’t be upset. So…what’s bothering you?”

“Lots of stuff.”

“Okay, so what’s the council done to bother you?”

“Nothing…much since I got back, Leia has been keeping them off my back. It’s just…before I went missing, they seemed content to just keep me around to run errands and missions that they deemed too dangerous for others, but they had no issue sending me in alone. I came back every time, nearly dead, and they’d  give me a few days to recover before sending me out again. After everything I did…they gave it two months before they told Leia I was gone and to forget about it, and continue with her work.”

“And did she?”

“No, she put bounties up and tried to find leads…but nothing turned up after my lightsaber was turned in. I think that sort of…made her lose hope, which I don’t blame her for. You finding me was just…dumb luck.” Luke said, looking up at Din. “I’m not complaining, I’m glad you found me…and I’m glad it was you.” 

“So am I.” Din said. “Are you sure this is okay?”

“I’m alright at the moment.” 

“Just…tell me if it stops being okay.” Din said. “Can you just…not do what the council want?”

“I’ve thought about it, but they have funding and connections they could keep me from accessing; I had this dream of starting a school for force sensitive kids, but I want to do it differently than what the jedi used to do.”

“So no stealing kids?”

“I thought you didn’t know anything about jedis.”

“I’ve heard a few things.” Din said. “Never paid it much attention, thought it was all stories. They expected me to believe space wizards existed, unbelievable really, nonsense.”

“You can be a bit of dick when you’re comfortable around someone.” Luke teased, smiling up at Din. 

“Funny, Boba said the same.” Din smirked. “So you need funding to start your school?”

“Funding, a location, security…there’s only so much I can do but if I keep doing missions for them, I’m going to end up dead, and dead people can’t start schools.” Luke said; Obi-Wan would damn sure try. “It’s just…I don’t know if I’m comfortable even saying no to them, Leia looks out for me but she’s only one person, and the senate can always try and talk to me without her there.”

“Well, luckily you’ll be busy being a liaison for a foreign political figure while they’re visiting.” Din said. “He’s a bit of an idiot, so he’ll need pretty constant help.”

“Who-“ Din raised an eyebrow. “You? But- you’re going to do it? Really?”

“If I don’t someone will get the sabre eventually, I could at least try to…make a bit of a difference before that happens.” Din said. “I don’t particularly like the sabre, it feels weird to wield but…you were gonna teach me, right?”

“If you want, absolutely.”

“Good, more things to take up your time.” 

“…Thank you.” Luke said quietly. “For um, everything.”

“I…don’t really feel like I’ve actually done anything.”

“You’ve been nice and…understanding of things. I…I’d like to talk to you about what happened with the slavers, just…not yet.”

“Only if you’re ready.” Din said. 

“Thank you. I’m…I think I’m ready for bed, if I’m honest with you. I haven’t used the force like that in a long time, it’s taken it out of me.”

“Did you want me to walk you to your room?”

“Oh…that would be nice.” 

“Alright, up you get.”

Lukes room wasn’t far, only down the hall from Dins, but Luke seemed happy al the same for the company. 

“Goodnight.” Luke said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, I hope you get some rest.”

Luke disappeared into his room, and Din returned to his, keen for a rest and maybe a quick wank because what the fuck had just happened?

Whatever it was had been…enjoyable. 

He didn’t think he’d be able to ignore this like he had been up til this point.

“I know I’m not technically a living thing-“

A voice said from the bed, startling Din. “The fuck- oh no.”

“So I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to see your face.”

Someone was in his room, and they were blue, and slightly see through. Din didn’t to have a great understanding of Lukes family to take a guess that the guy standing near his bed, eyes closed and hands together in front of him, was Lukes Father. They almost had the same hair.

“Absolutely not.” Din said.

“Okay, so no face-“

“Not that! I am not- how can I even see you?” Din asked. “I swear if I have space wizard powers-“

“Space wizard?” Anakin asked, bewildered and maybe a little offended. “And we are absolutely having this conversation with how you’ve been getting close to my son.”

“I fucking knew it!” Din shouted. “I just want to go to bed, not talk to Darth Vader.”

“Okay, well, that’s fair.” Anakin said. “I’m not here as Darth Vader though, I’m here as Lukes Father. I am…mostly here to thank you.”

“…Why?” 

“My son was cut off from the force for some time, and while he hasn’t told me what exactly happened while he was missing…I understand you’re the one who brought him back.” 

“What do you know about his time when he was…missing?”

“I’ve seen a few glimpses, memories he hasn’t been able to keep to himself, so I know he was with slavers but nothing besides that.” Anakin said. “I might be able to give you some help, as well.”

“Great, go ahead.”

“The voices you’re hearing belong to your sword.” 

“…Please tell me you don’t know what they said-“

“I do.”

Din sighed. “Just open your fucking eyes, this can’t get that much more invasive…and you are a ghost, so I guess it’s not that much different than a droid and I’ve gotten used to them.”

Anakin opened his eyes and looked at Din, who had slumped into one of the chairs near the small table in the corner.

“I only know because even when you can’t hear it, it’s still talking. It’s very annoying actually.”

“I’m aware.” 

“It’s a very powerful sword, and very old; it contains memories and personality…quirks, from the previous wielders. It makes you nervous, and the power overwhelms you; once you are more comfortable wielding it, and no longer try to ignore it, the voices will leave you be.” Anakin said. “But, its not just the sword itself that frightens you, is it? You’re scared when you look at Luke, and he’s noticed.” 

Din groaned, and ran his hands down his face. “Why am I having this conversation with his Father, of all people?”

“Trust me, I’m the better one to talk to about this.” Anakin said with a smug grin. “You’re attracted to my son, but it worries you.”

“I…I’m losing my mind, but only since I met him. I guess it’s from the sabre then, I don’t know, but I don’t want to hurt-“

Dins communicator rang from where it sat on the table, and when he answered the call, he could see Leia in the blue video feed that popped up.

“I’m not here.” Anakin said.

Din glanced at him, sighed, and looked back at Leia. “Senator-“

“Hypothetically,” She said. “Someone from your…clan? creed? If they were injured and near death, we couldn’t remove their helmet?”

“No, its forbidden by the creed.”

“…Even if said person is suffering from an obvious head injury?”

“A medical droid could assist them, as long as no living being saw them without their armour.” Din said. “Who-“

“No name, which I suppose is to be expected,” Leia said.

“…What does their armour look like?”

“Blue, does it matter-“

“Leia, you need to keep the fuck away from him.” Din said sharply. “Why is he even there?”

“Said he wanted to speak to Mando, then collapsed.” Leia said. “There’s blood dripping from under his helmet; I’ll have him sent to medical, and make sure the camera feed is switched off.”

“Just stay away from him.” Din said. “We’ll be back soon.” 

“Okay.” Leia said. “Stay safe.”

“You too.”

Din disconnected the call and stared at his communicator; why had Paz gone to find Leia? How had he got near her in order to ask?

He had to tell Luke. 

Din looked at the bed, and Lukes Father was gone; at least that was one less thing to worry about.

He really needed to sleep, but he pulled his armour on and went to get Luke and Grogu, they would have to leave as soon as they could. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Three

We Were Brothers, Once 

“So he’s your brother?” Luke asked, walking quickly to keep pace with Din as they made their way through the building towards the room Paz had been moved to once the medical droids were finished with him. Leia had said the room was locked down, but Din and Paz had the same training and Din knew that if Paz wanted to get out of the room, he would figure it out. 

“Yes…he was, at least, I’m not sure now.” 

“Oh, well if he’s rude to you, I’ll-“

“You’re not going near him.” Din growled; they were at the door to the room. 

Luke made an odd little hum but said nothing as Din punched the code into the door.

“Should I stay out here then?” Luke asked. “He’s not wearing his-“

The door slid open, and Luke stepped to the side so he couldn’t see into the room.

“Just…just for now.” Din said. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be here.”

Din stepped into the room, and closed the door behind him. Paz was there, laying on the couch; no armour, no helmet, just a set of a loose sleep clothes that really were not that loose on his huge frame. Paz sat up and looked at Din; his eyes went wide once he realised who it was.

“Din?”

“Paz, what are you doing here?” Din asked. “If this is because of a-“

“No, no bounty.” Paz said. “I…I’m not sure where I stand with the clan and creed, anymore.”

“…What happened?”

“The armorer got injured, nothing to do with you and the little green one, and there’s been…a power struggle amongst those others of us who are left; they’re torn between whether or not the foundlings we bring in should be offered the creed…or made to take it. It didn’t sit right with me to offer them help, safety, but expect them to agree to something that’s…so…I’m aware it’s isolating, and they’re talking about forcing it onto children.”

“So…you wound up at the senate building?”

“Well…not directly; I might have…left the clan, to…they’d decided I would be beroya, I’m sorry.”

“It’s…expected.” Din said, glad he hadn’t yet sent any of the credits he’d gotten from Leia. “Guess I was away too much.”

“It was the kid; there was talk about you sympathising with the jetii and…it didn’t seem like something that should be a priority concern; our numbers were low, we’d been driven even further into hiding and supplies were scarce…and they were worried about your feelings for a little green jedi, it was…frustrating.” Paz dragged a hand up his face and through his hair with a sigh. “I’d heard some rumours about a jedi on…Helvarus? The hell part was right, what a miserable place, so I thought I’d go and look for them, maybe it was you and maybe…if not, I could find the jedi for your kid, to…try and patch things between us.”

“You went to look for a jedi to…apologise to me?”

“Seemed like a good idea at the time.” Paz said awkwardly. 

“And if the jedi told you to fuck off?”

“Uh, well….it didn’t sound as if he had much choice if I wanted him to come with me or not.” Paz said; Din clenched his fists by his sides. “Figured I could arrange to meet the slavers, kill them, and the jedi could come with me, after I explained the whole ‘I don’t actually want a slave’ thing. Didn’t have any luck finding him…but I did run into Bo-Katan-“

“Ah.” Din said. “I’m sure that was fun.”

“So…how’ve things been, Mand’alor?”

“Oh my god she told you.” Din groaned. “That woman is far more annoying than anyone needs to be.”

“Oh, I agree whole heartedly.”

“Why are you here though, Paz?”

“Heard rumours about a shiny silver Mandalorian skulking about the senate building, thought I’d come check it out after doing a quick bounty on Helvarus, figured I’d make the trip worth-“

The door hissed and slid open, Luke stepping inside and slapping at the door control to close it again. 

“I’m not looking.” He said quickly, keeping his eyes on the ground. Din watched in confused amusement as Luke pressed his back to the door with his hands clasped together in front of him. 

“Luke? What-“

“Might be hiding from some senators.” Luke said. “They were coming around the corner.”

“Uh…friend of yours?” Paz asked, glancing from Luke to Din.

“Paz this is…Luke Skywalker. He, um…I might’ve found the jedi on Helvarus before you got there.”

“…Huh.”

“It was a total accident.” Din said. 

“It’s quite amusing still that you didn’t know who I was.” Luke said sounding amused. “Your armours different than his; less beskar?”

“How…but he’s not looking. Did you tell him about your armour?”

Luke made an amused noise.

“It…is a very long story, that I’d rather not get into. Just…I hope you’re better at hiding what you’re feeling than I am.”

“He’s not.” Luke supplied, sounding like he was enjoying himself far too much. “Beskar blocks out the force; yours doesn’t block it as much as his does, so I figured they were made differently, plus I could feel through the door that there was nothing blocking your head.”

“That’s…not my biggest concern right now. What do you mean blocking my feelings?”

“I can get a general…read of what people are feeling; I know its pretty…invasive, I’ll leave in a moment, once the senator stop hanging out in the hallway.”

“…Luke Skywalker?” Paz asked, disbelief in his voice. “Wait, you didn’t know who he was? You’re the one who got to leave!”

“I was a little too busy for learning about jedi history!” Din snarled back.

“I know-“

“Why are you here?” Din asked with a frustrated sigh. “What do you want?”

“To see if you wanted help,” Paz said warily. “With…reclaiming Mandalore….and other things.”

Din rolled his eyes; Paz was barely looking at him now, and not bothering to hide the way he was looking at Luke. Luke snorted, head still bowed, but it was obvious he was amused. 

“Something has to first be claimed in order to be reclaimed.” Luke said, voice light. “I’m flattered, though.” 

“Unbelievable.” Din muttered. “You’ve been here for two minutes.”

“I’ve been here for ages, I’ve just not been conscious for much of it.”

“Not you.” Din said, glaring at Paz. “Ugh, I…haven’t done any sort of official announcement about being Mand’alor, Lukes sister said she’d help me if I decided to go for it, so I think I’ll have to go talk to her about…things.”

“If you want help…just come find me.” Paz said. “We were close once, I’d like us to be again.”

“I can’t promise anything, just…try not to cause any problems in the mean time.”

“I won’t, I’m going to…hang out here, I guess?” Paz looked around the room in much the same way Din had; feeling out of place. “And don’t worry, I’ll stay away from your jetti.”

Din hated the smug look on Pazs face; Paz wasn’t stupid, and likely had some sort of suspicion about Dins relationship to Luke, even if it was likely way off. “See that you do.”

Paz grinned at Din and nodded; Din didn’t say anything, just turned and headed towards the door, pulling his helmet on.

“Are the senators gone?”

“Not yet.”

“Stay close, then.” Din said, pressing the button for the door and stepping out into the hallway, with Luke staying close, keeping a step or two behind him. Two men were in the hallway, speaking in whispers, and looked away from one another when they heard the door slide open.

“Ah, Mister Skywalker!” One of them cheered and Din hated the fake smile on their face. “We’ve been hoping to speak with you-“

“Oh! So sorry, but I’m quite busy right now.” Luke said, matching their fake politeness with his own. “I was on my way to take The Mandalorian to see his son; it’s about time for training, so I thought the timing would work quite well.”

“His…son?” One of them asked, and Din bristled at the way the man looked at him; he was sure the man had his own opinion of exactly who Din was already, so…why not lean into it?

“Yes.” Din said, voice sharp and bored. “He is jetii, like Master Skywalker, and is being trained by him. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I don’t have time for standing around while you talk.”

“Well, perhaps you can go see your son and wait while we-“

“No.” Din said. 

“So sorry I can’t stay and talk, I’m sure it was important!” Luke said cheerfully. “But we should be getting a move on-“

“Now.” Din said, and began to walk without paying a second glance to the senators. 

“So sorry!” Luke called behind him, but he was right behind Din; he didn’t feel particularly good about bossing Luke around like that, but he knew the senators were unlikely to question someone in his armour. 

“You know,” Luke said, once they were out in the garden with Grogu, who had keyed in awfully quick that this was not in fact, a lesson, and was busy playing in the small pond; Luke assured Din that there no frogs or fish in the pond. “Possessiveness is a trait frowned upon in jedis, rather unbecoming. What was it your…clan member? Called me? Jet-“

“Jetti.” Din said with a sigh. “It’s Mando’a for jedi. I’m sorry for acting like that.”

“Why? You’re not the jedi, after all; it was…um, rather attractive, if I’m honest.” Luke said, voice going softer at the end; he looked away from Din, focused on the grass he was sitting on. Din was sitting on a stone bench, so he was looking down at Luke rather than just straight on. 

“Really?” Din asked, and Luke nodded. “Are…you embarrassed about that?” 

“Stuff sounds good in my head but…I feel stupid when I say it out loud.” Luke said quietly. “What…have you got planned for today?”

“Well, the whole thing with- um, the other Mandalorian, was less dramatic than I expected so I’ve got nothing else to really do today, besides spend time with you and Grogu.” Din said. “Why?”

“I was…hoping we could…talk.” 

“Oh.” Din nodded. “Course we can, after dinner?”

“That sounds good.” Luke glanced up at Din and smiled, though it was only a small one. “You could get some sleep today, you didn’t get to last night, since Leia called before you got to.”

“I don’t think I would’ve slept either way, after your Father- oh, uh-”

“My Father what?” Luke looked up at Din with a glare, though Din felt that it wasn’t aimed at him. “What did he do?” 

“Um, he said he was mostly there to thank me, for helping you.”

“Mostly?” 

“He said the voices I’ve been hearing…about you, are the dark sabre.” Din said. “Um..he also might…know what it’s been saying?” 

“Oh.” Lukes face went from angry, to confused, to flush with embarrassment. “Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t…even think about that, it makes sense though. I’d understand if he’s…scared you off, I wouldn’t blame you.” 

“Scared me off from what?” Din asked. “From you? As long as he doesn’t try to give me some kind of ghost shovel talk, I’m not worried.”

Luke laughed. “Isn’t a shovel talk for when people are dating?” Din looked away. “Oh.” 

“I understand that it’s not something you’d be interested in.” Din said quietly, annoyed that he was having this conversation through his helmet. “I’d be happy with anything, honestly.” 

“Anything what?”

“With you.”

“Oh.” Luke breathed out, then said, “I…never said I wouldn’t be interested, but…me?”

“Why not you?” Din asked, looking back at Luke. “If you’re worried about…the more intimate side of things, I’m not exactly going into this blind, I know you might not be comfortable with me touching you; I hope you’ll comfortable enough with me for that one day, but…I’m happy just spending time with you.” 

“Me and the ghosts or…?”

“No more ghosts, please.”

“I’ll tell him to leave you alone…he’s the only one whose come to see me, anyway.” Luke said. “Would…you be okay if I talked to Leia? Not about everything just…about us?”

“That’s fine, I was…hoping you’d be okay with me talking to my…whatever he is, about it, I don’t have anyone dlse. Well, him or Boba-

“Absolutely not.”

 Din laughed before asking. “Would it be condescending if I said I was proud of you?”

“Um, for what?”

“For saying no to the senators and using me as an excuse to leave?”

“Oh um, sorry about that.” Luke smiled sheepishly. “Usually they try to talk to me alone, it’s easier to say no with someone else there. I think they’re getting restless because I haven’t spoken to any of them yet, and we’re meant to be doing the big announcement about me being back…uh, tomorrow.”

“Reckon the announcement of a new ruler for Mandalore could take some attention off you?”

“Might do.” Luke smiled. “Thank you.” 

Din enjoyed it when Luke smiled, doubly so when it was due to something Din had done; if announcing his new role to the galaxy would help, Din would do so without question.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Four

Closet Conversations

Din found Luke down in the loading bay the next day, watching Paz. His…past? Current? clan member had offered to help around the senate building, and Din knew the other man was getting restless. Leia had said she had no issue with it, as long as Din kept an eye on him. 

Turns out, Luke was happy to do so as well. 

“Luke.” Din said, and Lukes head moved away from watching Paz to look at Din; he made a cup of hot chocolate for Luke and brought it with him down to the loading bay. “Here.”

“What’s- oh!” Luke smiled when he saw the cup, and accepted it from Din without question. “Thank you.” 

Din crossed his arms and leant back against the wooden crate Luke was sitting in, gently swinging his legs back and forth as he watched Paz.

Something deep inside Din growled at the attention Luke was giving to Paz; what had Paz done to deserve Lukes attention? 

Nothing. He comes to steal what you found; you must make your claim evident.

“Oh my god, shut up.”Din hissed under his breath. “You’re so fucking annoying.”

Luke sniggered next to Din, but continued to sip at his drink without saying anything. 

“He’s suspicious.” Luke said. “When he looks at me…but only if you’re there as well. It’s interesting. Are you as bad as him when you get restless?”

“Never had enough down time to get restless.” Din said. “Not very often, at least.” 

“Mmm.” Luke hummed and sipped at his drink. “I’m sorry for not coming to talk to you last night.”

“You…don’t need to apologise.” Din said; he hadn’t wanted to bring it up. He didn’t blame Luke for changing his mind, but he had been disappointed.

“It was just…not a good night for me; I was panicking a bit about…the announcement today, about the party..” Luke said quietly. 

“You could have come to see me, we didn’t have to talk.” Din said. “I know I want…certain things out this relationship, whatever it is, but I want you to be able to come to me if you need support.”

“Things, huh? Like what?”

“We are not having this conversation in the loading bay, of all fucking places.”

Luke laughed, loud and bright; it was only quick, but Din knew that Paz looked over at Luke, quickly looking away again. 

“I was thinking of hiring him.” Luke said.

“Uh, for what?”

“Security.” 

“Security?” Din growled without meaning to. “Aren’t I good enough?”

“You’d be here as a political representative, can hardly have you as my personal security.” Luke said, sounding amused. “It’ll be easier to keep an eye on him too, I know him being here makes some of the senators uncomfortable.”

“…Do you think he needs someone to watch him?”

“Nah, he’s not here with any malicious intent, he’s just a bit lost.” Luke said. “And incredibly jealous.” 

“What has he got to be jealous of?”

“It’s only when he looks at us.” 

“I thought you said he was suspicious…”

“Oh, he is.” Luke said. “He’s quite charming though, whenever he speaks to the other staff.”

“O-oh.” Din said. “That’s good.”

“Mmm, would you come for a walk with me?”

“Aren’t you meant to be watching- sure, of course.”

“Good.” Luke said, effortlessly dropping off the crate with his drink in hand.

“Where are we going?” Din asked; they’d stopped in one of the hallways not far from the loading dock; employee only, and empty of people.

“Just here.” Luke said, finishing his drink and putting the cup down on a stack of boxes. He opened ones of the doors and stepped in, with Din right behind him. 

The room was small, virtually a closet, and Din was pressed close to Luke; the door beeped when Luke reached out and hit the lock on the control panel.

“Take your helmet off.”

Din did so without question. 

Luke reached up, placing his hands either side of Dins head, his fingers pressing into the back of Dins neck; Luke had to go up on the tips of his toes since Din was taller than him.

Din made a noise of surprise when Lukes lips pressed against his; he stumbled a little, falling back against the wall, but Luke followed him. Din had no idea what the fuck was happening; he hesitated, unsure of exactly what boundaries there were here, but he slowly brought his arms around the other mans waist. Lukes tongue pushing between Dins lips to explore his mouth pulled a growl out of him, and he moved his arms down so he could lift Luke up, and pressed his back against the opposite wall. Lukes legs wrapped around Dins waist, and Din was able to move his arms to press his hands against the wall either side of Lukes head.

“I-I need to you to tell me,” Din panted. “if I go too far.” 

“I will.” Luke murmured against Dins lips, and licked across them. “Are you just this strong normally, or is it the armour?”

“J-just…like this normally.” Din breathed. “B-but he’s…he’s stronger than me, he’d be better for you-“

“I. Don’t. Want. Him.” Luke said, kissing down Dins neck; a kiss after each word, moving down until the armour got in the way. Din had never wanted to rip his armour off so badly. “I want you. I trust you.”

“But why?” Din asked desperately; his head was swimming with how Luke tasted, how he smelt. 

“Do you want to beat me? Tie me up so I can’t stop you doing whatever you want to me?” Luke asked, licking up Dins neck. “ Do you want to keep me on my knees? Make me kneel for you and leave me there, waiting for you to come back to make me suck you off. Is that what you want?”

“Yes.” Din choked out; he was overwhelmed by Luke. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me… I-I want it, but I want you to enjoy it, want you to enjoy when I touch you.”

“Put me down.” Luke said, and Din scrambled to move back from the wall and gently lower Luke to the ground, letting go once the mans feet were on the floor and moving back; he pressed his own back against the wall behind him and panted. Luke moved with him, reaching up to cup his face with both hands and kissing him softly. 

“I trust you, Din.” Luke said quietly. “I’m sorry for…getting you worked up and stopping. I just…the reassurance is nice. Did you need-“

“I don’t need anything from you…I just want you so much it hurts.” Din said. “I can…I’m going to go take care of this, I think…being alone for a moment will help. You’re very overwhelming, it’s incredible, but I am incredibly out of my depth.”

“So…you’re still interested?”

“I’ve never been so interested in anything in my life.” Din said against Lukes lips. “If you trust him to be your security, then I won’t try and convince you otherwise.”

“Oh, thank you.” Luke said. “It’s…nice, that you trust my judgement.”

“But if he lets anything happen to you, I’ll kill him, clan or not.”

Luke laughed in surprise, and kissed Din again. “Go take care of yourself, I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll be waiting.” Din said, and grabbed his helmet from where it had fallen to the ground; it slid onto his head and clicked into place the same as always, but it felt different. They left the little closet and headed back to the loading dock, where they made a bee-line for Paz so that Luke could talk to him about the job offer, and Din would head off to his room. 

He was so worked up he was ready to vibrate out of his skin. 

Paz was watching them, and Din got to him first; he grabbed Paz by the arm, grip tight around his arm just above the elbow. Paz returned the gesture, though his body language told Din the other man was very confused. 

“The jetii wants to talk to you.” Din said. “About a job proposal.”

“Uh- alright?”

Din tightened his grip, moving his hand so his fingers slipped into the space between Pazs armour, and dug his fingers into the skin that was only protected by fabric. 

“If you let him get hurt, I will make sure you regret it.”

“Are you speaking as my Mando’lor or clan member?”

“I am speaking to you as Mando.” Din said, voice low. ‘The only bounty hunter who wears full beskar’gam.”

Din knew how Paz would take it; if Luke got hurt, Paz wouldn’t be able to hide. He would be hunted down.

“Understood.” Paz said. “I will speak to your jetii.”

Din nodded and let go of Paz, releasing his grip suddenly and stepping back. He nodded at Luke, gave a final farewell of “jetii” before turning and walking away, heading to his room, eager to throw his armour off and-

Someone was in his room.

He’d practically run through the last hallway, and had pressed the door control rather a bit harder than needed be, but he came to a stop when he saw an unfamiliar blue figure sitting on the couch in he lounge, arms resting out over the armrest and the back of the leg, one leg resting on the other.

“Oh no.” He said, and the man looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Absolutely fucking not.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Five

Family Reunions Kind Of Suck

“Well, you’re certainly the shiniest Mandalorian I’ve ever seen.” The man said, looking Din up and down; Din disliked him instantly. 

“How many have you seen?” He asked. “Why do ghosts have the worst timing possible? Is it on purpose? Is it to spite me? If this is some kind of-“

“Plenty.” The man said. “You’re interested in Luke Skywalker.”

Din groaned and unclasped his helmet; he pulled it off with a sharp yank and placed it down on the table besides the door. 

“You can look,” Din said. “You’re not clan, but you’re also not alive.”

The man made a strangled noise; perhaps he hadn’t looked away at all.

“You’re Death Watch.” The man said, voice sharp. “What the force is Luke doing around you?”

“If it makes you feel better, he’s not around me at the moment,” Din said, and wanting to annoy the man further, he added, “he’s with a member of my clan at the moment.” 

“There’s two of you in the senate building?” Din nodded as he opened the fridge and pulled out a glass bottle of juice; Luke had left them for him and Grogu. It opened with a loud pop, and Din drank half of it without pause, gasping for air when he finally pulled his mouth away. 

“There are.” He said. “The other came to find me after hearing word I was here; apparently I stand out. He turned up while we were off planet, so that was…fun.”

“So you’re just…walking about the senate, as if you belong there? Like you’re not a religious extremist? Who was there when your friend arrived? Luke? Leia? Maker above, he could have hurt someone!”

“Well, Luke was with me on Tatooine doing a water run for Boba.” Din said. “Leia is the one who called me that he’d turned up with a fucking head injury, which he hasn’t actually explained yet-“

“You know Boba Fett?” The man demanded and, oh, it was kind of fun to piss of jedis. “Boba Fett is alive?”

“You know, the other ghost was less of a dick; he came to say thank you.” Din said and finished the rest of his juice. “First time ever talking to a ghost, it was weird but he was…nice enough, if a bit awkward. I feel like he’s someone I should have known about too, fuck what was his name? I should probably know Lukes Fathers name, I feel like if you’re a Skywalker you’re probably a big deal-“

“You’re rambling on purpose.” The man grit out. “It’s not cute.”

“Can’t say I particularly care about what you think is cute.” Din said. “I could go ask Luke though.”

“What-“

The door slid open, and Luke stepped into the room; his face was flushed, and Din guessed he’d been running.

“Din! Din- I thought- I sensed…” His eyes found the man on the couch; there was no smugness on his face, no irritation, just straight up shock. “Obi-Wan?”

“Luke?” The man asked and got to his feet. “Luke-“

The glass vase on the dining table exploded, spilling water and flowers over the table. 

Luke stepped back, hand resting on the door behind him. “No.” He whispered.

“Luke?” Din said gently, and walked towards Luke, who was staring at the ghost. “Luke, can I touch you?”

“Don’t you dare.” The ghost growled out, and Luke shook his head.

“Y-you’re not wearing your helmet.” Luke whispered. “I’ll hurt you.”

“No you won’t.” Din said.

 Luke nodded and blindly reached out towards where he thought Din was. Din grabbed Lukes wrist gently, and pulled so that Luke came towards him. 

“You’re alright.” Din said, wishing he wasn’t wearing his armour so that can hold Luke against him properly. 

“Are you?” Luke asked against Dins chest. “Are you okay?”

“It’s a ghost,” Din said. “I’m really not that worried.” 

“Luke, what are you doing? Get away from him!” The man, Obi-Wan, said; he was almost shouting. Din wondered if anyone else could hear him. He hoped Grogu couldn’t; he was downstairs playing with some other kids from the senate. “Luke, has he told you what he is?”

“Here we go.” Din muttered and sighed. 

“Um, a Mandalorian?”

“I’m Death Watch.” Din sighed. “Or, was, I don’t know anymore; I’m not beroya anymore, so I don’t really know where I stand with it all anymore.”

“They’re an extremist group of Mandalorian, isolated and dangerous; they don’t show they’re face unless-“ The man looked sick. “Oh, Luke, no.”

“No what?”

“I told you on my ship, I can’t show you my face unless you’re clan.” Din said, his chin resting on Lukes head. “I should have…been a little bit clearer about who I am.”

“Gee you think?” Obi-Wan asked with an eye roll; why does a ghost have so much attitude?“Luke, you need to get away-“

“Did you notice?” Luke asked and pulled away from Din so he could look at Obi-Wan properly. 

“Notice what?”

“I was cut off from the force for over a year. Did you even notice? Did Yoda?”

“Master Yoda-“

“No! Not Master, just Yoda. The only one of you that that has come to see me, come to check on me after I was missing for OVER A YEAR, is my Father! The only person who gives enough of a shit about me-“ A glass on the kitchen bench exploded. “-is the man who cut my hand off, while he was trying to kill me!”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Luke, of course we-“

“You couldn’t be bothered to come check on me, ask how I am, ask how fucked up I am after being dragged around by slavers for months, and months, and months, but you can come and…and what, threaten him? Is that what you wanted to do? Threaten the person who brought me home?!” 

“Luke-“

“Slavers?” A new voice asked; Lukes Father was there, standing near the bedroom door. “Luke, that’s what happened to you? Luke, would you come here?”

Luke left Dins side, running across the room and- how was Luke hugging a ghost?

“Anakin, what are you-“

“Obi-Wan, please shut up.” Lukes Father said, holding Luke tight to his chest; Lukes face was pressed against the man. “Luke, my sweet boy, are you…did they put a chip in you?”

“Uh…a what?”

“A slave chip.” Lukes Father said, looking up at Din. “They’re installed next to the spine; a small chip, connected to a remote. They can be triggered from a distance if a slave attempts to escape.”

“…And what do-“

“They explode.”

Din went cold; he felt sick. 

“N-no. They…they said whoever bought me w-would get it installed.” Luke said, and Din could hear how Luke was trying not to cry; he so badly wanted to hold him, but didn’t want to pull him away from his Father. 

Protect him. That horrid voice whispered in the back of his mind, and Din was very aware of the two ghosts staring at him. Protect what is yours.

“Uh-“ 

“What’s yours?!” Obi-Wan shouted.

Lukes Father just laughed, which was worse. 

Luke looked up at his Father in confusion, then looked back at Din.

“Sword’s talking,” Din sighed. “Again.” 

“What’s it saying?”

“Nothing that I am going to repeat out loud.” 

A knock came from the door, then Pazs voice, “If you and the jetii are finished, you need to come and start getting ready for your announcement. Unless I am interrupting, then I can always join-“

“Oh my god, would you go away?!” Din called out. 

Pazs deep laugh came from the other side of the door; Din had always hated how it sounded through the helmet, it sounded much better without the modulation. “Alright, I’ll leave before you threaten my life, again. You and your cyar'ika can come when you’re ready.”

“Well, I hope none of you speak mando’a.” Din muttered.

“What’d he say?” Luke asked, and his Father laughed. 

“I don’t.” He said, but added, “ Obi-Wan knows a bit.”

“Hang on, ‘again’, when did you threaten him?” Luke asked, blinking at Din. “Earlier? When you were doing your weird handshake?”

“Your cyar'ika, huh?” Obi-Wan asked slowly. “That’s your friend then, the other cultist?”

“There’s another Mandalorian?” Lukes Father asked. “Luke how did you end up knowing two of them? Are they both shiny?”

“The other one is blue.” Luke said. “Only this one is shiny. I like the other one though, he’s a little awkward but he seems kind; and his voice is nice.”

The other is not deserving of a jetii. The voice hissed. They are not the mando’lar, they do not deserve the power of a jetii consort. You should kill him, so he does not touch the jetii.

“Consort?!” Obi-Wan shouted.

“Luke, you can stay with…the ghosts, but I’m leaving before they figure out how to kill me.” 

“Are you going to tell me what it was saying?” 

“Never in your life.” Din said. 

Luke laughed; eyes bright blue against his tanned skin. “Go get ready, I’ll see you later. Try not to kill him, okay?”

“I’ll think about it.” Din muttered. “I’ll see you later. We could…do dinner tonight?”

Luke grinned. “Sounds good.” 

Din grabbed his helmet from the little table and pulled it on, and looked at the ghost of Obi-Wan.

“Don’t upset him again.” Din warned, voice crackling from the modulator. “And do not speak to my son.”

“Your what?”

Din gave a final nod to Luke, and his Father, and left the room to go find Paz; he was in his assigned room, and the door opened for Din without asking for the security code.

Paz had actually set it himself, to try and show Leia he wasn’t here with ulterior motives.

“Did you know,” Din said, exasperated, and pulled his helmet off once the door has slid closed. “That jedis can come back as ghosts, to speak to jedis that are still alive?”

“They can what?” Paz was standing at the couch, where a neat pile of red material sat, folded onto itself. 

“You called him my cyar'ika while the ghost of his Father was in the fucking room, Paz!”

Paz, face unhidden since his helmet was sitting on the dining table, stared at Din for a second before laughing. 

“How was I meant to know that?!” He asked between laughter. 

“Paz, he hasn’t agreed to that kind of relationship!”

“What kind of relationship has he agreed to then?” Paz teased, but his expression shifted to one of worry when he looked at Din properly. “Vod?” 

“Do…you remember when I was younger, and I’d get overwhelmed by being beroya…do you remember how you helped?”

“Of course I do- oh, Din…with the jetii?”

Din nodded. 

“He agreed, didn’t he? So why don’t you look happy?”

“I…I found him on Helvarus, he’d been with slavers for over a year Paz…I just…what if I’m not better? I don’t want to hurt him, what if I do something wrong?” Din asked quietly. “With you it was never…it was never a sex thing, you were just kind, and gentle, and helped my brain go quiet but with him it’s…I want more than that.” 

“Have you talked to him about it?”

“Briefly,” Din said. “We’re going to talk about it tonight.” 

“Just be honest; be clear about what you want, accept it if he doesn’t want the same thing, and just talk about what you both want to get out of it.” Paz said. “If you want to ask me for advice, you can, both of you…uh, if he wants. You weren’t kidding earlier, were you?”

“In the loading dock?” Din asked. “No.” 

“Good to know.” Paz nodded. “Get ready, we’ll be heading out soon.”

“Do I have to wear the cape?”

“Yes.” 

Din grumbled, but set to work polishing his armour, while Paz did his own, and hooked the cape into the back of his armour, where the weight of it pulled a little at his shoulders; it wasn’t a bad weight, but it felt significant. 

It was real, and it made the whole thing they were about to do suddenly seem very real. 

“Paz-“

“You’re going to be fine.” Paz said, grabbing Din by his shoulders and looking at him, focused dead on Dins eyes. “You’re not going into this alone.”

Din nodded. “Did you accept Lukes job offer?”

“Uh, yeah.” 

“Don’t leave him alone with a senator, unless it’s his sister; in which case, keep watch in case anyone else wants to talk to them. I don’t care if you have to make a spectacle, you don’t leave him alone with them.”

“Understood.” Paz nodded. “Come on, the party starts soon.”

Din groaned but pulled his helmet on; Leia had said he wouldn’t have to stay at the event for long, he just hope he’d make it through the night until he got to see Luke later, after the party ended.

He was nervous about their talk, but excited.  

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Six

The Welcome Back Party

“I’ve changed my mind about going,” Luke said. “Do you think he’d shoot me if I asked? Non-fatally, of course.”

“I could ask, while we’re in the party.” Leia said, smiling behind Luke; he could see her in the mirror, both of them looking over themselves before walking into the event hall. “It’s going to be fine. I’ll be there and…the two Mandalorians. Maker, how did we end up with two of them?”

“Because the universe exists to mess with us.” Luke said. “I’m just…nervous, it’s going to be a lot of people at once, what if I freak out?”

“You mean, what if the last remaining jedi, survivor of the war, man who killed the emperor after being tortured with lightning, was uncomfortable being touched by strangers?” Leia asked. “I’ll figure something out.”

Luke laughed. “I love you.”

“I love you too, come on. Your security is waiting.” Leia smiled, and nudged Luke into walking. 

“He’ll wait until I’m well ready,” Luke said. “He’s being paid, he doesn’t care.”

“Who knew jetii were so amusing?” The blue Mandalorian asked from where he’d been waiting at the double doors. 

“We’re very entertaining people.” Luke said with a smile at the man, Paz. “Well…alright, let’s do this.”

“Luke, if you really don’t want to, I’m not going to make you.” Leia said gently. 

“No…no, I’d rather control when people officially find out I’m back, the senate is bound to leak the news anyway. I’d rather have some control over the matter.”

Let me control at least one thing. Luke thought. I couldn’t do it for so long.

“Ready then?” Paz asked, and Luke nodded; Leia hooked her arms through his and squeezed tight.

Paz nodded, and pushed down on both door handles, stepping through the double doors first as they opened, with Luke and Leia stepping in after him. Luke had never heard a room go silent so quickly before. People were staring at him, and the room was flooded with peoples emotions; confusion, anger, excitement, lust, joy. It all melted together and flooded him, he worried he might drown, but Leia gave another squeeze to his arm with her own, and he felt grounded. 

Leia hadn’t told the senate that Luke would be making an appearance, so their pained expressions were quite amusing; trying to hide their shock behind fake smiles. 

“Keep him safe.” Leia told Paz, and waited until he nodded before releasing Lukes arm and disappearing into the crowd. 

“Just stay close.” Paz said and Luke nodded; it wasn’t long before he was in the crowd, drink in hand and Paz beside him. The few people he’d made conversation with so far had been nice; they’d only been excited, flooded with joy at seeing him alive. It had been an easy choice to stop and talk to a woman and her two children; a boy and a girl. Twins.

“We’d had worries, when they were younger.” She said. “My mother had a vision that they would have powers, like yours, and she was so confident in telling us that she…if you hear something often enough-“

“You believe it.” Luke said, and she nodded. 

“They’re perfectly normal.” She said, then Luke felt the spike of regret, fear, shame and the woman looked at him with wide eyes. “I mean-“

Luke laughed. “Its alright, I understand.”

“O-oh. I’m just…relieved is all. Where would they have learnt? I couldn’t let someone take them away, they’re my babies, how could I just…let someone take them?”

“I wouldn’t have.” Luke said. “I know it’s not a concern for you anymore but, I wouldn’t have taken your children.” 

The woman smiled, and Luke was flooded with the relief, and the joy the woman felt towards him. 

“Thank you,” She said. “Thank you for talking with me, I’ll let you enjoy your evening.”

The woman collected her two children, who had been busy playing with the skirt of her dress, and left to speak to other guests. 

Paz was suddenly much closer to Luke, shiny blue armour touching Luke.

“Maker, you’re cold.” Luke said, flicking away from Paz.

“Ah, Master Skywalker!” The voice greeted him, and Luke groaned quietly; he let his practiced politics smile take over his face, and turned to talk to the senator who had come to find him. “It is…certainly surprising to see you this evening.”

“I’m known for being rather surprising.” Luke said, his grip on his glass tightening. “Apparently people have been upset I’ve been hiding away, rather selfish of me, don’t you think?”

“Of course…not.” The man, Senator Rancisis, said. “I was hoping to speak to you in private.”

“Of course, Senator.” Luke said, and looked at Paz. “You don’t mind stepping out with me, do you?”

“It’s what you’re paying me for.” Paz answered, voice much deeper than normal. 

“O-oh, well I meant private as in…just the two of us.” Senator Rancisis said, stumbling over his words. “Your bodyguard doesn’t need to join us, he could stay here and have a drink.”

“He can’t remove his helmet, Senator.” Luke said. “What good would it do for him to wait around here? I hardly expect him to have to go find somewhere private to wait for me so he can have a drink and kill time.” 

“Ah…so he is like…the other one.”

“The other what, Senator?” Luke pushed, and it was obvious the Senator didn’t expect for Luke to speak to him the way he was; the senate was used to Luke being meek, easily talked into doing whatever errand they had decided he should carry out for them, no matter the risk to his life. 

“Well, the other…surely you know, Master Skywalker-“ Luke pretended he didn’t flinch at the title. “That they’re beliefs are rather…unorthodox.” 

“I’m well aware of their beliefs, Senator.” Luke said, as if he wasn’t slowly getting more enraged at the man. “However, their beliefs didn’t prevent them from saving my life, so I have no issues with what they believe. I trust them with-“

The doors at the top of the stairs, where Luke and Leia had entered, opened again; Din stepped out, armour freshly shined and red cape draped around his frame, moving as he walked.

Luke hadn’t expected Din to come with someone; a familiar figure, clad in green armour, was side by side with Din when he entered. 

“What the hell is he doing here?” The Senator asked, as if Din was nothing more than dirt. 

“The Manda’lor was invited as a guest.” Paz answered easily. “However, I’m not sure who the other person is.”

“The Mando’lar?!” Senator Rancisis asked frantically. “This whole time!”

Luke was staring at Din when the silver helmet turned in his direction, and he felt himself go hot when the visor stopped on him. 

“Oh, I think he’s seen you.” Paz said and the amusement poured off of him in bright, warm waves; he was lucky they were in public; Luke had no qualms about using the force to throw the man across the room.

Din approached, with Boba only a step behind him.

“Master Skywalker.” Din said, voice deep and heavy, and not at all like what Luke knew; it wasn’t…bad…exactly.

“J-just Luke is fine.” He managed to say. “It’s good to see you again, I didn’t know you were coming with company.” 

Fett laughed, and unclasped his helmet, pulling it off his head; it was strange to see the mans face, but Din had explained that Fett followed his own rules, and that Luke wouldn’t get hurt if he saw the bounty hunters face. 

“Skywalker.” Fett said; his voice was deep and warm, and there was the slightest hint of amusement in his tone. “Surprised to see you here, thought you might want some more time to settle in before they parade you around like a show bantha.” 

“Now that’s-“ The Senator began, but was cut off by Din. 

“They have not given you much time to recover.” He said. “I was lead to believe you are held in rather high regard, it seems strange they would give you such little time before dragging you out to…these sorts of events.”

Dins disdain for the party was obvious, and Luke had to stop himself from laughing. 

“I thought it would be nice to have some control over the news of my return.” Luke said. “At least this way people will find out I’m back on my own terms, not when the news is leaked without my permission. I’d…like to thank you both, for your help.”

“You do not need to thank us.” Din said. “You are not who I expected to find, but I am glad for it.” 

“And where did you find Master Skywalker?” Senator Rancisis asked; Luke felt sick.

Don’t tell him. Luke thought desperately. You can’t tell them; they can’t know what happened to me, how pathetic their jedi became. Oh maker, please-

“There are prisons built in secret, for keeping…valuable bounties, or simply people you think will be valuable.” Din said. “I was looking for a bounty that someone had found before me; I missed out on finding the bounty, but I did find a jetii.”

The senator laughed and Luke felt the wave of anger pour off of Paz and Fett. 

“And you didn’t kill him on the spot knowing he was a jedi?” The senator asked. “Please, I imagine you found out along the way and realised you’d stumbled onto a good pay day by accident.”

“I think you take me as someone who is rather stupid, Senator; I know the worth of a person, and he was worth more bringing him here.” Din said. “I have no hatred towards the jetii, I am not my ancestors. I know a powerful ally is more important than whatever credits I would have gotten, besides, the man ought to be home with his family.” 

“Huh.” The Senator huffed. “You’re more eloquent than I expected, for a savage.” 

“Oh my god.” Luke whispered. “Senator, can we please keep in mind that he is a political-“

”Lucky for you that I’m…civilised enough to return your jetii.” Din said. “It’s unfortunate your own people were unable to locate him, though I imagine they put as much into the search as they were able. If I were you Senator, I would make sure your jetii is well looked after; if he goes missing again and I happen to be the one to find him, I might be tempted to keep him.”

“I, well- of course, the search was extensive-“

“It must have been a relief to know you could put an end to it then, when he returned.”

Luke felt the unease from the senator; the small puddle of guilt, but it was mostly covered by the mans fear, his anxiousness.

“W-well, the search went on as long as was…deemed necessary.” Rancisis stuttered, and Lukes vision tunneled. How long did they actually look for me? Luke thought. How valuable is my life, after everything I did for them? The senator was still talking, stumbling over his words. “Senator Organa pushed for an extension, but after six weeks we deeemed it necessary to use the men elsewhe-“

No one is going to find you here, if they’re even looking for you. 

What will they find but a broken whore? You won’t be good for much if they ever find you.

You belong to us, jedi.

“Manda’lor,” Luke said, cutting off Rancisis. “Could I speak to you this evening? In private?”

“If you wish.” Din said. “Do you wish for anyone else to be present?”

“N-no, that’s alright.” Luke said. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Of course.” Din nodded, and Luke turned; he didn’t quite run out of the party, but he wasn’t far off it. 

Paz found him eventually, tucked into a corner in the loading dock; he was sitting down, arms around his knees. He’d tried not to cry, but had been unable to stop it.

“Luke?” Paz said, letting Luke know he was there. “Did you want me to go?”

“N-no.” Luke said. “Don’t wanna be alone.” 

Paz sat down with Luke, close but not touching, and leant back on the wall besides him. 

“Six weeks.” Luke said; they’d been sitting in silence for close to ten minutes, Paz just sitting next to him while he cried. “They looked for six weeks before giving up. I was still being tortured at six weeks because I wouldn’t behave, and they decided they needed to teach me better, and no one was even looking for me!” 

The glass of water that Paz had brought for Luke shattered next to him. 

“After all the shit I did for them, all the missions they sent me on, knowing that no one else would survive but I had to somehow make it out alive, even if it meant I was coming back almost dead; because almost dead was still alive, so they counted the missions as a success.” 

Paz felt pressure on his leg, and a dent appeared in the armour there. Another dent in his chest plate, the sound of metal crunching on itself was very loud. 

“Luke.” Paz said gently. “Luke, I know you’re upset, I want to help you, but I do need you to not crush me with my own armour.”

“What?” Luke looked at Paz, eyes trailing down and seeing the chest plate. Luke scrambled back, eyes wide and red and wet from crying. “Oh god, Paz, I- Oh god, you need to leave.” 

“I’m not going to leave you alone Luke, not like this.” Paz said. 

“Paz you’re going to get hurt, there’s not enough beskar in your suit to keep you safe.” Luke whispered. “Please, I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“Luke-“

“Security shift is over.” Din said; his helmet was still on, Luke hadn’t noticed him approaching. “I’ll take over.”

“You’re the boss.” Paz said, getting to his feet; Luke couldn’t stop staring at Pazs chest plate. Paz and Din grabbed each others other arms, squeezed for a second, and Paz was gone.

“Luke?’ Din crouched in front of him. 

“K-keep your helmet on.” Luke said. “Please.”

“Okay.” Dins voice was calm and gentle; it was just Din, not the Manda’lor. “How about we get you somewhere more private?”

Luke nodded. 

“Do you want to walk, or be carried?”

“C-carried, please.”

“Come here.” Din said, and scooped Luke up into his arms. Luke wrapped his arms around Dins neck, annoyed that the cold beskar was between them, but glad that Din was safe. “Your room or mine?”

“Yours, please.”

“Alright, lets go.” Din said.

Luke closed his eyes, not asleep, but feeling far safer than he had up in the room with all those people. Din was a broad, strong man, but Luke hadn’t felt this safe in a long time. 

It was strange how that thought solidified the fact that Luke really wanted to have sex with this man. 

Maker, he was a mess.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Letting My Past Catch Up To Me

Din pulled his armour off in a panicked rush; metal clanged on the floor, and finally Din was free of his beskar. 

Luke was laying on the bed in Dins room, for the second time, and his eyes were closed. His chest rose and fell slowly, his breathing much calmer than it had been when Din had first picked him up. He stared at Luke, unsure as to what to do next. 

Luke eyes fluttered open and his head lolled to the side to look at Din; his hand twitched upwards, and Din felt a bizarre sensation run up his spine, before something invisible shoved him forward. His hands landed on the bed, and Luke gestured at him to come closer, so he did.

“That…was unexpected.” Din said; Luke went red along his cheeks and nose, quickly spreading down his neck and beneath the black wrap shirt he was wearing. “You looked nice tonight, at the party.” 

Luke gave a soft laugh. “Just tonight?”

“You always look nice.” Din said and laid down on his side next to Luke, he let his arm drape over Lukes waist and ran just his thumb up underneath the fabric of Lukes shirt. “I just like seeing you all dressed up.”

“Is that why you told the senator you’d keep me if I went missing again?”

“Well, I might end up having something to do with you going missing, so me keeping you is inevitable.” 

Din moved another finger underneath Lukes shirt, and he felt Lukes breath catch for a second before continuing. 

“Is this okay?” Din asked, Luke nodded. “No, say it.”

“I-it’s okay.” Luke breathed out. “You can keep going.” 

Din slid the rest of his hand underneath Lukes shirt, letting his fingers brush against Lukes chest; the skin was smooth, with areas of raised scar tissue. 

“Do you mind if I try something?” He asked.

“W-what is it?”

“Are you okay with me being on top of you?” 

Luke nodded, then whispered, “Yes.”

Din pulled his hand out from Lukes shirt and sat up, quickly throwing one leg over Luke and straddling him. Luke was staring up at him, eyes wide and lips parted.

“Okay if I keep going?”

“Please.” 

“I want your hands above your head; I can either hold them there, or you can just keep them in place.” He said. “As long as they stay there.” 

“I want you to hold them…just not too tight, please?” Luke looked away, nervous. “They used to do the cuffs up too tight, I don’t…I don’t want that feeling.”

“Course.” Din nodded and slowly, Luke raised his arms and let them rest on the bed above his head. Din used one hand to press down gently on Lukes wrist, enough to hold them still, and used his other hand to cup Lukes face before bending down and kissing him. 

Luke hummed against Dins mouth and returned the kiss, but let Din control it. He gave an experimental push against Dins hand, and it moved away immediately.

“I’m sor-“

“You can leave it.” Luke said. “I like them there…I was just…making sure.”

Din settled on Lukes lower body, letting his weight rest on top of Luke, and pressed the hand back over Lukes wrist. 

“They don’t deserve you.” Din said against Lukes mouth. “You’re perfect, how could they give up on you? They don’t know how lucky they are.”

Dins mouth moved to Lukes neck and he kissed at the skin before biting gently, pulling a surprised moan out of Luke. 

“You even sound good.” Din purred. “I think you should stay with me, come to Mandalore with me. You can build your school, and every night you can come back to me, and I can keep you nice and safe, just like this.”

Luke moaned and Din moved down to kiss at his collarbone. 

“Do you being underneath me?”

“Y-yes.” Luke said. “Feels safe.”

“I want you to feel safe with me.” Din said, moving back to kiss Lukes mouth, enjoying the sounds the man made against his mouth. “I want you to feel safe, so I can hold you down and make you feel good. I’ll take care of you, someone needs to; you deserve it.”

“I-I…but I’m no good as a jedi, you saw what they did to me…how could…I let that happen. I didn’t even…I gave up, trying to get away. It just seemed so pointless.”

“You kept yourself alive, Luke.” Din said softly against Lukes lips. “You’re so brave, and so, so, powerful…I’m going to make you believe that, I promise. You’re gorgeous, and powerful, and very sweet and very dangerous…but you let me hold you like this, let me treat you with all the love you deserve…but it’s a little deeper than that at this point, I think.”

Din cheek was wet.

He pulled back, and saw that Luke was crying; he was shaking underneath Din, tears streaming down his face, but he made no noise.

“Luke?” Din asked and let go of Lukes hands. “Luke, did I do something?”

“Why don’t they care?” Luke asked voice quiet; he sounded like he did back when Din had first found him. “I’ve done so much for them, and no one cared that I was gone. W-why even come back? What’s the point? I know what’ll happen; you’ll go to Mandalore and I’ll be here a-and, I can’t keep them away forever, I’ll start doing missions again, they’re just waiting. You should’ve just left me on that fucking dust planet.” Luke choked out, and began to cry out loud; the sort of crying that meant he’d be tired after, where your face hurt afterwards and you thought you’d choke because you couldn’t breathe.

Din hooked an arm underneath Luke and rolled them, so that Din was flat on his back and Luke was laying on top of him; a hand was on Lukes head, keeping it against Dins chest, and the other arm was across Luke shoulders.

“I-Im sorry.” Luke cried into Dins chest. “I was enjoying it, I was I just- I don’t know what happened.”

Din kissed the top of Lukes head. “It’s alright, if this is what you need, I’ll help you with it. Did I do anything wrong?”

“N-no, it was good. I was…I don’t know, I felt kinda funny for a moment and it just…everything kinda bubbled over.”

“Funny how?”

“Like…kinda floaty?” Luke said quietly. “It was kinda nice, felt safe.”

Oh. “Oh.” Din said, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say. 

“What?”

“Um…I think I know the feeling you’re talking about.”

“You do?” Luke shifted his head so his chin was against Dins chest, staring up at him. “What is it?’

“It…it might not be what I’m thinking.”

“Din, you can tell me.” Luke said. 

“It might be subspace?”

Luke blinked at Din. “Oh.”

“If I’d known that was going to happen, I would have stopped-“

Luke reached up and ran his hand through Dins curls, letting it come to a rest on the top of his head. 

“I don’t mind.”

“Oh.” 

“…Just ‘oh’?”

“Just give me a moment to…process that.”

Luke laughed and snuggled himself closer to Din. 

“I like this.” Luke said softly after a moment; his hair was soft against Dins skin, and Luke was smiling up at him, blue eyes bright. “Just…being with you. I haven’t…felt safe in a long time.” 

“I’m…I’m glad you think so, surprised though, with how we met.” Din said and ran a hand through Lukes hair. 

“I…I think we should talk about that.” Luke said quietly and pulled away from Din, he sat up on crossed legs and stared at the bed, picking at the blanket with his fingers. “I don’t…really want to, but I think it’s important.”

“You know you don’t have to.”

“I…I want to.” Luke said. “The cuffs went on pretty quickly, so I’m guessing the first group knew who I was. I was coming back from…it’s been so long I can’t even remember, but something hit my speeder and I got knocked around a bit in the crash. They were close, and there was so many of them and…I was so disoriented it didn’t really click what was happening until I was being dragged away from my speeder.”

Din hesitated, but reached out and placed a hand near Lukes, palm facing up; just in case. 

“I kept fighting back, which they hated, so…the beatings were pretty much daily, with the first group; I was with them for…I think a month or so before they passed me on to another group, traded me for food and booze I’m pretty sure. Course, the second group were…better and worse; they didn’t beat me, not as much, but they tended to just…ignore me, for days on ends. Tie me up, gag me and just…leave me in a room somewhere, or outside, and just forget I was there. So many times I was just…left in the dark, or outside, or-or locked away in a cupboard and I just…I was so hungry.”

Luke grabbed Dins hand and squeezed; Din returned the touch but didn’t speak.

“I was with them for the longest; just endless months of hunger, getting scraps every few days. Never enough to feel full, just enough to keep me alive but weak…maker, I was so weak, I felt pathetic. They moved me inside eventually, once we reached their actual main hide out, I guess. I…uh, ended up with a collar; this ugly heavy thing. They chained it to one of the posts in the main area, where they’d sit and eat and drink. I’d have to beg for scraps and…they’d do this thing, this fucking game, where they’d make me…make me beg to suck them off, make me beg to choke on it. They never did anything, which was all the worse really; just making me kneel on the floor and beg for it, knowing nothing would happen and they only did it to humiliate me. They gave me to another group, the ones who you found me with, after they lost me in a game of cards.”

“Luke, can I touch you?”

Luke nodded, and let Din sit up and pull him close, into a tight hug; Luke was sitting in Dins lap, pressed up against his chest. 

“T-the…last group were awful, just…cruel. Starving, making me beg for food for hours just to get a chunk of a ration bar. They’d tie me down onto this…I guess it was a bed frame, just metal and no mattress, and cut me. They liked it when I fought, so I tried not to but…it just made them worse; they wanted to make me fight, make me struggle s-so…they said I could go free i-if I got myself loose. If I couldn’t, if I was still there when they got back I’d…they’d fuck me with a glass bottle they had laying around…I never did get out, but they had to move base before they could do it…that was um, the day you found me. You had…good timing, so thanks for that.”

“I wish I’d found you sooner.” Din said and pressed a kiss against Lukes head. “I wish I could’ve helped you. You shouldn’t have…had to beg for food, you don’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve any of it.”

“I just…I feel like I did though. I’m meant to be the last jedi, the last great hero of the galaxy and I got grabbed by fucking slavers; no wonder only my Dad came to check on me, he probably wanted to see how pathetic his son turned out to be.” Luke muttered. “You know he tried to kill me once? He probably wishes he had-“

Din leant down and used his hand to tilt Lukes head up, enough to press their mouths together; it wasn’t a hard kiss, but Din didn’t rush it, and let Luke be the one to pull away. 

“You’re gorgeous.” Din said softly, keeping a hand on Lukes face, cupping his cheek. “You’re amazing, and I wish I could convince you of that. I know your Father doesn’t think you’re pathetic, he cares about you, I know it. He doesn’t deserve you though, no one does, least of all me.” 

Luke stared at Din; he licked his lower lip and…he knew he had to tell him.

“I lied to you.”

“…What do you mean?” Luke pulled back, but Din moved his hand to the back of Lukes head and kept his close. “No, Luke. Wha’s wrong?”

He took a deep breath. “I have a chip.”

“Luke, no.” 

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Getting Comfortable

Din was staring at Luke, and Luke wasn’t really sure why. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s just…it’s another problem isn’t it?” Luke shrugged. “I just don’t want you to realise how…much work I’m going to be-“

“Luke, I told you I wasn’t going into this blind. I’m not expecting this to be easy, I know it’s going to take work and will be difficult at times…I don’t care.”

“But why?” Luke hissed. “Because you feel like you have to? Because the world needs the last jedi, and I’m just…I’m just so sick of being Luke Skywalker! Why do you want to put up with all my shit!?”

“Because I-“ Dins eyes went wide. “I…care about you.”

Luke raised an eyebrow. “That was not as smooth as you think.”

“I never said it was.” Din snarked back, but he was smiling at Luke; it was sad smile, and Luke hated it. “I want to help you, this isn’t just…about saving you anymore; I don’t care about saving the last jedi, or sending money back to the covert. I care about you, just Luke, not Skywalker and- mmm!“

Luke kissed him. 

“You…you can’t distract me by-“

“Oh my fucking god, Din, shut up and kiss me.” Luks demand was mumbled against Dins mouth, pushing his lips back against Dins and sliding his tongue into Dins mouth. 

“You’re very bossy.” Din said against Lukes mouth, laughing, but returned the kiss. “Those senators should be terrified of you.”

Something pushed against Dins chest and he fell onto his back; Luke climbed on top of him, legs either side of Din, and leaned over to kiss him. Din let his hands roam across Lukes back; they itched to get beneath the fabric of Lukes shirt, to feel his skin, but he let them come to a rest on Lukes lower back, the shirt between their skin.

“You should go back to what you were doing before.” Luke said, pulling away from Dins mouth a for moment to talk, before pushing his tongue back between Dins lips in a hungry kiss. 

“Mmm, and what was that?” Din asked; he whined softly when Luke pulled his mouth away and sat up. Din watched Luke sit up and hold his wrists together, holding them out towards Din. “Oh…yeah, I can definitely do that again, did you wanna lay down for me?”

Luke frowned. “But you flipped me over, earlier.”

Din raised an eyebrow and moved one of his arms so that he could wrap a hand around Lukes two wrists and hold them loosely. “I did…hmm, did you enjoy it?”

Luke nodded. “You…you don’t have to do anything; I understand you might be mad at me for…you know for lying.”

“I’m not mad Luke, not…at you anyway, just at the situation as a whole.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything-“

Din had to be more careful than earlier, but he hooked one of his ankles around one of Lukes legs and held onto his wrists as he rolled them over, pressing Luke into into the mattress. 

“Can you tell me what you want?”

Luke shook his head; he was staring up at Din with wide eyes. 

“I don’t…I don’t know, I’m just full of energy and I want to just…calm down a bit, I guess.” 

“Sounds like you need some sleep.” Din said and moved Lukes arms so they were resting above his head, a hand holding his wrists down together. Din settled beside Luke, laying on his side next to the other man. “Do you think you’d be comfortable staying here and getting some sleep?”

Luke nodded.

Din kissed into the side of Lukes neck and smiled. “Use your words.”

“Y-yes, I wanna stay here.”

“Do you want me to stay with you, or on the couch?”

“O-oh…I think I’d like to…try sleeping with you, but I don’t know If I’ll freak out later or not.” 

“That’s alright, if you need me to leave you just need to tell me.” Din said. “Now, is there anything you know you want?”

“Want you to press harder.”

“Press harder?” Luke answered by pushing at Dins hand with his wrists. “Oh.”

The look on Lukes face when Din pressed his wrists harder into the mattress was something special; all bliss but with an edge of nervousness. “Gorgeous.” Din said, kissing Lukes neck again. “Do you think you can do something for me?”

Luke nodded, eager. 

“I’m going to start touching you, okay? If my hand goes anywhere you don’t like, I want you to use your wizard magic to stop me.”

“When are you going to stop calling it that- mmm.” Lukes back arched when Din moved his other hand onto Lukes chest, dragging his fingers across one of his nipples through his shirt. “H-how…am I meant to stop you?”

“However you like; I want to see you use your power.” Din murmured close to Luke ears and moved his hand across to the other nipple, pressing his fingers against the fabric of Lukes shirt so he could feel the touch. “Seeing you crush that lock, just small little display of power, was just…something else. You’re amazing; I want to see more. I want to feel it.”

Din felt a sudden pressure on the back of his hand that was holding Lukes wrists; it pushed down sharply, making Din press even harder against Lukes wrists, and pressing against this fingers enough to make him squeeze around Lukes wrist, just a little.

“W-was that okay?” Luke panted. 

“Perfect.” Din said, and moved his hand lower, gliding it slowly over Lukes ribs and down to his stomach. His fingers touched at the band of Lukes pants and something invisible tugged hard at his hand, pulling it back up by an inch or so. 

“S-sorry…y-you said…just not down there.”

“Good boy.” Din said, and grinned when Lukes breath hitched at the praise. “Do you want me to stop?

“N-no, I like you touching me.”

“Hmmm…” Din moved the hand again and slid it underneath the bottom hem of Lukes shirt, feeling the bare skin. “How about this?”

Luke nodded, eyes half open and lips wet from him licking at them. “Please.”

“Good boy.” Din said again, and moved his hand higher up Lukes bare stomach, beneath his shirt. “Feels so nice, getting to touch you. Do you think I’ll ever get to see it?”

“Y-you have, before.”

“Not like that.” Din said. “Not in some tattered shirt, I want you to let me see it, want you to decide you trust me enough to let me see how gorgeous you are.”

“But…I’m all scarred.” Luke said quietly; he gasped when Din dragged at the skin of Lukes stomach with his fingernails. 

“I imagine we’ve both got plenty of scars, Luke.” Din said. “Do you not want to see me? Bare, nothing on? Thought you wanted to.”

“Ah…I do, I wanna see.” Luke gasped; Dins hand had made up it further up, and brushed against Lukes nipple. “Please?”

“Now?” Luke nodded. 

“Hands stay above your head.” Din said and pulled his hand out from Lukes shirt, letting go of his wrists before sitting up and climbing on top of Luke, straddling him. Din grabbed his shirt by the hem and pulled it up over his head; he threw it onto the floor and looked down at Luke. 

Luke had kept his hands where Din had said to, and was staring up at Din with wide eyes, face and neck red with blush. 

“Maker, don’t you look good.” Din said and bent down to lick up Lukes neck. “Do you want to touch me?”

Luke nodded, eyes bright with eagerness, and Din grinned against the mans neck.

“I’ve never…I don’t know what I’m doing. Everything has been kind of…on instinct, so far.” Luke admitted quietly. “I don’t want to do something wrong.” 

“Luke, I am prepared to let you do whatever you want with me. I am desperate for you, it’s almost embarrassing how badly I want you.” Din admitted. “Your instincts have been wonderful so far, but I can guide you if you need it.” 

“I’ll…just let me have a go first.” 

“Gladly.” 

Lukes hands went to Dins shoulders first, gliding slowly over the back of them and across Dins shoulder blades. Lukes hands were soft and warm, and he shivered when they moved further down his back. 

“You know,” Luke said softly, as Din kissed his neck; lots of small kisses, from Lukes ear down to where his skin disappeared underneath his shirt. “I think I’d be okay with begging, if it’s with you.” 

“Oh, fuck, Luke,” Din growled. “You can’t just…say things like that.”

Din lifted his head and pressed his mouth against Lukes, pushing his tongue between Lukes lips to explore the other mans mouth. He was rewarded with Lukes fingertips digging into his back on reflex, which only made him groan into Lukes mouth. 

“Did I do something wro- oh, oh, Din I can feel you.” Luke moaned against Dins mouth, feeling the heavy wave of arousal wash over him. It was that, and the feeling of Dins cock pressing against Lukes stomach through their clothes, that made him desperate for something. “D-Din…I need…maker, it’s all built up, I-I need…it’s been so long I don’t know what I want.”

“Mmm, fuck Luke, have I got you all worked up?” Din asked, biting at Lukes lower lip. 

Luke nodded. “I-I’m just…I don’t think I’m comfortable with touching-“

“Good.” Din moaned. “Good, tell me what you want Luke, you’re so good for me. I won’t touch you, I won’t even look, but you can touch yourself.” 

“P-promise?”

“I promise.” Din said, and licked across Lukes mouth. “Go on, you deserve it.” 

One of Lukes hands ended up on the back of Dins neck, holding tight, and the other moved down between them. Din lifted himself up a little, so that Luke could undo his pants and…fuck, Luke was pumping his cock right there, just beneath him and Din was so, so desperate to help make Luke feel good. 

“Luke, please, I’m not going to touch you but I want to help you feel good.” Din said quickly, pleading. “Tell me what you-“

“Keep kissing me.” Luke hissed. “Touch me, anything.”

“If I close my eyes, can I pull your shirt down?”

Luke nodded; his eyes were shut, and his head titled back as his mouth opened in a gasp. 

Din kept his face buried in Lukes neck as he reached up and fiddled with the tie at the side of Lukes shirt, and pulled the fabric away from Lukes chest when he finally got it undone. He moved down, keeping his eyes shut and kissing past where he’d been able to so far, and mixed small bites at the skin in with the soft kisses. Finally, he found one of Lukes nipples and licked at it, before sucking it into his mouth.

“Din!’ Luke half shouted, half moaned, and Din could feel Luke shaking underneath him. “Din, Din, Din- ah!”

Lukes hips bucked underneath Din, who licked at the nipple, swirling his tongue around it as Luke came undone beneath him.

Din moved up and kissed Lukes neck, then his ear and his cheek. He laid down next to Luke, on his side, and moved his fingers in lazy figure eights on Lukes chest. Din waited for Lukes breathing to even out as he came down from the orgasm.

Eventually Lukes eyes fluttered open, only halfway, and his head rolled to the side to look at Din. 

“How do you feel?” Din asked softly, and let an arm drape over Lukes chest. 

“A-a little embarrassed but…good.” Luke said. “Tired.”

Din grinned. “No need to be embarrassed.”

“You…you didn’t get to-“

“As I said last time, I can take care of myself.” Din said. “This is about you being comfortable, alright? I don’t expect anything. Did you want to have a shower?”

“Y-yeah…maybe a good idea. My room isn’t far-“

“I meant here. You don’t have to leave, Luke. I don’t want you to feel like-“

“I’m going to come back.” Luke said, cutting Din off. “But I need fresh clothes, and I doubt anything of yours is going to fit me very well.”

“Oh, hmm…that’s a good point. Did you want me to walk you?”

Luke gave a soft laugh and smiled at Din. “No, that’s okay. You stay here and…take care of yourself. I won’t take long.”

“You don’t need to rush.” Din said softly and pressed his lips to Lukes in a soft kiss. “Never feel like you have to rush for me, I’ll just be happy if you come back.”

“I will.” Luke said. “I won’t take long, okay?”

“Alright, I’ll see you in a bit.” 

Luke smiled, and Din watched him climb off the bed and leave the bedroom; Lukes hair was far fluffier than normal, and his neck was sporting a number of small red marks. 

Din waited until he heard the main door close before pulling himself free and fucking into his fist, thinking about the marks he’d left on Lukes neck, and wondered if there were any more on Lukes body he’d left without meaning to.

Gorgeous Luke, covered in marks from Din; an obvious display of Dins claim over the man. Din let himself get lost in the thought, and pumped at his cock until he came over his stomach, and dropped limp against the mattress.

He’d have to have a shower as well…in a moment. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 29

Sharing A Bed

Luke felt heavy after his shower; he barely managed to get himself into a pair of clean pants and a baggy shirt before dragging himself back to Dins room. 

Din let out a soft “oof!” and a laugh when Luke flopped back onto the bed, which was followed by grumbling while Din adjusted Luke so he could pull the blanket up over them both. 

“Someone looks tired.” Din chuckled. 

Luke went to glare at Din, but hummed contently instead when Din slid an arm under him and laid down beside him, his other arm draped over Lukes waist. 

“Just feel…kinda heavy, I guess.” Luke said quietly. “Haven’t really slept since I got back…been a long time since I’ve slept properly.” 

“Well, hopefully you can get some sleep tonight before I drag you off to Tatooine tomorrow.” Din said.

“Uh…why?”

“Because, if we use a medic droid here to get your chip out, you run the risk of someone here knowing about it. Boba has a-“

“Absolutely not.” Luke said. “Not a chance in hell. You want to tell him? I know he’s important to you-“

“He’s family, my vod; my brother.” Din said and ran his fingers through Lukes hair. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t hesitate to kill him if he does anything to you.” 

“Oh…uh…really?”

“Really really.” Din said against Lukes forehead and pressed a kiss to it. “He’s not going to hurt you, I know he isn’t but…that doesn’t mean I’ll let him get away with it if he tries.”

“You sound pretty confident…you trust him?”

“I do.”

“…Alright.” Luke sighed. “It’s really not that big of a deal…I’m nowhere near Helvarus now, so whoever has the remote-“

“Might still be able to find you.” Din said. “Please Luke, if there is one thing you let me help you with, let it be this.”

“Funny, I thought you wanted to help me get better with physical intimacy.”

“That is an entirely different matter, and you know it.” Din laughed, teasing. “Try and get some sleep okay? If you want me to leave the room, just tell me; any time.”

“I…I like you being here.” Luke said quietly. “But…I will.”

“Good.” Din said, and nudged at Lukes cheek with his nose. “Now roll over.”

Luke laughed, but did roll to his other side so that his back was pressed against Dins chest; Din must’ve had a shower while Luke was gone. His hair was wet and he’d changed into fresh pants and a shirt.

Luke yawned and let himself relax against Din; he didn’t think he’d get much sleep, but the heaviness at least felt halfway close to comfort.

He slept for six hours and laid there half awake for half an hour after waking, with Dins arms around him. 

Din Djarin, famed bounty hunter, was apparently very much not a morning person. 

“You know, I thought you’d be in more of a rush to get going.” Luke said; he squirmed against Din, but Din only tightened his arm around Lukes waist. 

“In a bit.” Din mumbled against Lukes back. 

“You know, you have to let go of me eventually.” 

“Mmm, nah.” Din said and pulled Luke even tighter against him. “Like having you here.” 

“Okay but we’re literally going to the same place, in the same ship.” Luke reminded Din.” Your ship, that only has one tiny bed.”

“Promise you’ll stay in the bed with me?”

“Yes Din, I promise.” Luke laughed. 

“Mmm good, I won’t have to tie you to it.” Din kissed Lukes neck and grumbled as he let go of Luke and slowly got out of bed, the grumbling continuing until he’d disappeared into the bathroom.

Luke just stared ahead at the wall. 

“Oh, I am an idiot.” Din hissed from the bathroom; he hadn’t fully closed the door.

The wave of guilt, shame, embarrassment surged from Din and Luke gasped at the sensation. 

“While I don’t disagree,” Luke grinned at Din when the other man came back from the bathroom. “Why are you an idiot?”

“Just…need to watch what I say better.” Din sighed and came to stand at the edge of the bed where Luke had sat up. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s kind of you, but you don’t need to apologise.” Luke said. “I already said I trust you.”

“I just…don’t want to ruin that.”

“Good.” Luke stood up from the bed and Din stepped back to make room for him. “I’ll think about it.”

“Think about what?” Din slid his arms around Lukes waist and pulled him close to kiss him. 

“Tying me to the bed,” Luke said quietly, and grinned when Din choked on his breath. “I thought it was a suggestion, but if you don’t want to…”

“I’d like it.” Din blurted out. “Uh, if you thought about it…I mean.”

“Sounds like we’ll both be thinking about it.” Luke smirked. 

“We…we should get going.”

Luke laughed and kissed Din on the cheek. “I suppose. I’ll go get some stuff and meet you at your ship, okay?”

“Do you think you could get Grogu? I’ll surprise Boba.”

“Can do.”

Luke made it to the Razor Crest half an hour later; his bag was much heavier than it should’ve been, with the three bottles of wine Leia had told Luke to give to Boba. Luke hadn’t questioned it, just shrugged and scooped Grogu out of Leias arms. 

“Go get him!” Luke stage whispered and put Grogu on the floor in the main walkway of the ship, and laughed as he ran as fast as he could and jumped at Din, wrapping his arms around one of the mans legs. 

Din laughed and picked Grogu up, holding his child in the air above him and looking up at him.

“You’re getting sneaky, adi’ka. Very soon you’ll be even more trouble than you already are, no doubt your teachers doing.”

“Definitely not.” Luke said, smiling at Din and putting his bag on the ground; he pushed it underneath the small bed with his foot just in time for Din to reach him and pull him into a kiss.

“Thank you, for letting me do this.” Din said softly. 

“I like it when you kiss me, why wouldn’t I let you?”

Din laughed. “Not that, but thank you for that as well. I’m glad you’re letting me help you.”

“It’s nice having someone that wants to help, besides my little group of friends and family.”

“Well you’ve got me,” Din said, kissing Lukes neck. “And Boba…and Paz…and Fennec.”

“I know you’re lying about Fennec.” Luke joked. “You’ve got me too. You know that, right?”

“Mmm, hopefully not quite the same way that Paz and Boba have you.” Din chuckled and nipped at Lukes neck. “You know you just need to tell me and I’ll stop, right? I don’t want to push you into anything. You’re just…I haven’t wanted this with anyone before. It’s new and exciting and I’m…maybe a little over eager.”

“I know you don’t want to, and I know you’ll stop.” Luke smiled up at Din. “I got treats for you and Grogu.” 

Grogu chirped from his hammock and waved his little arms at Luke, excited for whatever gift Luke had gotten for him. 

“If its sweet, he can have it after dinner.” Din said, glancing at Gorgu. “I uh- sorry, it’s your gift, I don’t mean to…take that away from you.”

“He’s your son.” Luke said softly. “You can both have your treats after dinner, how about that?”

“Do I get to know what we got?”

“I got a pack of mini cupcakes for Grogu, the fancy ones he likes with the little flowers on top.”

“Do I get fancy cupcakes as well?”

“You do not.”

“What? Why not?” Din asked, aghast; Luke had to laugh at the mans face. 

“Jealous much.” Luke teased. “You can have a treat after dinner too…just maybe a bit later than Grogu.”

“What-“

“Maybe after he’s gone to bed.” 

“Oh.” Din breathed. “That…might be a good idea.”

Luke grinned at Din, and the sight of it made the rest of the day worth it…almost. Din was a mess by the time they were getting ready for bed; partly from Lukes promised treat, and partly from his mind going into panic mode over the fact that Luke had a small explosive device surgically implanted next to his spine.

It hadn’t really clicked until then, and Din was working himself up over it. Luke had gone to the refresher ages ago it felt like, and Din was laying in the small bed and staring at the ceiling, hands together and resting on his stomach.

“You look upset.” Luke said; Din hadn’t noticed him coming back up the small hallway. “What’s bothering you?”

“It’s…you have a bomb in you, Luke. This whole time…and I couldn’t do anything.” Din said quietly. “I just…I’m sorry, I’ve been a mess all day.”

“I know.” Luke said; he hadn’t climbed into the bed yet, and Din was getting worried that Luke wouldn’t, and that this was all just…not going to happen. “Do you remember what I said earlier? About after Grogus gone to bed?”

“You don’t have to do anything.” Din said quickly, sitting up in the bed and turning to face Luke. 

“You’ve been thinking about it though.” Luke said and he was watching Din, seeing how he’d react. 

“I…” Well, may as well be honest, he can probably tell if someone’s lying anyway. Din sighed. “I have been, a lot, but it’s been mixed up with the whole slave chip thing and…I just feel kind of…gross, about the whole thing. Not about you! Just…about me, and what I want.”

Luke stared at Din for a few moments, then leant down and grabbed something from under the bed; Din heard the softest rattle of what sounded like a chain, and Luke stood up again and held something out towards Din.

It was a cuff.

“The other end is already attached to the bed.” Luke said, but Din couldn’t look away from the metal band Luke was holding; it had a length of chain attached to it, that went over the side of the bed and disappeared. “This morning, you said…you can have a mini cupcake if you prefer.”

“I can’t have both?” Din asked in a poor attempt at a joke. “You…haven’t put it o-“

“I wanted you to do it.”

“You want…sit down with me?” 

Luke sat on the edge of the bed and Din took the cuff from him. 

“You’re sure?”

“Please.” Luke said so softly that Din nearly missed it. 

Din held Lukes wrist gently and turned it over, so that his palm was facing up; he rubbed a small circle into the skin at the very centre of Lukes wrist, just before the palm of his hand, and brought it up for a second to kiss the skin, before lowering it again. The cuff clicked open, and Din closed it around Lukes wrist making sure not to-

“You can do it tighter.”

“Are you sure?”

Luke nodded; Din reached up with one hand and slid it behind Lukes head, pulling it forward so that Din could kiss him, at the same time as clicking the cuff closed, tighter than he had originally planned to. 

“Is that okay? 

“Perfect.” Luke said. “You’re freaking out.” 

“A little.” Din laughed, soft and nervous. “I’m mostly trying not to kiss you so hard that I hurt you.”

“What’s stopping you?” Luke asked. “I’m hardly going anywhere.”

“I’m just…I think I’m too worked up, I don’t want to get carried away.”

“You won’t, you told me earlier to say if-“

“Would you?” Din asked suddenly, and looked at Lukes eyes; so bright, so blue. “Would you tell me if I went too far, or would you let me keep going to make me happy?”

“Din-“

“Luke, please, I need to know.” Din pleaded; he cupped Lukes face in his hands, fingers spread out and holding the sides of Lukes head, the palms of his hands on Lukes cheeks. “I need to know you won’t let me hurt you, I can’t…I can’t be like them.”

“Din!” Luke went to reached for Din, to hold his face the same way Din was holding his, but the chain was slightly too short and Lukes hand came to a stop, the tight cuff pulling at his wrist. 

“I-I should take it off.” Din said nervously.

“No!” Din recoiled when Luke shouted, pulling his hands away from Luke and pressing himself against the wall behind the bed. “Din, I didn’t mean to shout at you, I’m sorry. You’re not like them, you never could be. I trust you with this, I wouldn’t have brought them if I didn’t. I want you to kiss me, and I…I want to share the bed with you, I know you won’t do anything to hurt me.”

“You’re sure?”

Luke nodded. “What was it you said about kissing me?” 

Din licked his lips. “If you’ll let me.”

“Please.” 

They ended up falling asleep together, crammed into the small bed with Dins larger form enveloping Luke from behind, an arm draped over Lukes waist. Lukes face was a little sore from Dins stubble rubbing against his chin, but he felt content and safe with his back pressed against Dins chest. 

He woke up first, confused when he couldn’t pull his arm towards his face to rub at his eyes; the realisation of why set him on edge, ready to panic, but Din kissed his neck and Luke felt grounded by the gentle touch.

“Do you want me to take it off?” Din asked, half asleep.

 “…In a little bit.” Luke answered, eyes focused on the cuff that sat tight around his wrist; he wondered if it would leave a mark, like the last time.