Work Text:
He had done it. He had given you a keldabe kiss, the first he had ever given a non-Mandalorian. The first that had ever really counted- in a romantic sense anyway. He was so nervous he could feel the sweat soaking through his flight suit.
Your reciprocation of it sent him into euphoria, so high he thought it must have been a dream. Until he realized you had no idea of its significance. Euphoria pummeled to devastation. Suddenly, he felt the fool as he stared into the fire. He allowed the disappointment to overtake him, his helmet, once again, a detriment to his goal of showing you affection.
Somewhere beside your sleeping form was Grogu, snoring softly after eating enough frogs to feed an army. The others were frozen in the ship’s tiny kitchen for the kid to snack on in the days to come.
Din, frustrated beyond belief, lifted his helmet and gloves off to comb a hand through his hair, getting caught in tangles. He finger-combed it until they would flow smoothly through, then let out a heavy sigh.
It was becoming physically difficult not to tell you his name- sometimes biting his tongue until it bled- to show you his face. His heart aching even when you were close enough to touch. But he kept his distance. He always kept his distance. As much as he could anyway. There were moments- moments he had no control over, like the keldabe kiss- where he would tuck hair behind your ear. Guide you through a market with a hand on the small of your back. Brush against you in tight quarters, when all he had to do was scoot against the wall of his ship in order to leave an inch of space between the two of you. Still, he found no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t deny himself these things. You were like a magnet, pulling him to you. And now he was escalating to keldabe kisses. Without you even knowing what it meant.
Would you mind? If you knew he was showing affection? If you knew he was basically kissing you?
Was not telling you and still doing it considered…harassment or assault?
Maybe you thought it was a buddy-buddy thing? Bumping foreheads. He had seen a few beings who looked to be friends bumping heads in excitement- victory- celebration.
“You are the Mand’alor,” the voice said in exasperation. “Take her as your riduur. Take her affection. She is yours.”
No, thought Din. He belonged to you. Not the other way around.
Still, he would do it again. Give you another keldabe kiss. He knew it for a fact, felt it in the marrow of his bones. It helped with the ache. An ache that turned on him the longer he was away from you. It twists and stabs and squeezes, sometimes bringing him to his knees.
Is this what Fett’s father meant? Is this the great pain he would endure if he didn’t follow his heart?
It was not conducive to bounty hunting, to say the least.
You stirred, catching his attention. He waited with bated breath for you to open your eyes. To see him. He practically willed it to happen. But you were stubborn and kept your eyes closed, breath staying even as you continued to sleep and he relaxed, leaning his elbows on his thighs, head hanging low. Personally, he preferred for you and the kid to be sleeping in the safety of the ship, but you had asked to sleep under the stars, in the open air. Din couldn’t deny such a simple request. He couldn’t deny you anything. Hence why he would get no sleep that night as he stood vigil, guarding his Heart.
Tomorrow he would sleep while in hyperspace on the way to Tatooine. Where he would drop you and Grogu off for at least a week. Fett said he had another bounty, but this one was dangerous and good at hiding. This is why he stopped for a break, hoping to refuel his aching heart. Hoping if he stayed near you for a day or two then he could be apart a while longer without the pain tearing him down.
He didn’t really have much hope for it to work, but if he was to keep you a secret from his Mando’ade until he told you who you are to him, what you do for him, and gave you time to figure out what you want, then he had to keep moving. Had to keep them guessing. What better way to keep moving than bounty hunting? Besides, it was the lie he told you, so he might as well stick to it.
He felt lucky so far, that they haven’t caught up to him. But luck was rarely on his side.