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againstacecilia · 2 years

Text

Just Tell Me

Pairing: Din Djarin x gn!Reader

Word Count: 1.3k

Rating: This one is really for anyone, but the whole blog is 18+ ONLY

Excerpt: "For how long you'd spent in hyperspace, you'd never noticed how quiet it was. How cold it was. Streaking white and light blue stars used to blind you when you'd step into the cockpit; now they just dance over the various buttons and switches surrounding you and the Mandalorian sitting in front of you. The hum on the ship was the only sound as you stared at your companion, unwilling to be the first to break."

Warnings: Pretty sappy, self indulgent, emotional and fluffy. No real description of reader so fairly gender neutral!

Summary: Another long stint in hyperspace has everyone on the Crest feeling antsy. What else do you do with downtime other than play 20 Questions?

A/N: Another little dribble for celebrating 200 friends. Thank you to the best hype-person in the world @creatively-analytical for giving this a look! As always, love you all. Come say hi and let me know what you'd like to see!

"Come on, just tell me."

You and Mando had been in hyperspace for days. You'd read through both books on your holopad, he'd cleaned every weapon on the ship and reorganized the armory (twice), the Child had eaten every bit of the eggs that had been stowed away for long trips like this, and everyone was getting antsy. Something needed to happen to pass the time, so you picked the only game you thought might get you through the next few hours of travel: Twenty Questions.

The first couple rounds had been as expected. You asked Mando's favorite color ("don't see a lot of color in this helmet"), he asked you the first time you shot a blaster ("really?" "Yeah, you shoot well." "Who asks that?" "Weapons are part of my religion." "Fine, I was 11"), you asked him what his favorite bedtime story was as a kid ("I learned a lot about Mandalore before bed as a foundling." "Were they bedtime stories, though?" "They were enough for me"), and he asked you what your favorite color was ("I already asked you that." "But I haven't asked you yet." "Fine, dark colors").

The Child has fallen asleep in his little egg by this point, and Mando takes the lull in the conversation to gently tuck him in and close up the shell. Sitting in the opposite copilot chair, you adjust and tuck a leg under you, elbow resting on your curled knee and chin propped up on your hand. Mando had turned his chair around to face you during your game, the need to pilot rendered moot for the time the ship was on autopilot. After a moment, another question forms in your mind.

"What was your last dream about?"

Mando is silent for a moment, head cocked to the side in thought. Suddenly, his helmet snaps to you before trying to recover by studying a thread on his gloves. "I, uh, don't remember. Don't remember my dreams a lot."

"Mando, you might be the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, but you're the worst liar."

He continues messing with the microscopic flaw in his clothes, choosing silence to a verbal answer.

"Come on, just tell me."

For how long you'd spent in hyperspace, you'd never noticed how quiet it was. How cold it was. Streaking white and light blue stars used to blind you when you'd step into the cockpit; now they just dance over the various buttons and switches surrounding you and the Mandalorian sitting in front of you. The hum on the ship was the only sound as you stared at your companion, unwilling to be the first to break.

Mando sighs, the sound ghosting over your bones as if you could feel the air move around you. He slowly turns his helmet back to your face before saying,

"You."

The silence stretches, your eyes going wide at the confession. After a beat, you find your voice.

"Me?"

A nod.

"What about me?"

Mando shakes his head, "It was nothing."

"Mando…"

Another sigh. "It was nothing. Just a dream."

You continue to stare at him. What started as a silly game to pass the time has evolved into something deeper. Something weighted. At the same time, it felt fragile as glass. Like if you moved too quickly or spoke too loud it would shatter. So you choose to match his silence.

"You aren't going to let this go, are you?"

You shake your head with a small smile. "If it wasn't an interesting answer, you would've told me by now so we could move on."

Even though you can't see his eyes, you know he's looking at you. Assessing. Deciding. After another moment, he begins speaking.

"Do you remember the stop we had to stop on Esso?"

You nod, again favoring Mando's trademark silence so as to not rustle the moment.

"We were there. We emerged from the forest and you got a glimpse of the ocean…"

You remembered what he was talking about. You'd seen oceans before, but nothing like what was sitting in front of you in that moment. Huge, and alive, waves creating and receding back from whence they came, always changing and moving. The roar was nearly deafening, but it was a sound you never wanted to live without again. You're lost in the memory when Mando's voice winds back into your mind.

"I was dreaming about the look on your face. It was so… Unguarded. Full of wonder and joy at something most people take for granted. It made me feel…"

He trails off, setting your heart racing. "It made you feel what?"

After a pause, Mando surges forward to kneel before you. His hands, encased in leather, reach up to rest on your bended knee. His head is tipped to you, your face reflected in the inky blackness of his visor.

"It made me feel awake."

Tears begin to form in your eyes as you watch him spill admissions below you. He continues before you get a chance to speak.

"That's why I was dreaming about it. That moment… Stirred something in me. I've dreamed about it so many times since then because I realized I want to make you feel that way at every opportunity. I want to see that look on your face every day."

The tears flow freely now as you uncurl your leg from beneath you and slide forward off your seat. Knee to knee with Mando, you place your hands on his chest plate and hold his gaze.

"I never thought… never dreamed… that you would feel this way for me, Mando. I never wanted to hope that the feelings I have for you you'd return because I didn't want to get hurt, to ruin what we have because I'd rather have this friendship than lose you entirely."

You feel his breathing hike as you whisper these secrets to him. His hand reaches to wipe the tears from your cheeks and you lean into the touch, closing your eyes and breathing in his smell.

"Mando," you begin before he interrupts:

"Din. My name is Din."

The weight of what he just told you settles in the air and your eyes widen. His name…

"Din?" You ask, tentatively, lifting your hands to take his.

He nods, humming his response.

"Din." You respond with more confidence. The shiver that shoots through him betrays his stoic outer shell and, for the first time, you see the man below the beskar. The man who's always running, never showing any humanity for fear of it being taken away from him. The lonely man, with a heart too big for the metal it's been so long encased. The secret dreamer, who finally took a chance for him rather than for those around him. You wouldn't let that chance be in vain.

"You've already given me more than I ever thought I'd have in my life. You've made my life bigger than I dreamed possible. I'd follow you through Wild Space to the Unknown if you asked."

He leans down to rest the crest of his helmet against your forehead. His fingers untangle from yours, hands coming to gently rest on both sides of your face. His thumbs rub soft lines over your cheekbones, fingers lightly pressing into your flesh as if to convince himself you're here and real.

Whispering again, you lean into his touch and say, "I'm yours, however you want me, Din."

A choked laugh escapes him and he pulls you to his chest. You squeeze your arms around him, both of you locked in this embrace on the floor of the cockpit.

Hyperspace is still quiet, but no longer cold. The lights streaming by are the stars you've wished on since you were a child, now celebrating this wish come true. And this Mandalorian, your Mandalorian, holds you in his arms as the galaxy around you becomes inconsequential.

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