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cutieodonoghue · 2 years

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invisible string (16/18)

summary: modern soulmate birthmark au; After Omera lost her soulmate, she lost hope she’d ever find love again. Then, a short time before Earth’s first colony ship will be sent to a place they call the Outer Rim, she meets a Mandalorian whose touch makes her Soul Mark burn. (Mandomera!)

rating: hard T

word count: ~5.2k

prev. chapters: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen

read chapter 16 down below or on ao3!

an: Quick reminder that I'm updating every day now so don't miss yesterday's update! :) Thanks for reading!!

Chapter 16: Engine Trouble

“Incident report one. 01.02.09.

The ship is in good condition following a small leak we encountered in the cryo bay. One of the nozzles was loose on the pumps on Pod 95. All souls are healthy and accounted for. Primary power is still engaged and fully operational. [Attached: Security Log 01.02.08 - Cryo Bay] [Attached: Personal Video Log 0001, Crew Member: Din]

>Personal Video Log 0001 (Crew Member: Din)

Personal log one. Day two. It’s been smooth since we took off. A few hours ago, the computer alerted us to a leak in the cryo bay. Easy fix. The colonists are all okay.

The computer almost triggered the wakeup procedure on the bridge when the alert came through. I reset it and ran a dry test. Hopefully it was just a bug.

[sighing]

I’ve been keeping busy with the bridge imaging monitor. Not a lot to report. Got this shot of Saturn on the first day. Made me think of someone. [Attached: Photo - Bridge Capture 01.01.11.96]

I’ll check back in later if anything interesting happens.” - Transcribed Crew Flight Video Logs, The Razor Crest (Crew Member: Din, Entry 0001)

“Leia wants you on the ship.”

Din looked up from his tablet to see Fett enter the office with a casual sigh. He sat down at his desk and lifted his eyebrows as he awaited a response.

“I told you. I’m not going.”

Fett nodded. “Yeah. That’s what I told her, but she insists you need to be there. You trained the bridge crew. You’ll be an asset on Planet Alpha and anything that comes after. What do I have to do to make it happen?” The man waited. He sat forward in his seat. “I can get you pretty much anything you want.”

Din shook his head. “I can’t leave.”

He looked back down at his tablet, done with the conversation, but his boss sighed again.

“Djarin, you’ve been… stiff and miserable for months. I’ve been respectful. Thought you needed the space. But then you took your name off of the manifest with less than a week until launch day. What happened?”

The way Fett spoke to him reminded him of his own father. There was kindness in him that didn’t want anything more than to help.

Din thought about the kid. It was all he could think about lately. After things ended with Omera, he had to make the choice to move on and instead focus on what he was staying for: Grogu.

The ship would leave in a few days. Omera would be on board. As much as he wasn’t okay with that, he’d found peace in it.

Din lifted his gaze. “I’m Bonded to Omera.”

Fett’s eyes grew wide in immediate surprise. “Omera.”

He nodded. “We… were going to go together to the Outer Rim. Then, the Mandalorians found out. They decided to take the kid and gave me the choice between staying with him and getting clean or losing my job here. It would’ve thrown the whole mission off track, so I chose to go with them.”

His boss sat back again. “That’s what those reports are for.”

“Right,” Din replied. “They wanted to make sure I’m not seeing her while I’m at work.” His jaw clenched. “I took my name off the manifest because I can’t leave without the kid.”

There was understanding and patience in Fett’s eyes. “We can fix it.”

Din narrowed his eyes. “If you’re going to suggest taking the kid and running now that the work is finished, I’ve thought about that already.”

His boss frowned, confused. “Why won’t it work?”

He sighed. “They’ll claim a Mandalorian child was sent into space without consent. It would put Falcon underwater. Bad press would kill any future missions and funding. I won’t do that to you.”

Fett nodded slowly. Then, as if he made up his mind, he stood and grabbed his phone. “Come with me. We’re going to meet up with Leia. Tell her what you told me.”

Din stood. “I can’t ask you to-”

“You had a path.” Fett shook his head. He lifted his phone to his ear. “Let’s get you back on it. We need you out there.” He became earnest, “Omera needs you out there. I was there when she lost her Bond. Took every ounce of hope straight out of her. I won’t let that happen again.”

Armas was silent. If it was in surprise, or if it was a mechanism to inspire dominance over the situation, Din wasn’t sure. She was outnumbered and hadn’t been given the chance to prepare for this meeting.

In the chairs opposite her at her desk at the covert were Din, with Grogu in his lap, Leia Organa, and Boba Fett.

They’d gone straight to the covert from the office when Leia learned what was keeping him from joining the crew on the Razor Crest. Her exact words were: “Like hell they will. Come on, I’m going to give them a piece of my mind.”

In the time since then, Leia had come up with a solution that felt foolproof. It was almost upsetting that Din hadn’t thought of it himself. Although, it wouldn’t have been possible without leverage that only Leia could provide.

“When we made our agreement to hire a Mandalorian, we mentioned the possibility of them being sent to the Outer Rim,” Leia said calmly, “but how could we have known he was given guardianship over this child? It seems unfair to separate them.”

“The stipulations of our agreement have not changed,” Armas replied coolly. “Din Djarin will simply no longer be the Mandalorian sent to the Outer Rim on this ship.”

“You’re right,” Leia agreed. “The Mandalorian that Falcon Aerospace Industries would like on board this ship is Grogu.” She gestured to the child in Din’s lap with both of her hands. “If you deny us this, we have grounds to sue you for breach of contractual obligation.”

Armas stared at Leia. Din wasn’t sure how she felt, if she felt anything at all. She was always impossible to read.

Finally, after several seconds, she leaned forward.

“The child is not Mandalorian. He cannot teach the Way. He can barely speak. We cannot in good conscience agree to send him as our ambassador.”

“He is being raised here,” Fett spoke up, “which makes him Mandalorian in title, regardless of what he knows right now.”

Armas looked at the man. “How do you know this?”

“My father and I were both Mandalorian children,” he replied evenly. “I was lucky I got out before it was too late.”

Din felt Grogu’s fingers on his. The boy had been quiet since he arrived, but he was made even more anxious by Armas and didn’t hesitate to show it. He sat facing the opposite way, looking out the windows in her office, and held onto Din as tightly as he could.

“If your suggestion is that we don’t care for our children, you are incorrect,” Armas said. “Everything we have done for the child, Grogu, and for Din Djarin, has been to protect them as they live according to our beliefs.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Leia said in an effort at cooling things down. “I think we’ve lost track of what’s important. We want Grogu on our ship.”

Armas looked at Din. “Does the child wish to go to the Outer Rim?”

He swallowed as he looked down at the kid. “Grogu?”

His boy looked back up at him, glad to hear him speak his name.

“Do you want to go to space?”

For a few seconds that felt so impossibly long, the boy was dead silent, and Din worried that he had clammed up because of Armas. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Grogu go to space,” he finally replied. He smiled at Din and reached up to the edge of his helmet to touch it gently. “Daddy go to space.”

Din held Grogu closer. He didn’t want to look away. “What’s in space, buddy?”

His smile reached his eyes. “Home.”

Din nodded, proud of him, and felt tears in his eyes as he looked up at his Mandalorian mentor.

Armas sighed heavily. “We will allow the child, Grogu, to be the Mandalorian sent to the Outer Rim.”

Leia beamed at Armas. “We appreciate your willingness to take our meeting.”

She stood, leading Din and Boba to do the same, but before they could go, Armas held up a hand.

“Din Djarin, have you decided to leave the covert having unsettled your atonement?”

He swallowed thickly. “I have.”

Armas nodded in understanding. She stood up. “I had hoped you would be able to overcome your attachments, but I see now that your heart is set and there is no changing it.” Her hands extended outward. “Relinquish your helmet. You won’t need it anymore.”

Din stood there in shock for a few seconds before he finally touched his hand to his helmet. Grogu helped him push it off, something he thought poetic, and when he was free of the Mandalorian face covering, he set it into Armas’ hands.

“It is the Way to forsake attachments to focus on what’s important,” Din told his mentor. “It was only when I Bonded that I realized what true focus feels like.”

Armas set his helmet down on the desk in front of her.

“I will raise him with Mandalorian beliefs,” he added, “but he will be allowed attachments.”

She was quiet. “A new type of Mandalorian for a new world.”

Din nodded.

“You have my blessing,” Armas shared, surprising him. “Teach many this new Way.”

He gave Armas a small smile. “I will. Thank you.”

As he followed Leia and Boba out of the covert, Din squeezed Grogu closer and kissed the top of his head, filled with relief that the worst of it was finally over.

Just outside of the building, Leia climbed into a private car. Boba had brought his truck. Din would have to ask for help for just one night before the ship was scheduled to depart.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell Omera,” Din said to Leia at her car door. “I need to apologize. I don’t want it coming from anyone else.”

Leia looked between him and Grogu. She nodded. “Of course.” She smiled. “You’ll be our Primary Team lead pilot. I’ll have Fennec send your paperwork and schedule tonight. Where will you be staying?”

“They’ll stay with me,” Fett spoke up.

Din’s eyes widened with surprise, but he said nothing. He and Fett exchanged nods.

“Thank you,” Din told Leia earnestly. “I couldn’t have done this without your help. I was ready to stay behind.”

“I’m glad you’ll be on the ship. You’re important to the mission.” She looked at Grogu and her smile became warmer. “You were both worth fighting for.”

After Leia’s car pulled away, Din was left with hope that burst through his chest in a way it hadn’t before. For the first time since he was a small boy, he no longer had to fight one way or another.

“Let’s get your things,” Boba told him. “Will you want a ride over to Omera’s tonight?”

Din’s heart leapt. There were too many uncertainties about how she might react to what he’d done and he didn’t want to face them head on just yet. He would talk to her in the morning, before the ship took off when they were both locked into their roles and there was no turning back. She deserved to know for certain that he was all in and that nothing would pull them apart again.

“No. Not tonight. There should be time tomorrow morning.”

“I need your help.”

His soul was immediately assaulted with a tight burst of fear. And then there was the noise. The wail of the alarms was familiar but still so foreign.

He forced himself to focus as he stepped out of his pod, leaving behind blissful dreams of what he hoped his future would look like and a heart at peace for nothing but chaos.

To his surprise, Omera was the only one awake. She had a hazmat suit on, which could only mean one thing: a chemical breach in the engine.

They had trained for this. There were weeks of training that the crew had done to prepare for literally every possible scenario, ranging from small to massive scale. The simulators in training were part of that, though being in a real scenario felt very different than any of the preparation was.

In an uncontrolled environment, he and Omera would have to work in perfect tandem. The lives of everyone on board were at stake. The lives of their kids were at stake.

There was a glaring sense of urgency, but amidst that urgency, he couldn’t help but realize that this was the first time they’d been awake in the same room in weeks - flight time notwithstanding.

He’d missed her. He’d missed everything about her. And he had no idea if she was ever going to be his again.

Those thoughts didn’t matter, though, with a hot alarm in his ear and the main bridge console lit up with alerts and procedural guidelines.

“There’s been a breach,” she explained. “I’m going to go fix it, but I need you to walk me through it from the bridge.”

He nodded. “Did you power down the air filtration on the lower deck?”

“The vents were closed while I brought you out of cryo.” Omera hesitated. “Life support was disengaged in the engine room immediately to prevent spillage, so I’ll only have a few minutes at most.”

Now he understood the fear in his soul. She was fearful that she’d fail. It was a one person job, and in the event that something went wrong, he was her choice to do what he could to fix it.

He couldn’t help but think back on her training in the simulator. She had been one of the best in the final simulation test, but it hadn’t been without bruising their trust and connection with cold, clinical language and an even colder shoulder.

“Gravity?” he asked.

She nodded. “Still operational, but there’s no airflow.” She began to walk backward toward the door off of the bridge toward engineering. “Warn me when the integrity is near ninety percent. If it gets that low, we’ll have to wake someone else up and see if there’s a hidden leak.”

Once she was gone, Din looked directly at the primary engineering console that sat next to the piloting station.

“Engine integrity at ninety eight percent,” the computer shared.

He sucked in a breath as he brought up the camera feed for the engine room. She hadn’t arrived just yet, but would very soon.

It would be hard to calm down. Her fears were strongest in his soul but his fears were close behind them.

Since the computer woke her up first, she’d had to take on the mantle of leader whether she wanted it or not. Per the programming, she would always be chosen to wake up first in the event that something went wrong with the engine. She knew it better than anyone here- even the crew engineers were a step below.

He wondered what she thought of him being on board. Was she surprised? Upset? Had she somehow known beforehand?

Through huge carefully sealed doors, Omera entered the engine room.

The sheer scope of the engine was always a concern of his. There was a lot of room for failure, but they’d tested it on its own for four full years before they committed to using it for long-term travel. Chemical leaks were common and easy to fix, so there wasn’t any need to panic.

Once it was done, they would have time to sit down and talk about what happened. He really hoped she wasn’t so upset with him that they’d have no future, but he would understand if she wanted to put space between them. He had been distant and cold in their time apart to try and make it easier.

“The breach is in the forward quadrant,” he told her through the comms in her suit. “Left hand side. Station three.”

Omera made her way toward the station carefully. “I can see the fumes. The chemical hasn’t been fully vacuumed out.”

He glimpsed at the screen on the console that indicated how much integrity the engine sat at. Still above 90%.

“The only way we’ll be able to get it cleaned up is by opening an airlock when you’re done.”

Omera was quiet. Focused. He watched through a new camera angle when she went straight toward the breach.

Beside the engine, there were workstations at quadrant intervals that contained what they would need to perform for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance.

She pried open the workstation lid at the forward quadrant and reached inside for the kit and bolt drill. He’d seen her operate them before. He knew she could handle them. This step was the simplest.

It would be fine, but he couldn’t help feeling uneasy. From what he could tell, this was the first major setback during their journey and if the problem wasn’t resolved, lives were at stake.

“I’m shaking,” she admitted with a trembling breath.

He closed his eyes briefly. “You’re doing fine. It should be easy. When it’s over, we can talk.”

Omera released a purposeful breath. “We definitely need to talk.” She returned to the leak site and asked, “Can you disengage the forward part of the engine?”

Din set his thumb on the authorization button on the console. “Done. Need you to give consenting authorization.”

“Computer, power down the forward part of the engine,” she said. “We will re-engage in five minutes.”

“Powering down.”

The system went dark. The glow of the engine dimmed. A light on Omera’s helmet flicked on.

“Eight bolts,” he told her. “That’s all. Then you’re done.”

Then, they could sit down and talk the way they needed to.

Omera pressed the thick metal sheet against the leak with one hand. With the other, she operated the bolt drill. It was virtually foolproof, but he could hear her breathing tremble through the mic in her suit.

He tried to quiet his soul. Anything he could do to help her.

“I just-” Omera’s voice cut off with a crackle.

He analyzed the video, narrowing his eyes some. She continued to work. Whatever happened to her mic’s feed must have been related to her suit.

“There’s some interference. Can you hear me?”

She stopped what she was doing and turned to face the camera. Tapped her ears.

Din cursed. He didn’t like the idea that she could need help and he wouldn’t know.

“Keep going,” he said on the off chance she’d hear. The computer alerted him of the engine integrity. 96%. “There’s not a lot of time.”

Omera returned to work. He watched her finish six of eight bolts before something happened to her. She bent over halfway and clutched at her chest.

Shit. Shit. The suit had been punctured.

Din scrambled into action. He ripped open the door beside the engineering door and grabbed a hazmat suit that he fumbled his body into. He couldn’t go fast enough.

He felt her soul cry out. It burned him like he’d started on fire and it was terrifying.

Once he was in his suit, he ran the entire length of the ship to the engine room and didn’t let up until he was next to her.

She’d soldiered through and finished bolting the metal sheet, but she remained doubled over and coughed violently.

“Computer, re-engage the forward engine and restore ventilation in the engine room.”

He went to Omera’s side just in time for her to collapse onto the floor. His soul immediately went ice cold. It fractured. Bent. He could feel her fading heartbeat in it.

“No!”

In one swift movement, Din leaned down and lifted Omera off of the floor. He tossed her over his shoulder like she was a rag doll and rushed out of the engine room. He only stopped to put her down once they cleared the doors. They sealed behind him with a heavy thud.

“Computer, open airlock six for five seconds,” he ordered, breathless.

“Opening airlock six.”

Din quickly yanked Omera’s helmet off and was forced to watch her pale face lull to the side. She was out cold, but he could still feel her with him. It was just so small.

He took the rest of the suit off for her and then carried her away from the toxic suit to place her body into the decontamination tank. It was an upright machine that was positioned next to a small emergency medical bay.

Inside the tank, her body was propped up by prongs on the back wall, limbs limp and head hung against her chest. He touched his fingers against her neck to check her pulse. It was weak.

Once he stuffed her suit into a decontamination bin, his next course of action was to grab the medical supplies he needed from the nearby wall while the machine sanitized her to cleanse her skin and lungs.

His soul ached. It throbbed. It felt increasingly worse, to the point that he physically knew he might lose her because his body almost doubled over in sheer agony.

He ripped his suit off and tossed it aside as he prepared an oxygen mask that had a gauge to detect the chemical toxicity in a user’s breath.

Din winced when he was hit with a fresh crippling wave of pain that came from seemingly nowhere within him. This time, he had to stop moving to try and breathe through it.

They still hadn’t been able to talk about what happened. He hadn’t had the chance to apologize.

They hadn’t had any time to build the life they dreamed about. The kids were still young. He couldn’t raise them by himself. He didn’t want to.

He wanted her to wake up so they could go to the Outer Rim together. What time they’d shared on Earth wasn’t nearly enough.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

Was this his reward for everything he’d done? Was he about to lose his soulmate because he couldn’t stay faithful to the Way? Because in everything he did, he chose her?

Din waited impatiently for the tank door to open. When it did, he hauled her limp body against his and carried her to the floor immediately beside it.

Another pang wracked his body. This one was so much worse than before. His soul swirled frantically, like it cried out to its companion. Strangely, his Mark began to burn impossibly hot. It hadn’t done that since they Bonded.

��No, no, no.”

He forced himself to move, physically fighting against his own body to get the breathing mask.

Tears leaked free from his eyes on their own accord. He could feel nothing but darkness, an endless pit that he felt his own soul getting sucked into.

His body felt stiff. His muscles tightened and his lungs refused air. He felt himself get dizzy as the Soul Mark beneath his ear became increasingly more inflamed. His vision blurred and his hands both trembled violently, unable to keep still enough to hold the mask properly.

He became furious with himself. She was dying and his body wouldn’t cooperate long enough to save her.

A growl wretched out of his chest when he tightened his fingers around the medical tool and pressed it against her face so it covered her nose and mouth.

His chest heaved, gasping for breaths that just weren’t coming, as tears ran down his cheeks. His body acted on its own, unable to hold anything back while his Mark grew somehow hotter.

Was this what it had felt like for her before? This dark, terrible, awful torture? Knowing he’d lost her- that he’d failed her?

She had been so willing to let him go before. She’d given him countless ways out. The only time she’d panicked was when he suggested breaking their Bond. Now he understood why.

“Breathe,” he instructed through gritted teeth. “Come back. Wake up. Please.”

All at once, everything changed.

She bolted upright with a sharp gasp and the dark pit within him became light again. The grip his own soul had on his body was released and he could breathe once more.

“You’re okay,” he told her, more for himself than for her.

She sucked a clean breath from the device he still held against her face.

His eyes watered as he touched his other hand to the back of her head and kissed her forehead out of pure relief that the worst of it was over; that he hadn’t lost her.

“You’re okay,” he murmured again, his lips pressed against the crown of her head. He closed his eyes tightly. “It’s okay. Just breathe.”

Omera held onto his gaze as her breathing slowly returned to normal and he dragged his hand over the side of her face and into her hair, unable to stop feeling how warm she slowly became. Her skin felt clammy and wet, but there was life surging through her that felt tangibly beneath his fingertips.

It took a few exhales for the red color on the indicator to go away. He only pulled the device away once it turned green, and even then he was careful and made her breathe out a few more times before he tucked it back into the kit.

“You should take a shower,” he told her. “Have the computer scan you after. Make sure it’s all gone.”

Omera nodded, but she was silent with the shock of what she’d been through. He helped her to her feet and she clung to him with her arm tight around his waist.

“Engine integrity restored,” the computer trilled overhead. “Life support on the engine deck has been reinstated.”

“Computer, is there any indication of a leak in the engine?” Din asked as they walked slowly toward the crew quarters.

“Negative. The engine is presently free of damage. System is fully operational.”

They’d done it. It was over.

Now, they could both breathe easier.

The crew showers were in one small room. There were dividers that separated into three stalls, should more than one need to be used at a time, but it seemed unlikely to him that it would ever be the case.

When he got Omera positioned beside the first shower stall, he took the initiative to turn the water on for her. She waited quietly for him to return.

“I’ll go find you something to wear,” he told her. “Do you need help getting out of your suit?”

He gestured to the skin-tight cryo suit she wore. He’d have to change out of his, too. They were going to have to stay up for a day per protocol anyway, so he might as well do it comfortably.

Slowly, her eyes went from him to her body. She shook her head, still wordless.

“Be right back.”

Din was out of the showers before Omera could say anything. He found her something to wear in her locker and kept them in a neat pile as he returned to find her beneath the stream of water hidden behind a privacy wall.

He left the pile of clothes out for her with a towel and said, “I’m gonna go get changed.”

Omera didn’t reply. Maybe it was for the best. It took everything in him to not picture what she looked like behind that privacy wall.

While he walked toward his cabin, he had to remind himself that they weren’t together anymore. He ended things so he could show honor to the Way and to the Mandalorians, but to her as well. She owed him absolutely nothing. If she wanted to put distance between them and keep things neutral like they were before, that was fine.

Inside his cabin, he changed out of his cryo suit and into a pair of lounge sweats and a loose cotton knit top. It felt so much gentler than the unrelenting pinch of the all-purpose fabric of the cryo suit.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and a pang of guilt hit him in the chest when he thought about Omera again.

What if she didn’t want him in her life anymore?

The fact that he was on the ship, that he’d been the one to revive her, might have been the final straw.

He’d done all of this, come all this way, so they might get a chance to be together again the way they dreamed. He hadn’t talked to Omera individually since that day in her office, and he knew he hadn’t been good to her after that.

Their interactions were always stilted. Always cold. Always brief. He couldn’t crack because if he did, there was no telling where it would have led him.

If Omera wanted to talk, they would, but he didn’t want to force it. He didn’t want to make her do anything she wasn’t comfortable with- especially after he almost just lost her.

It was uncanny- he could still feel the ache of loss in his bones as if their souls were pulled taut in the aftermath of a near death experience.

All he knew was he was grateful he hadn’t severed the Bond by force. He was also glad they were going to age in tandem so that she wouldn’t have to deal with that pain on her own from galaxies away.

Din stared at the floor of his cabin for a long time before he decided to search for Omera in case she might need help.

She wasn’t in the showers, but her cabin door was sealed closed when he made his way up the hall to check if she went to lay down.

Good. She was probably exhausted and overwhelmed. She should rest.

His fingers twitched at his sides restlessly as he stood in the hall with his eyes set on her door as if he could see through it. With a small shake of his head, he made his way out of the crew quarters and instead onto the bridge.

He’d wait for her to make the first move. He didn’t want to push. He wanted to tell her everything, but only if she wanted to know everything.

It was ridiculous. He had somehow survived months apart from her, but the prospect of another hour or two felt unbearable and impossible.

Din sat down in a chair at one of the computer consoles and ran a hand over his face.

An hour. Sixty minutes. Three thousand six hundred seconds.

It was much better than the alternative of a lifetime apart.

Read Chapter 17

#mandomera #din x omera #the mandalorian #my writing #invisible string fic #hihi it's a surprise daytime update :)#this chapter...........#me @ din in the last scene: tell me you're in love without telling me you're in love

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garbinge · 1 year

Text

The Long Game

Din Djarin x f!Reader

Day 29 these April Prompts: “Deep Breaths”

Summary: You contemplated (overthink) the news you have to tell Din as he walks you home.

A/N: This is the start of a larger multi-chap (a theme I have LOL) not sure when I’ll get to posting more parts. I also haven’t watched s3 yet (I know I know, I’m waiting for my partner to catch up on Boba Fett so we can watch together!!!) but this is a little AU from the canon plot anyways. Also in this fic, the Mandalorian code has some stuff about marriage and love in it. Just to add some dramatic effect. First time writing for Din, I hope to get more comfortable as I write more!

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: All my fics are 18+ regardless of content. Mentions of pregnancy, anxiety/panic attack, overthinking, stress.

Mando Taglist: @drabbles-mc @justreblogginfics

Your nerves were starting to manifest into bile in your throat. You stared at the back of the helmet of the man you had been sleeping with for, well, years at this point, and yet you were nervous.

“Din.” You said at a mumble, part of you hoping maybe he didn’t hear you and you could call this an attempt and try again tomorrow.

“Yea?” He turned to look at you. Now his visor was staring directly at you, and even though his eyes weren’t visible you felt them burning into your own.

It was a scene that was familiar to you, you'd pretty much seen it everyday, and when he was away on a bounty hunt, it was something you truthfully missed. The dark sky with bright stars, the low lighting of the town since everything had closed and the cantina was usually one of the last things to shut down every night here in Nevarro. But the vision of him standing there to walk you home was comforting, or at least, it had been before you had news to share with him.

“Walkin’ me home?” You took a deep breath, the first of many, and stepped towards him, not letting your eyes move from where you assumed his were.

“Of course.” His helmet rasped. You weren’t sure if the helmet altered his voice to sound like that or if that was just how he spoke since he’d never taken it off in front of you. Honoring his code despite the situation you two had. That’s when you started to spiral in your head. You never even saw this man’s face. You were lucky to have his bare hands touch you, in intimate situations as well as not. You knew his full name, but that was after months of him visiting you on Tatooine. Suddenly, the bile that had settled for a moment was rising, the thought that you might not really have known this man was eating at you and you were getting overwhelmed. Breathing was becoming hard, your chest felt like there was a bantha sitting on you. But something cut through the noise.

“Take a deep breath, what’s going on?”

Din was now standing in front of you, and his gloved hands were lightly touching your shoulders, in an attempt to ground you without being too forceful. It was something you never told him calmed you but just something he picked up on from knowing you. Right, knowing you. Din knew you. You knew Din. You might not have known his face but you knew him. His intentions. His life. His personality.

You inhaled and let your shoulders rise, his hands not removing themselves as you did.

“I’m good.” You kept your reply simple as you nodded your head forward to show you wanted to start walking.

He didn’t question any more, his hands dropped and he walked alongside of you on the path that began your journey home. Another amazing thing about Din, he didn’t push.

“Do you remember when we first met?” You looked up at the sky almost like you could envision that moment entirely right there.

A chuckle left Din’s helmet. “Do I?” His boots crunched on the pavement as he walked. “I have a permanent scar to remember it forever.”

“Sorry.” You smiled and looked over at him. “You're my best friend, you know?” You said after a long pause.

“We’ve known each other for a long time.” Din agreed in his own way.

It was funny, because he was right. You did know each other for a really long time. But yet, you never established any definition of the relationship you had. He visited you frequently on Tatooine when he was there for work. He brought you with him to Nevarro when your house burned down on Tatooine, he walked you home every night, you two started fooling around somewhere in the midst of all that and you never established any ground rules or titles, except you hid the intimacy from everyone. You understood the Mandalorian code, and you knew how much Din honored that. You didn’t argue it because well, it's part of what made him, him.

In the years you’ve known Din and been sleeping with him, he’d gone away on hunts and he never questioned what you did when he was gone or vice versa. You picked up business as usual when he came back. You never did anything, although you did flirt with people at the bar, even when he was back, it was how you made a decent living and you thought he knew that but as the news you had to share with him right now mulled in your head you started to wonder if he truly did.

Maybe he did keep warm bodies around when he was away. Maybe even more than that, and this was just what it was, friends with benefits. But could you even call it that? Friends? Benefits? Especially now? Then you remembered you just called him your best friend. Probably for the first time, or was it? Why was it such a big deal you hide whatever this was from everyone? They knew you two hung out? Oh, right, Mandalorian code, that calmed you down for a minute, but then the next thought funneled in. Well, there had to be a work around with that? He couldn’t have been the first Mandalorian to fall in love? Fall in love? Who were you kidding, you didn’t even know if calling him your best friend was appropriate and now you’re assuming he’s in love? Maybe you thought that because YOU felt that. Holy shit, were you in love with a Mandalorian? Your next thought shook you to your core. Not just a Mandalorian but YOUR Mando. Your Mando? Again the man who you couldn’t even call your best friend without going into an overthinking spiral? Your stomach turned. There it was that bile again. Making its way up your throat.

“I have to tell you something.” You blurted out, getting overwhelmed by your own thoughts.

Din said nothing and stared at you waiting for you to say something.

You stared at him, and for some reason, pushed all your thoughts aside. It was what you did every time you spent time with him, it was what you did to put you in this situation so it would have to work to let it out. You took one last deep breath before speaking.

“I’m pregnant.”

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thefloorisbalaclava · 1 year

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My sunshine my sweet Cassandra hi hello how are you!!! I just got back from a Disneyland trip for my momma’s birthday and there was a guy there that had a COD shirt and I told my sister I saw it and my mom was like “wait how do YOU know about those kind of games?” And my sister without missing a beat said

“It’s cause of the hot guys in it”

And I died and thought of you so fast!!! 😭😂

I also met the walk around Din Djarin there at Star Wars land and I’ll have to show you how absolutely EMBARASSING I am staring up at him stunned and trying to keep my soul from leaving my body 😵‍💫

And omg so on the flight back I made the absolute worst decision to watch the new TLOU episode and had to hide my face in my sweat shirt from crying so much lmaoooo

Tell me your thoughts on this last episode and how your week is going! I’m sending you all my love and I wish more than ever we could go get brunch and catch up 🥹 💌😭💕💖✨

Erika my love! How are you?? Wanna know something crazy? I have never been to Disneyland! Maybe one day. I hope you had fun!

Haha you're braver than me watching TLOU in public. I'm way too emotional! I try to have a pokerface but everyone is always telling me everything is plainly written on my face lol.

The most recent episode had me in my feels once again! It had one of my favorite scenes from the video game and it was so perfect I SOBBED! Look...even my mom is watching it. She keeps asking me what's gonna happen and I won't tell her lololol. She does this to me a lot. She did this to me Outlander as well because she knows I read the books. When I do tell her something she yells at me "WHY WOULD YOU TELL ME THAT?!?!" 🤣🤣🤣 Especially if it's bad news.

Anyways, I'm gonna pretend we're meeting up at Starbucks to sit and chat about everything, laughing and being carefree. It makes me smile 💙💙

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r0b0tb0y · 2 years

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fanfic end of the year asks: ALL THE QUESTIONS

I deserved that.

favorite fic you wrote this year: The Stolen Season, a short meandering Deadwood fic I wrote just for me.

least favorite fic you wrote this year: It feels a little harsh! I will offer Anomaly up for slaughter, because it has the lowest kudos and I think I did K2 & Kallus better in other fics.

favorite line/scene you wrote this year: the working song in The Theory of Harmony might be the best scene I ever wrote:

This song didn’t need Din’s accompaniment. The lyrics were in Basic, a slow and aching lament for a lost love. It matched the beat of the dewbacks’ footsteps, so they moved as an eight-legged beast that breathed with Cobb’s words. The last song was the kind to stir up the smoky air of a cantina. This one was made for journeys, a repetitive melody for anyone to pick up and carry wherever they were going, no note too high or low to strain an amateur singer. Its modular verses built texture and details of a doomed romance: Cobb would linger, occasionally, on a rolling tenor as he scavenged for the next snatch of words, gripping it tighter when the rhymes fell into place.

It was a working song, battered into shape by generations of labour, bearing the weight of callused hands and beaten backs and gnarled joints that twanged before a sandstorm.

Cobb’s voice was strong enough to cover the click of the helmet’s clasp. Din rode a few paces with it loose, waiting for the impending urge to secure it in place again. When the impulse never arrived, he slipped it from his head to hold firmly in his lap.

Without the HUD to distinguish the contours, the canyon’s depths became a blanket of warm black. The sky formed a jagged stripe above, indigo where the sun had set, a greenish tint around Guermessa. A spillage of stars in the direction of the Core, growing sparser toward the east: a worn-out cloak with pills in the fabric. Din rubbed his cape between forefinger and thumb. Cobb’s song was a mirage at the horizon of Din’s range: he could pick it out with help from the memory of the amplified version. Unprocessed, the voice had a softer husk to it, suede rather than wool, sand-blasted smooth like the round-edged rocks it was sinking into. Curling and catching in the clever crevices of rocks to chase the blood-suckers off.

Din only knew the theory of harmony; he knew his own voice rumbled like a barge in a storm; he knew this song could be pretty or it could be clear, but not both. All of this would disappear in the morning.

Should he have sung Grogu a lullaby, that he might remember as he drifted asleep in a bed much safer than a handmade hammock strung over a bounty hunter’s bunk? Could Din hold a tune worth remembering? How would he have taught his father’s language to a son with three fingers?

He hadn’t had the time to figure it out.

total number of words you wrote this year: my stats page tells me 84K, and there's about 3-6k in WIPs (one's coauthored and I'm not tracking what's mine).

most popular fic this year: The Theory of Harmony, starting out strong.

least popular fic this year: Anomaly. It's ok, buddy.

longest completed fic you wrote this year: Defect, at almost 16K, because strangers-to-lovers requires legwork (ಠ~ಠ)

shortest completed fic you wrote this year: technically it's Parting Ways, because ao3 counts words with dashes in the middle as one, not two, so a 100-word drabble becomes 97 words when you're writing about Bo-Katan.

longest wip of the year: I only have two WIPs, so three moon wolf wins by default.

shortest wip of the year: double beef burger with shoestring fries.

fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year: I feel happily settled in Mandalorian fandom, and I really enjoyed a short visit to White Collar.

favorite character to write about this year: Obi-Wan Kenobi, surprising myself. I've got future plans for him.

favorite writing song/artist/album of this year: I come back to Monster Magnet more than any reasonable person ought.

a fic you didn’t expect to write: Defect. I kept coming to @bright-elen's inbox like 'you know what would be another cool spin on some concepts you've been doing?' over and over until I had that 'goddammit I'm going to have to write it aren't I' moment.

something you learned this year: I think about that 'ignore fake rules' advice really helps me. I stopped writing the fics I expected myself to write, and let things get a little weird to do looser, more exploratory work. Ultimately stories I'm really proud of like Chenini Wolf and then you are lost wouldn't have been written if I was trying to fit a certain idea of What My Style Is Like.

fic(s) you completed this year: 28 total: four multichaps, ten drabbles, five instalments in Flying Blind, five in new(ish) fandoms, sundry other oddnesses.

fics you’ll continue next year: if you're unlucky, those two wips. I'm holding out for The Theory of Harmony and Flying Blind additions, depending how BOBF shakes out.

current number of wips: two. Plenty more ideas up on the shelf.

any new fics to start next year: not holding myself to anything in particular, but there's some more fleshed-out longfic concepts I'm curious to try.

number of comments you haven’t read: inbox zero baby

most memorable comment/review: I had some wonderful examples this year, but this bookmark on The Theory of Harmony was very special. I love when people talk about stories as material objects.

holllyyyyyyy shit.....this is it. This is everything i could ever want in a fic. The WRITING???? THE PAIN???? the Tuskens were beautifully done, Cobb was lovely, it was subtle and sweet and vivid and awe-inspiring. A fic to dream about, and writing skills one can only hope to obtain one day. Just such a beautiful fic. It's the line that goes something like 'teaching his father's language to a son with three fingers' that just flayed me right open. And the singing as they travelled through Tatooine. I want to paint these words on my bedroom wall. I want to print them onto paper just so I can touch them.

events you participated in this year: absolutely none. It was great. I wrote birthday fics for a few friends in August and that was it.

fics you wanted to write but didn’t: I have a few good concepts up my sleeve but there's not enough to get onto paper yet. A Din/Obi-Wan fic, an Ahsoka/L3 fic, got incredible vibes for Pope/Catfish from Triple Frontier but I haven't knuckled down on them.

favorite fic you read this year: I actually read very little this year, and opted to read more traditional fiction. Looking at my bookmarks, the Narcos: Mexico fic they are two alone, they are really scratched my brain in the same way moments from that show did. I'm such a fan of the jealous/overhearing dynamic and the prose really understands the show's strengths being its beautiful texture and the abyss of ambition.

a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read: As usual I rec everything @bright-elen and @ghost-teat have been working on.

number of favorites/bookmarks you made this year: ten bookmarks, mostly of things I read in past years and forgot to mark.

favorite fanfic author of the year: actually I'm gonna shout out to the amazing artists @its-not-a-pen @dinkryze and @intricatecakes for all their gorgeous Mandalorian work.

longest fic you read this year: I do not actually know how to check. I think it might have been Sparks by @bright-elen?

shortest fic you read this year: Again, I am uncertain. Technically, probably this one.

favorite fandom to read fic from this year: Rogue One, my beloved. Incredible talent and a wonderful community. And Leverage, now I've finally watched it!

#ask memes

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nimata-beroya · 2 years

Text

TBoBF review ~ Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm

I must say that this week's episode was so much, much better than last week's. The show returned to meet my standards, which is a relief. Episode 4 might not be up to episode 2's greatness, but it was very close. I really loved it (you'll tell by how long my commentary is)

Let's get into the details. All the juicy things below the cut (warning for spoilers)

Yeah, Boba, you're the baddest of all badasses but taking the palace all by yourself is a little bit too much to handle.

I love Boba spoiling his Bantha. The way she was licking her lips and wagging her tail like a big dog so Boba'd give her some meat was awesome. 🥺🥰💚

My only big disappointment with this episode is they did not show Mando!!! How dare they not give us a tiny cameo. It's a wasted opportunity! I wouldn't have minded if it was only like Boba watching Mando at a distance. I mean, Lateef (one of Pedro Pascal's performance doubles) is working on tBoBF too, so it was easy to dress him as Din so he could play the part! C'mon!!! Not even a Razor Crest's cameo?! They didn't even show the ending scene of Mando season 2 premiere!! Why didn't they reuse that?!! The jump to the ending scene of the season 2 finale was a little jarring. I wanna know why Boba followed Din to Mos Pelgo, why he didn't take his armor from Cobb himself? I have questions and no answers!! I need them!!

My only hope is that there will be another flashback (although it seems very unlikely since Boba doesn't need the bacta tank anymore apparently and that was when they were shown) and Mando will be included then. Or maybe they're saving Din's cameo for an ending scene in the finale as they did with Boba. If so, I'll forgive them. Until then, I'm mad 😡

Honestly, I think turtles are faster than banthas 😆 because Boba found Fennec like 12 or more hours after Toro shot her. She was shot at sunrise and when Boba arrived it was dark again. Which presents the question of how the kriff she survived so long?

And don't get me started on the lack of medical care afterward. I mean, like operating on her without even an oxygen mask on or a blood transfusion. Don't people in the galaxy far, far away know about germs and bacteria? I know Bacta is magical, but seriously?!?! Did she get any even?!!

I guess now we know the why of the Teletubbies gang, just to explain how Fennec was saved

The internal freakout Fennec had when Boba told her who he was. She was having a very, very bad day for sure. I can't get out of my head that she was like… first, I'm caught, then shot by a wannabe sithspit hunter, I'm part machine for the rest of my life, and now I'm at the mercy of Boba fragging Fett!!!

😭😭😭😭😭 Boba is feeling guilty about the Tuskens! Nooooooo!!! 💔💔💔😭😭😭

Yeah, Fennec's doubts about the Nikto bike riders managing to kill the Tuskens so easily feed my theory that they didn't do it alone. The Pikes were directly involved and not only as suggesting as it was when they talked with Boba. That was a joint assault, just that the pikes abstained from leaving any trace of their involvement, so the niktos carry all the blame. I mean, they got what they wanted. Now, with tuskens put in "their place" and no nikto bikers around, there's nobody to bother them with their spice business… Well, nobody but Boba, which is why they're coming for him in the present time.

Oh, so what he wants is his ship, not taking over. At least, not yet. I'm glad that the mystery of Slave 1's whereabouts is finally resolved. It was lowkey driving me crazy.

Wow! Fennec's rifle has many surprises. I love it! Good for her!

🤣🤣🤣 the bantha licking Boba. I see they didn't go with the thing of Banthas bonding with their owners (tuskens) for life (like says in this post by @kotemorons)

The rat catcher! It was adorable and funny. Quite fast little bugger indeed! 😂😂

Boba and Fennec complimented each other's fighting skills. I could watch a whole episode of them doing that, I swear. Let them kick ass and praise one another afterward

"Next time we stick to the plan"👿 " Next time?" 🤨 oh gawd these 2 😆😆 I'm so incredibly happy that they work so well as a badass duo. If the show was just them bickering I'd watch it happily.

"There are good mechanics in Mos Eisley." Yes! There are! Peli Motto!

Erh, Boba, sorry to contradict you, but nope, your armor is not there. I guess it's understandable that Boba was so out of it after escaping the Sarlacc that he doesn't remember that the jawas stole his armor. This brings me back to the whole Mando-armor-Vanth thing and how/when Boba found out about it. I wanna know!! Show me, dammit!

Oh god!! The Sarlacc is still alive!! How? Didn't Boba burn it and punch a hole through it? As if Boba didn't have enough for nightmares with the thing, now Fennec will have them too. TBH, this time it was scarier than in the first episode. Then, it was gross more than anything, but now it scared me the Sarlacc trying to eat them 😖

Ooooh! The seismic charge! Good thinking, Fennec!!

"Next time don't touch my buttons." 🤣🤣

Is water enough to wash off acid? 🤨🤔 and not any acid but stomach acid which is extremely corrosive. I swear Star Wars science is incomprehensible to me 😐

"You can only get so far without a tribe" 🥺🥺

I wonder if, with that in mind, Boba feels any different toward the clones now. What would he do if he found some of them; if he knew Rex and Wolffe are alive (are they?) Or Kix. If he finds out about Omega?

Ok, Boba is completely healed, which I presume means that he won't sleep in the bacta tank anymore. Does that mean no more flashbacks? I hope not because, as I said, I still have unanswered questions!

Oh! Krrsantan is still there. He looks pissed. Oh, yes. He really is. Yikes!

Ha! I knew he would do that! Dismember the guy and pay his debt. And Boba's expressions in the scene are gold! I love how expressive Temuera is.

Oh, yeah! Another stray for the family.

Oh, there he is!! Such a good boy! 🤣🤣 how everyone jumped out when the rancor made his presence known. And Fennec's smirk! 😏

Just like Jango, Boba pulls off the innocent act nicely. As if the placement of the table on top of the Rancor's cage wasn't on purpose

Is it me or does the music in the final scene after Fennec says that "money can buy muscle if you know where to look" have a very The Mandalorian feel? Is this some kind of foreshadowing or is it just me grasping for straws here? I know the main themes are composed by Ludwig Goransson so obviously there will be some familiar tunes but I don't know. The timing was too perfect and I'm in Mando missing hours.

Let's be honest. If either Fennec or Boba asks, Din would come, especially if the fanon consensus on Din's reluctance to be Mand'alor becomes canon, he'd be glad to have an excuse to skip responsibilities.

So, war is at the door. Bring it on!

#tbobf review #tbobf spoilers #tbobf #the book of boba fett #chapter 4 the gathering storm #i loved it!

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madslorian · 3 years

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Din Djarin as Tarzan Lyrics (Headcanons) pt 1/4

Something in me decided to pick up my laptop and start writing these headcanons for Din, solely based on lyrics from the soundtrack for the 1999 Disney movie Tarzan. I can't explain why, or how, I got this idea. But here they are... be cautious of the fact the last time I wrote a fictional piece of any kind was probably some silly One Direction fic like 5 years ago :)

TWO WORLDS

"Raise your head up, lift high the load / Take strength from those that need you / Build high the walls, build strong the beams / A new life is waiting but danger's no stranger here

No words describe a mother's tears / No words can heal a broken heart / A dream is gone but where there's hope"

Okay, I read these lyrics and I am instantly thinking about the scene where Din loses his parents. And once he is taken in by the other Mandalorians he's forced into this hardened exterior (literally) and doesn't get the chance to properly deal with his emotional trauma. This new life he is facing is much different than what past him has known, and there's no room to be soft. He needs to build up these walls to block himself from feeling these emotions if he wants to stay alive. So I imagine him as a kid, and probably into his teen years, sitting in bed late at night unable to sleep, just weeping these quiet and muffled sobs, remembering the look on his parents' faces, his mother's face, as they were ripped apart for the last time. He vows to never get attached to somebody in a way that will hurt him when one of you inevitably has to leave. To never put himself in that position of having to deal with his walls being broken down and have this scared and emotionally traumatized man be exposed to the outside world.

But then you come along, and you're so breathtaking in a way that catches him off guard when he sees you frowning at your own reflection in the mirror. Or the way you struggle to get words out when you're frustrated. Or, oh Maker, the way he sees you looking out the cockpit window with this longing look on your face. To him, you are living so openly and freely it's almost confusing to see you upset and frustrated at things because everything you do looks like it's done with ease. Then over time, he fails to see how these Beskar walls he's spent so many years building up are turning to mush. He's glancing at you longer than he should (even though you can't tell behind the visor), standing closer to you than he normally would, and when you hand him a tool for the ship and your hands' touch it seems like an eternity before he finally pulls away. Then all too suddenly, he's laying in bed awake at night and he starts to recognize this little spark of hope. The same spark he pushed down so many years ago that reassures him that he could actually love somebody without one of you leaving.

#din djarin #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin headcanons #mandalorian headcanons #star wars #i don't know where this idea came from but i dig it #tarzan and mandalorian crossover #who knew?#din is emotionally traumatized but you can't tell me he wouldn't look at you in awe and just admire the person in front of him #for a split second he would forget he hates emotions and let him yearn for you before mentally kicking himself #but they way you look with the child? he's dead if he has to keep living with you on board #he WILL fall in love with you #he doesn't make the rules #just begrudgingly follows them #madslorian #madslorian headcanons #madslorians writes

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b0n-chann · 4 years

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I love your writing!! If you're still doing requests from that prompt list, maybe 200 for mando?

Okay, first of all, I’m so sorry this has been sitting in my inbox for FOREVER. But also, I had moved this over into my drafts before I somehow lost all my asks and I’m so glad this one was saved!!

Also if you’re not following @spookyold-saintjm PLEASE DO IT NOW AND READ THROUGH HER MASTERLIST AND SEND HER THE LOVEEEE. 🥰

“He loves you, you know? He’s just afraid of admitting it.”

——————

Cara stares uncomfortably between the couple before her as they argued back and forth. Err....they were still a couple, right?

“If you think you can stop me from going, Mando, you are absolutely out of your mind,” you seethed. You could see Din flinch when you refused to call him by name, knowing he takes it as a sign of agitation at him. But while you know he’s gotten used to you calling him by his real name, you still wanted to respect his privacy with Cara around. Either way, it worked to your favor.

“I’m out of my mind....I’m out of MY mind?!” He scoffs. You were going to be the death of him. “Infuriating woman,” he says under his breath. Unfortunately, you hear him.

“The child is sick. I need to into the city go get supplies for him.” You repeat for what feels like the hundredth time today, tears biting at the edges of your eyes. “And between the three of us, I don’t see a Mandalorian or ex-shock trooper getting in and out of there without causing a scene.”

“You do realize you forgot to mention the part where it’s a city filled with Imps?”

You don’t respond, but give him a look of defiance. Din quickly flexes and unflexes his fist in irritation, a tick that you’ve noticed in your time with him. If Din was completely honest with himself, your fiery spirit is one of the many things that attracts you to him. Your personality complements his in almost the opposite sense but it attracts him like a moth to a flame.

Irritated cries come from the cockpit and the Mandalorian sighs. “We’re not done here,” he says before stepping up on the ladder to check on the child.

“Well, that was explosive. You guys always that...passionate?” Cara says, quirking here eyebrows at you suggestively.

You let out a sound somewhere between and snort and a scoff. Cara puts her hands up in mock defense. “I’m just saying...I can only imagine what you guys are like in the bedroom...”

“CARA!” You exclaim as she breaks down in laughter. You can help but let a smile crack your features. “He’s been getting worse lately,” you trail off thinking about how Din’s demeanor has changed over the last few weeks. “His protectiveness, I mean.” You add hastily before Cara can twist your words as she has been known to do. You drop down into one of the seats at the small table dramatically and sigh, suddenly exhausted.

“Hey,” Cara says, sitting across from you. “You okay? You look kinda pale.”

You hesitate. You didn’t want to say anything until you had some sort of confirmation but Cara has always been a trusted friend. “I, uh...there’s another reason why I need to go into the city. Alone, preferably,” you drop your voice and shift your eyes to the ladder leading to the cockpit. “My cycle. It’s late.”

Cara’s eyes widen and she grabs your hand, giving it a squeeze. “You’re pregnant?” She whispers hastily.

“I can’t be entirely sure, but the evidence is damning,” you say, trying to keep your emotions in check.

“Well that explains the screaming match earlier.” You whimper and put your head to the table. Cara places a comforting hand on your head, stroking your hair in a way that reminds you of how your mother used to comfort you as a child. Your heart clenches when you realize you could be doing the same to your own child soon. “Shh,” she soothes. “I know the tin can is infuriating, but he loves you, you know? He’s just afraid of admitting it. He’s never going to let you go though, especially if he finds out what you’re hiding.”

“What is it you’re hiding?” Din asks in a clipped tone, descending the ladder. He sees Cara tending to you and immediately worries. “What’s wrong?”

You squeeze Cara’s hand in worry. She gives yours a light squeeze back, trying to reassure you. “Ahh, your girl here isn’t feeling so hot either. I think she might have caught what the kid has. And stubborn as she always is, she was trying to get out of here to try and keep us from catching it, too.” Din sits down on his haunches in front of you and notices your glassy eyes. You had been crying. He places a hand gently on your knee.

“Tin can, you stay here and take care of your family. I’ll make the run.” You and Din both snap your heads to Cara’s direction and her emphasis on the word family is not lost on you. “I’ll be quick,” she says as she stands and begins to cover her tattoos. “I’ll be discreet too, I promise.”

“You sure?” Din asks her as he stands as well.

“Yeah, I might need to borrow some stuff though.” She says as she quirks her head towards his weapons cases. He nods and walks over to get her what she needs, but not before he gives your shoulder a light squeeze, telling you he’s not too mad.

You both wait for Din to be out of earshot. “Cara, you didn’t need to do that,” you tell her but she just waves you off.

“Don’t worry about it. Gives me a chance to walk around, and gives you guys a chance to talk,” she says pointedly. “Besides, you better remember this when my little niece or nephew is born and in need a godmother.” You both laugh as you make your way over to Din.

Cara picks what she needs before you and Din see her off the Crest. “Shouldn’t be too long,” she says as she walks down the ramp. “I’ll be back before nightfall.”

“Thanks again, Cara,” Din calls after her. She salutes him in response. Din then looks down at you. “You okay?” He asks as he takes your hand, playing with your fingers.

You look back up at him and smile, realizing just how okay you are.

Tag list:

@momc95 @electricprincess888 @maia-hocane @lamnothome @highonsoundwaves @tedpicklez @renreypoe @mabelleen @cryptkeepersoul @holamor @mando-vibes @lustriix @katialvi @spookyold-saintjm @sarcasm-n-insomnia @awesomefandomsunited @sentimental-ghost @mrsparknuts @oloreaa

#the mandalorian #din djarin #star wars #dyn jarren #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandalorian x oc #the mandalorian x you #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin x you #din djarin x reader #send asks #the mandalorian imagine #din djarin imagine #star wars imagine

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nikibogwater · 2 years

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Niki Blethers: Book of Boba Fett--ep 4

At last, we get to see the origin story of our dynamic duo, and it's....fine...? Which is definitely an improvement over last week's episode, at least! But as much as I wanted this show to do well, at halfway through the first season, it's becoming painfully clear that Book of Boba Fett is struggling.

...Except for any scene where Boba interacts with animals. Those are Cinema Gold.

As I mentioned in my Blether about ep. 1, Boba and Fennec's friendship was the main draw of this series for me. I liked what we saw of their dynamic in The Mandalorian, and I was pretty eager to see more of it. So far, their interactions have been some of my favorite parts of this series, and I was excited to finally see where their friendship began.

...And apparently, it began with Boba carrying Fennec's unconscious body to...the Star Wars equivalent of a tattoo parlor???

...Uhhh....Do they just....not have any medical facilities on Tatooine? Also this grandpa strolls into a tattoo parlor with a body and you're telling me not a single person asks any questions or offers help? Like, I know Tatooine is the rough part of the Outer Rim, but like...no hospitals??? No normal, human reactions to the sight of a dying woman???? How does anyone even live here??????? Oh what's that, the tattoo guy knows how to perform life-saving surgery on the fly? And has all the equipment for it right there? ...Well, alrighty then.

Look, I know this is probably nitpicky, and I'm certainly no expert on sci-fi worldbuilding, but I'm pretty sure small cybernetic implants for purely cosmetic appeal and the artificial reconstruction of someone's internal organs are two entirely different things. How in the world did Boba know that this piercings shop would be able to save Fennec's life?

Okay, y'know what, nevermind. Small discrepancy. We're moving on.

So Fennec agrees to help Boba steal his ship back from Jabba's old palace. Like Fennec, I do not understand why Boba couldn't just walk in there, hold up his Clone ID and go "Hey, sorry about leaving my ship in your garage for so long, but I can get it out of your hair for you now." Boba's answer to this is extremely cryptic ("Because I might not like the answer. And I'm much less intimidating without my armor.") so I'm still a bit confused, but hey, I dig a good heist story, so I'll let it slide for now.

I cannot impress upon you just how much I love the fact that Boba being a stereotypical Dog Person is a consistent trait of his character. That scene where he releases his Bantha just warmed my heart. "Go! Find other Banthas! Make baby Banthas!" fajhdgfajhdgf OKAY MAYBE THIS IS VERY DISRESPECTFUL TO THE ORIGINAL BOBA FETT'S LEGACY, BUT I'M LAUGHING AND SMILING SO I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO CALL THIS A WIN.

While I know a lot of fans have been disappointed by Favreau's reinterpretation of Boba's character (and trust me, I can see the glaring incongruity with what we've seen of Boba in the past), I do appreciate that this Boba Fett at least has his own semi-unique presence. I think this show would have been ten times more boring for me if he'd just been another Cool Mysterious Guy in a Helmet, ala Din Djarin. He definitely doesn't feel as complex or interesting as Din Djarin, but at least they were trying to make something new.

That being said, I can understand why a lot of people were really put off with this new talkative, mostly-helmetless version of Boba. I was never a huge Boba fangirl to begin with, so the character inconsistency doesn't bother me as much, but I totally get where the disappointment comes from. But back to the episode itself.

I really enjoyed the scene in the kitchens, with Boba and Fennec having to deactivate the droids as quietly as possible. The Rat Catcher is my new favorite class of droid, and while the scene was probably entirely unnecessary, I took immense guilty pleasure from watching Boba Fett chase that little bugger around, Loony Toons style.

Buuuuut once they got out of the kitchens, I found myself spacing out again. I kept waiting for some emotional punch, something that would serve as the turning point for Boba and Fennec's alliance--the point where they go from mere allies to friends. But it never really came. They just grabbed the ship and got out of there. So when Fennec reveals that she wants to stick with Boba for a little while longer, it doesn't feel completely earned. Like, it's nice, and I can see that they work well together and make a good team, but it doesn't quite feel like a friendship yet. Maybe this will be addressed more in future episodes, although pacing-wise, it felt like it should've been done here.

If I want to be a little harder on this show, I would say this lack of compelling friendship-building is part of a bigger trend in Book of Boba Fett: the Tell, Don't Show trend. Again, I want to see this whole thing through before I make any sweeping judgements like that, but the number of times I've realized "Wait, they're acting like I should care about this specific thing, but I don't care about it at all because they haven't spent much time on it" is really beginning to stack up.

This is especially noticeable regarding the Tusken Raiders and their impact on Boba's character arc. As I mentioned last week, the death of Boba's tribe had very little emotional impact--it felt like an afterthought, like it didn't really matter. And yet in this episode, we are told that all of Boba's motivations can be traced back to what happened to the Tuskens. Moreover, he describes the Tuskens as having "rescued" him and "treated him as one of their own." Which uh...Well, yes, they did treat him as one of their own, after enslaving him and forcing him to prove himself as worthy of respect. Let's be perfectly clear here, the Tuskens did not immediately take this man in out of the kindness of their hearts. And we were shown practically nothing of Boba's life with them after he was accepted into their tribe. So Boba doing a complete 180 in character and motivations feels very unearned.

Speaking of weird character motivations, why is the Wookie so mad all the time? No seriously. Why's he so upset. He just ripped some poor rando's arm off for having a nice time at the casino, wth is this guy's deal.

The fact that I got SO excited over the tease for Din Djarin's return is a little embarrassing, but also I love that they did it without any dialogue--they know his musical theme is so iconic and easily recognizable at this point that they don't have to tell us who Fennec was talking about. After Boba completely hijacked The Mandalorian, I am high-key hoping Din Djarin returns the favor here.

Much as I really wanted this show to do well, I have to confess that at this point, the only thing that brings me back for each episode is Boba Fett being a Dog Parent, and the promised return of Din Djarin. Which is....not great. I suppose it's still possible that they could turn this whole thing around within the next 3 episodes and end on a fantastically high note, but....well, I'm not holding my breath.

#niki blethers #star wars #book of boba fett #semi-review

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