#i was right—EVEN VALIN HAS THEM...

[blackwaxidol]

re; hip dips i just realised what it is about some of my Drone drawings (unreleased) that i found odd in that they are not quite comparable to some digital drawings of women, because i draw Drone with hip dips. i assumed the... "diplessness" of digital hips was just an artistic choice. wheeze.

[thefanbasewhore]

AHHHH Can you do something with being with Din and Mayfield when he takes his helmet off???

Summary: Din will not let you live with guilt, he offers you an alternative instead.

Paring: Din Djarin/female reader. But no use of Y/N

Chapter 15 spoilers, I tagged this post !!

Despite her protest Din slips past the pair, Mayfield's fingers digging into the flesh of her arm even though the layers of the stormtrooper suit it burns.

"Stop." He whispers close, only for she could hear. Her helmet was still on, he used that to his advantage by making it look like he was fixing the vocoder. "You're only going to attract attention to him."

Eyes drop from his own, turning slightly to insure the safety of her beloved. Din's back is facing them, messy curls surprise her. He took the helmet off?

It tickled his neck, she knew it was brown, he had told her on many occasions but it looked soft, pretty well kept despite always being always covered. It were times like this she wished she was closer, not to break his creed but to finally see what fingers look like running through the ringlets. Her mouth ran dry as a voice commanded him. Everything happened to fast, she gasps as Mayfield grips her wrist dragging her along with him.

The main reason being if Din knew he let her out of his sight, he would be no longer. She tries, really tries to look away but everything she ever wanted is right in front of her. It's a square jaw, soft pierced lips right below those a trimmed mustache. Eyes are warm, dark brown with hints of honey were the light illuminates through the windows. It's impossible to concentrate, the soft pout of his lips makes sure of that, having kissed those lips many times but they looked perfect.

He was beautiful, nothing she could have expected but everything she needed. Mayfield must have been thinking the same thing as words 'brown eyes' leaves his own mouth.

"And you?" The words go past deaf ears, but she quickly notices the words are for her the moment his carmel eyes meet hers back. He's caught her.

Suddenly she relieved the helmet is still on, embrassment is not easy to hide, it claims cheeks red makes skin blush up her neck. Mayfield answers for her, but the superior is still not happy.

"Take your helmet off trooper." Her eyes meet Mayfield's for any signs of run, or shoot but there is none. Din stiffs at his request, standing a little straighter, his panic clearly shown of his face.

Hair falls to shoulders, air instantly reaching her lungs quicker, more efficient. Valin stands a little straighter as well, a small hmmph with a sickly smile. "The empire allowed you to join? I thought one of the commanders would take you instead."

Mayfield's hand tighten around Din's hands to warn him not to move, luckily they are behind his back and out of sight.

"I'm a good shooter, sir." She answers loudly, Valin nods in response. When the attention is finally off she sighs to herself, now she can't hide the fact she can't take her eyes off of him. When Din's eyes meet hers again as Valin is tugging them towards a table, she can't help but notice the pure panic, uncomfortably shifting, scanning the room as if he's calculating how many people he's going to have to kill to keep his creed.

There's a problem with that, the problem being you. He could never... The thought never ran through his mind but guilt filled her instantly. Selfish, the only word that came to mind. She was selfish and greedy taking advantage of this moment for herself. Din could sense it, or take notice in the way mouth shapes, frowning. A large hand squeezes her knee under the table. Once again she couldn't pay attention, chewing on the fat of her lip nervously. The only sound that broke her from her trance was the sound of Mayfield's blaster sending Valin slidding across the floor.

Din and her eyes meet in panic, then at Mayfield who shot the surrounding officers. Quickly jumping into action until everyone was down.

Din first looks at his girl, accessing for any injuries but as Mayfield pushes the helmet into his reach he shakes his head, "I don't have to, I can't."

"You did what you had to do, I never saw your face." Mayfield everts his head from his direction, almost as if he never did. Din's eyes meets her again, his cyar'ika as she also turns her head.

"Put it on Mando." She remembered the talk they had months ago when he finally told her his name, that it was his own the one things no one would know and he wanted her to. She figured with his face revealed, that's the one thing he had left.

The mandalorian would claim she's wrong, he did still have something left, actually two things. One was her, the other stolen from him but soon to be returned.

Blasters filled the area of the roof top, Din's hands supporting her to the ship, "Jump!"

They all landed with a rough thud, instantly she retreats into the ship nursing a blaster shot that skimmed her arm. A small his falls from her lips as she tries to rip the material of the suit away, Din is on his knees in front of her in an instant, large hands cupping her thighs. "You were hit?"

"I'm fine." Din doesn't particularly like the short answer, only notices the way she averts her gaze. He ribs the cloth away from the wound, Cara already has the med pack ready but Din instead takes it, applying pressure with a cloth. Blood fills it instantly, Din curses under his breath. Did it go straight through?

"Are you doing okay cyar'ika?" She nods hesitantly, eyes hooded from the amount of blood rushing out.

"I'm sorry."

Din notices as she starts slouching, other hand pressed against the valley of her chest. "Stay with me, we're gonna put some becca on it and you're going to start feeling better."

"I'm sorry."

Din sighs, "There is nothing to be sorry for." The can is uncapped as he shakes it, "keep talking to me, you're loosing too much blood."

"I shouldn't have looked. I'm selfish." The words are slurred, "I just looked, I didn't think about how it affects you."

"It couldn't be avoided. Stop." It's a warning that it's a dangerous topic to be discussing right now.

"You're handsome." Din feels his cheeks warm, he would have smiled if she wasn't slowly loosing consciousness in front of him. Forehead presses against the metal one.

"Stay with me, it should start working soon. It only takes a few minutes."

A soft hum is all he hears, "Pretty eyes."

Din is blushing uncontrollably, suddenly the armour feels so hot. Slowly her eyes begin to flutter more, color filling her face once again. As soon as she's able to support herself he begins to clean it up.

"I'm sorry." This time he can tell she means the apology, small tears of guilt fill her eyes. "I should have looked away, you should be able to trust me."

"I do trust you, it's not your fault, stop apologizing sweet girl." Soft fingers angle her face to look up at his visor, she could picture the brown eyes under it, the sharpness of his jaw. "I mean it."

"I feel like I ruined something for you, I can't look at you without feeling guilty."

Din feels his throat dry at the thought that crosses his mind, he tried to say it but snaps his mouth close. If she was his wife then it wouldn't break his creed, she would feel more at ease.

He pulls her closer, "If you were my.."

"Your what?"

Din sighs softly, knowing that the guilt would eat her alive, she would never be able to look at him again. "Be my riduur, you would be apart of my clan, be able to see my face without breaking the creed."

"I don't want this to be the reason why you asked, I want it to mean something."

Din shakes his head, "It does mean something, you mean everything to me. It might have not been this soon but I always knew you would end up my riduur some day."

The words warm her heart but Din has other ideas. Now alone he picks the helmet up slowly, just enough to touch her lips with his own. "Please marry me, I don't want to spend another night with you blindfolded. I don't want to hide myself from you any longer."

She smiles, pressing her lips to his again, a silent answer.

[dindjarinbae]

Commander Brown Eyes (Din Djarin x reader)

hi i know this wasn’t requested, but it was something i had been writing since like friday or satuday so... i have like 12 requests to get to, and i am hoping to get those all done within the next two weeks, so bear with me please!! anyways, soft din, that’s it. send tweet.

WARNINGS: none

WORD COUNT: 3979

“Y/n. I want you to come, too. You won’t show up on anything at all. You have no record.” Your boyfriend, Din Djarin, pointed out while you, Fennec, Cara, Mayfeld, Boba Fett, and Din, all stood trying to figure out who was going to accompany Mayfeld into the mining facility. 

You blinked and looked up at Din, shaking your head a few times, “I- I couldn’t possibly go, what on earth do you need me for?” You asked, getting a bit nervous. He usually adamantly refused to let you go on missions or anything of the sort in fear that you might get hurt, so why now? You looked at him quizzically and begged for an answer with your eyes. 

You got an answer, just not from Din.

“Because you’re pretty. There ain’t a single general in there that would even think to find us suspicious because they’ll be looking at you.” Mayfeld interjected and looked at Din, “That’s the idea, right Mando?” He asked and raised his eyebrows. 

Din shuffled his feet around for a second and then nodded, “I had a better way of saying it, but that works, too.” He mumbled and you could just sense that his eyes were on you. You blinked a few times and then looked at Cara and Fennec to see if they were going to protest but Fennec was nodding and Cara seemed to think this was a good idea.

“But I’m going with you two, as well. I don’t like her going in alone with you.” He spoke firmly towards Mayfeld, and Mayfeld started ranting about how that wasn’t smart because the beskar armor would be too suspicious. 

You tuned them out while they bickered amongst themselves and you turned to Boba, who you decided that you liked very much and you frowned a bit. You saw his shoulders shake in a small chuckle and he shook his head, “Don’t look at me like that, this wasn’t my idea.” He stated and folded his arms across his chest. You huffed and then dramatically sighed, getting reluctantly dragged into the mission. 

——

By the time the three of you had arrived into the base after a relentless attack from pirates, the entire base had gathered there to cheer you on. Din climbed out of the cab and held his arms out for you, and you climbed into his outstretched arms and he gently lifted you down, holding you underneath your armpits like you weighed nothing more than a rag doll. He held you for just a bit longer than normal, and you assumed he was just nervous to have you in the base with him and Mayfeld. Carefully, he set you on your feet and you looked up at him, chuckling quietly, not getting used at all to the stormtrooper outfit he had to throw on. 

“Don’t you dare say anything about it.” He mumbled and gave your ass a well concealed, playful smack. 

You giggled and grinned up at him cheekily, “I didn’t say anything! I just thought it!” You protested, and he would’ve grabbed you and whacked you on the ass again, but Mayfeld came around the front of the vehicle and he cleared his throat at the two of you. 

The playful side of Din melted away instantly and he walked up to join Mayfeld, and you trailed behind the two of them, nodding kindly at the stormtroopers that waved at you as you passed through the crowd. You looked around the crowded base and desperately wanted to grab onto Din’s arm, but all the eyes in the room suggested that you not do that. You stayed back behind them and tried to make yourself as small as possible as the two of them rendezvoused in front of the mess hall and you moved up closer to them until you you’re beside Din, your hip brushing his thigh. He glanced down at you, and more than anything in that moment, he wanted to wrap his arm around your waist and keep you in a protective grip. 

Mayfeld wandered off casually a few steps to check for a terminal, and he came back seconds later to report.

“There it is.” He spoke lowly, and Din gave him a small nod. 

“Good luck.” He said gruffly and you moved backwards behind him just a bit. But he caught your arm gently and pulled you out, “You need to go with him.” He stated and pushed you towards Mayfeld very carefully. 

You swallowed thickly and nodded, meeting Mayfeld’s eyes. He nodded towards the terminal and you looked over your shoulder at Din who nodded at you once, telling you to go. You scuttled off behind Mayfeld and followed him closely until he stopped in the threshold of the mess hall. His stance changed and he visibly tensed before turning around and walking right back the way he came, catching your arm in the process, pulling you back to Din. 

When the two of you reached Din again, you wiggled your arm away from Mayfeld and you grabbed onto Din’s arm, not caring who saw at this point. Your heart was racing and you had a bad, bad feeling about this all. 

“I can’t go in there.” Mayfeld stated, a tremor in his voice. 

“Why not?” Din asked sharply, and you tightened your grip on his arm. He allowed you to cling to his arm and he kept his gaze fixed entirely on Mayfeld. 

“That’s Valin Hess.” Mayfeld answered and you scooter a bit closer to Din. 

He yanked his arm from your grip and you almost protested, but in an act of (maybe thirty minutes worth) touch deprivation, he wrapped the same arm around your waist and he pulled you against his side, the cool metal of the stormtrooper armor pressing coldly against you. 

“Who?” He asked, and tightened his arm around you. 

“Valin Hess. I used to serve under him.” Mayfeld practically wheezed, and you could hear the panic in his voice. You felt bad for Mayfeld, with his face turning a ghostly white and the anxiety in his tone. You reached out to rub his shoulder once reassuringly and then sunk back into Mando, looking down at your feet. 

“Will he recognize you?” Din asked, moving closer to Mayfeld. 

“I don’t know. I was just a field operative, but I’m not taking the chance. It’s over.” Mayfeld whispered and you shook your head quickly, looking up at him. 

“No no no, you have t-“ you protested, but Din promptly cut you off. 

Mayfeld moved to leave, but Din grabbed his arm, “Let’s just do this quick and we can get out of here.” He said sternly and you frowned, looking up at Mayfeld with a panicked expression. He couldn’t back out. He couldn’t. If he did, you would never see your little green baby ever again, and that brought hot, stinging tears to your eyes. 

“I can’t do it, okay? We have to abort. I’m sorry.” Mayfeld snapped and he tried to walk away again. 

As he did last time, Din caught his arm and tugged him back, “No, I cant. If we don’t get those coordinates, then me and her,” he said, and motioned towards you with the chin of the helmet he wore, “... will lose the kid forever. Give me the data stick.” Din said and Mayfeld looked a bit perplexed. 

“It’s not gonna work.” He protested and fell silent for a second. 

You looked up at Din and then back at Mayfeld and you could see the frown etching itself onto Mayfeld’s face, “In order to access the network, the terminal has to scan your face. And unless you’re gonna send her in there-'' he said and motioned towards you. 

Din shook his head and held you tighter, and Mayfeld simply nodded, “I figured. Let’s go.” He snapped. 

“Give it to me.” Din said again, sharper this time. Mayfeld held it out and Din snatched it from his hand and he tugged you forward a bit before letting his arm fall from your waist. He nodded for you to follow him and you shook your head, feeling nothing but terror as you looked at Valin Hess inside the mess hall. Din sighed as he watched you stand next to Mayfeld and he tipped his head to the side a bit, and something told you he was pleading to you with his eyes. 

You reluctantly nodded and followed in behind him, standing casually a couple tables away while he parked himself in front of the terminal. You felt Valin’s dark stare on yourself and then watched it move to Din and it stayed there while he attempted to use the terminal. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until the terminal chirped out that there was a problem and there was an incomplete facial scan. 

Everything then moved in slow motion as you watched Din grab the helmet he wore, and he lifted it over his head, revealing the hair that you’d felt before, but had never seen. A gasp got stuck in your throat. Of course it would be brown. Of course Din Djarin would have the prettiest brown curls that you’d ever laid your eyes on, and you wanted nothing more in that moment then to go to him and run your fingers through the soft, pretty curls that fell to the nape of his neck. 

The computer quit its’ bitching and you watched him put the data stick in the terminal. You wanted desperately for him to turn around, and you could tell by his body language that he was absolutely terrified. He had worn that helmet his entire life to hide his face from the world, and now his face was out in the open for everyone, including his girlfriend to see. You couldn’t imagine what that felt like. 

“Trooper!” 

A deep voice pulled you from your reverie, and you looked over at it’s source. Valin Hess. 

He rose from his seat and walked towards Din, and you felt bile rise in your throat as you moved just a step forward to be closer to him. 

“Hey, trooper.” Valin snapped once again, and Din quickly pulled the data stick from the terminal before he turned towards Hess.

“Pay attention when a superior addresses you.” Valin drawled and you went another step closer, biting your lip as he spoke again, “What’s your designation?” He asked, and his voice gave you shivers as you watched Din’s body language show exactly what you’d expected: terror. 

“Transport crew.” He nearly whispered, and your heart broke as you heard his voice crack on the last syllable. 

There was only a second of silence before Hess spoke again, “What?” He asked, turning his body ever so slightly. 

“My designation is transport copilot.” Din answered again, and you prayed that this was the answer Valin Hess was looking for.

From where you stood, you could see only a side profile of your Mandalorian. A strong nose, high cheekbones, a bit of a mustache, and a light coating of facial hair. Nothing you didn’t already know he had, because you’d felt it many times without the lights on or with your eyes covered, but this was the first time you had a real picture to put with the features your gentle fingertips would trace whenever he let you do so. 

“No son,” Valin said, a bit annoyed now, “What’s your TK number?” He asked and you turned your head towards Mayfeld. 

You caught his eye and sent him a pleading look, begging for him to come in and help out. Your lip wobbled and Mayfeld sighed before moving in towards you. 

“My TK number is...” Din began, but before he could continue, Mayfeld had already grabbed your arm and walked the both of you over towards Valin and Din.

“This is my Commanding Officer, TK five nine three, sir.” Mayfeld interjected and dropped your arm, leaving you to subtly scoot yourself towards Din. 

That is exactly what you did. You scurried to his side and it took all of your will not to latch onto his arm as you so often did when you wanted to be close to him. 

“I’m imperial combat assault transport, Lieutenant TK one-eleven, sir.” Mayfeld finished and you glanced up at Din. 

He stole a glance down at you as well, and you felt your eyes water just a bit. He was truly the most beautiful man you had ever laid your eyes on, with his full bottom lip and the sharp curve of his jawline with the thin stubble that grew over his skin, but what really made your heart melt, was his eyes. His big, pretty, entrancing brown eyes, framed with his full eyebrows and a set of short, dark lashes. You wanted so badly to touch his face, and you could see the nervousness in his expression as he stared at you. 

“And this is his... human hearing aid of sorts,” he said and pointed towards you, “I’m afraid you’ll have to speak up to him a little bit, since his vessel lost pressure in Taanab.” Mayfeld explained.

Valin gave a slight nod before leaning in towards Din, and you put a gentle, reassuring hand on Din’s shoulder, “What’s your name officer?” Valin asked loudly, and borderline condescendingly. 

Din was silent and looked around and Hess raised his eyebrows as if to reiterate his question before Mayfeld stepped in again.

“We just call him Brown Eyes. Isn’t that right, Officer?” Mayfeld asked, and Din gave a nod. 

“And her?” Valin asked again, pointing at you, his eyes traveling up and down your body, and you felt like hiding behind Din. 

You had to think quickly, so you thought quickly of your favorite flower and you looked up at Valin with a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace, “I just go by Lavender, sir. Apparently a head injury left me without a memory of my name.” You said, laughing casually. 

 Valin tore his gaze away from you after a skeevy smirk in your direction and Mayfeld spoke up again, “Come on, you two. Let’s go fill out those TPS reports, so we can go recharge the power coils.” Mayfeld said and put a hand on Din’s back while Din put a hand on yours and the three of you began to walk away. 

“You’re not dismissed.” Hess drawled and the three of you froze. You looked up at Din fearfully and he glanced down at you with the same amount of fear in his eyes, but for different reasons. You were afraid of the Imperial General speaking to you, and he was afraid of the world that could now see him without a helmet. 

When the two men turned around, Din smoothly swept you behind his back protectively and you couldn’t help but stare up at his hair again. 

“You the tank troopers that delivered the shipment of rhydonium?” Valin asked and you took a step closer to Din, even if it was just his back. 

Both of the boys answered with a simple ‘yes, sir’ and you bit down on your lip, hanging your head as you stood behind Din. Valin Hess turned around to look at the two of them and spoke, “Well you two managed to be the only transport today to deliver their shipment,” he then glanced at you, “Why’s she hiding?” He asked and bent his head to the side to peer around Din’s shoulder, “Why are you hiding, little girl?”

“She’s not big on people, Sir.” Mayfeld interjected and Valin chuckled. 

He clapped both Mayfeld and Din on the shoulder, “Come with me, hm? Let’s get a drink, Brown Eyes.” He said patronizingly and you finally gave into the need to clutch Din’s arm. He looked down at you, along with Mayfeld and Mayfeld sent a look to Din, saying something like ‘bad idea to bring her’, and Din just nodded knowingly. 

The three of you all went to a table and you took the seat closest to Din, clandestinely placing your hand against his thigh, and he laid his down on top of yours reassuringly. You glanced up at him and bit your lip, and he gave you a very small nod. Valin was out of the room getting a bottle of whatever he decided on, and you took this time to lean your forehead against the side of Din’s face. 

“I love you, you know. I’m very, very proud of you.” You whispered and turned your hand over so that you could lace your fingers with his. He nodded and laid his forehead against yours for a second while you looked into his deep, brown eyes. You smiled softly and pecked his lips a few times, “You do have beautiful eyes you know, Din Djarin.” You whispered so quietly that you were practically mouthing it. 

He rolled his eyes and you could feel his hand trembling in yours, “I find yours much prettier.” He whispered back and you bumped your nose against his before pulling away so that you two weren’t touching when Hess came back. 

He finally did come back and sat down at the table, setting down three glasses and he nodded at you, “Figured she was a little young for a drink.” He chuckled and reached out to tap your chin a few times. You felt Din’s hand tighten around yours in anger, reacting to the way Valin had just touched you. He opened the bottle up and grinned a bit, “What shall we toast to, boys? I can blather on about “to health” or “to success” but,” he seemed to be amused by himself as he paused dramatically to pour a drink for Din and Mayfeld, “.. I’d like to do something a little less rote.” He finished and closed the bottle, pointing at Din with it, “Where you from, Brown Eyes?” He asked and you felt Din stiffen. 

He opened his mouth to speak when Mayfeld, once again, interjected, saving the day, “How about a toast to Operation Cinder?” Mayfeld asked and you leaned your head down a bit. 

You closed your eyes and held onto Din’s hand tightly while Mayfeld went on to speak back and forth to Valin, but at this point, their voices were muffled and far away as you tried to calm down and think of a way out of this situation. You tapped the side of your Mandalorian’s hand and he tapped yours in return, the both of you growing tenser and tenser while Mayfeld’s tone grew more intense and Valin got more defensive. You sucked in a staggering breath and Din squeezed your hand tightly to remind you not to make any noise. You scooted closer to him and he placed your intertwined hands on your thigh. 

“...but what they really want.. is order. And when they realize that, they’re gonna welcome us back with open arms.” Valin spoke and picked up his glass. You watched Mayfeld’s hand twitch towards his blaster and you squeezed Din’s in a warning. Valin raised his glass and smiled wickedly, “To the Empire.” He toasted and you squeezed your eyes shut. 

Mayfeld whipped out his blaster and shot Valin dead, and you let out a yelp, practically throwing yourself onto Din’s lap. The two men looked at each other and then at a trooper behind them before Mayfeld also shot them as well. He shot the other remaining officers in the room and Din sprang to his feet. He grabbed your wrist and pulled you up as well, yanking you back so that you were behind him as he shot at an officer. 

Mayfeld grabbed the helmet Din once wore and passed it to him, “You did what you had to do. I never saw your face.” He said and Din gratefully took the helmet before turning to you. You looked up at him with soft eyes and leaned up to kiss the tip of his nose before you pulled away, trying to memorize his face before he turned away and slipped the helmet back on.  

You felt your heart sink as you realized that was probably the only time he’d have the helmet off in front of you, and then the shooting began. You were backed up against the wall by Din and he nodded at Mayfeld who jumped up onto a window ledge and yanked you up with him. You watched while Din jumped up as well and Mayfeld kicked out a panel on the window before he slipped underneath it. 

“Take her!” Din yelled at Mayfeld, and Mayfeld reached in and grabbed you, and you shrieked when you saw the drop below. You looked at him for a moment and he nodded before Din made his way out onto the ledge and Din pointed at a ladder. 

“Y/n. Go. Climb that now and Boba will come and get you when you’re on top. Now!” Din commanded and while he and Mayfeld shot troopers, you ran along the ledge to the ladder. You climbed it to the top of the building and watched Boba circle down in his ship to get you. The door opened and you climbed inside, running up the ramp and into the ship. You climbed your way up into the cockpit as he moved the ship to avoid getting shot at and the two of you made eye contact. 

Boba smiled at you and he pointed up at your face, “Your cheeks are flushed like you’ve just been kissed for the first time.” He teased and you blushed, “Yeah, there was a first in there. But it wasn’t me getting kissed.” You mumbled and gave Boba a look. He analyzed your face for a second and then he nodded. Perhaps he knew, perhaps he didn’t. But if he did, he didn’t say anything, and if he didn’t, he didn’t ask. 

Boba circled the ship back to the rooftop and he hovered with the door open just a few feet away from the edge of the roof. You patted Boba’s arm once before climbing back down to the entrance where Din and Mayfeld had just jumped in. As they flew away, Mayfeld nudged Din, “Hand me that cycler rifle.” He commanded. 

Din passed him the rifle and then glanced over his shoulder at you. You jumped back a bit at the sound of an explosion and you looked down to see that Mayfeld had shot up the tanks of rhydonium, causing the entire base to blow. Him and Din watched it blow for a moment before Mayfeld walked back inside the ship, with a simple: “We all need to sleep at night.” Before he walked off. 

Din looked down at you as Mayfeld went to find a place to sit and he took your hand, “Come with me to put my armor back on.” He whispered and you nodded as he gathered the bag of his armor up and guided you to the small sleeping space that was on the far end of the ship. He closed the door behind you two and then turned to you in the cramped space and he took the helmet off again. Gently, he grabbed your chin between his pointer finger and thumb, his eyes meeting yours. 

“I love you, y/n y/l/n.” Din breathed before leaning down to connect your lips. He kissed you softer than he ever had before, and you attributed it to the timidness that came with the vulnerability of a visible face, but you didn’t mind, kissing him back with the same careful gentility. After a moment, he pulled away and you smiled up at him. 

“Hey, I love you too, Brown Eyes.” You teased and winked up at him. 

That earned you another, much more passionate kiss.

[winchesterxxi]

For the Best (Din Djarin x Reader) | PART 1

PART 2 ⇒

Rating: G (General Audience)

Type: Angst

Summary: Din has put his life at risk one too many times in order to protect Y/N. But how much is too much?

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: CHAPTERS 14 & 15 SPOILERS

A/N: this a long one, so strap in. and fun fact, that’s my favorite gif of din, ever. something about the ruffled hair, the worried eyes and the facial hair just hit the spot. (UPDATE: Hi so apparently people want this to be a series??? So part 2 is in the works but because this was intended to be a one shot apologies if it seems rushed)

MASTERPOST | REQUEST HERE | KO-FI

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Din would give his life to protect the ones he loved. It wasn’t just a case of honor and duty anymore but rather of pure unfiltered love, which he’d never admit out loud or phantom of letting you know. Most of the times he’d do it so unconsciously that it was as if a primal instinct took over him when it came to protecting either of you. Sure you were a grown woman, with amazing hunter skills but for him, you were something that he had to protect, without making it too knowledgeable to the people around him.

That is why he was quite reluctant to take you along with Mayfield to the hidden Imperial rhydonium refinery on Morak to get Moff Gideon's ship coordinates.

“Din, I’ll be fine.”

“What if-”

“No discussions. I’m going.”

And he just silently nodded his helmet in a yes ma’am manner that made the whole crew on the back of The Slave side eye each other.

Once inside the officer's mess hall, where the terminal Mayfield needed is in, he notices his former commanding officer, Valin Hess, and fears being recognized, refusing to step into the hall.

“This is your part of the job. You go in there and you get the bloody coordinates.” you hiss at him through your own helmet.

“My part of the job? I drove us here while under attack and saved our asses, and you have the nerve to say this is my part of the job? No way I’m going in there.” he looks between you and Din.

“I’ll do it then.” you say decidedly, but before you could take a single step into the hall, Din grabs your upper arm.

“No.”

“What do you mean no? He won’t do it and you’ have to take your helmet off which is not happening.”

“Why would I have to take my helmet off?” he questions through his modulated voice.

“All the terminals in this refinery can only be accessed after a facial recognition scan. I noticed it while we were making our way through the halls.” you explain causing Mayfield to throuw an impressed look in your direction.

All three of you fall in silence for a few seconds, considering how you would go about reaching the terminal and before you could say another word, Din steps away from you and Mayfield not even giving you time to process what was happening or try to stop him.

With just a few strides he was standing in front of the target terminal pressing a few buttons and for two times getting an automated voice stating facial scan required. Sensing his distress, you try to walk to him only to have Mayfield’s hand forcefully grabbing you and pulling you back to where you were standing.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he whisper-yells, scolding you.

“I’m trying to help.” you answer with the same voice tone, releasing your arm from his grasp.

“He can take care of himself.” you don’t say anything but instead turn your head in Din’s direction, just like Mayfield as you hear the facial recognition being asked for a third time, initiating a countdown.

Din reaches for his helmet and you cut your own breathing. and there’s a slight buzz in your ears. The world stops spinning when your eyes catch the back of his head and the curling of his brown hair strands there resting. You can’t believe what he just did, exposing himself like that and introducing his face to virtually every security control in the galaxy. 

Even though his back was still facing you, there was almost a sense of disrespect in looking at him, almost as if you’d caught him undressing. 

Then, from the corner of your eye you can see Hess approaching him. 

“Trooper!” Hess shouted to him. “Hey, trooper!”

Din turned his head in Hess’s direction and as soon as your eyes caught a glimpse of his skin, you looked away - this didn’t feel right. He didn’t have a say on whether or not he’d want you to look at him and you didn’t want him to be even more uncomfortable than what he already was.

“Pay attention when a superior addresses you. What’s your designation?” 

“Transport crew,” he said. No helmet modulator whatsoever and his honey like voice slipped so easily into your ears. 

“What?”

“My designation is Transport Copilot.” his voice said again and you could hear to slight tremble in his statement.

“No, son. What’s your TK number?” Hess insisted

“My TK number... is...” he tried but nothing comes out, and you know that this might be the moment that gets all three of you killed. That is until Mayfield steps in front of you and quickly strides to Din’s side.

“This is my Commanding Officer TK-593, sir,” Mayfield quickly says, and gave Din a look of reassurance before turning in your direction and motioning with his head for you to come closer. Slowly, with the riffle still under your harm you approach the three men all looking at you. “And this is my First Lieutenant TK-234. I’m Imperial Combat Assault Transport Lieutenant TK-111, and Sir, I’m afraid you’ll have to speak up to him a little bit, since his vessel lost pressure in Taanab.”

You are standing next to Din and you now realize how he was only a few inches taller than you without the beskar armor, his chin just little above your eye line. For a moment you imagine how enjoyable it would be to lay your head against his shoulder or nuzzle against his neck, heights perfectly matching.

“What’s your name, Officer?”

“We just call him Brown Eyes,” said Mayfield with a mocking undertone in his voice “Isn’t that right, Officer?”

Brow eyes you thought. Brown eyes... that suits him.

With your peripheral vision you can see Din slightly nodding with his head. You still din’t dare to look at him.

“C’mon, let’s go fill out those TPS reports, so we can go recharge the power coils-” Mayfield started, trying to get done and over with this situation 

 “You’re not dismissed.” you all froze. 

“You the tank troopers that delivered the shipment of rhydonium?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, sir.” 

“Yes, sir” Din was the last to answer and you could feel the vibrations of his voice next to you.

“Well, you three managed to be the only transport today to deliver their shipment. Come with me, hmn? Let’s get a drink... Brown Eyes.”

As soon as he turns his back Mayfied follows suit and you can see Din looking at you, once again, through the corner of your eyes, but you look straight ahead and walk behind Mayfield.

What you didn’t see is that you left a hurt man behind, one that wished for you to be the first person to look him in the eyes but that now thought that he was so hideous that you couldn’t even bear the sight of him.

Sitting down on a nearby table, Mayfield took the seat in front of Commander Hess and you to his right, leaving the seat in front of you free for Din to take his place at the table.

“So,” said Hess, “What shall we toast to, boys, and girl? I can blather on, about ‘to health’ or ‘to success’, but... I’d like to do something a little less rote.” he turns to Din “Where you from, Brown Eyes?”

“How ‘bout a toast to Operation Cinder,” Mayfield intervenes.

“Now,” says Hess “That’s what I’m talking about.”

“No,” Mayfield continues. “No, you don’t get it - I lived it. I was in Burnin Konn.”

“Burnin Konn?” “Mm.”

“That was a hard day. I had to make many... unpleasant decisions.”

An exchange between the two men initiates but all you’re focusing on is keeping your eyes looking down at either the table or your drink avoiding Din at all costs. But then, feeling his eyes practically burning a hole in your forehead you realize how much of an asshole you are acting like right now.

This man trusts you with his life. And you with his. You both had made sure to make that known a few weeks ago when you almost got killed by this enormous Ice Spider in Maldo Kreis and he told you to instead of running away from the spider to try and run into and under it.

“Are you crazy?” you cried out

“Do you trust me?” he asked

“With my life.”

“Me too. Then do it.”

And so, your eyes start to trail their way across the table. To his chest plate. To his neck. To the bottom of his face, noticing his light stubble and mustache. To his eyes. And then, just like that, wind knocked out off you. 

Your furrowed and anxious brows soften and your teeth release you lips, that you were biting trying to not think too much. Your whole body softens and as you look at him in adoration.

And he is looking at you. Adoringly. These two people that have known each other for so long, longed for each other for so long are finally meeting each other, actually seeing each other for the first time. For him, it’s the first time he sees the true color of the flush of you skin or how blood tinted your lips are as he doesn’t have the slight darkness of his helmet distorting them.

He wants to kiss you, so bad.

“You see, kids,” Hess says snapping you both from that moment “Everybody thinks they want freedom, but what they really want... is order. And when they realize that, they’re gonna welcome us back with open arms.”

He lifted his glass, and Mayfield chuckles. Both you and Din look worriedly at him knowing how he is about to go out of his mind

“To the Empire.” He drank and Mayfield fires.

You and Din look shocked at each other before turning to Mayfield.

“What the hell?!” you scold him.

Suddenly, stormtroopers appeared from all sides, and the three of you grabbed your weapons, starting to shoot everyone on sight, Din in front of you. Eventually, they were all down and there were just the three of you standing in the room.

Mayfield jaunts ahead “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Turning back to Din, you meet him looking down at you, his expression soft again. You reach for his helmet, pressing it against his chest.

“You did what you had to do. I never saw your face.” He looked back at you.

“Y/N...”

“It’s okay. If there is a next time that I can look at you, I want it to be out of want. Not out of need.”

He looks at you, actually thinking about whether or not he’d go back to hiding himself from you but ending up nodding and putting it back on.

“Thank you.” he says voice muffled by the helmet.

“You’d do the same for me.”

Yes he’d do.

You sat in the main chamber of the Slave next to Mayfield as the rest of the crew conversed in the upper room trying to come up with the next part of the rescue plan.

“You’re going to get him killed.” your head turns in his direction. 

“What?” you question not sure of what you heard.

“You’re going to get him killed. Today, that man went to the terminal to prevent you from going. He put himself in front of you, shooting at a whole battalion of stormtroopers. He stayed behind so that you could be the first to climb into this very ship.” 

You look down, remembering today’s events.

“He just did that for you, and Cara told me that yesterday he almost made a roast of himself when he thought you were on the Razor Crest when it got blown up. He was actually going to walk up into a ball of fire because he thought you were there. Don’t you get it? He might be one of the most feared bounty hunters in the galaxy but that man goes completely irrational when it comes to you.”

“What are you trying to say?” you asked confused and trying to mask the hurt in your voice.

“I know this is going to hurt to hear but... maybe you should go away. At least until he gets the kid back so that he can concentrate only on that.”

“Are you saying that I’m a distraction?”

“Your not a distraction to him. You’re his priority. And that has proved itself to be beyond dangerous.”

He stands up without another word and climbs to the room above, letting you to sit with your thoughts, going over the exchange that just happened.

Boba had stationed the ship on some random planet for the night and while everyone was sound asleep, preparing for what they had to face the next day, you spent the past hours pacing in your room, Mayfield’s words still echoing in your head.

That’s why you were now standing next to your bed, a bag with all of your belongings on top of it. This is for the Best. If I stay he’ll probably get killed. You repeat over and over, recalling all the times that Din risked himself for you, the ones that no one but the both of you knew because they weren’t there to witness them.

This is for the Best.

Decidedly, you sling the bag over and across your shoulders, silently opening the door to the outside of your chamber and sliding it close. It’s better this way: to leave without saying goodbye, during the dark of the galactic night. A goodbye will wreck you and a goodbye would make you stay.

This is for the Best.

You repeat one last time, once you step out of the ship into the frosty night air, taking one last look back, before walking away, wishing that the next morning people wouldn’t panic and rather understand your decision; wishing that Din would some day forgive you.

This is for the Best

✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸

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[littlemisspascal]

Death and an Angel part 10

Death!Din x Cupid F!Reader

Summary:  Neither you nor Din are handling your capture well.

Rating: T

Word Count: 3,978

Warnings: captured reader, surprises, plot plot plot, violence, Din goes a bit dark side

Author Note: So sorry this is coming out late 😳 Between making YouTube videos and New Years everything got hectic, but here it is. I attempted writing from Din’s perspective this time so bear with me cuz he’s having a rough time😬 

Links to Part 1 and Part 9 and Part 11

Cross-posted on AO3.

Photo Inspiration:

When you wake up, you’re lying facedown on a pallet in a dark and cold room. You groan, head pounding, and try to sit up, but your weak muscles protest, resulting in you rolling awkwardly onto your backside. Squinting up at the ceiling, you notice it is made of rock, as is the wall to the right of you.

Your head lolls to the left, granting you a lovely view of a red laser gate trapping you inside this strange cell. The faint glow it gives off produces barely enough light to reveal more rocky walls curving off to the side. You’re in a cave, you realize, processing everything at the rate of a snail’s pace, or some kind of underground tunnel.

At first you can’t remember how you ended up here, or what happened to you, but then everything hits you all at once.

“Finally,” a voice declares from beyond your cell. The purple twi’lek from earlier steps out of the shadows and leers at you from the other side of the laser gate. “I was beginning to think I misjudged the dosage.”

With monumental effort, you push yourself onto your knees, dizziness slamming into your skull with the brutal intensity of a hammer, and reach a hand out to summon your bow.

Nothing happens.

“What—why isn’t it—” The words are thick and clumsy, slurring together as if your tongue has forgotten how to form them individually. Closing your eyes to stop the room from spinning, you feel nothing but unbalanced and vulnerable. You try to speak again, taking a steadying breath. “What is wrong with me?”

“You’ve been collared. All the pets in the Moff’s collection wear one,” she answers, as casually as if she’s discussing the weather outside. “Keeps you from using your abilities and causing trouble.”

She has no reason to lie, but you still gasp when your trembling hand brushes against the metal band encircling your neck. Panicking, you pull on it without thinking, only for a responding jolt of electricity to shock your fingertips and fry every nerve ending in your body. You cry out at the pain, but the sound is drowned out by the twi’lek’s screech-like laughter.

“That never gets old,” she says, wiping an imaginary tear from her eye.

“Death,” you mutter hoarsely, closing your eyes again and breathing shallowly through your mouth. “Death is going to slaughter all of you.”

“Oh, pet, you just don’t get it, do you?“ Her voice is practically dripping with condescension as she coos at you, “The Moff wants you here because you’re precious to Death.”

Against your better judgement, you open your eyes to look at her, confused by the wide smile you see stretching across her face. At headquarters, Gideon and your superiors had seemed far more concerned about the fact you had a second soulmate rather than who it was you matched with. If Gideon is punishing you for being Din’s soulmate (a fate which you had no control over whatsoever), you can’t help thinking he must be insane or have a legitimate desire to have his body dismembered piece by bloody piece. There is no denying that Din will do anything he can to get you back. Even break the rules of the universe.

You freeze.

Kriff. The puzzle pieces begin fitting together and you loathe the hideous picture they form.

“You are Death’s weakness. And anyone with a weakness can be taken advantage of if the right strings are pulled,” the twi’lek says, confirming your fears. She then winks at you coyly. “Congratulations, pet, you’ve just become Moff Gideon’s favorite puppet.”

You barely refrain from shouting curses at her as she walks away, leaving you alone with your chaotic thoughts.

Lying back down on the pallet, you press your hands over your eyes, tuning out the coldness of your surroundings and seeking out the warmth of your soulmate bond. You call out Din’s name within your mind, a repetitive chant increasing in urgency as you pray against all odds he hears you. But as the silence continues and you start to feel a phantom sensation of pain emanating from your throat, as if you have actually scraped it raw by how loudly you call, your heart breaks as it accepts the bitter truth: he can’t hear you.

You touch the collar again, every internal instinct you have screaming it is to blame for the invisible wall blocking you from reaching out to Din. How long have you been collared? How much time has passed since you were drugged at headquarters? Regardless, you don’t have any doubt Din is losing his mind right now. And his temper.

A few tears leak from the corners of your eyes, but you do not sob or sniffle. Gideon and his minions will not have the satisfaction of hearing you crying. Din wouldn’t like it either, you think, remembering his reaction on the Razor Crest when he’d found you panicking. He had held your hand, offering you any support he could to end your sorrows. Even offering to kill for you.

It’s funny, though, because few people seem to realize the feeling is mutual. You would do anything in the galaxy to spare Din a second’s worth of pain. If Gideon is under the impression you’ll just silently let him use you in order to exploit Din to do his bidding, then he’s going to be thoroughly pissed to learn just how stubborn you can be. Taking away your Cupid abilities might have weakened you, but you’re not going to be a helpless kriffing damsel.

Although, you correct yourself ruefully as you lower your hands and look around your confines, you might currently be a little helpless. You take in the high ceiling above you, thinking you’ll be able to stand at full height once the effects of the drug wear off and still not be able to touch the top. It scares you to think how far your cell has been dug beneath the surface of whichever planet Gideon has imprisoned you on. The twi’lek had referenced he had a collection of others hidden away in these tunnels. How many have died here with no one up above being any the wiser?

Pushing the morbid thoughts aside, your gaze drifts along the walls, noting the varying shapes and sizes of the rocks. They are all different shades of brown except for one odd green one in the corner. You look at the laser gate, knowing it can’t be shut off unless you have access to the generator which severely limits your plans of escaping since—

Your thoughts screech to a halt as your eyes snap back to the corner.

A rock does not have a little green body clothed in brown wool or long pointed ears. Nor does it peer back at you with large, innocent eyes as it clutches a piece of dirty black fabric with tiny three-fingered hands. And it certainly doesn’t waddle up to you and coo curiously in your stunned face.

You rub at your eyes, half-convinced you have now begun hallucinating things.

Nope. That little green face is still there when you open them again. It’s official, your brain isn’t screwing with you.

Your cellmate is a kriffing baby.

~~

Decades ago Din was approached by a man who begged to be killed. He had been separated from his soulmate against his will and compared the pain he felt to the sensation of a thousand needles injecting acid straight into his bloodstream. However, Din had sensed the man’s lifetime was far from over and ignored his pleas.

Thinking about that incident now, Din has determined the man’s comparison to be a gross understatement. Being forcefully separated from his angel is as if an invisible force is holding him underwater, wishing him to drown. His brain is on the verge of exploding, torn between thoughts of bloodthirsty savagery and the overwhelming agony of not being able to breathe without her in his sight. Every hour they remain apart threatens to rob him of his sanity and transform his outward appearance from man to monster.

 Already he has experienced a lapse in control of his powers the moment he’d first felt their bond had been blocked. He’d been forced to teleport away from Kuiil’s farm, lest he risk reaping the Ugnaught’s soul before its destined time, and unleashed his wrath upon an uninhabitable Outer Rim planet. His powers had pierced its core in the same effortless manner a vibroblade cuts through flesh, killing its essence instantaneously. In a matter of minutes, the planet would be nothing more than scattered dust particles floating through the vastness of space, though he did not linger to witness the destruction.

Instead, he returned to his ship and sent a holographic message to his most trusted reapers, assigning them the critical task of searching the galaxy for one specific target: Valin Hess. While they hunted down the bastard, he dedicated his time to searching for his better half. He extended his powers to each individual planet and moon in every region, tendrils of darkness looking through homes and alleyways for even the faintest trace of her vibrant aura amongst trillions of souls.

Now, ten hours later, he is interrupted by the chime of an incoming call.

“Come to Trask,” Bo-Katan says bluntly, not one to waste crucial time with excess words. “I've got him ready for you.”

“Good,” Din says. His own voice sounds strange even to himself. As he reaches for his helmet, his reflection in its visor reveals his eyes have changed from brown to solid black, his true form beginning to break through the human facade he cloaks himself in. 

He had been warned in the past of the grievous consequences that will ripple across the galaxy should he ever lose control of his internal darkness. But if unleashing that force brings him even one step closer to reuniting with his angel?

He won’t even hesitate a heartbeat.

~~

You are quick to learn three important facts about your cellmate.

First and foremost, the baby adores attention. Within minutes of discovering him, he climbs into your lap and snuggles against your stomach, making a strange purring sound of happiness. Your heart squeezes painfully in your chest when you notice the tiny collar around his neck, identical to yours. Why would Gideon be keeping a child in his collection? Any potential answer that comes to mind makes you feel sick.

“You’re safe with me,” you tell him gently, stroking your fingertips over his wrinkly brow and the sparse amount of fuzzy hair on top of his head. He coos as if he understands you, ears perking up. “We’ll get through this together.”

Secondly, he is extremely possessive of his belongings. You learn this the hard way when you reach for the torn piece of black fabric he has gripped in his hands, intending to get a closer look at it because it doesn’t resemble a usual child’s blanket, but instead more so a torn bit of clothing—only for surprisingly sharp teeth to nip at your fingers.

You pull your hand away and hold it up, showing you mean no harm. “I’m sorry, bud. I should have asked permission first.”

Brown eyes stare back at you for a silent beat, painfully reminding you so much of Din you almost can’t bear to look at them, before the baby bobs his head with a low grunt. You chuckle at his cuteness. Although you hate the unfairness of the situation, you’re grateful for his presence as it stops you from worrying incessantly about your disconnected bond. As long as you wear the collar, you remind yourself, there isn’t anything you can do to reach Din. So you’ll just have to continue being patient and live with the uncomfortable hollow sensation until you can determine the best opportunity of freeing yourself.

And the baby now, too, you can’t help but silently add, looking down at him.

It is impossible for you within your cell to tell how much time passes as there are not any nearby clocks or windows providing a glimpse of the sky. As a Cupid, nourishment isn’t a necessity like it is for mortals, so you’re unsurprised no one has come by to offer you food or water. However, the same apparently can’t be said for the baby whose stomach growls unexpectedly, startling you both with its loudness.

He looks down at himself then at the laser gate. His ears twitch, as if he hears something, before he lets out a quiet whine. You open your mouth, wanting to console him, only for him to push himself out of your lap and waddle quicker than you anticipate towards the corner you initially spotted him in.

Thirdly, he is a master escape artist.

“What—” you start to ask, only for your jaw to drop when he squeezes himself through a small hole you failed to notice earlier, no bigger in diameter than a womp rat’s body, and disappears from view.

You stare at the corner, a million questions swirling inside your brain, each one focused on the baby. Where the kriff did he go? What is on the other side of the wall? Will he be okay?

The laser gate abruptly vanishes, plunging your cell into total darkness. You immediately press your back against the wall, blinking rapidly to try to adjust your vision, but you can’t even see your own hands in front of you. There is a distinct clicking sound of a button being pressed and then a glowing black blade lights up mere inches away from the side of your face, nearly singing your hair. You’re unable to stop yourself from crying out in terror, flinching backwards and hitting your head hard enough you see stars.

Over the pounding of your heartbeat and the eerie humming of the weapon next to your ear, you hear a familiar chuckle.

You freeze. Dank farrik.

“Believe it or not,” Gideon begins, looming ominously in the darkness. “I remember our first meeting when you awoke after your transformation. You weren’t special by any means, not one detail even remotely suggesting you would become such an invaluable asset to my plans. I’ve come to realize your unmemorable appearance was the universe’s attempt of concealing you from me. It might have worked, too, except the universe is a hopeless romantic, unable to help itself from matching soulmates. How else can it be explained why you were chosen out of all potential Cupids to monitor Death each month, thus increasing your affections for each other, if not for fate’s divine intervention?”

Gideon lifts the blade away from your personal space and holds it in front of him, outlining his features enough you’re able to see him peering down at you, expression blank and giving you no hints as to what is going on inside his head right now. “Your capture has driven Death into quite a frenzy. His influence can be felt in each region of space. Even his reapers have become involved.”

He pauses, as if he’s expecting a response from you, but you’re unable to look away from the laser sword in his grip. You wonder if all seraphs possess them, such as all Cupids wield bows, or if he had it specially crafted for his own pleasure. Regardless, the negative energy it radiates is strong enough that you feel as if dozens of spiders are crawling over every inch of your entire body.

“Your soulmate has no notion of my involvement, but even if it were revealed to him you are being kept here I thoroughly warded this location to hide myself from those intending me harm. Your presence will continue to remain invisible to his powers as long as he desires bloodshed. So I suggest you better make yourself comfortable because this cell shall be your home for the foreseeable future.”

Swallowing against your suddenly dry throat, you ask, “Do you honestly think keeping me hostage will grant you control over him?”

Gideon inclines his head. “I think you underestimate his willingness to guarantee your safety. He’ll commit any sin imaginable if it means not one hair harmed on your head.”

“Death won’t listen to a single word unless he has proof I’m okay,” you say, the beginnings of a risky plan forming in your head. “Which means you have to let me talk to him.”

“I’m not the fool you think I am,” he replies, shaking his head in a reproachful manner, as if you are no older than a child. But your hopes rise when you notice there is the smallest glimmer of intrigue in his eyes.

You position yourself on your knees, eyes wide and brimming with tears, clasping your hands together as you start to beg. “Please, sir, the separation is tearing me apart. I can’t handle the pain anymore. I must see him. I’ll convince Death to kill whoever in the galaxy you want. He’ll do it without question if I’m the one who asks.”

Gideon considers you wordlessly for a long moment. The hum of the weapon and your heavy, anxious breathing are the only audible sounds. And in that moment you pray harder than you’ve ever prayed in your entire lifetime.

Let this work. Please, please let this work.

You know the exact second he gives in to your begging because a smile pulls at the corners of his mouth, teeth bared almost predatorily.

“Very well then. Tomorrow I will make preparations for you to contact Death. Think carefully until then about what you will say in order to convince him to be agreeable with me. It would be a shame to use this ,” his sword hovers in front of your face once more, the tip nearly touching your chin, “to cut off your tongue should you fail or if you attempt to be clever and alert him of your whereabouts.”

Step one complete, you think to yourself after he has departed and the laser gate returns. Wiping away the lingering tears, you begin to plan step two.

Getting this kriffing collar off your neck.

~~

Valin Hess is every bit the smug bastard Din predicted him to be. Despite the binders securing his wrists to a pipe high above his head and his bleeding split lip, the high-ranking Cupid still has enough arrogance to smirk at Din when he arrives at the abandoned warehouse Bo-Katan chose as the setting for the interrogation.

“Tell me where she is,” Din demands through clenched teeth as he marches up to the pompous prick without sparing a glance towards the red-haired reaper silently leaning against the nearby wall. He knows Bo-Katan is smart enough not to intervene.

“Just who would you be referring to?” Hess blinks innocently back at him.

His nose crumples beneath the knuckles of Din’s fist, blood bursting from his nostrils and staining Din’s gloves crimson.

“I am not known for my patience,” Din says. “Your suffering will only worsen the longer you keep me from my soulmate. I know you are aware of where she’s being kept. So tell. Me. Now.”

Untamed fury burns hotly beneath his skin, threatening to incinerate his mortal guise and his armor as if both were made of paper. It takes all of Din’s self-control not to give into the wicked desire to break each one of the Cupid’s bones, to peel off his skin layer by layer, to twist and carve and scar his body until there is not a single identifiable feature left.

“I haven’t the faintest notion nor care where she wound up.” Hess’ naturally gruff voice has changed to a nasally sounding one due to his broken nose. If the response hadn’t further stirred Din’s annoyance, he might have smirked beneath his helmet instead of snarled. “As soon as that twi’lek dragged her unconscious body out of headquarters, she became a nonentity to me.”

Din places his gloved hands over the other immortal’s shoulders, resting them there long enough Hess starts to twitch, unable to hide his increasing panic, and then Din squeezes until both clavicles shatter at the same time with a resounding crack . Hess tosses his head back, howling like a wounded animal, but Din is not yet finished.

He slams his fists against Hess’ torso, growling loud enough to be heard over the merciless snapping of each individual rib, “Give me a name.”

When the only answer he receives is agonized screaming, Din decides another approach is necessary to produce the desired results. He rips his gloves off, this time unable to resist smirking when Hess immediately starts to choke on his tongue and blood as he shakes his head emphatically, eyes blown wide with fear.

Din’s fingers reach out towards the Cupid’s temples, the veins in his hands ominously black in color.

“Xi’an!” Hess shouts, blood spraying from his mouth and painting Din’s visor. He doesn’t even notice, already planning the hunt for his next target. “The twi’lek that took your whore is named Xi’an!”

Din stills. “My... whore?”

Every lightbulb within the warehouse shatters, glass and sparks raining down upon them and the concrete floor. Hess starts babbling, a litany of apologetic words, but Din is beyond reasoning. Something sinister and feral has awakened within him, intertwining itself with his powers and enhancing their strength beyond what he ever imagined possible.

Din has reaped countless souls over the span of his existence. He has mastered the precise method of coaxing a soul out of a corpse, persuading them gently with his powers. Once the essence is held within his grip, the universe judges it, deciding either eternal damnation or a glorious afterlife. Most people tend to think Din is who chooses their fates, one of the many reasons why they fear him, but he has never been powerful enough to personally influence anyone’s destiny.

Until now.

He lowers one hand to hover over the center of Hess’ sternum, sensing the soul living deep within. It is a little battered from Din’s assault, but otherwise it resembles every other soul he’s ever reaped: a glowing, fidgety, amorphous bundle of energy.

Usually, he’d patiently guide the soul towards the corpse’s esophagus. But Hess is undeserving of such kindness. Din’s powers sink into the essence like sharpened claws, yanking it into Hess’ throat. The soul puts up a valiant fight, recognizing its host is still alive and thus should not be prematurely abandoned. But Din will not yield to its struggles, his powers manifesting dark tendrils to wrap around it in an unbreakable hold.

“You’re killing him!” Din hears someone call out over the harsh choking sounds Hess is making. Their voice is familiar and feminine sounding. “It’s not his time, you have to stop!”

Stop? No. He can’t. Not now when he’s on the verge of fulfilling the oath he’d sworn to his angel.

With one forceful twist of his wrist, the soul is helplessly torn from Hess’ bloodstained mouth and ensnared by Din’s awaiting hand. Without the essence of life, the light fades from the Cupid’s eyes and his broken body hangs limply from the binders.

The afterlife was never going to be an option as the soul’s final destination. However, Din has decided damnation is also too kind a place for vermin like Hess. There must be a third fate, he thinks.

Din squeezes his fist tighter and tighter, generating a cacophony of anguished shrieks from the soul. Ignoring the near-deafening cries, he gradually increases the pressure until at last it lets out one final high-pitched wail before disintegrating into dust that forms an unsuspecting pile on the floor when he uncurls his fingers.

A sharp gasp has Din turning, forgetting he has a witness present, and he finds Bo-Katan staring back at him with blatant horror. “What have you done?”

“What was necessary.”

Tag List: @leilei-draws​, @theocatkov​, @vintagesaph​, @stardust-and-starlight​, @adrieunor​, @remmyswritings​, @gallowsjoker​, @rhiannon-russo​, @randomness501​, @sylphene​, @softly-sad​, @maytheglitter​, @melobee​, @rogertaylorsfalsettogivesmehives​, @eleinemk​, @captain-jebi​, @aerynwrites​, @promiscuoussatan​, @stilllivindue2spite​, @coaaster​, @lin-djarin​, @oh-no-a-whovian​, @becauseican2, @kay2304, @odelia-d32, @nicotinebirds

[jessiebanethedragon]

I Just Have to Get This Off My Chest

Din x Reader (SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 15) 

is the title the title of the fic or is it the explanation as to way i wrote this instead of the three essay’s i have due soon. Who knows? certainly not me. 

You had not felt well for some time. Every moment that was not distracted by something else allowed you to feel the pooling sickness in your stomach. Grogu was gone. 

You had cried only in private, hidden away in the forest of Tython, covering your tears with your hands and sobbing into the ground. Din had never felt so powerless, when you finally re-emerged from the wooded area, he said nothing of the invasion of privacy he’d committed via the sensors on his helmet. Instead he walked up the ramp of Slave I with you to leave the cursed planet. Maybe, you were thankful for Mayfeld’s incessant chatter. It gave you something to focus on other than the missing warmth in your heart that was occupied by the little green creature. 

“You still with us?” he asked, turning around and waving a hand over your face. It snaps you back to the moment, but the guilty feeling does not fade completely.  

“Yeah,” You breathe. And finally relent, pulling off the helmet for fresh air. Din turns his head ever so slightly to catch the way your hair becomes messy. “Focus.” he reprimands Mayfeld, you almost feel bad for the guy, you're both so on edge he’s driving with ticking time bombs, and that’s without the Rhydonium.

“Where.” Din demands, roughly pressing his hands into the gaps between the baggy fitting armor. One of the pirates landed a solid blow to your side and the mandalorian wont let it go. 

“Mando i’m fine.” You tell him, huffing when his hands get rougher trying to feel underneath the crappy empire issues durasteel. 

“Where did you get hit.” He demands again, hands landing on your shoulders and shaking you slightly. Mayfeld is right, Din is desperate. 

“Din…” You whisper side glancing to make sure prying ears are out of reach. “I’m okay, I promise.” You wonder for a second if you should put your forehead against his, something he’d done after the fight with Moff Gideon, after you thought you’d never see him again. You remember seeing him limp down with IG-11, barely alive in the darkness. You remember running to him without thinking twice, the stupid, stupid, mandalorian who would rather die than break his creed. The stupid mandalorian you know now you cannot live without. 

“Hey, you two might want to stop acting like a couple of DUM - Pit Droids because we’ve got a problem.” Mayfeld says jogging over to you both. 

“What.” Din snaps the unfamiliar hemet turning to the man at hand. You hate how it looks on him, it is strange, unfamiliar, so un-him that you’re longing for him to get the Beskar back on. 

“I can’t go in there.” He says gesturing behind him. “That’s Valin Hess, I served under him, I'll be recognized.”  You lean over to look at the officer, and then behind you into the open area. 

“The officers' quarters are close enough.” You think aloud. “Stay here, I'll drop a detonator. Distract them.” 

“No way you can make the trip without being caught.” Mayfeld argues. 

“Hey, I used to do this professionally. Let me handle it.” You tell him with a small smile, this is herding Bantha’s compared to your old job. 

“Kriffing spy’s” Mayfeld murmurs. 

“As far as the empire is concerned I’m still an official agent.” You correct him, and you turn to leave but a gloved hand wraps around your wrist, his iron grapes holding you back. You look at the unfamiliar mask, and slowly, Din loosens his hold and watches you go.

The hallways are always the same, no matter how many planets, or ships you were stationed on, the empire always looked the same, your boots always made the same sounds, and an uncaught rebel-spy always knew where she was going. Order, Mayfelds voice echoes in your mind, yes there is order here. But Grogu isn’t. And that’s what matters to you right now, nothing else but the poor child that you’d had the fortune stumbling upon on a Navaro recon mission. You praise your own inability to let go of the past, for without it you never would’ve been investigating the imperial outpost, never would have met a cold mandalorian and never learnt that he, in fact, burned brighter than any kyber crystal in the galaxy. 

The detonator rolls smoothly from your hand as you turn away from the barracks. Jogging back to the control center a soft smile on your face as the hiss and pop sends the familiar signals blaring. When the coast is clear you don’t stop running until you slide into the mess hall, and stop dead in your tracks. 

Din is gone. 

Mayfeld is standing over at least half a dozen bodies, save for one man who’s back is to you.  Your blood freezes when you make the realization as the helmetless man turns towards you. He has brown hair, and you can see where the helmet has ruffled his curls. The slight scruff highlights his face, and draws you in towards his eyes. His wonderful brown eyes. 

It’s the mandalorian. It’s your Mandalorian. 

You know you should close your eyes, but they can’t move from his, so many nights on the razor crest were spent wondering about the colour of his eyes.

“You ever seen his face?” The memory of Mayfeld in a different place at a different time floods you. The way he teased about how close you and the mandalorian couldn’t be, because you didn’t know what he looked like. Pressing you against the bars of the prison they’d trapped him in, laughing when you couldn’t even give them a name. Taunting your own life in front of you at the end of a blaster. “She doesn’t know!” Xi’an sneered as you fought against Qin pinning you into the bars, using you as a tool in his revenge.  It is as if you are meeting him for the first time again, the man in shiny beskar who had whispered his name to you after the incident involving Mayfeld himself. The mandalorian who ran his fingers over the marks the bars had indented into your skin. “Din. my name is Din.”

“I’ll go look… actually i’ll secure the roof.” Mayfeld stumbles through his words watching as you tear up at seeing, really seeing him for the first time. You choke on your word when he crosses the room stopping when he hears the small noise. Noticing how you finally seem to come back into yourself and squeeze your eyes shut. 

“Cyare.” He says, sounding so different without the helmet on. 

“Put it back on.” You rush out. “I didn’t see, we’ll kill Mayfeld, keep your creed.” you know it’s a lie, but you say the words in a jumble anyways. 

“We were running out of time, this was my choice. Open your eyes, it’ll be okay.” Din reassures you. So you take a deep breath and listen to him. 

“You’re so handsome.” You say without thinking, because he’s stunning up close, where you can see every detail in full. Standing mouth slightly agape as you memorize your mandalorian’s face. Your hand goes to touch him but you stop yourself, Din notices of course, and guides your hand to his face. You were right. He does burn brighter than any kyber crystal in the galaxy. Heated honey to your touch. 

“I’m in love with you.” You’re learning many things about the man under the mask today, maybe it’s time he learns something about you. So you thread your hands into his hair and pour your love into a kiss. Din gasps, shocked, and part of you wonders if this is his first. But he reciprocates by moving his arms around your middle to bring you as close as possible to him.

When you part because of shots outside, he puts the helmet back on. And you immediately wish you had had a chance to kiss him again before he did.

[fave-fanfic-for-now]

I’ll Do It

Warnings: Swearing, mandalorian reader

fem reader, but I don’t think there are any gender identifiers, so it may be gender neutral.

Requested: Yes - What about in chapter 15, instead of din having to take off his helmet it’s the reader to protect his face? (The reader is a mandalorian like din) and din cannot stop from looking at her.

Masterlist

You could have stayed behind with Cara, Fennec, and Fett, but for some unknown reason, you volunteered to dress as the third person in the transport. Now you’re suffering in the cabin, listening to Mayfeld blabber on about something you’re not paying attention to and you had to give up your armor. If that wasn’t bad enough, the person whose armor you had to put on was a sweaty and smelly mess, and you’re just pissed. To make things even better, you see a massive explosion just up the trail letting you know this will be the opposite of an easy mission.

Once the pirates made themselves visible you climbed to the top of the transport and fought with Din against them, desperately missing your Beskar armor as you felt every hit through the cheap shit you’re stuck in. Just when you thought you were about to give up, when multiple pirate platforms arrived, two TIE fighters arrived and saved you. Never before had you felt relief to see them, and you will not admit that you may have been happy to see them now. Once you climb out of the transport you’re welcomed and greeted by everyone in the garage before making your way to the officer’s mess.

“There it is,” Mayfeld says looking into the officers’ mess at the far corner of the room.

“Good luck,” Din replies as you scan for any potential trouble.

Mayfeld gives a small mocking smile as he walks up the small set of steps before freezing, turning around, and walking back to you.

“I can’t go in there,” he says.

“Why not?” Din asks angrily.

“That’s Valin Hess,” Mayfeld hisses to the two of you.

“Who the fuck is Valin Hess?” You ask trying to keep your anger under control.

“I used to serve under him.”

“Perfect,” you mutter while looking away.

“Will he recognize you?” Din asks cautiously watching Mayfeld’s reaction carefully.

“I don’t know,” Mayfeld shrugs nervously, “I was just a field operative, I’m not taking the chance. Let’s just go, we’ll figure something else out.”

“Give me the data stick.”

“It’s not gonna work, in order to access the database the terminal has to scan your face. Let’s go.” Mayfeld says and moves to take a step when you grab the stick.

“I’ll do it,” you say and walk into the mess.

Your heart’s beating fast, so fast you think it will burst out of your chest, but you keep a steady pace and work on controlling your breathing. Once in front of the terminal, you enter the data stick, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and remove your helmet, breaking the Mandalorian code you’ve been raised to consider sacred. Once the information is uploaded to the data stick, you remove it and turn to walk away, but are greeted by a Valin Hess, standing right in front of you. Keeping your face emotionless, you wait for him to talk.

“What’s your designation?” Hess asks you and your mind goes blank.

“Transport crew,” you reply, unsure of what you should have said.

“What?”

“I’m transport crew security.”

“No sweetheart, what is your TK number?”

“This is my Commanding Security Officer TK, sir,” Mayfeld says, coming to your rescue with Din in tow. “I’m Imperial Combat Assault Transport Lieutenant TK-, sir. I’m afraid you’ll have to speak up with her since her vessel lost pressure in Taanab.”

“What’s your name officer?”

“We just call her y/e/c eyes. Isn’t that right officer? Let’s go fill out those TPS reports, so we can recharge the power coils.” Mayfeld says, placing his hand on your shoulder as he tries to steer you away from Valin.

“You’re not dismissed. You the tank troopers that delivered the shipment of rhydonium?”

“Yes sir.” All three of you reply.

“Well, you three managed to be the only transport today to deliver their shipment. Come with me, hmm? Let’s get a drink, y/e/c eyes.” Valin says leading the three of you to a table on the other side of the room causing you to grimace at the fact you’ve been spotted without your helmet.

As you sit there listening to Mayfeld and Valin discuss their past together, unknown to Valin that Mayfeld served under him, Din doesn’t stop staring at you the whole time. His helmet’s glued to your face and you can feel his eyes taking in every inch of it. Even when Mayfeld shot almost everyone in the room, and you take down the last man, Din still doesn’t stop staring.

“You did what you had to,” Mayfeld says handing you your helmet, “I didn’t see your face.”

Nodding in appreciation and putting on your helmet, the three of you fight your way to the roof. After the whole job was done and you’re left alone with Din, you close your eyes to think about what happened that day.

“Thank you,” he whispers, still staring at you, something he’s been doing since you removed your helmet.

“For what?” You ask turning to him looking puzzled, not that he could tell since your face is hidden by Beskar.

“For removing your helmet, breaking your creed to help me get the child back,” he replies quietly.

“Hmm…I guess that means I’m not a Mandalorian anymore and I shouldn’t wear this,” you whisper while touching the edge of the helmet.

“You are! You’re just no longer a child of the watch, but as we’ve seen, other Mandalorians remove their helmets.”

“Thanks.”

“…y-you…you’re gorgeous,” Din mumbles while turning his body to face you.

“What?”

“As soon as I saw you remove your helmet…I couldn’t look away. At first, I was just seeing your hair, but as I approached more of you became exposed to me and I just stared. I was almost shot because I was staring at you, even now…I can see your face in place of the helmet and all I can think is, you’re so beautiful I hope you choose to follow the other Mandalorians so I can stare at your face.”

“Din…”

“I know it’s not fair,” he says moving in front of you and reaching a hand out to touch your cheek under the helmet, “but just know whatever you decide I will be here to support you, and I will never make you feel bad about it. I will also be happy to see you in any way, shape, and form, armor, or not. No matter what you’ll always be beautiful.”

“Thank you, Din,” you say leaning into his hand. “I want to know, I feel the same way for you. If you want to give up the watch way of thinking or continue it, I’m here for you.”

Leaning your forehead against his, the two of you rest like that, reveling in the comfort of one another.

Taglist: @rogueheretic555​, @tangledlove27​

[dindjarindiaries]

10 Underrated Quotes from Season 2 of The Mandalorian

As previously seen with season one, I’m here with another list of underrated quotes from The Mandalorian—this time, from season two. I’m going to highlight some of my favorite quotes from the season or quotes that stick out to me and why I think they’re noteworthy.

I don’t own any rights to content from The Mandalorian and, if you haven’t watched season two yet, potential spoilers are ahead!

1. “Pay attention when a superior addresses you.” (Chapter 15: The Believer)

While this scene certainly isn’t underrated, I believe this line spoken by Valin Hess when he finally catches Din Djarin’s attention by the Imperial terminal deserves some reflection. It’s interesting to think about how responding to Hess’ first call of “Trooper” is something Djarin just... wouldn’t think to do, or is something he thought he could get away with. It seems that Mandalorians, while they value their leadership, don’t focus on hierarchical structures in their society, so Djarin isn’t used to having to obey orders like that. It’s even worse that he has to deal with this unfamiliar situation without his helmet for the first time since he was a child. It really draws our attention to how little Djarin knows about the Empire and other organizations outside of his covert.

2. “This is the Way.” (Chapter 11: The Heiress)

I think many of us can agree that the first time this statement is uttered in this episode, we’re less than pleased about it, thanks to Bo-Katan’s ridiculing tone. When it happens later on, however, there’s so much meaning packed behind the words. First, from Bo-Katan, who has witnessed Mando’s bravery firsthand and has likely realized how wrong she was making assumptions about him based off his covert and his traditions. In return, Mando’s response of the phrase is strained. Why? Well, it’s up to interpretation—but to me, I think it’s because Mando’s in awe of the idea of these Mandalorians who have already proven their abilities to him actually coming to respect him and the Way he’s known ever since he was a child. It was a great moment of reconciliation.

3. “Is he speaking? Do you... understand him?” (Chapter 13: The Jedi)

Something I love about this line in particular is the way it’s delivered. There’s such desperation concealed behind Mando’s modulator that tells us so much about what he’s been thinking while pacing the forest floor nervously. This desperation also tells us how eager he’s been to communicate with his child. Mando and Grogu have been together for a long time, now, and we know they’ve had plenty of one-sided conversations. I’m sure Mando has longed to know what Grogu’s been thinking in return, and now that he might have an opportunity to, we can really hear that sheer curiosity and desperation in his voice with this line he offers to Ahsoka.

4. “Jet back, you’re faster that way.” (Chapter 12: The Siege)

I’m sure we all have our mixed opinions about the season one Nevarro crew, but this moment in particular really strikes the depth of their friendship and companionship. Once they’ve all heard about Moff Gideon’s return and his request to get the child once again, there’s no doubt in anyone’s minds that Mando wouldn’t be going back for him immediately. Even though the job isn’t completely done and Greef, Cara, and Mythrol all still need a way out, they don’t even try to ask for Mando’s help. Instead, Cara insists that he gets back as fast as he can, even if that means the three of them don’t make it out themselves. I really love how that shared understanding and dedication to the child in all situations shows their deep friendship amongst the trio (and Mythrol).

5. “I’ve spent much time on Tatooine. I never saw a Mandalorian there.” (Chapter 9: The Marshal)

Mando’s response to Gor Karesh insisting that he knows of a Mandalorian on Tatooine could potentially be telling us more than we’re aware of. As far as we know, Mando’s only been to Tatooine once—and it was only for two days, tops. But here, he’s saying he’s “spent much time” there, which means it’s possible that Mando lived on Tatooine for a time while the Bounty Hunter’s Guild still operated out of there. If you think about it more, Mando knew exactly where to go for some work in Chapter 5, another hint that there’s more to Mando’s time on Tatooine than we’re aware of. The same thing could be said about his knowledge of Tusken and his friendship with the Sand People. Any time we get a potential hint of Mando’s backstory, I’m excited about it!

6. “Am I under arrest?” (Chapter 10: The Passenger)

This line comes quickly in the midst of Mando’s conversation with the New Republic pilots in Chapter 10, but I really love it. These few words say a lot about Mando’s character and how he responds to praise. He’s just been told all about his heroics in Chapter 6, when he risked his own life for Lieutenant Davan and reprimanded Mayfeld, Xi’an, and Burg—and when asked whether it was true, Mando offers no confirmation. He doesn’t even own up to his good acts. Instead, he simply acts this question, remaining the practical man we know him to be. This truly shows us the humble nature of Mando and how he tries his best to focus on the present rather than dwelling on things he’s done in the past, good or bad.

7. “... talent without training is nothing.” (Chapter 16: The Rescue)

On the surface, this seems like a very practical statement that many Jedi make throughout the series (see Ahsoka talking to Mando in Chapter 13 and Obi-Wan talking to Luke in Episode IV: A New Hope). When you think about it more, especially in context, you might be able to see Luke hinting at something much deeper. Luke heard Grogu’s cry for help from the Seeing Stone where it’s very possible Grogu was talking about his desire to protect his father by strengthening his abilities. Luke knows all too well what happens when you abandon training in an attempt to protect those you love—as for him, it didn’t go well. Yoda tried to warn him but he didn’t listen. Now that he’s learned his lesson, Luke can offer this wisdom to a Grogu who wants to keep his father safe. He knows that training first will then allow Grogu to protect himself and his father to his heart’s content, just as Luke was better able to protect his friends in Episode VI after he finished his training.

8. “Okay, I’m gonna protect you.” (Chapter 14: The Tragedy)

The scene in which this line is delivered is what truly establishes this episode as a tragedy. Mando’s tried three times to break through Grogu’s Force-field—not because he wasn’t thinking, but because he was so desperate—and now he has to come to terms with the fact that he’ll only hurt himself more if he keeps trying it again and again. Mando’s voice is pretty shaky if you listen to it closely enough in these lines, reluctant to leave his child atop the mountain alone but eager to protect him somehow. We know Mando doesn’t like to feel helpless, but we can sense he feels that way in this moment. He doesn’t even know if Grogu can hear him, yet he keeps speaking to him with such fierce protectiveness and reassurance. This is a promise he doesn’t fall through with, even if Grogu does fall into the Imperials’ hands for a time.

9. “Give it to me.” (Chapter 15: The Believer)

This is the moment where we all really knew what was about to go down. What I love about this quote is that Mando says it with no remorse. He says it firmly, insisting upon doing whatever it takes to get those coordinates and get to Grogu. He’s already made up his mind. Despite the fact he gave his word earlier about not showing his face, Mando’s going to do what he has to for his son. The firm way this line is delivered proves that, especially when he shifts from taking a backseat to Mayfeld to taking charge again as he pulls the data stick right from Mayfeld’s grip. I just really love Mando’s determination in this scene, despite the circumstances.

10. “I’ll see you again. I promise.” (Chapter 16: The Rescue)

Do I particularly think this line is underrated? No, not the direct meaning of it. But when you watch Star Wars Rebels and think more about the genius of Dave Filoni, there’s a whole new layer of meaning attached to these words. For those who may not have watched the show yet (you definitely should!), Kanan and Hera are two people who care very much for each other (wink wink) who once had to exchange a goodbye very similar to Mando and Grogu. Kanan was about to go on a very dangerous mission without Hera, unsure of what would happen to him, when he delivered these words: “We’ll see each other again. I promise.” This is almost exactly what Mando says to Grogu in the face of their temporary separation. The good news is Kanan and Hera did get to see each other again—but Kanan was changed forever. Will this happen with Mando or Grogu? It’s possible. But it’s just another one of those moments that makes me yell “FILONI!” in Darth Maul style.

[harrylee94]

In the Footsteps of Luminous Beings - Chapter 28

You can also find this on AO3!

Summary: “I can’t go in there,” Mayfeld said before Cobb could ask.

“What? Why not?”

Mayfeld hesitated, but then pointed out a man in an officer’s uniform sitting near the windows from over his shoulder, the man’s face sharp and serious as he spoke with a peer. “That’s Valin Hess.”

“Who?”

“It’s Valin Hess,” Mayfeld repeated, becoming more flighty and fidgety with the second iteration. “I used to serve under him.”

Notes: Always fun when things deviate from the norm a bit...

TW for death, blood, and mentions of genocide (thank you Valin Hess).

Chapter 27

——————————————————————

Redemption

He’d never seen so many Stormtroopers in one place before. There had to be dozens, perhaps even hundreds of them, wearing, white, brown, beige and black uniforms, all of them swarming around the transport as Cobb and Mayfeld climbed out. Cobb get several pats on the back and shoulders, and he had to hold back grunts of pain as they hit on his recently gained bruises, but luckily some superior officers ushered them off, most going back to their stations while others took charge of the Juggernaut to move the Rhydonium to the correct storage locations.

Mayfeld came up to his side soon enough, still smiling and waving after some of the other troopers, and Cobb sighed, reaching up to remove his helmet. He blinked at the change in light, his ears still ringing a bit from the blast he’d faced, but Mayfeld stepped closer still so he could hear him.

“Okay, all we gotta do is find a terminal,” the other man said, continuing his charade as another trooper congratulated them. “It’s probably in the officer’s mess.”

“Would… we be allowed in there?” Cobb asked, waving at their uniforms.

“Gotta work with what we got, right?” Mayfeld shrugged, looking around before nodding behind Cobb. “There it is.”

Cobb glanced over his shoulder, taking note of the tables and the few Imperials spotted around within. “Alright. You got the datastick?”

Mayfeld snorted. “You think I’d come all this way without it?”

Cobb smirked, finding he was beginning to enjoy his humour, and nodded. “See you on the other side.”

Mayfeld, perhaps sensing the shift in Cobb’s tone, gave him a more serious nod and walked past him towards the mess, leaving Cobb alone in the midst of the enemy. A few more troopers passed him by with words of praise, and he had to put on a smile to accept them, but sooner than expected Mayfeld returned, quickly leading him to the side where they could see more of the mess through the open door.

“I can’t go in there,” Mayfeld said before Cobb could ask.

“What? Why not?”

Mayfeld hesitated, but then pointed out a man in an officer’s uniform sitting near the windows from over his shoulder, the man’s face sharp and serious as he spoke with a peer. “That’s Valin Hess.”

“Who?”

“It’s Valin Hess,” Mayfeld repeated, becoming more flighty and fidgety with the second iteration. “I used to serve under him.”

Cobb looked over Mayfeld’s shoulder at the officer once again, then back at Mayfeld. The way he was holding himself, the way his breath had quickened, and a million other things about him reminded him too much of people he knew, of friends who had been faced with the possibility of facing their past, facing the cause of their pain, and been unable to find the strength to do it.

He didn’t know what trauma Mafeld had been through because of this man, but he wasn’t going to force him to face it if he wasn’t ready.

“You don’t have to go in there,” Cobb reassured. “It’s why I’m here, remember?” Mayfeld met his gaze and Cobb could see the moment he realised he was serious, his shoulders dropping in relief. “I’ve got your back.”

Mayfeld nodded and held out the datastick. “The terminal has to scan your face.”

“It’s a good job I’ve got one then,” Cobb replied, taking the stick with one last smirk before heading into the mess.

He’d done some infiltration jobs in the past, sliding into various roles in order to free his people from their keepers, so he knew how to walk the walk, keeping his breathing steady as he only paused for long enough to locate the terminal, walking up to it with purpose in his step and slotting the datastick in like he knew exactly what he was doing.

The system booted quickly enough, and then came the moment of truth.

Cobb held his breath as the grid was projected onto his face, the system checking its files, searching for any proof of identity until—

“Facial scan complete,” the computer said, he quickly gathered the information he needed, thanking the Force for leading him to the man who taught him how to read, along with so many other things. It took longer than he would have liked, but he had to be thorough, and eventually the device released his datastick with all the information he needed.

He took it like he had all the time in the world, slipping it into a pouch at his belt and making his way back out the mess. He could see that Valin Hess was looking at him from the corner of his eye, and he sent a feeling of disinterest at him, urging it at him through the Force as he kept his footsteps even. He didn’t stop until he was at Mayfeld’s side again, and he released a slow, even breath.

“Is he looking?” he asked, not looking back in case it drew suspicion.

“... No,” Mayfeld replied. “C’mon, the stairs should be this way.”

Cobb nodded and kept pace with him, allowing him his silence as they walked through the lingering troopers, heading past the few stations there were before turning a corner. As Mayfeld had predicted, the stairs were there, some troopers stepping out of them, and they headed through the door to head to the roof.

The walk was quiet, tense, but Cobb could feel something building, and he didn’t want to be the one to disturb whatever was running through Mayfeld’s head.

They made it to the roof before he spoke.

“It was Operation Cinder,” the convict said as they stood in the doorway, looking out across the rooftop at the anti-aircraft cannons and the troopers who were milling about. “Burnin Konn. Hess ordered the destruction of an entire city, along with everybody in it. Lost my whole division, five, ten thousand people.” He swallowed and met Cobb’s eyes, his own haunted by waking nightmares. “Civilians died defendin’ their homes, fighting for freedom, and he…” He looked away again. “No one deserved that.”

Cobb nodded slowly. “Then let’s make sure he never does it again.”

“Well can’t do that now; the ship’s already on the way.”

Cobb shrugged. “Rhydonium’s a volatile and explosive material. I hear most troopers ain’t to careful at the best o’ times.”

“Ship approaching!” someone shouted, and suddenly all the troopers were moving, heading towards their stations.

Cobb shared a look with Mayfeld, pulling the knife from his boot, and they got to work.

Shots were being fired from a distant ridge, taking out a good three or four of the Imperials before Cobb even reached the first, coming up behind them and jamming his blade deep in their neck. He blinked against the spray of blood as it spurted onto his face, dropping his victim and collecting their gun before they fell. Mayfeld was shooting at other cannon operatives with a greater accuracy than was normal for these junk guns, and Cobb joined him a moment later.

The Firespray was closer now, flying over the roof and providing some covering fire before it swung around, the ramp open and ready for them.

“Go, go!” Cobb shouted, sending Mayfeld ahead before making the leap himself.

More troopers emerged from the doorway they had exited not a minute earlier, and the ship flew higher. Cobb pulled himself up, looking down at the scene, but then Mayfeld nudged him and pointed at the wall behind him.

“Hand me that cycler rifle.”

Cobb turned to see the gun he was talking about and handed it over with a nod. When Mayfeld took aim, the Force calmed around him and then—

The transport exploded, the load blowing and making the facility rock, and when the second followed, the roof crumbled, maybe with a little help from Cobb. When Mayfeld exhaled, handing the rifle back, he looked almost at peace.

“We all need to sleep at night,” he said, and Cobb nodded.

“We’ve got company; hang on!” Boba called over the coms, and Cobb led the way back inside, quickly sitting when the ship rotated.

He wasn’t too sure what happened next, but he was pretty sure something blew up, though the explosion wasn’t something he’d ever heard before. All he knew was that the refinery was now a huge black pit of life returning to the Force. It made him shiver just to look in that direction, so he turned away.

“You got a little somethin’...” Mayfeld said, pointing at Cobb’s face.

Ah yes, the blood. “I’ll clean it off later.”

“Sure, sure,” Mayfeld said as Cobb noted how they were turning back to the rendezvous point. “What you did back there, what you said… Thanks.”

“We’ve all made mistakes, some greater than others,” Cobb replied. “I know you’re haunted by it, but you’re doin’ what you can to make it right. I can respect that.”

“Makes you a rare man.”

Cobb hummed. “Maybe it does.”

They landed soon after, the pair of them separating once they retrieved their things so they could change, or Cobb would have if Mando hadn’t held him back.

“You’re hurt?”

A gloved hand touched his cheek, coming away red with the blood that had started to dry there.

“No,” Cobb replied. “I mean, yes, but that ain’t my blood. Just bruises.”

“Are you alright?”

“I will be,” Cobb replied, giving him a smile before pulling the data stick from his pouch. “Here, I got the location.”

Mando accepted it, looking long and hard at the stick before taking Cobb’s cheek in hand again and pressing his helmeted brow to Cobb’s, this time letting the touch linger. “Thank you.”

“I’d do it again in a second,” Cobb said, allowing his eyes to fall shut as he leaned into the connection. “Though next time, I’d better not be your last choice.”

Mando stiffened, but nodded. “I promise.”

“Good,” Cobb said before gently pulling away. “Now when I get back, you’re gonna explain why that headbut thing is so important.”

“Who said it was important?” Mando defended, and Cobb only grinned back at him before disappearing around the back of the ship, sure he’d be able to figure it out.

Getting out of the trooper’s armour was a relief, but looking over his body after he was rid of the flight suit he hissed at the sight of the fresh bruises beginning to bloom. He could deal with it of course, it wasn’t anything he hadn’t dealt with before, but it was still something he’d rather have done without.

They were hidden behind his usual clothes only a minute later, but he might ask for some cream or something to help soothe his muscles while they healed. It was only when his lightsaber was strapped to his leg again that he relaxed, feeling, somehow, whole again. It was still a new sensation, knowing this weapon was so innately a part of him, or at least reflected him so well it was like working with a new limb rather than a sword, but he couldn’t see it as anything but a part of his soul he hadn’t known was missing.

Pieced together once again, he headed back to the open ramp of Fett’s ship, where he found a conversation was already taking place.

“—you for helping,” Mando said as Cobb finally came close enough to see he was talking to both Mayfeld and Dune.

“Yeah, uh, good luck gettin’ your kid back,” Mayfeld said, lingering for a few moments when Mando nodded at him before turning to Dune. “All right, Officer, take me back.”

The Marshal considered him for a moment, glancing briefly at Mando, then Cobb, then turned back to him with a tilt of her head. “That was some nice shootin’ back there.”

“Oh, you saw that?” Mayfeld said, and Cobb could tell he genuinely hadn’t been thinking about his audience when he’d taken the shot. “Yeah, that, uh, that wasn’t part of the plan. I was just gettin’ some stuff off my chest.”

Dune hummed, continuing to look him up and down for a few moments before turning away from him entirely as she faced Mando. “You know, it’s too bad Mayfeld didn’t make it out alive back there.”

“Yeah, too bad,” Mando agreed.

Cobb grinned, having to smother a laugh. Good; Mayfeld deserved this after what he’d done.

“What are you talkin’ about?” the dead man asked, and Cobb had to bite his lip.

“Looked to me like prisoner number three-four-six-six-seven died in the refinery explosion on Morak,” Dune said, ignoring Mayfeld when he made a quickly abandoned attempt at catching her attention.

“Does that mean I can go? Huh? ‘Cause I will,” Mayfeld asked, looking between the two of them before noticing Cobb, who had to quickly look away to keep up the charade. “All right. Okay.” The man smiled, looking at each of them one more time before backing away, then finally turning to head off on his own, a free man.

Cobb smiled after him, and he couldn’t help but with that he might see him again one day.

“Vanth,” Dune called, bringing his attention back once more. “You get the coordinates on Moff Gideon?”

“He did,” Mando said, revealing the datastick Cobb had given him earlier.

Dune nodded. “What’s our next move?”

Mando looked down at the datastick. “I need to send a message.”

-o-o-o-

“Moff Gideon. You have something I want. You may think you have some idea what you are in possession of, but you do not. Soon, he will be back with me. He means more to me than you will ever know.”

——————————————————————

Sorry guys, Cobb's got more experience blending in than our Mando, plus he had a little help, so no confrontation in the mess... but more softness with Mando! Whoop!

Chapter 29

[blackwaxidol]

Despite being reborn as a figuratively orphaned and precocious thing, Valin has always pined for some kind of parental figure to feel beheld and seen by.

It is why he latched onto Calus so much and subsequently became so utterly, inconsolably heartbroken at the Emperor's sudden vanishing. He felt abandoned and worthless in a way he hadn't felt in a very, very long time. What had happened? What had he done wrong? Where is Calus, his conduit for reifying approval? Everything he'd ever been given felt hollow, derisive. He had done something terrible, he was certain of it. How could he apologise? How could he beg for forgiveness? He felt lost, reduced to hysterical bedlam with his face in his hands and the jewels from his treasured weaponry torn away and scattered at his feet. He didn't deserve them.

Maybe it is strange to say that he loved Calus, but he is so desperate for some kind of validation and love from a grander, wiser, older thing than him. He wants to be acknowledged and appreciated and held dearly and warmly for a very long time by something that might see him as a sort of soft little progeny that can be kept close as a nestling to be loved for an eternity.

The need to curl up and feel protected and safe in a childish way unbecoming of his grand self... he feels silly for it. Here he is, Valin of Sao, a beautiful, ancient cosmic force of power... shaking and crying and hunched over, grasping at his own arms in an attempt to soothe himself as if he is 6 months old again and trying to find comfort in the torn, frostbitten linings of his Techeun regalia.

Suicide wasn't enough, he wanted to give his Ghost to Calus on a platter just for the thought of making him happy. He knew what delighted him, what amused him to his very core.

"The distant ancestors of your tribe gorged themselves on great feasts, yet expelled them so that they may dine further in abundance.

"I see these marks of worship upon your own hands. Your kind are a gracious people, do not feel shame in your scars.

"Come, I shall give you any feast you desire. Indulge to excess, for I am a generous God."

And he would, for Valin was glad to do this for him. The scars on his knuckles grew worse, but they made the Emperor happy, so he was happy.

Valin of Sao is a creature of habitual self-destruction, he is the zenith of learned helplessness. Everything he is, every turbulent part of his soul, he is willing to subdue or cast away entirely so that he might be palatable or desirable. He will destroy himself psychologically if he thinks it may be appealing to do so, it is his oldest of rituals, a habit formed so early on in his life that he knows no other way to live.

Valin is a hopeless romantic, in a sense. Every man he has ever been at the mercy of he'd quickly grown to vie for their affection, no matter how ruinous. Perhaps it was delusional attachment. He does not hate his former patrons, in a desolate world they gave him everything he could ever want. He was a nymphomaniac, he still is, and he might always be. He hated it, no matter how natural it made his actions feel, he still wanted to die.

His mantle as Warlord was spurred by rage. Nothing was given to him but the opportunity to plunge a blade into the back of an Iron Lord who'd called upon him. There was nothing that made Valin pick him as a sacrificial lamb, truly. It felt right, and when a Ghost appeared over the crumpled form of their charge, Valin killed it too.

It isn't a story he has ever told anyone, but it was pried out of him nonetheless. He is unsure of how much of it was of his own volition, nor why he felt so compelled to tell it, but he remembers how much it made the Emperor smile.

"Ah! Risen from ashes! Scorned by everyone, plotted against, the world unsated by your boundless generosity...

"You were brought to ruin, and vowed to take it all from them. You sheltered the great people who loved you like a God, who did not turn against you even when you were branded as evil...

"We are not so different, you and I."

[twoidiotwriters1]

The believer (Din Djarin x Fem! Reader)

Resquest by: Me, lol. -Val

Words: 3, 343

A/N: Based on episode 15

"I mean it, Cara. You said you needed my help for important things. Being the commissioner of the new republic must be something better than just moving boxes” I complain leaving some on the ground. I walk to her desk.

“We are only relocating some files. Thanks for your help." She mocks. I roll my eyes. "We’re  almost done. Besides, you've already helped me enough by catching the bad guys. Who imprisoned all those thieves? " She tries to try fix it.

"I did" I say through my teeth. "Whatever. But do you promise this is the last one? "

"I promise. You'll see. Soon you’ll be with your Mandalorian. Although ” she frowns and gets up from her chair. “I just got a message from him. He says he will come today "

"What?"

She shrugs her shoulders.

“Maybe he can't wait any longer to see you. But I really need you to finish this "

I sigh. Why would Din come early? We agreed that I would return until Cara no longer needed me or… in case of emergencies.

"Well, where do I put this?" I try to lift another box, but it is heavier.

"Hey! No, we said only light things and you know it " she says, taking the box from me

"Whatever," I go back inside the office to look for more boxes.

**

After a couple of hours, I close the store’s door. I stretch my body and walk back to Cara's office.

Upon arrival, my heart races to see the armor that I already missed too much.

"Din!" I run up to him and throw myself into his arms. I put my arms  around his neck and he holds me by my waist.

“I'll leave you alone. I'll prepare everything,"  says Cara leaving.

I frown and pull away from him.

"Prepare?” I look straight into the visor of the Mandalorian. “What's going on? I thought you would come later "

"I'm also happy to see you," he jokes 

I smile.

"I'm sorry I didn't have a better welcome, but you didn't give me time," I say sarcastically.

"I don't think that matters now," he says changing his tone.

"Din, what is the problem?"

Din sighs and shifts uncomfortably.

"Something happened, I uh- sorry"

"Are you okay? Where’s the child? "

"They have the kid"

"What? Who?"

"Sorry, cyar'ika. It all happened so fast, I couldn't - I couldn't protect him enough ” says Mando, moving away a bit.

"Hey" I took his hand stopping him. "Listen. I'm sure that whatever happened, it wasn't your fault "

"You don’t know"

"Then, tell me"

"Moff Gideon. He kidnapped the child"

My body tenses remembering very well that monster. I clench my teeth.

"Where is he?"

"That's why I came, I need Cara's help." He sighs. "And from Mayfeld"

"Mayfeld? The idiot who tried to catch us in prison? "

"The same"

"Why the-? No, forget it. You'll tell me at the Razor Crest ”I walk towards the exit, but he stops me by taking my arm.

"The Crest no longer exists," he whispers. I frown and sigh at his tone of defeat. I take his hand and force him to follow the path.

“C’mon, we must not waste any more time. Nobody messes with my family "

**

"I don't like your new friend," I complain, sitting next to Din. "He's grumpier than you when we first met"

Din laughs at my pout.

"He's not that bad. He has been a great help"

"That doesn't take away the grumpiness"

"I don't find the charm in you either, princess," says Boba Fett. passing in front of us to open the cargo door. I grunt at the sight. Din puts a hand on my leg.

"Hold on, Cyar’ika."

We both got up to follow Boba along with his partner Fennec Shand. The four of us go out when Cara returns with Mayfeld.

Din steps forward while the others guard him closely and confronts the prisoner.

"Mayfeld"

"Hello, Mando. How long ” he answers, nervous. He looks behind Din and smiles slightly. "Hi gorgeous. It's nice to see you again "

I roll my eyes.

After explaining a bit about his value in knowing the Imperial protocols. We all went back to Boba's ship.

Mayfeld indicates the new course to Morak, where he must infiltrate an imperial database to find out the location of Gideon.

The new mission is to infiltrate to a secret mine, get to the refinery and get the information. A good plan, but after several years of being with the Mandalorian, I know it didn’t always turn out the way we expect. And the fact that they refine rhydonium, an explosive material, is not a good sign.

**

"I don't understand how he can be in a suit like this all the time," I complain, fixing the my  stormtrooper uniform.

"This one really sucks," Mayfeld continues, adjusting his boot.

Two guards to drive the truck with rhydonium and one to check the levels of the material, we replaced them as soon as they crossed a tunnel, it sounded like a good idea. But I can already smell the perspiration of whoever wore my suit.

Din walks towards us also wearing his black suit and helmet. He leaves his armor to Cara.

"Are you okay?" he asks me.

"The faster we do this, soon I will take this off"

"That interests me," I raise my eyebrow and smile. He tilts his helmet making me laugh.

The three of us get on the truck and the mission begins. We pass the tunnel and continue along the path in the middle of the forest.

Mayfeld tries to make conversation with us, but his attempts are in vain. Everything is going well, until an intercepted conversation warns us of certain complications with another truck ahead, and then we hear an explosion not far from us.

"You must continue" says Din "As long as you drive carefully and slowly, the Rhydonium will not explode"

"Good to know" answers Mayfeld.

"It's stable" I announce.

A knock to the side of the truck breaks the silence.

"Pirates. They are trying to destroy the Rhydonium ”says Mando.

We both go out on the roof of the truck and try to get rid of the pirates, but it gets harder and harder when more arrive. While we fight, Mayfeld makes sure the material levels don't overheat.

Every movement I make, makes my heart race, maybe I already have some experience fighting and Din has always helped me to defend myself, but this time it's different and I have to be more careful.

Our only salvation comes when we approach the empire mine. The whole army helps us against pirates.

I sigh in relief.

"Are you okay?" Mando asks. I nod. We both went back inside the truck.

Upon arriving safely at the mine, many people congratulate us on a great job. Of course, being the only ones who could pass an explosive for several kilometers with some pirates as an obstacle, should be cause for celebration.

We walked among the people, some soldiers, stormtroopers and other workers. Mayfeld tells us that a database may be in the dining room, so we keep pretending to know where we are.

When we get to one, Mayfeld steps forward.

"Good luck," Din tells him.

"Ugh, I can't take it anymore" I complain taking off my helmet. I straighten my hair as best I can and sigh. "Surely your beskar helmet is better than this, but I couldn't wear one all the time."

"You get used to it" says Mando.

"I can't go in," says Mayfeld, turning back.

"Why not?"

"There is Valin Hess"

"Who?" I ask.

"He was my boss" Oh no.

"Would he recognize you?"

"I do not know. I was just a field agent, but I won't risk it ” he says trying to leave, but Mando stops him.

"Make it quick so we can go"

Mayfeld denies.

"I can’t  do it, I’m sorry"

"No, I can’t. If we don't get those coordinates, we will lose the child "

"I’ll do it. Give me the data stick ”I tell them.

"Yeah, I don't think it's a good idea either," Mayfeld answers. "You have already attracted attention being a participant in the truck mission, if they see a woman in the database it will be more suspicious"

"That makes no sense"

“Maybe, but look around you. Any boss is a man, imagine what they would do without seeing you trying to enter the system "

“Give me the data stick,” Din interrupts. Mayfeld and I watch it.

"It won't work," says the bald man. "In order to access the network, the terminal has to scan your face"

I shake my head.

"There must be another way"

"Give it to me" Din repeats, taking away his memory

"No, wait" I try to take his arm, but he takes off and walks towards the terminal. "This will end badly"

"Since when has something gone well?" Mayfeld answers next to me.

My body trembles from nerves. Din must be desperate to even think about showing his face.

Mayfeld and I watch him from the entrance. Din walks to the terminal, presses some buttons, waits a second and as soon as I see his hands go to his helmet, I turn suddenly.

"Have you ever seen him without the helmet?" He asks. 

"No, I haven't"

He nods.

“And how do you…? You know. ” I frown at him. "What? Haven't you had sex yet? "

"That is none of your business"

"Hey, it was just a question" he defends himself. "Oh no" he says looking towards the dining room

"What?"

"We have a problem. Hess is talking to him

"Shit"

"I'll take care of it," he says nervously.

Mayfeld comes in to help Din, while my back is still turn on him. What am I supposed to do? I look around for an answer. Which comes when I see a crew member talking with other soldiers. She holds a datapad and the others sign on it.

It could work.

**

“We just call him Brown Eyes. Isn't that right, officer? " is what I hear when I get closer. Completely avoiding Din's face.

"Sir" I interrupt them. Hess turns to see me. "I need you to sign some documents regarding the delivery of the Rhydonium." Hess raises an eyebrow looking me up and down. I extend the datapad to him.

"Are you also part of that delivery, Lieutenant?" points to my uniform.

"Yes sir. They asked me to file the delivery, given the circumstances. Lack of staff ”I know the other two men are staring at me, but there is one look that makes me more nervous.

Hess nods.

"You are the only transport that delivered cargo today" he announces. “Let's have a drink. You too, Miss. We can celebrate," He smiles. " Brown eyes."

I sigh. The three of us follow Hess without saying anything. My eyes are fixed on the floor, but the problem widens when I get to the small table, Mayfeld and Hess are at my sides, leaving Din in front.

I use all my willpower not to look at his face, but I know he is watching me and it only makes it harder. I want to hit him, but that would force me to see his face. Dammit.

“You don't have to be so tense, Lieutenant. You can relax, we are in confidence ”says Hess offering a glass of alcohol. I smile taking the glass. "It’s  really surprising to see a woman on such a dangerous mission"

"It's part of the job, Sir"

“A good soldier, we need more troopers like that. Although, the women here are not as pretty as you. ” I clench my teeth. "Surely your companions agree with me" out of the corner of my eye I notice Din's hand clenched into a fist. "We can celebrate that too, can't we, boys?"

Din lowers his hand whipping his glass in a quick movement, causing the three of us to freak out and… it was just a reflection. My eyes connect with his. That alone was enough to make me lose focus.

Hess wants to ask about Din's behavior, but Mayfeld cuts him off.

"Shall we toast Operation Cinder?" He starts, but I can't hear the rest.

I observe every detail of Din's face. His facial hair, more than a shadow, his brown hair disheveled by the helmet, his profile, jaw, nose, lips and his brown eyes. I can't look away. 

Ever since I've known him, I've imagined what he might look like. He had only told me the color of his eyes and hair. I had touched his face with my hands, but I had never thought he to be… like this. Stars, he’s gorgeous. My cheeks are flushing like they never have before and he tries not to  smile. Son of a bitch. He knows my anxiety is about him. I feel like a silly teenager and the worst part is that I can't help it. To think that this handsome man is… mine. Stupid hormones.

After a few minutes, I shake my head and finally return to the conversation, which has become somewhat more tense. Mayfeld seems to argue and claim something about a past mission and Hess only apologizes for the flaws in that.

From one moment to the next, Mayfeld shoots Hess with his blaster. I turn to him and he seems surprised too, but it doesn't take long for those in the dining room to try something. I pull my blaster out of my stolen uniform and fire in self-defense.

The three of us were silent for a few minutes. Mayfeld has the helmet on Din.

“You did what you had to. We never saw your face ” he says looking at the wall. I follow suit until Mando hides his face again.

"Sorry" I whisper loud enough for him to hear me.

"Security in the common area" say some soldiers approaching. We shoot at them while looking for another way out.

Mayfeld climbs on the fence behind us, under the vents.

"Over here" He tells us.

Din follows him. I keep shooting until I see an opportunity to turn. Din extends his arm to me and helps me up. Both men manage to kick a vent. We leave the building to walk on the ledge until we reach a staircase that leads to the roof.

Thanks to Fennec and Cara who helped us by observing everything from a distance, we were able to return to Boba's ship safely. 

**

"We should talk about what happened," says Din, sitting next to me. It feels better to see him in beskar armor again.

After Mayfeld destroyed  mine and we set him free, the ship ride has a new direction. Fennec and Cara help Boba, although maybe they just want to leave us alone.

‘You must tell him. You're lucky I couldn't do anything to prevent you from going in the truck without suspicion.'

Cara's words echo in my head. But I ignore them, this is not the time. Din must focus on getting the baby back.

“We don't have to. Mayfeld said so. We never saw your face "

"Cyar’ika" takes my hand. "I don't regret doing it" I raise my head looking at his visor.

“It was necessary, I know. Everything is for the child, I understand it ” I grimace. “I know how much your creed means. I don't want you to feel bad about something that wasn't your fault. you had no choice "

"Listen to me" his hands go to my cheeks. “I could make any excuse for what happened, but I don't care that you saw my face. I could tell that you tried to look away and you don't know how much that meant to me ” he sighs.

"It was inevitable" I blush

He laughs. “You and the child are the most important thing and I would do anything to protect you. Regardless of my belief "

He leaves my face and now his hands travel to his helmet.

"Wow, wait, Din-"

"I want to do it"

He slowly takes it off and again I’m surprised to find his brown eyes. I settle in to see him. I touch his cheek and he closes his eyes, bowing to my touch.

“You’re part of my clan, my family. No more secrets, Cyar’ika "

"How could I be so lucky to have found you?"

“The lucky one is me. You never knew what my face was like and still you stayed by my side "

“It wasn't easy” I joke “But I know when a man is worth it. I don't regret staying by your side. And now less when seeing how incredibly hot you are, Brown Eyes "we both laughed

I move closer and press his forehead against mine, closing my eyes.

"I could see how you were blushing, Cyar’ika."

"Don't get too cocky"

**

‘He wants the permission of both’

'All right, pal. It’s time to go. Don’t be afraid ’

‘I love you too, my Little bean. We will see each other again, I promise. '

‘May de force be with you’

**

I stand in front of the door. After the emotional goodbyes, Din wanted to be alone for a few minutes. That happened two hours ago. I know my time is running out. This may not improve the situation, but I can't keep putting it off.

I push the button and the door opens. I enter the room and it closes again.

Din is sitting in his cot, his back to me, without his helmet.

“I know you don't want to talk and I don't know what to tell you that can help” I sigh “But you must know something. I have to tell you, Din "

I sit on the shore.

"It's not a good time"

"I can't keep waiting for that moment" he sighs and turns.

I lick my lips and fidget. He notices my movements, frowns.

"Are you okay? You're hurt?"

"No, I, uh. I'm good"

"What do you want to talk about?"

“Something happened when I was in Nevarro with Cara. Well, it happened a lot before, but I found out when I was there "He comes over and takes my hand" I know it's not the best scenario to tell you, but maybe I can take away your pain about the child- "

"Grogu"

"What?"

"His real name is Grogu" I smile nodding.

“Grogu will always be important to both of us, I am not trying to replace him in any way, it was never my intention. Although” I grimace “ I don't think I thought about this until it happened, but ”

"Cyar’ika"

"Yeah, right. I- uh. Din, I'm pregnant "

You never know what your partner's reaction to this news would be like and I, without a doubt never imagined being able to see this.

"We're going to have a baby?" He whispers. "Yours and mine?"

"Yes" I answer, unsure.

He shakes his head and frowns.

“But, you were in danger, the truck, with Gideon. Is the baby okay? Are you both? " he says quickly making me laugh.

"We are fine, Din"

"But-"

I take his face.

"We are both fine" that seems to reassure him. He's silent for a few seconds.

"Are you sure?" I nod. Little by little he assimilates the news again, now he smiles. He lets out a little laugh. "A clan of four"

My eyes water, I laugh too.

"A family"

"Allit"

We get closer at the same time. My lips collide with his in a tender kiss. Tears run down my cheeks. Din grabs me by the waist to get me closer to him, causing me to end up in his lap.

"Aliit ori'shya tal'din" he whispers near my lips. Family is more than a bloodline. "I love you, Cyar’ika"

"I love you too"

[azoresangel]

The Mandalorian Season 2 Chapter 15 : The Believer

Major Spoilers Ahead 

You have been warned!

Where to even begin with this episode!?!?

Not only the talk that Mayfield had with Din about the whole wearing the helmet thing but then him taking it off?!?!?!

I both love and hate how he kept having to take it a step farther each time something came up. From deciding he will go with Mayfield, to taking off his armor in secret, to deciding to take off his helmet completely. It could be argued that when he was standing in front of the control panel he wasn’t showing his face to anyone. No one was looking at him, no one cared. It was the moment that Valin Hess came over he lost all of whatever hope he had of putting his helmet back on without anyone ‘seeing’ him. 

This almost 100% the first time that Din has seen anybody's face without the helmet since he was a child. The man is probably overwhelmed by all of the bright colors and lights from the second he takes it off! Not to mention without all of the tech that is no doubt running around the visor of the helmet, though we have only seen Boba’s helmet screen so it’s unclear if that’s how Din sees the world. But if it is, no doubt its an even bigger sensory overload. 

Secondly it is incredible how much emotion he hides behind his helmet. His body language is stiff, always. He hides his emotions with that helmet but the second it comes off he is that scared little boy from his past. He’s so nervous he cant even come up with any good excuses for anything. Even going along with Mayfield seems to be hard he’s so overstimulated!

This man went from having to make the hardest decision of his life to talking and acting like everything is just fine, when he is having an existential crisis in the middle of the mess hall! 

One thing I did notice was that even though his facial expressions go mainly unchecked, (Obviously because he’s never had to hide them before) his movements are still very subtle. His head shake to Mayfield was a big one, BUT the one that stood out the most was when Mayfield shot the Imp. Normal people jump and start expressing with wild movements or words. Din turned his head very stiffly and very carefully with no big expression on his face. I could literally see the helmet still on his head as he did it. Even when he turned to look at the trooper behind him, he used his whole body to turn around instead of just looking over his shoulder. 

THEN!! When he puts the helmet back on his attitude instantly changes! It goes from timid to back in charge! One could argue he was just trying to survive but when Mayfield was shooting up the place it still felt like Din was smaller than normal, still trying to hide away as he defended himself instead of just standing out right in the middle of the room like he usually does. 

Oh I just love Pedro Pascal! He kept so true to the inner workings of Din that it was so beautiful to watch! I’m so glad that they put this in! 

On a last side note I do have a very big understanding for the struggle of Din and his faith. I have known people who cover and while I do not, I have had my own struggles with the rights and wrongs of my faith. The idea of having to go against what you have been taught to believe is hard. It tears you up inside to think that maybe you’ve done something wrong, and even though it is an extreme with Din that he wont be able to put his helmet back on according to the creed, I get it it. It made my heart ache for him that he was forced to make the decision so rapidly and without allowing him to do it on his own time. I do believe that if this hadn’t happened he would have taken it off eventually, but it would have been on his terms and probably only with Grogu. 

Blessed to the creators of the show for making this so realistic of a struggle!

And blessed to everyone who read my whole rant! 

[dinmadness]

Oooh I saw your prompt ask!

I would love to see more of the helmetless scene in the imperial cafeteria- maybe that imperial officer- Valin Hess-is all over Din, trying to drag him away to do what he wants with him- maybe he even touches him up, Din has no idea what to do being so stressed without a helmet, mayfeld sees this from afar and comes over to rescue Din. post getting out of the imperial base much kissing and hotness between mayfield and Din 😃

So I can’t write actual smut for shit. But what’s the next best thing? Frottage! I hope you don’t mind!

Pairing: Din Djarin x Migs Mayfeld

Tags: creepy Hess, Frottage, cursing, all kinds of moaning

It’s a little spicy under the cut if I do say so myself! You have been warned. 😈

Dins stomach drops like a lead weight when he hears Valin Hess call for him. He screws his eyes shut and pulls the datastick from the terminal. Hess calls again and Din turns to face him. The Imp office was closer than he anticipated, he could smell the dust on the officers uniform that’s gathered from the hazy air.

“Well, well, well trooper.” Hess rakes his eyes up and down the Mandalorians body, hunger flashes across his features. “That’s an awful nice face to be hiding under that helmet.”

Din feels his skin crawl. He’s uncomfortably hot and the borrowed uniform feels too tight but he’s cemented in place by the weight of his identity on display. The sensory overload of the room causes Din to miss the movement of the Imp stepping closer. He only notices when he feels a hand on his bicep. Mando stares at the hand for a moment before he looks back at Hess, a perverse smile plastered across the other mans face.

“It’s normally against regulation to fraternize with our subordinates, but for such a pretty face I think I can pull some strings.” Din feels bile rise in his throat when Hess places his thumb on his jaw.

Suddenly, Hess is jerked back away from the frightened man. Din snaps his head over to see Mayfeld step between them. His heart pounds so hard in his chest he feels the pulse in his fingertips.

“Why don’t you back off?” Mayfeld bites, he’s seething, the fucking nerve of this guy. “Can’t you tell he isn’t interested.”

Hess straightens his uniform, a deep scowl on his face. “Why don’t you mind your own business, pretty boy and I were just having some fun.”

Din can see Mayfeld tense beside him, hands clenched into white-knuckled fists. The Mandalorian reaches out and taps the other, shaking his head slightly when Mayfeld locks eyes with him.

But before Din can react, Mayfeld pulls his blaster and fires, ripping a hole in the Imps chest. It goes to hell in a handbag as Din expects. The pair fight their way out of the compound, Din able to focus better with his face covered.

-

A moment to relax alone, Mayfeld and Din take their time getting changed. Mayfeld is out of the flight suit and back into his own trousers before he sits down.

He’s watching the Mandalorian change out of that terrible uniform. Watching as tan skin moves over muscles in his back as he struggles to put on his long sleeve top. Finally frustrated enough, Din removes the helmet and places it down to put on the shirt. Mayfeld thinks about what it would be like to run his fingers through those soft brown waves, what kind of sounds the other would make. Fuck. Mayfeld shifts in his seat, his pants suddenly uncomfortable.

“Thank you for that back there.” Dins voice breaks the unreadable tension in the ship. He turns to Mayfeld. “I don’t know what came over me.”

Mayfeld can’t get over the eyes. They are more than he can handle. “Don’t worry about it, that guy is a fucking creep to be touching you.” He waves a hand dismissively.

Din nods softly. Mayfeld looks at the floor, struggling to keep eyes contact, worried the other can read his thoughts. The dark haired man clears his throat. Mayfeld looks back and notices Din’s soft eyes roaming his bare chest, taking in each freckle and dusting of pale hair.

Suddenly shy, Mayfeld crosses his arms, a poor excuse for coverage.

“I believe I need to thank you properly.”

Mayfeld starts to sweat, his body burning like he has a fever. “Oh yeah, do’ya have anything in mind?”

Loaded fucking question.

Din steps forward and uncrosses Mayfelds arms, with no resistance, letting them drop to his sides. Oh so carefully, the Mandalorian settles his thighs on both sides of Mayfeld, holding onto his broad shoulders. The weight of the taller man is delicious and without thinking Mayfeld grips Dins ass and drags him closer, whining at the friction of the fabrics. His head drops back when Din repeats the action, rolling his hips in just the right way.

“Fuck, Mando.” He breathes.

He lifts his head up and a desire floods his mind when he sees how dark Dins eyes have become, pupils blown wider than the fucking galaxy. “You’re killing me, brown eyes.”

That’s all it takes for Din to give in. He kisses Mayfeld with a force he didn’t know he had, holding him close by the back of his neck. Licking into Mayfelds mouth, Din moans into it, biting and tugging at his lower lip. He can’t seem to get enough of Mayfeld, he wants to taste every part of him. Bite red into his pale skin.

Craving more friction, he starts grinding his hips again with more and more pressure, relishing in the others breathy moans like he’s starving for it. Mayfeld pulls from the kiss to bite at the soft flesh on Dins clothed shoulder, panting unabashedly with each roll of Mandos hips. “Fuck,” he groans, his grip on Dins thighs turn bruising as he gets closer to blissful release. “Fuck, so fucking good.”

The intoxicating praise fuels the burning hot desire in Dins belly as he continues his movements until they both crash over the edge. Din claws his way up Mayfeld back, leaving red indents in his wake.

Out of breath, Din leans forward to rest his head on Mayfelds shoulder, legs like jelly from holding his own weight. Din doesn’t bother moving. Mayfeld shifts a little to get comfortable but let’s Din rest, finally getting to run his fingers through his damp hair.

They can finish getting dressed in a bit.

[littlemisspascal]

Death and an Angel part 5

Helmetless + Death!Din and Cupid F!Reader

Summary: A call with one of your bosses threatens to split you and Din apart.

Rating: T

Word Count: 2,075

Warnings: Reader experiences a panic attack, use of a swear word, angst, reference to most recent Mandalorian episode so I guess it’s kind of spoiler-ish, hurt/comfort and more angst

Author Note: All the love to everyone who follows along with this series! I joined AO3 recently so all these parts will be on there as well at LittleMissPascal. I’m actually really nervous about the response to this particular segment so...be gentle, please ❤

Links to Part 1 and Part 4 and Part 6

Photo Inspiration: 

“Cupid 1-1-7, am I hearing you correctly? You said there was an explosion?”

You scrub a hand over your face, biting back a sigh lest the comlink picks it up. “Not a literal one, sir. I’m still not sure what happened, just that when my client touched a potential match’s hand there was this...invisible blast of energy or something.”

The silence on the other end is enough to make you want to slam your head against the wall of the Razor Crest. You’d called headquarters as soon as you and Din had returned to his ship, figuring if anyone had a clue as to what the hell had happened it’d be one of your superiors. 

After twenty minutes of explaining your predicament not once, but three times, you’re beginning to realize you were evidently mistaken.

“Remind me again, Cupid 1-1-7, what name was it you referred to this immortal client of yours as?” Over the comlink, your boss’ voice sounds as if he’s gargling jagged rocks, deep and throaty. You can imagine the narrowed-eyed look he’d be giving you in person and you’re grateful you’re not currently having this conversation over a holoprojector. 

“I didn’t.” 

Your eyes drift to the ladder leading up to the cockpit where Din is located. Something inside of you is insistent you keep Din’s identity hidden from your superiors. It’s a feeling you’ve never experienced before, certainly not with any of your former clients. Part of you thinks of the sensation as possessiveness, but what have you to be possessive of? You have no claim to him, nothing tying you to one another. 

“Interesting,” your boss says, dry as the Dune Sea.

“My client is high-profile, sir. He asked me to remain discreet and I intend to uphold his request.” You clutch the comlink against your chest, taking deep breaths to keep yourself calm as you wait to hear if he believed your lie or not.

“This...incident you’ve described, it does bring to mind an event in history with similar details.” There is a shuffling sound that echoes over the device, resembling papers being picked up and flipped through. He hums, a long drawn out note that makes your skin crawl. “Yep, here’s the report right here, referencing an outburst erupting as a result of the physical contact between a potential pair.”

You wait for more information, drumming your fingers against a nearby crate.

“Unfortunately, you are not of rank to hear the specifics.”

“But—”

“I must say though, the Moff will be most interested in this development,” he continues, ignoring your protest as if you hadn’t opened your mouth at all. 

Heart lodging in your throat at the mention of the head seraph, you manage to choke out, “I really don’t think that’s necessary, Mr. Hess.”

“That’s sir to you, Cupid 1-1-7.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. Forgive me, sir.” You’re two seconds from babbling yourself off a cliff and you can’t find the off switch for your mouth. “It’s just. Moff Gideon is so busy, as I’m sure you know, and I would hate to bother him with this case when I have everything under control—”

“Except that you clearly don’t. Otherwise you wouldn’t have made this call.”

His words hit you like a punch, silencing you.

“The Moff will hear about this, as well as your breaking protocol by concealing information from your superior when directly asked. No doubt he will be as displeased about your behavior as I am.” 

Your eyes fall shut as you listen, slumping against the ship’s wall and sliding down onto the cold floor. You feel disconnected from the situation, as if he’s discussing someone else’s fate instead of your own. 

“In the meantime,” his voice drones on, adding more weight to the pressure on your chest. “I will permit you forty-eight hours to complete your assignment before I officially relegate it to another Cupid. You will also be ordered to take a reassessment test of your basic understanding of standard Cupid regulations.”

You squeeze your eyes together tighter, feeling like you’re about to throw up. Each breath you take feels pointless, as if there is no longer any oxygen in the air, but you have enough pride left to keep you from having a breakdown with your boss still on the line. 

“Do you understand the terms in which I’ve stated to you, Cupid 1-1-7?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Amor vincit omnia.” The parting mantra sounds almost sinister coming from his mouth.

“Amor vincit omnia,” you echo, forcing your voice to remain steady.

The comlink clicks off. The floodgates open not a second later.

You press your palms against your mouth, desperately trying to hold back the sobs that wrack your body so they don’t disrupt the silence of the cargo hold. The tears streaming down your face refuse to be stifled though, burning your eyes as they fall. Your head pounds in rhythm with your heartbeat, a frantic drumming counting down the seconds until you either scream or pass out. Or both.

It’s an ugly, hysterical kind of crying that can’t be stopped once started, not even when you hear movement from the ladder right before Din slides down it, boots thudding loudly against the floor. 

And then it seems like Din is right there in front of you without ever having moved, unnaturally fast and stealthy, gloved fingers resting on your shoulders. He’s taken off his helmet, brown eyes full of such concern it only makes you cry harder seeing them, further increasing his worry.

“Are you hurt? Tell me what’s wrong, angel,” he murmurs, a note of franticness in his voice as he looks you over for injuries, finding none except for the few scratches along your arms you’d received earlier when you landed in the dirt.

You shake your head when he tries to move your hands away from your face, emitting a choked hiccup that threatens to crack your already-bruised rib cage with its intensity. 

“Angel, you’ve got to breathe, okay?” Din says, soft and soothing. You blink through your watery vision, finding his gaze again, and he offers you a small, reassuring smile. “In and out. Just like this.” He inhales a purposefully deep breath, then slowly releases it without once breaking eye contact.

You try to copy him, but your nose is stuffed with snot and your lungs hitch with another round of sobs, ruining your attempt.

“Can I…?” Din again reaches for one of your hands, this time hovering without attempting direct contact, waiting for your consent. 

Trembling, it feels like a monumental task to remove your hand from where it’s glued to the top of your other one still covering your mouth. Din grabs onto your wrist and brings your hand to his chest plate, pressing it against the cool beskar.

“Together, okay? In and out.”

He continues his litany of encouragement, patient and calm, and gradually your heaving sobs begin to lose their power, enabling you to reclaim control of your lungs. Catching your breath, you begin to wipe away the lingering tears with the hand not still held gently in Din’s grip. 

“Sorry,” you sniff, embarrassed. The beginning ache of a migraine starts to form in the back of your head, worsening when you try to move too quickly, and you bite back a wince.

His grip on your wrist tightens in admonishment. “There’s no need to be,” he says, but your ears detect his thinly restrained anger. “Who were you speaking to?”

“He’s one of my superiors. Valin Hess,” you answer, biting your lip.

“I should have him wiped clean from the galaxy for making you cry,” Din hisses, a snarl on his face and eyes darkening with rage.

Face to face with anyone else, you would have felt terrified being so close to such open hostility. But this is how Din expresses his overprotective nature, making himself a more dangerous threat than the enemy, and for that reason, you could never be scared of him. 

“Din, listen to me,” you say, curling your hand in his grasp until he yields to your movements and allows you to intertwine your fingers with his gloved ones. “What happened on Sorgan when you touched Omera’s hand, Hess said it wasn’t the first time something like that has happened. He wouldn’t give me the details though because I’m not high enough rank.”

He raises an eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware Cupids had any kind of ranking system.”

“It’s based on how long you’ve existed. I’ve only been a Cupid for fifty years now, barely made any kind of lasting imprint on the galaxy.”

“Don’t say that,” he mutters, shooting you a stern look. “You’ve made a bigger impact than you could ever know.”

Struck momentarily speechless, you can only watch as he moves to sit on the floor beside you, clasped hands settling between his thigh and yours. The pauldron on his shoulder presses against the upper half of your arm and you tilt your head until your temple rests against it.

“That’s not what made you upset,” Din says.

You don’t need to shake your head, confirming the truth he already knows, but you do anyway, comforted by the cold metal rubbing across your forehead.

“What did he tell you, angel?”

You know by how he squeezes your hand that he genuinely wants to hear what happened. You know he must hear it from you because no one else can break the news. And you know you cannot lie to him because Hess’ intervening affects him even more than it does yourself. Still, in spite of knowing all of this, the words don’t come out any easier.

“I have only two days to figure out who your soulmate is before he reassigns you another Cupid.”

Din goes abruptly stiff. “What.”

“Because of the explosion and then also because I broke protocol by refusing to say you were my client, Hess believes I’m not handling things well and should be replaced by someone better.”

If you hadn’t known Din was immortal, you would think he died with how still he remains at your side. Leaning back with increasing worry, you see him staring forward across the cargo hold, granting you only a glimpse of the side of his face.

He...Oh, Maker. 

He looks kriffing pissed.

“Din—”

“How...” he cuts himself off, nostrils flaring as he clenches his jaw. “How could they ever think there is anyone better than you?”

For the job, you tell yourself, not allowing your hopes to rise. He means there isn’t anyone better for the job.

“I’m just a Cupid,” you tell him weakly, shrugging a shoulder. “I—”

“Stop talking poorly about yourself,” he snaps, the closest he’s ever come to yelling at you, turning to meet your gaze with fire burning in his eyes. You swallow thickly, his intensity making you feel like cornered prey. 

When he speaks again, his baritone voice has become a low murmur, each word carefully chosen and bleeding sincerity. “Everything you said about knowing who your soulmate is—I want to experience all of it with you. Only you. You’re it for me, angel.”

You freeze, unable to believe what you’re hearing, train of thought coming to a screeching halt. For the second time during this conversation, you’ve lost your voice, mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out.

“You’re it for me,” he repeats, sounding as if he’s pleading for you to believe him. “So tell your bosses to go fuck themselves. You’re the only Cupid I could ever want by my side.”

The reference of your designation is like dumping a bucket of ice water over your head, shocking your entire system. You wrench yourself away from him, stumbling onto your feet.

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” you say as you start to pace around the room, hearing the hysterical edge in your own voice.

He stands up, expression warring between confusion and irritation. “I know you feel something too. Why do you keep pulling away from me?”

“Because we can’t be together, Din,” you answer, blinking back the unbidden tears starting to form again. “I’m not your soulmate. It isn’t possible!” 

“Angel.” He catches your elbow when you pass by him, forcing you to face him. His voice is brittle when he speaks, already expecting your answer to shatter his wounded heart. “Why can’t you be with me?”

“Because I’ve already met my soulmate. And he wasn’t you.”

Tag List:  @leilei-draws​, @theocatkov​, @becauseican2, @vintagesaph​, @stardust-and-starlight​, @kay2304, @odelia-d32, @adrieunor​, @remmyswritings​, @gallowsjoker​, @rhiannon-russo​, @randomness501​, @eleine-t1d​, @nicotinebirds, @sylphene​, @softly-sad​, @maytheglitter​, @melobee, @rogertaylorsfalsettogivesmehives, @eleinemk

[brynleretu]

Hello from the random oc questions tabby kitten! 💙

Which OC of yours does this song/artist/genre/decade/vibe remind you of and why?

Your song is “Water Under the Bridge” by Adele

This reminds me of Irantea and Valine (no, I did not name her after an amino acid; that’s just a coincidence), two of my favourite OCs (specifically, I imagine the song being sung to or about Irantea, by Valine.) The two have been acquaintances for almost two decades by the time that Sin, And Therefore Virtue begins, seeing as Irantea, a goddess in disguise, has been guarding the rulers of Arene for a couple hundred years, including Valine’s father, and leading the VIA, a private defence organisation, for the same amount of time.

Throughout the first half or so of SATV, Irantea cuts a mysterious and troubled figure, and the reader themself knows little about her beyond the fact that she is a.) as transparent as a tree branch, b.) a fastidious stickler, c.) suffering from what turns out to be chronic stress amd PTSD, d.) really struggling to function but doesn’t want leave or counselling, e.) is attracted to Valine but doesn’t want to act on her feelings and f.) viewed by her subordinates in the VIA with suspicion due to points a.) and b.)

[Arenians in general could not care less about privacy, and if they could, it would be just a little. Everyone is connected to one another, and knows virtually everything about each other, from their family tree to what their favourite colour is, if they have one. Irantea won’t even reveal her age or where she was born, let alone her genealogy or her hue preference, which rankles the Vivedi (guards in Habrel).]

At any rate, Valine’s father Juret ships the two and decides to send the two off to the country of Nurea so that they can spread the good word of feminism a few months after the start of SATV [context: an Arenian spy had gotten wind of the Nuræan king’s plans to implement some laws that basically policed the sex lives of Nuræans, especially AFAB Nuræans (euphemistically referred to as “sheaths”) and female (“blue”) Nuræans in general. He also wanted to discourage those of the same sex (not the same gender) from engaging in coitus, as he saw that as pointless. It should be noted that the king, Æretu, was asexual and saw sex in general as pointless and repulsive, but he consciously decided to oppress himself and others all the same.

At any rate, Valine, who was herself half-Nuræan, decided to start a new pet project that involved setting up an army of those who would be affected the most by Æretu’s laws, and also informing the female and/or AFAB citizens of Nurea of a.) what Æretu was planning to do, and b.) that they didn’t have to be the inferior gender and/or sex. The ultimate goal was to start a rebellion in Nurea and usurp Æretu.]

That wasn’t Juret’s only reason, though: he had wanted to help Irantea with her problems for years, to no avail (it’s hard to help someone if you don’t know what they need help with, and/or they refuse to open up and/or let you help them.) He thought that Valine might be able to succeed where he had failed, on account of the fact that she herself seemed to have a thing for her and that she was studying psychology at uni. Plus it was a way for him to trick Irantea into taking a goddamn vacation for once.

For the next two or four weeks, Irantea remains very tight-lipped, and that’s the time when I can see Valine singing or thinking that song. She wants to help Irantea, an enigmatic figure who appears to be mentally on the run from...what, exactly?, out of both concern and her own curiosity, and also has feelings for her despite not really wanting to (her reasoning is that she has enough on her plate right now without throwing a romantic liaison into the mix.)

However, both wind up opening up to each other: Irantea reveals her life story and her divine status, as well as the fact that she’s female (this was a recent discovery on her part, and she was in denial for a couple years due to the VIA having a men-only policy as old as itself.* The rules, as previously mentioned, are insanely important to her, and here she is, casually breaking one of her organisation’s oldest. She’s both afraid of losing her job--she’s heard of instances where “Vivedi” joined the organisation, thinking they were male, only to get fired when they discovered that they were actually women or outside the binary all together, and revealed this--and getting labelled as a hypocrite for breaking a rule whilst enforcing them.) Valine, for her part, reveals that she’s going through an existential crisis, partly because during their tour she’s met a lot of the female relatives of soldiers that she had killed, and they are understandably pissed at her, not to mention uncomfortable with the fact that she now seems to give a damn about them. The two find solace in each other and from there, things start moving relatively fast. I’m stopping here because I could go on about these two for hours.

*Yes, Irantea is trans. If whoever is reading this doesn’t like that or is a TERF, they should do us all a favour and refrain from spreading your outmoded beliefs. They ought to shove them up their arse and consider growing out of said beliefs. If one is a radical feminist who is TI rather than TE, however, you can interact no problem.

[jeanjauthor]

The ‘dreaded swimsuit season’ is coming up, and that means people are going to be obsessing about food and exercise and losing calories.  First of all, I’m not a medical professional nor a nutritionist nor a physical therapist etc, so definitely consult with the appropriate personnel...but I cannot stress strongly enough, you must consult with non-fatphobic medical personnel.

Fatphobia kills people of all bodyweights, and this blog does not support fatphobia, especially medical fatphobia.

Now, with that said...if you want to be healthy, there are plenty of non-fatphobic things you can do about it.  And the biggest things you need to know about how to go about it are: understanding your metabolism, understanding how muscles can affect your metabolism, and understanding how diet (foods, not fatphobia industry) can affect your metabolism.

Given all the fat-shaming bullshit thrown about in the so-called “Health Industry,” it sounds counterintuitive, but you actually need to eat more in order to lose weight.  You need to teach your body that it’s not in starvation mode anymore, that it has plenty of calories and nutrients...and just start moving more.  Not necessarily exercising more, but moving more.

2,000-2,500 calories a day is the range for a “normal” body-weight-and-size person.  However, the more exercise you do, the more muscles you have, or simply the bigger a person you are (the more cells you have), the more calories you need.  Unless you’re seriously short & skinny, a 1,500 calorie meal is a starvation meal, and that will put your body into “OMFG SAVE ALL THE CALORIES AS FAT!!” mode.

Literally, a toddler’s caloric needs are 1,100, and they range from 20-35 pounds.  You’re several times that much.  This doesn’t mean that if you weigh 175 pounds that  you need to eat at least 5 times as many calories, however!  In truth, you only need about double that, because a toddler’s metabolism is geared toward growing, whereas an adult’s metabolism is geared toward maintaining.

The best way to understand this is to realize your metabolism can be divided into 4 categories.

Your Resting Metabolic Rate is simply the amount of calories needed to keep you breathing, your blood pumping, your organs functioning.  That’s 60%-75% of your caloric intake. You have your Thermic Effect of Food, which is another 10%, literally the energy it takes to chew and swallow and digest food & drinks, and then to excrete the leftover bathroom waste. The remaining two types of calorie burning are Non-Exercise Activity Thermogensis, and Activity Thermogenesis.  Of those lattermost two, your body actually burns more of the Non-Exercise calories than the Active Exercise calories...and it is designed to burn more when simply moving.

Literally, just moving a bit more than you usually do in a typical day will burn calories effectively.  Move around the house on every commercial break, stand up and sit down more often, change your position more frequently, raise and lower your arms, gently swing or kick your legs...just move more.  When they say 30 minutes of (gentle) exercise a day, this is exactly what they are talking about.  You don’t need weights, you don’t need machinery, you don’t need a gym membership.  Just move.  It’ll be a gradual process, but so long as you’re eating foods with plenty of fiber as well as other food types, you’ll feel full and won’t feel starved.

Now, if you want to burn calories even faster through vigorous exercise, you can do that, too...but again you need to use your metabolism.  Make sure you’re not starving, because your body will go into a panic attack thinking you’re not only starving but are being chased by bears and will need plenty of fat to survive while you’re unable to gather food, etc because zomg you’re being chased by bears!!1!  (Truly, the metabolism is a primitive/primal minded thing based upon hundreds of thousands of years of hunter-gatherer lifestyles, and does not comprehend modern life at all.)

And then, what do you do to burn more calories?  You build muscles.  Muscles burn a lot of calories.  Not just through using said muscles in excercise, but muscles will burn through calories even while simply resting.  The more muscles you have, the more calories your body will burn.

How do you build muscles?  Well, there are two types of muscles, which while it sounds cannibalistic, we’ll call white meat and dark meat, because it’s the easiest mnemonic to remember.  White meat (think breast meat on a chicken) is designed for strong but brief actions...and men have more white meat muscles than females, though obviously they have both kinds.  That brief sprint towards a prey animal, the thrust of a spear into its body, aaaand done.

Dark meat muscles are meant for lower-strength repetitive actions.  Walking around reaching up or stooping down or digging while gathering plants, with no need to rush and plenty of opportunities to rest.  Chasing after young children.  Weaving baskets, scraping and tanning hides into furs and leathers, cooking...these are tasks that require little to moderate amounts of strength, but most important, repeated movements.  Women tend to have more dark meat muscles than men, though obviously they have both kinds.

(The reasons why wild ducks, partridges, grouse, etc, all have dark meat breast muscles is because they use those muscles to fly long distances. Chickens evolved from jungle-floor hunt-and-peck birds that mostly flew only short distances to get away from predators by flying up to the nearest tree branches, so they literally just needed a burst of strong energy over a short period of time, hence white meat muscles.)

Which type is better?  Both, ideally, because they are useful in a variety of different ways.  Which is better for burning calories?  Ideally both, but it doesn’t really matter.  All you need to do is build muscles.

As for how to do that...you know how you feel when you exercise until you are sore?  That’s what you need to do.  This is where weights and machines and treadmills do come in handy, but still aren’t necessary, since you can lift and lower objects around your home, and get exercise bands or surgical tubing for resistance training, and go for longer walks, etc.

The object is to (gently!) push your body to the point where your muscles are sore.  You can do this by lifting weights for a few repetitions near your limit (use a spotter & practice safe lifting skills!!), which is a white meat muscle activity, or you can use lesser weights or resistance machinery (surgical tubing counts), but just do it more, which is dark meat muscle activity.

You can also do the “step down” method of weight training or resistance training, by starting near your limit, going until your muscles burn, then resting a few minutes while gently shaking out, massaging, or relaxing the muscles in question to help move the lactic acid out of your muscle tissues, along with hydrating. Then you “step down” the amount of weight (say by 20%-30%) and doing another set of reps (repetition movements) until again it’s a struggle, then another few minutes of rest, hydration, etc, before stepping down again, doing some reps...and then again when it’s at the lightest you can for as long as you can, then rest that muscle group.

Regardless of which way you weight/resistance train, take a full 48 hours off.  Or as close to 48 as you manage--weight train 3 times a week, and then take up to 72 hours (three days) off so your body can fully recover.  You can still exercise, but do not use weights or resistance machinery/rubber bands, etc.

Let your muscles use that 48 hours to heal, and eat more protein sources to help your body build more muscle strength, along with a variety of nutrients to get the right kinds of micronutrients.  Again, I must emphasize: Do not starve your body.  It will go into fat-storage mode and will only barely repair your muscles, nevermind build them bigger.

The goal is to build more muscle tissue.  if you are hungrier than usual, eat more.  Your body will tell you what it needs if you listen, and there are plenty of charts out there with “if you are craving X,Y, or Z, then try eating healthier foods A,B,C, D, E, or F!” and they’re actually not inaccurate...but it is okay to have the “less healthy” foods in moderation, same as in everything you eat.

But seriously, up your protein intake, which is what your body needs to build bigger muscles.  The average (again, your needs may be more) person needs about 4 ounces (115 grams) of protein per meal, so you can shoot for more than that.  And get your proteins from a variety of sources.  Humans can manufacture a good number of amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), but we cannot synthesize 9 of them, the “9 essential amino acids.”

These 9 essential amino acids are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.   Foods that contain all nine essential acids are called complete proteins. These include eggs, fish, beef, pork, poultry, and whole sources of soy (tofu, edamame, tempeh, and miso).

While plant proteins have lower essential amino acid contents when compared to animal proteins, they will also have different ratios of the various amio acids compared to most animal-based proteins.  This is something that vegetarians and vegans need to keep in mind.

Some plant-based foods can be combined together to complement and/or supplement.  “Rice & beans” is one such combination.  Basically, you combine a grain (in this case rice) with a pulse (legumes, like beans, or peas, etc).  Here in America, in Mexican restaurants, a serving of refried beans and Spanish rice (seasoned with tomatoes & spices) is often automatically included as a side for most dishes.  This provides a great deal of carbohydrates, but it also provides a more or less “complete protein” set of those essential amino acids.

Corn, beans, and squash plants do the same thing, providing a complete protein when combined together, as well as plenty of carbs.  These three plant types are the “Three Sisters” of indigenous North Americans.  They are best when planted together, the corn providing a trellis for the beans to grow upon, the squashes spreading out across the field to smother competing weeds, and together they feed people reasonably well.

However, they are still more carb-heavy than protein-heavy, which means vegetarians need to rely upon other sources such as nuts, plus eggs, dairy, and/or fish (if pisco-lacto-ovarian vegetarians).  Vegans in particular need to be extra careful.  Yes, peanuts have a lot of proteins compared to their carbs, same with almonds, etc, so definitely add nuts to your diets!  But just be aware that you’re going to need to be a lot more conscious of your protein types & sources--and make sure to get a variety of sources--if you’re trying to build muscles while on a vegetarian or especially on a vegan diet.  A purely plant-based diet will not have nearly as balanced a set of amino acids as what animal-inclusive diets can contain.

If you’re lacto-ovarian, this is made easier because milk, cheese, and eggs are wonderful foods with a lot of nutritional value.  If you eat fish as well, even better, full proteins in fish as well as in egg whites, etc...but that brings me to another caveat, because you should probably eat the egg yolks as well as the egg whites.

Do not skip out on fats.  Unless you have a genuine doctor-ordered medical reason, do not cut all fats out of your diet.  Your brain needs fats in order to function.  And just as with amino acids in various protein sources, there are different types of fats as well that our bodies need in different amounts for different reasons.  This isn’t to say you should chow down on the equivalent of a full stick of butter (1/2 cup, 65 grams) with each meal (unless you’re camping outdoors in winter in the far north or a mountain, because then you need fat in your diet for your body to literally burn to help keep you warm).

It’s just that you don’t want to go completely fat free...because if you do, your metabolism will go into panic mode in its primitive/primal-minded way, “ZOMG IT’S LATE WINTER/EARLY SPRING AND NOTHING HAS ANY FATS IN IT WE’RE ALL GONNA STAAAAAARRRVEEE!!” Your metabolism will start turning carbs and even proteins into fats in an effort to ensure your brain (along with other vital organs) will have enough fats to keep functioning.  So go ahead and put some butter on your toast.  Even better, put some nutbutter on your toast, since sunflower butter, peanut butter, almond butter, all those things have proteins and fats as well as carbs.

Also, your body actually does need cholesterol to function, but only in smaller amounts than you’d think.  HOWEVER, if it doesn’t get enough of the right types of cholesterol through diet, your body will make its own cholesterol, and will make more than you need, out of carbohydrates.  (Yeah, this one was a shocker to me when I learned about it, and the answer blew my mind.  Seriously, our body will make up to 10x as much cholesterol as we need if we don’t eat it, so it’s best if we do eat it.)

So how much does an average person need to consume of these critical cholesterols that it absolutely needs?  ...About 1-2 egg yolks a day (or comparable alternative sources; vegans, do some research on alternatives, or just accept that your body may try to overproduce certain cholesterols if it’s feeling nutrition-starved).  Seriously.  Just that much is enough. (Again, your needs may vary based on your body size, metabolic rate, and/or environment.)

So.  Put it all together, and you have:  1. Eat a variety of foods in sufficient quantities and qualities (fats and proteins included) to ensure your body stays healthy; 2. exercise just enough to push your muscles into feeling sore; 3. Rest 48 hours while eating a bit more protein to help your body repair and build bigger muscles; 4. Lather-rinse-repeat... and you’ll eventually get bigger muscles that burn more calories simply by existing, as well as whenever you use them to move just a bit more than you normally would.

Dark meat muscles burn more calories when at rest because they’re designed that way, because they’re small effort but frequent use with multiple short rests, lots of blood flowing through them, and thus are more metabolically “charged” than white meat muscles.  However, white meat muscles tend to be the largest muscles, and thus while not designed to burn calories as efficiently while at rest compared to dark meat muscles...they actually end up burning about the same through sheer volume.

Work on improving your muscles, move a bit more every day, eat more conscientously but not through the heavily warped fearmongering lens of the Diet Industry’s blather and/or tactics, and you will be healthy enough to go to the beach and enjoy it.  Not because you’ll have lost weight, but because you will be healthier.  (Fun fact: muscles are denser and heavier than fat, so you could literally lose inches while gaining pounds from your body burning the fat with its now increased muscle mass.)

And yes, you can weigh 260 pounds and still be healthier than someone who weighs 160.

In other words, if you have a body, and you go to the beach with it, you now have a beach body.

You’ll just be less likely to get out of breath while swimming or building sand castles or playing volleyball or whatever if you’ve upped your exercise levels between now and then.

Also:  CONTINUE TO WEAR A MASK IN PUBLIC.

Get one that matches your swimwear, or makes you feel silly & fun.  Even if everyone started wearing their masks (not going to happen, but one can dream), it will to take us all of 2021 to quell the pandemic...and because people won’t be wearing their masks, keep wearing that mask.  Yes, even if you have had all your shots.  Because people aren’t wearing masks, the virus is able to spread, and when it spreads, there’s always a chance it will mutate, and cause new strains of infections...which it already has.  So wear your damn mask.