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If there's one thing Din doesn't miss as he finally lands on Nar Shaddaa, it's the slimy rain from the orbited planet he left behind him. His armour, squeaky clean after a few hours of cleaning while the ship was on autopilot, reflects the lights from the port where he decided to dock for the time of his assignment. The various hues - from bright white to lights that are deeper brown than a Wookie's fur, mirror the diverse occupants on the streets outside of the port.
Where he can see, there are humanoids and non-humanoids alike dashing from one place to other, often disregarding any rules as they weave through the groups of slow walkers. The colours of their clothes, the loudness of the curses, the flickering of neon from bars and cantinas, it all paints the area as a bustling hub, a place for criminals of all kinds with the lack of authority and laws. The Hutts don't care for something like laws in the first place, and as it's outside of the Republic space, even the Jedi aren't known to operate here. Well, at least openly. Not that Din knows, but there are rumours from time to time, about saber wielding beings taking care of some of the worst cases. But nothing official or common, so it's still perfect for those on the run who want to quickly disappear in the crowds.
Unfortunately for them, Din is a professional when it comes to hunting people down, whoever they may be.
He uses the few credits left from his latest bounty to bribe the Devaronian in charge of the port to actually look after Din's ship, even though it's a hunk of metal worse than his previous one, and heads into the crowd.
Din has never been a fan of Nar Shaddaa, but had to visit the place from time to time as his bounties seemed to love it more than what was healthy. Quickly orienting himself outside of the port, he makes his way towards one of the less seedy cantinas.
Being less seedy still means almost nothing on Nar Shaddaa, though, and the place still kicks his filters into override - the stench of alcohol and bodies is too strong and he wonders how are the other inhabitants managing to breathe. He makes his way to the bar, gestures for the cheapest drink on the menu (not that there's much of a choice, it's either watered down ale or something only Hutts can digest) and looks around with a glass in hand.
There are numerous empty seats, but the one with the best vantage point, a small alcove with no window, is taken by a lone figure in black. Din studies the person, and as if they could sense his stare, their eyes meet.
Blue, with light eyelashes and soft lines at the corners, Din knows that this person is a dangerous one, despite the young figure hidden beneath the cloak. They beckon him closer with a wave of hand, a gesture promising a job or at least a few credits for some sort of information Din could provide. He was recognized as a bounty hunter, or at least as a Mandalorian by his armour. But at the time when most if not all Mandalorians who were travelling in Hutts space were hunters, it was all the same.
The person nods at him in greeting. "H'chu apenkee," the Huttese comes with a distinct accent, one Din would expect to entouter more around the Bothan space, not in the middle of the center of the Hutt space, and definitely betrays the speaker as someone who is more used to Basic. He is glad to learn that, though, as Huttese gives him a headache more often than it does not.
"You have a job?" he asks without any ceremony and the person finally reveals his face properly to answer him. It's a handsome face, by human standards. Not that he can really say he bases his own preferences on them , but he has to give it to the stranger - if Din wasn't on a bounty or living from payment to payment, he would consider approaching the man. Not now, though, even if the small smile is an alluring one.
"Maybe," he says and Din has to look away from the intensity of those blue eyes. "Depends."
Din, professionalism personified, looks the man up and down and asks: "Depends on what?"
"Any experience with breaking out prisoners?" The stranger brings it up casually, as if he was asking for any other thing. It makes Din feel intrigued, but there is also a drop of suspicion.
"Maybe," he parrots and takes the seat across the small table.
The man laughs lightly and it definitely does nothing to Din's interested heart. "I need someone for a two-person job. An... acquaintance of mine got into some trouble and I would like him to get from one particular place to another, preferably my ship. And I heard Mandalorians are good for these kinds of work. Breaking, entering, retrieving people dead or frozen."
He's a smooth talker, Din has to give that to him. Direct, but still vague enough. "We are good. Depending on the price."
"What would you want for an hour of your time?" the man asks and if it was any other person, Din would suspect a different meaning. But the one in front of him is completely serious with whatever heist he has in mind.
Din knows that an hour, or two, would do nothing to hinder his previous plans on pursuing the bounty he came to Nar Shaddaa for, so he rattles off a price in credits that would cover fuel for a week of travel. Before he knows it, the man is smiling at him again, his fingers tapping excitedly at the smudged table. "Oh, I think we could have a deal, Mando."
"Just tell me what to do, and I'll tell you if I'll do it or not. No jobs without information."
The man nods. "Of course, of course. Basically, there's a cell holding my friend under Gleed Mar's hotel, the ugly one not too far away from here. I need you to shoot as many pirates as possible to distract them while I sneak in and out. Or if they’re simply pursuing me. I need ten minutes, tops. Then we scram, you get the credits and we part ways. Nothing more."
Din frowns under his helmet.
"Your friend has bad luck if he was taken by Mar."
The man shrugs, clearly not disturbed by the danger that comes with dealing with scum like Gleed Mar. "Bad time, bad place. And Jon just loves to get into situations with the most impossible stakes possible. But I suspect foul play, or more than is usual for Mar. And a serious injury."
"I'll take the job."
Din hunted down a business partner of Mar two standard years ago, so he has some brief experience with the Gotal and his goons.
"Perfect," the man reaches out and Din shakes his hand. He then watches him take a glass that was previously standing on the further side of the table and down the liquid inside. With growing concern, he watches the Huttese moonshine disappear and curses himself for not noticing sooner. The man smiles once again. "I'll meet you at your ship in half an hour, Mando, so see you there."
Din stares at the man who stands up to leave.
"And call me Luke. After all, looks like we're partners in crime now."
So, Din has exactly half an hour to get through the mildly disturbing image that was formed in his head after Luke left him at the cantina. Is he a pirate, a smuggler, or something completely different? There were clear indicators that Luke was used to dealing with bounty hunters and criminals, the cantina not some place he was visiting for the first time. It's strange to place him, though, and Din goes through a minute of slight paranoia before crossing out the chance of Luke being someone specifically targeting Din for some bounty from years ago. What comes out of the equation is simple: Luke is someone highly unpredictable, but not completely uncommon. The galaxy is full of people who are too daring for their own good and like to be smothered in mysteriousness. For each year of his life as a bounty hunter, Din has a handful of people - criminal or not - who can't help but find trouble, or be found by trouble. Not that there's much difference in the end.
True to his word, Luke is already lingering in the shadows of his ship when Din approaches it twenty-five minutes later. The Devaronian is nowhere in sight, something that was maybe expected in such a place as Nar Shaddaa. After all, money is only enough if there isn't someone offering more.
"I'll just fetch some things," he informs Luke and ducks inside. He's quick. Darts, extra vibroknife, more exploding pucks that would be normal for a standard bounty. But he's not going for a bounty this time. Whatever might be useful for the break in. He makes sure to pick up more ammo as well for his rifle which he slungs over his back. He checks the internal comm in his cockpit, but there are no messages from the port. With a resolution to just do a good job he would be nicely paid for, he exits the ship.
Luke is humming a low unfamiliar melody, seeming much younger in the light of the street than what Din assumed him to be in the dim cantina. He must be at least five years Din's junior, but not much more, as his face is clearly showing the signs of being through some things. A scar here and there, all white and old, save for one above his lip that's still in the process of healing. The pink skin is suddenly magnetic and Din finds his eyes lingering on the place before he realizes what he's doing and shifts his line of sight to the eyes. A mistake, he realizes, because the piercing gaze of his new colleague is doing things to him.
"Well, best to give the details while we walk... It's not like there are going to be too many obstacles, but I still got the building hologram," Luke springs to a quite fast walk and Din shuffles take a place next to him. No one pays them much attention as they weave through the crowds, everyone too busy with their own schemes and jobs. Luke projects a small glimmering holo of the hotel, but focuses mainly on the backdoor and the way to the underground cell. He informs Din: "They have no idea who my friend really is, so there are not many guards. And as I said, I suspect he's got hit with a blaster shot or two, and I don't think they would expect him to do much trouble in such a state."
"So they're not good at it," Din says, more to himself.
Luke shoots him a questioning look.
"Hostages," Din clarifies. "No carbonite, no plans to transfer him, no proper guards. It's like Mar got too sloppy."
At that, Luke hums in agreement. "If it wasn't for the injury, I would expect him to get out by himself. But in the state he's in? It would take him too long for my liking and we have some plans for the next week on a completely different planet. So I'm taking things into my own hands. And yours."
Din wonders what could count as 'plans' for someone like Luke, but decides to just let it go. Two hours and they are parting ways, Din with easy credits.
He listens to Luke as he describes the halls and the stairs leading down underground. The man has all the information he needs to sneak in after they take care of the guards. It should be quick and easy. In and out, nothing more. Din has to once again adjust his impression of Luke, because the way he spins the plan shows a clear understanding of strategy for this kind of mission. A smart man, on top of his handsomeness and clever tongue.
Din nods and then asks to make sure. "So just shoot and then stand guard?"
"Exactly," Luke nods. "I'll take care of the rest."
They get to Mar's hotel in under fifteen minutes. It's not a fancy place, that's for sure. Din watches the peeling letter on the transparisteel advertising premium breakfast and room service, but he's pretty sure these services are long gone, just like some of the stickers. A single Twi'lek stands in the entrance, more interested in the datapad in his hands than potential visitors (or robbers).
"Let's go," Luke says to him and as they pass the guard, Din catches him slightly wave with a hand. But as it's nothing too unusual and clearly has no effect on the Twi'lek, Din just lets it pass as some kind of quirk.
It's laughably easy from then. Din stuns the lone Human woman smoking in the hotel's backyard and lets Luke slip inside. With a gun ready but hidden under his cloak, he pretends to be exactly what the woman was doing - he's the guard now. It's almost boring, standing there and waiting for action that can as well not come. Not that he wants some fighting because this could be one of his easiest jobs in a long while.
He shifts his weight from one leg to the other and as if something was sensing his comfort, a deafening explosion from the hotel almost sweeps him from his feet. The pressure wave showers him in shards of transparisteel and stirs up all the dirt and grime around him. He doesn't mind with his helmet, but still makes sure to move the woman from the doorstep towards the trash where there's at least some hiding. He cocks his blaster towards the door just as Luke barges through at a frantic speed with a body thrown over his back. He's yelling at Din and from the loud curses from behind him, there are at least five people following him.
"Duck!" he commands and Luke quickly changes direction and carries his friend, a figure in brown tabards and dark gray cloak towards the main street.
One. Two. Three. His blaster fires in quick succession. The first figures fall still inside of the hotel, smoking holes in their bodies sending them to their sure deaths.
Din swiftly makes his way towards the backyard's exit, backing away. The transparisteel crunches under his boots as he takes step after step. The two remaining goons are smarter than their companions and hide. Before Din knows it, they too are firing their blasters. Shot after shot, he's forced to take cover instead of running after Luke. Squatting in the safety of some metal pallets, he tries to think of a good, and especially quick way to get away.
"Give up!" one of the goons shouts and Din just grits his teeth and aims his blaster. It misses, just by a tiny bit as the man hides in time. Another shot from the duo forces Din to shuffle a bit to the left. He fires again, it misses.
There are going to be reinforcements, but not for him. The hotel must have enough staff trained in combat, being run by criminals and all. And all that staff is going to take turns in firing holes into Din. His beskar might be strong, but everything has its weak points.
There is more yelling from them, but someone also opens a window a few stories above them and hurls a vase full of dried weeds towards the place where Din is hiding. The impact is loud and sends shards flying in all directions. Din ducks and lets the pieces hit him. Nothing pierces through his armour but it still distracts him enough for the goons to try and shoot him. The impact of the blaster bolt hitting his chest makes him stager. It almost takes all the air out of his lungs. The pain comes a second after the impact, his brain catching up with the situation. It's like fire, ignited and spreading into his whole body.
Time for the darts, he thinks to himself as he activates them and they leave his brace to take care of the two pursuers.
It's a hit.
But before he can get up and run, more people get through to the backdoor and in a blink of an eye, he's facing a group of six armed Twi'leks with the front entrance guard leading them all.
Well, kriff him.
"Mando!" comes a yell from the opposite side of the backyard, familiar and slightly reassuring. Luke is standing there, without his strange friend, and looks determined. Dark blonde hair frames his face and the light coming from behind him paints a halo around his head, giving him an appearance straight out of a fairytale. But with only a small blaster in his hand, Din is suddenly afraid.
What kind of person comes to a fight like this?
Luke, apparently.
He dashes towards their attackers, light on his feet, and Din takes the distraction to shoot at the surprised goons. He hits two of them, causing the others to snap their attention from Luke to him. It's perfect, how seamlessly Luke crashes into the group.
But where Din expects more blaster bolts, there comes a shining green blade.
A Jedi weapon. A weapon exclusively used by the Jedi and religious orders connected to them. Which makes Luke...
Din watches, frozen, as his partner in crime takes care of the goons, swiftly and without breaking a sweat. He's glorious, as he spins to the right to intercept the vibroblade coming at him. Two parts of the weapon clink as they hit the ground, the body of their owner coming not a second after. With a few more slashes, Luke stands alone. He’s beyond impressive, that’s what flashes through Din’s mind before the pain in his chest takes all his focus.
"Hey, Mando!" he says with urgence in his voice. The green blade disappears, leaving only a matte silver hilt in Luke's hand. The man fishes out an explosive from his robes and sets it to the hotel's wall. The clock starts ticking, giving them half a minute. "We need to get out of here. Quickly."
Din nods. There could be numerous groups of Mar's associates running for them.
He stands up, breathing heavily, and Luke... Luke takes his wrist and then they are running through the streets of Nar Shaddaa, too aware of the grip, the pain, and also the stares the crowd gives them. Luke is taking him towards the spaceport, but clearly not towards Din's ship. He would complain, if it wasn't for the situation they were in. The smell of fuel and the stench of welding gets through his filter as they zigzag between beaten up pirate vessels and smuggling frigates.
"Here!" Luke yells and with more strenght than would be expected pushes Din into a small ship. Din unceremoniously kisses the ground as they board. Not his proudest moment, but after dashing though the city in his heavy armour and still getting over the blaster bolt that hit him back in the alley, he thinks he has some excuses for his sorry state. "They are coming after us, but I can take us away in time, no worries."
Din grunts from the ground. "My ship."
What he gets in response is a wave of a hand and an inadequate reassurance. "I let my droid take it to Kothlis in Bothan Space the moment we departed."
"You did what?" Din finally, with the help of the wall, gets up. The ship's interior is tiny, and he has to duck to follow Luke deeper to the cockpit.
"I let R5, my droid, pilot it. Don't think about it too much and take some bacta for your chest," he says and hands Din a medical box.
A kriffin droid. Piloting his precious ship. Alright, maybe his ship is not that valuable, be it money or sentimental value, but still... A droid.
"Isn't there someone else who would need medical help more?" Din asks and lets his frustration bleed into his words.
Luke doesn't even look up from the various buttons he's pushing, but Din is sure he would find any of them without problem even if he looked over his shoulder. "Jon's fine."
"He looked dead to me," Din says sceptically.
"That's not something that would stop him from spawning again," Luke answers like it is some joke between friends and then the ship lurches from the ground. They are in air in a matter of seconds and Din has to lean on the wall to find balance as the ship turns and shoots into Nar Shaddaa's atmosphere. Someone's trying to reach them on the radio, probably the docks, but Luke switches it off and the angry Huttese curses get cut short. He tells Din from the pilot seat to take the other one, so Din does.
The infrastructure under them disappears as they get above the clouds, buildings drowning in the pasty white and gray layers until even the tallest outposts and mountain tops are long gone.
"My bounty," Din realizes five minutes later, cursing himself for his foolishness. He still has the puck for the Nar Shaddaan bounty in his belt.
Luke hums, a bit distracted by some beeping coming from his comm. When Din repeats his words, Luke looks up and nods. "Can I see it?"
At this point, Din just pulls it out and activates the holo portrait.
It shows a close up of an older Human face, long and scarred. Strands of hair a bit too wild.
"Yeah, just as I thought," Luke grins and there's a mischievous spark in his eyes.
"What?" Din demands, tired of the vagueness. Luke would be much more agreeable if he was more direct. Running around words is not something Din likes.
"Yea, that's Jon."
Din feels his head spin. Manda help him.
"I knew he had hunters pursuing him, and with how difficult Jon is to catch, I expected an expert to take the bounty. Imagine my surprise meeting a Mandalorian just when I needed one."
Din grits his teeth. "I don't like being manipulated."
At that, Luke nods, his face morphin into a serious expression. "For that I can only say sorry. But you wouldn't be able to collect the bounty if you tried to catch Jon."
"I'm not an amateur."
"Well, that's not what I said, did I? But you would not be able to catch a Jedi."
Jedi. So the impression Din got of Luke during the fight was right. "Are you...?" He asks carefully. He can feel his own body stiffen with tension. A Jedi, definitely dangerous and formidable, if made into an enemy. There is not much about them that Din knows is fact and not just a rumour.
Luke simply nods, then produces a hilt of a weapon from under his cloak.
"A Knight, if you want to know." Din doesn't completely understand the positions, but he knows Knights are the most common, but not as experienced as–
"–Jon's a Master. Force knows he would be one ages ago, but it's a pretty recent thing."
There's another joke, or at least a shared context between the two men that Din only just peeked at, so he can't completely understand the tone of Luke's voice.
"There was no indication of that in the puck," Din tells him. Even the name was different, painting the older man as a smuggler of various flora and an informant. Worked for many, before he made enemies angry enough to be not just directly targeted, but also put among bounties with quite a desirable price. The credits weren't climbing too fast, marking Jon as a bounty that seemed to be safe to hunt, so Din took the job a few rotations ago.
Luke shakes his head. "He's been undercover for the past two or three years, it's his favourite way to hunt down slavers and other scums."
A noble thing, Din thinks. A Jedi thing.
"Well, I'll take us to Kothlis."
Right, to the Bothan Space. Din nods, he knows there's not much he can do now. Not without a ship and not without credits for the bounty. "Will you pay for the job as promised?"
Luke looks at him, a bit surprised. It's obvious he's forgot about the payment, but Din doesn't blame him that much, especially not when Luke smiles and assures him that yes, the deal still stands.
"Good," Din nods.
Luke mirrors him. "Good. Now if you want, you can take the spare bedroll in the cargo space, I'm afraid Jon has my bed and there's nothing better I can offer."
Resigned, Din accepts and five minutes later, he's slotted between two large boxes with unidentified contents, on a bed roll that's almost as hard as the ground. Nothing unusual, unfortunately. He grips his blaster, making sure he has a good line of vision in case of a rabid Jedi coming at him, and tries to relax a bit. It's a long way to Kothlis, at least three standard rotations, so he promises himself to make it easier for his back for once.
Din wakes three hours later. He feels like a bantha sat on him, which is in his opinion not too far from the blaster bolt that hit him. He checks his message box (empty), his blaster (still in his hand), and his chest (a dull pain).
There is not much he can do in the cargo space, so he slowly gets to his feet and shuffles to the cockpit. He nods at Luke as he sits back into the copilot seat, trying not to vocalize his discomfort. His chest hurts the most, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of his body is somehow good – the ache in his left elbow is not exactly bothering him, but life would definitely be better if it disappeared.
The stars around them are distant speckles, white dots too far away from the vast dark space they are flying through. It’s something Din likes about flying, the never ending wonder he feels as the ship gets to and from hyperspace, or as it drifts like now.
“ –Mando?” Luke’s voice rouses him from his daydreaming.
He tears his eyes away from the wonder in front of him. It’s not like it’s the first or last time he’s seeing the stars…
Din doesn’t say anything, but Luke knows he’s listening now. “I thought about the bounty for some time and I might have an idea, but I’ll need to consult Jon about it.”
“It’s quite a sum,” Din finally says. It comes out a bit weird, like he only cares about the credits, but he still has some kind of responsibility for his closest tribemates. The Children are not exactly friendly with the rest of the Mandalorians, maintaining their small closed off community on Concordia.
But Luke seems to understand. “I know. We’ll look into it, later.”
Din spends the next few hours either browsing bounties on his comm, ones that are up to taking, or watching Luke.
Luke is… interesting doesn’t seem to encompass the complexity of the man. From his charismatic cantina persona, to his fighting skill, to now – there’s something about Luke that is simply forcing Din’s attention to stay on him. He watches the way Luke’s fingers flex as he reaches for a button or a switch, as they wrap around the handles, steering the ship slightly to get away from debris. The motions are driven by experience, by long hours spent in the piloting seat, and by joy of flying. It’s clear that Luke is a fantastic pilot.
His young face gives away all his emotions, something he controlled perfectly at the cantina but lets slip now that he's only with Din by his side. He lets the corners of his lips quirk into a smile when a light blips from the ship’s internal comm, frowns when the maps show a group of asteroids in their way, smirks with satisfaction when they pass them without a problem thanks to his piloting. It’s utterly charming to Din, both the open emotions and the competence.
Din knows that there's not many chances for any sort of relationship with his job as a bounty hunter, but he thinks of the few short lived ones and wonders, if Luke could somehow fit. But... it brings the question of Luke being a Jedi into the conversation, doesn't it? Din has no idea how exactly the group operates, the information about their lives obscure and more connected to folk tales and warnings between hunters...
The silence around them is comfortable. He finally decides to once again open his mouth when a painful cough from behind startles him.
“Master!” Luke quickly flips the switch for autopilot, something that he could have done hours ago, if not for his love of piloting.
Din’s on his feet, right behind Luke who’s rushing to help the old man – Jon, Jedi Master, Din’s failed bounty – sit down onto a pull-out seat next to the doors.
“I’m alive, Padawan-mine” the man waves off Luke’s fussing. He’s still with the ridiculous cape over his head, but Din can make out the features he saw on the bounty puck. Greying hair, sharp cheekbones and chin, scars for ages.
Luke tuts and pulls out Jon’s wrist from under his cloak. “You knighted me four years ago, Master. But I’ll let you, with that concussion and blaster shots…”
He’s not checking for the pulse, Din notices, just holds the hand with a strange focus. As seconds pass, Jon’s body seems to relax from his strained posture. Must be some sort of Jedi magics, Din finally concludes and for safety doesn’t get closer.
“I can’t believe you got hurt that badly… but at least I could be the one to pull a rescue,” Luke tries to joke, but there’s still concern in his voice.
Jon shakes his head, clearly amused, and finally flips the cape to reveal his face.
“Thank you for that, Luke,” he says before shifting his gaze towards Din. It’s a severe stare, one that makes Din squirm not unlike when the Armourer requests him to join her in the Forge for a talk. His eyes are light grey, something unusual for Humans, not much for other species. But something in them… they are calculating and serious when focused on Din. “A Mandalorian? At least they put someone semi-competent to hunt me.”
How does one answer this?
But Luke laughs. "Master! That's one of your rescuers."
As Jon looks back at the other Jedi, his steely eyes, as well as his other features, soften. "Is that so?"
Din nods. "I was hired for a rescue mission."
"Thanks, then," he gets in return.
There are a few seconds of silence, but compared to the previous silent moments between him and Luke, Din can clearly feel how the tension in the air sneaks on them all.
"Well," Luke starts and if he wasn't an adult human, Din would call the expression on his face tooka eyes. "Master..."
Jon gives him a flat stare. "Whatever it is - no."
“I swear it’s nothing you wouldn’t do…” Luke argues.
“Luke, you understand that’s not reassuring, right?” Jon asks him. There’s a tired tint to his voice, one that Din would hear constantly as a youngling from the adults of his tribe.
Luke ignores a sigh from Jon and sits back into his piloting seat. Turning off the autopilot, he steers the ship carefully. Din, acutely aware that he’s the only one standing in the cockpit, sits down too, but angles his body so has both men in his line of vision. He doesn’t expect any harm to come, definitely not from Luke, but instincts are instincts and he’s not giving his back to anyone.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Jon asks and Luke brightens.
Din is surprised how much satisfaction it brings him – seeing Luke so eager to lay out whatever plan he has in mind.
"I think it would be really easy to get the bounty price if we gave you up to the Guild Master."
Din can't believe how easy it was to get Jon to agree.
Too kriffin easy...
The old Jedi was amused by the idea, quite a lot, in fact. Din was feeling disturbed by the matter-of-fact nature the duo discussed the way to get Jon to the Guild Master and then out of the lair before he was freezed in carbonite. They were practical in their planning, bringing up building layouts of the Guild headquarters accessed in a not-legal way after Din told them for whom exactly he worked. Clearly not doing something like this for the first time, it took them a mere two hours to plan out three different scenarios with impressive levels of detail.
Din sighs, not unlike Jon did back in the cockpit, as he lays in his designated space.
“Hey,” a voice takes him out of his musings.
Luke’s standing in the cargo space’s doors, a small smile gracing his face. He has a light gray tank top and Din’s brain shortcircuits at the sight of his arms. He can’t help but stare like a proper fool as Luke walks towards his bed roll. When he sits down, legs comically stretched out and back against the crates, Din’s eyes follow the muscles of his arms as he crosses them over his chest.
He’s properly and deeply in a crush.
He grunts in response, too afraid his voice would betray him at this moment.
“I wanted to say sorry for sweeping you away like that…” Luke starts and Din realizes with wonder that the man in front of him is nervous.
“It’s okay,” he says. And it sort of is. Din of day ago would probably say something different if anyone suggested that being in a ship with two Jedi while his own is piloted by a droid, but as he watches Luke smile at him, he wonders if it wasn’t meant to be.
“Good,” Luke nods. “I promise it’ll go smoothly. You get your credits, Jon gets his chance to toy with the Guild… Did you know he was a bounty hunter, too? For like, two decades with some breaks.”
Din’s eyebrows rise under his helmet, but as he thinks about it, there’s not much about Jon Antilles (is that even his real name?) that would surprise him. From the few hours he has seen him alive, Din has learned a great deal of information – active in the Outer Rim, busting slave trade like it’s a hobby, jumping into impossible situation, “dying” and coming back multiple times. The fact that the man worked as a hunter seems like one of the more believable stories.
"Say," Luke starts before closing his mouth abruptly. He gives Din a strange look, one he can't completely decipher.
"What?" he asks.
Luke waves his hand dismissively. "Oh, nothing, really. Don't worry your head about it."
But Din is determined to know what Luke wanted to say. "Tell me."
"It's just... a bit complicated, r-really. But at the same time, not."
Din shakes his head. "As direct as always. It is a Jedi thing to talk like that, or just exclusively you?"
It makes Luke laugh, eyes closed as he tries to shield his mouth with a palm of his hand. "I am nowhere near of Order's experts when it comes to dancing around the subject, if you can believe me."
Din can, but doesn't tell that to Luke. He lets himself savour the closeness of their bodies outside of an adrenaline-filled chase or a shoot out. Just like in the cockpit, being next to Luke feels natural, the calmness, the security. He thinks again about the pull he feels towards Luke, the idea a bit like out of a holodrama. Falling for the man in the span of a single day? Maybe not exactly love yet, but definitely something very closely resembling it.
"Are you travelling a lot as a Knight?" Din asks, choosing a more broad question instead of one that would suit his direct style.
Luke shrugs. "Depends. In the last five months, I've been at the Temple, helping with the piloting lessons as Master Ksha had to take a break from her teaching, but she's returning next week. Since my Knighting, I took some missions, but they weren't particularly long unless I was with Jon. We went undercover once, but he prefers dismantling the smuggling rings and whatnot alone." Luke pauses for a bit, thinking. "I'm with him for the next two weeks, at least, but then I might take Master Kenobi's offer and travel to his Temple after we finish."
"He has his own Temple?" Din asks, trying to understand.
"No, not like that," Luke waves his hand. "He's just leading it for the time being, and gathering resources. You might know it, actually, it's not too far away from Sundari. On Mandalore."
Din does not. "My Tribe's on Concordia. We aren't really... friendly with the other Mandalorians. And they aren't friendly with us."
He gets a nod of understanding from Luke. "Master Kenobi is studying Force traditions related to Mandalore and its inhabitants, studying the religious aspects and how they can be connected to what we Jedi practice. It comes from Tarre Vizsla, actually, who was once both a Mandalorian and a Jedi."
"Vizsla? As in House and Clan Vizsla?" Din wonders, his attention full on the fact that one of his closest friends might be part of Jedi history. "I know a Vizsla."
Luke's face lights up. "Really? Master Kenobi is having so much trouble contacting someone who would have any kind of sources on the person of Tarre Vizsla. I- If I take the offer, Master Kenobi's offer, I mean. Would- would you maybe join me on Mandalore?"
Din, for all the bounties he browsed during the flight, instantly nods. "If they don't shoot down my ship the moment I enter the atmosphere..."
"Master Kenobi will ask for a landing permit, if needed," Luke assures him with a huge smile. The excitement of their future meeting is evident on his face. "For you and your friend."
"Alright," Din nods and then hesitates for a second before finally asking. "Would you give me your code. For if I need to contact you about the travel arrangements."
Luke is quick to pull his comm out. "Yeah, of course. For the arrangements." He dictates his code to Din carefully and then instantly sends himself a message. "Well, or for anything, really."
"Really?"
Luke blinks. "Y-yeah."
"I'll keep that in mind, then," Din assures him. The idea of contacting Luke for a conversation, a casual one, about their everyday lives and troubles, makes his heart skip.
Luke pats his knees before shuffling to stand up. "Don't hesitate."
I won't, Din thinks to himself, but doesn't say it out loud. They bid each other good night and Luke departs to his own bed.
As Din lays, he wonders how kriffin lucky he is to get to meet such a pretty and competent man. And how pathetically he feels when he thinks of the huge crush he developed in the past day. He feels like he's in trouble, but he finds himself enjoying it very much.
Din watches with doubt in his heart as Jon Antilles is led by the Guild members towards the carbonite freezing chamber. Even as they landed on the planet, Jon and Din in one ship, Luke in his own in a different port, he got multiple reassurances that things would go well. The two days of proper healing - a fascinating combination of a heap of bacta and Jedi magics in the form of self-healing - Jon got healthy enough to go with their most ambitious plan.
Can Jedi really walk through walls?
Din takes his credits as instructed and turns his back on both the Guild Master and Jon. He forces his legs to march to his ship as if everything was normal, but his head is spinning with anticipation. He's gripping the control sticks as he takes off, his eyes constantly checking his comm for any message from Luke or Jon about the escape. His mission is done, his credit chips stored safely. The Guild Master has no way of placing the blame on him. He'll be far away from the planet the moment Jon walks out.
He hits the keys of his navicomputer and forces his ship into hyperspace. It lurches, the interior of the cockpit shaking with the pressure. Maybe a new vessel would be nice...
He shakes his head. No time to think about that right now. The minutes he spends waiting seems to stretch just like the stars moving around him in long streaks. He's antsy, something unusual as he's used to lurking for his bounties for hours in uncomfortable spaces. Freezing rain, blasting sun, all of that seems to be better than what he's experiencing now.
He knows why he's so nervous.
Then, as if feeling his unrest, his comm finally flashes with a series of new messages.
His Guild Master is yelling at him through multiple texts about the bounty disappearing. Din ignores those and instead opens the one from Luke.
It's a holo recording. It blinks into life, Luke's upper chest and face displayed in the form of a flickering blue miniature.
"Hey, Mando," the Jedi greets, a mischievous grin gracing his lips. With rushing heart, Din brings the comm closer. "Jon's out and safe. Running for the ship now with enough head start to get here without problems. Thanks again for your help and get yourself some nice ale for the trouble we dragged you in."
The recording of Luke pauses for a bit. "As promised, I'll be waiting for you. In three weeks, outside of Sundari. I'll send you the exact coordinates once I get them. And I'll take you to the markets. Think of it as a repayment." Luke's lips transform into a softer smile. "Or as a date."
With those words, the holo disappears and Din stands up from the piloting seat and not so gently connects his helmet with the doors. He wants to scream, but as a dignified bounty hunter with a serious reputation, he just plops back and just grins behind the safety of the beskar. It's euphoric and he can't wait to land on Mandalore.