Author's Note
I...don't really know where this chapter came from? I just kind of started writing and let my mind wander where it wanted to. Contains a favorite trope of mine, though.
Go onward and enjoy!
Dragons
A soft knocking on her bedroom door rouses Mahin from a half-sleep. She groans into her pillow. She was so close to drifting off. It had been a kriffing long day. Couple days. Mando had been gone for over seventy-two hours on a planet with a high population density. With so many people, it made it difficult for the tracking fob to get an accurate read on the quarry's location, dragging the hunt on longer than usual.
And with every hour that stretched on without Mando, the fussier the child got. By hour thirty-five, he hardly let her set him down before he reached for her, demanding to be picked up again. By hour forty he was refusing to take even a nap. Mando still checked in on the communicator every twelve hours. They both still knew he was fine. But the child still grew increasingly more restless the longer Mando was gone.
When Mando returned, he put his weapons away, took one look at her, gathered the child up in his own arms, and all but shoved her towards bed. The thing is, she's already been up for over twenty-four hours straight. She tipped past that point, that threshold of exhaustion after pushing herself for so long that her brain now struggles to shut off.
The knocking comes again, a little quieter. Hesitant. As if giving her a chance not to hear it.
But she hears it and she's awake and she can't just leave it alone, especially when she hears the kid still fussing on the other side of the door.
Mahin drags herself to her feet, pulling at the hem of the long-sleeved shirt she wore to bed. It's the first thing she grabbed from her pile of fresh laundry dumped in the corner of her room. Big, baggy, and falling to about mid-thigh. She contemplates for a moment before her sleepy mind considers the shirt descent enough sleepwear for company.
She presses the interior button to open her door and props herself against the doorjamb. "What's up?" she mumbles sleepily, rubbing a knuckle against one eye as she stares up at Mando.
He looks a bit haggard, as much as an armored man can look haggard, rocking slightly on his feet with the wide-awake child cradled in his arms. "I can't get him to sleep," he sighs, his own exhaustion making it difficult for him to mask frustration.
Neither of them wants to blame the kid but, holy Maker, they just want to sleep.
Mahin nods as a yawn tears out of her mouth. "We in hyperspace?"
"Yeah."
"Good." She takes the kid from Mando and then turns towards her bed. "Grab me one of the kid's books. The one with the Krayt Dragon on the cover."
"Sure." His body starts to angle away to do as she says but then he freezes, head tilting to the side as he studies her.
"Wha'?" she mumbles, climbing back into bed with the child cradled against her chest so she can pull the blankets up to cover her from the waist down. Maybe the shirt isn't descent enough? Showing that much skin isn't exactly something someone like him would be used to. Even if it's just legs.
But he surprises her by asking in a slightly strangled voice, "Is that my shirt?"
Mahin's mouth opens and closes before her bleary eyes trail down to look at her shirt. She blinks, willing her sleepy mind to concentrate. She definitely recognizes the dark material. Only, she doesn't recognize it from her own wardrobe, finally realizing that she doesn't actually own any long-sleeved shirts this baggy.
Yep, he's right. That is totally Mando's shirt.
Mahin's cheeks practically light on fire. Actually, no, scratch that, they hurtle into the center of a supernova. Her eyes widen in mortification as she scrambles to her feet. "I am so, so sorry! It must have gotten mixed up in my stuff when I did laundry while you were gone." She holds the child out for him to take. "If you just give me a minute, I'll change and you can have it back—"
"Mahin," Mando says forcefully enough to stop her tirade. He places a hand over hers and pushes the child back into her arms. "It's fine. Just keep it."
The fire spreads to Mahin's ears and she squeaks, "You sure?"
"Yes. I have other shirts." He turns to go get the requested book, but not before replying with amusement deepening his voice, "It looks better on you anyway."
Oh, boy, Mahin thinks to herself, letting out a slow breath as she climbs back into bed with the child. This Mandalorian is going to be the death of her, she swears. He can't just say stuff like that. Especially when she's so tired.
It'll give her ideas.
She pulls one sleeve over the fingers of her hand and lifts it to her face, breathing in deeply the fabric at her wrist. She's not sure how she didn't notice before. Despite the recent cleaning, the smell is clear. It smells like metal, gun oil, leather, and a faint forest-y smell.
It smells like Mando.
It helps settle her nerves, putting her more at ease.
By the time Mando returns with the book, the heat has died back down from her face and she valiantly tries to pretend that everything is normal, giving him a quiet thank you as she accepts the book from him. The child babbles happily at the sight of it.
"I know," she coos as he gets comfortable on her lap, leaning his back against her stomach. "I've got your favorite."
Mando ducks his head a little to get a look at the book's cover again. "A book of fairy tales? Really?"
"Yep. A book of adventures and dragons and heroes saving the day."
"Guess he really is just a normal kid. I remember the kids in my Covert growing up enjoying fairy tales, too."
"Most kids love them. And adults like to use them to teach kids about the world, the galaxy. All of the wonder out there. And all of the danger. The dragons that lurk." She opens up the book in her lap, angling it so both her and the child can see. "I don't think that's why kids like them, though."
Mando leans against the doorway lazily, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Alright, then why do you think kids like fairy tales?"
Mahin flips through the pages, stopping at an illustration of a great winged dragon breathing fire down at a hero covered in armor. Somehow, it kind of reminds her of Mandalorian armor. "Fairy tales don't tell children that dragons exist," she mumbles as she traces the hero's sword with her finger. The blade almost seems to glow on the page. "Children already know that dragons exist. I think they enjoy fairy tales…because fairy tales tell them that dragons can be killed."
The child twists his head around to look up at her, big eyes filled with more knowledge than a child should have. Yes, children already know of dragons. Especially this child. He knows so much—too much—of the evil that already exists in the world.
But if this armored hero in the story can slay a monster as big and powerful and ferocious as a dragon, then maybe one day the child can be rid of the Empire, too.
Especially with his own armored knight as his side.
Clearing her throat, Mahin allows herself to get lost in the child's favorite story as she reads aloud, a part of her always aware of Mando leaning in the doorway, watching them. She can't tell with any certainty, obviously, but she imagines a fond smile on his face. The face she'll never see. She keeps expecting that to bother her at some point—that she'll never see his face—but it never does.
Instead, she feels nothing but contentment.
Mahin and the child don't get through ten minutes of reading before they both nod off. The book flops down in Mahin's lap as her fingers go slack. Din chuckles under his breath. He knew they were both exhausted. He could tell as soon as he boarded the Crest. Still, the child stubbornly wouldn't go to sleep.
Except for Mahin. He always falls asleep for Mahin. Well, almost always. They'll have to remember that the child doesn't handle long separations well.
Honestly, the long hunt was difficult on Din as well. He…missed them. Both of them. He was worried about them, too. Worried that he was taking too long. Leaving them in one place for too long. That someone would find them without him there to protect them. His mind kept flashing back to Sorgan, hearing that shot echo across the little village, heart thumping wildly in his ears as he ran and hoped that he wasn't too late.
All it takes is one moment caught unawares. If it wasn't for Cara, Din would have already lost the kid that day.
He may have to figure out some kind of alternative when hunts turn out longer than forty-eight hours.
Shaking morbid thoughts from his head, he slowly approaches the bed to slip the book and the child out of Mahin's loose grip. She grumbles in her sleep, turning onto her side facing him and curling up like a loth cat.
He juggles the child and book into one arm so he can use the other to pull the blanket up to her chin. She gives a happy little hum, nuzzling her face against the pillow.
Din smiles, warm eyes dancing over her, committing this moment to memory.
She really does look good in his shirt.
Though that is a dangerous thought. One he accidentally let slip earlier and he definitely shouldn't dwell on.
He wrenches his attention away from the beautiful woman sleeping peacefully on his ship before his mind can tumble away out of control. He exits the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him and moves to his own bunk. He gets the child into his hammock without disturbance—blessedly—and then looks down at the book in his hand. Idly, he flips through a few pages, finding the picture of the dragon that Mahin had been looking at earlier.
Dragons, huh? Mando never got to take on a dragon before.
He's probably got a weapon for it, though, if one thinks about coming for the child again.
Author's Note
"Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed." -G.K. Chesterton
I tend to have Criminal Minds playing in the background when I write. I like having something else to divert my attention to when I'm thinking or stumped on something. If you don't know the show, they use famous quotes at the beginning and end of each episode, something that reflects the episode's plot and themes. I watched the episode that uses this one a few weeks ago, probably for the tenth or twentieth time since this is one of my favorite shows, and I don't know. It stuck out to me more than before and I felt the need to use it. It ended up influencing the path this chapter took more than I thought it would but I think I like it.
Also, I love girls wearing their guy's clothes. Idk why but it's a trope I adore so of course it had to come up eventually. And will probably come up again.
I have plans for that cloak as well.
More of my favorite tropes will come up eventually. And I'll let you in on a little secret: kidnapping tropes are some of my absolute favorites. ;)
Next chapter, Mahin and Mando get to take a major step. Not the one you guys want, but we'll get there eventually. Promise.
I do love a good slow burn.
Hope you enjoyed, PLEASE REVIEW, and see you all next time!
