22.
"Modified this pretty girl myself," Cobb announced, pulling the dusty tarp off the speeder.
Din crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. They were already behind without Cobb's needless preening. Once they agreed to their plan of action and left the cantina, they found Peli's borrowed speeder half-buried from the krayt dragon's trek through town. After Din and Cobb dug it out they quickly discovered the combustion was choked with sand. The repairs had taken Din nearly an hour to fix before he could make the old thing operational. During that time, Zo shared another drink with the too friendly Marshal. She laughed at his stupid jokes and listened to him tell a story of a drunken sand-fishing trip with Taanti from the previous week. He swore on the suns above a trip where he witnessed a Dune Angel on her ascent to the heavens.
"They used to run the pod races out this way. This beauty was Zeet Rondo's. Old Zeet didn't quite make that last turn…." Cobb patted the large repulsorcraft engine affectionately. "You ever seen a pod race, Angel?" He asked Zo.
Din ground his teeth. "Angel?" He thought with disgust.
She shook her head, "No, but I watched a few swoop bike races on Ord Mantel. Looked dangerous–"
Cobb pushed the hovering craft out of his barn. "Swoop bikes are nothing compared to a pod-race. Most humans can't even compete, they don't have the reflexes. Maybe after we take care of this dragon, we can catch a race back in Mos Eisley?"
"Maybe," Zo replied. "Of course, we all might be swallowed whole by the beast…."
Cobb laughed, "If Mando has moves anywhere near as slick as yours, I think we might just have a fighting chance to get rid of this thing." He wrapped his hands around his hips and narrowed his hazel eyes. "How did you move like that? You were next to us, then you weren't…then you had little Mina in your arms. You got rockets in your boots or something?"
"Or something…" Zo answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and casting a sidelong glance at Mando. "Some people find my…moves useless."
"Useless? Well, those people are kriffing idiots." Cobb tucked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up to meet his eyes. "You're amazing. I'd deputize you this minute if you agreed to stay."
Mando turned away from them with an irritated sigh and placed Grogu in his pram. He fished around in the blankets until he found the sun goggles and slipped them over the baby's big ears.
"She wouldn't pass the background check," Mando replied as he swung onto their speeder. She held up her fingers in a gesture considered obscene in most of the civilized universe.
"This ain't Coruscant. We go by our guts out here. And my gut says she'd fit in just fine." Cobb pulled up beside them and gave her a broad smile, "How 'bout you let me give you a ride, Angel."
Zo returned his smile. It was refreshing to be around someone who wasn't constantly irritated at her. Mando's emotions sent prickly, sharp jolts of static across her skin every time she got too close. She felt something new underneath his irritation; a faint trace of envy escaped his mental blocks. In this instance, she didn't completely trust what she was feeling and took Cobb's outstretched hand, swinging herself onto the back of his speeder while staring into Mando's visor, daring him to say something, anything. For a breath, Mando's emotions were acidic green, the energy spilled out of him like opened sluice gates before he clamped down again. The corner of Zo's mouth ticked up as she scooted closer to the Marshal and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Din took a deep, calming breath as he grabbed the handlebars of his speeder. "We need to get going. It's easier to negotiate with the Tuskens if they don't think we're trying to trespass on their land."
"The Tuskens think all the land is theirs," Cobb responded. "They've already tried to raid our bantha herd three times this month."
"Technically, the land is theirs. They are the First People of this planet. They see everyone else as invaders."
Cobb gave a derisive snort as he kicked his speeder into gear. The town fell away behind them, disappearing back into the towering dunes.
They rode in silence for many miles with only the sound of the sizzling sand and occasionally a surprised laugh from Grogu as they slid down a large dune. "We had a helluva time finding Mos Pelgo. Seems someone removed it from the planetary maps." Zo said, leaning closer to Cobb so he could hear her over the roar of the speeders. "Tell us what happened in your town, Cobb."
He was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts and memories of the dark time he and his people survived. "You don't know what it was like out here; even before the Fall, the town was on its last legs…I was born here. My parents and grandparents are buried in these dunes. It's like that for many of us in Mos Pelgo, those of us that are left–" He sighed. "We got news of the Rebels blowing up the Death Star, the second Death Star, mind you…and we thought the occupation was over, the invaders would be forced out, and maybe, maybe the town would survive. That same night, we didn't even get to have a proper gods damned celebration; the Mining Guild moved in..."
"It was full-scale slaughter. We were peaceful— moisture farmers, bantha ranchers— not soldiers…overnight Mos Pelgo became a slave camp." Zo rested her cheek against his back trying to offer him some comfort. "I ran, grabbed what I could when I lit out of town: a blaster and a comtono full of silicax crystals. Something told me…I had this feeling that those damn crystals were gonna be salvation."
"I walked day and night, no food, no water– thought I was done for…then I was saved by kriffing Jawas. They wanted the crystals, offered to trade me anything in that Sandcrawler of theirs. I saw the armor and knew it was my path to freedom. I returned to Mos Pelgo, and with this armor," He ran a hand down the dented green chestplate, "I made sure the Mining Guild would never hurt us again." He looked over his shoulder at Zo and she squeezed his thigh encouragingly.
"Sometimes…sometimes I can't stop thinkin' maybe I shouldn't've run. We could've banded together, fought'em off, maybe saved a few more lives."
"Your people don't blame you. You came back and fought for them." Zo told him.
Cobb nodded as he steered them towards a rock canyon, "Now, on top of everything, we've got the damn repulsor train runnin' through the outskirts scarin' off all the wild bantha herds makin' the dragon come further and further out lookin' for food."
The speeders slowed down as the dunes gave way to rocky terrain. The canyon grew more perilous. The walls closed in narrowing the trail to a tight choke. Din was instantly on high alert. Zo sat straighter, her eyes roaming up the tall rock walls and into the growing shadows. Cobb kept speaking for several seconds, unaware of his companion's concerns.
A low, menacing growl echoed across the rock walls. The natural acoustics of the canyon made it impossible to tell where the sound came from. Mando silently held up a fist as he swerved his bike to the side, creating a blockade. Zo froze Cobb's speeder with a quick pulse sent through the Force and sprang from her seat, landing with her lightsaber hissing and ready in front of them.
Cobb muttered, "What the hell?" as another growl warbled through the rocks. Grogu burrowed into his blankets as the lid slammed shut on his pram. Mando was already armed, his repulsor rifle aimed at the rock wall in front of them. His sensors picked up faint heat signatures. Cobb ducked behind his speeder, blasters in hand and asked the Mandalorian, "The hell is it?"
He held up another silent hand and waited as the heat signatures grew closer. The familiar shapes of massifs, the reptilian-canine sentries that Tuskens favored, grew from the red blobs of his helmet's heat sensors. "Stand down, jetti'ika." He said, setting his weapon aside. Zo didn't question him as she sheathed her lightsaber and reached out, sensing the approaching creatures through the Force.
Mando placed a hand on her shoulder as he strode forward, ready to meet the snarling guard dogs. Mando called out in an unfamiliar language full of braying grunts and whistles. The snarling stopped as a pack of massifs appeared between boulders. Their hard-scaled bodies trembled slightly, back ends twitching. Zo realized the animals were happy, wagging their tails at Mando in excitement. He called out again, the sounds part cry, part scream, part animalistic growl and completely foreign. The massifs loped forward, their long purple tongues dangling from the corners of their mouths as Mando kneeled. The reptile dogs bounced on him, licking his armored face and rolling onto their backs in unspoken demands for belly rubs which he obliged.
A trio of Tusken raiders materialized from the boulders, their long tan and brown robes creating nearly perfect desert camouflage. The Tuskens brayed at Mando, only their goggles designed to protect their delicate eyes from the harsh suns and the bony spikes on their foreheads visible through the layers of heat-reflecting linen covering their body head to toe. Zo sensed Cobb's fear. "Be calm, Cobb Vanth." She said before the Marshal could fire his blasters. Mando slowly stood, hands outstretched in peace as he spoke to the Tuskens in their native language. His hands moved as he spoke, and Zo realized this was as much a part of their language as the vocalizations.
Cobb shifted unsurely, "You wanna tell us what's goin' o,n partner?"
"The Tuskens want to kill the krayt dragon also," Mando answered. One of the Tuskens made a sweeping, curling gesture with their hands, and Mando responded in ahigh-pitched cry. "They've invited us to spend the night in their camp."
"I'm not sleepin' with them. These savages are likely to gut us in our sleep." Cobb shot back.
Mando strode back to his speeder as the Tuskens and their massifs dissolved into the shadows. "Then spend the night here. My Foundling needs food and rest." He straddled the speeder and held a hand out to Zo.
She took his hand, and Din smirked under his helmet at the win. "Come on, Cobb. If Mando says it's safe, then it is."
Mando kicked their speeder into gear and drove toward the hidden path the Tuskens had told him to follow. "Damn it! Wait for me!" Cobb hollered after them.
The Tuskens mounted their banthas and headed towards the setting suns. Cobb, Mando, and Zo followed the trodding animals. The pack of massifs barked and growled at each other and nipped the rider's feet. Far off a cluster of large billowing tents appeared in a gulley between towering dunes. Tusken children chased each other in the growing shadows while adults prepared the great bonfire in the camp center.
"What the hell's that fire for? They planning on having us for dinner?" Cobb asked as they parked their speeders on the edge of the encampment.
Zo retrieved Grogu from his pram and set him on her hip while Mando slung their bags over his shoulder. "It is a great honor to dine with the elders," Mando replied coolly.
"Besides, I'm usually the one the sends us into deadly traps — not including that whole prison break debacle." Zo quipped, elbowing Mando in his side.
"Zo Mara." Mando's stern voice had her biting her bottom lip to hide the sarcastic smile.
"Prison break?" Cobb stumbled after them.
Zo, Grogu, and Cobb hung back while Mando greeted the Tusken's elders. He gave them a blaster and one of the many knives he kept hidden within his armor as an offering of respect. The elders seemed to prefer the silent hand communications over the spoken language. Mando was fluent in both and the conversation continued for several long moments as he occasionally gestured towards Zo or Cobb.
"He ever take that helmet off?" Cobb asked her.
Zo shook her head, "No, not in front of others at least. It's part of his Creed."
"You think he's a Tusken under all that metal. I've never heard anyone speak their language before."
"No. He's as much a man as you are, Just full of surprises."
"I thought you two were just friends." He smiled at her in that effortless way that made his dimples pop and eyes crinkle. She realized how much a part of her missed having another human face to look at. A face that conveyed all the emotions she could sense. Mando was a cold, metal slab most of the time. Nothing more than a comforting, warm presence that occasionally got irritated enough with her that he couldn't keep his emotions hidden. She felt guilty not telling Cobb how easily she read his emotions and some of his thoughts. Thoughts that, right now, he probably wouldn't want her to be aware of.
"Sometimes we're really close friends." The corners of her lips twitched as his thoughts changed to match those implications.
"What do I have to do to become a really close friend?" She clearly saw the inside of a dimly lit bedroom and a Mandalorian helmet- dented, sun-baked sage green instead of platinum. Then the man underneath removed the helmet without a second thought and dropped it aside. To him, it was simply armor, not the mark of a lifetime commitment to creed and culture.
"I don't think you'd want me as a friend, Cobb Vanth." She quietly answered.
A group of Tusken children eyed them curiously. Grogu waved one little green hand and the bravest of the bunch skipped forward. Zo set the baby on the sand and kneeled beside him as the children slowly surrounded them. Their braying calls were low and quick as they touched his pointed ears and ran linen-wrapped fingers through Zo's long hair. She couldn't understand their language but sensed their innocent intent. The children were curious about the outsiders as she and Grogu were about the Tuskens. One of the kids let out three short cries and motioned behind them.
"They want Grogu to play with them before dinner," Mando said, standing behind her. He answered the children with a few hand gestures and they barked in happiness. "Go, Grogu. Make friends but don't go past the large tent." Grogu cooed in understanding and followed the kids towards their pile of homemade toys and intricate sand castles.
"The elders want to discuss our plans for hunting the krayt drago," Mando said, turning to Cobb.
"Our plans? Why should I let them in on our plans? What if they try to sabotage us?" He responded.
"We need their help and they need ours. Since the last lunar cycle, the krayt dragon has devoured three of their camps."
"No one here means us any harm, Cobb," Zo told him.
"And how the hell do you know that?"
"I just do." She touched his arm as she looked up at him. "Trust me." Cobb sighed, crossed his arms over his chest, and nodded.
Several Tuskens placed a massive slab of freshly butchered batha on a spit erected over the now roaring bonfire. Zo's stomach grumbled as the smells of fresh barbeque soon filled the camp. Grogu laughed and squealed in delight as he and the other children took turns chasing each other like a litter of massif puppies. Zo sat next to Mando during the bonfire negotiations but kept her senses also tuned to monitor the child. Cobb sat sullenly on the other side of the Mandalorian, his handsome face pinched in a scowl as Mando spoke to the Tuskens. She wanted to know how and when he learned their language and how often he traveled to Tatooine. The way his hands moved, fluid and graceful, was as entrancing as a dance. She stared at his gloved hands, knowing how harsh and unyielding they could be but also how they so gently rested on the small of her back, brushed her hair out of her face, and held Grogu like he was a precious treasure. She watched him, and the lonely, hollow part of her ached.
"What the hell is this?" Cobb's voice broke her reverie. She straightened up just as a Tusken female handed her what looked like a hard, black rock.
"It's a black melon," Mando responded as one was handed to him.
"Well, what the hell do I do with it?"
"You drink it." Mando punched his thumbs through the top of the gourd and lifted his helmet just enough to quickly sip from the gritty smoke that whirled out.
Cobb and Zo followed his example. The scent of the black melon was pungent, a miasma of sour milk and rotting fruit. "It stinks." Cobb hissed, pulling the melon away from his face with a grimace.
"If you don't drink, they will take it as a grave insult," Mando replied tightly.
Zo sucked the sour smoke down, trying not to think about how many disgusting things it reminded her of. A strange lightness imbued her limbs. Her mouth, perpetually parched since landing on this sun ravaged planet, felt at once sated."Not quite a Bespin sunrise, but it'll do," She muttered, smacking her lips to rid them of the pucker that lingered, "How do I tell them 'thank you'?" She asked Mando. He raised his right hand to the chin of his helmet, then swept it down and towards the female that gave them the melons. Zo repeated the gesture, and the female responded with a wave of her own before turning back to the meat, slowly rotating over the fire.
"Your turn Cobb," Zo said, leaning forward to look around Mando's chest.
"I'm not drinking this. Smells like three-week-old bantha shit."
Zo rolled her eyes and leaned back, "And here I thought Mando was the most stubborn male I'd ever met."
"Do you want their help?" Mando growled quietly.
"Not if I have to drink this shit." He dropped the melon onto the sand. Mando cursed under his breath as one of the Tusken males jumped to his feet, braying and pointing loudly at Cobb. Cobb looked between the Tusken and Mando expecting a translation.
"He says you and your town steal their water, and now you insult his elders by refusing the black melon." The Tusken continued yelling, slamming his fist into his hand and making angry gestures at Cobb. "They know about Mos Pelgo, and they know how many Tuskens you've killed." Mando continued.
"They raided the town," Cobb yelled back, pointing an angry finger. "I defended the town! I Defended my people!"
"Lower your voice. You are agitating them." Mando warned as another Tusken male started yelling.
"Agitating them? You tell them to sit the fuck back down before I start puttin' holes in'em!" Cobb jumped to his feet, hands on the butts of his blasters with every intent to make good on his threat. "I knew this was a bad idea trying to make deals with these monsters! And you, Mando you brought your kid and the woman into the middle of this!"
One of the Tuskens lunged for Cobb. Zo jumped up. Her purple blade hissed through the tense air between the men before blood could be shed. Mando stood and yelled loudly in Tusken, and the male stepped back. "What the hell are you tellin' them?" Cobb demanded, not taking his eyes off the male that lunged for him.
"Same thing I'm telling you! If we don't work together, that monster is going to kill all of us!" Mando answered. "Now pick up that gods damned melon and drink it so we can continue our parlay." He pointed to the discarded gourd at Cobb's feet.
Before Cobb could reach down and pick up the melon, Mando grabbed his arm and pulled him close. "And don't ever question me again about the safety of my Foundling, Cobb Vanth."
Cobb smiled, devoid of the indignant anger that riled him just a moment ago. "And the woman, am I allowed to question you about her?"
"Zo Mara is more than capable of taking care of herself…."
Cobb sucked down the remainder of the black smoke and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his wine-red shirt. "Guess it's not that bad." He muttered, sitting back down on his log.
Zo crossed her arms and looked up at him, "Do all Mandalorian negotiations end up like this?"
"Only the fun ones."
She smirked and rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna go check on the kid." Mando nodded once, noticing how her eyes drifted to Cobb, who in return gave her a chagrined smile.
He watched her wander away, following a path only she seemed aware of as she wound between tents. "So you and her…."
Mando sighed as he sat down, ready to re-start negotiations and planning with the Tuskens. He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, and spoke to the elders across from him instead of answering Cobb. Tomorrow the Tuskens would take them to the krayt dragons lair. From there, they would decide the best course of action. The elders' experience with the dragon taught them the creature's skin was impenetrable to sharp weapons and like Cobb said, attempting to fire at it from the sky would drive it deep underground putting their camps at risk of deadly tidal sand- waves.
"We will use a bantha as bait…strapped with explosives to strike it where it is vulnerable." Mando translated, still not looking at Cobb.
Cobb slapped his knee with glee, "Now that's a plan I can get behind."
The individuals tending the rotating spit called out piercing barks that reverberated through the camp. Tent flaps opened, and Tuskens filed out. The children stopped playing and ran towards the bonfire. The elders were served their dinner, and the planning officially ended for the night.
"There is an oasis on the other side of the Western dune," Mando noticed Zo winding her way back through the camp with Grogu in her arms.
Vanth cocked an eyebrow at him as they were dismissed from the elders' fire, "What'd ya say there, partner?"
"I said," Din crossed his arms over his chest, "There's an oasis on the other side of that dune. It's very…private, and I think Zo would like it there."
Cobb's eyebrows raised in surprise. "And you…how would you like it if I took Zo to that oasis?"
"I'm not exactly built for swimming," Mando answered. "Zo and I...As long as she's back to mind the kid. I don't care." The lie burned its way up his throat and coated his tongue. He wasn't a di'kult. Din saw how she looked at Cobb, shy and slightly hopeful that he wasn't an asshole with no social skills. She'd been stuck on the ship and, in his presence for months, endured the attitude he knew would take quite a bit more practice to rid himself of. She tried to leave, and he all but begged her to stay. For what reason? He insulted her and reminded her that he couldn't be the type of man who effortlessly gave compliments and smiled so brightly at her that she looked away in embarrassment. Din wasn't selfish enough, to be honest and admit how badly he wanted her close. He couldn't admit that he burned with near agony when she chose to sit behind Cobb.
"Are you hungry?" Zo asked Grogu as they rejoined Cobb and Mando. He cooed, and she sensed that he was indeed hungry. The four of them waited for their turn to be served from the huge, perfectly cooked, and seasoned slab of meat. Drool soaked Grogu's robesl by the time Zo was handed a platter of food to share with the baby. "You're going to eat that, right?" She asked as Mando turned away from the fire pit with his food. Cobb shoveled a hunk of meat into his mouth while they looked for a place to sit.
"Yes, cyar'ika," Din replied with a small smile under his helmet. "I'll eat in my— our tent." He led them to two tents in the outer circle of the camp, far from the still roaring bonfire and its warmth. Din excused himself to eat in privacy while Zo and Grogu settled into the soft sand next to Cobb.
"He can really put it away, can't he?" Cobb asked as Grogu ate like he had wandered in the desert for forty days and forty nights with no sustenance.
Zo laughed and brushed his wispy hair out of his eyes. "Yes, he can."
"I've never seen anything like him before. What is he?"
"He's special." She answered, feeding the baby a bite of a blue desert tuber.
"So you two…you what? Adopted him?"
"Mando rescued him. It is a tenant his creed to foster and care for younglings."
"You sure know a lot about his creed."
Zo patted Grogu on his back until he let out a loud burp. She was suddenly unsure how much to share with a stranger. Cobb was mostly unknown still, although handsome and agreeable, there were still dangers in the galaxy for Jedi. After their disastrous encounter with Ranzar Malk, the dangers seemed closer than they had in a long time. "As a child, I spent some time on Mandalore with my Mas– my guardian."
"Guardian? Not your parents?" Cobb moved closer.
She shook her head, "I have no real memory of my parents. My twin sister and I were raised…slightly unorthodox, I suppose. We traveled quite a bit until the Empire…and then we didn't." Zo finished with a quiet laugh. "Do you like to travel, Cobb?"
"I've never been off-world." Cobb replied, leaning back. "More of a home-body myself. Nothing out there I can get right here." He took a handful of sand and let it slip through his fingers. "Maybe not as adventurous as Mando, but…I get my fill of bandits and raiders —and dragons." He gave her one of his dazzling smiles, and she felt a tug below her belly button. She had the sudden unshakable knowledge Cobb was not the kind of man to show affection then double down on being the galaxy's most abrasive ass. Mando's rare touch and the forbidden desire it always seemed to stoke kept her at a near steady simmer. It was those rare moments of warmth she selfishly craved after forgoing any feelings for so long, subconsciously wanting more and more as if he were a spice addiction.
Grogu yawned and snuggled into Zo's lap. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and let out a shaky breath, "I should— uh— I should put the baby to bed."
"After you put the little guy down, I heard a rumor there's an oasis on the other side of that ridge," Cobb pointed his chin behind the ring of tents.
"An oasis?" Zo perked up. The thought of cool water washing away the sand and grit that clung to her was delectable. She cherished clean skin and freshly washed hair after her months of living as an orphaned street urchin. She never ever passed up on an opportunity to bathe, knowing what it felt like not to know when she would have the chance again. "That sounds—" Stars, it sounded terrific, and Cobb looked amazing under the stars, the faint glow of the far-off firepit bringing out the flecks of green in his eyes. He probably smelled and tasted amazing too. Maker, how long had it been since she had been with someone or even allowed herself to be attracted to someone before getting her ass so spectacularly kicked by the Mandalorian Bounty Hunter. And now she was attracted to two men, and her stomach churned with uncertainty and guilt.
Cobb was ruggedly handsome with his bright eyes and full lips. His hair looked soft and just the right length to tangle in her fingers. She wouldn't have to pretend or dredge up some memories of past lovers to fill in the blanks where his looks were concerned. She could watch his face, see the changes as different thoughts took flight, and feel his heated emotions beckoning her with open arms. Cobb shifted closer again, his fingers tiptoed up her thigh, and she felt dark red desire drip off of him. Grogu grumbled in his sleep again, and Zo's eyes drifted to the dark, silent tent where Mando disappeared. Mando, who thought she was useless when she wouldn't use her abilities to get what He wanted and a monster when she did. "That sounds amazing, Cobb—" She wrapped her fingers around his. The small skin to skin touch was all it took to enter his mind and see all the things he wanted to do to her in the warm waters of the oasis and later in his tent. She pressed her thighs together to stave off the annoying throb her unintended intrusion into his thoughts started.
"But," He added quietly.
"But I am exhausted…I'm not used to so much heat and sunlight."
"Of course, Angel. It can be a lot for first-timers." He leaned away from her, taking his hand with him. "I've got other things to show you when we get back to Mos Pelgo."
The corners of her lips twitched up. "I bet you do, Cobb Vanth." She stood, cradling Grogu to her chest, and told him good night.
Zo paused just inside the tent, letting her eyes adjust to the gloom. Mando was a silent lump, his big form curled onto a small sleeping mat. She noticed his boots lined up near the flap and carefully removed her own, placing them next to his. Soft carpets lined the tent's interior, silencing her footsteps as she moved across the small space towards the sleeping mat next to him. She made a nest of soft bantha-wool blankets and placed Grogu between them before laying down.
Grogu's occasional snores and Mando's quiet, even breaths filled the tent as the noises of the camp quieted. Sleep, however, was elusive for Zo. She lay on her back, staring up at the dark fabric of the tent as conflicting emotions warred inside her. Why had she turned Cobb down? She was attracted to him, and he was obviously attracted to her if his thoughts were any indication. But she felt unfamiliar guilt at being able to read him so easily. Perhaps she should tell him what she was, what she had done. Allow him to make a more informed decision before they pursue this little game further.
"Why aren't you asleep, Jetti'ika?" Mando's smokey timbre drifted across the tent.
"Maker, help me!" Zo squeaked in surprise, turning towards his dark shape. Grogu grumbled in his sleep and burrowed his big ears into his blankets. "How do you do that?" She whispered, placing a comforting hand on the baby's chest.
"Do what, cyar'ika?" She could hear his amusement through the vocoder.
"Be so damn quiet and still— I thought you were asleep." She huffed, pulling her blanket over her shoulders, and looked at the dark glint of his visor. "Why aren't you asleep? Have you just been staring at me this whole time?"
He was quiet for a breath. "Not the whole time."
"You are incredibly frustrating," Zo grumbled, turning again on her back to continue staring at the dark folds of fabric above her.
"I've been told that a few times."
Zo tapped her fingers across her chest, turned on her left side, stared at the tent in front of her, plucked at the fabric of the rug she slept on, then turned back around to face Mando once again.
"If you don't stop moving, I will tie you down." He threatened.
"I might like that, then neither of us will get any sleep." She replied, and he chuckled quielty as she shifted around again under her pile of blankets. "I've got sand everywhere. I need a kriffing shower or a bath…or a dip in a Tusken Oasis. You wouldn't happen to know where I could find one of those ?"
Mando moved this time, his armor faintly creaking as he turned onto his back. He could feel her in the dark less than two feet away, expectantly waiting for an answer. "I might."
Zo shifted closer, pulling Grogu's nest towards her. "And?" She whispered at him.
"What would I do there?"
"I don't know. Swim? You do know how to swim, don't you." She sat up, propping her head on her hand. "I could always teach you...put some floaties on you—" She pinched the bicep hidden under his armor.
"I know how to swim." He grumbled, shaking her hand off. "I don't have anything to swim in."
"Neither do I. Neither does Cobb. That didn't stop him from asking."
The tent suddenly seemed too small. The space between them too near. Grogu snored in his sleep. Had it only been a few days ago when he had her breathless and nearly naked, his entire body burning with the need to be inside her? Her warm fingers brushed against his hand. Din briefly let his fingers entwine with hers. He traced a swirl on the back of her hand before he withdrew.
"Why do you do that?"
He asked, "Do what, cyare?"
"Pull me in just to push me away again."
Din took a deep breath, the scent of oranges and vanilla, and her swirled in his helmet. "Why get attached when you are just going to leave."
She didn't reach for him again. "I tried to leave. You stopped me."
"I need someone to change his diapers." His armor creaked again as he rolled onto his back and folded his hands behind his head.
"You are so full of poodoo." Zo clenched her jaw together, so tight her teeth hurt. Maker, he was infuriating with that cool even tone. "You say nothing when I rode with Cobb...but I felt, I sensed—"
"You sensed what, cyare?"
"Do you want me at all?" She hated the doubt, the small torch she carried for him that refused to extinguish and let her languish once again in the dark, unfeeling shell.
"You think Cobb wants you?"
"I know he does."
"You're a new toy. Something shiny he wants to get his hands on before the sands and sun tarnish it." He turned to face her, "Is that what you want? Someone you can read so easily, never be surprised, know everything they're thinking before they do."
"I want someone who doesn't think I'm useless. That sees more worth in me besides changing diapers and stringing me along."
"Stringing you along?"
She growled like a pissed-off loth-cat. "Would you say anything if I went with him tonight? If I spent the night in his tent?"
"You're free to spend the night with however you want, jetti'ika." He said even though his chest swelled so tight, it felt like he'd burst through his beskar.
"Is that so?" She sat up, pushing the blankets off of her. Grogu's eyebrows pinched together in a scowl, and she brushed her thumb across his forehead, murmuring, "Sleep." The baby relaxed and she stood, striding once more towards the tent flap.
"Where are you going?" Mando whisper-hissed at her as her boots jumped into her outstretched hand.
"To spend the night with someone who actually wants me." Then she disappeared through the flap and into the Tusken camp.