Cara Dune was amused by the Mandalorian's behavior around Omera. It was clear the man had no experience with women, or if he had experience, it had been purely academic or possibly just unhappy. She didn't peg him as the type to pay for affection—she knew only a few things about Mandalorians, but she had heard that many of the old clans were rather puritanical in their approach to sex.

Not that she had anything against that herself —a man with self-control was something to behold, after all. She had always found old-fashioned men to be rather sweet, in fact. They were more interesting, anyway, than men who were constantly trying to mount anything with breasts and appropriate orifices.

Still, to see such a hard, fierce guy so clearly smitten with a lovely young woman and yet be totally clueless about what to do about it was kind of funny. Not that she would say anything like that to his face. Or to his helmet, for that matter.

Still, she did feel a tiny twinge of jealousy about the fact that he was attracted to Omera and not herself. But that's life, Cara thought with a slight shrug. She was a warrior. Romance was not in her line. It obviously was for him, and warriors genuinely appreciated coming home to someone warm and soft who wasn't inclined towards trying to kill them. Unless they left whiskers in the sink or their underwear on the floor.

"What?"

She glanced at him, barely able to conceal a smile as he caught a little blue fish that was flopping around on the ground in front of him and handed it to the child, who gleefully gobbled it up. That kid could eat anything.

"Eh, just thinking."

She waited for some kind of witty comeback from the Mandalorian, but he was keeping a sharp eye on the kid and seemed only vaguely aware of her presence. Besides, he only used sarcasm when annoyed.

"About what? When it'll rain again?" Yesterday's downpour had caused everyone, including the Mandalorian—staying in the barn—to get thoroughly soaked. The kid had been delighted with the rain and had spent all day romping in mud puddles with the village children, getting wonderfully dirty, like kids should do. Cara knew that Mando had slipped away at some point and had bathed, probably for the first time in what she figured was quite a while, and she wondered just how many scars he had. Not that she was going to risk her life by sneaking a peek. She took a sip of her spotchka, covering a smile—if Omera had decided to take a peek, she couldn't imagine Mando belaboring her with his blaster. At least not with that blaster. If he was maybe a little more comfortable in his own skin, he could have invited her to join him in the tub.

"Nah. Just enjoying the sunshine. This place… it's peaceful. Probably too peaceful for either one of us. Now that those Klatooinians have left, it's extremely quiet. I'm not used to sleeping in, much less just sitting around watching the grass grow. Not that it hasn't been a nice little respite from… chaos, but… "

He was silent, tossing another fish to the child, who jumped on it and ate it eagerly. "Are you ever not hungry?" Mando asked, and the kid toddled over to him, raising his arms, signaling he wanted to be held. Mando sighed and picked the boy up, settling him on his knee. "You little womp rat… you smell like mud and krill."

Cara smiled. Imagine, a Mandalorian—tough as nails, ruthless, battle-hardened and relentless—going all soft for a little green kid. But there he was, dangling the kid on his knee and grumbling to him in a remarkably gentle tone that indicated genuine affection. She had never seen him act even vaguely impatient with the kid, even yesterday when the little creature had spread mud all over his boots after the rain and toddled away, giggling at the trouble he had caused.

"It's… okay."

"Well, yeah. For a little kid, definitely. A little kid deserves a peaceful place to live. Other kids to play with—a home, a family… a mother and father... that kinda thing." Cara glanced at Mando, hoping he was getting the point. He was bouncing the kid, who was gurgling happily and kicking his little legs.

Mando sat back, relaxing, and Cara realized he had dozed off. The kid continued gurgling, then turned around and clambered up almost to Mando's shoulder, making a happy cooing sound.

"That kid likes you."

Of course, Mando said nothing, but Cara knew the battered bounty hunter loved the little scamp. The child sighed and snuggled up against his surrogate father, closing his eyes and falling asleep against the hard beskar armor, and Cara wondered how he would handle it if anything happened to the little creature. Or better yet, how the kid would handle losing the Mandalorian.

Not well on either part, she knew. The kid would pine away forever for his Papa, and Mando would die inside.

"He's fifty years old," Mando said quietly. "Four years older than me."

Cara smiled. "So what? Years are just numbers. And we know species age differently, at different rates."

"True. But it's weird."

She sensed, then, that the idea also saddened Mando. Even if the bounty hunter lived to be a hundred, the kid would have hundreds of years to go before he was even able to care for himself. Mando would only be able, at best, to get the kid started on his journey. He would not live to see the destination.

She shrugged. "You know, he'd be really happy here."

"He is, I think. He'll outlive all these kids, and end up playing with their great-grandkids and still be a kid himself. He'll never be short of playmates."

Cara laughed, gently, thinking Mando might have use for at least one playmate of his own. "Maybe he'd end up playing with y—… "

"Second meal is ready," someone called from somewhere in the little village, a bell ringing to call everyone in from the paddys. Mando got up, taking care not to wake the child, and went into the barn. Cara watched him carefully settle the sleeping child in the crib Omera had provided, and waited until he came back outside.

"I'll get you some food and bring it back," she said, standing.

"Thank you." He settled back into his chair and leaned back against the wall, relaxing. It was soon very clear that he was asleep. Ah, parenthood, Cara thought with a soft snicker. Never pass up an opportunity for some sleep when you have a kid around!

Walking back to the center of the little village, where everyone usually gathered to eat second meal, she decided to send Omera over to deliver Mando's meal and let nature take its course.