Summary: This is the start of a slow burn story between our favorite mandalorian and a girl who crosses his path when they both show up looking for the same bounty. It’s written alongside the series and will eventually become your favorite sexually frustrating fic. But first, we build the story:
“Where are you trying to go?” The raspy voice of an older orange alien.
She was standing in a shipping yard watching the alien yell at droids about which crates go where in the cargo port.
“Planet Arvala-7,” she said blatantly.
She sees the alien raise an eyebrow. “And what kind of business could a young lady like you have on Arvala-7? I don’t know if you’ve heard but that planet is crawling with mercenaries now.”
“Look, I have a hefty bag of credits here.” She reached down to a bag that was attached to the speeder bike resting beside her. “I know it’s a bit out of your route, but I’ll make up the difference and then some. So long as you have room to store my speeder.”
She threw the bag to the man. He proceeded to feel the weight of it and after a few moments turned to the cargo ship and waved her along over his shoulder.
- - - -
It’s been so long since I’ve seen Quill, I wonder if he’s still on that dirty sand planet.
- - - -
She got dropped off a few hundred miles west of where she was headed. A Nikto encampment she heard had a very special bounty in their possession. A bounty she had been tracking for a few weeks, desperate to find before the empire. After riding her speeder for a few hours, she ditches the bike behind a sand dune and continues on foot. Coming up on the outskirts of the compound and nestling down to watch the hustle of activity around the camp. After watching for sometime and tracking every guards post, a loud uproar sparks.
- - - -
What the fuck is going on down there… *squinting* oh no is that?
…A damn IG unit.
- - - -
Shooting, yelling, explosions erupt from the center of the compound. She uses this time to run the perimeter to the back buildings where she can sense the faintest influx of the force in that area of the building. Most the guards are being dispersed among the front, giving her the perfect opportunity to make her way around back and find a way in.
Then quiet. Things have settled some. She follows her senses down hallways, sure that she’s about to find the being she’s been seeking. Light on her feet as not to make noise. She rounds a corner, blaster drawn. Just in time to see a mandalorian shoot the IG unit from earlier. Some of the best people she’s known have been mandalorian, but among some of the most ego driven as well.
“HANDS UP,” she gives a stern warning.
The mandalorian doesn’t know this voice but he can tell it’s someone of confidence that won’t hesitate to get what they want. His hands slowly raise. “I have no intention of harming the child,” he responds to the threat of the blaster, which he sees out of the corner of his visor is aimed at a break in between his armor. She’s not playing games. If she pulled the trigger he’d be badly wounded.
“You should be happy I believe you,” she can sense no malicious intent coming from the man hidden behind the helm. She lowers her gun and approaches the little green alien sitting in his port. “I’ve traveled a long way to find you,” smiling at the infant. She turns back to the mandalorian, “If you truly don’t want the child harmed, then you should know what the empire plans to do with this bounty once they obtain him. First, I think we should get out of this compound while it’s still quiet.”
- Mando -
….There’s something about this woman I can’t exactly pin. I’ve heard Carga talk about a female bounty hunter who picks up all the hardest pucks. He’s said that she’s the only other hunter who keeps up with my return rate in the guild. Trust should never be given over so soon into meeting someone, especially not if she’s the mercenary that Carga is talking about. But she has this aura about her…
- - - - -
When they get some distance from the camp, she retrieves her bike. Once she sees the mandalorian in the distance pulling a blurrg, she knows exactly whose help he had finding this compound.
“Are you planning on returning that to Kuiil?”
“You know Kuiil?” The mandalorian is caught off guard.
“Kuiil is an old friend of mine. When I heard the bounty was bringing me here, I wondered if his farm was still in the same place.” She found herself giving more information to the mandalorian than she usually would to a stranger.
“Our arrangement didn’t include the return of the animal, but I am going to use it to return to my ship. It is in the direction of his farm,” the mandalorian tied up her speeder bike to the blurrg. Motioning for her to sit on her bike, to be pulled alongside the animal.
After she takes a seat, he hikes himself up onto the blurrg, “brief me on the bounty?”
“Well the empire has been hunting this kind of… being, for some time now. They want to experiment and extract any… information they can.”
“How would they get information out of a child?” The Mandalorian asks.
“By draining his blood,” she responded dryly and glanced over at the kids pramm following suit. The mandalorian fell silent so she spoke again. “I can see you were excited for that beskar reward.” She raises an eyebrow at the one shiny plate covering his shoulder.
“Mmmmm yeah,” he says lowly, clearly still pondering.
“What if I had a proposition where you get the beskar and you help transport me and the child somewhere safe?” She says.
The mandalorian looks down in her direction, “you want to explain?”
“I’ll allow you to turn in the child for the beskar, if you help me almost immediately retrieve him,” she says it as if it wasn’t going to be an incredibly hard task.
“That’s going to put a giant bounty over our heads.” The mandalorian doesn’t sound very enthused.
She shrugs her shoulders, “how badly do you want the beskar? It belongs back in the hands of the mandalorians doesn’t it? If you choose to accept, the child cannot be there for long. And I must have your word that you will transport us off the planet afterwards... including my speeder.”
The mandalorian is at first in disbelief of this absurd plan.
Silence again. They can see a razor crest ship in the distance. The mandalorian mutters a very agitated “no.” The sight of the ship is mangled. As they get closer and closer they can see just how much has been stripped. Hoping off the blurrg the mandalorian runs up to the ship, clearly distraught and heated.
“It didn’t always look like this did it!?” She yells sarcastically as he’s inspecting the damage.
It happens fast but in a moment he’s running after the Jawas ship. Fighting to climb up. She unties her speeder from the blurrg and starts following behind. Watching the mandalorian disintegrate the Jawas is making her clench her jaw. She never liked seeing creatures of any kind harmed. Of course she wasn’t a saint. But the brutality she’s faced in her life left her having a low tolerance for violence. And when the mandalorian got jolted off that ship falling a good distance to the ground, she couldn’t help but smirk.
“Got the wind knocked out of ya huh?” She said smugly looking down at the mandalorian from the speeder bike.
He grunts, laying stiffly in the sand.
“Let’s find Kuiil, if I can recall he has a knack for bargaining with Jawas,” she insisted. “Then we’ll get your ship fixed. I’m a rather capable mechanic.”
Kuiil is happy to reunite with the girl he once mentored. She was happy to see he was in good health. Kuiil explained to the Mandalorian that after he was released from the empire, he found mechanic work on a small planet. His temporary time there, building up enough money for the farm at hand, is when he met this very young girl. Ambitious to learn how to handle as much equipment as possible. This is where he mentored her on all things he knew. The girl glances at the mandalorians helmet while Kuiil is story telling, once again finding the details of her personal life being explained more to this mandalorian than anyone else in recent years of her life.
After Kuiil speaks with the Jawas and conveys the message back to the mandalorian, he’s furious but left not much of a choice in getting back his ships parts. He must go face this creature they’re trying to describe and bring them back it’s egg. While the mandalorian is eager to get the job done to return his ship in working condition, she is rather neutral and observant with the affairs at hand. The mandalorian, the woman, and the child set off and come to the place mapped out by the Jawas.
“I will not harm this creature for its egg. I understand we need your ships parts but if the plan includes -“ she stops talking mid sentence. She watches the mandalorian march straight into the den.
- - - -
Oh. I guess there is… no plan at all.
*Roaring and shuffling. Then the mandalorian comes flying out of the den.*
Great. Reeeeaaalllll stealthy. Is there a fucking brain under that beskar? He’s about to get handled by this desert mama. There’s a faction of joy knowing he’s about to get a lesson beat into him.
————
A very agitated creature emerges from the den. A fight is inevitable. She must sit solid in her values, after all this creature did not deserve this threat they were bringing to its home. However, as the creature becomes more hostile with the mandalorian - sitting aside is getting harder and harder to do. Fear is welling up in her belly. Fear that the mandalorian may seriously be injured, or worse if she lets this go on any longer. That’s odd… this is really a complete stranger in front of her, why is she having these feelings well up? She knows she has to put a stop to it. The mandalorian is on his knees, ready for a last defense.
She lifts her hand as a mean to stop the situation… but she notices the animals mass lifting off the ground before she could do anything.
The woman and the mandalorian simultaneously look over to the child’s pramm. The small being was using the force to stop the creature and save the mandalorian. Falling asleep after his success. Shock and silence ensure. The mandalorian gathers himself, collects the egg, and returns to where she’s standing with the child. She’s stroking his head.
Temerarious: When a hunt goes wrong, losing you becomes a harsh reality. Din doesn't understand why this affects him so severely.
PART 1
PART 2
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Conceal: Din is skilled at masking his injuries. It turns out, unfortunately, that you are not.
-
Luminous: Din had been called a lot of things throughout his life, 'handsome' has never been one of them.
-
Lonely: Din finds you with a feverish migraine and, for once, his cold disposition is useful.
-
Honor: Din had learned over the years to trade his desires for his needs. Thanks to you, he quickly discovered that if you want someone bad enough you begin to need them.
-
Breathe: Space travel was louder than you expected and the loss of sleep had you at your wit's end. That's until the night you found an unlikely ally in your Mandalorian employer.
-
Flustered: The creed was in the past and Din was freed from his oath to hide his face, except he still hadn't allowed you to see him helmetless. That's until a chance encounter in the refresher gives you more than you bargained for.
-
Undeserving: Din had always been critical, where he'd admire others he would only ever correct you. Upon arrival to Tatooine, you realized you would never be good enough for the Mandalorian.
PART 1
PART 2
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Proximity: A self-defense lesson with a Mandalorian was not your idea of fun, especially when he had a habit of toying with you.
-
Perfidy: Din was having trouble finding bounty. You, on the other hand, couldn't get rid of them. You became the bait in his plan for a successful hunt, a plan that he failed to mention.
-
Ubiquitous: An argument leads to a confession, and a confession leads to the truth- and what is it that they say about the truth? It shall set you free.
-
Vigilant: Din was overprotective and upon confronting him about it, he finally confessed why.
-
Fury: After an encounter with some low-life locals, Din almost doesn't make it in time to save you. Fear sends him into a rage that is nothing like the Mandalorian you'd come to know.
-
Verity: On a remote planet, while chasing a bounty, you encountered a rare plant that produces the infamous "truth pollen". Not being able to lie is dangerous when you're in love with your Mandalorian employer.
PART 1
PART 2
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Solace: The Mandalorian had been missing for three days, leaving you with a 50-year-old baby and an unreliable ship. You've had days to think about your feelings for your employer, his absence was the catalyst for a terrifying realization.
-
Compunctious: Everyone says things they don't mean when they're angry, but can the things Din said truly be forgiven?
-
The Beskar Beast: A multi-part retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Taken as a sacrifice to the Beast, you learn that you are the solution to his problems and the key to breaking the curse.
One reaching for the others hand to comfort them, to provide support. A thumb brushing lightly against skin. with Din
One reaching for the others hand to comfort them, to provide support. A thumb brushing lightly against skin. + Din Djarin
warnings: blood, injuries.
"Mando?" You ask, leaning down into the Mandalorian's field of vision. "You alright?"
The Mandalorian sits on one of the many crates in the hull of the Crest, a new bounty in the carbonite freezer.
He's still breathing hard, one hand clutched against his side, where he sits in the dark. "Yes."
"I think I may call your bluff on that one," you hum, taking a step back. "Let me help you."
"No-,"
"I'm not really asking," you smile and turn away.
He groans and the sound of it is faintly involuntary. It's watered down and modulated by the helmet, muffled and strangled. You dig out the med kit and return to him. "Wanna do it here?"
"We need to go," he breathes, the words painful in his mouth.
You're not sure if he's being followed by someone, but if he says you need to go, then you need to go.
"Alright," you stoop and wedge your shoulder beneath his. To your surprise, he let's you help him, draping his arm around you as you lead him through the hull, supporting some of his weight as best you can.
He only barely makes it up the ladder and into the cockpit, with your hands braced against his back and then his legs to he doesn't tilt backward and fall.
Mando's hands trembling as he goes through pre-flight checks, takes off, and then makes the jump to hyperspace.
He slumps back in the pilot's chair, still breathing hard. "Can you breathe in that thing?" You hesitate to ask, "I mean, do you need to take it off?"
Mando just huffs at you, and you raise your hands in placation. "Right, okay." You maneuver yourself in front of him, kneeling near where he seems to be injured.
Blood drenches through the material of the mass of layered fabric to the left of the beskar chest plate. And it's a lot of blood.
A thread of worry tangles itself around your heart, but you try to hide it. You click your tongue, "Lucky shot, huh? Just missed the beskar."
When you reach out to lift the edge of his shirt, his hand shoots out and grips your wrist in an iron first. You glance up to find the helmet tilted down at you, a gaze you can't see surely locked on you.
"I have to see it," you say, and to your horror, your voice cracks. You hadn't felt the press of tears until that moment. "There's a lot of blood."
His grip loosens on yours, his thumb drifting back and forth over your pulse point for a moment, inexplicably comforting you. "I'm okay," his voice is hoarse.
"I know you are." Your voice is stronger this time as you regain your composure, his thumb gentle against your skin.
You don't know that. It still seems like the right thing to say.
His hand is shaking, and even though he seems mostly fine, you know all of that can be chalked up to iron will and years of injuries, more so than what the actual severity of the wound might be.
You raise a brow, sliding to your eyes to the rapidly spreading red. "You're going to bleed out, Mando," you say softly. "It's just me. C'mon."
Reluctantly, he releases your hand. "I know," he concedes. "I know its you."
You give a terse nod as his body relaxes suddenly back into the chair. "Mando?"
When he doesn't answer, you go to work.
You aren't entirely sure, for a moment, if he passed out or just isn't answering you. "Unbelievable," you mutter, struggling to remove the beskar chest plate on your own before you can yank up his shirt and under layers and the soft plating beneath to see the blaster shot.
It's worse than you'd feared, the wound deep and ringed with irritated flesh. Fresh blood oozes over your fingers
Your hands tremble a little as you work, your carefully kept composure breaking again just a little.
The wound is over his ribs. And although you only move the fabric enough to work and no more, mindful of his creed, that he did not want to be seen, the flat muscle of his stomach and the ladder of his ribs are still revealed to you, golden skin and a light dusting of hair. His chest rises and falls with slow, even breath, which makes you feel a bit better.
You dab away as much of the blood as you can before cleaning the laceration. There's a burn around the edges of the wound that you try to be careful of before disinfecting it and applying bacta spray and then a patch.
You rock back on your heels and close your eyes for a moment, tension melting out of your shoulders. His blood is on your hands, sticky on your skin. You breathe slowly. He's fine, it just looked like a lot.
A long few minutes pass in silence.
"Thank you."
You look back up at the sound of his voice. The visor is tilted toward you again, his body more rigid. "Are you okay?" You ask, reaching out to tug down the cloth over the bacta patch so he isn't so exposed. "I'm no good at bounty hunting you know. Kind of need you to keep doing that."
"I'm okay."
"Great," you stand shakily. "I'm - I'll find you something to change into. Stay here."
Before you can walk away, he takes your wrist again, this time much gentler.
To your surprise, his bare skin brushes your wrist. You hadn't realized that he had removed his gloves at some point.
He tugs you back, and says again, "Thank you."
His hand is hot on yours, skin warm. "Just don't do that again. I'd rather you not die."
Mando tilts his head at you. "I wasn't going to die."
"You lost a lot of blood."
"Were you worried about me?"
It takes you a second to realize he's teasing you. "Very funny," you mumble, tugging your hand out of his. "Next time I'll let you bleed to death." You turn and start toward the door.
Mando, for all his armor, and in spite of his current and very real injuries, moves incredibly quietly and quickly. He catches you again before you can make it out of the cockpit.
He doesn't say anything, merely tilts the crown of his helm against your forehead. "I would not leave you." You pull back, but he just cups your cheek and does it a second time. "Not without more of fight at least."
You believe him. "You can't be standing right now. Sit," you command, "You did lose a lot of blood."
He makes a noise of assent, reluctantly releases your face, and to your surprise, does exactly as you ask.
a/n: this is pure smut so seriously only 18+. i also highly recommend listening to the song for the vibes. this is part 2 of my dad rock series, pls come talk to me about it!
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