Summary: Your love language is touch but because your husband Din is a Mandalorian, you can't exactly make out in public. When you and Din try to figure out what's the best way to kiss in public, Din offers keldabe kisses as a replacement for regular ones.
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Although Din Djarin loves receiving affection from you, the figure that he goes out as isn't one for public displays of affection. It really is not a possibility when considering how the Mandalorian Creed forbids Din from revealing his face to outsiders. Of course, this rule excludes you, since you're married to him.
But because of the beskar that he wears, Din can't do much more than hold hands or hug in public. Kissing means taking the helmet off, and that certainly cannot be done while other eyes are watching. Such an issue clashes with how you wish to pepper his face with the kisses that you know he deserves.
Sure, the two of you can do whatever you wish in the comfort of the Razor Crest, but there are countless times when you've wished so hard to take the helmet off in front of others for kisses. Your need for making out with your husband in public spaces grew so strong that Din finally had enough of sneaking into closets or one-person cantina bathrooms. It's unlike him to protest against kissing the love of his life, but he knew he had to say something. It was just far too inconvenient to continue cramming each other's bodies into odd places at the most random of times.
"Instead of," Din paused, trying to catch his breath. Clearly, the kissing had gotten to him. Several strands of his curly hair fell from behind his ear. They framed his face as if he was a model walking in a holoshow. You smirked, not sure if it was because of Din's reaction to you pulling him into another closet or the thought of him walking on a runway.
"Take your time."
"Instead of doing this," he gestured at the broom closet the two of you had just locked yourselves into, "we could do a keldabe kiss."
Din's lips look soft. You blink. Had he said something? Stars, you needed to focus on listening to your husband's words before he got mad at you for not paying attention. You had a reputation for choosing to pay attention to Din's other body parts rather than his words.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
You blink, now thinking about how nice it would be if you were magically transported to the Razor Crest. Anything would be better than this tiny closet you had shoved Din into. The corner of a box was biting into your side and the bristles of a literal broom were tickling your ankles. Not to mention how bad the entire room smelled. It was as if someone spilled chemicals on the floor. Someone probably already had, and the chemicals just leaked into the ground for so long that they were absorbed.
"A keldabe kiss."
Kriff, you missed it again.
"Dank farrik [goddamnit]," you mutter. What was it that he had said?
"Cyar'ika [darling], are you paying attention to me?"
With that nickname? Now you were.
"Of course I'm paying attention to you. You're my wonderful, amazing, talented, gorgeous, great, fantastic husband! Did I mention wonderful? Well, now I'm paying attention."
"Right."
The sarcastic tone in your husband's voice is far too comical to be taken seriously on both the sender and receiver's ends. As you laugh, Din laughs. It sounds magical to your ears. Hell, if you could bottle up his laughter and put it on replay for forever, you would. On second thought, that might be a bit weird, but you'd still play it often. That is if laughter could be bottled and replayed. But wouldn't that just be an audio recording? Yeah, the chemicals in this closet were definitely causing some form of early-onset insanity.
"Okay, so what were you talking about before you called me cyar'ika [darling]?"
Din laughs again and shakes his head. He tilts his head down and brings his right hand up to lift your chin. He wraps his arms around your waist and you wrap yours around his neck. Butterflies emerge from your stomach fast, as if they've just been released from a cage into a sunflower field. You giggle again too.
Kriff, this was the only man who could make you laugh so much in such a short time. Although his status as a bounty hunting Mandalorian might make him seem more emotionless, the Din Djarin that you knew was never short with you and always seemed to be smiling around you. You wrapped your arms around Din's neck tighter so he could be closer to you, and inhaled the specific scent that Din carried. It isn't a scent that can be quite describable, per se. He smells a bit like rust and dried blood mixed with sandalwood and cinnamon.
"I was talking about a keldabe kiss beforehand."
You mentally scold yourself. You have to pay attention, you can't get lost in your husband's scent now, for Maker's sake.
"But I thought you can't take off your helmet because of the Creed."
"The keldabe kiss doesn't require me to take it off."
You stare at Din in confusion. Blinking several times, you wonder what the hell he's talking about. How can a kiss not require Din to take off his helmet?
"I'm not going to kiss the place where your lips are supposed to be over the helmet. Been there, done that. Not fun compared to your actual lips, Din."
He shakes his head.
"Well, if that's not what a keldabe kiss is, then what exactly is it? I don't think I've ever heard of a keldabe kiss before."
"The keldabe kiss," Din starts, then trails off.
"Why'd you stop?"
"I think it's better if I showed you."
You nod, waiting for him to show you. To your surprise, Din puts the helmet back on.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"The–"
The modulator makes the ugliest squeaking sound you've heard so far.
"Sorry."
"It's okay, don't apologize. It's just the modulator. So go. Tell me what this keldabe kiss is supposed to be."
Din withdraws his hands from their place resting above your hips and cradles your face again. This time, instead of kissing you, he gently moves his head down till the upper-half of the helmet touches your forehead.
"There. A keldabe kiss. An affectionate, gentle head-bump that Mandalorians who are in full-armor use to kiss one another."
"Oh."
You feel your cheeks heat. You were by no means a Mandalorian donning your own beskar and had none of the defining characteristics of a Mandalorian either. At least that's what you thought. Even so, Din had thought of telling you about a Mandalorian kissing custom, all because of your clingy wish to kiss Din until the end of time. You know that a keldabe kiss will never be the same as the real deal, but you're grateful that Din loves you enough to show you what a keldabe kiss is. A kiss with a Mandalorian spin to it.
"You know, we can do keldabe kisses too, but I'm still going to drag you into closets so we can kiss for real."
"I know."
You can't see him because he's put the helmet back over his head, but Din is smiling. Although he's seen plenty of Mandalorians give keldabe kisses to their loved ones back when he was a foundling, he has never given anyone a keldabe kiss in his entire life before. As a young boy, Din's always wondered what it would be like to be grown up and have a significant other who would give him those keldabe kisses that he's always dreamed of romantically receiving and returning.
Din's glad that he's shared his first keldabe kiss with you.
