apostasy | the mandalorian

tēn

art credit: lucas film + disney

"Could you at least pretend to be excited," Evri pressed, walking beside the stone-like man as they distanced themselves from the Razor Crest. She had to stand and wait for him to see the ramp shut, watching the inches that it climbed until it finally shut an hour later - at least, that's what it felt like.

That morning had been somewhat awkward, seeing as Mando had to help her sinch one of his ridiculously big holsters on her hips. It took a few minutes of adjusting, his hands burning memories into her skin as they went. Admittedly, he had barely made contact with her, trying his best to help while remaining respectful, but every accidental brush sent shockwaves through both of them. Evri swore they both stood there like horny teenagers for at least thirty straight seconds before Din cleared his throat and they moved on.

"I don't share your love of food and shopping," he mumbled gruffly, tilting his helmet every which way but to her as he tried to ignore his primal urge to hold her hand. They had never shown public affection before, even when they were "together", but he wanted her to be close in case something went wrong. He barely knew anything about the planet or its market, only that it was safe enough for a woman trained by Mandalorians to survive in.

And she has me...

"Is that a sexist comment I hear from under that bucket?" she chuckled, pushing his unarmored bicep hard. It forced him a couple of inches away - to his surprise - but he quickly found his way back to her side.

"No; Of course not." Though she knew the sentiment was true, she could hear the amused smile hiding behind the beskar.

"Mhm," she mumbled, sticking her hands in her back pockets as she focused on the quickly approaching market. They had only just left the Razor Crest, and somehow they were already at the edge of the city. It could have been the fact that Din's company made the time pass by faster, but it was more likely that his strides were just hard to keep up with.

"Do you always walk this fast?"

"Yes."

"Don't you ever, you know, stop and smell the roses or whatever?"

"No."

Yeah, I take it back, he makes time pass like kriffin' sublight

To Evri's relief, the ground slowly turned from tangled tree roots and mud puddles to compacted dirt, accompanied by multi-colored rugs that had been faded heavily from the sun. Her eyes immediately case upward to the familiar lamps that strung across the left and right side of the street, the sun serving as a temporary bulb before darkness blanketed the sky and the lanterns could really shine.

"Just like home," she whispered, somewhat unaware that she had spoken out loud, and that Mando had heard her.

A sinking feeling settled in his chest, pulling him further into the ground and slumping his shoulders. He was well aware that she had never seen Tesvin as her home, even with her entire family and all of her comrades residing there. To say she was popular was an understatement, frequently pulling the attention of men given her rank of the Alor's daughter, and therefore the future leader of the tribe. But not only that; she was adored by anyone who spoke to her. Her compassion was like that of her mother's, an unmatched delicacy towards others that Din had only seen in one other person: his mother.