Random x Male Reader

The Mandalorian | Nightmares

the other way around this time. din deserves all the love and support


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Din was sitting in the bunk, legs stretched out and hands crossed over his stomach. You had settled on the bench just outside the cot, typing away on your datapad, looking after Grogu.

Up until Din started twitching you'd thought he was just resting, but it seemed he had fallen asleep.
Then he started twitching harder, his head ducking in his sleep from one side to the other. You'd thought it kind of cute, close to a sleeping dog's twitchy paws, until he started murmuring and grunting. He sounded so deeply hurt, it made your heart seize up in sympathy.

Just thinking about invading the space of his cot made you uncomfortable, you've only traveled with him for the better half of two months, yet you jumped up and quickly made your way over to him. Carefully you crawled into the cot, struggling to determine how to approach this without startling him.
Gingerly you laid a hand on his chest plate, "Din."

He grunted again, helmet almost bumping into you as he jerked again.
"Din", you said again, this time a it louder.

When he still didn't respond, you moved your hand up to his helmet, gripping it and moving his face towards you, "Din!"
He startled, hand shooting out for your throat and you choked. "Fuck!"
Quickly you let go of his helmet, trying to pry his hand from your throat, "Din, Din", you pawed weakly at his tight grip, "me, 's me", you wheezed and Din suddenly seemed to snap out of it.
As if your throat had burned him he let go just as quickly as he'd grabbed it,
"(Y/N)!"
Din visibly recoiled, trying to get away from you as fast as possible in the tiny cot.

Choking in one last breath you tried to push past the pain in your throat and grabbed at his helmet again, "just me, Din. Relax."

Suddenly his whole demanor changed and he slumped forwards, collapsing into your ready arms. With great care you brought your right hand to the back of his neck and held him close as he tried to get himself under control again. After a few moments of complete silence, safe for the comforting humming of the Razor Crest, you dared to speak up.

"You uh... get nightmares often?", you asked carefully.

"Not anymore. Usually", came his quiet reply.

You made a noise that you hoped would sound comforting and understanding.

"Thought I was past the flashbacks now. When the Mandalorians found me", he went on without you even prompting for him to continue. It surprised you he opened up so easily.

"I'm not... wasn't born on Mandalore. I'm a foundling. And sometimes... I remember the explosions."
Despite his face being shielded from you, you could tell he was slowly spacing out again, losing his grip on reality.

It was difficult to soothe a fully armoured man about to spiral into a panic attack, but damn you if you wouldn't try your hardest anyways. Taking off the helmet would help, it was difficult to tell apart the little changes in his voice and body language alone after those few weeks. Since he collapsed into your arms though, you figured holding him closer might be enough for now. Hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Din", you mumbled as you allowed him to wrap his arms tentatively around you. You knew those words would do very little for him and the things that happened to him and his family in the past, but you meant them and you hoped Din could hear that in your voice.

Then Grogu cooed behind you and it just sort of... broke the moment as Din drew back awkwardly and cleared his throat.
"Sorry.. sorry, that was-"

"Don't apologize, please", you'd hate for Din to think this was something he would feel the need to feel ashamed. If you couldn't change anything about what happened to him, you at least wanted to help him as best as you could.

He sat there, completely still for a moment, head tilted ever so slightly and regarded you. Then he seemed to come to a conclusion or something in his head and very softly answered, "okay."

You gave him a small smile, feeling very warm all of a sudden. Gently you patted his thigh just above his knee, lingering for just a second, wanting to draw out the moment for just a bit longer.
Not least because you were dreading the awkward backwards shuffle out of the bunk.