din djarin x reader imagines

red steam

from mandoinevarro on archiveofourown

The Twi'lek healing baths aren't exactly a brothel.

Although "healing baths" is definitely a euphemism used to deviate the attention from some of the obscure services offered inside the tall building in the outskirts of Nevarro, its name very literally delivers on its premise. There are actual healing baths inside, along with other relaxation chambers, and the most erotic service you can get from an employee is probably just an oiled massage, but you're not stupid enough to think that the droopy-eyed visitors you saw leaving through the front door had those drowsy smiles permanently glued on their faces from a particularly satisfying massage.

Still, it's not a brothel. At least not the section you're in.

The steaming chamber is a manmade cave completely crafted from some smooth black mineral that you've never seen before. Unlike other rocks, its surface exudes the opposite temperature of its surroundings, so the one you're sitting on right now is frosty against the backs of your legs. Apart from a long bench made with the same material that surrounds all four walls and a tall rectangular table in the middle of the room, there isn't much of a decoration inside. There's one door, no windows, and a single grating on the floor from which more sweetly scented steam gushes out when the old one starts dissipating. The only source of light is bright red; it dyes the vapor floating around and your dripping skin crimson.

Some of the women around you are chatting quietly, but most of them sleep with the light fabric everyone was given beforehand covering their naked bodies.

You sigh. You really needed this.

Mando's bounty is apparently hiding somewhere in the maze of steam and pools and mysterious rooms that make up the healing baths. It's supposed to be an easy enough job: The son of a wealthy Rebel official had...dishonored a high society girl who was already engaged and skipped town. His own family put the bounty on him. All Mando has to do is shake him up a little to teach him a lesson and deliver him to his father. It isn't the kind of job he'd usually take, but the money's good and the risk low, and he can't really afford to reject sources of income with an extra mouth to feed.

A woman walks out of the steaming cave, and most of the vapor streams out of the room, which lowers the temperature of the chamber but increases the one under your fingertips.

You tagged along because you figured some rich brat lounging in the more questionable corners of the local business wouldn't be too dangerous. Plus, you're sick of the Razor Crest's shower, whose only temperatures are cold and fucking freezing.

You honestly can't remember the last time you were allowed to relax for such a long time.

The steam rises again, and you swear it's a little thicker than before. You're sweating more. Your skin tingles.

To your left, a female Togruta and a woman are talking on a corner, a little too close to each other. The Togruta is murmuring on the other woman's ear and brings a hand down to caress her knee. You only catch a word: "upstairs". She nods slowly and takes her companion's hand. They stand up and leave the room, the vapor following them out.

You haven't even been here that long. The grating has only emitted new vapor three or four times, but your mind is already slipping. The mist is heavy on your shoulders and its odor lovelier every time you inhale. You could swear it started smelling of wild flowers, yet now it reminds you of burnt wood and rain. Of metal. Of him.

Fuck.

You throw your head back, bumping it against the cold stone.

You've been torturing yourself with daydreams of the Mandalorian for months now. They were gentle at first, only innocent musings about him that you entertained because they made you feel giddy and naive. Could he ever see you as anything more than an employee? Could it ever develop into something more intimate? You started wondering how he'd move his lips against yours; how he'd hold your face in his large palm.