Pet Names

Pumpkin

    Imogen woke up with a soft groan, the night before coming back to bite her in full force in the form of a raging headache.
    "Owie," she murmured, sitting up with eyes still screwed shut, definitely not ready for the light that would assault them once she opened them. One hand was resting against the cot to support her weight, while the other reached up to cradle her head.
    "Mando!" she heard a shout from outside the Crest, and Imogen cringed at the noise. As she slowly peeled her eyes open, she saw the ramp opening and the Mandalorian's form in front of it. Imogen winced at the harsh Tatooine sun coming into the hull, and could barely make out the conversation.
    "Peli?" the Mandalorian seemed like he was trying to be quiet, his voice a low rumble through the modulator on his helmet.
    "I had a killer hangover this morning," Imogen heard her drinking buddy from the night before groan. "And she drank more than me, give her this," Imogen saw Peli's hand reach in and shove something in the Mandalorian's open palm before her pale hand quickly retreated, and she heard the shuffling footsteps walk away. The Mandalorian regarded what was in his palm for a moment before turning to Imogen, walking over with his helmet tilted slightly away from her. Imogen wasn't sure why at first, but then was quickly made aware of the air brushing against her bare torso.
    "EEP!" she squealed in horror, dragging the blanket up to cover her chest. "I'm sorry!" the Mandalorian paused, tilting his helmet at her.
    "Here," he said, holding his hand out and Imogen saw two pills resting in his glove. She grabbed them with a nervous smile, gulping them down.
    "Thanks," she murmured, and the Mandalorian simply nodded. He went to ascend the ladder to the cockpit, but was stopped when Imogen called out. "Pumpkin?" he paused and turned back to her. "Never let me drink again," she heard the huff of a chuckle burst through his helmet as he turned to ascend the ladder.
    "I'll hold you to it," he said, and Imogen giggled slightly.
    After a couple minutes just sitting up and letting her eyes get used to the light, Imogen stood up and decided to get ready for the day. She pulled on a flowy dress that she had owned forever but never worn, and smiled slightly as she looked down at the fit. It was tight around her bust and fanned out at her wide hips, and Imogen was reminded why she had liked wearing dresses before she became a full time mechanic, they made her feel pretty.
    While munching on a nutrient bar, Imogen went to get Ruu'Eva from his bed. Her heart stopped when she didn't see him in the blankets, and she whipped around to scan the hull, cringing when she saw the still open ramp off the Crest.
    "Pumpkin?!" she shouted, scrambling up the ladder. The Mandalorian shot out of his chair as she came into the cockpit. "Where's-" she cut herself off upon seeing the little green menace in his arms. Letting out a sigh of relief, Imogen shot a hand out to support herself against the copilot's chair, having gotten a major headrush. The Mandalorian shot his free hand out to help support her when she began tipping forward, the hand gripping her hip and guiding her into the chair. Once she was safely in the chair, he released her hip.
    "Are you okay?" he asked, and Imogen nodded, lamenting the loss of his grip. The pair sat in silence for a couple minutes, only interacting when Ruu'Eva started to squirm in the Mandalorian's grip. He was passed over to Imogen, who kissed both of his cheeks and his forehead before snuggling him into her chest. He cooed up at her, one of his tiny hands reaching up to grasp at a lock of her hair as he was so fond of doing.
    "I think he's jealous," Imogen said, her headache beginning to subside. The Mandalorian tilted his helmet at her curiously. "Of my hair," she explained, jerking her head towards the hand wrapped around a lock of hair. The Mandalorian chuckled. "How do you say hair?"
    "Gemas," the Mandalorian answered, Imogen mouthing the word. "We'll be leaving soon, if you want to say goodbye to Peli," he said after a moment, and Imogen nodded.
    "Okay," she rose to do just that, hearing the Mandalorian's sharp intake of breath as she did. "Are you alright?" she asked, leaning down to peer into his black visor. He startled, spine straightening as he shifted in the pilot's seat.
    "Yes!" he blurted, voice louder than normal and grating on Imogen's hungover ears. She winced. "You-" his voice quieted, and he paused for a moment, helmet tilting up and down to scan her. "You look... nice," he said, the last word almost inaudible under his helmet. Imogen felt warmth rise to her cheeks as she bit her lip to hide the beaming smile threatening to come out.
    "Thank you," she murmured, voice equally soft. The Mandalorian stared at her for another moment, and Imogen shifted her weight from foot to foot under his intense gaze. The moment was broken, however, when Imogen let out a loud gasp at a sudden sharp pain on her scalp, her gaze snapping to Ruu'Eva who had tugged a bit too hard on her hair. "Ow!" she gave him a glare, though it held no heat and with a coo from Ruu'Eva and a soft giggle from Imogen, all was forgiven.
    A soft blush was still on Imogen's cheeks, and she avoided looking at the Mandalorian as she turned to the ladder.
    "I'll go say goodbye," she said, climbing down one handed, which she had been getting rather good at. Of course, her hungover state made the task much harder than usual, so she clambered down awkwardly and stumbled once she was at the bottom. Imogen took Ruu'Eva's hand that was in her hair and gently disentangled it, moving the child so he was at her hip, and then descended the ramp.
    Looking around for Peli, the older mechanic alerted Imogen to her presence by letting loose a sharp wolf whistle. Imogen giggled and rolled her eyes when she spotted Peli, walking over to her.
    "Now that he's seen you shirtless you're trying to impress him?" Peli teased, elbowing Imogen softly in the ribs. The girl blushed and frantically shook her head.
    "No! Of course not! I-I was drunk, and I forgot he was gonna be back, and my shirt-and," Imogen tried to stutter out and excuse, but Peli cut her off with a loud laugh.
    "Don't stress, kid," she soothed, placing a hand on Imogen's shoulder. "If the way he manhandled that twi'lek is any indication, your honor is perfectly intact," Imogen snorted.
    "Mhmm," she hummed, rolling her eyes. "Honor," Ruu'Eva cooed, and Peli did a double take, as if noticing the green baby on Imogen's hip for the first time.
    "Why hello there!" she greeted, scooping him into her arms as her voice raised in pitch. Ruu'Eva cooed up at her. "Come to say goodbye to Aunty Peli?" she asked, and Imogen smiled fondly as she shook her head at the woman's name for herself.
    "We'll be seeing you," Imogen said with a smile, and Peli beamed back, pulling the younger woman in for a tight hug.
    "You bet your ass you will," she confirmed, and Imogen turned to leave. "Tell that buckethead I want a word with him before you go!" she called after, and Imogen nodded.
    "Will do!"
    Imogen's smile remained on her face as she returned to the Razor Crest, calling up to the cockpit.
    "Pumpkin! Peli wants to talk to you before we leave!" she informed him, waiting for him to say something to confirm he heard her, but she didn't hear anything. She was about to call up again when the Mandalorian jumped down to the hull, completely foregoing the ladder. Imogen let out a shriek at his sudden appearance in front of her, and the Mandalorian tensed, helmet going on a swivel to search for any danger, before he realized why Imogen had screamed.
    "Pffft," Imogen was shocked as the Mandalorian began to laugh. An actual, full body laugh, where he bent in half and placed his hands on his knees for support. The sound was beautiful, even through the modulator, and it wasn't long before Imogen was giggling along. "Are you alright, Cyar'ika?" the Mandalorian asked as he tried to regain his composure, but before Imogen could ask what Cyar'ika meant, the pair were interrupted.
    "Hey Buckethead!" they heard Peli's voice, and both Imogen and Mando straightened up, little puffs of chuckles and giggles still escaping their lips. "Everything alright? Did you kill her in there?" she shouted, and Imogen's giggles began to get louder again.
    "I'm fine!" she called, and the Mandalorian and his crewmate could almost feel Peli's dramatic eye roll. He shrugged, and exited the Razor Crest, going down the ramp to speak with Peli. Imogen sighed as she was finally able to calm down, taking a deep breath before plopping down to sit on her cot.
    "Who knew all I had to do to get your dad to laugh was be scared shitless?" she joked to Ruu'Eva, holding him up in front of her face. The child smiled up at her, cooing and letting out a giggle of his own.
    A couple minutes later, the Mandalorian returned, pressing the button to close the ramp.
    "You ready, pumpkin?" Imogen asked, and he nodded.
    "Do you want to take off?" he asked, and Imogen beamed up at him.
    "Really?" she gasped, excited to finally be able to fly the Razor Crest.
    "You said you could pilot," he said with a shrug of his shoulder. "Let's see what you've got," Imogen's grin didn't falter as she dashed for the ladder, going up to the cockpit and settling into the pilot's chair.
    "Hold this!" she giggled on her way to the cockpit, thrusting Ruu'Eva into his father's arms. The Mandalorian just shook his head at the overexcited girl, following her up at a leisurely pace. When he settled himself down into the copilot's seat, an action that felt extremely odd for him, he chuckled softly as Imogen swung back and forth in the pilot's seat.
    "I'm gonna oil this at some point," she said as it squeaked with each rounding motion, before she turned to the panel and began flicking switches and checking gauges. "Where are we headed?" she asked.
    "Nevarro, need to collect," the Mandalorian answered, and Imogen smiled as the Crest lifted off the ground. With ease, the girl flew them up and out of Tatooine's atmosphere, and once they were clear of the moons, she began plugging in Nevarro's coordinates.
    "Ready for the jump?" she asked, and the Mandalorian just grunted in acknowledgement. "Here we go, then," and she pushed down on the lever, surprised at the amount of force needed to put the ship into hyperspace. "I'll look at that, too," she muttered as the flashing blues and whites of hyperspace began to zip past. Imogen stood with little ceremony and crawled down the ladder to grab her tool box, quickly returning to the cockpit only to see the Mandalorian had returned to the pilot's chair.
    "Up!" she prompted, and the Mandalorian startled a bit before swiveling to face her, Ruu'Eva resting on his lap and playing drums on his cuisses. The black visor just stared at her as the Mandalorian made no attempt to get up. "Pumpkin, I got some things to fix," she said, shaking the tool box lightly and gesturing with her free arm for him to stand up.
    "Oh," he said simply, standing and sliding past her to settle in the copilot's seat once more.

    Din watched Imogen work on the hyperdrive lever, and tried to keep Ruu'Eva entertained. Though, to say he watched her work wouldn't be completely accurate, as Din was mostly admiring how Imogen looked in her flowy dress. She was always pretty to him, though something about the dress just made her seem so much... more. When she had stood to say goodbye to Peli, Din had noticed her outfit for the first time, and something about her looking so feminine in the dress as she held Ruu'Eva, paired with her short height stirred something in his chest.
    It had just... slipped... when he had called her Cyar'ika, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and Din was trying very hard not to dwell on the implications of that. He was thankful when Peli interrupted them, because he knew that Imogen would ask what it meant, and he didn't think he was ready to divulge that piece of information.
    It was as if the galaxy was conspiring against him. Or at least that's how Din felt. First, the night before he had come back to find her shirtless, and she had hugged him, and then this morning she was wearing a pretty dress and Din wasn't sure how much more his heart could take of his adorable crewmate.

Mando'a Translations
Gemas - Hair
Cyar'ika - Darling; Beloved