𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕦𝕤𝕥 | A Mandalorian Story

XI.

The farewell

Bryn

Sunlight streamed through the windows, creating dancing patterns on the wooden floor. Bryn yawned, batting her eyes awake. She rubbed the sleepiness away and found herself with her cheek pushed against a familiar chest plate. For the past few weeks this was how she woke up. She was never quiet able to get used to it, but didn't exactly mind either. 

She froze and slowly looked up, unsure what to do. During the night she had rolled over onto the Mandalorian and his arms were wrapped around her, leaving no room for escape. 

The first couple of nights Mando had offered to sleep in the hard wooden chair but Bryn felt guilty for taking over the large cot and quite literally forced him on it. For the first week they managed to keep their distance, awkwardly dividing the bed into two, but as the weeks grew longer and the days colder, Bryn more often than not found herself wrapped in his embrace.

Weeks later Mando still refused to remove his armor and Bryn didn't push. She knew what his armor meant to him but still couldn't forget the selfish desire to see him, any part. Sometimes she forgot that beneath all that metal, he was in fact, human.

Her cheeks flared and tilted her head up to look at his T-shaped visor. "Mando?" She breathed, unsure whether he was awake or not. The only reply she got was a soft snore and she held back a laugh. Most of the times he seemed to be like a robot, never sleeping, never eating, but here she managed to see a humane side to him.

She shuffled in his grip which seemed to tighten unconsciously and Bryn slowly lifted her arm, tracing her fingertips across his helmet.

As much as she knew she shouldn't, she found herself drifting to the thought of what he looked like.

Her fingers dipped into the metal traces as she tried to piece together his face in her mind but failed miserably. She didn't have a clue what he looked like, she wasn't even sure if he was a humanoid.

She was so lost in thoughts she didn't notice as his light snores eventually vanished, leaving her to ponder in silence. "What are you doing?" He finally rasped out, voice thick with sleep.

Bryn's fingers froze for a moment before she continued to trace his helmet. "Wondering what you look like," She answered simply.

Mando seemed surprised by both her answer and their position. He raised his arm slightly, allowing her a way out but when Bryn didn't make a move to roll out of his grasp, he hesitantly set it back down. "What do you think I look like?"

She laughed. "I have no idea. It's hard to imagine."

His gloved hand slowly slid up her arm before he answered. "Brown."

She looked up and hummed in question.

"My hair is brown. Same with my eyes. Nothing special."

She ignored the last comment and tried to put his face together in her mind. "Can you ever take your helmet off, in front of someone else, I mean?" She asked, phrasing the sentence carefully to not to offend him.

"...No..."

Her hand dropped from his armor. "Oh." She felt a twinge of disappointment.

"At least, not just anyone." He hesitantly replied. 

"What do you mean?" She asked. 

Mando took so long to answer that Bryn was afraid he had fallen back asleep. He let out a slow breath. "Only my riduur will ever get to see my face."