I'll Do The Same { Din Djarin x OC}

Chapter Twenty: Promises

Thell nuzzled at his neck sleepily, noticing how tense he had become. She carded a hand through the front of his hair, hearing him sigh softly and slouch against her touch. He was still tense after a few moments, so Thell readjusted, letting her other hand nestle in her hair. She ran her hand over his head, letting him slump against her neck. She pulled the blanket over their shoulders, just enough to where they shared the same breath.

"You won't have to be cold again," Thell whispered. "I'll always be here... I promise."

. . . .

Din never fell asleep.

He should have been content. He felt safe enough anyway, curled up right next to the woman he had grown to care for so much. Her head on his shoulder, breathing softly in her sleep while her arm lay limp over his stomach.

He wasn't used to this, the constant physical contact. It's not something he had ever wanted. But after this, he couldn't imagine not having it again. Thell was soft, and irresistibly kind. She was gentle but brave where he was not. He didn't have much experience with women, no less the warm feelings he got everytime he looked at her. Everytime she held the kid or sang to him or risked her life for the both of them.

So he let his hand rest on her head, gently running his fingers through her hair, gentle enough not to wake her. He knew she had been through so much; she had told him everything herself.

But all Din could see when he closed his eyes was the kid. It had been that way for two weeks, except Thell had been taken out of those images and right into his arms. The moment he had seen her running towards him in the village, he had wanted to rip off his mask right then and there, just to be able to look at her with his own eyes in the daylight.

She shifted against him, whimpering in her sleep and clutching her fingers into his shirt. It wasn't the first time she had done this during the night; at one point she had woken up screaming and nearly jumped out of bed, shocked to see Din there with her. It had taken him a solid hour to calm her enough so she could fall back asleep, kissing her shoulders while she trembled against him.

He despised every minute of it, watching her suffer for hours while she should have been sleeping soundly. All he wanted was for her to feel safe again... it would be a process they would have to go through together, he knew that. He was consistently amazed by her courage and determination, taking everything they could give her to ensure the kid's safety. She was not the same girl he met that night on Bespin, shaking from head to foot with the kid in her arms.

So he kissed her forehead, nuzzling his nose on her face to comfort her and running a hand down her spine until she had quieted again, letting loose of the hold on his shirt.

Morning came and Din could only watch as the sun's glows began to make their way through the curtains, painting the walls in a gold aura. He still hadn't replaced his helmet; he just wanted as long she could give him, looking at her with his own eyes as the sun shone on her face. It turned her short copper hair into flames, bright against the dark material of his shirt. He just wished he could see her eyes, the brown ones that reminded him of his own, the ones he had only ever seen through the mask.

So he lingered, feeling like a creep for staring so long at her sleeping face. But with her hair fanning out across his shoulder, her nose nestled in his shirt, he didn't want to move. Sleeping next to Thell felt not only like sleeping next to the woman he had grown so fond of, but also his best friend, his greatest companion.

He didn't want to leave; he would have rather stayed in the warmth of the bed with Thell all day.

But he needed the kid. They both did. He had a mission to complete, after all.