tritanopia | The Mandalorian

eight

"What? Why would I-"

"To try and get to me? As an escape plan? I don't know, you tell me," He remarked.

"Maker, you're so cynical," Fae commented with amusement laced in her words, "does it not get boring thinking everyone in the parsec is out to get you?" As she talked she started kicking a small stone along with her as a form of entertainment. Mando shook his head at her naivety, his body tightening and jaw clenching at her words.

"Is that what you think?" He snapped without even looking at her. "At least this way, I won't end up dead like-" Living a tough life, Mando knew how to hurt people. Both physically and verbally, as a means to survive. But she didn't exactly deserve that, did she?

"Dead like me?" She finished his thought for him, anyway, her past tone of voice a memory and replaced with one you could only describe as knowing. But knowing nothing good.

It was silent then, for a amount of time neither of them would ever be able pinpoint.

But at the same time, neither of them noticed.

Fae was busy thinking about her death.

Mando was busy thinking about the fact he was causing it, indirectly or not. His feet slowed down to accommodate her smaller legs and he turned his head to look down at her; in doing so he couldn't help but notice that the girl had the passenger side look once again.

"Green," He stated. "He's sort of a...pale green." Fae didn't even turn to look like he had, her eyes stayed to the ground, as if she had lost all her previous confidence when it came to talking to him. But after a second, her lips turned upwards slightly.

"I thought he could have been," She said softly. Mando assumed that was all he was going to get as a form of acknowledgment, and went back to looking forward. "I'm colourblind." Fae added at the last second. "Tritanopia, to be precise." Truthfully, she was either expecting no response, or the response people usually give.

Does that mean you see in black and white?

Do you know what [insert colour here] looks like?

How do you know what clothes to wear?

And although the bounty hunter's response was along the same lines, it was different.

"What colour am I?" He asked, almost on the verge of timidly. This made Fae finally turn to meet the view of his visor, the tiniest smile on her face.

"Your helmet? White — or very pale blue, in some lighting," She replied, and kept going before he could even open his mouth again, "The Child in the cot is also pale blue but darker than you; the sand is pink, the sun is white, and the sky is...well...blue. Obviously."

Mando's head tilted, "So, you only see in reds and blues?"

Fae shook hers slightly, "Also blacks, and whites — and purples, like your chest plate, that's purple; but it's a weird purple, or, so I've been told. Which doesn't even make any sense, purple is purple...right?" The bounty hunter actually found himself smiling, and almost laughing at the girls antics.

"Yes," He confirmed while nodding in agreement, "Purple is purple."

Once again, like it had been countless times before, it was silent between the two of them. Well, technically three of them — but the Child couldn't talk anyway. When you're caught up in your own head it's easy to forget who you are and where you are, which is why the Mandalorian allowed one simple question slip through the cracks in his solid metal exterior. One simple question he had never asked one of his bounties.

"What's your name?"

His lips had uttered the words before he even knew he was thinking about it — and once they were out there, it's impossible to take them back. But, based on the way the girl's appearance didn't alter in the slightest, he found himself hoping she hadn't heard him anyway. But she had.

Fae's head slowly turned and rose to look at him once again.

"Do you actually want to know?"

It was purely a rhetorical question — Fae knew the answer. Mando removed his gaze from her and went back to staring straight ahead before he gruffly replied.

"No."

And just like that, it was as if their past conversation only minutes prior had never happened.

All the bridges were burned.

And they were strangers again.

{ this story hit 1k today (technically yesterday since it's past midnight right now) so uuugh thank you so much?! i know it's not a lot but it means a lot to me <3 anyway, vote and comment :) }