ICARUS ○ Din Djarin

XIII: Breathe

"Cato, what's wrong?" Din asked quietly, coming to stand in front of Cato, his hand gently cupping Cato's face before moving upwards to gently slip between Cato's nails and scalp, relieving the pressure.

Cato dropped his hands from his face and shoved them into his pockets. "Nothing, nothing," he denied quickly, hardly having heard the question before jumping to answer with a lie. He paused as he registered that and shook his head, letting out a heavy breath. "Actually...there's something..." He trailed off and huffed. "Were we just standing on the other side of the ship?" he asked, gesturing with his head over his shoulder to the opposite rail.

Din nodded. "Yes, a minute or two ago, then you just walked over here." he confirmed.

The Child cooed, drawing Cato's attention. He looked down at the kid, who stared back at him with dark eyes that somehow held unmistakeable worry.

Cato offered the Child a weak smile and reached out to run his fingers along one of the Child's ears, his hand trembling. He let his touch linger for a few moments then retracted his touch and looked back at Din. "Something's happening to me. I...I don't remember things suddenly and things just skip,"

"Skip?"

"Skip," Cato confirmed with a nod. "It happened after the Crest crashed. At least, I assume we crashed. I remember falling through the clouds and then I blinked and I was in the cockpit and everything was frozen and I couldn't find you guys." he explained. "It happened just now, I don't remember walking over here at all, and it might have happened while we were on Tatooine. I don't know, I can't remember anything very well anymore." Cato grimaced as he tried to sort through his memories but found them disjointed and jumbled, something that was starting to become a common occurrence.

Din nodded slowly and was silent for a moment before speaking. "You said you woke up in the cockpit and we weren't there," he said after a couple seconds. Cato nodded, remembering the scenario well. Din tilted his head quizzically. "You weren't in the cockpit by yourself,"

It felt like an icy knife had just been thrust into Cato's chest, a chill spreading across his skin and fear freezing his insides. "What?" He breathed, voice barely there.

"When we crashed you were knocked out, we all were. I woke up and got you and the frog woman up and we eventually moved down to the cargo bay." This didn't make any sense. Cato didn't remember any of that. He remembered waking up alone in the cockpit. "We set up the temporary camp in the hold and you said you were going to check for spare rations. You got a couple yards away and then just collapsed. I went over to help you and you..." Din trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence. They both remembered vividly what had happened.

"I don't..." Cato shook his head, bewildered and frightened. "I remember waking up alone in the cockpit and coming down into the hold to find you. I was walking towards you when I noticed I was bleeding and I collapsed or something." he raked both hands through his hair, tugging on his unruly curls in frustration. "Fuck, what the hell is wrong with me," he hissed.

Approaching footsteps forced a halt on the conversation, the Quarren captain they had met in the inn walking to stand nearby. "You ever see a mamacore eat?" he asked, looking out over the grey ocean. "Quite a sight," He said. "The child might take an interest." The Child cooed, tilting his head slightly at the captain. "You should take a look," The captain suggested, walking towards the large grate that took up most of the floor of the deck. "Come on over here, get a good view. Let the kid see," He urged.

Din followed, the Child floating beside him. Cato shivered against the cold and followed after, coming to stand on the other side of Din a little ways from the edge of the grate.