"Do you have to do it that way?"

You give Mando an amused side-glance as you fill the syringe with pain medication. He didn't strike you as the type to be afraid of needles, but that kind of fear wasn't uncommon. Some people were just better at hiding it than others.

"Injecting the medication directly into your bloodstream allows it to start working quickly." You explain. "The pill can take up to thirty minutes to take effect. I can only get the hard stuff out here. No pills."

He sighs heavily, watching you carry a tray over to his bedside and place it on the nightstand. Sitting on it was the syringe, a cloth, a bottle of antiseptic, and a few wads of gauze.

"Try to relax. It'll be quick." You reassure him as you pull up a stool to sit on.

After he removes his glove, you roll his sleeve above his elbow so that you can find a good spot to inject the medicine. His arm is covered in little nicks and scars, which you assume are from knives. You easily find a vein and reach over for the cloth, then gently clean the injection site. Once you finish, you get the syringe.

Mando suddenly grabs your wrist as you're about to inject the medication, which catches you off guard. You don't struggle to free yourself. Instead, you attempt to meet his hidden gaze.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." You realize you sound like you're talking to a child and sigh. He might not like that. "There's nothing in here but pain meds. You watched me draw it up. All I'm asking you to do is trust me, Mando. Can you do that?"

He only stares back, silent and stoic as ever. His grip is strong on your wrist.

You sigh softly and lay your free hand on his arm without even thinking about it. His skin is soft and warm to the touch, starkly different than the rough texture of his flight suit.

"Please." The word comes out no higher than a murmur and you squeeze his arm.

For a moment, you thought you heard his breath hitch in his throat. Your heart begins to pound. Why wasn't he saying anything?

He finally releases your wrist after a few seconds, but doesn't push your hand away. He lingers there, as if he's savoring the skin-on-skin contact. You lose your nerve and pull your hand back, heat instantly rising to your cheeks.

"I can." He says to you, his gaze never leaving yours. Then, he turns his arm over and looks away like an embarrassed child who's just been caught staring at something they shouldn't be.

You breathe deeply in an attempt to calm yourself and focus on steadying your hand. Once the needle is lined up, you inject the medication into his vein and pull it back out in a matter of seconds. You discard the needle, then quickly swipe a bit of gauze soaked with antiseptic over the site before pressing a dry piece down.

"See? That wasn't so bad." Your voice won't stop shaking, so you clear your throat and try to play it off as you put everything back on the tray.

•
•
•

That evening, you decide to do a few things around the house before dinner. It's been a while since you last dusted and Banx's fur is absolutely everywhere, especially on the furniture. Plus, you've been meaning to clean your kitchen for several days now.

Your daily routine hadn't changed much since Mando's arrival. You were used to taking care of patients while also making time for yourself and your farm. He was one of your more interesting patients, though, and not just because of his lifestyle. You should be treating him like any other patient, but you couldn't. Something about him just made him impossible to ignore. He was irresistible despite being a bit standoffish.

Perhaps you were having these thoughts because you were lonely. It had been two years since your last relationship abruptly ended with a gut-wrenching confession and painful insults. You were still figuring yourself out at that point in time and wanted to make things work because you were desperate to keep the relationship alive. Looking back, you should've left a lot sooner. Maybe you wouldn't have gotten hurt so badly.

A tug on your pant leg draws you out of your thoughts and you look down. Standing by your leg is the child. He whines softly once you notice him and holds up his little hands.

"Hey kiddo." You say as you lift him into your arms. "What are you doing out here? You should be with Mando."

He looks up at you with his innocent dark eyes and whines again, pointing in the direction of the hallway. He seems to be upset about something.

You tilt your head. "What's wrong?"

His behavior was beginning to worry you. You knew he was a mischievous kid, but what if he wandered off for a reason? Something wasn't right.

"Alright. Let's go check on Mando." You say to him, holding him close to your chest as you cross the living room and head down the hallway.

The moment you enter Mando's room, you can tell something's up. He didn't look comfortable at all and he appeared to be shivering, which wouldn't make sense to a regular person because why would he be shivering if it was warm in the house? You, however, knew exactly why he was shivering.

"Why didn't you call for me?" You ask him as you set the child down on a chair and go to his bedside.

"I thought it would pass." He murmurs.

You sigh and pull back some of the fabric around his neck to feel his skin. It was hot to the touch.

"Maker, you're burning up." You mumble under your breath. "I need to remove your cuirass."

"Why?"

"It's keeping the heat trapped underneath it, which isn't helping. If your body keeps shivering and producing heat, the fever will only get worse."

"What's causing the fever?" He asks, providing no resistance as you begin to unclasp his cuirass.

"Sometimes that's just how the body responds to an injury." You explain, the words fumbling out of your mouth like a waterfall. "That trip to the ravine is probably what did it. You're still healing and the wound is inflamed as a result."

After removing his cuirass, you unzip his flight suit in certain places to allow more heat to escape.

"You know, you would be more comfortable if you took some of this gear off." You suggest to him, though you didn't expect him to agree. "I have some spare clothes you could borrow."

He thinks for a moment before answering. "I can't accept."

You stand back and cross your arms. "Why not? You're not going anywhere and you won't have to fight anyone for a while. I want you to be comfortable."

"I am comfortable." He stubbornly retorts.

"And I'm into women..." You mumble under your breath, tone heavy with sarcasm. "Okay, fine. If you change your mind, my offer still stands. I'm going to find a cooling pad to help bring your fever down."

He watches as you walk away and purposely linger by the door to see if he'll say anything. He doesn't, so you duck out of the room with a sigh.

The room is silent after you leave. Then, the child looks over at Mando and babbles something, like he's being judgmental about Mando's decision not to accept your offer.

"I don't want to hear it, womp rat." He huffs in annoyance, turning his head to stare at the ceiling.

•
•
•

Since you didn't feel like cooking, it was leftover night. Mando still wasn't feeling the greatest, so you gave him the rest of the vegetable soup while you and the child had pasta that you had made the day before he arrived.

You sat on the other side of the curtain and fed the child small pieces of pasta so he won't choke. Every now and then, you'd raise your head to take a peek at Mando's silhouette. There wasn't much to see besides his side profile and his messy hair.

You watch him take long sips from his bowl, then set it back down in his lap. The child makes sure you don't forget to feed him the next bite by nibbling on your fingers, which you were grateful for because it kept you from staring for too long.

"You never told me your name." Mando breaks the silence after taking another sip from his bowl.

You're wiping the child's mouth with the corner of your shirt when he says that, so it doesn't register in your mind until a few seconds later. Once it does, you realize that what he said was true.

"I meant to, but it must've slipped my mind." You tell him, briefly pausing before giving him your name.

He takes a moment to finish chewing a bite of bread, then speaks. "I've never heard that name before."

"I guess it's sorta unique." You chuckle in amusement. There's another pause. "What about your name? Am I allowed to know it?"

"My name has been kept on the down low ever since I swore to the Creed. Only those within the Tribe may know it." He says, though there's hesitation in his voice. Could you be an exception? "There's no law stating that an outsider cannot know my name."

You purse your lip. "I don't want to force you to do anything."

"You aren't, trust me." He lets out a soft sigh and lowers his head. "This has never happened before. I don't usually stick around long enough for people to ask for my name."

"Well, constantly calling you 'Mando' feels disrespectful. Almost like I'm insulting you." You shift your focus for a moment to prevent the child from sticking a fork in his mouth. "It's your decision to make."

His silhouette shifts and you can feel his gaze on you. Part of you hoped he would tell you his name because you desperately wanted to know it, while the other part wanted to be respectful and refrain from asking again. You knew he tolerated being called 'Mando', but did he enjoy it? Probably not.

Time seemed to drag until finally, he came to a decision.

"Call me Din." He says, sounding more confident than he did a few moments ago.

You feel a smile tugging on the corner of your lips. "Din, huh?" His name rolls smoothly off your tongue, like you've known it your entire life. "I like it. It suits you."

Of course, that last sentence felt stupid once you truly thought about it—how could it suit him if you had never seen his face? It could suit his personality, you supposed, but even that information was limited. There was still so much to learn about him, but you were making good progress.

Now you had a name to pair with the man under the beskar helmet.