Mando is gone quite a long time up at the river. Even longer than I was gone. I busy myself with random chores to fill the time. First, I organized my area in the ship. I folded my cloak, organized the food, and put everything away in storage under the seats and hung on the walls. Once satisfied, I moved outside the ship.

I work on folding my newly cleaned clothes. They've dried quite quickly in the hot atmosphere of this planet. I fold each piece neatly and place them gingerly inside my brown bag. Then, I got to scrubbing my boots. I don't wash my boots often, but they're definitely due for a cleaning. I use another smooth rock to scrub the dirt, mud, and blood droplets from the outside of each boot. They go from a dingy shade of dark brown to a nice light brown after some good effort.

After completing some other tasks, I walk over to the tent Mando set up on the sand. I peer inside to see a large bedroll set up, complete with pillows and a soft looking blanket. I guess he normally sleeps in this rather than the pilot's seat in the ship. Looks cozy.

The sun is beginning to set to my left. The sky goes from a light purple to a deep magenta shade, indicating the sun's departure. I'm feeling a little famished, excited to eat something. 

I walk up to the tree line and gather logs, sticks, and twigs that look dry enough to start a fire. There aren't many options, but I manage to find enough. I trudge back to the beach and drop my findings in one pile near the tent. I arrange them in a pile smallest to biggest to maximize the fire's chances of success.

I strike some rocks together to make some sparks. The smaller twigs underneath my pile are stubborn, so it takes many tries to get them lit. Eventually, a few sparks catch on the smaller twigs, and a fire starts. It's small at first, but as the larger pieces catch, the fire grows. 

I look up to my left and see the sun has started to touch the horizon. Night time will fall in just a couple minutes now. Mando still isn't back yet. He said not to come near him in the forest, but I'm starting to get worried now. 

"Mando?" I call toward the woods. I try to sound worried, rather than in-danger like I did last time. No response.

"Mando?" I call again. Still no response, but I hear rustling in the brush now. Then, right on cue, Mando comes strolling through the trees from the river. He looks relaxed now. Less intimidating and rigid. 

"I brought dinner," he says as he holds up a small bird carcass.

"You were gone a long time. I was starting to get worried," I inform him.

"I had some things to take care of." He clears his throat.

"How was the river?"

"It was nice. I was able to clean the inside of the helmet. It feels much nicer now."

That's why he didn't want me anywhere near him. He was fully  naked. Oh.

Mando shuffles over to the fire I started and tosses the bird meat on top. All we've had to eat in the ship was leftover fruit-stand fruit and dried snacks I brought with me from home. I'm excited to eat a warm meal tonight. 

Mando brings a stack of wet clothes over to a large rock by the shore and spreads them out on it. Then, he saunters over to the fire and plops himself down next to me. There's an awkward tension in the air.

Mando gets up just as he sits down and jogs over the ship. He climbs up and reaches in. He pulls out a rather large bottle of prow.

"I was thinking we relax tonight," he suggests. He walks back over and takes his seat next to me again, bottle in hand. "And then we can train tomorrow."

He hands the bottle to me. I take it and turn it around in my hands. This is an expensive bottle. 

"I thought you didn't really drink," I look at him.

"No, but I've had that stashed away for a long time. I know you like prow, and what better night is there than tonight to open it?" His demeanor has completely changed. He seems calm and talkative now. I'm quickly learning that this man can completely change his mood in a matter of minutes. Damage control, probably.

I smile at him and crack the seal on the cap. It creaks open as I twist it off. The smell erupts from the bottle once it's open. It smells sweet and bitter and delicious.

"This used to be my favorite back then," he tells me. Prow is not a drink for the weak. It's very strong, and it's very potent. 

"Mine, too," I agree with him. I bring the bottle up to my lips and take a nice, long swig of the blue liquor. Delicious.

I hand the bottle to Mando, and I turn away while shielding my eyes. I know the drill now. I hear the bottle clink on his helmet as well as slurping sounds, followed by a big gulp.

The liquor takes effect pretty quickly. I already feel warm inside. It's an easy way to lose consciousness if you're not careful. 

"So tell me about yourself pre-child. You make it seem like you were a little wild back then," I start a conversation. The feeling of awkward has thankfully begun to dissipate.

"I was. When I first joined the guild, I was a hot-shot. I brought back a legendary bounty on my, like, fourth mission. It was unheard of at the time."

I stay quiet, looking at him to continue his story.

"I would celebrate in cantinas and taverns every night. Alcohol always made the wins feel incredible, and the losses tolerable."

I turn the meat on the fire while listening to him.

"Women would buy me drinks often, asking for a little more. Men would challenge me to all kinds of duels and competitions. It was fun for a young hunter," he pauses, "but, it was pretty lonely. I grew out of it pretty quickly."

The prow is hitting now. See, it doesn't take long. My vision starts to wobble.

"Popular with the ladies, I see?" I chime in to his story.

"It was always the cantina whores that would hit on me. Always asking me to kill someone for free or asking if we could go to the back for, like, 200 coins."

I take the bird off of the fire. It's nicely browned now. I break off a leg and hand it to Mando. We turn with our back against each other so he can eat.

"So you never took the free alcohol from the ladies?"

"Oh, no, I would always take the alcohol. Just never the lady," he says between chews. His voice modulator is off, showcasing his gravely, husky voice to me. It's just so rich and deep sounding. I can't get enough of it. 

"Did you have a wild past?" he asks me.

"No, not really. I lived a pretty boring life up until now."

"Until now? This isn't boring to you?" he sounds amused.

"I mean, I've spent the last 18 years of my life on Dantooine. 12 of it completely alone. So yeah, this is fun for me."

"But you're 26, right?"

"Yeah..." I trail off, unsure if I want to share this part of my life with Mando. He stays quiet, urging me to continue. He's as curious about me as I am about him.

"I was born on Lah'mu," I pause for his reaction, nothing, just chewing. "My parents fled to Lah'mu to hide from the Empire because my dad was a Jedi." I break more meat off the bird to shove in my mouth. I take another long sip of the prow. "We lived pretty peacefully on Lah'mu until I was 8 when the Jedi hunters came. They knew my father was a Jedi, but struggled to arrest him. So, they set our entire village on fire."

Mando stops chewing. I can feel his shock without seeing him. He remains quiet.

"My mom died in the fire, and they shot and killed my father," I take a long pause, feeling the tears welling up in my eyes, "our neighbor, Oscar, grabbed me and fled to Dantooine. I lived with him for another six years before he passed of an illness. I've been alone until you came along." I grab the bottle and take another long swig.

Mando takes the bottle from me, helmet now on, "Hey, hey," he puts the bottle on the other side of him where I can't reach it. 

The fire crackles and pops in the silence, both of us unsure how to continue the conversation.

"So is that lightsaber your father's?" he asks quietly. I nod. Mando takes a sip of the prow.

"You want some more?" I gesture to the bird. Mando nods and I break off another chunk of meat for him. He resume our back-to-back position and continue eating.

Helmet off, Mando says, "Yeah, I never took any lady's offer back then. I refuse to pay for pleasure." I'm thankful he's changing the subject away from my life's tragedies.

"Not even once?" I ask. The prow is making me feel sleepy. My eyelids feel heavy, and I think I'm starting to slur some of my words.

"Not if I had to pay for it," he corrects me. His voice is so sexy. He always speaks in a hushed tone, almost at a whisper, and it drives me wild. 

"So, there were ladies," I start, feeling a little drunk, "so you can't be a virgin." I need to start thinking about what I'm saying before I say it. 

Mando takes a long pause, probably unsure of how to answer. Then, he says a simple, "No."

"Hey, uh- speaking of. I wantedto say I'msorry for before atthe river. I just- I wasn't meaninto do that," I say, starting to lose control of my mouth. I can't believe he saw my tits.

"I- uh- it's alright," he stutters out awkwardly. "I'm not upset about it."

"You seemd really mad aboutit befor," I say. There's a long pause before he responds.

"I was mad at, uh, how my body reacted," he says, sounding sheepish.

"Why what did ur body doto you?"

He clears his throat and takes a long swig of prow, "I-uh- it made me..." he stops, unable to find the appropriate word. He says it so quietly I didn't even hear it. 

I'm feeling so sleepy now, I can barely keep myself upright. I hunch over and rest my torso on my own lap with my head on the ground. Mando is now chugging the rest of the bottle.

"I just- I think you're pretty." Mando starts. I can barely hear what he's saying through my sleepiness. "and I think you think I'm pretty, or-uh, handsome? but I-," he puts his helmet back on and turns around to face me, laying on the ground. "I thought you were pretty when I first saw you in the tavern and then you wanted to come with me which I didn't expect and then you did some badass Jedi stuff on Vinsoth and you, you make me feel not alone and-" he clears his throat, "then I saw your boobs and I can't like you like that but I think I do and I've never felt this way before but I'm so comfortable around you even though I shouldn't be and-"

I'm in and out of reality at this point. I hear some of what he's saying but most just sounds like a gibberish slew of words that make no sense. I'm fighting to stay conscious, but I think I'm losing the battle.

"-and we could be a team together a Mandalorian and a Jedi for the first time ever and we can do bounties together and go find Grogu and it could be so cool and-" he looks down at me on the ground, obviously not listening to his drunk monologue.

He wobbles and bobs back and forth, obviously close to unconsciousness as well. The sun has completely set by now, and the only light is coming from the fire in front of us. Mando kicks sand into the fire, putting it out. Complete darkness.

He grabs my limp body and heaves it over his shoulder quite easily. He wobbles to catch his balance. He stumbles his way into the tent and tosses my body down on the blankets. He tucks a pillow underneath my head and pulls another blanket up over me. Then, he lays down next to me, sans blanket.

The last thing I hear is the hiss of his helmet being removed and then a small, delicate kiss placed on the top of my forehead.