Dinluke Book idk I hate naming things

3

As Luke suspected, the kids had long started without him. Some of them had already finished, running around and playing happily.

Luke walks towards the lunch table where most of the remaining children were, with Din trailing not far behind.

"Hey," Din calls out.

Luke turns around, and sees Din awkwardly shuffling around again, seemingly unsure as he remains a distance away from Luke.

Luke tilts his head in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think the kids will like me," Din states bluntly, saying like it was a fact.

Luke breaks out in a smile. "No way! The kids will love you! They think I'm the lame one," Luke assures Din. He says it in the most sincere way possible, because he really did mean it, but Din still looks conflicted.

"Come on, no use worrying now is there?" Luke grabs Din's hand again, giving him a second to adjust. Din doesn't protest, so Luke holds his hand, walking over to the children. Luke knows he must be pushing boundaries, but aside from a few weak protests and a small sigh, Din doesn't put up much of a fight.

The kids immediately perk up at the face of a stranger. Except for Grogu, who's already jumping off his chair and running towards Din at full speed. Din picks up Grogu and hugs him close, but the tender moment doesn't seem to take the heat off of him. They continue to stare. Din hugs Grogu closer as he pets his head, trying to distract himself from a group of curious children.

"Who's that Master Luke?" A kid asks.

Luke smiles. "He's a good friend of mine, and he just so happens to be Grogu's father. You guys will be seeing him often, so be nice okay?"

The kids get up one by one, approaching Din curiously. They scan him up and down, and Din feels strangely nervous.

"What are you?" A girl asks, pointing at his helmet.

"I'm...a Mandalorian," Din answers simply.

That seemed to do the trick. All the kids look at him with awe. "That's so cool!"

The kids now jump and surround him, asking him hundreds of questions while simultaneously trying to pry some of the weapons off his belt. Luke even had to step in when one of the kids got hold of Din's blaster.

After getting practically chased around by hyperactive kids, Din collapses onto the ground, throughly exhausted. Luke sits next to him, with an all too smug grin on his face.

"Told you you'd be popular," Luke teases, and Din chuckles dryly.

"Too popular," Din rebutts. "Grogu's turned against me as well," He seems to shiver at the memory.

Luke laughs at the small moment that Grogu lifted his own father up for a second to slow him down while the children chased after him. He can hear Din's horrified yell when he gets dog piled on by a hoard of children.

"Are you hungry?" Luke asks. The sudden change in subject makes Din turn his head towards Luke in confusion.

Din shakes his head. Luke was going to drop the subject, but a clear growl from Din's stomach betrays him.

Din ducks his head, probably embarrassed.

"It's time for the kid's training. You can have some lunch in the meantime," Luke says. "Food's in the kitchen, feel free to help yourself,"

Luke stands up, throwing his arms over his head as he stretches them. He walks briskly back towards the group of kids, and they all crowd around him, listening to what he had to say.

Din finds himself in the kitchen, grabbing a bowl and filling it with soup. He sits at the empty table, and watches through the window to make sure he was in the clear. Luke was with the kids, meditating. There should be no one around, so Din carefully pulls the helmet off his head.

He sets it on the table, and digs in into his lunch. The soup wasn't the same as before, with different ingredients and a different taste, yet it warmed his heart all the same. He goes to grab seconds, then thirds, and Din was surprised how hungry he actually was.

Din sighs contently, with a stomach filled with good food. He quickly puts his helmet back on, and puts his dish into a small bucket in the corner, already filled with other dirty dishes. Din wonders if Luke is the one who washes them.

Well, might as well wash it.

Din hauls the bucket of dishes outside, stealing occasional glances at his son, who's successfully lifting a few rocks into the air, while Luke and the others praise him. He smiles unconsciously at that.

Din settles at a river not too far away, and starts absent-mindedly washing the dishes. He dips a bowl into the running water for a bit, then pulling it out and wiping it clean with a rag.

The cycle repeats itself, and Din's mind starts to wander. He thinks about when Luke held his hand on the hill. He was so caught off guard by it, that he might've let out a small yelp. His face flushes at the memory, and how soft and warm Luke's hand was, fitting perfectly into Din's. He likes it, and when Luke let go, there was a small part of him that wanted to take it back.

God, why was he having these kinds of thoughts? Luke is just a friend.

Din felt like dunking his own head into the river and drowning himself just to get those thoughts out of his head.

Din hears the soft crunch of grass coming from behind him. He had gotten better at ignoring his bounty hunter instincts of pulling his blaster out at whoever decides to sneak up to him, but that doesn't mean he doesn't jump a little when it happens. He turns around and sees Luke standing behind him.

"Me and the kids could've handled the dishes ourselves, you know," Luke says, sitting down besides Din.

Din shrugs. "I want to pull my weight around here,"

"You don't owe me anything," Luke adds quickly.

Din leans backwards towards the grass. "Aren't you supposed to be training the kids anyway? Why are you checking up on me?" Din says mid-sigh.

Luke laughs, running a hand through his hair. "Probably," He says with a shrug.

Luke turns towards Din, looking directly at him. "But I'd rather spend it with you."

Din's heart beats wildly in his chest, his face growing hot. His breath picks up, his eyes caught in Luke's gaze. He wants to look away, but he can't. The impossible blue of Luke's eyes pulls Din in, and he can't help but stare.

"You're a bad teacher," Din mumbles, finally finding his words.

"Perhaps," Luke replies, eyes never once leaving Din. "But I can't seem to focus with you around,"

If Din's heart was pounding fast before, it might as well have burst out of his chest now. He draws closer to Luke, and even though he doesn't know why, his body seems to move on its own.

Din tries to say something, anything-- a stupid one liner, or an excuse, but he can't. Luke's so close to him, he's so close--

But they get cut off.

Artoo rushes over, screaming loudly at Luke and Din, causing them to pull back, their moment interrupted.

"What's wrong Artoo?" Luke asks mid-sigh, patting the droid on its head.

Artoo beeps hurriedly, and Luke does a huff that's mid between a laugh and a sigh.

Luke stands up, patting the grass down his thighs. "Sorry, teacher duty calls," He flashes Din an apologetic smile, before running off to chase after Artoo, who had already headed off.

Din's hate for droids suddenly reignites.