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Luke had first met Din through a couple of mutual friends back when the Mandalorian was looking for a teacher for his son.
According to Leia who’d spoken to Cassian, who’d been out drinking with Lando, who knew Paz, Din was in need of someone with both a teacher’s degree and at least a few years of Jedi training under their belt.
Luke just happened to have finished his teacher training the year before, was a Jedi master and was in desperate need for work. Or well… He had a job, just no students yet.
Jedi training was a little more niche than he’d realised before getting into the field.
He’d been teaching Din's little green son, Grogu, for the last four years now and he’d grown quite fond of the tight-knit family and, he thought, Din had grown fond of him in return. They’d become friends some time down the line, close enough for them to hang out both alone and with each other's friends without any awkwardness.
Luke didn’t want to speak or even think about his last birthday when he’d invited Din's Mandalorian friends along. Han still hadn’t forgiven him, and in light of the dramatics that unfolded, he wasn’t sure Leia had either.
His point was that he’d spent his fair share with Din and the others, so much so that he thought he’d managed to pick up a bit Mando'a over the years. He was too shy to just ask Din to teach him, and the few translations he could find on his data pad came with disclaimers that they were educated guesses; apparently Mandalorians had kept their language close to their chests when it came to public consumption.
So, he’d been doing his best to translate in person using context clues and having a few conversations translated for him after Din and his friends realised he was blank faced to their conversations out of confusion.
“Sorry, sometimes we don’t realise we’ve slipped back into it,” Din had apologised one day after leaving Luke out of a conversation by accident.
Luke shrugged easily.
“Don’t apologise, you should speak it as much as you want,” he said with a smile. It’s nice, I like hearing it.”
“Yeah?” Din's helmet had tilted consideringly.
Luke had wanted to ask his uncles about a couple of the translations he’d heard more frequently as of late, but with the sand storms on Tattooine it had been difficult to get a stable connection to last long enough to broach the subject.
He sighed where he laid in bed.
“Riduur,” he said confidently to the empty room, “Ner riduur.”
He’d managed to work out that it must mean something close to “good friend”, maybe even best friend, from how the Mandalorians he knew used it. Luke flushed pleasantly to know that he’d even caught them gesturing to him and nudging Din when they’d said it before and he was happy to know that he was considered one of Din's closest friends the same as Din had quickly grown to be his.
Now he just had to start slowly incorporating it in his usual language to get used to it, so he didn’t stutter when he eventually built up the confidence to say it to Din. The best way to become fluent in a language was to practice it after all and since he had decided to surprise Din with the fact that he’d learned a bit of Mando'a, he planned to practice with Han and Chewie first.
He new the pair had travelled a lot in their youth and were pretty good with languages, so it felt like a good first step before asking for help from fluent Mandalorians. He just hoped his pronunciation wasn’t too bad that Han made fun of him.
He sighed, feeling his heart pick up at the idea of telling Din how much he meant to him.
Well...
Admittedly it wasn’t really what Luke should be telling him, but it wasn’t like he could just profess his love for the guy that easily. It had taken him this long to get through Din's walls, he wasn’t going to screw up their friendship by complicating things.
---
He was babysitting a few days later for Leia when he managed to practice in front of someone for the first time.
Babysitting Han and Chewie, not his nephew Ben, that is. Ben was on an overnight field trip that coincided with some time off for Leia, so she had jumped at the chance at being able to get more hands-on involved in her son’s school activities.
However, she knew her husband and his best friend were liable to get themselves in trouble without her there to keep them in line so she’d pushed Luke into hanging out with them to supervise.
“You’re not worried I'll join in?” Luke had huffed down the comlink when she’d explained, he’d had his fair share of rough evenings out with Han and Chewie. And again, his birthday last year.
“Chewie’s less likely to go along with Han’s shit when there’s you to worry about. If it’s guaranteed they’ll get in trouble, it’s guaranteed you’ll be the one to get injured and they know that,” Leia had said, her shrug evident in her voice. “They won’t risk it while I'm not there to drive you to the hospital like last time.”
“Oh Maker, you’re using me as a cock block of fun,” Luke groaned. Though the idea of breaking his wrist again wasn’t a pleasant one either, so he couldn’t blame her really.
“Exactly. You’d cave and want to join in, so I'm relying on Chewie’s sensibleness and guilt over last time,” she said easily.
They’d had a quiet night in instead of the trouble Han had planned for them before Luke showed up sheepishly on his doorstep with a bottle of Chewie’s favourite Hoth mulled wine to sweeten the surprise.
They were spread out, lounging on the couches with their drinks and snacks watching the latest podracing event, when Luke’s eyes lit up at the sight of a Mandalorian commentator and he remembered his task and turned to his friends with an enthusiastic grin.
“I've been practicing a new language recently, and I've been wanting to try out some of the phrases I've been focusing on and get your opinions on the pronunciation,” Luke started, piquing Han and Chewies interest. “Not to get sappy, but you guys have been there for me through some tough times over the years and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the support and help.”
“Hey, it’s no trouble kid, you’ve done the same for us,” Han said with a soft fond smile, shifting in his seat a little, still unused to the easy way Luke expressed his emotions.
Chewie echoed his affirmations.
“I just wanted to express my gratitude and practice the language at the same time because I know you both speak a little of it too and it seemed pretty apt,” Luke said.
“What language is it?” Chewie asked, titling his furry head.
Luke flushed, knowing they’d likely see right through him for his choice.
“Mando'a,” he answered quickly. He cleared his throat and looked them both in the eyes. “Ner riduur, I love you guys like family, you know?”
Han and Chewie’s jaws dropped before Han coughed into his hand trying to smother his laugh.
“I know my sentence structure is shit,” Luke said with a roll of his eyes at Han’s giggles.
“It’s not that,” he stuttered through his laugh. “I’m just not sure if Leia would approve, she’s not the type to share.” He cackled at his own joke.
Chewie slapped his friend’s chest with a huff, causing his laughter to turn into a cough. He turned to a confused Luke with hesitant eyes.
“Are you sure that’s the right translation?” Chewie hedged and Han snorted.
“Leia already knows we’re like brothers,” he said with a confused frown. “I know there’s a word for that, but from what I’ve read it’s a pretty literal language so I thought this would cover our friendship better technically speaking than siblings.”
“Kid, that’s not what we meant.” Han grinned.
Luke huffed and frowned at Chewie, who had a surprisingly guilty look. The Wookie went to open his mouth but Luke spoke first.
“Maybe oldest friends would’ve been better than best? I know you two are closer and have known each other longer, but I don’t know the word for that, I’m still learning,” Luke said a little self-consciously.
Han leant froward and slapped a hand over Chewie’s mouth.
“Luke, of course we’re your best friends. Don’t listen to this walking carpet, he’s just mad he’s got competition for my favourite now,” Han joked, setting Luke at ease again. Han felt a little guilty he’d managed to upset Luke, but the situation was too good not to take advantage of.
“Thanks, Han.” Luke stood and pulled him in for a hug, grinning wider when Chewie joined them.
“So Mando'a, huh? Its good pronunciation, so far,” Han commented as they pulled back and Luke flushed.
“I need another drink; anyone want anything from the kitchen?” Luke said as he quickly shuffled off to avoid the incoming questions, leaving the pair in the living room.
“We can’t tell him,” Han said immediately, turning to set his firm gaze and a pointed finger on Chewie before he loudly complained. “He’s obviously doing this for Din and this might finally get him to admit he likes him, even inadvertently. Don’t you want to see him happy with the guy he likes?”
Chewie grumbled, kicking hans leg lightly. “Don’t try to guilt me into your stupid plans,” he said but stayed quiet when Luke walked back in the room with a skip in his step and his cheeks a lighter pink.
They all turned back to the races, giving their own comments here and there as the night went on until Luke called it quits, wanting a decent night’s sleep for work the next day and got an Uber home.
---
Luke hadn’t planned on practicing his Mando'a on Boba or Fennec, they weren’t really close friends of his but friends of Din's. But it seemed almost like it was meant to be when he bumped into them in his local coffee shop a few days after speaking to Han and Chewie.
“Luke,” he heard called behind him as he grabbed his coffee and turned to see Fennec smiling mutely next to a grave looking Boba at a table a few feet away. He didn’t take it personally, this was practically a welcome party from the pair.
He smiled at them and walked over, hovering at the side of the table until she gestured for him to sit.
“Hey, long time no see,” he said a little awkwardly as he took his seat. It wasn’t often that he’d see or speak to the pair without Din or another friend present given the rocky past between Luke’s friends and Boba, but he’d tried his best to move passed that after getting to know Din.
Luke tapped his takeaway cup nervously after their polite conversation naturally slowed down.
“Can I be honest with you guys about something?” He hedged, his eyes flicking nervously between the two.
Fennec sat up straight as Boba leant forward on his elbows and nodded. Luke swallowed and bit his lip nervously before he took a deep breath.
“I know there’s been some… friction, between us in the past,” he started with an impish grin, trying to lighten the mood. “But I appreciate how you’ve been there for Din through his highs and lows and I can see how much you love Grogu.” Luke paused to find his words.
The pair in front of him shared a wide-eyed look, both convinced Luke was about to express his interest in Din and ask how best to go about moving their relationship forward given the guy is as oblivious and emotionally stunted as a stick.
“I know it’s a strong word, but I've been practicing on my own and I can’t find anything that’s not as serious, but I feel that even if it’s not applicable to us now, it could be in the future,” he said and gave them both a shy smile, receiving only confused looks in return.
Luke felt his hands shake. If anyone would react badly or at least embarrassingly to him calling them his best and closest friends, it’d be Fennec Shand and Boba Fett. But at the same time, there was no one better to practice his punctuation on.
As fluent as Han claimed to be, Luke knew he’d gotten in trouble more than once for using the wrong words and Boba was a Mandalorian and Fennec was his partner. They’d be able to give him the advice he’d been craving from his uncles.
The info he’d managed to find on his datapad was fine, but phonetically spelled instructions just weren’t the same as hearing the inflections themselves and could only do so much.
“What are you talking about?” Boba asked with a raised brow. He lifted his cup to take a sip of his tea.
“Ner riduur,” he said and looked at the pair of them.
Boba spat out his drink and Fennec grew a concerning shade of red.
“Oh.” She automatically started cleaning up the tea that was spat across the table, avoiding Luke’s eyes.
So, this was definitely a mistake, Luke thought as he clenched his jaw.
He pushed through his embarrassment, maybe they just weren’t used to people showing their appreciation? Han had been the same when they’d first met and Din was quiet with his emotions and Bo-katan was outright repressed. It wouldn’t surprise him if it was a thing for Mandos.
“Didn’t realise I had this affect over you,” he said with a cheeky grin, hoping to break the ice.
Boba choked on air once more and Fennec slapped his back hard, scowling at him as he tried to sit back up and breath properly.
“We uhm, sorry, Luke, we don’t see you like that,” Boba explained stiltedly, his voice rough. “We’re not looking for a third right now.”
“I get it,” Luke agreed easily. He knew how close they were with Din, unsurprising given all the trouble they helped Din go through to get custody of Grogu, it made sense they wouldn’t suddenly want Luke crashing their friendship. “But did I say it right?”
Boba nodded dumbly, flinching when Fennec elbowed him.
“We like you, Luke. You’re sweet and Din only speaks highly of you, but we don’t like you like that,” she said slowly, keeping eye contact as though to make sure he understood.
“Well yeah obviously, we’re not best friends or anything,” Luke shrugged. “I just thought maybe we could become good friends?”
“Best friends…” Fennec repeated faintly.
Luke nodded.
The pair grinned, feral.
“Yes. That’s exactly what that means and that’s exactly why we said no,” Boba said eagerly. “Obviously.”
“Ok, feeling like we’re getting stuck in a loop here now,” Luke said confused. “Are we good? Like on the way to being friends without needing mediators?” He laughed.
Fennec snickered and looked away. “Sure thing, Luke.”
“Ok, great,” Luke slumped back in his chair and drained the last of his coffee.
“You mentioned you’ve been practicing?” Fennec asked.
“Yeah, been trying to get the pronunciations right because I only have a few books on my datapad and I can’t get a hold of my uncles because of the storms on Tatooine,” Luke sighed and pouted.
“Why didn’t you ask Din?” Boba asked, his eyes bright like he already new the answer. When Luke stuttered and stumbled over a flimsy excuse Boba turned a knowing glance back to Fennec. “Have your books mentioned an old Mando tradition of resting foreheads together?”
Luke tiled his head. “No.”
“Like this,” Boba said and then guided Fennec to rest their foreheads together for a moment. Luke felt his stomach twist at how intimate the action seemed and his heart raced at the idea of doing it with Din.
“What does it mean?” He asked.
“It’s just for good friends to show they trust each other,” Boba shrugged lightly, hiding his mirth behind a cough.
Luke frowned, unsure. It seemed closer than something friends would do, but he supposed that might’ve been because he’d just witnessed it done between partners instead of friends. Maybe it’d be different if it was Din Boba had leant against.
But before he could ask any more questions, he felt his comlink vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and smiled at the picture of Din that lit up his screen.
“Sorry, I've got to get this,” he said and answered the comlink, standing to leave and meet Din at the park like they’d planned. He’d gotten sidetracked by Boba and Fennec for long enough that he was late.
“You get lost again?” Din teased on the other line.
Luke scoffed, putting on an offended tone even as he grinned. “I'm not the one who had to stop and ask an Ugnaut for directions to the nursery I just dropped my son off at.”
“You’re never gonna let me live that down,” Din muttered.
Luke laughed at Din's grumbles on the other line, his cheeks aching from his smile as he heard Grogu’s babbles in the background.
“The kid said that’s fighting talk and you better come prepared.”
“I’m a Jedi master, what are you going to do? Tickle me to death?” Luke snorted. He saw where Din was sat on the grass in the park up ahead and stayed quiet as Din shook his head and let out a soft huff of a laugh through his vocoder, crackling against the comlink line.
“All talk now, but if I got you pinned then you’d be done for,” Din said confidently.
The urge to utter the Mando'a he’d been practicing pushed to the tip of his tongue, but he bit down. He just needed to practice a little bit more so it was perfect.
“Hey turn around,” Luke said when he was closer, hanging up and flopping down next to Din and grinning at Grogu scampering into his lap. "I could’ve totally had you then, I had the high ground.”
Din snorted.
---
Luke was tired and therefore even more of a lightweight than usual.
He’d spent the last few hours at Din’s running some at-home training with Grogu. The tot had been put to bed a little while ago and once his door had closed, Din had temptingly shaken a half empty bottle of Fizzzz from his kitchen and Luke had grinned and folded himself onto his couch. He’d go home later, his bed could wait a few more hours.
Three glasses later and Luke was sufficiently buzzed and working up the confidence to speak Mando'a to Din.
He closed his eyes and rested his head on Din's shoulder as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say, though more importantly, what he wanted to say but would need to keep schtum about. He was known to get a little loose lipped when drinking.
After a quiet moment, Luke lifted his head, blinking when he realised how close it had brought their faces. Well, helmet and face, but you get the point.
A soft nervous buzz of air was heard released from Din's vocoder, and Luke smiled softly before he leaned in. He cupped the side of Din's helmet like he remembered Boba doing, and gently tipped their heads together.
Maybe if he couldn’t yet spit out the words of how much Din meant to him, he could at least show him how much he trusts him.
Din sighed shakily but Luke kept his eyes closed as his forehead slowly warmed the metal of Din’s helmet.
“This is nice,” Luke muttered before pulling back and blinking sleepily. He settled back into Din's shoulder, smiling at the tight hold of Din's arm around him keeping him warm and comfortable. “Ner riduur, Din. You mean a lot to me.”
Din looked down at him, his head simultaneously empty and full of raging bees at the same time. Not a thought to be heard and unable to get himself to speak, but every emotion waged war inside him as he stayed still enough for Luke to fall asleep.
---
Luke woke up wrapped up in Din's spare blankets on his couch the next morning. He groaned at the small hangover he had but new a cup or two of caf would fix him up. He sighed and strecthed as he got up and tip toed to Grogu’s room. He picked him up out of his crib, settling him on his hip easily out of habit.
Grogu babbled as Luke brought him through to the kitchen, but knew to be quieter than usual while his dad slept. This wasn’t the first time Luke had stayed over and it’d only taken the first time for him to realise Din wasn’t a morning person and greatly appreciated Luke looking after Grogu for an hour until he woke up at what he called a decent time.
Luke looked out at the sun steadily rising and snorted. Maybe Jedis were just early birds.
They were sat eating breakfast, an extra plate and cup of hot caf set on the table ready for Din, when the Mandalorian came out of his bedroom in his pyjamas and helmet.
He walked past Grogu and tickled him under his chin before he turned to Luke and pressed their foreheads together again.
Luke grinned and closed his eyes. He could get used to this and to have Din reciprocate his trust, even if he hadn’t said the words back yet. His heart was pounding out of his chest. He knew Boba or Cobb held the title of Din's best friend anyway, so he didn’t need to hear him say it; he was just happy they were on the same page finally.
Luke wasn’t willing to acknowledge that his wasn’t even the full extent of his feelings.
Regardless, a weight felt like it had lifted from his shoulders and he pulled back, letting Din sit to get his breakfast.
They sat and ate in comfortable silence, neither of them bringing up the night before. Though Luke didn’t realise it was out of shyness on Din's part and not because he was used to and accepting of a friendly head bonk.
Din cleared his throat finally. “Do you need a lift to Cobb’s tonight?”
“If you wouldn’t mind? Han offered, but Leia’s always late and I want to start on the good booze Lando’s bringing before it all goes,” Luke said, smiling at Din's snort of laughter.
“That stuff will have you under the table after one glass,” Din warned.
Luke narrowed his eyes. “You underestimate me, Din. I've got a strong tolerance for booze it’s part of the Jedi way.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Din mumbled, laughing when Luke swatted his bare arm.
---
Luke didn’t have to wait for long that evening before Din arrived to pick him up.
“Grogu settle ok?”
“Yeah, Cara’s got him for the night. Said she’s got plans to tire him out,” he said nervously.
“If your house burns down you can stay at my place,” Luke said soberly, only cracking a smile when Din turned his blank helmet to stare at him in silence. “They’ll be fine! Don’t worry too much, you deserve a night off and Cobb’s been dying to see you, right?”
“Right,” Din said, slowly relaxing as he drove. He let his hand drift over to squeeze Luke’s in appreciation before he went back to driving.
Cobb had recently gotten promoted which meant that their already clashing schedules got even busier, and Din hadn’t been able to hang out with Cobb for a while. Din could admit to missing his good friend over the last couple of weeks.
Luke led them up the stairs of the apartment once they were parked and knocked heavily on Cobb’s front door.
“Hey, you made it!” Cobb cheered when he saw the pair. “C’mon in.”
---
Luke would like to preface this next part with a quick mention of how he is not a lightweight, but Lando’s jet juice was strong. Like, lethal even.
But he wasn’t a lightweight. Truly. Kinda.
---
Luke dropped down into the seat next to Cobb and patted his knee cheerfully.
“Happy birthday, Cobb,” he slurred, clearly tipsy.
“Thanks, Wormie,” Cobb replied, taking a slow sip of his own drink. Luke pouted at the use of his childhood nickname – curse Cobb for knowing Wedge. “So, you came with Din?”
Luke nodded.
“I finally admitted to Din how I feel,” Luke said. “And it went well, but I know that he doesn’t feel the same way, you know? He didn’t say it back and I get it because you’re his true riduur. I'm like his second choice? No that makes it sound bad, but like what Han is to me, you know?”
Cobb shook his head, his eyes wide at the sudden influx of information. “What?”
Cobb wasn’t fluent in Mando'a but he sure as shit new what riduur meant. He’d spent enough evenings listening to Din bemoan about Luke not being his riduur to know exactly what it meant in fact.
So this? This was making no sense to him.
“Luke, I’m not Din's riduur,” Cobb said gently and slowly so the tipsy blonde would understand.
“Yes you are,” Luke insisted. “You’re best friends.”
“We don’t like each other like that though,” Cobb pushed.
“You’ve fallen out?” Luke frowned, concerned. He sat up from his slouch against the cushions. “Did you have an argument or something? He never told me.”
“No, Luke, we’re still—”
“Oh Maker, what kind of friend am I that I didn’t even know?” Luke bemoaned loudly, catching the attention of those close by, including Din.
“Luke? You ok?” The Mandalorian asked as he got closer, hovering over the pair sat down.
“Cobb just told me you’re not friends anymore?” Luke said, his face genuinely distraught. His drunk brain wasn’t even contemplating why Din would’ve come to Cobb’s birthday if they had fought. “He said you’re not val riduur anymore.”
“Weren’t ner riduur in the first place,” Cobb muttered, only making Luke frown more.
Din froze as Luke’s words settled and he sucked in a tight breath. He squatted down to be at Luke’s level.
“What do you think riduur means, Luke?”
Luke blinked. “Best friends,” he explained simply.
Din nodded stiffly, his hands clenching and unclenching on his knees.
“Cobb’s fine, we’re still friends, Luke, he was just confused. Maybe I should drop you home now though? Before you regret the hangover tomorrow,” Din suggested.
Luke looked at the empty glass in his hands and nodded. He had been feeling a little lightheaded after that last drink.
“Ok.”
Cobb helped him get to his feet and passed him off into Din's care, patting his friend on the back in sympathy as they turned to leave.
Din looked around, and going by the winces on people’s faces, a few of them had heard and understood what had happened.
It was no secret within Din’s friendship group that he was madly in love with Luke, and it looked like enough of them had pieced together his current plight through context clues and his own reaction that he seriously didn’t want to stick around for the pitying looks or to see the gossip spread to the rest of the party.
He helped Luke into his house and into his bedroom, taking off the Jedi’s shoes before tucking him in.
“What does it mean?” Luke mumbled sleepily, looking up at Din with bleary eyes. “Riduur.”
Din clenched his hands again, his heart aching in response to hearing it from Luke’s lips.
“It’s not… friends. It’s partners. Lovers,” Din explained haltingly, looking away. He sighed when he looked back at Luke’s face and saw him fast asleep.
---
Luke woke up the next day with a pounding headache and a full recollection of the night before.
He turned over onto his stomach and let out a sharp shout of frustration and embarrassment into his pillow.
“Fuuuuuck,” he groaned as he turned over again for air. “I really fucked up this time.”
He thought about the people that had witnessed his outburst at the party and mentally made a list of all the people he’d have to avoid for the next fifty years at least.
Then he made a list of all the people he was going to murder for not telling him the real meaning of riduur.
He opened his comlink and ignored the messages and calls he had missed, going straight to Leia.
Leia: Let me know when you’re awake and want to talk baby bro, I’m sorry about all of this xxx
Luke: i'm so fucking embarrassed and i feel even fucking worse about the fact that i embarrassed him too xxx
Luke: also I'm the older twin omg??
Luke: also say goodbye to your husband bc i WILL find him and murder him for this. Chewie can buy me lunch and apologise tho xx
Leia: drama queen xxx
Leia: Who says I haven’t already killed Han for this? xxx
Luke laughed and knew his sister would’ve chewed Han and Chewbacca a new one as soon as she found out they were even vaguely involved. And he knew the pair would be sorry too going by the missed calls and numerous messages, but Luke wasn’t ready to deal with accepting apologies just yet. He wanted them to ruminate in it a little longer, even if that wasn’t very Jedi of him
He also felt like he needed to make his own first.
He sent a morbid Luke: watch ur back solo 🔪🔪😾 and received a Han: The cat makes it less scary but I am thoroughly cowed regardless back not even a minute later.
He huffed and rolled his eyes. Ok so maybe accepting apologies wouldn’t be too hard and he was more just dreading making his own.
He opened his groupchat to Boba and Fennec and sent a barrage of angry face emojis.
Luke: sorry i didn’t mean to come onto you guys! ur hot but not my type sorry!
Luke: but also
Luke: fuck you guys
Fennec: kinda sounds like you’re coming onto us again ngl.
Luke blushed, refusing to admit or react to the accidental entendre Fennec pointed out.
Boba: But we are sorry, Wormie. Didn’t realise it’d go like this.
Luke read the text and liked the reply before muting the chat. As if they’d even realise he was giving them the silent treatment, but it was the thought that counted.
He pulled himself out of bed and got in his shower and thought about nothing else but the fact that not a single notification was from Din.
He’d really fucked up.
Once he was out and dressed, he curled up on his couch and wrote and rewrote his draft to Din over and over until he finally flicked onto another screen on his datapad.
Feeling on the verge of tears, he booked a flight to Tatooine for that afternoon and packed his bags.
Luke: going to see obi, i’ll be back for work on monday xxx
Leia: Ok big bro, love you xxx
Leia: Let me know if you need anything including more time. I can cover you xxx
Luke:love you sis <3<3 xxxxxxxxx
---
Luke was met as soon as he was off the ship by Cody. He was bundled onto his speeder after a firm hug and they rushed back to the sand hut.
As soon as the pair got off the bike, Luke had thrown himself into his uncle’s arms once more, shrinking himself down and holding back tears.
“Luke, kiddo, it’s ok,” Cody said as he led him inside and to Obi.
The pair of them sat either side of him and comforted him as he explained the impromptu visit over tea.
“That’s why you were messaging about the translations?” Obi-Wan prodded, and Luke nodded.
“I wish we could’ve spoken properly; it would’ve avoided all of this. I'm sorry Luke,” Obi-Wan said and rubbed a hand across his nephew’s back consolingly.
“He hates me, I know he hates me,” Luke said.
“Why do you think that?”
“He hasn’t spoken to me since and I embarrassed him in front of all our friends. Called him my riduur and then claimed Cobb was and…”
“And?”
“And we did this forehead touch thing,” Luke muttered, pink cheeked.
He saw the shared looks Ben and cody sent each other.
“Oh Maker, it means something doesn’t it? And not just friendly trust,” Luke smothered his face in his hands.
Cody chuckled. “no, not that.”
Luke groaned dramatically. “I’m going to kill Boba.”
“Din didn’t reject you,” Obi-Wan said logically. “He likes you too.”
“He did But now? Now he thinks I was doing it as friends or, worse, thinks I was just playing around. I’ve hurt his feelings and I don’t know if he’ll forgive me. It took me this long to break down his walls.”
“You need to speak to him before you start presuming how he feels,” Cody said. “Give him a message from Artoo, I’m presuming you know his contact?”
Luke pouted and nodded. “I brought my com’ with me anyway so I’ll message him.”
“Ok,” Cody agreed. “You staying for the weekend?”
“Please?” Luke smiled.
---
Luke: can we meet up so i can apologise?
Luke: and explain?
Din: yes of course. now?
Luke: I'm on tatt rn, but sunday afternoon?
Din: with your uncles?
Din: and yeah that’s good for me.
Luke: mhm
Luke: thought you’d be angrier
Din: could never be angry with you, Luke.
Luke smiled, his chest feeling lighter. Maybe he shouldn’t dread the meet up like he'd thought then.
He managed to get a better night sleep in his childhood bed than he’d thought after messaging din.
---
Luke: almost at the park
Din: we’re by the pond like usual.
Luke turned the corner and saw the pair sat by the pond and felt his heart ache. He couldn’t lose this.
“I'm sorry,” he said, shy but firm, as soon as he was close enough to be heard, making Din tilt his head up at him. Luke swallowed. “I'm sorry for accidentally playing with your feelings and for kissing you without knowing.”
“You didn’t mean to,” Din replied softly. “No harm was done, don’t worry. I already beat the bantha shit out of Boba.”
Luke sat next to him hesitantly and smiled.
“We’re still friends?”
Din nodded. “I hope so.”
Luke felt his shoulders fall with relief but he couldn’t help but open his mouth. His anxiety making him chatty.
“If it was me, I'd have been pretty bummed since I've liked you for so long,” he forced a laugh, cringing at himself.
Din's head whipped up and he tilted his head at Luke.
Luke’s smile felt a little more genuine as it lifted at one side.
“Ironically, riduur might actually be pretty accurate for how i feel about you. Or i guess grammatically wise, what i want us to be,” he said. “But i get it if you don’t feel the same way now or if you never did—”
He was cut by a strong, warm hand wrapping around the back of his neck and firmly but gently pulling his head forwards to rest against Din's again.
“Oh,” Luke said, a grin slowly growing. “Uhm, this is a kiss right?” He double checked.
“Yeah, this is a kiss,” Din confirmed softly.
Luke felt a small hand pull at his trousers and he reluctantly pulled back to look down at Grogu. He made grabby hands up at Luke and the blonde lifted him into his lap and let himself be corralled down to rest his head against Grogu as for a moment too.
He laughed, joy practically bursting at his seams as he turned to look at Din watching them.
He lifted Grogu up to face level and watched fondly as Din tilted forwards to bonk his son lightly. Once Grogu was back on the ground, he scuttled back towards the pond, bored of the pair of them just sitting and smiling like idiots.
“I've loved you for a while now,” Din said out of the blue. Luke turned wide eyes to him. “If you’re sure and wanted to really be ner riduur, we could say the words of the riduurok.”
“You’d marry me?” Luke asked, his eyes bright and smile growing. Obi-Wan and Cody had made sure to pack him with enough information and translations for him to not mistake anything big like this again. And this was one word that had gotten stuck in his head since he’d read it.
Din nodded.
“Fuck yeah,” Luke agreed eagerly.
Din snorted and shyly took Luke’s hand in his own.
“Ok.”
---
Luke felt his heart work over time in his chest as they walked back to Din's and settled in the living room.
The pair sat facing each other on the couch with Grogu settled in Din's lap as their only witness.
Giddily, they began the ceremony.
“Mhi solus tome,” Din spoke, giving Luke time to repeat after him after each sentence. “Mhi solus dar'tome. Mhi me'dinui an. Mhi ba'juri verde.”
Once Luke finished speaking he pulled Din in roughly, wincing when he hit his forehead too hard against the solid beskar of Din's helmet.
“Careful,” Din admonished him fondly, rubbing his thumb gently behind Luke’s ear as he stayed close.
“We’re married. You’re my husband,” Luke mumbled in disbelief, his grin splitting across his face.
“Husband,” Din repeated happily, breathily.
At the sound of Luke’s comlink going off, the pair pulled away and Luke looked at the notification.
“It’s just Wedge, I’ll call him back later,” Luke said, throwing his com back on the table.
He turned back to Din and gasped, throwing his hands over his eyes when he registered that he’d taken his helmet off.
“Ah! Your helmet! Your face!” Luke freaked. “Your very handsome face that I did see just a little bit of, I'm sorry, but I mean I wasn’t expecting it? But I can probably forget—”
“Luke, you’re allowed to look,” Din said and Luke dropped his hands after a second’s hesitance.
“Holy shit,” he said. “You’re hot.”
“You’re telling me,” Din said. “You’re so much prettier, brighter, without the helmet in the way.”
Luke laughed and felt his cheeks heat up.
“I like the ‘tache,” Luke said, gesturing to his own upper lip.
Din blushed.
“Oh wow, I could get used to that,” Luke said with a devilish grin. He shuffled ever closer and pulled their foreheads together again. “Can’t hide a single expression, huh? My beautiful husband.”
“You’ll be the death of me,” Din said shakily, blinking rapidly at the feel of Luke’s breath against his lips and his palm against his cheek.
“I’d rather kiss you than kill you,” Luke said, laughing at the groan Din let out.
“So cheesy,” Din shook his head but leant in eagerly to brush their lips together.
“You love it,” Luke whispered between soft, slow kisses.
“I love you.”