Chapter Text
Inside the make-do training arena the younglings watched on, their eyes full of excitement as Luke and Din began to circle each other. “Don’t get upset if we don’t cheer for you, Master Luke! Grogu needs some of us to cheer on his dad for him!” One of the younglings cried out as they cheered wildly from the stands. Some even began to shout advice to the Mandalorian to help him win for Grogu’s sake. Luke just smiled and nodded, seemingly unfazed by it all.
As the circling continued, both men stared intently at each other, trying to read each other's movements beforehand. Luke could sense Din’s mind focusing and calming, he could almost hear the gears clicking inside the Mandalorian’s skull. Din had been training to fight since he was very young, it was only natural Din didn’t back down or flinch.
Yet, even for Din, the pressure was building. His knowledge of Luke’s fighting style was very limited to say the least. But, he was a Mandalorian, he’d figure out how to break this Jedi soon enough…
Suddenly, Luke threw his heavy cloak to the side and charged like a raging bantha towards Din. His fists were balled as he quickly tried to land a punch on the Mandalorians stomach. Luke was clearly eager for some action, and the kids cheering and clapping gave the Jedi a much needed adrenaline boost.
Din barely had time to react as Luke lunged towards him. He dodged and kicked outwards, trying to put some space between him and Luke. “Cheater…” Din huffs as he tries to regain his composure. “You didn’t even count to three…”
Luke laughs as he gracefully short hops away from Din’s foot.“I didn’t think you’d care for something as trivial as counting…” The Jedi teases, quickly bouncing back as he goes to land another hit. Sweeping under to try and keep Din off balance.
Din barely keeps himself upright, stumbling a bit as he’s able to stay on his feet. The kids were cheering, a few were even chanting in unison.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Luke couldn’t help but chuckle at the little ones. They were thoroughly enjoying this spectacle as they howled from the sidelines. “Look at that…” He hums, a smug smirk planted on his face as he gives Din a glance. “I’ve got them cheering for me. You’re losing points here, Mandalorian…”
Din huffs as he steadies himself and lunges forward, driving his elbow toward Luke's shoulder with precision “'Who said they're cheering for you, Jedi?” He growls, a bit playfully.
Luke winces a bit as the elbow connects, but he quickly recovers. It hurt, but not as much as it probably would’ve if he hadn’t been expecting it. The Force was useful when it came to hand to hand, but it felt almost like cheating even though he couldn’t exactly turn it off. He gave a hearty chuckle, trying to focus on the Mandalorian, and the Mandalorian alone.
“They’re clearly cheering for me. You’ve barely landed a hit as is…” Luke snaps sassily before attempting to punch at Din’s stomach once more, hoping to knock the wind out of him.
Din barely manages to dodge the strike, struggling to match Luke's relentless pace. “It's because you keep running away…” He quips, defensively. “Maybe if you stopped I’d get a knock or two. What exactly is your game plan here anyway? Fancy footwork?”
“How original, you’ve wounded me, Mando.” The Jedi chuckles sarcastically as he shifts on the balls of his feet. “Maybe I’m just more spry than a man in a full set of Beskar…” Luke hums as he keeps dancing around Din. Luke was always light and agile, and seemed to be relishing this challenge. This was the most fun he’s had in a while. “You’re slower, older, heavier…” He teases, jokingly.
Din rolls his eyes under his helmet as he narrowly avoids another hit. “Weren’t you the one complaining about being old earlier?”
Luke scoffs as he gives another swing at Din. That was a fair point, but he certainly wasn’t going down over simple hypocrisy. “I never said anything about being out of shape…” He replies, smiling as he finally manages to land a hit on Din’s chest. Not enough to injure him, but perhaps hard enough to make the poor man heave.
Din coughs as he feels his chest plate get slammed into his lungs. He doubles over a bit, but doesn’t tap out just yet. Din lets his sight center itself on the Jedi, like a scope on a rifle. He just needed to slam full force into his target and not let go…
Luke’s eyes widen a bit as he’s tackled to the ground. He lands with a grunt, his vision blurs as the old stone digs into his back. A few ‘oooh’s and ‘aah’s from the side have him glancing back at the kids as he tries to quickly recover from the hit.
“Damn…” He mutters as he sits up a little.“That hurt….”
Din felt a twinge of guilt, wondering if he had actually hurt Luke. "Are you oka-" he started to ask, but before he could finish, Luke was already counterattacking, trapping Din's neck between his thighs.
Luke laughs as he quickly gets Din in a hold. He puts the Mandalorian’s neck between his legs, and with a quick motion, flips Din onto his back with a thud. He straddles Din with a proud expression. Taking heavy, strained breaths as he regains the upper hand.
“D-do you yield…?” He asks, giving a slight smile.
Din glances up, feeling his neck and head enveloped by Luke's thighs. He silently thanked the gods for his helmet, which concealed the bright blush currently spreading across his cheeks. The Jedi surprisingly looked very pretty from this angle, not like he wasn't attractive regardless, oh yeah no…no he definitely hit his head on the way down. He shouldn't be having thoughts like that. Maker! Especially not for his son’s teacher! “Uh... yeah... you win,” He concedes after a very long pause. Hopeful Luke wasn't using his weird space magic to sense how flustered he was.
Luke grins as he puffs out his chest a bit in victory. Yet soon enough he realizes the position him and Din are in. Luke’s face turns pink as he quickly clambers off Din’s chest.
“Sorry about that.” He mutters, as a few of the kids applaud and cheer, completely unaware of the awkward tension surrounding the adults.
Din mumbles as he slowly gets up, brushing grass off his armor. Even with his helmet on, it was a bit difficult to look Luke in the eye. “It’s uh…fine. You’re a um…good fighter.” Good fighter?! Dank farrik, why was he so bad at complimenting people?
Luke laughs shyly at the comment and shifts to the side, fiddling with his fingers anxiously. He felt a little stupid, honestly. He got a bit too excited about sparring. Perhaps he was a bit overly…enthusiastic.
“You uh…” He pauses, racking his brain for something to say.“You did great! You put on quite a show…You…You almost had me there!”
Din crosses his arms, stabilizing his emotions before they got the better of him. “I appreciate it, Jedi. You’re definitely hard to hit, I'll give you that.”
Luke chuckles softly as he awkwardly rubs the nape of his neck. “Well I try to be at least, never can be too careful.” Luke comments as he looks up at the orange sky. It was starting to get late, and he had a schedule to maintain. A.K.A: Serving his students dinner and sending them off to bed.
“It’s about time for dinner, and I don’t want any cranky kids. You should know, your child gets especially moody when he doesn’t get his food. Of offense, of course.” He jokes, and as if on cue, some of the kids start to slowly file into the temple.
Din notices the time and stammers, "I’ll, uh… leave you to it then. I don’t want to be in your way." He mumbles as he steps back. Over the past few months, his visits have never been particularly long. Despite wanting to spend endless days with his son, he knows the kid needed to focus on his studies. He figured he’d be off by tomorrow anyway, already feeling like he’s overstayed his welcome, no matter how many times Luke reassured him otherwise.
Luke gave a small hum, and a nod. He had been expecting that answer, but he couldn’t help but be a little…disappointed. He really did enjoy Din’s company. He felt a certain kinship with the older man, and it made Luke happy just to have him around.
“You know you’re always welcome to stay here if you’d like…” The Jedi adds softly, giving Din an encouraging glance.
Din stares back for a moment, not sure what to say. Sure, he’d love nothing more than to remain here, but he didn’t want to cause any more problems. He’s already taken so much from Luke. He couldn’t ask the him for more.
“That’s uh…that’s very sweet, Jedi…but…” Din was struggling to find the words, awkwardly rubbing his arm. “I don’t wanna be a burden…
Luke shakes his head immediately at Din’s statement. “You’re not a burden.” He reassures, placing a hand on Din’s shoulder in comfort, squeezing it softly.
“Please, at least have dinner with your son?” Luke says quietly, a gentle smile on his face. Maybe bringing up the idea of spending time with Grogu would convince the man to stay, at least for a bit.
The second Luke mentions Grogu, Din felt himself cave. Spending one more night with his son was certainly tempting. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had dinner with his ad’ika. Wow, some buir he was…
After a long moment of contemplation, Din relents. “Fine…I’ll stay.” Din mumbles.
“Just for dinner…”