Chapter Text
Sometimes, when Luke‘s sister has to take care of her sick husband (who mostly just caught a cold and still acted like he was on the verge of death), Luke had to work alone at the kindergarten. He wasn‘t complaining though, there was something rather freeing to not have his sisters judging eyes on him all the time, and that little head-shake thing she always does when her immense expertise in parenting didn‘t align with Luke‘s ideas. Because: „I already have a child, Luke!“ and „Just trust me!“ are apparently reasonable arguments, but whenever Luke tries to use one of them (mainly the „trust me!“-argument, since he didn‘t have children of his own. Yet.) they immediately lose all power and reason and Leia would just laugh at him. He loved his sister. More than anything in the world, but she was insufferable from time to time. That must be the reason why the universe graced her with a just as insufferable husband.
Whenever there was a reason to, because Luke had to go home early or Leia couldn‘t work that day, she allowed her husband Han to supervise a smaller group of kids. She used to, that is. Since he once dared a kid to jump out of a tree („You don‘t understand, he was mocking me!“) or simply threw plushies at children („Give me some credit, I could‘ve thrown the bricks!“) Leia refrained from using him as a kindergartener and only allowed him to whenever there was an emergency.
Today wasn‘t an emergency. Well, Han himself perhaps, was the emergency, since he was convinced that today would be his last day on earth and that Leia only wants to mock him by spooning him cough syrup (Luke could hear him in the background as Leia called to tell him that he had to work alone today, and Luke had to smile a little bit as he heard his brother in law groan: „Save me, Luke! She wants to poison me!“) Luke loved his sister, he loved her husband. But sometimes… they‘re both insufferable.
Who wasn‘t insufferable were the little kids they accepted into their little kindergarten. Of course, there were some tedious moments, tears and angry snot bubbles, screams of agony, and true pain and torture (because not being allowed to stay outside during a thunderstorm surely must feel like a fucking gun wound). But the small giggles of joy, the feeling of a kid falling asleep on him during reading time, and the little hands that would grab his bigger one to lead him outside to show him an acorn they found, made up for it. Luke adored these children with his whole heart.
His own nephew was one of them. Ben wasn‘t nearly as insufferable as his parents, Luke likes to think that he only inherited their good qualities. He may run his mouth like his father and you could barely shut him up, but he only asked questions out of curiosity and voiced his opinions, just like his mother always does. Ben always stays close to his uncle, a little hand always holding onto Luke‘s pants and his eyes always fixed on something that just sparked his interest. Mostly books, and since he couldn‘t read yet, Luke had the pleasure to read to him all the time, every book over and over again. It filled him with pride to see that Ben was getting along well with the other children as well, playing with them in peace and willing to share toys and sweets. Ben only had problems with one other child, but Luke knew that it was impossible to be liked by everyone.
„This?“, Ben asked him as soon as they entered the playroom and held up one book to him. Luke had to pick him up because Leia wasn‘t able to bring him to the kindergarten today and since Ben was having a tantrum about not being able to go to the kindergarten. He didn‘t want to stay home and was very loud about it. But the tears dried as soon as he saw Luke pulling up in his car.
Luke took the book from him. „Maybe we can wait with that until the other kids are here? They probably also want to hear this story. What do you think?“
„Okay!“, Ben smiled and ran off to the building blocks. Luke sighed. There were only so many times he could read the same story over and over again. He eyed the book in his hand and had to smile. Ben‘s favorite. A little fictional story about the forces of good and evil, cool heroes who fight with glowing sticks and long capes. Ben always wants to act the story out, claiming that he‘s the antagonist, because „they cool, uncle!“ and Luke crafted him a little cape out of one of Leia‘s old black dresses. And since the little rascal would need a worthy opponent Luke earned the loving title of „Jedi“, the heroes in the story. „You‘re the only cool Jedi!“, Ben would‘ve claimed and hugged him. Luke made himself a cape too but would deny everyone who claimed, that Luke secretly thinks that he looks really cool in it. He does. But no one needs to know that.
The day was quite exhausting. Normally Luke would work together with Leia since two kindergarteners see more than one, have four hands, and more endurance. Working alone may be peaceful but the little monsters made sure that this peace wouldn‘t be undisturbed. Especially Grogu.
Whenever Luke saw the little boy pick up a brick or a barbie he was filled with panic. Grogu didn‘t play. Grogu chose war. Everyday. He could throw things so precisely and with so much power that Luke was convinced that he‘d make a career out of it someday. Bricks, barbies, cars, even full-on books. That could be the reason why Ben disliked him just as much as Grogu seemed to hate him. Luke was aware that kids could be mean, but Grogu just served this stereotype on a different level. The first time Luke really realized was as he saw Grogu and Ben play peacefully with colorful dough and he swore to Leia afterward, that he turned his head away for just a second. They were getting along perfectly fine, Ben laughing and handing Grogu some pieces of his dough so that they could mix the colors, and Grogu himself smiled. The smile of the devil, as Luke decided. He paid no attention to them for mere seconds and as he looked back to them, Ben‘s head was on the table and Grogu‘s little hands were kneading the dough into his victim's hair.
The thing is… Grogu was incredibly cute. Luke found himself being lured into a false sense of safety whenever the little monster smiled at him. The only thing that kept Grogu‘s mastermind at ease was when Luke sat him down at a table with paper and colored pencils. Grogu could spend hours there, drawing little flowers and frogs. (He also sometimes draws an ugly figure and Luke could only guess that it was supposed to be Ben and Luke felt immediately sorry that he could recognize him) Luke liked to sit down with him, Grogu would point at things and demand Luke to write down the names. He‘d stare at the letters and try to write them down himself and always beamed when Luke praised him for doing good.
Luke liked Grogu. He was incredibly insufferable. But just as incredibly sweet - and Luke had to find out that these two things sometimes go hand in hand. Just like Grogu and his dad.
Everything was alright, Luke decided that maybe working with Leia wasn‘t peaceful but he‘ll appreciate her presence and help at the daycare more. Because when you‘re alone with a group of children and one of them sets off the fire alarm, your heart will fucking implode out of sheer panic. Well, that‘s at least what happened to Luke as he saw Grogu with his little building bricks, and a second later the little glass window of the fire alarm was crashed and the alarm was ringing in his ears. It was his own fault, really, because he knew how good Grogu was at throwing things. And now he was standing outside, with the little kids happily swinging and playing with balls, while Grogu was in his arms and he just glared at him. Grogu smiled. He fucking smiled and looked proud, while Luke was losing his mind.
He tried to call the firefighter station, he tried to explain the situation but no one was picking up and Luke grew more anxious with each passing minute. He couldn‘t possibly blame this on the kid, right? He was the adult in this scenario, no one will believe him that a little three-year-old set off the fire alarm with a god damn building brick. But he knew the truth, and Grogu did as well and something tells him that if Han were here, he probably would‘ve high-fived the child.
In the distance, Luke heard the sirene of the fire engine. The little demonic child in his arms was fidgeting, making endearing little noises and Luke almost forgot for a second that he was furious with him. How is he supposed to know?, Luke asked himself and felt immediately stupid that he was mad at a kid for doing something by accident. Something he couldn't possibly know the consequences of.
„Do you like the firefighters?“, Luke asked Grogu and the little boy nodded enthusiastically. Well, at least the kid could meet his cool heroes or something, Luke told himself. To calm himself down a bit.
Leia would feast on this. „You two get nothing done without me!“, she would say and point at Luke and Han, and they both would know that she was right. She was always right. She isn‘t here for one day and the fucking firefighters move out.
He heard tires screeching and he was ready to ramble a whole apology, followed by a reasonable explanation and the willingness to pay for everything. But then there was him.
A very concerned-looking firefighter was storming towards him, wearing a stupid-looking, too big firefighter helmet and he seemed like he was ready to jump into action. Or into the fire. He was so hurried and so stressed out that Luke immediately forgot about anything he wanted to say, guilt was building in his stomach. There was no fire to fight here, this man was stressing himself out over nothing.
„There is no fire!“, Luke quickly stated, almost yelling at the poor man. „No fire! Everything is fine!“
The firefighter stopped in his tracks. Luke couldn‘t see his face since the visor of his helmet was reflective, so he just stared back at his own reflection. Did he really look so pale?
„He set off the alarm by accident“, Luke nodded towards the little boy in his arms, who was smiling as bright as the sun. He must really like firefighters, Luke figured. „I‘m terribly sorry. He somehow threw a building brick at the alarm and you must know he‘s really good at throwing things and I didn‘t pay attention for like a minute, because I‘m alone here today and I had other kids who were fighting over a book and as I saw him throwing the brick it was already too late and I tried to call you but no one was picking up the phone!“ Luke heard himself ramble, that doesn‘t mean that he was able to stop it. He couldn‘t see the firefighter‘s expression, so he couldn't tell if he was mad or angry, ready to yell at him for being irresponsible. Luke tried to play his rambling off with a little, awkward laugh. „He‘s just a little monster, you know?“
The firefighter stared back at him (Luke could only figure). „I know.“
Grogu made a happy little noise, pointing excitedly at the man. Luke just raised an eyebrow. „You know? Does… this kind of thing happen often?“
The man seemed far more relaxed now as he started walking towards him again. He was getting really close, Luke noted, but he realized why as the man reached out for the boy. „Are you alright?“
Luke didn‘t realize that the man asked Grogu, so he answered: „Yes. Sort of. I panicked a little bit.“
Grogu made grabby hands towards the firefighter until he finally picked him up and cradled him in his own arms. „I was asking the kid“, he said and up close Luke could hear the dark ravel that was this man‘s voice.
Luke made a noise that he wasn‘t proud of because he felt incredibly dumb and awkward. „Oh.“
„You scared the living hell out of me, kid“, the man told Grogu and his tone was weirdly scolding and loving at the same time (Luke only knew this tone because of Leia when she speaks to Han). The little gremlin gave him a shy smile and put his tiny hand up against the visor of the helmet. Almost like he was apologizing, but that wasn’t possible, because this demon never seems to be sorry for anything. The low chuckle that Luke heard made him blush.
„You’re forgiven, mijo. But you pull a stunt like this again and I will take away your cookie rights.“
Luke felt like he was invading some very intimate and personal moment. This was insane since this was some random firefighter and one of his daycare kids. The most vicious one, so to say. „I‘m sorry, do you… do you know this child?“, Luke asked.
The man grunted in affirmation. „He‘s my son.“
Another stupid noise fled from Luke‘s mouth. „Ah.“
They stared at each other for a hot minute, but Luke quickly grew sure that the man wasn‘t even looking at him. His eyes probably never left his child.
„I‘m sorry“, Luke tried again, „You always pick him up with Leia, right? I‘m with the other kids then, so that‘s maybe why I never saw you before.“
„Maybe“, the man gave back. „Mrs. Organa it is, right?“
Luke nodded. „Yes, that‘s Leia. She‘s in charge here. I‘m just… the boy for everything.“
„So, boy for everything“, the firefighter sounded a little bit amused, but Luke couldn‘t tell for sure, „You‘re the brave one who saved my son from the fire?“
„There wasn‘t a fire“, Luke quickly shot back without thinking about it and only realized too late, that the firefighter wasn‘t serious. „Oh. You‘re joking.“
There was this low chuckle again. „You don‘t have to worry about a thing, boy for everything. I‘m too grateful that nothing serious happened to be mad.“
Luke felt how he relaxed. „Oh, thank God.“
The man held his hand up to him. „Din Djarin.“
„Luke Skywalker. Again, I‘m terribly sorry.“
Mr. Djarin shook his head. „I have to teach him not to throw everything he gets his greedy little hands on. Right, cielito?“ Grogu made a bubbling sound and his dad chuckled once again and Luke realized that they both were just merely servants to Grogu‘s will. He was too adorable for his own good and he knew.
Before Luke could apologize again, he heard another voice coming up from the car, and yet another firefighter was walking towards them. „What is it with you today, Din, I got the hose ready. Or do you wanna talk the fire away? Get going already!“
„There‘s no fire, Fett“, Mr. Djarin gave back and turned towards him. „False alarm.“
Fett paused next to him, staring down at the child in his arms, and nodded. „Ah. Let me guess, I think I know who the culprit was.“
This man was wearing no helmet and Luke saw the many scars that were grazing the bald man‘s head. He figured, that not every mission was a false alarm and that some of them put their marks on you. Even though this man didn‘t seem overly friendly, to begin with, as soon as Grogu reached with his little hands for him and made an asking noise, Fett‘s scary-looking face turned into a soft scowl.
„Your kid is a criminal, Din“, the man scruffed and held his hand up to the kid, so that he could give him a soft high-five. „And he learned from the best, right, baby?“ Grogu made a noise in affirmation (he probably learned that from his father, since they both did it in the exact same tone) and Fett seemed very pleased.
„I catch you teaching him more stupid things and I will skin you alive.“
Luke once again felt so out of place and he decided that just standing there in silence was probably very creepy. „He is good at throwing things.“
Both men just stared at him. Luke decided to give them his best smile and added: „Whoever taught him that must be a good teacher.“
Fett grew with pride. „I am a good teacher.“
„You‘re the bane of my existence. Do you even know how much easier my life would be without you?“, Mr. Djarin shot back at him. His words may seem harsh but his voice didn‘t carry any venom in it. Luke only knew this behavior from Leia and Han and he asked himself if maybe these two were dating.
„Yes, easier and way more boring“, Fett scoffed. Mr. Djarin only grunted back at him and with that, this conversation was over.
Luke remembered that he had a duty to fulfill and turned around to look at the other kids in his group. „I uhm, I have to do my job here, so I‘m sorry but I can‘t stand here and talk any longer.“
While Mr. Djarin grunted in understanding and lowered Grogu to the ground, Fett just raised an eyebrow at him and said: „Yes and maybe this time do it correctly“ before turning around and walking off towards the fire engine.
„Don‘t pay him too much attention“, Mr. Djarin told him, because he saw how concerned Luke pulled his eyebrows together. „I‘ll pick Grogu up as usual. Maybe… don‘t hand him any more bricks. Mr. Skywalker.“
Something about the way this man just pronounced his name colored Luke‘s cheeks red. „I‘ll try“, he just said as he watched the man walk off. He couldn‘t quite understand that he managed to get off the hook this easily but he won‘t dare to question it. Hopefully, Mr. Djarin won‘t tell Leia anything about this when they meet the next time. Who is he kidding… she‘ll find out.
While Luke was dreading the possibility of his sister finding out about this, Din let himself fall into the passenger seat and groaned.
„You handled this better than I thought“, he heard Boba say and didn‘t even bother to look at him. „What do you mean?“
„Come on, Din. How long do I know you now?“
„Too long?“, Din only gave back.
Boba started the motor and laughed. „He‘s pretty.“
Din looked out of the window and didn‘t say anything.
„And you think he's incredibly pretty. Do you want to know why I know that? Because you didn‘t even lecture him. And you forgot to pull off your stupid helmet.“
There was truth in his friend's words and Din knew that. He just didn‘t want to feed his ego and tell him. Also, he wasn‘t that dumbstruck by the pretty kindergartner's appearance. He wasn‘t taking off his helmet because he was too nervous because of these pretty blue eyes and simply forgot. No. The only reason why he could stay so calm wasn‘t that he mainly stared at Grogu, instead of eying the young man from head to toe. He didn‘t need to look at Grogu the whole time, because his mind would‘ve shortcutted and his ability to form coherent sentences would‘ve suffered. And he most certainly didn‘t take off the helmet because he knew that it would mask his face and no one would catch him, while he stared at the pretty lips of his son‘s kindergartener.
His helmet stayed on… because he decided to. Not out of nervousness, admiration, or protection. And when Boba decided that Din was just stupid and didn‘t know how to interact with beautiful people, Din would just shut him up by turning up the music.