Wrest Pin | The Mandalorian

Chapter Three: The Seer

Two days had passed with very few words between them.

Mando knew what he had done had broken any semblance of trust that was forming, even if it had been a very small amount. The girl had trusted him enough to give her name, after all. Though he was pretty sure he had yet to say it out loud or to really come to associate her with the name. It was fitting, he supposed though. The name matched her face in a way. But what had happened those few days ago left him thinking she might have been wishing she had not offered it so eagerly. Which, in retrospect he felt was an error on her part to give her name with such ease to a man she had only just met.

She had been avoiding him. Silent, not drawing attention to herself, and he had noticed the bruise his grip had left behind. If he was being truthful, he wasn't particularly sorry. More so, he felt she didn't understand and had he not been woken up and foggy with sleep he might have handled it differently, but what was done was done and he couldn't very well take it back. But he didn't make it a point to harm people that couldn't defend themselves, and he truly didn't think she could. She hadn't even fought back.

Mando turned in his chair, standing. He hadn't seen the girl or the Child in some time. He was hoping to be in their next system very soon, which was good because he could tell the kid was growing sick of protein bars. And Mando was growing sick of the girl tiptoeing around him. It was awkward and kind of annoying. But a part of him in only a few days had grown adjusted to the extra presence. And despite her avoiding and hardly talking, she offered him things like the protein bars and water. He wasn't sure if he had seen her eat at all. She had even refused to take the nook the past few nights, insisting it was his and the Child's. He wasn't positive where she had been sleeping.

He made his way down to the belly of the ship. He could hear the girl speaking softly, in the usual tone she used when talking to the Child. It reminded him of the motherese he would often hear between mothers and their children, a tone that was not natural to himself. The Child ate it up though, he seemed to enjoy the attention she gave him. Mando had never been one to talk much. Sometimes he would speak to the kid, but silence had always been preferrable. The girl spoke to the Child without prompting, about anything and everything. Maybe to fill the void since he had ruined any semblance of conversation between the two of them.

Mando followed the sound of her voice. He wasn't sure where they were, until he came upon one of his storage compartments. His brows furrowed under his helmet and he pressed the button near it, causing the wall to slide open. It was similar to his and the Child's sleeping nook, however he often stored goods in this one and it was closer to the ground. One had to crouch to enter it. Within, he saw the girl, sitting with the Child in her lap and she was breaking off protein pieces and giving them to him.

She jumped when the door opened. Mando noticed the blanket on the floor and he figured he must have found where she had been sleeping the past two days. He recognized the blanket as one from his nook, though honestly he hadn't noticed it going missing. The Child tilted his head at Mando, mouth full of the protein bar. Mando spoke, "You shouldn't feed him so much."

The girl, to his surprise, replied easily, "He was hungry."

"He's always hungry," Mando sighed, "He'll keep eating if you let him."

He watched her. She looked at the Child, smiling softly when the baby made eye contact. She looked sad most of the time, but if her story about her family was true – Mando didn't expect happiness out of her. She always made a point to smile at the Child though, but her grey eyes still looked close to tears at almost any moment. Mando watched – and watched – and watched. He tried to understand, tried to make sense of her. Karga's lead was that she was a witch, but he had seen nothing to indicate as such. But Mando only grew more and more frustrated each time she denied it.