Wrest Pin | The Mandalorian

Chapter Five: The Bed

Mando noticed when she woke up, and started moving around.

They weren't far off from Tatooine when he heard her go to change out of her sleepwear. It was almost interesting to him that she even bothered to change in the first place – but maybe she was the kind that couldn't sleep uncomfortable. Yet she somehow slept soundly on the floor of the ship. The kid had woken up some time before her, wanting food and Mando had given it to him – mostly because he knew the kid's cries would wake her and she would easily give the kid food without argument, and probably too much so it was better Mando fed him instead.

When she emerged into the cockpit, Mando noticed her bruise had darkened a bit in the few hours since he had seen her, but there wasn't much swelling. She smiled at the Child, and Mando noticed in her hand she had a protein bar that she was about to hand over. Mando turned in his chair and grabbed the bar from her just as the kid was reaching out to take it. The girl looked at him, clearly offended as she gasped, "Hey!"

"He doesn't need anymore," Mando turned back around, dropping the bar in front of him, "He just ate."

He heard the kid behind him making displeased sounds. It definitely wasn't crying – Mando knew the kid's cries, but the girl ate into it. She lifted the Child up and frowned, speaking to the baby, "How mean."

Mando sighed under the helmet. She sat in the Child's seat, putting him in her lap. He glanced at her, and she was staring at the hyperspace – much like she had done earlier before she had gone down to sleep. She looked at him suddenly, and Mando turned away. He heard her lean forward and she questioned, "So...what's Tatooine like?"

"Dry," Mando answered bluntly, "It's a desert planet."

She hummed, "Another desert...I dreamed about it last night, it didn't look like a desert."

He hoped it was just a normal dream and not some indication that the planet had been blown to smithereens. Though he didn't think losing Tatooine would be much of a loss. The planet was crawling with undesirables. And the damned Jawas. They were pests. He hadn't forgotten what they had done to his ship. Mando's mind focused once more when he heard the girl say, "You said you've spent a lot of time there...Is it special to you?"

"No," He said, "Many of my quarries would try to hide there, though."

She was silent. When he looked back at her, he could tell she was considering that. Her eyes always looked stormy, and they clashed with the soft features of her face. It seemed she was always thinking too much – but not about the right things. Stumbling over her own feet, and not paying attention. Maybe she was intelligent – he hadn't asked her much of her knowledge. But she wouldn't survive on her own, and Mando wished he'd stop worrying about that. He didn't know why he was worried about it in the first place. The Child squirmed on her lap, reaching for the protein bar in front of Mando. She was absentmindedly running her fingers over one of the Child's large ears.

"What?" It came out harsher than he had intended. Maybe he even sounded frustrated. She jumped, blinking at him a few moments.

"I just..." She paused, then, "You said quarries. As in bounties."

He stared at her. He was almost certain she had known he was a bounty hunter. So he didn't really know where her thought process was going. But she went on, "The people you would take in – what did they get into trouble for?"

That was...an odd question. He looked at the Child. The Child had been a bounty at some point and the Child had done nothing wrong. But before the kid...well – most of the quarries deserved being killed or brought it. But something told him the girl wouldn't understand. She couldn't understand that his killing of the Abyssin would have probably saved a few people's lives in exchange for just one – and it gave him the satisfaction of knowing he was dead. Which was something she most certainly wouldn't understand.