A Good Thing

-lessons-

A/N sorry this didn't make it up yesterday like I wanted. It will be a Monday update after this. Enjoy!

Chapter Two
-lessons-

Din slept for the better part of the next two days. Omera brought him his meals and the kid was so worn out from playing and the lingering strain from whatever it was he did back on Nevarro that he was happy to sleep with Winta. He felt a bit bad about that, but now that he was finally somewhere he felt safe enough to truly rest, all the stress and the injuries from the last few months hit him at once. It wasn't until the third day that he ventured from the barn. Not much seemed to have changed since they'd left. According to Omera, the krill harvest was coming to a close and soon they'd be focused on brewing spotchka and preparing the village for winter. When he asked how harsh they were, if it snowed, she had been emphatic that no, it did not snow. She hated the snow. He added that bit of information to the growing picture he had of her past.

The kid-he really should come up with something to call him-spent most of his time playing with the children or nestled into Din's side as he sat in the sun by the barn, cleaning and tuning his armor and weapons. He told Omera the light was better outside, which was true and the reason he'd sat there in the first place. The fact that he could watch her working in the ponds, even if he told himself he was keeping an eye on the kid, was just a happy coincidence. That's where he was when a thoughtful looking Winta, a plate of food in one hand and the kid tucked in her other arm found him one afternoon. She sat the food and her charge both down gently near his feet before plopping down too. Rather than launching into any questions or conversation, she focused on feeding the kid.

"Shouldn't you be in lessons right now?" None of them were sure how much the little green squirt understood, but he seemed interested enough in whatever it was they did for those few hours every morning.

"We're skipping. He was hungry and I was bored." Din was only partially successful at biting back a laugh as he bent back over his breastplate. Hopefully Omera wouldn't think it was his fault. Neither of them said anything for a while, both engrossed in their respective tasks. Eventually he felt her gaze burning a hole through his beskar, so he paused what he was doing and looked up at her.

"What?" Her eyes widened at being caught staring but she didn't look away.

"I asked momma how you wear that helmet over your ears the last time you were here but she said you don't have them because you aren't like him. Well, she thinks so anyway. It's not like she's seen either."

This time he didn't hold back the laugh.

"I'm as human as you, Winta." She accepted his answer with a solemn nod and helped the kid to another bite.

"So where did he come from?"

Hmm. How to answer that in a child friendly manner. The part of the story he actually knew wasn't exactly something he thought she needed to hear, nevermind the lingering shame he felt for turning the kid in in the first place. Where he'd been before he found him, well that was just as much a mystery to him.

"I'm not really sure. He was... a bounty. I didn't like the look of the guy that wanted him so..." He shrugged and looked up at her. Whatever she was expecting, that didn't seem to be it, or enough of an answer if the confused, "and then what" look she was giving him was anything to go by. Sighing, Din reached out to scratch the kid's wrinkled head and found himself repeating the Armorer's words. "He is a foundling in my care. Until he is of age or reunited with his own kind, he is as my... my son." It still felt strange to say regardless of the way he was beginning to allow himself to feel about the kid. Maybe he should teach him some Mando'a? Not that he spoke anything yet. Wondering if he would even understand anything but Basic, he nearly missed what Winta whispered to the kid. But he did hear it and he was sure he wasn't meant to.