Vibrant Eyes | Din Djarin

27: found.

Venus became a constant. 

The day they left Kuiil's, when asked about her plans for the future, her response was not one he could have truly anticipated. Although, at that point, he was no longer surprised about that. She was the most unpredictable person he had ever met, after all.

Venus had claimed that she belonged at his side. She explained in her usual roundabout way that she would stay with him to care for the child. Although neither mentioned the incident of her very first day in that role, Din certainly thought it. Luckily she specified that she was very familiar with what it took to care for a child. At some point he had even admitted that he was pretty much clueless about all that needed to be done. 

And from then she vowed to stay by his side and teach him how to care for his son. A sentiment he hadn't bothered correcting.

Because, though he wouldn't admit it, he liked the idea of being the Child's father. Even if his quest centered around finding the child's true home and leaving him with them. A sentiment that was becoming harder and harder to ignore with every day that passed.

At first, at her vowing herself to him, Din was hesitant. He wasn't sure about more time with Venus. Once, at the thought, he declared he'd go insane within the day. That didn't mean that he wouldn't, but he didn't know if he minded anymore. Especially with how frustrating and fascinating in equal parts it was to watch the mystery that was this single woman unfold by the day.

It had been about a month since everything happened.

As he'd once predicted, every day was its own adventure. Some days she proved to be flighty and not-all-there as he knew her to be. Some she seemed entrenched in thought and silence. She would spend hours with the child and then none at all. Floating in and out of life and reality in a way that was... concerning. 

Rather than endearing, enigmatic, or annoying, he mostly found himself staring after her after she'd walked away. Watching and waiting to see what would become of her next. Despite himself, despite how he may have, at one point, preferred anything to the mess of confusion that was the misty Venus, he preferred most of all to know she was alright. That in itself was frustrating as hell.

However, most days were alright. 

She would coach him in caring for the child to a degree he hadn't truly done before. Washing and bathing, the right nutrients to give it, and even how much water it drank. Somedays as she explained the technicalities he found himself staring at the subtle gestures her hands made, the vowels her lips formed, and the calming clarity in lavender eyes.

Still, she was... strange. As much as she ever had been. He no longer thought of her as useless or troublesome, to an extent, but rather... an enigma. 

A person of knowledge and a past he couldn't even begin to guess at.

Her hands were littered in small scars. There was that one on her jawline. She always wore that one small braid behind her ear and in moments of relaxation she would fiddle with it, a subtle smile tugging at her countenance. And yet it brought waves of pain to wash her eyes into darker hues and darker days.

Not to mention that... thing she carried. 

He'd noticed it since the very first day they met and realized that he had never once seen her without it. Clipped to her belt most days, it was a cylinder of blacks, silvers, and gold almost as long as her forearm. It looked like it might have had a button, surrounded in a rim of gold just as the rest of the device.

But she never touched it. It simply remained with her like a treasured piece of jewelry besides the fact that he could recognize it must have a use to warrant the worn handle. And a use she'd utilized many times before.

Venus was a mystery, a mystifying one at that, and he was no closer to figuring her out than he had ever been.

"Mando?"

Din blinked and turned his helmet to her. "Yes?"

Venus smirked, eyes clear. "Were you listening?"

"Yes," he lied.

He couldn't fool her. He'd learned that from the very moment they met. But she often let him get away with it, as she did then.

"Hmm. Alright."

Din listened after that. Kind of.

Not really.