Vibrant Eyes | Din Djarin

29: bond

Venus brandished a knife at him.

They stood in the small storage closet which held all of their food stores. Din actually stood just outside of it since it was certainly not big enough for two people, least of all two people with one wearing all of this armor. She leaned on the small shelf for preparing food with a variety of fruits and vegetables gathered on the surface. 

And she waved a knife around as she spoke. 

"While the correct nutrients are important, we shall also avoid any hazards."

Din glanced at the child nestled in the bag at her side, chest warming as it babbled up at him the moment it noticed his gaze. "What kind of hazards?"

He imagined one was waving a knife around like a lunatic, but he wasn't going to mention it.

"Oh, there are many."

He didn't like the sound of that. "Like?"

"One at a time, hmm?"

He looked down at the Child again, rolling his eyes silently. "Alright."

"We'll focus on choking first."

"Choking?"

He studied the kid, realizing he hadn't thought of that before. After all, he'd seen the kid swallow frogs whole. And he could chew.

He voiced as much.

Venus huffed a laugh, caressing the kid's ear briefly. "Yes, well, their fragility is randomly selective. Anyone can choke on anything, it's simply best not to risk it."

Din had been living alone for so long that it was strange to think he might be responsible for helping in a situation like that if it happened. And he'd have to rely on her if it happened to him. The thought was vaguely terrifying but at the same time... it might have given him an excuse to never wish her to leave. To spend the rest of his days with Venus and the Child at his side.

The thought of forever with her scared him, but forever without her scared him even more.

"So?"

"So," she said, holding the knife steady in the air and lifting it to eye level. "We cut it down."

She proceeded to show him the methods of cutting the fruits and vegetables into small cubes and chunks that the kid was less likely to choke on. He thought she may have been a little less steady with the knife, but her accuracy was good enough to be concerning. She didn't even glance at her hands as she diced the array of food before them into meticulous, uniform pieces. 

She wielded it like an extension to her body as a whole.

Din watched over her shoulder and the kid stayed silent, staring as much as he did. The sounds in the ship soon lowered to the humming of the ship beneath them, the gentle huffs of their breaths, and the melody of a knife slicing through flesh. No matter if it was only fruit and other foods.

Din was mesmerized and did his best to ignore the pounding of his heart with each skillful movement of her hands.

When she finished with one of everything that they bought, Venus carefully turned around. It was then he realized how close he stood, for if she lifted a hand and extended it even the slightest bit it would rest on his chest plate. The thought warmed his skin, and he took a step back.

Venus looked up at him and he watched her lift the blade. With an ease he wondered on, she flipped it in her hand so the handle was extended to him. The air seemed to crackle with tension, and he had no wish to cut it with any knife, the one she wielded or not.

"Your turn," she breathed.

Din took the knife, gloved hand brushing her bare one, and then they switched places. She guided with gentle touches on his elbows and murmured instructions, as well as specifications for each particular item. The kid babbled happily in the background as he watched them interact and it worked as a pleasant soundtrack, awakening an unfamiliar warmth in his chest.

A once empty, silent ship filled with a child's mindless babbles, a woman's murmured words and laughter, and even his own. Sounds of joy that had never before been so frequent than with them.

He was almost done when he realized how utterly domestic it all was.

Never would he have thought he'd survive such an atmosphere but... here he was. With Venus. With the kid. Slicing fruits for balanced meals like a proper parent. And when he finished, they worked together to divvy everything into separate containers for future use.

He dared to consider if this was what a family felt like.