Vibrant Eyes | Din Djarin

49: will

In the silence that fell upon them, Din heard his heartbeat loud and clear like a drumbeat.

He was knelt on the ground before Ira, his... well. Their eyes focused on the helmet in her hands. His helmet. 

The one he knelt for her to take, the sign of the bond that now connected them eternally. Slowly, he looked back up to her face to find lavender eyes already on him. A sign that she was focusing on whatever it was of him that she saw. He let her with heat engulfing his ears and nerves rattling in his chest.

Ira. The third member of his clan. His wife.

Din focused on his helmet again. He scarcely took it off, scarcely saw it sitting before him, and to have another holding it as he did felt strange beyond belief. But it also felt right. And Din would not shy away from what felt right.

Ira slowly set the helmet down on the table next to her and they listened to the sound of beskar against the surface with the steady hum of the ship in the background. Din remained entirely still, controlled breaths filtering through his lips as his chest heaved. Despite knowing she couldn't see him, this was easily the most nerve-wracking moment of his entire life.

Because she was the one that lifted his helmet from his head. She was the one to get permission from the Armorer to join his clan. She was his Ira. His wife and more. A lover, if she wished it. The woman he loved. His riduur; his partner.

He watched her hands raise until callused fingers ghosted over the skin of his cheek. It was such a foreign sensation that Din gasped, breath hitching in his throat. The hand on her knee tightened its hold and the other reached to grip at her forearm, encouraging her, anchoring his composure. Then her warm palms covered the skin of his cheeks and her fingertips delved into the scruff of his beard.

Din's eyes fluttered closed into the sensation, love and reverence swelling as an ache in his chest. "Ira," he whispered hoarsely. 

Her name sounded new on his tongue without the modulator of his helmet, with the new meaning that came with it.

His wife.

Her breath hitched and he opened his eyes to find hers pinned intently on his. Lavender and clouds and the glimmer of tears biding their time. She held to his face tighter, nails scraping lightly through the hairs. Din nearly groaned, leaning into her touch.

"Hello, Husband," she hummed, voice quivering.

Din's heart fluttered. He grinned uncontrollably, relishing in the reality of their ties to one another. Relishing in being hers.

Maker, she was so gorgeous.

Ira leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his. A hand traced up his jaw and delved into his hair. The feel of her nails against his scalp and the gentle tug on the strands was unlike anything he had ever felt before.

He shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut, willing his heart to stay strong. Willed himself not to collapse and crumble under this utter bliss and happiness.

As her breath coasted over his lips, Din's eyes shot open. And for not the first time, he wanted to kiss her. But this time he could. He actually could because they were a clan of three now, and she was his partner until death.

"Din."

His shaky breaths were her only answer and a smile crawled across her lips. Kriff, he really really wanted to kiss her.

Ira murmured, "I love you."

So he did.

Din leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. She jolted in surprise and he held her close to him, a hand snaking into her hair as the other remained on her knee. Her lips were soft, their warmth cathartic, and her presence swallowed him whole. Ira pressed forward and returned it. Their lips slid against one another, noses pressing into cheeks, and bodies careening forward as one.

Maker, he loved her. More than any star, any home he ever had. He loved her with every atom of his being and every cosmos that shone with her brilliance.

When they pulled away, Din couldn't bring himself to relinquish the feeling of her touch. He trailed his lips along the scar on her jaw then all the way to her ear, relishing in the tightening of her hold. As he did, he slowly rose until he stooped over her, lips caressing the spot behind her ear.

And he whispered with all the surety he'd ever known, "I love you, Ira."

She pulled him into another kiss, this one deeper than the last, more confident. More permanent and binding. Her fingernails scratched at his beard and scalp all the while, huffed breaths brushing by heated skin. 

He fell in love all over again a thousand times in that one kiss, vowing to never leave her side. Vowing never to forget a moment of this.

Suddenly, she pulled away from him with a gasp. They were both heaving, and her enchanting eyes were heavy-lidded, shadows darkening the hues into something addicting. She'd never been more beautiful in his eyes.

"The Child stirs," she breathed, voice husky.

Din rubbed his hand up her leg, an action he didn't even move to make. "Will you tell him?"

Ira blinked at him, an intensity to her expression that intoxicated him.

"In a moment," she rushed out, then dove forward and kissed him once more.

He lost track of time with that kiss. Lost his hold of reality and spiraled into endless bliss in his wife's arms. In her touch and her kiss and the love that poured from every action. Din couldn't feel others' emotions like she could, but he could feel hers as clearly as his own.

Din forced himself to pull away at some point. "He's awake, isn't he?"

"Hmm."

"Ira."

"Alright," she sighed, reluctantly pulling away with a huff to collect the crimson on her cheeks. Ira smiled wildly at him. "Our foundling awaits."

Our.

He'd never been so happy in his life.

But this was only the beginning, and he would treasure every moment he got.