the curious happenstance of pedro pascal and din djarin [The Mandalorian]

One of those nights.

31st March 2020

The rest of the month flew by. Everything was still sort of settling. Winta seemed to be finding it... difficult. Usually, she had her friends back on Sorgan... so she spent most of the day either blabbing her mouth off to anyone who would listen or playing with the pets.

The cat... or, Butterscotch, he supposed, wasn't very playful. She liked to laze around. But Edgar wouldn't leave Winta alone after the first couple days and now they were practically inseparable, to the point where Pedro joked that she'd stolen his dog.

Din was in the middle of giving Butterscotch her weekly bath. He liked being able to care for her. Gave him something to do. So he found himself looking forward to it. He'd run the water, just warm enough to be comfortable, then pick her up and put her in. This time, though, Winta had offered to help, and... well, he couldn't just say no. Not with those wide eyes staring up at him.

"So what do I do now?"

She held the wet washcloth in her right hand and stared at the cat. Din had a firm hand holding Butterscotch in place so she wouldn't try to jump out, but he didn't really need to. She wasn't that much opposed to water. She didn't like it, no, she always looked pissed off during the whole endeavour, but she tolerated it enough and seemed to at least understand that it was for hygiene.

"Use this soap." It was technically shampoo - for cats - but he always called it soap. "Put a little on the cloth, yes, like that, that's a good amount- and then gently, gently cover her with it. Use circle motions."

He watched carefully as Winta ran the cloth over the cat until he felt there was a decent amount of lather. He then reached for a small paper cup Pedro had lent him and handed it back over to Winta.

"Scoop up some of the bathwater," he said, "and then pour it over where there's soap. That's it, gentle."

She finished pouring the water, and scooped some more to get rid of the last bits of soap. After that Din grabbed the towel which had been draped over the radiator for warmth, then drained what little bathwater sat in the tub. He quickly scooped Butterscotch into his arms - ignoring her meows of protest - and wrapped the warm towel around her like a baby.

"Meow."

"I know."

"Meow."

"I know, I'm the worst. Forcing you to have a bath. I'm a terrible cat-dad. But it's over now, no more water. And no more oil-stained bedsheets." He sighed. "For a while, at least. Oily cat."

Winta giggled. "Oily Butterscotch."

"The oiliest. You want to hold her?"

"Is she heavy?"

"A bit. Here." He leaned over, holding Butterscotch out in his arms, gesturing for Winta to take her. She held out her arms and Din gently lowered the cat into them, waiting until Winta had a proper grip around her.

Slowly he pulled back his own arms. "Good?"

"Yeah." Winta smiled down at Butterscotch, who in turn stared up with an unimpressed look, evident even with a cat's non-expressive face. "Can I show Ma?"

Din used the wall to pull himself to his feet. "If you're careful."

"The carefullest!"

Such a wonderful girl. He couldn't help but smile as he watched her carry Butterscotch out to show Omera.

-

It was late. He wasn't sure how late exactly, he couldn't be arsed rolling over to check the clock on his bedside, but he couldn't see the moon outside his window which meant it must've been at least around midnight. He'd been going to bed earlier and earlier even if he didn't sleep. Winta's bedtime was around nine, and Omera usually went to bed soon after. So he joined them, even if just to hold quiet conversations with her until they both passed out from exhaustion.