Unmasked Love | The Mandalorian

|7|

We finally got back to the ship with everything we wanted when dusk had hit, making sure to set all of the parts out in order before taking a few steps back to rest. Well, I had all the pieces to put her back together. Now all I have to do is actually fix her up. 

"This is going to take forever," I moan out, slumping my shoulders in pure defeat. The sight of all the parts resting around the ship made my heart squeeze in sadness. I place a gentle hand on her frame and let out a small sigh, upset to see her in such bad shape. 

"Well, it may go faster if you care to help," Kuiil retorts in a matter-of-fact tone. I smile at him and nod my head, happy that we were going to have another pair of hands to help us out. "We will start at dawn. I have spoken," he finishes. He turns and heads back into his small shack, leaving Mando and me alone on the chilling terrain. 

I let out a small shiver as I walked up the ramp and into the ship, kicking my boots off near the open hangar door in an attempt to not track any mud through the somewhat clean ship. I cringe at how muddy my boots, clothes, and skin were. And I was hoping to fix that soon because I wasn't sure how much longer I could go walking around like this. 

I walk towards my room, but Mando calls my name out once, stopping me before I could let the door slide shut behind me. I turn my head and look over my shoulder, peering at my partner as I continued to stand in the doorway of my room. 

"Your ribs," he says, one of his gloved fingers pointing at the lower part of my torso. I follow his finger and notice the way I was cradling my aching ribs. I furrow my brows for a moment, wondering how long I had been doing that. 

"They're probably just broken. It's nothing too bad," I say sarcastically in an attempt to lighten the mood. 

"Let me wrap them up for you," he says, nodding his head with a sense of determination. His sense of determination had surprised me, but I wasn't complaining. 

"How about you go take a shower first and get your armor cleaned up," I say, smiling softly at him while flashing my brows, "I'll take one after you." 

I take a small step back and let the door slide shut in front of me before he could get anything else out. Once the door slid into a closed position, I let out a small sigh along with a shallow grunt of pain. My hand goes back to cradling my ribs while I leaned my head against the cold metal door. Fuck, now I was going to have to clean my door since I probably just got mud all over the usual pristine metal. 

I turn around and throw my blaster and hilt on my bed, my mind telling myself that I was thankful that I had at least cleaned those two things off on the ride back to the ship. I let my hair down and peel my shirt and pants off, throwing them down onto the clean floor. There was still a thick layer of mud caked on my olive-brown skin and it made me feel absolutely disgusting. 

I prayed that Mando would be quick in the shower because I wasn't so sure about how much longer I would be able to go feeling like this. Having a layer of mud caked on my skin wasn't something I was so keen on keeping. 

I think about five minutes had passed before I broke my streak of patience because the next thing I know, I'm slapping my hand on the door panel, letting the door slide right open. I peeked my head out of the doorway for a few moments to see that Mando was already stepping into his own private quarters. He looked clean and fresh, completely covered up as usual. 

I quickly snatch my towel up, lightly wrapping it around my body before grabbing a stack of clean clothes. I race to the bathroom and let the door slide shut behind me, throwing the towel onto the counter while I turned the water on. 

I step into the shower, letting the hot water run over my skin, washing away the thick layer of mud I had acquired on the job. I go to wash my arms off, but the second the scalding water met the light burns on my forearm, a loud yelp escaped past my lips. I whipped my arm up, quickly pressing it against the cold shower wall, biting my tongue to keep myself quiet.