Work Text:
It’s a Tuesday afternoon in the school holidays when Grogu runs out of his room and into the living room. The front door has only just closed behind Cara, and Din is sprawled on the couch after a long day at work.
Din knows he’s lucky to have a job that’s already so lenient with his hours, and that Boba lets him have the flexibility to work around Grogu’s schedule. Plus, he’s doubly lucky to have people like Cara who can come around and watch the kid. Still, there are some days when he wishes he could stay at home full-time. Like now, when Grogu plants himself in front of Din, and promptly bursts into tears.
Din sits up and opens his arms, and Grogu flings himself into a hug.
Din’s heart is pounding-– it never gets any easier to see your kid cry, even though Grogu isn’t a kid anymore, he’s fifteen and a goddamn teenager, oh god they grow up so fast, he’s not the womp rat Din took in from the street or the ten-year-old that gripped his hand outside the courthouse when the adoption papers finally came through.
But he’s still Din’s kid, and Din would protect him with his life.
“What’s wrong, kid?” He tries to keep his voice steady, and not show how panicked he is. He rubs a soothing hand across Grogu’s back.
“They’re gone!” Grogu’s voice wobbles before he starts crying again.
“Breathe, breathe with me, okay.” He waits until Grogu’s breath evens out and he’s only occasionally hiccupping before speaking again. “What’s gone?”
“The stories!”
Oh god, Din thought, as he continued to rub his son’s back. Oh god.
When Grogu had first explained the stories to him, Din had been more than a little confused.
He’d been rambling excitedly about the movie they’d watched the week before, about monsters and cool fight scenes and robots with swords, and the house that one of the main characters built after the war, and Din had been nodding along, half-preoccupied with making sure the pasta sauce wasn’t burning, before Grogu’s words caught up to him, wait, that didn’t happen in the movie––
Which led to Grogu explaining the concept of fan fiction, and a year later, led to here. Din sitting in front of his computer, having found the account the stories Grogu loved so much were posted from, which led to a Twitter account, which led to fucking LiveJournal, what the fuck, he thought that website was dead, which finally, led to an email address.
And sure, Din had done his research. He wasn’t that old, he knew about fan fiction and fan conventions, and although he knew about the ugly side too and how it was frowned upon in the mainstream, Din was just happy his kid was happy, and happy that he was so open about it with him. He poked around the website a little, and double checked that Grogu knew how to navigate around it and what all the warnings meant so he knew what he was getting into, and left it at that. Din’s a parent, he knew how to take the curveballs as they came.
But he feels decidedly out of his depth as he stares at his email inbox.
How does one send an email like this?
If it were anyone else, Din might awkwardly laugh, maybe pat their back in condolences. They were just stories, right? Sure, it sucked that they’d disappeared off the internet, but stuff went missing all the time. It wasn’t that big of a deal.
Except Grogu’s eyes had lit up when he’d explained it to Din, except that he talked and talked and talked about the new stories he was reading and what the characters he loved were doing. Except that it was a sanctuary for Grogu. Something that he loved.
And for his kid? He’d do anything.
He takes a deep breath, and clicks Compose message.
Hi there. My name is Din.
You don’t know who I am, but long story short, my son loves your stories that you post on Archive Of Our Own, under the username JEDI. They seem to have disappeared off your profile, and it would mean a lot to him if you could let me know where to find them.
Thanks in advance,
Din.
He hits send before he can overthink it anymore and lets out a breath.
Anything for the kid, he thinks. Anything.
To be honest, he’s not expecting a reply.
This guy who posts the stories-– according to his Twitter account-– is immensely popular. Tens of thousands of followers popular. And a quick Google of the username shows active forums and art and lots and lots of fans clearly enamoured with the guy. Din is sure his is just another email in a sea of emails this guy will ignore.
On the third day, when Grogu comes into the kitchen for breakfast still looking wobbly and sad, Din sends a quick follow up email. He doesn’t want to be one of those guys, but Grogu being upset is the quickest and most sure way to get him to do anything. He doesn’t say much, a simple it’s me again, just following up as politely and as corporate as he can, and he hopes its enough.
A week later, there’s an unread email sitting in his inbox.
Hi Din!
Apologies for the late reply, it’s been a bit hectic on my end recently. Thanks for the message, I’m glad to hear that your son enjoys my writing!
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to find those stories online anymore, as I took them down for a reason that I’m unable to disclose. However, I understand what it’s like to love a story, and I’m honoured that your son decided that he loves mine, enough for you to contact me. I am happy to send you a physical copy of my stories. If that suits, please let me know what address I should send it to. I just ask you not to distribute it anywhere else.
Thanks again for your email, and I look forward to hearing from you soon 😊
Luke Skywalker
Din stops in the middle of the office floor, and stares at his phone with his mouth open, rereading the message twice. Not only replying to his email, but willing to send physical copies directly to his doorstop? Din fires back his address before Luke Skywalker can change his mind, and rereads the email once more before Boba shouts at him to get back to work. He pockets his phone and heads back to his desk, a renewed spring in his step. Maybe now Grogu won’t look as lost. As his computer boots back up, Din crosses his fingers under the table for a second. Here’s hoping.
When Din gets home from work, he realises that he probably shouldn’t have just disclosed his address to a literal stranger, even if he was asking for a favour and even if Grogu liked his work very much, although his son did have an incredible knack for checking people’s vibes. He spends two weeks fretting about it before the package arrives without any fanfare, and Din lets himself relax, slightly.
Din knocks on Grogu’s door, palms sweating. What if he doesn’t like it? What if he didn’t want this at all and Din is actually a terrible father, or worse, what if the package is wrong, and Grogu gets upset––
He hears a hmmm? from inside, and he opens the door. Grogu is nestled in the beanbag in the corner of his room, lava lamp lit up next to him, and drawing something on his sketchpad.
“Hey kid. I have a surprise for you.”
Grogu’s eyes widen as he looks up. Din sits down on the floor next to him as he excitedly takes the package and unwraps it. When the book is free from the wrapping paper, Grogu takes a second to flip through it, while Din watches him anxiously.
And to his complete horror, Grogu begins to cry.
Fuck I fucked up goddamnit––
Grogu flings himself at Din.
“Best dad in the world oh my god oh my god––”
Relief floods Din as he hugs his son back. “You like it?”
“Yes!” Grogu pulls back to run his hands reverently over the plastic cover. “Jedi!”
Din nods. “Sure is, buddy.”
Grogu smiles from ear to ear and signs, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Din signs back. He ruffles Grogu’s hair before standing, taking the hint that Grogu wanted to be alone.
He takes a moment to watch Grogu wriggle more securely into his beanbag with Luke Skywalker’s book open on his lap, before closing the door softly behind him. He flops down onto the living room couch before allowing himself a small smile.
Best dad in the world. He’ll hold Grogu’s grin in his heart forever.
It’s another couple of weeks before Din realises that he should probably send Luke Skywalker a thank you email.
In his defence, Grogu had been so happy during that time that it was hard to think of much else. Din watched his son sit for hours and hours reading the clearly home printed and bound book and all the worries about Grogu being too introverted and lacking in friends and the new school year looming ahead faded into the background. He was happy, right? That’s all that mattered.
Your stories arrived, he sends Luke. Grogu is ecstatic. Once again, thank you so much, I really appreciate you going out of your way to do this.
He sends it and doesn’t think much else about Luke Skywalker.
So he’s surprised when another package arrives at his door, with a note attached this time.
Din, says the note.
That’s great that Grogu enjoyed my stories, glad it got to you alright! I thought Grogu might also like a copy of my new book that’s coming out. It hasn’t been released for purchase yet, so let’s keep this between us. Hope you’re well.
Luke
For the second time, Din is stunned by Luke Skywalker. He’s a published author? With real, physical books? Up until this point, Din was under the impression that Luke was just some guy who wrote stories for fun on the internet. Just something to pass the time, something for people to enjoy, not someone who wrote well enough to be published. And for him to send a copy of his new book, which wasn’t even officially out yet, to a stranger who’d he’d had minimal contact with? What kind of guy did that?
He unwraps the package himself this time, revealing a beautiful hardcover book with blue and purple swirls on the front, and the title in gold lettering. Along the bottom of the cover, it says A NOVEL BY LUKE SKYWALKER.
He brings the book with him that afternoon when he picks Grogu up from school.
“Hey kid, got something for you.”
Grogu drops his backpack into the backseat of Din’s truck, and brightens when he sees the book in Din’s hands. The book is in his lap and he’s cracking it open to the first page before Din can open his mouth to remind him not to read in the car in case he gets carsick. And it only takes a second after that before he’s yelling, “JEDI!” and pointing excitedly at the book.
Din grins at his son, merging into traffic to begin their journey home. “How did you know?”
Grogu points at the book, and Din takes his eyes off the road for a moment to see that his finger is on the words of the first page. “Guess you recognised his writing?” Din extrapolates. Grogu nods in return, and that’s all he gets out of him before his head is bent over the book, absorbed in the story already.
Din feels a vague sense of relief at the lack of questions. He doesn’t know how to begin explaining that yes, he stalked the writer of Grogu’s stories enough to find his email, and then sent said author an email, and the author actually replied, and more than that, sent Grogu not only the no longer available stories, but a book he’d written.
Maybe I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Din thinks as he pulls into the driveway of their home, and watches Grogu fish his backpack from the backseat, exit the car, and open the front door, all while not looking up from the book. By the time Din has locked the car and made his own way into the house, Grogu is firmly planted on the couch, clearly not intending to move for a couple of hours. If it made his son so happy, who was he to question it?
Grogu finishes Luke’s book within two days, and he won’t stop talking about it.
And Din loves his son, he really does, but Grogu keeps asking Din questions about the book like he would know the answers-- what do you think will happen to this character? What about this one?-- and then he gets frustrated when Din just shrugs helplessly. It’s only a matter of time before Grogu realises the quickest way to solve this problem is for Din to read the book himself.
It takes Din a couple of days to get around to it, but one weekend Grogu all but pushes the book into his hands and then Din himself onto the couch, with firm instructions to a) not move until he’s finished the book, and b) take very very very good care of the book, okay Dad? And Din crosses his heart with his pinky, looking at Grogu in the eyes, and when Grogu is satisfied that Din will keep his promise and Cara picks him up for their fortnightly hangouts, Din cracks open the book and finally begins to read it on his own.
He’s three pages in before he thinks to himself, oh god it’s actually good.
Not that he was doubting Luke’s ability as a writer. But Grogu’s fifteen and Din’s pushing forty, and anyway, he’d never been a big reader himself. But Luke told a story of a galaxy far, far away, and family, and a war, and bravery and doing what was right, and what seemed like a minute later the front door was slamming to announce that Grogu and Cara were back. He hadn’t even noticed the time slipping by.
“What’d you guys get up to?” He gets up just as Grogu bounds into the living room, and only just has time to grab a bookmark to keep his place in the book before Grogu is hurtling in for a hug. Din catches him with an oof.
“Went to the park, threw a frisbee around. Then went and looked at the duck pond. Pretty chill.” Cara comes in with Grogu’s backpack on her shoulder. “You’re getting old, Djarin. I heard that oof.”
Din snorts. “I don’t work out for a living like you.” He looks down at Grogu’s head. “And you’re all grown up now, huh?”
Grogu tilts his head up, blinking in response. “Dinner?”
“Soon.” He lets go of Grogu to get started on dinner, and Grogu and Cara follow him to sit at the kitchen counter.
Sometimes, Din thinks that he’s gotten pretty damn lucky with his life. Even with his less than happy childhood and teen years (and to be honest, young adult years too), he still ended up with good friends in his life like Cara, a stable job with a good boss, and a house he can call his own. Most of all, he’s lucky to have Grogu in his life. As he chops vegetables for a stir fry, and watches Grogu lob frog-shaped lollies into the air for Cara to catch in her mouth, Grogu laughing delightedly each time whether she catches or misses them, he thinks about how the kid has changed his entire life.
Yeah. He’s the luckiest guy in the world.
Cara’s description of the day being pretty chill clearly has a different meaning when it comes from her, because Grogu starts to nod off as soon as he finishes inhaling his dinner, exhausted from the day. Din gently pushes him towards his room and tells him to go to bed, and he’s so tired he doesn’t even remember to ask Din about Luke’s book.
He comes back into the kitchen to begin cleaning up, where Cara has cracked open a beer. They shoot the shit for a while as Din washes and dries the dishes, and it’s late when Cara finally says goodbye. Din’s about to head to bed himself when he spies the book on the coffee table where he’d left it before dinner.
He only hesitates for a second-– 7AM isn’t that early of a start, right?-– before swiping the book off the table and bringing it with him into his bedroom.
His bedside clock reads 3AM when he turns the last page. Din switches his bedside lamp off and turns over to catch what little rest he can, resigned to being tired at work the next day.
Fuckin' Luke Skywalker, he thinks ruefully, before he drifts off to sleep.
Dear Luke,
Grogu loved your book, and he pestered me so much that I read it too. It was great. I especially liked the bit where the main character is standing outside his childhood home watching the sunset.
Grogu wants to know if there’ll be a sequel. Any chance you can put a stop to the suspense?
Din
Luke replies less than a day later.
Hi Din!
So good to hear from you again-– and I’m really glad you and Grogu enjoyed the book. My editor and publisher are sick of reading about these characters, and it’s always good to get a fresh set of eyes, so thank you for taking the time do to that!
It’s actually the first book in a three-part series, so you’ve got the next two books to look forward to! Plus I’ve got all these ideas for a prequel as well, but I’ve yet to discuss any of that with my publishers. No spoilers though. (mostly because I myself don’t know what’s going to happen yet either, haha)
Hope you’re well.
Luke.
And that’s how it begins. It goes like this for a couple of months, Din and Luke emailing back and forth, mostly about Luke’s work, and Luke asking after Grogu at first, but then Din lets slip that Luke’s description of getting arrested in his book isn’t at all accurate, and Luke asks how he knows that, and one story leads to another, and eventually, Din finds himself telling Luke more about his life than he's told anyone before.
It gets to the point where he's smiling at his phone so much that Cara starts asking about secret boyfriends.
“C’mon, spill. There’s gotta be something!” She narrows her eyes. “And I know it’s not to do with the kid because you’ve shown me every photo you’ve taken of him already. There’s no way you’d pass up on a chance to show him off.”
“Fuck off, Dune,” he mutters, and buys a privacy screen protector for his phone and laptop to stop any snooping eyes.
It’s not until Din and Grogu are doing their monthly mall shop– they only go when they absolutely have to because Grogu doesn’t like loud places and Din doesn’t like people-– that Din realises how deep he’s in.
They walk past a suit shop tucked in between Grogu’s favourite bookstore and the pharmacy, and Din catches a glimpse of the display in the front window. Apparently this season's trend is deep, jewel tones; not a statement, but certainly not ordinary either, and Din catches himself absentmindedly thinking whether Luke would wear an ordinary suit or a statement suit for the premiere of the movie adaption of his book that he mentioned was in the works, even though it’s more than a year away, and––
Oh god, he thinks. I’m fucked.
Din freaks out about it for all of two seconds, and then he remembers he’s never even seen what Luke looks like in person, so he tries to act like a normal adult human about it. By which he means he painstakingly rewrites every email he sends to Luke at least three times before actually sending it, terrified that he’s revealing too much or seeming too distant, or just generally being weird and making Luke uncomfortable. If Luke notices, he gives no indication, his replies as cheerful and bright as always.
In December, Din gets an email from Luke that’s a little different.
Din,
I’m doing a tour for my new book in a couple of months, and I’ve got a talk and book signing near you. It would be really really cool if you and Grogu came? Here are the details.
Luke
There’s a PDF attached, and Din clicks on it. When it opens, his eyes widen.
It’s a flyer for the event, with details about location, time, and ticketing. Din notes vaguely that it’s going to be on the flashier side of town.
But what really catches his eye is the man pictured on the flyer. Smooth, glowing skin, soft-looking blonde hair, eyes crinkled up into a smile which flashed brilliant white teeth. He’s lounging on an armchair, one leg stretched out over the armrest and one arm tossed over the back, lowered eyes, looking at the camera through his eyelashes.
This is Luke?
Din is suddenly acutely aware of the moustache he hasn’t shaved for a couple of days, his hair that’s long overdue for a haircut, and the scars and callouses on his hands from the life he had before he adopted Grogu.
Din is still staring at the photo of Luke, reeling after finally being able to put a face to the name, when his phone pings, alerting him of a new email in his inbox.
Only if you want, of course! No pressure, you’re probably pretty busy. But if you wanted to come, I’ve can grab some tickets for you.
Luke
A door opens and closes further into the house, and Grogu wanders into the kitchen. Din pushes the bowl of grapes he was snacking on towards him, and Grogu pulls the bowl closer to him, signing thank you.
“Hey Grogu. What do you think about heading to this?” He turns his laptop so Grogu can see the screen. It’s clear Grogu has spent more time on the internet than Din has because he recognises the picture of Luke, brightening and pointing at the screen. “Jedi!”
Din smiles despite himself. “Is that a yes?”
Grogu nods solemnly, and Din turns his laptop back to himself, and clicks Reply.
We’d love to come. See you in a few months 😊
Din
Christmas and New Years come and go, and winter brings heavy snowfall that covers the city. It means Boba gets everybody to work from home for a few weeks, and Grogu’s school does the same with classes. It’s a cold few months, but Din gets to be at home with his son, and with him and Luke are still emailing back and forth, he finds it easy to stay warm.
There’s still snow on the ground when the morning of Luke’s talk arrives, and Grogu is so full of excitement and energy that Din forgets to be nervous himself. They have to take a bus, a train, and another bus to get there (because fuck parking in the city), and by the time they arrive at the bookshop where the talk is taking place, Grogu has told six separate people where they were headed and all the reasons why they should read Luke Skywalker’s new book.
Even though they arrive a good twenty minutes before the talk is scheduled to start, the store is packed already, full of customers clutching the familiar blue and purple cover, and the line to the counter stretches out onto the street. Din thinks smugly of the book carefully wrapped in Grogu’s backpack, and follows his son further into the shop to sit down.
Before long, a woman sits in one of the two armchairs set up at the front of the store, and taps on a microphone, asking for quiet.
“Welcome, everybody! Thank you so much for coming down to Unity Books for this special event. My name is Chloe, and I will be your host today. But enough about me, let me introduce to the reason we’re all here: Luke Skywalker, everybody!”
The crowd cheers as a man walks out, and Din’s breath catches.
The host reads out the rest of Luke’s blurb, but Din barely hears any of it. He stares at Luke, his easy smile and the graceful way he sits on the chair, legs crossed at the ankles, and constantly swiping at his bangs which keep falling in front of his eyes.
To say that he’s beautiful would be to sell him short.
The talk passes in a blur, Din still too stunned by the sight of the man in front of him. It seems as if the crowd are enjoying themselves, and Luke himself is a natural charmer, answering questions with ease and making everybody laugh.
Grogu even asks a question, putting his hand up and signing, “Can you tell us more about what will happen next in the series?”
Din moves to interpret, but Luke speaks before he can, speaking and signing at the same time. “Great question! The question was about what might happen next. I can’t tell you too much about that, but what I can say is that people should keep an eye out for something new hitting the shelves later this year.”
An excited murmur runs through the crowd, and the event quickly wraps up after that. Din barely has time to be impressed at Luke's knowledge of ASL before the crowd moves in a rush to the table where Luke will be signing copies of his book. Din lingers behind the bulk of the crowd, taking a moment to make sure Grogu has everything securely in his bag before they join the line.
“Did you enjoy the event, kiddo?” he asks him.
Grogu nods vigorously, fiddling with one of the pompoms that dangle from his beanie. He has Luke’s book tucked under one arm, and while he doesn’t look overwhelmed, Din keeps half an eye on the people bustling around them to make sure that doesn’t change.
The line moves slowly, but surely, and before long, the two of them are standing in front of the desk.
“Hi there.” Luke greets Grogu first with a smile, before looking up at Din. His eyes linger for a second, before returning to Grogu, and Din feels a flicker of disappointment before remembering that Luke has no idea what he looks like.
“Jedi.” Grogu is shy all of a sudden, clutching Luke’s book to his chest and half hiding behind Din.
“Oh!” Luke looks up at Din again, properly meeting his eyes this time, and Din sticks out his hand, feeling smoother than he’s ever been before.
“Din Djarin. Nice to meet you.”
Luke breaks into a wide grin, before taking his hand in a firm grip. “Luke Skywalker.” His gaze drifts past Din, and he says apologetically, “Sorry, but if you wouldn’t mind waiting? You’re not in a rush?”
Din follows his gaze to the line behind him, which has only gotten longer, and shakes his head. “Not at all.”
Luke grins again at him, which disarms Din all over again, and finally lets go of Din’s hand. “Amazing. I really want to talk to you properly.” He looks down at Grogu, who is still sticking close to Din. “And I’d love to talk to you properly about Mako and Raleigh, Grogu.”
Din only vaguely recognises the names from the stories Luke took offline, but Grogu’s head shoots up and he begins to bounce on the spot. “Jedi!”
Luke laughs. “I’ll see you guys soon, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Din manages, before he ushers Grogu into a quieter corner of the bookshop. Grogu has lost all his shyness, and is vibrating with excitement. Din, on the other hand, has to get his shit together before he loses it, because he’s really too old to be freaking out over a cute guy like this.
It’s about an hour before the crowd finally begins to disperse, and the staff begin to pack down the event.
Din and Grogu are crouched together, reading the titles of the science fiction section when a cough interrupts them.
“Hey.”
Luke Skywalker is looking at both of them, looking just a beautiful as he did before he signed three hundred books and talked to three hundred people.
“Hi,” Din replies. He knows that he’s staring, but he can’t bring himself to stop, or care about it.
His staring only makes Luke grin wider. Luckily, Grogu interrupts them.
“Can you tell me what will happen next in the series?”
When Luke laughs, Din notes, he does it with his whole body, and he does so now.
“Can’t buddy, sorry about that.” He looks up at Din, before continuing, “There’s a pretty good restaurant near here. Are you guys hungry?”
Grogu whips around to stare at Din imploringly, and Din finds very little reason to say no to the implied invitation. “We could definitely eat. Lead the way.”
Luke takes them down a side street into a cute bistro, where the people seem to know him, and they’re shown to a quiet table in the back. When they’ve all ordered and are settled down, Luke takes a folder out of his bag.
“This isn’t the new book in the series. But I wanted to write more about Mako and Raleigh, and I'm not allowed to post it online. So I’ve got it here for you.”
He puts the folder on the table in front of Grogu, whose eyes have gotten so big they look like moons. He signs the quickest “thank you!” Din has ever seen before he opens the folder and his eyes are hungrily reading.
“You won’t be able to get his attention for the rest of the day,” Din comments.
Luke shrugs. “That’s okay. It’s honestly a complement that somebody likes my writing that much.”
“He loves them.”
Luke smiles. “Yeah. I know what it’s like to love a story that much. It’s why I replied to your email.”
They lapse into silence as their food arrives, Grogu too engrossed with Luke’s gift that he doesn’t look up to eat, flapping his hand around for a moment before it makes contact with his burger.
Luke’s shoulders shake in silent laughter at the sight, and normally Din would bristle at anybody laughing at his son, but he doesn’t this time. Luke’s laugh doesn’t seem malicious, only simply, wholly delighted.
“So, you’re pretty famous.”
Luke turns his attention back to Din. “I guess I am now.” He pauses, clearly mulling a thought over. “It’s the reason I took my stories off Archive Of Our Own in the first place. The line between fan fiction and original works is still kind of blurry in the legal world. Better safe than sorry when becoming a published author.”
Din nods. “Fair enough.”
“My sister ripped me a new one when she found out what I did,” Luke admits. “Said I was being dumb, and that you might steal my work or something.”
“I wouldn’t.”
Luke meets his eyes. “I know.”
His gaze lingers, and Din feels hot all over.
They make easy small talk while they eat, swapping stories, Luke teasing Din about getting arrested, and Din retorting that he can’t believe Luke thought holding cells were like that, Grogu still eating one-handed and nose down, and before long the waiters are collecting their empty plates, and they’re standing on the street in front of the restaurant.
“I have to dash now, but I’d really like to see you again.”
Din has to physically stop himself from fist-pumping. “I’d like that very much.”
And before he loses his bravery, he leans in and brushes a brief kiss to the corner of Luke’s mouth.
Luke’s smile is dazzling. “I’ll email you.” He looks down. “Bye, Grogu.”
Grogu looks up to sign goodbye, before his hands return to the page in front of him. Not even his hero authors are worth more attention than the actual words in front of him, then. Din smiles at him, hopelessly fond, and when he looks back at Luke, Luke is smiling at both of them too. When he realises he’s been caught, he only winks before he turns to go.
Din watches Luke walk down the street, only turning around to wave once, and Din waves goodbye in return before Luke disappears around the corner. A second later, his phone pings from his coat pocket, signaling a new email.
Since we’re going on a second date, I think you should have my number, right?
How does Saturday sound? Up to you what we do 😊
Text me x
Din smiles at the message. Saturday was usually his and Grogu's stay at home day, but there’s no reason why Luke couldn’t come over. As he starts walking himself and Grogu back towards the bus station for their journey home, he asks, “What do you think, Grogu? Should we invite Luke over?”
He’s not really expecting an answer, with Grogu still head down in Luke’s book, and relying on Din to guide him down the street with a hand on his back, but he looks up from the book, stops walking and turns to face Din.
“I like Luke.” He shakes the homemade book in front of him for emphasis.
And well, isn’t that all the confirmation he needs?
“Me too, buddy. Me too.”