Archive of Our Own ^beta

Luke parks his car and cuts the engine, sliding his seat back and turning up the volume on his radio to better drown out the city noise around him. He unbuckles his seatbelt and rolls down his windows, trying to be as comfortable as he can for however long he’s going to be there.

Luke lives nearby, just on the other side of the parking lot he’s sitting in, so really - he could have just walked over, but if Luke is going to be staking out this gym for the next few hours or so, he’s going to do it from the shade and comfort of his car. He takes a sip of his water bottle and widens his knees, picking his phone up from where he dropped it in the center console earlier when he got in the car.

Working half days from home has its perks, and Luke’s apartment building is just close enough that he can reach the gym kinda in the middle of the park if he’s outside on his balcony. He takes his breaks and lunches out there; sometimes he answers calls with his coworkers or the parents he helps if it’s nice enough outside and the city below him isn’t too loud. Really, it’s just an excuse to check on his Umbreon and feed berries to the other Pokémon left by fellow passing Mystic trainers, but it’s not like he’s trying to prove anything to anyone.

It was during one of those lunch breaks that Luke had spit his coffee over the railing when he checked his app; he barely spared a thought to how many unfortunate souls he may have accidentally rained coffee all over from the tenth floor as he almost fumbled his phone over the rail with it. He flopped down on his balcony chair, heart racing and mug and phone safely in hand, as he stared at the spinning yellow gym on his screen. Someone from Instinct must have taken it from him while he was working that morning; although the last time Luke restored their health, the gym was full of some seriously high-CP Mystic Pokémon, so either this person had a lot of time on their hands to work them down or they weren’t alone.

Luke tapped on the gym to scope out the two Pokémon that took it over - an Aggron and a Froakie - and when Luke delved further into their stats, he hummed. The Froakie was put down by a trainer named gogurt, a level thirty in the cute little Pikachu onesie Luke had been eyeing, and the Aggron by gogurt’sdad, a sharp-dressed level forty-two in sunglasses and Spark’s jacket, the same level as Luke; Luke smiled, thinking about how nice it always was to see parents playing the game with their kids, as he quickly took the gym back over.

That time he left his Tyranitar and watched the gym like a hawk as he got ready to go into the office, not looking away until some of the other Mystic trainers in the area added their Pokémon back.

The next day after eating another boring salad on his lunch break, Luke settled on his balcony and opened the app to check on his Tyranitar. He was surprised to see that gogurt and gogurt’sdad had taken his gym back over, once again bright yellow and spinning lazily. Luke settled comfortably in his seat, sipping his tea as he recaptured his gym, and carefully watched over it until the end of his lunch break.

The next few weeks continued like that - each day during Luke’s lunch he would check on his gym just to find it had been taken over by the same father/son Instinct duo. He took it back each time, would monitor as he got ready to go into the office or until more Mystic trainers joined him, and then would continue on with his day. Rinse and repeat. Luke certainly didn’t mind the challenge, in fact he looked forward to seeing which Pokémon the other two would leave behind (gogurt had a penchant for Pokémon that looked like frogs, and gogurt’sdad left a range of high defense Pokémon, usually steel-type), but there was a part of him that was curious. 

Which prompted Luke to take a day off and sit in his car in the park parking lot, facing the Seeing Stone statue the gym was linked to, and waiting for a man and child who looked like they could be Team Instinct to wander by and stare down at their phones for a bit. 

Luke gets comfortable, healing up the gym again, and keeps his eyes on the statue. 

Several people walk by over the next hour or so - Luke watches a variety of people, some obviously racing through the park to get to the nearby university; older couples hand-in-hand on languid strolls in the spring air; a dog walker with an alarming amount of dogs pulling them along; a few vendors with food and drink carts, colorful signs set out advertising what they’re selling. Luke checks his watch, discovering that it’s finally verging into his usual lunch time, and looks back down at his phone as it vibrates.

He answers a message in his group text with his sister and aunt, confirming that he’ll be there for their family game night that Friday, and flips back over to Pokémon GO just in time to see his gym under attack. Luke sits up abruptly and snaps his eyes up to stare through his windshield, not seeing anyone around the Seeing Stone that fits his mental description of a Team Instinct Father/Son Duo, and frowns. He jumps in the gym to give some berries to his Arcanine and the other Mystic defenders as the attack persists, taking another slow sip of his water bottle as he thinks.

It’s possible the team is on the other side of the Seeing Stone - it’s a stone statue on a raised dais and surrounded by other stone pillars - really something that anyone could easily hide behind. Luke slowly licks his bottom lip, not really wanting to get out of his car but determined to find these two trainers and - what? Talk to them, at minimum; Luke kinda wants to exchange trainer codes and send them gifts, maybe invite them to the occasional remote raid when the timing works out. He doesn’t have many friends in the game that’s his level, so it would be nice to have a strong trainer help with level five raids during increased raid hours and events.

Or they could be like him and live close enough to get to the gym without having to actually  go into the park. If that’s the case, Luke can just play it off like he’s going for an early afternoon walk and leave it at that - only he knows what he was doing today, anyway, so he’ll buy a pretzel or something and leave.

Luke sighs as he adjusts his seat back in place, turning his car on again to roll up his windows before climbing out with his water bottle and phone in hand. He locks his car as he starts towards the Seeing Stone and smooths his windbreaker down as he goes, keeping a careful eye on his phone. 

Luke heals the defending Pokémon again as he gets closer to the Seeing Stone, intending to make a slow circuit to see if he can spot anyone nearby furiously tapping on their phone. He starts to the left, smiling at another elderly couple on a walk as he passes them and casually skimming over a short line at a pretzel cart as he walks.

Luke’s starting to get discouraged - the attack on the gym stopped, so he tosses them some more berries to get ready if another round starts - but then he sees a little boy in a green beanie staring down at a tablet in his lap, a frown of concentration on his face, as he sits alone on a bench. Luke pauses, looking away from the boy to see if he can spot any adult nearby that looks like they may be with the child. There’s not a lot of people around the statue outside of the strolling couple and the pretzel cart line, the park surprisingly empty for lunchtime on such a nice, spring day. 

Luke clutches his phone tighter, fighting with himself as he looks back over. He’s a social worker, he’s been doing it for years after he discharged and is trained to approach kids the correct way, but he also knows how it looks to have some random stranger go up to a child who’s alone and potentially vulnerable and scared.

Luke sighs, knowing he has his identification on him should anything go sideways, and shoves his phone into his jeans pocket. He keeps his posture loose and non-threatening as he walks over to the bench, smiling softly down at the little boy when he looks up at him. Luke stops a few feet away to give the boy plenty of space, taking in the wide brown eyes that blink up at him. “Hi there.”

The boy blinks again and looks back down at his tablet. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

He says it carefully, clearly rehearsed, and Luke’s smile grows - wherever this kid’s parents are, they’ve at least covered stranger danger, even if the boy is alone on a very public park bench. “That’s good,” Luke praises, crouching down to try to catch the boy’s eyes again. It works; he looks up, and Luke decides he must be around five or six years old. “And you don’t have to say anything, you can shake your head yes or no. I just wanted to see if your parents were around?”

The boy seems to withdraw more, shoulders raising in his green hoodie to his ears like he assumes he might be in trouble. The hoodie and beanie match, and Luke can’t help but think how cute that is. He looks like he’s not going to reply, verbally or otherwise, when something in his expression relaxes. “Daddy is getting us pretzels.”

Luke breathes a quiet sigh of relief; he must have been one of the people Luke saw at the pretzel cart earlier. He nods, keeping his smile easy and open. “Can you see him from here?” The little boy looks around Luke’s shoulder and nods, brows furrowing. “Do you think your dad would mind if I stayed with you until he’s back?”

“Why?” The boy asks innocently, curious, and Luke fishes out his wallet from his back pocket. He flips open to his badge, showing his name, picture, and department; the boy leans forward, squinting his eyes.

“Part of my job is to help kids,” Luke explains, sliding the card out of the window to pass it over to the child. He isn’t sure how strong the boy’s reading is, but he hopes he gets the gist of what Luke’s badge says. “I just - talk to them, hang out with them and their parents.”

“Play games?” The child asks, voice suddenly small and hopeful, as he looks up from Luke’s badge. Luke smiles again and nods.

“Yeah, we play games,” he says. The boy holds his badge between small fingers, brows furrowed again as he stares at the laminated plastic, clearly thinking. Luke’s smile starts to relax; the boy’s big brown eyes are so bright, so focused, and Luke thinks he’s probably one of the most expressive kids he’s met in a while. 

“Me and Daddy play a game,” the boy says, carefully returning Luke’s badge to him. “Do you wanna play?”

“What do you play?” Luke asks, tucking his badge and wallet away, resting his elbows on his knees.

“It’s on here,” the boy huffs, sneakered feet kicking out as he frowns down at the tablet in his lap. He’s too short for his shoes to touch the concrete while he’s sitting, so they swing through the space between them. “I think I closed it, so Daddy has to get it back.”

“We’ll wait for your dad, then,” Luke chuckles, extending his hand. “I’m Luke, by the way.”

The boy eyes his hand for a moment before taking it, a serious furrow to his brow as he firmly wraps his hand around a few of Luke’s fingers and shakes them. “My name is Grogu Djarin,” he replies in that same endearingly rehearsed tone.

“Nice to meet you, Grogu,” Luke says with a genuine smile. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

Grogu shakes his head and slides over to make more room for Luke; Luke stands and takes the far side of the bench, putting as much space between him and Grogu as he can. He rests his hands on his thighs, moving to dig his phone from his jeans pocket and move it to his windbreaker. “Do you come to the park often?”

Grogu nods, turning his wide eyes back on Luke. Luke notices a few brown curls sticking out under his beanie as he moves, soft around his ears. “Uh-huh; we play almost every day.”

“Do you like coming to the park?” Luke continues, tilting to lean his elbow on the armrest of the bench to angle himself more towards Grogu, kicking his legs out to cross at the ankle and mindful of the water bottle he left by his boots. 

“Yeah!” Grogu says, a wide smile pulling on his lips. A few of his front teeth are missing, making his smile absolutely endearing. “After we play on this and have a snack, Daddy pushes me on the swing set.”

“That sounds like a blast,” Luke laughs, easily caught up in Grogu’s bright-eyed enthusiasm. He always seems to get this way around kids, but Grogu’s genuine excitement is refreshing. “Is your snack always a pretzel?”

Grogu shakes his head. “Sometimes we get hotdogs.”

“Which do you like better?”

“Ice cream,” Grogu immediately answers, suddenly serious, and Luke laughs again.

“Sounds like ice cream is your favourite?” 

“Mmhmm!” Grogu says, that wide smile on his face again, and Luke smiles back at him.

“Grogu?” Luke and Grogu both turn at the sound of a new voice, deep and guarded, and Luke almost bites right through his tongue.

Admittedly, he hadn’t really been paying too much attention to the people in the pretzel line, searching specifically for Instinct-looking trainers, but now he regrets it. Grogu’s dad is, apparently, ridiculously hot - he’s dressed in a dark grey henley under a soft-looking leather jacket, aviator sunglasses pushed back into his messy brown hair, and stunning, worried brown eyes swiveling between his son and Luke: the stranger sitting with his son. 

Luke realizes his jaw is hanging open when Grogu greets his dad with a happy sound and starts making grabby hands for one of the pretzels in his hand.

“Who are you?” Grogu’s father asks carefully, cautiously handing over one of the wrapped pretzels to Grogu while keeping his eyes trained on Luke. Luke closes his mouth with an audible clack of his teeth and clears his throat to introduce himself.

“This is Luke!” Grogu answers for him, pulling both of their attention back to him. “He’s my new friend; he’s gonna play with us, Daddy.”

Grogu’s dad looks back at Luke, eyebrows raised and eyes beginning to narrow, so Luke takes that as his cue to stand up and dig for his wallet again - he’s starting to regret not fully thinking through the creep-factor of his little act of kindness.

“I’m ah, a social worker,” Luke hurries to say, holding out his badge placatingly when the man’s expression immediately becomes more guarded. “I come in peace, I assure you - I was walking by and saw him on the bench alone, asked where you were, and he said you were getting pretzels. I just wanted to make sure he was alright until you came back.”

Grogu’s dad reaches out with his hand still holding the pretzel - Luke starts to offer to take the two drink bottles from his other hand but thinks better of it - and takes Luke’s badge between the knuckles of his index and middle fingers, bringing it closer to his face. Luke watches the sweep of his eyelashes as he looks down to read Luke’s credentials, fanned out beautifully over his cheeks and as dark as his hair. Fuck, he is handsome; Luke blinks and shoves his hands into his windbreaker, suddenly nervous and thrown for it.

After a few more seconds, Grogu’s dad hums, satisfied, and passes Luke his badge back. His expression is less guarded when Luke looks up after tucking his badge and wallet away, a quirked half smile on his lips that hints at the ghost of a dimple in his cheek.

“Thanks for keeping an eye out on him, Mr. Skywalker,” he says, voice smooth and still so deep, and is the world spinning? Luke bites his bottom lip and nods a few times, feeling delirious but unable to tear his eyes away from him.

“Sure, I - it was my pleasure,” he stutters. The man’s smile slowly grows, shifting the juice bottles clutched in his other hand and offering one to Grogu when he reaches towards him again with his cheeks puffed out. Luke swallows, mouth suddenly dry as his eyes skim over Grogu’s dad’s strong, scruffy jaw and mustache before looking back into his warm brown eyes. The world is definitely spinning. “Now that you’re here, I’ll - go. Grogu is obviously all set, now.”

“Luke!” Grogu immediately protests, mouth full of pretzel. His dad raises his eyebrows at him, and Grogu swallows before speaking again. “You said you’d play with us!”

Luke shifts, toe of his left boot nudging the water bottle he left to rest on the concrete, and smiles ruefully at Grogu. “I don’t want to impose -”

“You can stay, if you want,” Grogu’s dad offers, and Luke looks away from Grogu’s pleading expression to his father. His eyes are impossibly warmer than before - Luke can hardly believe it, how is this man real? - and full of quiet humor. “I don’t like to make a habit of scaring away Grogu’s friends.”

Luke ducks his chin with a grin, suddenly bashful and giddy and utterly charmed, and nods. “Alright.” 

Grogu cheers, mouth full again, and his dad huffs a soft chuckle. “Grogu, chew with your mouth closed.”

Grogu takes a sip of his juice and chews exaggeratedly with his mouth closed; his dad looks back at Luke with a ‘see what I have to deal with’ expression that makes Luke laugh. He transfers the other bottle of juice to his left hand, pretzel secure in his wide palm and ring and pinky fingers wrapped around the neck of the bottle, and wipes his palm off on his dark wash jeans to hold his hand out to Luke.

“Din Djarin,” he says by way of introduction.

“Luke Skywalker,” Luke beams, taking Din’s hand and giving him a firm shake; he tries not to think too much about how Din’s hand fits so well in his, or how his fingers linger on the soft skin of the inside of Luke’s wrist before he lets go. Din gestures for Luke to sit back down, settling on the other side of Grogu and laying his arm over the back of the bench.

“Why did you stop playing, kid?” he asks, shifting to hold the bottle and pretzel between his knees as he takes Grogu’s tablet. 

“I closed it by accident,” Grogu grumbles after swallowing another bite. Luke smiles, smitten by how cute Grogu looks with a giant pretzel clutched in both of his small hands. Din huffs a good-natured sigh, swiping around on the tablet a few times until he pulls up whatever app Grogu closed.

“Glad to know I was running my hotspot for nothing,” Din grouses, setting Grogu’s tablet back in his lap. Grogu huffs.

“It was like ten minutes, Daddy,” he admonishes with a haughty tone; Din looks at Luke over Grogu’s head and rolls his eyes with a soft smile. Luke definitely feels a flush creep up his neck when Din winks at him before he directs his attention back down at his son, pressing a kiss to Grogu’s beanie-covered hair.

“Yeah, you’re right, what was I thinking,” Din mutters, unscrewing his juice bottle and taking a sip. Luke tries to pull his eyes away from watching the bob of his throat as he swallows, but who’s he kidding? He stares.

“So what are we playing?” Luke asks to distract himself, eyes dropping to the safety of Grogu’s tablet. He tilts his head as a familiar loading screen finishes, feeling his eyes widen. 

“This!” Grogu cheers as he proudly holds up his tablet the same time Din says, “Pokémon GO.” Luke can’t pull his eyes away from the username in the lower left of Grogu’s screen, under a very familiar avatar head: gogurt. Which means that Din must be - 

Luke blinks up to see Din holding his phone in his left hand, his other arm still stretched out across the bench and fingers so close to Luke’s shoulder he almost doesn’t have to move to brush them. Luke fixes his eyes on the screen, immediately recognizing gogurt’sdad’s avatar in the center. He lets out a slow exhale and isn’t sure if he should curse or thank his luck, desperately hoping his sudden panic isn’t written all over his face.

“Oh!” Luke says lamely, nodding with an exaggerated smile to fight a sudden grimace. “Yeah, I play that - occasionally.”

Din slowly raises his eyebrows at him. Fuck, he is such a shitty liar.

“We’re fighting a gym!” Grogu continues, attention back down on his screen again and thankfully not picking up on Luke’s terrible lying skills. “We’re gonna take it over again, right, Daddy?”

“Sure will,” Din agrees, pulling his sunglasses back over his eyes as he brings his ankle up to rest on his knee. He sets his phone down on his thigh and offers Luke some of his pretzel, eyebrows raised again over his sunglasses. “I bet we can do it faster with Mr. Skywalker’s help too, can’t we?”

Luke looks down at Grogu’s wide eyes then back to his own wide-eyed reflection in Din’s sunglasses, gulping as quietly as he possibly can. “Yup!” He chirps, a little strangled. “We can totally do this.”

Din tilts his chin, shaking the wrapped pretzel to get Luke’s attention again. Luke looks over - oh, there’s that pretzel he was thinking about - and smiles his thanks, pulling off a piece and taking a quick bite before he says something else idiotic, relishing the salty distraction. Din smiles, and Luke has never been so happy to be right about something - there is absolutely the cutest dimple on his right cheek. It lights up his entire face and makes him even more handsome, which just isn’t fair.

“What team are you?” Din asks, thankfully not privy to Luke’s internal struggle and likely better off for it, pulling his hand back and breaking off a piece of his pretzel. Grogu hums between them, munching on his pretzel and catching a cute little Pikachu to match his avatar’s onesie.

“Valor,” Luke says, too quick and reedy. Well, now that he’s dug this hole he supposes he has to live in it, buried up to his eyeballs in regret. No way he can tell the truth and have it not be weird as fuck. He promptly ignores that train of thought and shoves the rest of the pretzel into his mouth, desperately wanting to sprint back to his car and hide in the trunk.

“Interesting,” Din says, uncapping his juice bottle again and taking a sip. Luke reaches down for his water bottle to give himself something else to do with his fidgety hands, hoping he doesn’t look as sketchy as he feels. Oh, why did gogurt’sdad have to be hot. “You look like you would be Mystic.”

Luke almost chokes on his water and coughs; Grogu looks over at him in alarm, but Luke waves his concern away and clears his throat. “What, uh, what makes you say that?” He asks, voice a little hoarse.

“You’re in all black,” Din notes, turning to look over Grogu’s bent head at Luke. Luke stares back at him. “Well-dressed, blue eyes; elegant.”

Luke clears his throat again and tears his eyes away to look down at Grogu’s screen, a flush stealing up his neck at the compliment. Grogu’s catching a Sunkern now, little sneakers swinging as he plays. “Maybe I’m more suited to Valor,” he says, wondering how Din can overlook the clearly obvious disaster he is to think he’s elegant, of all things. The last time he saw his sister, he tripped over his own feet and tossed an entire tray of drinks onto their parent’s patio. It had been hilarious - Luke’s dad had somehow managed to get a picture of Luke mid-fall and they’ve since turned it into a meme for their family group text. 

Luke is definitely not elegant.

“Hm, perhaps,” Din says, and Luke cautiously looks back up to see Din looking at him over his sunglasses. “Maybe it’s just the beautiful color of your eyes.”

Luke almost bites his tongue, searching Din’s eyes and face for a moment as his flush deepens, and it’s almost like they’re the only two there; Luke breaks the spell and their stare to fumble his phone out of his pocket, eyes trying to focus on his lock screen as his heart pounds. “Uh.”

Din chuckles softly, silently offers Luke what’s left of his pretzel, then balls up the wrapper when Luke gingerly accepts it. “All done, Gogurt?” Din asks, looking down at his son. Grogu nods and passes his own balled up wrapper to his dad, who shoves them both into his jacket  pocket and picks his phone back up from the top of his thigh. “You guys ready?”

“Yes!” Grogu chirps, looking at his dad with wide, determined eyes. Din grins at him and rubs his palm over the top of Grogu’s head, sparking a bright laugh from him as he tries to swat his hand away. They both look at Luke, waiting, and Luke offers a weak smile.

“Yeah,” he says, and Grogu whoops and turns back to his tablet. Luke lets out a quiet sigh as he unlocks his phone to the game, still open on the gym from when he had been healing his team’s Pokémon. He blinks mournful eyes at his precious shiny Umbreon, silently apologizing for what he’s about to have to do and thanking her for her sacrifice.

He pretends to tap on his screen, smiling at Grogu when he takes down first the Blastoise that was there then the Ludicolo with his father’s help; when he gets to the Sirfetch’d, Luke looks over and furrows his brows.

“Do you have flying?” He asks, and Grogu glances at him. 

“Yeah,” he says, tapping away with his eyes on Luke. Luke watches the Sirfetch’d almost annihilate Grogu’s Seismitoad and grimaces.

“Switch it out,” Luke suggests. Grogu nods and looks back down at his screen just as his Seismitoad is knocked out, picking a Moltres. Luke smiles when he takes down the Sirfetch’d a few taps later; Grogu cheers and grins up at him, thanking Luke with a bright, gap-toothed smile. Luke smiles back, knowing his Umbreon is next on the roster, so he shifts back in his seat and goes back to pretending to help them. It’s hard to resist the urge to heal her as he watches Din and Grogu work together to send her back to his party, but he somehow survives.

His Umbreon was the last Pokémon protecting it, so the gym is up for grabs once she’s returned to Luke’s party, now spinning grey and waiting for a new team to claim it. Grogu hops up from his seat and holds his tablet over his head, spinning in a circle with a happy grin on his face. Luke smiles fondly as he watches him.

“Do you want to take this one?” Din’s voice pulls Luke’s attention, and he turns to stare into Din’s pretty eyes again. He starts, expecting the reflective aviators, but certainly isn’t complaining about the view.

“No, you guys take it,” Luke says, shaking his head. “I’m just happy to help.” Technically he did help by not healing his team’s Pokémon, even if it isn’t quite in the way they were expecting.

Din’s eyes search his, and Luke begins to feel a flush steal up his neck again. They’re sitting in the shade on a brisk spring day with a near-constant breeze, no sun beating down on them, so unfortunately Luke can’t really blame the flush on his face on the heat. Eventually Din looks away from him and down at his phone, and Luke watches the gym turn yellow on his screen. He taps in to see Din put down a Kangaskhan, staring at his avatar as Din instructs Grogu to add a Pokémon, too.

His avatar really does look like Din with the sharp jacket, boots, messy hair, and sunglasses; Luke worries his bottom lip between his teeth.

“How’s this one, Daddy?” Grogu says, holding his tablet up for Din’s inspection. Din looks at the screen and nods once, smiling.

“Poliwrath is an excellent choice,” Din compliments. Grogu’s smile grows to show his missing teeth again, and Luke wonders how he can ask for Din’s number without being a total creep about it to keep these two in his life.

He supposes he can exchange his trainer code and stop taking back the gym all the time, to start, see how that goes.

“Thanks for playing, Luke!” Grogu says, turning his bright smile towards him. Luke genuinely smiles back at him and nods.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Luke counters, his smile growing as Grogu giggles.

“Do you want to come to the swings with us?” Grogu asks, and Luke snaps his eyes to Din, who looks mildly surprised at Grogu’s offer. Luke licks his lips and shakes his head, smile dimming but no less genuine.

“No, you should enjoy your time with your dad,” he says, heart clenching at the disappointed look on Grogu’s expressive face. He looks to Din for help and is surprised to see that Din also looks disappointed. Luke blinks once, eyes cutting between both equally devastating expressions, and immediately caves. “Alright, I‘ll go.”

Grogu cheers again, hopping in place, and turns to shove his tablet into a Froakie backpack that he has apparently been leaning against this entire time. Really, what a tip that would have been had Luke been able to see it earlier. Din smiles at him and gets to his feet, gathering his and Grogu’s empty bottles and holding his hand out for Luke’s as well before he walks to a nearby recycling container. Luke watches him go for a moment before he stands too, helping to zip up Grogu’s backpack when the zipper gets stuck. 

Din walks back over and shoves his hands into his leather jacket pockets, tip of his motorcycle boot tapping on the concrete while he watches Luke help Grogu loop his arms through his backpack straps. Luke gives Grogu a grin and a thumbs up when he’s done; the kid grins back and spins on his heel as he grabs Luke’s hand, tugging him along behind him with a surprisingly firm grip for such a small, young thing. 

Luke looks over his shoulder at Din in surprise as Grogu tows him along. Din follows at a much more sedate pace a few feet behind them, offering little more than a shrug and grin to Luke’s bewilderment. Luke’s eyes fix on his dimple again, usually of a one-track mind and easily distracted, as Grogu tugs him over a crack in the concrete. Luke stumbles and nearly falls on his face, catching himself with wide flails of his arms and barely avoiding disaster; Grogu continues pulling him along towards the swings like Luke’s near kiss with the concrete never happened. 

Luke clears his throat and rolls with it, hoping against all odds that Din may still find him elegant after that shitshow, but something in the soft chuckles he hears floating in the breeze behind him confirms that he isn’t so lucky.

Grogu finally stops at the entrance to the swing sets and points to two open swings at the end of the row. “There! Daddy can push us both,” Grogu says, tugging Luke forward again. 

Luke looks back at Din again, then at his son. “Both?”

“Yeah, Daddy’s really strong!” Grogu announces, and Luke wants the wood chips under his boots to just - swallow him whole to put him out of his misery as his stomach flips.

“Strong?” He parrots, wincing when he hears Din chuckle behind him. He hazards a glance at him again to find the sunglasses back in place over his eyes.

“I work in security,” Din says simply, and Luke absolutely needs a moment. He swallows and looks down at Grogu when they come to an abrupt stop.

“How about I hold your backpack, and your dad pushes you?” Luke bargains, hoping he doesn’t sound as winded as he feels. Grogu looks first at him, then his dad, before offering a ‘suit yourself’ shrug and taking off his backpack to pass to Luke. Luke gratefully takes it and sinks down in the open swing with relief while Grogu takes the one at the edge of the swing set. 

“Would you mind holding this, too?” Din asks, and Luke looks up to see him holding his jacket out. Luke rakes his eyes over Din’s arms, the long-sleeved henley stretched taut over his biceps and pushed up his forearms, exposing strong lines of muscle and what looks like a few tattoos disappearing under his right sleeve. Luke manages a silent, jerky nod, mouth suddenly dry, and folds Din’s jacket over his lap as he tightens his grip on Grogu’s backpack, digging his nails into his palm and willing his flush to die before he does.

Grogu starts giggling in anticipation as Din walks behind him and grabs onto the back of his seat, pulling Grogu into the air to be level with his shoulders and planting his feet. “Ready, kid?”

“Ready, Daddy!”

“Hold on,” Din cautions, pulls the seat over his head, then pushes him forward. Grogu grins wide, giggling, the strings of his hoodie flying up near his face as he swings through the air. Din steps aside to stand closer to Luke and out of the way of Grogu’s kicking feet as he soars back with a bright laugh. Luke twists the chains of the swing as he turns in his seat to watch him go, all too aware of Din just a foot or so away from him. 

Din reaches out and pushes Grogu again on his second swing back, turning more towards Luke as he continues to push his son on every other swing. “Do you come to the park often?”

“Not as much as I would like,” Luke admits, watching Grogu’s sneakers as he soars by instead of the display of strength in Din’s arm as he pushes him.

“That explains why I’ve not seen you before,” Din continues, and Luke flicks his eyes over to him and back to Grogu before Din catches him. Would he have looked for Luke again, if Din only saw him in passing? “We’ve been here almost every day for the last few weeks.”

“Grogu was telling me,” Luke says, holding Din’s jacket more securely in his lap and jiggling his leg to work out some of his nervous energy. “He said he prefers ice cream for your snacks, by the way.”

“Ice cream!” Grogu cheers, and Din laughs, the sound a melody to compliment his beautiful smile.

“Tell Mr. Skywalker your favourite,” Din says, pushing Grogu forward again.

“Strawberry!” Grogu calls, giggling as he swings higher.

“Mine, too,” Luke says, smiling when Grogu turns his bright eyes to him; Luke slowly turns his head to try to hold eye contact with him as he swings, a smiling green pendulum.

“Daddy, let’s get ice cream!” Grogu says; Din sighs, teasingly raising his eyebrows at Luke as he looks back at his son.

“Maybe another time.”

“But Luke is here now!” Grogu whines. “I can share my ice cream with him.”

Luke bites back his smile, flicking his eyes to Din while he shifts the Djarins’ things in his lap. “Don’t you want dinner, Grogu?”

“Oh, pizza!” Grogu gasps, turning to look over his shoulder at his dad as he soars high again; Luke belatedly hopes he isn’t making himself dizzy. “Daddy! Pizza!”

Din reaches out and grabs the chains under Grogu’s hands, suspending him midair with little effort. Luke looks away from Din’s arms and hopes for a breeze to cool the heat flooding his face again. “That I can do,” Din agrees, planting a smacking kiss to Grogu’s cheek before he launches his swing again.

Grogu laughs, kicking his feet out, and Luke looks back at Din as he returns to stand by his side, closer than before. “He’s fun.”

“Yeah he’s alright,” Din teases. Grogu hears him and sticks his tongue out at him as he swings by; Din pulls the same face at Grogu, causing his son to giggle again. Luke’s heart skips a beat when Din turns that sweet smile towards him, feeling more than a little bashful as he tentatively smiles back. 

Din shifts his posture and folds his arms over his chest, left hand resting over his right bicep and directly in Luke’s eye level; Luke waits until Din directs his attention back to Grogu to surreptitiously check for a wedding ring. When Din’s ring finger is bare, Luke looks towards the sky and wonders if he’s actually about to be that guy and ask Din if he’s seeing anyone in front of his son.

“Are you doing anything tonight, Mr. Skywalker?” Din asks, voice lowered and almost drowned out by Grogu’s bubbly laughter and the clanking of chains, but it still pulls Luke’s attention like a crack of thunder.

“You can call me Luke,” Luke murmurs, looking up at Din in disbelief. Can Din read his fucking mind, or had Luke accidentally said all that aloud? Wouldn’t be the first time.

Din slides his sunglasses back into his soft-looking, wind-tossed hair, his brown eyes warm and expectant and a little apprehensive as he meets Luke’s gaze. “Are you doing anything tonight, Luke?” He asks again, voice softer.

Luke swallows - he wonders if Din’s hair is as full and soft as it looks, but his mind is getting stuck on the possibility that he may actually be able to find out? “I - have to feed my cat,” he blurts, wincing at how lame that is the second it’s out of his mouth, but Grogu coos and pulls both of their attention.

“You have a cat?” He asks, lower in his swing arc than before. Din steps around to be behind him again and gives him another push.

Luke takes a careful breath, suddenly able to breathe now that Din’s eyes aren’t on him, and nods. “His name is Artoo.”

“Can I see him?” Grogu tentatively asks, soaring high again.

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Luke says, fumbling his hands for a moment as he shifts the strap of Grogu’s backpack over his shoulder. He pulls his phone out and unlocks it as Din steps behind him, momentarily distracted by the sound of Grogu dragging his sneakers in the wood chips to slow down. 

“Team Valor, huh?” Din teases, warm breath puffing over his cheek, and Luke freezes. He glances down at his screen, still open on Pokémon GO and definitely showing the blue experience bar of Team Mystic over his avatar icon. Luke takes a breath and slowly turns to look over his shoulder at Din, who is much closer than he expected. 

There’s rings of honey and caramel in his eyes, and Luke thinks it’s the most beautiful combination he’s ever seen.

“Uh,” he says elegantly; Din lifts his eyebrows at him and slowly begins to smile as Luke visibly falters. “I can explain.”

“I was wondering why the gym wasn’t being healed anymore,” Din says, tone light, and Luke wonders where that wood chip monster is that’s supposed to be swallowing him whole, please? “Why did you stop?”

“So you and Grogu could win,” Luke admits, blinking quickly. Din’s eyes are mesmerizing this close. “I actually uh, came to the park today hoping I would find you two.”

Din’s eyes widen, eyebrows lifting again in surprise, just as Grogu clambers half into Luke’s lap. “Kitty!”

“Grogu,” Din chides, but Luke just smiles at Grogu’s enthusiasm, used to the more outgoing kids climbing on him.

“It’s okay, I did promise you could see him,” Luke says. He swipes up to get to his home screen and then opens his pictures, easily locating the album he has dedicated to his beautiful blue-eyed white cat. “Here you go, you can swipe right to see more. There’s like, thousands.”

“Oh wow,” Grogu breathes, carefully taking Luke’s phone and sitting down on the wood chips with his back against Luke’s legs to look through Luke’s endless pictures of Artoo.

“He’s by far the most photogenic cat I’ve ever met, and he knows it, too,” Luke grouses with a grin, looking over Grogu’s beanie at his screen. A light touch on Luke’s right shoulder pulls his attention; he glances down to see Din’s fingers ghosting over his windbreaker before turning back to his left to stare into Din’s beautiful eyes again.

“You came looking for us?” Din prompts, voice soft; Luke bites his lip but nods.

“I promise that’s not as creepy as it sounds,” Luke rushes. “I’ve had this gym for a long time, and I live in the apartment complex across from the park; if I go out on my balcony, I’m close enough to interact with it. This may be surprising, but not many people can get that gym from me.” He shrugs, embarrassed, bringing up a hand to ruffle his hair. “I’ve been working from home a lot lately, so I kind of - baby it.”

Din huffs a laugh, his breath still so warm and close. “So you wanted to come see who kept taking over your gym.”

“That, and when I realized it was a parent and their kid, I thought it would be cool to exchange trainer codes and maybe, do raids together?” Luke continues shyly - man, this sounded way better in his head when he put in his time off request. He’s nearly thirty, for fuck’s sake, and he’s had better luck in an active combat zone than this. “I didn’t intentionally lie to you, I just - figured you’d recognize me from always having the gym.”

“CommanderWormie with the shiny Umbreon?” Din asks, and Luke sighs through his nose, exasperated with himself for choosing such a stupid trainer name. 

“Yeah, that’s me,” he huffs, ruffling his hair again self-consciously as he looks down at his phone in Grogu’s hands. He’s looking at a picture of Artoo stretched out on Luke’s balcony, lazing in the sun like the spoiled prince he is.

“What’s the story?”

Luke flushes and runs his tongue over his teeth to buy himself time. “It’s my rank and nickname from when I served in the Air Force,” he eventually mumbles, and that sparks a laugh from Din that Luke feels vibrate in his chest.

“There’s gotta be more to it than that,” Din prompts, fingers light on Luke’s shoulder again. Luke puffs out a breath and flashes Din a coy smirk.

“Any more than that is third date material, pal,” Luke chirps, then freezes. Din’s hand drops more securely on Luke’s shoulder, fingertips indenting the thin fabric of his windbreaker; Luke swallows.

“Would pizza and ice cream with my son count as one?” Din asks, timbre low and deep, and Luke lets out a careful breath. “If not, I’m free on Saturday.”

Luke searches Din’s face, absolutely not believing his luck. “You’re serious?”

“Yes,” Din confirms easily. “Not everyday someone willingly gives up their gym like that.”

Luke starts to grin, heart hammering, tilting his chin up towards Din. “I mean, it’s not every day that someone willingly takes over my gym like that.”

“True - we’ve been kicking your ass every day for a few weeks, now.”

“Good thing I came to investigate,” Luke continues, lowering his voice. He’s not sure which of them started it, but Din is definitely closer than he was before and still leaning towards him.

“Good thing,” Din murmurs, warm breath ghosting over Luke’s lips. Luke tilts his chin up again, eyes dropping to Din’s lips and fluttering as Din moves closer, closer, and Luke feels something like gravity pulling him forward - 

“Are you guys gonna kiss?” Grogu announces, voice flat. Luke snaps his eyes open and swallows, face flaming again; Din is still so close, wonderful eyes looking over Luke’s lips and eyes before he turns toward his son.

“Yes,” Din replies in a matching flat tone, and Luke would laugh if his heart didn’t skip a beat. Like, it’s pretty obvious what was about to happen, but hearing Din say it - “Look back at the pretty kitty, Grogu.”

“Okay,” he says easily, shrugging, and this time Luke does huff a laugh. Din looks back at him, a mischievous light dancing in his eyes.

“You want a kid?” Din offers dryly, and Grogu squeaks an indignant hey! from against Luke’s legs.

Luke’s lips pull in a wide grin. “I’d have to join Team Instinct, and I don’t think I can do that.”

“Shame,” Din sighs with a barely-there shrug, leaning forward to close the space between them and press his lips to Luke’s, soft and careful, searching - Luke presses back, still smiling against him and exhaling softly, pulse racing. Din’s lips are slightly chapped but warm, his mustache a new sensation that Luke looks forward to getting used to as Din’s hand slides from his shoulder to the back of Luke’s neck, thumb tracing circles in the short hair he finds there. 

They separate after a few indulgent moments, Din leaning forward to press another chaste kiss to Luke’s lips, then another, before his hand slides away from his neck and he straightens up. Luke keeps his eyes closed for a moment, savoring the memory of Din’s lips over his, before he licks his lips and looks up at him from under his lashes.

Din’s already watching him, looking at him in something like awe. “Grogu, give Luke back his phone so we can get his trainer code.”

Grogu cheers and does as his dad says, making sure Luke has his phone before scrambling around Luke to open his backpack and pull out his tablet. Din hands his phone over to Luke while Grogu is occupied, dropping a light kiss to Luke’s hair and asking for his number in a soft whisper.

Luke nods, pulse racing, and types his contact information in, calling himself from Din’s phone before he passes it back. Grogu holds out his tablet, letting Luke enter in his trainer code; Din scans the QR code from his place over Luke’s shoulder, abdomen nearly pressed against Luke’s back.

Grogu throws his arms around Luke’s shoulders after he sends off the friend request to himself and puts the tablet away for him. “Thank you for playing with us, Luke!”

Luke laughs and pats the boy’s back. “Thanks for inviting me.” Din steps away from him but doesn’t go far, settling a warm palm on Luke’s back. 

“Still interested in pizza and ice cream with Team Instinct?” Din asks, tone light and teasing. Luke nods, grinning, but truly - he’s interested in more than just that.

“Yeah,” he breathes, looking up at him. Din’s got his sunglasses back on, but Luke doesn’t mind looking at his reflection as he’s hugging Grogu. “Text me.”

Din does, and Luke shows up later that evening - after feeding Artoo and snapping a few more pictures of him for Grogu - to a pizzeria he’s ordered from a dozen times before, but it’s definitely better with company. Grogu does share his strawberry ice cream with Luke at dessert, Din shares his cheesy bread with their appetizer, and Luke laughs so hard at a wry quip Din makes that he almost snorts his beer through his nose but he doesn’t even have room in his heart to feel embarrassed about it.

He honestly doesn’t remember the last time he’s had so much fun in one day.

Later, while they’re waiting for Luke’s Uber, Din casually opens Pokémon GO and wiggles his phone in Luke’s face, eyebrows raised, and Luke blinks at him before squinting at his phone. When he realizes what Din’s trying to show him, he barks a laugh, eyes wide and bright as he smiles at Din; Din just ducks his chin bashfully and tucks his phone away.

“Team Mystic, huh?” Luke asks, standing a little closer to him. Grogu yawns and holds his arms up to his dad; Din obliges and picks him up, propping him on his hip. He shrugs before Grogu settles his head on his shoulder.

“Now Grogu and I can help. Easier to keep the gym, right?” He says, a flush starting to show on his cheeks; Luke leans forward and kisses to the right of his mustache, because that’s a thing he can do now.

“Much easier,” he murmurs as Din turns to capture his lips properly. Luke kisses him sweetly, swiping his tongue along Din’s bottom lip and earning a surprised hum from him before pulling back with a sharp grin. “This works out, too - you never had to suffer the wrath of my Gyarados.”

Din raises both of his eyebrows at Luke, a delighted smirk pulling on his lips. “You been going easy on me, Wormie?” 

Luke shrugs playfully. “I don’t think you could handle me if I didn’t.”

“Is that a challenge?” Din asks, voice low, and Luke absolutely doesn’t miss the double entendre. He holds Din’s heated gaze and raises his eyebrows at him, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth as he cocks his head coyly. Din’s eyes track the movement, and Luke’s stomach flips.

Grogu blinks his eyes open from his place against Din’s shoulder, sleepy, looking up at his dad and then at Luke as he yawns. “Are you guys gonna battle?” He asks, sweet as ever, and Luke hums and taps the cleft in his chin.

“Well, your dad made the mistake of making eye contact with me, and I don’t make the rules, so now we have to,” Luke says, agreeable as anything, as he pulls his phone back out of his pocket. Din shifts Grogu higher on his hip and digs his phone out again, his blazing eyes on Luke the entire time.

“Sure you wanna do this?” Din challenges as Luke cancels his Uber.

“I’ve never been more sure about something in my life,” Luke says, and Din’s private smile and fond, awed eyes spike Luke’s pulse. 

He’s so glad he took the day off.