Chapter Text
Din had been a mess when kaysh (personal pronoun) came back to Slave I after the rescue of kaysh ad’ika (little one), having left the ad’ika (little one) in the care of Skywalker, of all people. Din had needed support after that and Boba offered kaysh a place with xir, at xir side with Fennec. Kaysh had declined the offer to join Boba; kaysh didn’t want to get involved in any more trouble. Kaysh was tired and needed time to recover, to try and find other members of kaysh Covert. So Boba had dropped kaysh off on Nevarro with Dune and left Din with a comm code to contact xir if needed. Xe hadn’t wanted to leave kaysh there, but respected the grieving buir’s (parent’s) wishes.
Din had eventually contacted Boba. Din had explained that kaysh had found some of the members of kaysh Covert and that kaysh was looking for work. There hadn’t been many of them that had re-grouped, but Din felt the need to continue to provide for them as kaysh had been doing before their reveal on Nevarro. Kaysh had heard about Boba’s takeover of Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine and knew that xe was handling bounties; kaysh had hoped that Boba’s offer was still good.
Boba was glad to invite Din to xir newly acquired Palace on Tatooine. It was good to have someone else who was also a Mandalorian around, even if they were different types of Mandalorians. Fennec didn’t mind having some more competent back-up either. It went like that for months at a time: Din showed up to receive bounty pucks and occasionally worked as back-up for Boba and Fennec. After Din collected a number of rewards and payments, kaysh would take them to the Covert and return for more jobs. Xe knew that kaysh was also searching for other members of kaysh Covert while on hunts but had not found many others.
Din started to spend more time at the Palace than at the Covert, but still dutifully returned to it. Kaysh didn’t neglect the Covert, but started to spilt kaysh down time more evenly between the Covert and the Palace. In that time, Din had gotten more confident in kaysh place as a friend and occasional advisor to Boba and Fennec. Kaysh may not have known much about the Rebellion or famous figures from the war, but kaysh was sometimes startlingly intelligent, with useful pieces of knowledge that few expected of kaysh. Din being able to speak to the Tusken tribes and establish treaties with them was a boon for Boba’s rule; Boba only knew a few of their tribes while Din knew far more of the tribes.
The sense of humor and personality that Boba hadn’t seen at the beginning of their acquaintance started to come out more and more often as Din spent time in the Palace. Boba caught xirself trying not to laugh in front of petitioners at some of the dry comments from Din over their private comm channels. Din managed to set Fennec laughing so hard she nearly fell off the arm of the throne on one notable occasion, not even bothering to use private comms. Kaysh had seemed proud of that one.
Din and Boba had gotten closer to each other over the several months that Din worked for and with xir. They were both slowly spiraling toward a conclusion that neither were sure about. Din hadn’t had a romantic relationship in many years and Boba’s most memorable romantic relationship had ended in a painful manner. They danced around it for weeks before Fennec got fed up with them circling each other so obviously. She had insisted that they take a job together and talk to each other on pain of her displeasure.
Both of them took her up on that, neither wanted to deal with an irate Fennec Shand. That, and Boba was getting restless; xe were still not used to staying in one place for so long voluntarily. Din had been the one to approach Boba about courting while on the way back to Tatooine while in hyperspace. Din had been nervous, but resolute, having wanted to court Boba for some time but not willing to speak about it until Fennec had essentially shoved them together.
Boba had, admittedly, panicked a bit. Xe had been worried about the power imbalance or a repeat of xir last relationship. Din had stared flatly at Boba for several minutes after the mention of a power imbalance before bringing out the Darksaber, in kaysh possession. Boba had paused for more than a moment and burst into belly deep laughter at the realisation that Din was Mand’alor (Sole Ruler). They were both rulers in their own right, of equal standing. Din had not spoken of it being in kaysh possession until then, as kaysh wanted nothing to do with ruling. Kaysh had only gotten it because it was the only way to save kaysh ad’ika (little one). But it put them on equal footing. Din had sighed repeatedly while Boba calmed down from xir laughter, and waited with fond exasperation to discuss the other problem Boba had with starting another relationship. It took them the rest of the trip back to Tatooine to work through their worries about a courtship.
Fennec took one look at them when they walked back into the Palace and grinned, wider than they had ever seen.