"Has he ever seen snow?"

Mando watched the child play in the snow for a moment before answering. "No. I try to avoid planets with snow."

"Not a fan of the cold, huh?" You said with a chuckle. He did look pretty goofy with the frost and tiny snowflakes that coated his armor.

He flinched when a snowball hit his chestplate, immediately looking in the child's direction. The child only giggled and threw another one. "Hey, cut that out." He huffed. You imagined him having some sort of dad glare on his face right now.

"Aww, he just wants to have a snowball fight!" You snickered, smiling brightly. The relationship they had was cute, even if he didn't want to admit it. "Come on, Mando. You know you want to~!" You teased him in a sing-song voice.

He scoffed and crossed his arms. "No, I don't." He retorted. Seems like he was pretty adamant on being a stick in the mud.

"Alright, alright..." You sat back like you were going to relax, then quickly hurled a chunk of snow at Mando's head. It exploded upon impact with his helmet like a white firework, bits of snow raining down on him. You busted into laughter immediately afterwards, unable to contain yourself. You haven't had this much fun in years!

Your laughter was short-lived. Suddenly your cheek stung like a thousand tiny needles were stabbing you and you felt the wetness of snow on your skin. As you wiped it away with your sleeve, you saw Mando staring at you. A grin slowly crept across your face. "Oh it's on!" You jeered, scrambling to your feet.

Mando was on his feet before you could fling another snowball at him. The child watched from where he was sitting in the snow, giggling happily while the two of you went at it.

You had to admit, his aim was exceptionally good. Or maybe you were just bad at dodging. There were several wet spots on your clothes where you'd been hit with the frigid substance. Every snowball you hurled in his direction harmlessly disintegrated upon hitting his armor.

"No fair! You're wearing armor!" You laughed, ducking as a snowball whizzed right over your head. You heard the child laughing and decided it was time to play a game. "C'mon, kid! Mando's turned against us, we gotta run!" You scooped him up in your arms as you ran past and darted around the front of Mando's ship.

The wind whipped your hair, forcing you to keep blowing it out of your face so you could see. As you made it to the other side of the ship, you quickly scanned the area for a possible hiding place. Up ahead there was a small cluster of trees, their branches weighed down by the snow. Perfect!

You vaulted over a pile of fallen snow and knelt down once you reached the trees, panting heavily in order to catch your breath. Your heart pounded in your chest as adrenaline rushed through your veins. "Alright... let's hope he can't find us here." You whispered, looking down at the kid in your arms. He looked back at you with his wide, dark eyes and cooed softly.

Your head snapped up when you spotted the gleam of Mando's armor in your peripheral vision. He was walking rather slowly, his head turning left and right as he scanned the area for any sign of you. You stifled a giggle and crouched down a bit more, hoping he couldn't see the top of your head.

Then he stopped in his tracks. His ragged cloak fluttered gently in the wind as he stood there, still as a statue. You frowned. What was he doing?

Your eyes widened in surprise when he slipped his blaster out of its holster and aimed in your direction. Your ears rang as he fired a shot into the tree closest to you. Before you could yell at him for doing such a stupid thing, you heard the branches above you begin to rustle.

"Oh shi-" Was all you managed to say before the trees dumped their snow on you. Luckily, you were able to cover the child with your body beforehand. It wasn't much snow, but it sure felt like it. After you were sure it was finished, you broke through the surface of the snow and took in a sharp gasp of frigid air. "Stars, that's cold!"

Mando leisurely sauntered over, his hands on his belt. You could just imagine the smug look on his face right now. It infuriated you.

You stumbled out into the open, still clutching the child against your chest. Surprisingly enough, he didn't seem as upset as you were. "What was that for?!" You shouted at Mando as he approached. "You could've hurt him!"

"I knew what I was doing." He grunted, cocking his hip out as he stood in front of you. "He's fine."

The kid in question had a bit of snow on his head, but was smiling and giggling like he was having the time of his life. You, on the other hand, had snow stuck in your hair and soaking into your clothes.

You huffed, making your displeasure obvious. "Yeah, well..." You shivered as bitter chill traveled up your spine. "Now I'm cold. And hungry. Can we go somewhere warm?"

If Mando was offended by your lack of humor, he sure did a good job of hiding it. He gently took you by the shoulder and led you back towards the ship.

***

While the interior of Mando's ship was just as freezing cold as it was outside, you were warm and happy underneath the blankets he had given you. For a man whose emotions were hard to decipher, he at least had some sympathy.

You glanced up when you heard the thud of his boots. He rounded the corner with the child in one hand and a tray with cups on it in the other. The child was swaddled up in his own little blanket, with only his eyes peeking out. Adorable as always. You were impressed that Mando knew how to properly wrap babies up to keep them warm. He must've learned that somewhere since he was taking care of the little one.

"What's that?" You asked him, gesturing to the tray as he sat down beside you.

He balanced the child on one leg while he carefully set the tray down. "Cassius tea." He replied, handing a cup to you.

You graciously took the cup and brought up to your nose. It smelled sweet and flowery, like an exotic fruit from a far-off land. "Mmm, this smells good. What's in it?"

"It's made from the florets of the Cassius tree. I found some in storage while I was looking for something we could eat." He eyed you curiously, as if waiting for you to taste it.

You lifted the cup to your lips, taking a slow sip so you wouldn't burn your tongue. The taste was so strong, yet sweet at the same time, that it felt like your sinuses had been completely cleared out. "It's good! Thank you, Mando." You smiled at him.

He nodded, then turned to give some to the child.

You watched the two of them, occasionally taking a sip of tea. You noticed there was still one cup left. Was that one for Mando? You had never seen him remove his helmet, not even to eat or drink! He had said before that he couldn't remove it in front of any living being, but were things different now because you were friends? Well... you weren't exactly friends yet. At least you didn't think so. You two had a weird relationship.

As if the universe had been listening to your thoughts, Mando reached for his cup of tea. You tried not to stare in awe as he slowly lifted his helmet just enough that he could get the cup to his lips. They were a rosy shade of pink, which complimented his pale skin nicely. He had a bit of scruff on his chin and cheeks, with a more prominent mustache on his upper lip, but that was all you could see from the angle you had.

And just as quick as he had lifted it, he lowered his helmet with a soft sigh.

Seeing part of someone's face had never excited you this much, but this was different. It almost felt... illegal. Like you shouldn't have seen it at all. You kept replaying the same image over and over in your mind, trying to memorize every detail in case you never got to see it again.

"Y/N."

A shrill yelp unintentionally escaped you. You nearly spilled tea all over yourself when you jumped. Heat immediately rose to your cheeks and you averted your gaze, praying he didn't notice. "Yes?" You tried to answer clearly, but your voice betrayed you.

He tilted his head at your response. Either he found it amusing or he was completely confused as to why you were blushing. You couldn't tell, of course. "I've changed my mind." He finally spoke, briefly glancing down to check on the child.

You swallowed thickly and tried to calm your pounding heart. Why was this so nerve-wracking? "A-About what..?"

"Keeping you around. You've helped out a lot with the kid. It would be better if I had someone to watch him while I'm off doing business."

Your heart fluttered in your chest as you listened to him. Was this really happening or was it all a dream? You weren't sure if you should pinch yourself or not. "So.. I can stay?" You questioned hesitantly, almost too scared to hear the answer even though he had pretty much confirmed it already.

"Yes. I'll explain the details later." He said as he lifted the child from his lap and placed him down beside you. He then rose to his feet. "You should finish your tea. It gets bitter when its cold."

Before you could even open your mouth to thank him, he had already disappeared back around the corner. With a long sigh of relief, you sunk back into your blankets and took another sip of tea. In a way, you were happy he was gone because you couldn't contain your happiness for much longer. A wide grin spread across your face as you looked down at the child. "Looks like we're in it for the long-run, kiddo."

He cooed softly, staring up at you with those dark eyes of his.

Yep. You could definitely get used to this.