THE FLIGHT

Fil watched as the ramp closed in front of the hermit, who had chosen to stay on the planet. Whole-heartedly, the young man wished for him to finally have a little piece for the rest of his life. He deserved it. And Fil wondered if he would ever find the place he'd never want to leave.
"We'll lift off now," the Mandalorian, who had watched him from the side, announced and Fil turned to look at him,"Can I fly?"

"No", the Mandalorian answered right away without even overthinking the request.
"I'm a good pilot," the other protested as he followed the man into the cockpit where the crib with the child was already waiting.
"No," the Mandalorian repeated as he sat down on the pilot seat and Fil huffed as he had to asses to the passenger seat.
"You know, I've probably flown more ships than you," he meekly added as he secured the child to his lap which looked up at him still droopy from its long slumber.
The Mandalorian didn't even look at the young man.
"You're not flying the crest. Ever." "Outsch," Fil said, glaring at the man, a hand dramatically clutching his breastplate. "I really thought you would trust me by now."
"I don't trust anyone," the Mandalorian huffed, his fingers pressing and turning the buttons for take-off.
"That's a really sad way of life."

The Mandalorian didn't respond nor did he even look at Fil. His gaze was reserved for the front window and how the chest blasted into the sky as if it had never been broken in the first place. Fil could feel a wave of excitement flow through his body at the sight of something different than endless dunes of sand, and the chill of the galaxy soon spread through the ship, making him actually shiver.
He was born on a planet with rivers of fire, and raised on a frozen one, and still, the sudden temperature drop always got him. The sound of clattering teeth made the Mandalorian look at him, briefly skimming the young man's face for the cause to which Fil just reacted with a rather meek smile,
"I've been stuck on that planet for a while."
The other huffed, understanding, gaze already on the stars in the distance again.
"Where are we going anyway? Please tell me it's warm, maybe a nice green planet with waterfalls and trees touching the blue of the sky, " Fil sighed at the picture he painted in his mind, longing desperately for it to become true.
Yet the Mandalorian didn't grant him any word of assurance and just continued to stoically stare outside. Fill turned his head eyeing the man for a few minutes, taking in every detail of the bear helmet that was worth so much more than the bear itself. Fil was told the story of the Mandalorian long ago and remembered certain details rather vividly while completely forgetting about others in the chaos of his upbringing.

What the remembered was enough to get a sense that the man beside him had gone through similar hardship to get here. And he knew it was tactless to bring it up, but he was an equally curious and sympathetic nature and the Mandalorian got the best of it. "Do you have a home to return to? " he asked, his voice soft and taking the other man by obvious surprise as he stiffened in the pilot seat.
"I mean, after what happened to Mandalore... I always wondered where the Mandalorian went."

No answer, just more staring at the stars flying by as the white strings of hyperspace. Fil frowned as he cradled the child closer to his chest.
"I'm sorry, I didn't intend to salt any wounds. Not again. ". The silence lay thick between them, making their strange companionship even stranger. Until the Mandalorian sighed heavily, almost sounding defeated before he spoke up, "I've never been on Mandalore. My people left long before the purge."
"So you got a home ?" Fil asked. Maybe the Mandalorian didn't care, maybe he didn't dare to answer that question, yet he remained silent once again.
"So I guess that's not where we're going," Fil said, shuffling in his seat. The child giggled, demanding his attention by stretching both stumbly arms in the young man's direction. Fil smiled as he leaned forward to lift the tiny creature up and into his arms to place it on his lap where it comfortably cooed, "I think we're each other's home now."

The Mandalorian bathed himself in silence again.
"You can come with us if you want," Fil added, gaze focusing on the other man again. "I'm thinking we could find ourselves a nice wood planet, build a cabin..live off nature. There's always room for one more."

The warrior didn't react physically, but Fil could feel how he was started by the offer.
" Of course, you don't have to. But I bet you'd like it. I could grow fruits and vegetables. You'd protect them. We both look after the child... we'd make a perfect team," Fil didn't know why he kept talking, he was making himself uncomfortable to the point where a faint blush spread hot over his cheeks.
The child hummed, a tiny hand reaching for the new color decorating his friend's face and Fil jumped onto the opportune to direct his attention back to the time creature.

"I could find you a pond with those jumping things you love to eat," he suggested.
"Would you like that?"

The child giggled in reply as he set his eyes on one of the levers that was decorated with a shiny metal ball. It was safe to say it was only partially paying attention to its guardian and Fil couldn't help but chuckle at that. With all his mental power, the child screwed the ball off levitating it toward its tiny, greedy hands. Effortlessly, Fil plugged it out of the air, rolling the ball between his slender fingers.

"I don't think you're allowed to mess with the ship either," he told his friend who looked at the object longingly and even sighed, as the young man sent it back in the same manner.
"How do you do that?" the Mandalorian asked as he watched the ball screwing itself back in place.
"The force," Film shrugged as if it was the most obvious answer in the galaxy, at least to him it was. He had been taught the ways of the force from multiple perspectives when he was younger and knowing about it was just as natural as knowing how to breathe.
He didn't even think twice about the possibility of the Mandalorian being oblivious to it. So he didn't feel the need to elaborate, another wave of exhaustion hiring him, scrunching his face in a big yawn, then tried to shake it off like a Loth-Cat. Traveling through space wasn't as exciting as one would think. It usually meat just days of stars flying by in stripes and the low, soothing rumbling of the hyperspace.

"You can have the bunk in the back," the Mandalorian spoke up, having observed and considered in brooding silence.
"I'm not taking your bed, you must be just as tired as me," the young man begged to differ. He didn't mind sleeping in his seat or curling up in a corner on the floor like he had always done.

"I don't sleep with strangers on the ship," the other responded rather dryly. At that, Fil rolled his eyes heavily, "That's ridiculous. The bunk of this ship model is big enough for two. If you don't want to keep me unsupervised, we could squeeze in together."

It was common practice with the last people he'd traveled with to share bunks if necessary.
"We can sleep back to back if that makes you comfortable."

The silence grew thick and loud, weighing down on them heavily. Until the Mandalorian sighed loudly, "I'm not leaving the crest on autopilot. I'm not tired. The bunk is yours. Take the child and rest."
Fil looked at the child. He was in desperate need of some good sleep and a warm blanket and his tiny companion didn't look opposed to a nap either.
"All right, if you insist," he decided as he rose to his feet.
"But there's still room for you if you change your mind."

As expected, the Mandalorian didn't spare a single glance in his direction, just continued to stoically stare into space as Fil left, darting for the back.
"He is a very strange fella," the young man mumbled to the child in his arm. "But I like him. He likes us too. I just don't know if he knows yet."