The Further Adventures of Peli Motto and the (Floppy-Eared Green) Child
Written for the chocolate box event for writlarge
author:
monicawoe
word-count: ~1,600
characters: Peli Motto, The Child, Din Djarin, Cara Dune
genre:gen, T
warnings: none
story summary: The Mandalorian asks Peli to watch his son for a day while he and Cara go on a mission. Peli cooks stew and the child is adorable.
Also on AO3
“You should’ve folded because your hand is terrible.” Peli rolled her eyes, toying again-just for a microsecond-with the idea of adjusting their logic cores so they’d make better sabbac players, but it was too risky. Her livelihood depended on how well the pit droids could fuel and fix ships, not play games.
She sighed, ran her fingers through her hair, and then froze when she caught a glint above her in the sky: suns against metal. The gunship was close and its shape was what made her heart skip a beat. It was a razor crest. She’d only seen one of those in the last few years.
As it got closer she knew it was his. She recognized his lopsided yet graceful landing style, one foot touching down just before the other.
“Clean that up,” she told the droids, “we’ve got company.”
The engines spun down with a stuttering whir-she’d have to tweak the rotors-and a few seconds later the ramp door lowered. Mando had brought a different friend this time: a woman a good foot taller than Peli with shoulders broader than Mando’s. She raised her hand in greeting and gave Peli a smile-friendly enough despite being a solider, the stripes on her biceps were a dead giveaway.
Mando followed, carrying his kid, who hadn’t changed one bit. Still just as small, cute and green. His ears, if possible, were even floppier than last time and Peli couldn’t stop a grin from escaping her. “Hey, how you all been?”
“Good,” Mando paused a few feet away, gestured at his friend and said, “Peli, this is Cara Dune, Cara this is Peli.”
“You build those droids yourself?” Cara asked, looking at the droids
“Salvaged and overhauled. They were podracer maintenance. Now they do ship repairs, mostly.”
“This ship could use tuning," Cara said, pointing over her shoulder at the razor crest.
“That why you’re here?”
“No.” Mando walked to the small table under the awning and sat the kid on one of the chairs; he cooed, reaching his arms out and Peli had to fight the urge to scoop him right back up again.
“We’re here for a job,” Mando said, “and I was hoping, maybe you could-“
Peli nodded. “Watch the kid? You got it. How long you think you’ll be gone?”
“All goes well? No longer than a day,” he shrugged. “We hit some bumps, maybe two.”
“Want me to look at your ship, too?”
“Yeah, needs it,” Mando reached into his pack and pulled out a small sack of credits. “Sorry, it’s a bit short. I’ll get you the rest after.”
“Yeah, you better,” Peli said, shaking her head with a smile. She had so many come through that stiffed her, getting paid anything up front at all made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
“Okay kiddo,” Cara said, bending down to pat him on the head. “See you later.”
“Behave yourself,” Mando added.
Peli laughed. In all her experiences with Mando thus far, the little green bundle of cute was the only one who always behaved himself. It was everybody else around him she had to worry about.
#
Cooking was good for the nerves. That what her Mama had always told her, and Peli had taken it to heart. Chopping, slicing, boiling, sizzling, a bunch of simple steps, just complex enough to keep the mind from wandering too far.
‘Course, her mind always wandered. It was her natural state of being, and cooking, despite its nerve-soothing traits, inevitably led her to think of her own sproglings. She hadn’t seen either of them in near two years now. They were on opposite quadrants: Kabi running a small cruiser rental business near a New Republic moon, Melor harvesting scrap on Takodana.
She thought of them often, got regular enough holo-messages. They were sweet, but it wasn’t the same as a good old fashioned hug.
“Got you to hug for today at least though, don’t I,” Peli said, giving Lil Green a squeeze. She’d wrapped him in the sling she’d used with both her kids when they were his size, which had been a blip in time, all things considered. She liked the sling because it gave her all the mobility she needed, while keeping them safe.
The kid liked it as much as Kabi had, babbling happily as she moved through the kitchen with practiced ease, chopping ootoowerg root and bantha meat and adding just a few drops of roosha for flavor. Bantha Steak Stew was one of her favorites, perfect for an evening meal with friends.
The ootoowerg was too small for liking, so she grabbed another from the pantry and set to chopping it quick, since the water was already boiling. She went to wipe the sweat from her brow, too slow to prevent a few drops from getting in her eyes, but kept cutting the last few bits, quick and hard, then winced as she sliced into the pad of her thumb.
“Ouch!” she yelped, bringing her thumb up to her mouth, shocked by how much blood welled up, and how quickly it was coming.
“Beh?” Lil Green asked, a fair question.
“I slipped. Wasn’t paying enough attention.” She cursed as she ran her thumb under the stream of water from the well pumper. It stung like a wart-hornet bite.
“Bah!” Lil Green said, reaching for her hand.
“No, no you can’t touch right now, honey. Sorry, it hurts.” She kissed him on the head. “It’ll be fine soon enough, dontcha worry. Just gotta get it wrapped up.” She walked them over to the washroom and grabbed a bandage strip, gripping one end with her teeth as she wrapped it around her thumb.
“There, good as new,” she said stiffly, ignoring the throbbing pain to force a smile on her face for the kid, who looked genuinely upset by her injury. “I’m fine,” she assured him, holding the thumb closer to his face as she walked them back into the kitchen. “See?”
Before she could stop him he grabbed hold of her thumb.
It hurt even more for a split second, and then her thumb went completely numb, and her hand vibrated, pulsing with a softly glowing light. Lil Green’s eyes had fallen shut as his tiny little claws cradled her thumb and she put two and two together. “That’s-that was you, wasn't it?”
He let go a second later and fell back against her chest, head lolling, softly snoring.
Tentatively, Peli unwound the bandage and found he thumb completely healed.
“Well would you look at that,” she gasped and sunk, weak-kneed back against the kitchen counter.
#
The stew smelled better the longer it cooked. That was the key to most stews, as it turned out. Peli added a few more hot spices, considering how chilly the air had gotten over the last few hours, they’d need it to warm them.
The kid had woken up again about an hour ago, and was nibbling contentedly on the sliver of hubba gourd she’d given him.
“They’ll be back soon,” she told him for the twelfth or thirteenth time. Can’t be too much longer now.
His ears twitched and he made a soft noise, hopped down off the chair and waddled towards the door.
“Where’re you going little guy?” Peli mused, wiping her hands on the towel. “You hear something? Course you do.” She stood behind him, looking out the back door, hand to her brow to shield herself from the glare of the setting suns.
In the distance she could just make out two dots, rapidly growing larger until they took on the clear shape of speeders.
“You heard that from all the way out there, huh?” Peli clucked her tongue as she crouched down to pat the kid’s head. “See, just like I told you: your daddy and pal are coming back already. You think they’re hungry? I bet they are.”
He turned to her and smiled. Hungry, he clearly understood.
#
The stew was a hit, much to Peli’s delight. Cara wolfed down two bowls, and she went through one and a half herself. The spices were perfect. Nice and warm, without being overpowering.
Mando was slumped back in his chair, tired but content. He looked natural, sitting there with the kid balanced in his lap, feeding him tiny bits of the stew’s softened meat with his fingers.
“Your kid’s pretty special,” Peli said finally. She’d been debating saying anything at all about what had happened. But in the end she couldn’t help herself.
“He is,” Mando said, and there was a question hidden in those words.
“Sliced my thumb earlier,” she said, holding up her perfectly healed digit.
“I see,” Mando nodded.
“That’s why they’re all after him isn’t it? That’s why you won’t-why you can’t settle down somewhere?”
“That’s one reason,” Cara said with a cocked eyebrow and a knowing smile.
“He’s extremely special,” Mando said. “And there’s a lot of people who want to use him. But I won’t let them.”
“Good thing he’s got you two looking out for him then,” Peli said. “Real good thing.”
"Thank you,” he said, earnestly, and even through his helmet she could feel the gratitude in his expression, “for taking care of him, and for the food.”
“My pleasure. You should have some too, before it gets cold,” Peli said. She nodded towards the far wall. “Storeroom’s got a small table. No windows.”
Mando nodded and handed the child back to Peli, “you mind watching him a few more minutes?” he asked as he took the plate and stood.
“No,” she smiled, “I don’t mind at all.”
author:
monicawoe
word-count: ~1,600
characters: Peli Motto, The Child, Din Djarin, Cara Dune
genre:gen, T
warnings: none
story summary: The Mandalorian asks Peli to watch his son for a day while he and Cara go on a mission. Peli cooks stew and the child is adorable.
Also on AO3
“You should’ve folded because your hand is terrible.” Peli rolled her eyes, toying again-just for a microsecond-with the idea of adjusting their logic cores so they’d make better sabbac players, but it was too risky. Her livelihood depended on how well the pit droids could fuel and fix ships, not play games.
She sighed, ran her fingers through her hair, and then froze when she caught a glint above her in the sky: suns against metal. The gunship was close and its shape was what made her heart skip a beat. It was a razor crest. She’d only seen one of those in the last few years.
As it got closer she knew it was his. She recognized his lopsided yet graceful landing style, one foot touching down just before the other.
“Clean that up,” she told the droids, “we’ve got company.”
The engines spun down with a stuttering whir-she’d have to tweak the rotors-and a few seconds later the ramp door lowered. Mando had brought a different friend this time: a woman a good foot taller than Peli with shoulders broader than Mando’s. She raised her hand in greeting and gave Peli a smile-friendly enough despite being a solider, the stripes on her biceps were a dead giveaway.
Mando followed, carrying his kid, who hadn’t changed one bit. Still just as small, cute and green. His ears, if possible, were even floppier than last time and Peli couldn’t stop a grin from escaping her. “Hey, how you all been?”
“Good,” Mando paused a few feet away, gestured at his friend and said, “Peli, this is Cara Dune, Cara this is Peli.”
“You build those droids yourself?” Cara asked, looking at the droids
“Salvaged and overhauled. They were podracer maintenance. Now they do ship repairs, mostly.”
“This ship could use tuning," Cara said, pointing over her shoulder at the razor crest.
“That why you’re here?”
“No.” Mando walked to the small table under the awning and sat the kid on one of the chairs; he cooed, reaching his arms out and Peli had to fight the urge to scoop him right back up again.
“We’re here for a job,” Mando said, “and I was hoping, maybe you could-“
Peli nodded. “Watch the kid? You got it. How long you think you’ll be gone?”
“All goes well? No longer than a day,” he shrugged. “We hit some bumps, maybe two.”
“Want me to look at your ship, too?”
“Yeah, needs it,” Mando reached into his pack and pulled out a small sack of credits. “Sorry, it’s a bit short. I’ll get you the rest after.”
“Yeah, you better,” Peli said, shaking her head with a smile. She had so many come through that stiffed her, getting paid anything up front at all made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
“Okay kiddo,” Cara said, bending down to pat him on the head. “See you later.”
“Behave yourself,” Mando added.
Peli laughed. In all her experiences with Mando thus far, the little green bundle of cute was the only one who always behaved himself. It was everybody else around him she had to worry about.
#
Cooking was good for the nerves. That what her Mama had always told her, and Peli had taken it to heart. Chopping, slicing, boiling, sizzling, a bunch of simple steps, just complex enough to keep the mind from wandering too far.
‘Course, her mind always wandered. It was her natural state of being, and cooking, despite its nerve-soothing traits, inevitably led her to think of her own sproglings. She hadn’t seen either of them in near two years now. They were on opposite quadrants: Kabi running a small cruiser rental business near a New Republic moon, Melor harvesting scrap on Takodana.
She thought of them often, got regular enough holo-messages. They were sweet, but it wasn’t the same as a good old fashioned hug.
“Got you to hug for today at least though, don’t I,” Peli said, giving Lil Green a squeeze. She’d wrapped him in the sling she’d used with both her kids when they were his size, which had been a blip in time, all things considered. She liked the sling because it gave her all the mobility she needed, while keeping them safe.
The kid liked it as much as Kabi had, babbling happily as she moved through the kitchen with practiced ease, chopping ootoowerg root and bantha meat and adding just a few drops of roosha for flavor. Bantha Steak Stew was one of her favorites, perfect for an evening meal with friends.
The ootoowerg was too small for liking, so she grabbed another from the pantry and set to chopping it quick, since the water was already boiling. She went to wipe the sweat from her brow, too slow to prevent a few drops from getting in her eyes, but kept cutting the last few bits, quick and hard, then winced as she sliced into the pad of her thumb.
“Ouch!” she yelped, bringing her thumb up to her mouth, shocked by how much blood welled up, and how quickly it was coming.
“Beh?” Lil Green asked, a fair question.
“I slipped. Wasn’t paying enough attention.” She cursed as she ran her thumb under the stream of water from the well pumper. It stung like a wart-hornet bite.
“Bah!” Lil Green said, reaching for her hand.
“No, no you can’t touch right now, honey. Sorry, it hurts.” She kissed him on the head. “It’ll be fine soon enough, dontcha worry. Just gotta get it wrapped up.” She walked them over to the washroom and grabbed a bandage strip, gripping one end with her teeth as she wrapped it around her thumb.
“There, good as new,” she said stiffly, ignoring the throbbing pain to force a smile on her face for the kid, who looked genuinely upset by her injury. “I’m fine,” she assured him, holding the thumb closer to his face as she walked them back into the kitchen. “See?”
Before she could stop him he grabbed hold of her thumb.
It hurt even more for a split second, and then her thumb went completely numb, and her hand vibrated, pulsing with a softly glowing light. Lil Green’s eyes had fallen shut as his tiny little claws cradled her thumb and she put two and two together. “That’s-that was you, wasn't it?”
He let go a second later and fell back against her chest, head lolling, softly snoring.
Tentatively, Peli unwound the bandage and found he thumb completely healed.
“Well would you look at that,” she gasped and sunk, weak-kneed back against the kitchen counter.
#
The stew smelled better the longer it cooked. That was the key to most stews, as it turned out. Peli added a few more hot spices, considering how chilly the air had gotten over the last few hours, they’d need it to warm them.
The kid had woken up again about an hour ago, and was nibbling contentedly on the sliver of hubba gourd she’d given him.
“They’ll be back soon,” she told him for the twelfth or thirteenth time. Can’t be too much longer now.
His ears twitched and he made a soft noise, hopped down off the chair and waddled towards the door.
“Where’re you going little guy?” Peli mused, wiping her hands on the towel. “You hear something? Course you do.” She stood behind him, looking out the back door, hand to her brow to shield herself from the glare of the setting suns.
In the distance she could just make out two dots, rapidly growing larger until they took on the clear shape of speeders.
“You heard that from all the way out there, huh?” Peli clucked her tongue as she crouched down to pat the kid’s head. “See, just like I told you: your daddy and pal are coming back already. You think they’re hungry? I bet they are.”
He turned to her and smiled. Hungry, he clearly understood.
#
The stew was a hit, much to Peli’s delight. Cara wolfed down two bowls, and she went through one and a half herself. The spices were perfect. Nice and warm, without being overpowering.
Mando was slumped back in his chair, tired but content. He looked natural, sitting there with the kid balanced in his lap, feeding him tiny bits of the stew’s softened meat with his fingers.
“Your kid’s pretty special,” Peli said finally. She’d been debating saying anything at all about what had happened. But in the end she couldn’t help herself.
“He is,” Mando said, and there was a question hidden in those words.
“Sliced my thumb earlier,” she said, holding up her perfectly healed digit.
“I see,” Mando nodded.
“That’s why they’re all after him isn’t it? That’s why you won’t-why you can’t settle down somewhere?”
“That’s one reason,” Cara said with a cocked eyebrow and a knowing smile.
“He’s extremely special,” Mando said. “And there’s a lot of people who want to use him. But I won’t let them.”
“Good thing he’s got you two looking out for him then,” Peli said. “Real good thing.”
"Thank you,” he said, earnestly, and even through his helmet she could feel the gratitude in his expression, “for taking care of him, and for the food.”
“My pleasure. You should have some too, before it gets cold,” Peli said. She nodded towards the far wall. “Storeroom’s got a small table. No windows.”
Mando nodded and handed the child back to Peli, “you mind watching him a few more minutes?” he asked as he took the plate and stood.
“No,” she smiled, “I don’t mind at all.”