Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The task was pretty simple: water the plants, feed the cats, make sure nothing exploded while Jo was gone. Sure, her apartment was a good thirty minutes away from Cobb's place, but the girl had been a real trooper pulling those extra hours at the office every night to be able to get her leave, so he figured it was the least he could do. Plus, he couldn't pretend his evenings were busy. At few trips to town might even trick him into feeling useful again. Just for the week, at least.

''Got it, Jo. Don't worry, your kids are in good hands.'' Cobb rolled his eyes, an exasperated smile tugging at his lips as he pulled into the apartment complex's parking lot. ''Alright, I'm here. Yes, I remember. Yes, I'll call you if anything happens. Now go and enjoy your trip! See you on Sunday. Okay. Bye.''

The call ended. Cobb pocketed his cellphone with a fond sigh and shut the truck's engine. He pulled himself out of the driver seat with a curse to his stiff knee. 

The building was fairly large, easily five or six stories, but it looked old and unkept, with the busted concrete stairs at the entrance and dry ivy crawling up the tern brick walls. The inside wasn't much better. The lights buzzed and sputtered overhead, smearing over the cracked white walls and tile floor that Cobb wouldn't dare touch with bare fingers. An elevator rested on the far wall, and a staircase on the opposite side. Cobb considered his options, and begrudgingly made his choice when his knee shared its opinion about limping up ten flights of stairs. Elevator it would be.

The elevator didn't have any music, so Cobb listened to the tired rumble of the cables instead as the cabin made its slow ascension to the fifth floor. He leaned against the wall to relieve the tension in his joint and tried to ignore the dizziness creeping in. Elevators were never Cobb's best friends. They were already suffocating before, and since the accident, the tugs and bumps from the ride were not doing any favor to his vertigo. He had been doing a mighty fine job at avoiding them so far, until his stupid joint decided to bust before its time. Trading a pain in the ass for another is all this was.

On the second floor, the cabin stalled. The doors slid open painfully. A man stepped in. Two pairs of eyes stared at Cobb. First the man's unreadable dark glare glancing at him like he wasn't supposed to be here, then the curious look of the baby cradled in his arms and gawking at him with wide eyes. 

Cobb smiled politely at the pair. His stiff attempt at friendliness was met with a curt nod before the stranger passed by him and shoved himself into the opposite corner of the cabin. The doors slid shut, and the elevator shook a little before resuming its ascension.

Cobb stared at the digital number above the doors to diffuse the awkwardness rising beneath his sternum. Beside him, he heard the baby babble. His guardian murmured back at him, so ushered Cobb could barely understand what he was saying. Something about a quail and frogs. Sure.

Ding! 

Oh, finally. Cobb hurried through the doors and down the narrow hall. Second door on the right, spare key is the round silver one, not the square one. Got it. He stopped by Jo's door and rummaged in front pocket of his jeans for the key ring. 

On the opposite side of the corridor, second door on the left, a man was balancing a toddler on his hips to grab his keys from his jacket pocket. The key wobbled into the lock, the door groaned open, and the kid's babbling was muffled as it closed behind them.

Cobb managed to bully the door of Jo's apartment open. In the lobby, a pale tabby cat meowled, stretched and slumped on its back at the man's feet.

''Hi, Eggnog.''

The second day, he didn't arrive first.

Cobb spotted the man entering the cabin and slid behind him right before the doors slid shut. The stranger looked at him the same way as last time, and backed into the corner. The child in his arms was bundled in an oversized green snow suit and a polar hat, and it's the cutest damn thing Cobb had ever seen. At least second to his dog, back when she was a puppy. 

He tried to get a better look at the man too, while he was busy pushing the button to the fifth floor. He was in the same work clothes, same boots, same old coat he'd probably been wearing for the last decade. His mane, or rather his mope, of thick brown hair looked like something a bird might want to nest in, messy locks whipped in every direction, almost falling into his eyes and curling over his ears. 

Cobb didn't get to note more before the man glanced back at him. His expression was unreadable, somewhere between cold and a little bit bewildered, and Cobb wasn't feeling like pushing it. With age came wisdom, what could he say. 

''Down, da.'' a tiny voice chirped, and Cobb had to bite down a smile.

''Not now.'' the man denied quietly. 

''Down, da.''

The man sighed. He eyed Cobb, who put the effort in to avoid looking at him in the eyes again. The baby wiggled insistently. His father eventually gave up and set him down reluctantly. He kept a gentle but firm grip on his little hand as the boy squirmed, antsy and eager to get home. 

Cobb's phone buzzed. Grateful for the distraction, he fished it out of his pocket, unsurprised to see Jo's text.

[Hey! Things going ok?]

[Peachy.on my way right now.]

[👍]

[How's th

Something tugged at his jeans. Cobb looked down to meet two large brown eyes staring up at him. The pudgy hand that wasn't grabbing at his pants held out Jo's key ring to his face (well, to his hip). 

''Thank you, little guy.'' Cobb smiled as he bent down to take the keys.

The kid beamed up at him. He bounced happily and toddled back to his guardian, whose eyes hadn't left him for a second, shoulders tense in effort to contain the urge to snatch his child away from the very rude stranger intruding his elevator. He pat the boy's head instead, who wrapped his small self around his leg. 

Ding!

Shoot. Right before he could finish his text. Cobb shoved his cellphone back in his pocket, keys in hands, and watched the doors open on the fifth floor. The man besides him bent to pick up the toddler, only to be met with a rigorous headshake.  

''No!''

With that, the little boy made his way to the exit with all the confidence his two-feet-tall self could contain. Cobb stepped aside with an amused smile. 

''After you.'' he said with a comedic bow. 

The child cooed back. The other man watched him with a sigh and started after him. He carefully grabbed the little green bundle up under his arms and picked him up to get them both over the crack between cabin and floor and into the hallway. The kid giggled and ran to their doorstep the moment he was free, the ruffling of his snow suit bouncing off the walls. 

Cobb didn't realize he was still watching the pair until the doors began to slide back shut. He pushed the button to hold them open with a start and walked out. A heavy door creaked behind him, and when he risked a look over his shoulder, the duo was already gone. 

He stopped at Jo's door and grabbed his phone again with a sigh.

[How's the trip?]

A few days passed before it happened again.

December was finally kicking in, and boy was Cobb feeling it. It was in his morning grogginess that lasted until lunch, in the humid chill seizing at his neck when he went to turn out the horses and almost felt bad for doing so, but most importantly, it was in the pulsing ache beneath his right patella. 

It was already dark out when Cobb pulled into the parking lot. He pulled himself out of his old Chevrolet with a grunt and immediately regretted not taking a Tylenol before he left. His joint was stiff and throbbing from the ride over. The man sighed and limped his way inside the building to call the elevator. 

''Eeeh!'' 

Cobb looked over in time to see a familiar little boy trotting towards him with an excited grin on his round face. His father was close behind, a backpack swung over one broad shoulder that looked just a smidge less tense than the previous times. Another novelty: a pair of jeans and a black sweater and leather jacket instead of work clothes. Feeling wild tonight.

''Hello, little guy.'' Cobb forced himself to smile back at the kid. It wasn't that big of an effort, seeing those big bright eyes beam up at him. ''Goin' up too?''

The other man caught up with the peanut and lifted him in his arms. He didn't greet Cobb, barely looked at him, but he knew he was keeping him within eyesight. The elevator slid open, and the three of them stepped in. 

Cobb leaned against the wall with a sigh. It did little to relieve the pain in his knee, but at least it wouldn't buckle. The toddler chattered whats and nothings, his dad hummed in response. The cabin jostled slightly, cables groaning. 

Then, it stalled.

Of fucking course.

The emergency lights wavered on. Somewhere besides Cobb, the other man clicked his tongue in annoyance.

''Dammit, not again..'' he mumbled. 

''Again?'' Cobb asked.

The guy rolled his eyes with a long sigh, which sported enough of an answer in itself. He pushed the emergency button on the wall and fished a beaten-up cellphone from his coat pocket. He checked something on the screen and promptly shoved it back into his pocket, before stating without an ounce of surprise in his voice,

''No signal.'' 

The toddler whined against his shoulder, unnerved by the situation and the tension rising from both men. His dad dropped his backpack on the floor and shifted him to his other hip.

''It's okay.'' he reassured. ''We'll just have to wait a while.''

Cobb ran a hand over his face to try and release the increasing tightness of his throat. It wasn't good. It really wasn't good. ''And how long is that supposed to be?'' 

The man shrugged. ''Twenty minutes or two hours, I can't say.'' he answered, not bothering looking at Cobb. At least the two-year-old kid was of pleasant company. 

Cobb let his head bump back against the metal wall. Pressure built up steadily against his temples as if the walls were trying to cave in on him. The flaming pain in his knee sure did nothing to help his current state. After an hour, though probably no longer than fifteen minutes, the man gave in and slid inelegantly to the floor. With the strain now off his joint, the ache was bearable enough, just so. He let his eyes fall closed while massaging the inflamed tissue, most likely to soothe his own mind more than his body. 

Beside him, he could hear his prison mates move around, a bag being unzipped and happy blabber. Cobb cracked open an eye when something rattled next to his ear, only to be met with the stranger holding out a bottle of off-brand painkillers in a hesitant hand. 

''...want some?'' he asked awkwardly. 

''That obvious, huh?'' Cobb mumbled. He still took the bottle and shook two pills into his palm. The guy was doing an effort, the least he could do was not turn him down. And it hurt, dammit.

Said guy gave him a stiff one-shoulder shrug. He had yet to look at Cobb in the eyes. He took the bottle back, almost jostled when their fingertips brushed, and turned away to put it into his backpack's front pocket. The kid was looking between the two of them with his pale eyebrows pulled together, a green plush clutched between his fingers. He hesitated, glanced at his father briefly, then toddled over to Cobb. The boy crouched, as well as he could in his snow suit anyway, and put his plush on Cobb's lap. 

Cobb never bothered thinking about family. The household he was born into could as well not exist, for as little they had cared since he left the day after his seventeenth birthday. By the time he reached twenty-five, he had already reached the conclusion that the American dream family was not an utopia he was not going to get a taste of, and for the years that followed the hopeless romantic traded places with the workaholic. He craved purpose more than conformity, and he figured an empty ranch house with too many spare rooms was only a small price to pay overall.

It's not until his heart made a weak leap in his tight chest at the sight of this tiny boy that he thought about it again at all. 

Cobb looked down at the toy on his lap. A frog, the size of his palm and worn out at the edges, possibly a little chewed-on too. In other words, a child's most prized possession. 

''Is it for me?'' the man asked. The toddler looked at him expectantly. ''Thank you, kid.''

The child flashed him a bright smile that was still missing a few teeth, and who was Cobb not to smile back. 

''Come here, Grogu.''

The boy twirled around and skipped to his dad. The man crouched with a quiet grunt and a pop in his spine. He unzipped the winter coat and removed the hat to keep the kid from running too hot. The hat didn't hide any chocolate locks, just a small patch of thin blond hair that barely reached his forehead. The boy quipped and fumbled into the open backpack before pulling out a children book. He held it up to his father insistently, who sighed with an uneasy look. He still gave in and lowered himself to the floor. His son balanced on his thigh with one hand and the book in the other, he cleared his throat and began to narrate, barely loud enough for Cobb to hear.

''...The fawn was a mischievous child, always looking for adventures. One day...''

Cobb messed around on his phone to give the pair a bit of privacy, but found himself struggling to focus on anything else than the little fawn's journey, carried so well by the stranger's low, raspy tone. He could have been reading aloud Cobb's grocery list and he probably still would find it mesmerizing. There was a gentleness to this man, something careful and soft that at first glance shouldn't fit on his sharp silhouette. Such intense features, for such a quiet voice.

Grogu's energy was quick to falter. It must had been a solid thirty minutes since the elevator got stuck, making it at least 5:20. He probably wanted to eat dinner, watch his cartoons or whatever toddlers do, and go to bed after his very long and strenuous day. He ended up curled on his father's lap with an applesauce instead, and didn't look too overjoyed by it. His head rested against the man's chest, sad eyes glassy with sleep and boredom. By the time they reached the end of the book, he was out.

With the kid down for the count, Cobb was left alone, sitting on a dirty elevator floor for so long his ass was beginning to feel numb, with for only company one of the most bizarre encounter he had made in a long time. The man wasn't strange in an odd character way, but like a puzzling mystery, so much yet so little all at once. And Cobb apparently had nothing else to do than try and go to the bottom of it.

''So... Grogu, huh?'' he tried.

The man looked over at Cobb almost with incredulity in his eyes. He shrugged stiffly.

''It's not his real name.''

Phew.

''Ah. What is it, then?''

''Gregorio.'' the man answered after a moment of hesitation.

''It's nice.''

''Yeah.''

Alright. Not a man for discussion. Cobb had figured as much. 

''What about his dad?''

''What?''

Cobb lifted an eyebrow and lifted a corner of his mouth. Time to use some of his special skills. ''Does he have a name?''

The man stared at him for just too long of a pause. Sizing him up, jaw flexing.

''Din.'' he eventually said.

''Is that a nickname too?''

''...no.'' Din said. He tugged at his lip with a canine before adding, ''...you?''

''Cobb.'' the sheriff replied. He offered a greeting hand, and when Din stared at him with a puzzled pull between his eyebrows, he tossed him an amused smirk that bled through his eyes. ''I'll let you guess.''

Din shook his hand politely, his grip gentler than Cobb had anticipated. His hands were soft. 

Very soft.

...anyway.

The kid (Grogu? Greg?) stirred on Din's chest. He was out like a light, curled up and clutching the man's sweater between his fingers. 

''He's a cute lil' stinker, that's for sure.'' Cobb noted at the sight.

''Yeah.'' Din said softly, covering the child's frame with the open side of his jacket. ''He knows it, too.''

Cobb snorted. He could imagine how those eyes granted him anything he wanted from near anyone. ''Kids. They got everyone wrapped 'round their lil' finger without even trying.''

Did Cobb have any idea what he was talking about? No. Did it manage to make Din smile? A little, yes. 

''Tell me about it.'' he sighed. ''Even his daycare educator spoils him more than I do. My boss is all over him, too.''

''Where do you work?''

''Garage. Motto's Repairs.''

The base of Cobb's skull tickled at that. ''Yeah... yeah, I know the place. Brought my truck in a while back. Poor thing's on her last breath, I'm afraid.''

Din frowned pensively. ''Red Chevy?''

Well, shit. ''That's the one.''

''If I wasn't holding on to my crap Toyota myself, I'd tell you to just put it to rest already.''

Cobb splayed a hand over his chest in fake indignation. ''She's a classic, I'll let you know!''

''And her transmission is a rusting piece of junk, I already know.''

Din's mouth didn't smile much, those lips sculpted into an eternal pout, but his eyes did. Cobb grinned. You're getting fun, bastard. 

''What about you?'' He heard him say. It was evident holding a conversation was not this man's strongest suit, but he was trying to keep it alive, which was to be considered a milestone. 

Cobb considered his new companion, a little surprised by the question. Usually, people he didn't even know knew who he was. Oddly refreshing, to be a stranger for once.

''Well... got into the police corp at twenty, not knowin' what better thing to do with myself, thinkin' I could make it to detective. Fast-forward twenty-four years and somehow, I was bullied into becoming sheriff.'' 

Din's brow raised ever so slightly. ''Sheriff? Of the county?''

Cobb chuckled at that. ''You're not from here, are you?'' he said, squinting. Come to think about it, he couldn't recall ever seeing his face before this week. 

Din's gaze wavered. Uncertainty crawled under his skin, making his chin twitch. ''Moved in last month.'' he confirmed in a voice that had lost its previous warmer tint.

''Not that I'm surprised anybody would willingly move here, but I'm surprised anybody would willingly move here. What brings you out there?''

''Not your problem.''

...alright. So much for the friendliness. In other times, Cobb would have bitten back, rarely the one to let himself be snapped at, but the unexpected switch of mood left him a little stunned. 

Din's mouth was pursed into a line when he looked down at his little boy. Conflicted, between words to share and others to keep for himself. After a uncomfortably long beat of silence, he muttered,

''Sorry. It's... been a shit month.''

The sheriff nodded slowly. He could sympathize with that. He hadn't been doing much better himself, though something was telling him Din's story didn't stop at the bad weather. Many scenarios emerged in his mind, none that he dared speculate on aloud. 

''S'alright. Must be exhausting, runnin' after that lil' gremlin everyday.''

Din sighed. The tension in his trapezes relieved and his broad shoulders drooped. ''You don't say..'' he murmured.

Grogu stirred and blinked awake. The man rubbed a hand along his back, but the kid only leaned into it for a short moment before twisting away with a grumble and climbing off his lap. He grabbed the discarded story book, toyed with it briefly, and shoved it into the backpack. Noting that they were still trapped in their very boring metal cage, he whined with a sound dangerously bordering on cries, and Cobb decided to come to the rescue.

''Hey, Grogu, come here!'' he tried to sound enthusiastic, and was pretty proud of his performance.

The toddler considered him, visibly taking a handful of seconds to recognize his face. He was quickly bought though when Cobb held out his plushy frog to him. Din's attentive gaze didn't leave the kid one second when he made his unsteady way to the toy, but he didn't tense up or twitch. Trust, a fragile, slowly blooming bud. 

Grogu took the toy with a grin. He bounced around a bit, fueled with newly-found energy, and sat himself heavily on Cobb's thigh. The man glanced over at Din, only to find him just as wide-eyed. It seemed to ask a lot of him, but he stayed put, and even offered a stiff smile when the boy waved at him. 

''Wanna see something?'' Cobb prompted and pulled his phone from his pocket. A little bit of fumbling and his gallery was open. 

The child followed the movements of his finger with undivided attention. He cooed when the first picture popped up on the screen. 

''This is Deputy. She's my dog. Do you like dogs?'' He didn't expect Grogu to understand, and was pleasantly surprised when he nodded. He swiped to the next one, a video of Deputy barking at a dog on TV. Grogu startled with a yap at the barks, before giggling and clapping his tiny hands in amusement. 

''Daaaow.'' he declared, pointing at the red heeler.

''Yeah, it's a dog. She's cheeky, just like ya.'' Cobb poked the kid's tummy, earning a squeak. ''Here, I'll show you big, big dogs.''

At the sight of horses galloping around their field, Grogu just about lost his mind. He bounced on his spot and grabbed at the phone with excited squeals. He poked at the buckskin as if trying to pet it through the screen.

''You like them, huh?'' 

''He saw a pony at a petting farm the other day, been obsessed with them ever since.'' Din stated from his corner. He was slouched against the wall, head leaned back, hands resting in the pockets if his coat. He gazed between Cobb in his kid, and his eyes weren't quiet, but neither were they alarmed. 

''Oh yeah?'' Cobb smiled down at the boy who was busy shuffling through the pictures. ''You better hope it passes, or he'll get expensive.''

Din huffed. 

Before he could add anything, the elevator's lights blinkered back to life. The cables whined, the cabin jostled and just like that, they were back in motion.

Din stood up with a grunt and packed the kid's stuff in his bag. 

''Alright, kid. Time to go home.'' he said while shrugging on his backpack. When Grogu kicked his feet in protest, he bribed, ''I'll make egg sandwiches.''

Apparently egg sandwiches were the new 3-Michelin-stars sensation, and the toddler was quickly convinced. He shuffled off Cobb's lap and joined his father, who picked him up effortlessly. Din looked back to see Cobb shuffling on the floor, trying to get back on his feet despite his stiff leg. 

''Need a hand?'' he offered.

''Nah...'' His hip popped. ''...maybe.''

Din's grip was solid around his wrist, and he tugged the other man up like it was nothing. Cobb kept a hand planted on his shoulder a few additional seconds, seeking support until his leg stopped wobbling, and no, not because he was enjoying the sturdy flex of muscles under there.

Ding!

Time's up. 

The doors slid open, and Cobb was full of relief to see the off-white wall of the hallway. Yeay. They could finally get out of here. Jo's cats would finally get their food. Grogu would get his sandwich. Din would get some rest, maybe. And Cobb, he would get his job done, get back home, and get over it. 

''Freedom at last.'' he said, and it didn't sound as chipper as he intended it to be. 

Din stepped aside to let him limp out into the hallway. He followed suit, and they found themselves standing there, trapped between the flaking walls, the dirty tile floor and the hardly explainable buzz from the strangest hour of Cobb's week.

''Well... see you around?'' The sheriff said, twisting the sole of his right boot into the ground.

Din nodded awkwardly. His lip twitched, his eyes flickered, and ultimately, he turned on his heels and walked away. 

''Bye-bye..'' Grogu said from over Din's shoulder, and waved a tiny hand at him. 

Cobb waved back, and he knew, he was screwed.

While Eggnog was mildly happy to see him, KitKat was infuriated about being left to starve. She made sure to let Cobb know, meowling his ears off until he filled up her -still half-full- bowl. No respect for room service. 

He was just finishing watering the kitchen plants when there was a knock on the door. The man turned around in time to see poor Eggnog startle into the stratosphere, and was still snorting about it when he went to answer.

When he opened the door, Din looked almost as startled. He leaned back briefly as if considering running away for a second.

''...hi.'' he said dumbly. 

''Hey, it's been a while.'' Cobb joked and leaned against the doorframe. The poor guy looked like a shy boy scout scared to go knock at the town grump's door to sell his cookies. Without seeing him, Cobb could hear Grogu stomping around in the hallway.

Din stole a quick look inside over Cobb's shoulder. ''Can I borrow your phone?''

''Uh, sure..'' The man grabbed his phone from his back pocket.

The brunet took the device between careful fingers. He keyed for a moment, made a typo, erased, retyped, closed the phone and handed it back.

''Thanks.''

''Your welcome?''

Din's fingers strummed on his thighs. He swallowed, nodded once, and stepped back.

''I'm taken on Sundays.'' 

Without a word more, he was already gone, striding down the hall with Grogu running after him, little legs struggling to keep up with his pace.

Cobb watched them go, caught somewhere sweet between incredulity and confusion, until they disappeared into their apartment. He stared down at his phone, fingertips tingling, and unlocked the damn thing.

It opened on a new contact page. A number he didn't know, and above it for contact name,

Din Djarin (elevator guy)

It was stupid. It was a phone number, like the many other phone numbers in his list. It was a phone number from a barely amicable man who he hadn't even begun to understand, who he knew next to nothing about and still felt like he knew more than he was allowed to. It was a phone number that didn't mean anything and could mean anything, and Cobb was grinning like an idiot, and he felt silly, and it felt good. 

Maybe the hopeless romantic could cover the next shift.

Chapter Text

[Hello Elevator Guy, up for coffee saturday? Cafe Sorgan, 11?]

[Sounds good.]

[It,s a date!]

[Calm your horses, sheriff]

[🤠]