Calamity || The Mandalorian

twenty-four

Kasia kept her eyes pinned on the woman as she continued to approach, Mando coming to her side. "Was that really necessarily?" she muttered under her breath.

He didn't even spare her a look as he replied. Yes.

She refrained from rolling her eyes as she turned her attention back to the angry woman in front of them. "You damage one of my droids, you'll pay for it," the woman promised, glowering at Mando.

"Great, another thing for us to pay with money we don't have. Good job Mando," Kasia mumbled sarcastically.

As soon as we're done here, we're flying straight to Reldve. I can't take much more of this, Mando said to her silently, an obvious joking seriousness in his words. She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling.

"Just keep them away from my ship," Mando told the woman, pointing threateningly at the poor pit droids.

The woman surveyed the beat-up Razor Crest for a moment, "Yeah? You think that's a good idea, do ya?" she asked sarcastically.

Kasia couldn't help it as the corners of her lips twitched upwards in amusement. Oh, I like her.

"Let's look at your ship," the woman went on, strolling past Mando and Kasia casually. Not waiting for an answer, she walked up to the side of the Razor Crest and began to pound on the metal and squint at it. Honestly, Kasia was impressed that the ship didn't fall apart from the force of the hit. "Oof! Look at that," she brought out some kind of a gadget and held it up to the Crest's side, "Ugh, you got a lot of carbon scorin' building up top. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were in a shootout."

Yeah, well, about that...

Mando cast Kasia a warning glance, as if daring her to make some snide comment. She merely flashed him a cryptic smile.

The woman kept making small side comments to herself regarding the disrepair of the vessel, and Kasia was honestly enjoying ever minute of listening to it and watching Mando squirm.

She grinned up at Mando as the woman ended her inspection, exclaiming, "Look at this! This is a mess!"

You are enjoying this way too much, Mando told her, and she nodded emphatically.

You bet your ass I am.

"How did you even land?" the woman asked incredulously as she finally turned back towards Kasia and Mando. "That's gonna set you back."

At the words, Kasia's mood soured and the smile dropped from her lips. Right, money.

She grabbed the small pouch of credits that she and Mando had had collectively on the ship and held them out towards the woman. "We've got 500 Imperial Credits."

The woman stared at the pouch for a moment before plucking it from Kasia's hand. "That's all you got?" she glanced down at the money for a moment before turning to look at the DUM-series droids behind her. "Well, what do you guys think?"

Kasia's heart sank as the droids began to shake their heads and reply in what she took to be a negative tone.

Maybe I should have let Mando shoot the little buggers after all, she thought, glaring at the droids.

The woman turned back towards them and glanced up at their ship, "That should at least cover the hanger," she informed them.

"We'll get you your money," Mando promised lowly, and a chill snaked down Kasia's spine at the words and menacing stance. She had spent so much time with Mando that she often forgot that to most people who encountered him, he was pretty damn scary.

Of course, speaking as someone who had seen him try to teach the kid how to kick a Limmie ball and then put a band-aid on the child after he fell and scrapped his hand, Kasia knew she would likely never be able to see him as anything close to a dangerous, fear-inciting Mandalorian ever again.

"Hmm. I've heard that before," the mechanic replied dryly, and Kasia smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, we really will get you the money," she promised.

The woman nodded once before Mando piped up, "Just remember-"

"Yeah, no droids," the mechanic interrupted, putting her hands up in annoyance, "I heard ya. You don't have to say it twice."

Without another word, Mando turned and began to make his way out of the maintenance hangar. Kasia winked at the woman before turning on her heel and following him.

"So off to Cantina, then?" she asked, falling into step with him.

He nodded, "Off to Cantina."

*.*.*

It's snowing at my house! I love snow.

Also did you guys see that Pedro was cast in The Last of Us along with Bella Ramsey?! I've never even played the game but Pedro Pascal once again playing a begrudging single-parent in a sci-fi tv show? Oberyn Martell and Lyanna Mormont the two leads? Sign me tf up.