Promises and Deals | The Mandalorian

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A woman with kind eyes approaches with a notepad in her hand. "Welcome, travelers. Can I interest you in anything?"

"Bone broth for them," Mando says. Alora glances away, refusing to show her gratitude just yet. He did, after all, hand them over for some shiny beskar.

"Oh, well, you're in luck. I just took down a grinjer, so there's plenty. Can I interest you in a pooringer of broth as well?"

"Just the two."

"Very well."

"That one over there." Mando motions towards the woman with war tattoos. "When did she arrive?"

"I've seen her here for the last week or so."

As Mando asks, "What's her business here?" Alora reaches forward for the pad of paper.

The waitress confusedly hands it to her with a confused look. "Business?" She echoes as Alora begins to scribble—she hasn't written anything in years. "Oh, well, there's not much business in Sorgan, so I can't say." Mando throws a few coins on the table.

Alora takes that as her cue. She rolls her eyes dramatically and stands, handing the waitress her paper before she heads to the bar, purposefully going to the other side where Mando can't see her, but the woman can. The barkeep greets her, but she points to the woman and hands him the note. The man nods in understanding, telling a nearby waiter to send her note.

Smiling graciously, she points to a nearby drink in question. Soon enough, the barkeep gives her the drink with a wink.

As she walks back over to Mando and the Child, she can see the woman walk out of the tavern, the note gone. With a shrug, Alora simply sits back down just as the waitress moves away, sipping her drink happily.

"Where did you go?" Mando asks pointedly, his voice ruff with annoyance.

Alora points to the empty table.

It's hard to suppress the smile creeping onto her face when the Mandalorian, a man supposedly trained for any situation, jumps to his feet. "Stay here," he orders before he jogs out of the tavern, completely on edge.

Instead of listening to the grumpy warrior, Alora helps the Child off of his seat so they can walk together after Mando. They walk at a slow pace, especially since the Child's legs are so small.

They find Mando and the woman engaged in a very cute fight that ends with a gun in each of their faces, both on the ground. Alora slurps at her drink innocently, making both of them turn to her. She waves mockingly.

Mando looks back at the woman. "You want some soup?"

It does not take long for all four of them to sit at the table peacefully, the Child and Alora enjoying their food while the woman, Cara Dune, speaks. Alora does her best to simply stare at her food as she tells stories of her shock-trooper days but can barely stomach it anymore.

"Saw most of my action mopping up after Endor," Cara says. "Mostly Ex-Imperial warlords. They wanted it fast and quiet. They'd send us in on the dropships. No support, just us. Then, when the Imps were gone, the politics started. We were peacekeepers, protecting delegates, suppressing riots. Not what I signed up for."

"How'd you end up here?" Mando asks.

"Let's just call it an early retirement. Look, I knew you were Guild. I figured you had a fob on me. That's why I came at you so hard."

"Yeah, that's what I figured."

"Well," Cara purses her lips as she stands. "This has been a real treat, but unless you wanna go another round, one of us is gonna have to move on, and I was here first."