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Silence fills the cockpit of the Razor Crest as the Mandalorian focuses on piloting and Shivani focuses on glaring a hole into that shiny beskar helmet. She didn't know why she had felt so betrayed by him. It had been clear from the start that she would only ever be a bounty for him. Why had she expected any different?
"Why are you glaring at me?" The Mandalorian asks, not even needing to turn around to know that the girl is unhappy with him.
"I'm hoping you'll spontaneously combust." Shivani replies dryly, folding her arms across her chest.
The Mandalorian glances over his shoulder in shock at her answer. "I just rescued you from an Imperial warlord."
"And whose fault is it that I was there in the first place?" Shivani retorts with a tilt of her head as the Mandalorian sighs. This was a petty argument, both of them were aware of that fact. But Shivani was not ready to forgive him just yet. Not without first trying to understand what was going on under all that armour. "Look. I get that you're a bounty hunter and you were just doing your job. But that kid saved your life. Surely that had to mean something to you." She waits for a response that didn't seem to be coming. She wants to give him a chance to explain himself but he seems content to remain silent. Shivani huffs and slumps back into her seat, mumbling, "I should have left you to the mudhorn."
"Why didn't you?" The Mandalorian asks the question that had been plaguing his mind. It bothered him greatly that he didn't have an answer for the Armorer when she asked why he had been helped by enemies. This woman was an enigma that he couldn't solve.
"Oh, now you reply." Shivani scoffs, shaking her head in disbelief. "You have very selective hearing."
"Why didn't you leave me to the mudhorn?" The Mandalorian asks again, spinning the pilot seat around so he could look at her. "You said you weren't going to help. So why did you intervene?"
"I don't know." Shivani mutters, finding a speck of dirt on her boots to be infinitely more interesting than looking into the visor of the Mandalorian.
"Yes you do." The Mandalorian insists as Shivani finally meets his gaze. "Tell me."
She sighs in defeat as her shoulders relax. "Because someone once told me that Mandalorians were good people. They are supposed to be noble and honourable. You're the first one of your kind I've ever met and I guess I wanted to give you a chance to prove that she was right. And you couldn't do that if the mudhorn got to you first." Admitting the reason outloud sounded even more stupid to Shivani than it was in her head. "Besides, despite what I thought of you, the child seemed to have grown attached. I couldn't fathom why but I doubt he would have been happy to see you get pummelled to death."
