Kasia hummed cheerfully as she made her way up to the bookie taking bets for the upcoming fight, slamming a stack of credits on the table with a loud clank.
"100 credits on the wom-"
"What are you doing?" Din's voice was unamused as he appeared at her side, the child on his heels, and grabbed her hand, evidently not very pleased with her attempts to lose them in the crowded cantina. To be fair, she had done so only because she had known he would stare down at her with this very look of disapproval.
Kasia turned to face him with an innocent smile, not bothering to remove her hand as she instead laced her fingers through his, absentmindedly running her thumb down the back of his hand. "Gambling," she informed him in a very matter-of-fact manner. "You know. My profession."
Really? I thought cheating was your profession.
She rolled her eyes, unperturbed by the jest, "Same thing."
At the utter nonchalance of her tone, Din stifled the chuckle that rose in his chest. Instead, he forced a small sigh. "We don't have the money to waste any on chance," he reminded her dryly, still slightly irritated by their lack of funds. In all his years of bounty hunting, he had rarely had so little money—though he supposed it was to be expected with two extra mouths to feed and an uncollected bounty.
At the reminder, however, Kasia merely made a face at him, her beautiful features contorting in confusion. "Who the fuck said anything about chance?" Not giving Din a chance to respond—or chastise her for swearing in front of the kid again—she nodded over towards where Cara Dune stood stretching with a smirk on her face, readying for her impending fight. Kas's voice was quiet when she spoke, lowered to ensure that the bookie wouldn't be able to overhear. "Cara is completely confident that she can beat him—in fact, she knows she can. And honestly, he seems to know it too, despite his own shows of, erm, confidence."
Indeed, the crowd gave a large whoop right at that moment as Cara's opponent flexed his muscles, a snarling grin on his face as he stared down the ex-shock trooper he was about to fight. Kasia rolled her eyes at the show, knowing full-well the male's true trepidation regarding the fight.
Despite her murmured words, Din couldn't help but stare down at Kas in slight incredulity. "Cara's a great fighter, but he's two times her size."
"I can literally read their minds, Di- Mando," she retorted with a low snort, smirking as she stared up at him, nonplussed. "Can you?"
Din said nothing for a moment as he continued to stare down at her, reading the confidence in her eyes and stance. Finally he sighed, relenting as he recognized the futility of continuing the argument; Kas wasn't going to budge anytime soon, and she did seem fairly certain.
Grinning widely, Kasia squeezed her Mandalorian's hand once before turning back to the bookie with a bright smile and placing her bet.
Five minutes later, after watching Cara absolutely annihilate the alien's ass, a smug Kasia made her way back through the crowd to the bookie to collect her winnings, the child in her arms, while a sulking Din sought out Cara.
"Looking for some work?" Din asked in greeting, the modulated words grabbing Cara's attention.
Surprise momentarily flitted across the woman's face at the unexpected visitor before she chuckled softly. "Mando," she greeted him, her voice wary but friendly, and she pocketed her hard-earned money as she sauntered over to a nearby table, "I wasn't expecting to see you in these parts again so soon." The woman paused for a moment, a thought occurring to her. "Where ar-"
"In. Your. Face," Kasia grinned widely as she slid into the chair next to Mando, thrusting her sack of winnings in front of his helmet. From her lap, the child babbled happily, giggling as he too pointed up at the Mandalorian.
Very mature, Din glared at her.
"You're just upset because I was right. Again. As usual," she teased, jiggling the sack of coins in emphasis. She pocketed the sack of winnings before patting him on the shoulder conciliatorily. "Don't worry, you get used to disappointment. At least, that's what I've heard."
Kas flashed him one last fiendish grin before turning to the woman who sat across the table from them. "Cara, it's good to see you!" she greeted her friend enthusiastically.
Cara's smile was less forced as she nodded towards the Eulentian. The corners of her mouth threatened to pull upwards into a smirk as she surveyed the woman and the Mandalorian with interest, noting the relaxed, teasing air and the way that Mando didn't hesitate to casually sling his arm across the back of Kasia's chair.
"It's good to see you too, Kas," she answered honestly, reaching out to grip Kasia's forearm in greeting before sitting back in her seat and appraising the two of them—and the child—with a curious glance. "What job did you have in mind?" she directed the question towards Mando as she signaled the barkeep for a bottle of spotchka.
Din glanced momentarily towards Kasia, before facing Cara, his arm falling from Kasia's shoulder as he leaned forward. "It seems like a straightforward operation," he began, his fingers brushing Kas's under the table as a barmaid poured the two women a glass of spotchka each. "They're providing the plan and firepower. We're the snare."
Cara's expression didn't change as her eyes dipped to the small alien. "With the kid?"
Kas nodded. "That's why we're coming to you," she informed her friend with a sly smile. "We needed backup and well," she nodded towards the floor Cara had just fought on, "there's no one better at handing someone their own ass than you."
Cara rolled her eyes at her friend. "Flattery will get you nowhere," Cara chuckled even as Kasia felt a flicker of pride from the woman.
"I beg to differ. Ass-kissing is the most effective tool in the galaxy if used correctly," she winked at Din who coughed to hide his laugh.
I don't know whose ass you kissed to come to that assumption, but it sure as hell wasn't mine, he answered dryly. I'm not sure if you've ever said anything remotely nice to me—certainly not until recently.
Kasia wrinkled her nose at him.
Across the table, Cara sighed suddenly, the noise recapturing both Kasia and Din's attention. "I don't know," her friend admitted, uncertainty flowing from her. "I've been advised to lay low. If anybody runs my chain code, I'll rot in a cell for the rest of my life."
"I thought you were a veteran," Din said flatly as the male whose ass Cara had kicked in the fight walked passed and dropped a few coins on the table, scowling slightly.
"Come back soon," Cara crooned and Kasia chuckled as she took a sip of the cobalt drink, unable to hide her amusement at the gloating and the male's resulting ire. The arrogant smirk on Cara's lips dropped a moment later, however, as she faced them again. "I've been a lot of things since," she admitted, her voice almost reminiscent. "Most of them carry a life sentence. If I so much as book passage on a ship registered to the New Republic, I'm—"
Kasia tried to keep her face neutral as she suddenly saw flashes of Cara's past, some of the woman's worst memories playing out in front of her eyes in mere seconds. Once upon a time, Kasia may have felt horrible at what could be considered an invasion of the woman's privacy—instead, she felt that she merely understood her friend even better, understood her hesitation and her motivations.
"I have a ship," Din interrupted, his eyes darting momentarily to Kas from beneath his helmet as he noticed how still she had gone. He brushed his fingers against hers in solidarity as he continued, "We can bring you there and back with a handsome reward. You can live free of worry."
"I'm already free of worry," was Cara's easy response as she lifted her cup of spotchka in emphasis. "And I'm not in the mood to play soldier anymore—especially fighting some local warlord."
Kasia and Din shared a look; they needed Cara, and they both knew it. Kasia's eyebrows pinched as she sifted through the burst of memories she had seen in Cara's mind moments ago, searching for how she could convince the woman to join them. And then, just like that, the answer presented itself to her.
"He's not a local warlord," Kas said, her eyes locking with Cara who paused, brows raising at the Eulentian woman's uncharacteristically serious tone. "He's Imperial."
Cara's brows lifted, a smirk rising to her lips even as her eyes darkened. She saluted them with her glass, "I'm in."
*.*.*
"I can't believe we didn't get to stop by the village," Kasia complained to Din as she slumped in the copilot seat, sulking. "I really wanted to teach Riya that Limmie move you showed me." Her eyes flickered over to where Cara stood on the other side of the cockpit. "How is everyone at the village doing by the way? I assume they all miss me dreadfully."
Cara chuckled as she responded, "The village has actually been doing well since you lot left—no more run-ins with raiders or anything. And yeah, you left a lot of kids heartbroken when you left—Tanner still asks when you'll be back to play Sabacc with him again."
Kasia's smile brightened, remembering the adorable five-year-old who she had taught to play Sabacc, cheating to ensure he won almost every round. "If you see him again before I do, tell him I'll visit as soon as I can."
Wow, looks like I have competition, Din remarked silently as he flew the Crest, glancing over his shoulder to where Kas sat with the kid in her lap.
She pointedly smirked. What can I say? I'm a very sought-after woman, her eyes seemed to answer as they teemed with laughter.
"Will do," Cara answered, glancing between the two as though sensing the silent conversation. She smirked as a thought occurred to her, and added with an insinuating look towards Mando, "Omera will be glad to hear it as well. She was also awfully heart-broken when you guys left."
At the words, Kasia blinked, the only surprise she conveyed as she struggled to maintain the smirk on her face. Still, she couldn't help but remember the moment on Sorgan when Omera had placed her hand son either side of Din's helmet, gently beginning to lift the Beskar.
But... Kasia knew that despite whatever had happened in that moment, whatever had or hadn't happened between them on Sorgan, was in the past—at the mention of Omera's name there was no rush of emotion beyond vague comradery, no flood excitement or nervousness by the Mandalorian in the way Kasia sometimes noticed when Din saw her.
So, instead of focusing further on any implication the words may have been intended to hold, Kasia forced the swaggering smirk on her lips to widen. "Damnit, I knew there was a connection there. Should have taken my shot when I had it," she shook her head in joking lamentation, the child giggling in her lap as though he actually understood the joke.
A coveted woman indeed, Din remarked a moment later, though the lighthearted tone seemed strained, even inside Kas's head. He paused for a moment before telling her, nothing happened between me and Omera on Sorgan. Just so you know.
At the unanticipated but much welcomed reaffirmation, Kasia couldn't help it as her eyes snapped towards the back of her Mandalorian's head, a small smile on her lips as Cara laughed in the background.
"Does your contact need to vet me?" the ex-shocktrooper suddenly asked, the thought occurring to her as she tilted her head.
"Doesn't know you're coming," Din answered after a moment as he continued to pilot the Crest, his hands dancing along the control pad with practiced ease.
"Really?" Cara leaned against the wall, a disbelieving laugh in her voice. "That could be a problem."
Her eyes flitted to where Kas sat, and the Eulentian shrugged. "It won't," Din promised, rising from the pilot seat after pushing a final button, "But if it is, that's his problem."
Kasia chuckled at the bluntness of the words as he strolled out of the cockpit, exchanging a bemused glance with Cara before setting the cooing child in his cradle and following the Mandalorian.
"He'll be alright up there alone?" Cara asked, referring to the kid as she dropped from the ladder. The woman's eyes widened as she took in the exposed shelf of weapons that Din had opened.
"Yeah," Din said at the same time that Kasia answered, "Probably."
Gods they're such parents, Kasia heard her friend think, the woman's lips twitching up in amusement.
"Well, that's reassuring," Cara remarked sarcastically as Mando and Kasia exchanged a glance, Kasia raising her eyebrows at the Mandalorian as if to say 'well, the kid doesn't exactly have the best track record.'
Din rolled his eyes underneath his helmet but merely nodded towards the cabinet of weapons, his words directed to Cara, "Pick one."
At the invitation, Kasia gasped dramatically, elbowing him in the side where she had found—after much painful practice—that Beskar didn't cover his body. "You made me wait for weeks before letting me take a weapon from your precious artillery!"
He cast her a dry glance. Well, she's not nearly as annoying as you were, he quipped silently as Cara tossed a small grenade in the air, catching it and bringing it up to her ear. Besides, you also happened to be my prisoner back that—wouldn't exactly have been a smart move on my part to present you with a weapon.
Kasia glowered at him.
"You trust the contact?" Cara asked as she turned back towards the artillery shelf, grabbing a small blaster from one of the top racks.
"Not particularly," Din admitted, his voice cool as he responded. "He and I had a run-in last time we were there on some Guild business."
Kasia snorted at the understatement, the noise causing Cara to cast her a questioning glance. "That's his way of saying he shot the asshole in the chest," she informed her friend with a smirk.
Cara looked between the two of them as though they were both crazy. "And we're going there anyway?" she asked incredulously. They both shrugged as though such reckless idiocy was typical. Which for them, Kasia supposed it was. "Why?"
"We don't have a choice," Mando answered as Cara grabbed one of Kasia's favorite shotguns from the cabinet. "You saw what happened on Sorgan. They'll keep sending hunters. The kid will never be safe until the Imp is dead."
"And you're okay with bringing him back there?"
Kasia frowned, sighing lightly. "Not really. That's why we're bringing you," she answered as Cara grabbed a different blaster, a rifle this time. The ex-shock trooper glanced at her with a half-grin, but before she could respond, a low rumbling sounded throughout the ship as it began to shake.
On instinct, Din's arm shot around Kasia's waist, keeping her from completely falling over as the trio stumbled into the wall. She shot him a quick grateful glance before grabbing the ladder and hoisting herself up with difficulty.
Kasia stumbled her way towards the cockpit, a laugh escaping her lips as she saw the child standing on the controls, babbling happily as he played with one of the thrusters. Still, the chuckle died as she was unceremoniously thrown against both walls of the cockpit before finally grabbing the giggling, joyriding child. Moments later, the ship leveled out as Din corrected the flight path.
It seems he inherited your flying abilities, he quipped silently as the alarm finally died down and the cabin ceased shaking.
At the jest, Kasia's mouth dropped open in offense. She rocked the gurgling child in her arms as she struggled for a retort, coming up empty for once in her life while her stomach roiled from the erratic movement of the ship.
"And your stupidity," Kasia cringed at the lameness of the insult as soon as it passed her lips, her cheeks flushing red.
Wow, great comeback, Din deadpanned. I'm quacking in my Beskar over here.
She glared at him. "I liked you better when you didn't say or do anything except sigh and grunt occasionally."
No, you didn't.
Kasia opened her mouth, but before she could fire back a retort, Cara cut in. "Sorry to interrupt your silent banter—which by the way is really annoying only hearing one side of the conversation—but we need someone to watch that thing."
Din nodded as Kasia rubbed her still recovering and now aching knife wound courtesy Din's lovely ex-girlfriend. "Yeah."
"You got anyone you can trust?"
At the question, Din glanced over his shoulder towards where Kasia stood grimacing, his features softening at the displeasure on her face. Then, an idea occurred to him which he wordlessly communicated to her. Her eyebrows flitted up at the suggestion, but she nodded a moment later in confirmation, trusting in his decision and the friendship he had built.
"Yeah," he answered as he turned back to the front of the ship, setting a course for Arvala-7. "I've got someone in mind."
*.*.*
I am so not ready to watch the FATWS finale tonight...