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Cara Dune sips from her broth, one side of her dark hair braided tightly against her head, giving the illusion that it's shaved. Zoya watches her, still on alert though it's clear that Mando doesn't consider her to be an enemy. As her story comes to a close, Mando shifts in his seat, hand still resting on the table, a foot or so from Zoya's.
"How'd you end up here?" he asks.
Cara looks at the child for a beat before taking another drink from her bowl. "Let's just call it an early retirement," she says. Zoya's head tilts. Sounds suspicious. "Look, I knew you were Guild." She sets the wooden bowl back down. "I figured you had a fob on me. That's why I came at you so hard."
Zoya's eyebrows raise, and she looks between the two.
"Yeah, that's what I figured," the bounty hunter replies nonchalantly.
"Wait, what?" Zoya asks. "What happened?" She looks between them and watches the way Cara's lips quirk. "Did you two beat each other up or something?"
"Or something," the Mandalorian mutters.
Her brows lift. "Did she win?"
"It was a draw," he says. Zoya looks at Cara, still questioning. Mando catches the movement. "Do you not believe me?"
"Just curious," Zoya says, holding back a grin.
Cara runs a finger around the rim of her bowl. "He's not lying, if you wanted to know. It ended with us pointing our blasters at each other's heads, but neither of us pulled the trigger, so I guess we can call it even."
"I wish I could've seen that," Zoya comments. "Would've been entertaining to see Mando get put on the ground."
His shoulders tense beneath the armor, and he cocks his head towards her. "Oh, really?" His voice is a low rumble deep in his chest, and it runs tentative, uncertain fingers down the gentle curve of Zoya's spine.
As Zoya's eyes lock onto his helmet, wishing, not for the first time, that she could make eye contact with him, Cara Dune clears her throat, pushing back her chair. They turn away from each other to look at her, realizing they'd fallen into a heavy silence. "Well, this has been a real treat," she says, standing. "But unless you want to go another round, one of us is gonna have to move on, and I was here first." She brings the bowl of soup to her lips once more, then sets it on the table and walks away, with one final, hard look at the Mandalorian.
