𝓼𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓹𝓲𝓽𝔂 • din djarin

chapter 3: the gala

chapter 3: the gala —

He's done it again.

You feel as if your tongue's tied up within your mouth, the temperature of the room increasing by at least tenfold thanks to your anger and... absolutely not. There's no reason to point out the fact that you noticed Mando's polished armor first and then felt your anger rise second. It doesn't change the reality of the situation: Mando's after yet another one of your bounties, even though you just told Karga to stop doing this.

"What the hell are you doing here?" you snap, your voice low as you close the space between you with an angry stride. Your heels make shrill sounds against the marble floor but you could care less at the moment. "This is my job."

Mando gestures to the tracking fob in his grasp. "And it's mine, too."

You let out a curt laugh, lifting your gaze to the ceiling and running a hand over your hair in frustration before you cross your arms and look back to his visor. "You're telling me Karga just gave us back-to-back jobs like this—again?"

Mando shrugs. "Depends on who you're tracking."

You scoff. "Like I'd tell you."

A sigh falls heavily from Mando's helmet, crackling through his modulator before he takes a step closer to you and lowers his voice. "The senator's daughter. That's my target."

You raise an eyebrow, your arms falling slowly to your sides. "Mine's her husband."

Mando tilts his helmet at you. "Interesting."

"That's it? 'Interesting?'" You huff, crossing your arms again as you look to the place where you'd previously been tracking your quarry. "Karga's obviously doing this on purpose. It's like he wants you to steal all my jobs."

Mando stiffens slightly at that. "Maybe he just... wants us to work together."

Your eyes widen immensely as you snap your gaze back over to him. "Together?" You release another laugh. "Mando, don't be ridiculous. Hunters don't work in teams."

"That's not true." The words come quickly from his modulator as he takes another step towards you. If he takes one more, you'll have to back away, or else your chest will be much too close to his polished cuirass. "Haven't you ever heard of Boba Fett and Aurra Sing?"

You bristle at the name of your old mentor. Despite the lump in your throat, you manage to answer him. "Yes. I have." Mando gives you a nod. You raise an eyebrow at him. "I never took you for the type to seek a team, Mando. I always thought you were more of a... I don't know, single player."

Mando's visor leaves your gaze for a moment, instead looking to the side as one of his gloved hands flexes in a fist. "Sometimes, you have to know what's most profitable." Mando looks back to you. "The more we work together, the more bounties we can bring in."

"And the more we have to split the reward." You scoff at him. "Are you seriously forgetting that?"

"It won't matter if we have twice the amount of quarries."

You heave a breath, looking in the direction of your bounty again before you step up even closer to him. "If we team up, Mandalorian, it's only for this job. Understood?"

Mando looks to the side again, as if considering your words. Then, his visor returns to your gaze, his helmet nodding once to agree. "Fine."

You nod in return, glancing around the room before you speak again. "So, what's the plan?"

"You haven't given me much time to think."

You roll your eyes, looking up at the tin can with annoyance. "I was just trying to start our discussion of it, Mando. I wasn't expecting you to detail a plan to me."