"Do you know someone by the name of Crix Val'shif?"
Din was stood inside the Chief Magistrate of Nevarro's chambers.
He had come straight here since his run-in with the thug known as Crix on Lysa Kane's doorstep, and he was still seething.
Grogu was happily sat on Karga's tabletop helping himself to handfuls of poit-nuts, watching as his father paced nearby.
Greef Karga, who was sitting on a grand, high-backed chair in the centre of his large and imposing desk, cocked an eyebrow up towards Din.
"Doesn't ring a bell," he replied. "Why? Trouble?"
Din gave a huff, stopping in his tracks.
"I've just got a bad feeling about him," he said in a low voice.
Karga was silent for a moment, eyeing Din.
"Anything to do with the lady I saw you escorting to the Bazaar earlier?" the Chief Magistrate said in an interested tone. At this, Grogu also gave a chirp.
But Din merely shot him a look, causing Karga to raise both hands either side of his head in defeat.
"Alright, alright," Karga muttered, before lowering them and tapping away at his holographic datapad. "If you think this guy is bad news then I'll trust your instincts."
Din moved over to the desk and watched as Karga searched Crix's name in the extensive database.
Grogu who had eaten his way through half a bowl of nuts, waddled over to Din, reaching for him.
His father of course obliged, lifting his son beneath his tiny arms and settling him against his chest with one gloved hand.
"Hmmm," murmured Karga after a long moment or two.
"Anything?" Asked Din quickly. But Karga shook his head.
"Couple of bar fights but that's it," he said with a sigh. "Nothing notable."
Din gritted his teeth together.
There had to be something on this guy.
"Want me to ask around?" Asked Karga. "See what I can find out?"
The masked Mandalorian gave a nod.
"Thank you."
Five long days had passed since the incident on Lysa's doorstep. And the Mandalorian had been on edge ever since.
Crix' threats had meant very little to him, but the thuggish man's foul attitude had not gone unnoticed. And neither had the bruise that marked Lysa's, otherwise smooth, skin.
Din was almost certain he knew where that bruise had come from, but without any proof to back up his hunch, what could he do? Lysa had made it clear to Din that she hadn't wanted him to intervene or interfere. And as much as Din wanted to rip Crix limb from limb for speaking to her the way he had, the Mandalorian had agreed so far to abide by her request.
But as the days had drifted by, Din had begun to grow concerned.
Lysa had promised a weekly delivery to his and Grogu's cabin, but now it had been nine days since her last arrival here on her landspeeder.
Din had even put off going to chase after another bounty hunter job, in case he missed her.
But for her to not even turn up?
Din, who had been sat at the scrubbed wooden inside his small cabin cleaning a couple of spare engine parts from his Starfighter with a greasy rag, had been staring into space for at least a minute.
A deep frown line was pressed between his brows, obscured behind his beskar helmet.
Would he be an idiot for going to Lysa's place just to check if things were ok?
Din knew he liked her…as a friend of course, that was all it was. But nevertheless, he could still be concerned about the welfare of a friend, couldn't he?
Din's attention was drawn suddenly by Grogu hopping up onto his lap.
The Mandalorian shook himself quickly from his stupor.
"Hey buddy, you wanna head into the city with me?"
Grogu chirped, cocking his head to one side in interest.
"I wanna chase up our missing delivery," Din explained, letting out a heavy sigh.
Thanks to J-James, Lockheart96, Punkette1026 and MsRosePetal for reviewing the last chapter.
Sorry this one was a bit short. Life comes at you fast sometimes. I hope it was ok? More to come soon if you'd like that? I'm never quite sure how popular these kind of fics are.
Let me know what you thought of it anyway.