Din never liked to be indebted to anyone.

Bounty Hunter jobs were different. There were plenty of favours he was owed, and owed in return. But when it came to credits, the Mandalorian always wanted to make sure his debt was paid.

That was the reason he was headed into the City. Of course it was. There definitely wasn't anything, or anyone for that matter, who had dwelled in his mind for the past five days.

Din Djarin stomped through the welcoming city walls, with Grogu in his pram hovering close to his side.

It was early evening and the sellers at the bazaar near the city gates were just packing up their wares.

Din gazed around. Despite the troubles of recent times, Nevarro was really getting back on it's feet, almost unrecognisable from the place it once was.

The city was thriving. More and more people arriving here by the day, having heard tales of the place that Greef Karga had built from the ashes.

The pair strolled wordlessly side by side.

The peace and quiet was something Din was accustomed to after being alone for so long. So he appreciated the silence that he and Grogu could walk in, together.

The pair had only just returned from a big job off-planet.

It was nice that Din could be more selective now about the jobs that he took on. And this one had paid out well. Far better than the bare scraps Din had been accustomed to picking up here and there, before his path had crossed with Grogu's.

The Mandalorian headed into the town square, where the civic buildings stood, imposing and grand, in the centre.

On a normal day Din's path would take him up and into the Offices of the Magistrate of Nevarro.

But today he wasn't here for to see Karga.

Instead, the Mandalorian and his child made their way over to a small plinth, just outside what had previously been the Nevarro City Hall, before it was destroyed.

Din tapped a button, which caused a holographic map of the city to pop up, rotating in front of him in slow motion.

Beside him, Grogu chirped inquisitively.

Din liked that his son was at the age where he always wanted to know what was going on.

"It's a city directory," he explained, his gloved fingers hovering over a rusted silver keyboard. "Shows you the names and addresses of everyone who lives here. Or at least it's supposed to."

Din punched the name LYSA KANE into the terminal, before waiting a few seconds as the map zeroed in on a small back street in the far North of the large city.

"Come on," he said, turning on his heel and beckoning Grogu to follow him.

Fifteen minutes later the pair found themselves on the other side of the city.

The streets here were a far cry from the grand civic plaza.

Here there were buildings reduced to rubble. Broken wreckage from the recent troubles littered the ground. And sinister-looking characters lined some of the shadowy corners, eyeing him with suspicion, obviously wondering what a Mandalorian was doing in their neighbourhood where he didn't belong.

Din could instantly tell that this was not a good place to live. And he frowned to himself absentmindedly as he thought of the woman called Lysa Kane, who to him, felt bright -like birdsong and sunlight, having a home among the bleakness of all this.

The Mandalorian checked his wrist comm once more, before gazing up at the house ahead of him. If you could even call it that. More like a door sandwiched between two other buildings.

Approaching the rusting door with Grogu floating at his side, Din pressed the buzzer.

Almost instantly there was a muffled yet irritable-sounding yell from inside. And the door slid open.

But stood there was not Lysa. Instead it was a man, a little younger than Din, with dark hair peppered with grey, and an ugly scowl painted across his long, tanned features.

"Who are you?" he spat arrogantly, his steely blue eyes cold and hard-looking.

Now a man like him Din expected to be living in a place like this.

The Mandalorian didn't answer the man's question. Instead he stood there as stoic as ever.

"I'm looking for Lysa Kane," he said matter of factly.

The man looked Din up and down, his eyes narrowing.

"What do you want with Lysa?" he snipped back almost instantly.

His tone was accusing, suspicious.

But before Din could retort, a sudden figure appeared behind the man.

"Crix, it's fine, he's a customer."

The melodic voice of Lysa was sweet to Din's ears.

She was dressed in a pale blue belted tunic today, that fell to her feet. Her long hair was loose and wavy, framing her face light a golden halo of light.

She smiled at Din warmly.

But the man in the doorway sucked on his teeth hard, before Din saw him turn on Lysa suddenly, grabbing her by the elbow and steering her back into the house, out of the Mandalorian's line of sight.

From inside he heard the man's raised voice. His words were muffled but there was no denying he sounded angry. Yelling at Lysa.

At this, Din bristled.

Only a second later the blonde woman appeared again, her smile was still there but it seemed pained this time.

She swallowed.

"Hey," she said sweetly. "Sorry… that was my-"

She stopped, faltering slightly, waving a finger over her shoulder as though searching for the words. She blinked slowly.

"…that's Crix. Crix Val'shif. He's my…uh…"

Lysa's words trailed off distractedly, as her greeny-hazel eyes fell to Grogu.

Her face brightened once more and she wrinkled her nose, as the child gave a happy gurgle.

"….w-what are you doing here?" she finally finished. Her gaze meeting with Din's behind his beskar helmet.

The Mandalorian knew this Crix must be something to Lysa. Her husband maybe? Or at least a lover? But right at this moment, Din did not feel much love in that relationship.

"I wanted to pay you," he explained. "For the sweet breads and fruit you gave us."

Lysa stopped for a second, gazing at Din.

She blinked a couple of times, as though in disbelief, before her face broke into a wide smile.

"You didn't have to come all the way here just for that," she said with a kind shake of her head.

"I wanted to pay what we owed you," replied Din, holding out the credits he presumed would cover the cost of what Grogu had eaten.

Lysa tilted her head, taking only one of the three credits from Din's gloved hand.

"You didn't owe me that much," she said, scolding him softly for his generosity, looking up into his face once more.

Silence fell between the pair of them. It was not an uncomfortable one, but Din Djarin, not being the best conversationalist, knew that he needed to say something…anything, to keep their conversation going.

He opened his mouth to do so, when there came a sudden shout from inside.

"LYSA!"

It was the voice of the man named Crix. He sounded annoyed.

At the noise, Lysa visibly flinched.

"I have to go," she said gently, offering the pair of them a soft, apologetic smile. "But I can come and deliver to you again…i-if you'd want that?"

At this, Din gave a nod, as Grogu chirped excitedly at his elbow.

"We'd like that."

Lysa Kane pursed her lips together, as though self-consciously trying to stop her smile from widening further. Before she nodded and took a step back. Offering the father and son one more lingering look before the door slid shut between them.

Din Djarin gave a shuddering sigh.

"Come on, buddy….let's go home."

You know me. I love a slow burn.

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