indebted. [din djarin x reader]

dress.

There's a hole in your jacket near the elbow where one of the patches is coming loose. It's the first day of your break, and there's no way you're spending your hard-earned nothing-salary on scrap fabric. So, the fabric for the patch comes from the leg of your pants. That's fine. It's not the first time you've done it. Pants that used to come down to your ankles now hit about mid-calf, that's all.

As you're getting ready to sew the patch on, Karga bursts into your room without knocking. "I got something for you," he tells you.

Slowly, you look up from your work and blink. "I thought this was my day off."

"Didn't you hear me?" Karga questions. "I said I have something for you. It's a gift."

No employer has ever given you a gift before. Even if they did, you have very specific rules for what you're meant to do with gifts: sell them immediately and put the money toward your debt. Nevertheless, you stand to follow him to the living room.

Draped across the sofa is a dress. A burgundy, knee-length thing with a deep neck, no sleeves, and a subtle golden pattern on the hem. The fabric is light but sturdy -- perfect for the Nevarro climate. And there's no doubt that it's nicer than anything you've ever worn in your life.

You look down at the patchwork jacket in your hand. Most of the patches are faded, blue variants or some kind of brown. But you can't tell what the original color was anymore, and strings are hanging off of it where the hem has frayed and been stitched back and frayed again. It's dusty, too. You haven't had the chance to wash it all week. It's not much, but it's completely yours. It's the only thing that's completely yours.

"Nice, isn't it?" Karga asks, picking the dress up off the sofa and holding it up to you.

"Sure," you agree with a shrug.

Karga gives you an exasperated look. "Sure?" he echoes. "It is. You should wear it next time you go to the cantina."

"Oh," you say. "So, it's not a gift. It's a work uniform."

"Would you just put it on?"

Rolling your eyes, you snatch up the dress and drag it back to your room. It feels funny on your skin when you put it on, but it does technically fit.

Karga seems to think so anyway. He smiles when you walk out in it and says, "Ah, there we are! Give it a spin, let me see."

You turn in a lazy, disinterested circle. "This is ridiculous," you huff as you face him again.

"It's only ridiculous if it doesn't work."

You look down at the dress and back to Karga. "What exactly is it supposed to do?"

Karga folds his arms over his chest and sighs. "Listen, I don't know how you did it," he sighs. "But somehow, you got Mando to change his mind. There's something about you he must like. And if we can play that to our advantage..."

"To your advantage, you mean," you correct him.

He uncrosses his arms and puts his hands firmly on his hips. "No, to our advantage," he insists. "There's a bounty I need him to take. Hardly any of my hunters have dared to go after it, and the few that have... Well, there have been unfortunate endings. I need Mando to take it, but the problem is this isn't the kind of thing he usually goes for. Direct commission work. If you can convince him to take it, I'll take another five percent off."

Those few words flip a switch in your brain, and you hate it. Suddenly, something you're terrified to even try becomes something you're desperate to accomplish. The dress still seems excessive, but if it helps, then why not? And you still have no idea what you could have possibly said to Mando to get him to take four pucks, but you could figure it out. Over all of these thoughts echoes the constant chorus, "another year of my life, another year of my life, two whole years of my life."