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Maren walked over to the man who quickly looked away as soon as he met her intimidating eyes. A foreign feeling of intimidation washed over Clem as he watched her approach, her hair bouncing with each step she took closer. She stood next to him after finally reaching him, silently refusing to looking at him and looking over the camp instead. The pair stood in silence for a moment as Maren formulated a question.
"So," Maren started, breaking the barrier of silence between them, "I know Clem isn't your real name." Clem's head snapped to look at her and in return catching her attention, confirming her statement. She looked back to the camp, continuing her thought. "So, what is your name? Because I don't want to continue to call you by the wrong name, it's just disrespectful." This time it was her time to look at him, only to see his eyes were already on hers.
A moment of silence fell over them, making Maren think that he wouldn't answer and that she had crossed a line. She scrambled to think of another question, when Clem spoke up, stopping her train of thought completely.
"It's Cassian," he said quietly. Maren looked to him in shock, not quite hearing him and silently pleading him to say it again. He looked to her and then to the ground, repeating the statement once more for her. "My name. It's Cassian."
Maren beamed warmly in triumph at her success. The man, who she now knew was named Cassian, looked to the ground in embarrassment.
"I have another question, if you don't mind me asking, of course," she told him carefully. He looked to her and nodded, telling her it was okay. "Okay, are you gonna tell the others that you're only doing this for the money? Or are you just gonna keep this a secret?" When Cassian didn't answer she continued. "Because I don't want to see Nemik practically deflate when he finds out that you don't actually care for the cause, not like he does."
"I will," he lied, not looking to the girl in fear of upsetting her more. She was passionate and he could see that, it was as clear as the water on Kamino, and she cared for the group. He saw the fire flicker behind her eyes, and for a moment he considered what the ragtag group was fighting for, what it meant to them and to him.
Maren thought back to her days with the Empire, a secret not even her sister knew, only the girl she used to love and a young Mandalorian rebel. She remembered Sabine and thought of where she could be in life, maybe she was living a domestic life. However, Maren knew that because of how much fight the young girl had in her, that domestic life was not for her. She was most likely rebelling against the institution that took so much away from her, that used her as a tool and discarded her when it was finished.
