How do I pass a variable to a template file?

I have a template that defines a module that builds a paragraph.

This paragraph uses a field reference to link another type of content.

In my main paragraph I call this reference content with

{{ content.field_hero_slider_item_reference }} to display it.

This works, but I would like to be able to pass variables to it so that I can style the individual elements inside the reference with attributes from another field, say "settings".

I tried:

{% include with {'items': content.field_hero_slider_item_reference, 'attrs': attrs} %}

Unfortunately, there's something that breaks the display mechanism of {{ }}, albeit if I call dsm or kint on any of these variables (attrs or items) I can see exactly what I would need.

Any help or suggestion is appreciated