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Inspector Lyfrassir Edda was on the run. Well, they weren’t much of an inspector anymore they supposed. Didn’t matter much on this middle of nowhere planet they’d stopped to refuel at.
Someone was crying nearby. Lyf decided to ignore it and continued walking through the streets. Suddenly they felt a tug on the back of their coat.
“Jonny?” A small girl with a shock of silver hair was looking up at them, brown eyes full of tears. A shirt, dirty and slightly ripped read “If lost, return to Jonny D’Ville.”
“I’m- I’m not Jonny.” Lyf's voice was short and clipped. What was a kid doing on this planet of all places? It wasn’t a healthy environment for anyone, let along a what- eight year old girl. They began tugging on their jacket- “Look, I’ve got to be going.” The young girl in front of them burst into sobs.
“The-the-they l-left me an- and I know- I- they didn’t mean to b-but- theres no- no one else and-“ she pulled the sleeves of an oversized tan jacket around herself and clutched a small green stuffed animal to her chest.
Oh shit. That- that hit Lyf harder than should be allowed. They’d been alone for a while now, they didn’t wish it on anyone.
“I’m sure your parents are around somewhere?” The small girl in front of him continued to sob. Oh fuck it, they haven’t got anything better to do. They crouched down to her height. “I can help you find them?” Large brown eyes turned upwards at him.
“You would?” A watery smile, almost hopeful, broke through her tears. Lyf was done for.
“Yeah. I will.”
——
Turns out Lyf promised to do much more than look around for a few hours. The girl, who had introduced herself as Lily, had a bit more of a story. Her guardians (not her parents, she’d clarified, not her parents) were evidently space travelers. Which made it difficult to track them down- but by the powers invested in Lyf by the Bifrost they were going to try.
They’d spent a few weeks scouring the planet for any trace of the people Lily described to him- only to find that they’d indeed left. After that they’d bundled Lily up in winter clothing and brought her aboard their ship. They were going to find her family.
Lily had remained stuck to their side ever since they’d picked her up off the backwater streets of the original planet. To be honest Lyf was glad for the company, they’d spent the last couple decades alone and the young girl wedging herself into their space was a welcome change. The ship had slowly melded into a more familiar environment, Lyf bought (ie. stole) new things for Lily at every planet they stopped at. Lily and Lyf kept narrowly missing the people they were after, getting to a planet days after the other party left.
“Do you think we’ll find them?” Lily said one night as Lyf braided her hair. Clipping a small ornamental barrette into the back they tied off the braid. Her hair had gotten longer since they’d been traveling, after all it’d been several months since they’d left the first planet.
“Of course Lil, we’re always close behind. We’re bound to catch up eventually.” Lily hummed in response and leaned back into them. Lyf relaxed back into the side of the ship, wrapping their arms around her.
“Lyf?”
“Yeah Lil?”
“Thank for not leaving me alone.” Her words were soft, quiet.
Lyf tensed at that, tugged Lily tightly into their chest. They swore they would kill whoever this Jonny D’Ville was when they found him. Or at the very least give him the worst nightmares they could create. Whoever left Lily alone had to have been terrible. But Lily only referred to them with glowing praise. She told Lyf stories of their exploits and the ways the group had helped her.
“I’ll never leave you alone. Promise.”
“I promise too!” Lily replied as she curled up in their lap.
——
Lily was ten when she nearly shocked Lyf out of their skin by pulling them out of their bunk.
“IT'S THE AURORA!!!”
“Huh?” Lyf rubbed at their eyes as Lily tugged them to their feet, vibrating with excitement.
“AURORA!!! ITS THEM!” She was grinning wildly, tugging Lyf towards coms. Out the front window of the ship was a massive Cyberian ship.
“Are you sure…?” Lyf was waking up now.
“YES!!! WE FOUND THEM!!!” Lily spun them in a happy circle. Lyf smiled to themself and opened up a com link.
“Hello, this is Lyfrassir Edda-“
“What do you want Inspector?” A voice, sounding very similar to his own, came through the communication line.
“I’m not-“
“JONNY!!!” Lily shouted into the mic. An audible crash sounded from the other end.
“LILY???? HOLY SHIT STAY RIGHT THERE WE’LL BE-“ the sound of retrating footsteps and shouts of “WHERE THE FUCK IS THE AIRLOCK I NEED OUT NOW.”
Lily turned towards Lyf, throwing her arms around their neck and smiling wildly as the coms cut out.
“We did it!”
“Yeah,” Lyf smiles softly, “I guess we did.”
——
Lyf was awkwardly standing beside their ship as the man he now knew as Jonny D’Ville swug Lily in wild circles, both of them grinning ear to ear. Lily looked happier than Lyf had ever seen her. A few other people entered the room, only to immediately join the growing group hug/cuddle pile in the center of the room. One of them was, Von Raum? What was he doing here? Nevermind. Lily seemed happy, it was probably time for Lyf to head out again.
“I should probably get going here, if someone could open the airlock…” Lyf spoke to no one in particular. Lily pulled herself out of the pile and ran up to him.
“What do you mean? Aren’t you staying with us? I promised I wouldn’t leave you alone, remember?” Lyf’s mind did a straight up reboot.
“Wh-what? Why would you-?” They looked up at- well they supposed these were the Mechanisms. Jonny was smirking at them, looking softly at Lily. The trio that had tormented them in prison was getting to their feet. Lily looked up at him with utmost sincerity.
“I promised.” Lyf laughed, pulled Lily into a hug. At some point the other mechanisms joined, huddled around Lily who’d left them for so long. But that was alright.
It was going to be alright.