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Space is incredibly tranquil, especially when draped over the man she loves and surrounded by the lullaby of her ship humming as they travel. Evie lays like this often, mostly on top of Felix in their bed, ear pressed to his chest and using the steady beat as a soundtrack to her thoughts. Felix never minds; sometimes he uses the time to catch up on his latest serial or simply to be quiet himself.
In this instance, he is drawing random patterns across Evie’s back, though the rhythm has slowed as he comes closer and closer to succumbing to sleep. She’s pressed against his shirtless chest, pondering something that’s been nagging at her for the past several months. Things have been as crazy as ever since she was unfrozen, but she and her crew seems to have hit some kind of downtime. They still have jobs, of course, but they are mostly small or fairly unchallenging. Which is fine, of course. Evie was starting to get tired of constantly feeling like she was about to die.
Eventually she mumbles into Felix’s skin, though she’s not even sure if he’s still awake. It’s more like she’s...testing out the statement. Felix does stir, breathing a sleepy, “Huh?”
She hesitates before pressing a kiss to his collarbone and adjusting herself so that she’s looking up at him. The dopey smile on his face as he watches her is almost enough to make her lose her balance. “What’d you say?” he asks again, words a little more clear now.
“I want a sprat,” she repeats, immediately disappointed by the confusion that twists his face.
“I’m sorry,” he blinks at her, “What?”
“I want a sprat!” She says again, the confidence behind her words beginning to grow. Yeah, she wants a sprat. That sounds right.
“Why in the void would you want a sprat?” Felix asks, his disdain clear as his mouth shapes the word.
“They’re cute!” She defends, scowling at him, though there’s no real upset behind it. “They’re pretty self-sustainable. Imagine the little pitter patter of their feet!”
“Ugh!” he shudders, “It would give me nightmares. Those things are like, what’s-it-called, vermin. They live in trash. In fact, on Groundbreaker they used to compare people like me to them.”
“Maybe that’s why I like them so much,” she smirks, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. He glares at her, but leans into her touch all the same. “I really didn’t think you would be so against this. Do you have a lizard allergy I don’t know about?”
“What’s that? A perfectly understandable dislike for gross little trash lizards?” Felix rolls his eyes.
“Ugh,” Evie rolls to the side, moving to sit up and off of him, “You’re impossible.”
“Wait,” Felix whines, making weak grabby hands at her from where he lays, “Come back, you’re so warm.”
“Put a shirt on,” she mutters, standing and stretching. It really is probably time for her to check on the rest of the crew, see if they need anything. She’d lounged long enough.
“Where would you even get a sprat?” Felix groans, sitting up himself.
“I’m not sure,” she admits, “but if people have tamed canids before, why not sprats? I can’t keep a whole canid onboard with our lifestyle. It wouldn’t be fair to them. But sprats seem okay in this kind of environment.”
He leans down to grab his discarded shirt and vest, tilting his head, “Canids would be a whole lot cooler than a sprat. But the best pet would be a mantiqueen. Oh man, that’d be awesome. Like a pet and personal security system in one.”
“Then what would I need you for?” Evie shoots at him, smiling as she steps toward the door to her quarters.
“Touche,” Felix grins at her.
Evie lets the thought of a pet sprat percolate for the next few weeks. She’d been wondering about pets for awhile now, traveled to so many different places and seen so little of them. What feels like a lifetime ago, actually was an average person’s lifetime ago, she’s had a cocker spaniel. The bond Evie had with that dog outweighed almost any bond she’d made here, save for probably Felix.
She wants that again. She wants to have something to love and be loved by, something that doesn’t love her because she’s the supposed savior of a fucking colony, but just because it can. Of course, a canid probably would be a lot closer to her beloved pet back on Earth. Maybe after they had all saved the colony together, she could settle down with one. But certainly not now, when she was hopping from planet to space station to secret lab at beck and call. So a sprat it is.
It turns out she’s not the only one thinking about pets. It must be pure luck that they come across a man in Fallbrook who’s rescuing sprats. Evie practically cries out in delight when she realizes. She drags Felix and Nyoka to Bertrand and his animal rescue as soon as she can.
“Nyoka,” Felix says in a last ditch effort to dissuade his girlfriend, “Tell the boss she’s making a huge mistake trying to adopt a sprat!”
“I’ve got no particular feelings on sprats,” Nyoka shrugs, “Not big enough for me to worry about.”
“See,” Evie says, though she’s only half paying attention as she tries to navigate them to the beacon she’d placed, “Nyoka doesn’t think it’s a bad idea.”
“I just want it on the record that I didn’t say that,” Nyoka snorts, “I’m not sure if it’s a bad or good idea, I’m just along for the ride. Besides, what the captain wants, she gets.”
“Real helpful,” Felix rolls his eyes.
When they finally make it to Bertrand’s, he won’t open the door at first. It takes a solid ten minutes of Evie convincing him that she’s serious and a fellow sympathizer that he lets them in. “Can’t be too careful,” Bertrand says, “Too many folks out there wanna hurt these fellas for no good reason.”
“I know,” Evie nods sagely, though she’s really more focused on the dozen or so sprats that are flitting around the room. “You really domesticated all of these yourself?”
“Yes’m,” Betrand says proudly, puffing out his chest. “Saved ‘em from some smuggler. They really are so loveable when you give them a chance.”
“Oh, I’m so excited!” she breathes, turning to Felix with a bright smile. She notices the way he softens, letting his crossed arms drop. “Look at these guys, guys!”
There is one sprat blinking it’s huge eyes at her from a perch on one of Bertand’s counters. It tilts its head curiously at her as she cautiously approaches, one hand held out as if it were a cat back on Earth. The little guy is a blend of purple and yellow, some white streaks peeking through on some parts of its body. She thinks he looks beautiful.
The sprat considers her, blinking a few more times. It’s nostrils blow small puffs of air on her knuckles. Suddenly it jumps onto her arm and scurries up to her shoulder. Evie makes a small sound of surprise, and when she turns around to face the rest of her party, she sees that Nyoka has a hand on Felix’s shoulders. He relaxes when she meets his eyes.
“Look at that!” Bertrand says happily, “Well, I’d say it’s a perfect match!”
Evie lifts a finger to the sprat, slow and a little scared of spooking him. She feels a cool nose bump against her finger and her heart melts. “What’re you gonna name him?” Nyoka asks, regarding the pair with one brow lifted.
“Rizzo!” She says confidently, ignoring Felix’s surprised look. “He’s my little Rizzo.”
“Great,” Bertrand says, “Let me just show you the best way to house and feed him, you’ll need these supplies…”
By the time they make it back to the ship, hours have passed. Evie has dismissed Nyoka halfway through, but Felix had stayed and sat with her as she eagerly listened to Bertrand’s instructions. Rizzo seems to approve of his new home as explores Evie’s room, licking various things periodically and gazing at them for an almost unsettling amount of time. Felix leans against her desk, watching her watch her new pet. “Why’d you name him Rizzo?”
“Huh?” She tears her gaze away from Rizzo and looks to Felix. “Oh, well... that’s your favorite team isn’t it? Rizzo’s Rangers?”
“Yeah,” Felix says through a smile that he tries to hide, “Yeah it is.”
Evie shrugs, “I just liked the name and I think it...fits him.”
Felix watches them for a few more moments before he murmurs, “Hey, Evie?”
“Yeah?” She smiles at him again.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” her smile only beams brighter, “but you’d better get used to loving Rizzo here too. We’re a package deal, you know.”
“Of course,” Felix nods, a grin on his own face, “What the boss wants, she gets, right?”