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Beauregard never had much interest in space. But if she had to make any guesses it would be that interstellar life was definitely real, and it was much more intelligent and advanced than humans were.
Which is why she was having trouble wrapping her head around the concept of Kenny.
Kenny; the odd gun-esque alien that saved her life. The one that spat on her and stuttered out an apology while simultaneously explaining what was going on. G3 Cartel? Human based drugs? Her mind was barely able to process the talking blue creature that found its way into her hand, and its constant backchat had been overwhelming.
But as the day stretched forward, she started to understand what his whole schtick was. Sentient gun aliens were not what she thought of when she pondered non-terrestrial life, but who was she to judge? Kenny helped her adjust to being thrown into bounty hunting without much trouble, pointing out things she'd easily miss and giving her tips on how to work him properly in fights. He actually made killing G3 grunts.. Fun? It seemed like less of a chore with his attempts at humor and conversation. She could almost forget that she was putting her life at risk while doing it. Just hours after she left for the slums she had returned. Covered in blood, exhausted, talking knife in hand, and two Torg’s taken out (She felt a little bad about 5-Torg, but couldn’t bring herself to regret it).
She barely had the strength to turn the bounty in and drag herself upstairs, leaving the chatty knife to Gene as she slurred out a dreary "I'm headin' to bed."
She thought of taking a shower for all of 5 seconds before promptly abandoning the idea. She figured she could ignore the dried blood on her skin and the greasiness of her hair for a night as she struggled to pull the complex bounty hunter armor off her body, groaning in relief as she flopped into bed. The gatlian beside her yelped softly as he bounced from the impact and fell over.
"H-Hey! Watch where you're landing, you could've crushed me!" He squeaked, squirming slightly to adjust his position within the pile of laundry dominating her bed so he was propped up again.
Beau laughed quietly into the mattress before turning her head to watch him readjust himself. He mentioned that he could crawl around and move on his own, but seeing it actually happen was– admittedly – a bit weird.
'Everything about Kenny’s a bit weird. ’ She decided. ‘But that’s alright.’ From the texture of his skin– surprisingly smooth to the touch, if not rubbery– to the way he seemingly unhinged his jaw to inhale any gatteral put near him (the hyper-realistic, humanlike tongue and blunt teeth were both intriguing and gross). The small gatlian was utterly fascinating to Beau, it was undeniable. His body had been cool in her hand, and if she paused long enough to focus on him, she could feel his muscles tensing beneath her grip as she fired him. Despite never seeing aliens before today she knew that Kenny was not something typically seen by anyone else. There was still a bit of confusion on his mechanics. What was he firing? How did his anatomy even work? Why did he look like he would be slimy while being completely dry? She was lost in thought as she surveyed the smaller creature beside her. She wanted to know more about him specifically; and about gatlians as a whole.
It took Kenny a moment to realize her eyes were trained on him. He watched for a moment, waiting to see if she would say something; anything to accompany her intense stare. Before the silence could stretch any further he perked an antennae and tilted his head at the girl beside him.
"Wh-What is it? Is there something on my face? Because you gotta tell me if I do, I-I can't see it. You- You also gotta wipe it off because, well, y'know…" He trailed off slightly, watching as she rolled onto her side and propped her head up on one hand. She shook her head, hair falling over her eyes briefly before being swept behind her ear.
"No, it's not that. It's just.. Iunno, you look funny." She shrugged, glancing over his form once more. Kenny frowned at her. "I look funny? " Her eyes widened for a moment as she shook her head and backpedaled.
"Nonono- I mean- You look cool! it's interesting seeing you move, y'know? I've never seen something like you before," Beau used her free hand to gesture at him, "I just like that you aren't some, like, unmoving sentient weapon like Knifey."
Kenny huffed at her, torn between mild offense and amusement.
"I-I guess, yeah, I don't know what's up with him. He- He's kind of intense."
"I'll say. He's funny though, I like his accent."
Kenny hummed as Beau flopped over onto her back, reaching up to flick the lamp on the nightstand off before settling beside him again.
"Y'know, you kinda look like some bugs on Earth. Move like them too. But they can't talk like you," she started again, pulling her phone out and tacking away on it for a second, "though I doubt anything can…" she muttered under her breath. Kenny's antennae twitched anyway.
"What was that?"
"Nothing! Your talking isn't bad- a little overkill but, ah- It's nice listening to it when I'm not actively fighting for my life."
He snorted slightly at this, rolling his eyes before curling up at his spot to watch Beau’s hand while she scrolled through her phone before flipping it to show him something. The light invaded his senses before he saw what she was showing him. He couldn’t help but blink against the intrusion.
“See, this is what you remind me of,” she tapped at the screen with her nail before rounding it towards Kenny, poking his cheek lightly to further provoke him, “they’re called caterpillars.”
She watched Kenny grumble and nudge her finger away as he glanced over the picture of the worm-like creature, antennae curling up slightly as he cast his gaze towards her; playfully unamused. Her quiet laughter seems muffled in the shadowy expanse of her bedroom, eyes gleaming under the light of the phone as she turned it away. He can’t help the small grin that tugs at the corner of his mouth.
“That- That thing looks nothing like me! It’s not even the same color, c’mon.”
“No, but it has the same antennae, same big ass eyes and it crawls exactly like you do. It’s a compliment, I swear! I think caterpillars are cute.”
“You have an odd way of giving compliments then, Bounty Hunter.”
Beau pulled a funny face at him; brows furrowing slightly as her nose wrinkled. Kenny couldn’t help but find the sight strange as she set her phone down beside her head and looked up at the ceiling; adorned with little glow in the dark stars. She remained silent for a few minutes. It gave Kenny some time to contemplate the strange creature in front of him.
Despite hearing about them, he had never met a human before her. It was unlike what he expected. For starters, she was unmistakably warm . The contrast between the heat of her palm and the coolness of his hilt had been jarring when she first lifted him from the ground. Kenny was almost grateful that the bounty hunter suit Gene gave her had gloves, but even that couldn’t dampen the warmth of her skin entirely. And the amount of hair on her was almost as impressive as it was confusing. Why was there so much of it just on the top of her head? It cascaded all the way to the center of her back. There was a thin scattering of it up her whole arm (and when he pointed it out, she mentioned that the thin layer extended across her whole body), it seemed to serve no purpose. Hair on her face, directly above her eyes and against the lids made her more expressive, and he found himself peering at her face through her visor quite often because of it. She looked like a half-shaven Furgle. She had more fingers on her hand than he’d seen on other aliens before. Five digits in total, it seemed excessive. Did that make things easier or harder to handle? He couldn't help but wonder. She seemed to handle him just fine, if he was being honest. He was almost excited to see what else he could learn about her species, but even moreso as a person. He jumped suddenly at the feeling of her poking his cheek again.
“..enny? Kenny? You aren’t even listening, are you?”
“Oh- S-Sorry, Bounty Hunter,” he started, clearing his throat nervously, “Was lost in thought there for a second, haha..”
“Nah, no worries. It’s been a long day, we both got a lot on our minds, yeah?”
Kenny decided to not mention that he was thinking about her specifically as she continued. “I was saying that it was weird you kept calling me ‘Bounty Hunter’ like it’s my name. That's all. It’s like if I only ever called you ‘Gun’ instead of Kenny.”
In any other circumstance, Kenny would’ve jumped up and defended himself from the accusation; probably spout off that it wasn’t that strange to call her bounty hunter when she was on the job. She probably would’ve called him out for them not currently doing any bounty hunting, though. Besides, she brought up a good point. He didn’t know her name. So he told her the truth.
“What? We’ve been together all day! You didn’t pick up my name at all?”
“Well- I mean- Cut me some slack, alright? Jesus, I-I didn’t exactly have time to ask, I was trying to keep us alive! You should be thanking me for that, by the way. I saved you and Lizzie, and- and I helped you take out two whole Torgs!”
She turned her head and raised a brow at him; frown etched into her face.
“What? Why are you giving me that- that look?” At her continued silence and judgy stare, he curled his antennae up further and scowled at her. “What?!”
“You caught Lizzie’s name but not mine?”
“I… Goddamnit. Okay, you got me. That is kinda- That’s pretty fucked up, yeah.”
They paused for a moment. Kenny’s antennae twitched impatiently. “Aren’t you gonna– I don’t know? Tell me?”
“Aren’t you gonna ask? ”
Beau couldn’t hold in her laugh at his incredulous scoff. He muttered out a quiet ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me’ before shifting to face Beau properly. She watched with an amused grin as he cleared his throat and spoke once more.
“Well? What's your name, Bounty Hunter?”
“Hmm.. Guess.”
“What? Hell no, tell me!”
“Alright, Alright,” she relented, “It’s Beauregard. Just call me Beau.” Kenny lifted an antennae while mouthing the name once; twice. His eyes swept through the messy, disorganized space that was Beau’s bedroom before readdressing her. “That.. was not a name I was expecting for you. Not with this kinda room.” She snorted. “What kinda name were you thinking of, then?”
“I don’t know? Definitely not Beauregard. That sounds too pretentious for you. Too-” a yawn, “Too stuffy. And- And uptight.”
“Yeahh,” She yawned back at him, covering her mouth with a fist before rubbing her eye, “My parents are alll about that sorta thing. Gave me and Liz’ pretty uppity names because of it. ‘Least Beau isn’t so bad.”
Kenny hummed in agreement, curling up once more. “Its gotta good- a good ring to it. ‘Beau the Bounty Hunter,’ and all that jazz.” He watched as Beau shifted around as well, pulling her blanket over herself as she finally settled properly into the bed.
“Beau the Bounty Hunter and Kenny the Gatlian. Odd combo; suits us well.”
“Mhmm..”
After a few moments of deliberation, Beau decided to lay some of her blanket over Kenny, whose antennae twitched at the sensation. He relaxed further into the nest of laundry he had claimed as she spoke quietly, voice low and sleepy.
“Thanks for all th’ help today, Ken. Goodnight.”
“Night, Beau.”