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"I'm exhausted, Nix." Kay Vess sighed as she entered the Trailblazer.
It was well past midnight and Jaunta's Hope was eerily quiet, the cantina slowly emptying out as drunken partygoers began to stumble back to their homes in the faint light of the stars. Kay hadn't even had the chance to go out, it was a shame, she thought, she'd had a good luck streak all day.
It seemed as if whenever she finished a job, a new opportunity was waiting to present itself to her, and of course she was grateful, she often had no such luck and her and Nix had to go around practically begging for work, leaving them with barren stomachs and rugged clothing.
However, that didn't mean today was easy for her, it was quite the opposite. Speeding around for hours while being shot at sent too much adrenaline through Kay's body for her to even think about relaxing for a second, and if the Imps hadn't wanted her dead before, they definitely did now.
Great, another thing to worry about. She was physically drained to the point of exhaustion, yet couldn't shake away the sense that someone was always lurking behind her, ready to reach out and grab her...
Gentle chirping dragged her from her thoughts. She looked down towards the little figure whose big eyes were staring up at her with concern. Nix's feelers drooped as he sensed her discomfort.
"Don't worry about me though. We're alive, right? That's all that matters, we'll get through each day, and soon we'll get us that big job I've been talking about, and we'll never have to worry again." Kay tried to put on a smile, managing to turn the corners of her mouth upwards despite the rest of her body feeling like it was going to drop off.
Nix nuzzled up against her leg before dashing off to hit the door to the bedroom, and crawling into his place at the end of the bed.
Kay rubbed her eyes as she followed him into the room, feeling around for the button to close the door before all but collapsing into the not-so-soft mattress. This was another thing she felt she had to be grateful for, she'd definitely slept in worse places, and a slight back ache in the morning was the least of her concerns at that moment.
Now she was back here, in this simple routine that constantly proved to be difficult for her. She longed to be able to fall asleep before being forced over the brink of consciousness by the pitying forces of the galaxy. She wished she didn't have the repetitive images of everything that could go wrong the next day flashing through her mind every time she closed her eyes. She dreamt that she wouldn't have those nightmares that woke her up in a cold sweat every time without fail; the fear of something happening to her... happening to Nix...
As if on cue, the little merqaal slid his way under Kay's arm to rest on her chest. Her breathing slowed to a gentle pace; her heart rate went back to something that could be considered normal. Her mind cleared as all she could picture was Nix panting, laughing, running around in circles. She stroked his head, she really needed to pet him more, she thought, he was a bigger help than he could ever know.
The haunting thought of someone reaching out to steal them away from each other faded away into the night as she placed her hand over Nix's back. All she knew in that moment, as she slipped into unconsciousness, was that they would fight to the end for each other and nothing would ever happen to them if she had something to say about it.
As Nix began to gently snore, she whispered into the dark room.
"We've got each others backs."