Private A Day in the Life

[Evelyn Shaw]

The young William nodded his head rapidly, fear evident in his eyes. He dared not look away as Amea or ‘Keira’ stared him down.

“I-I understand, yes!”

Evelyn stepped forwards, folding her arms together. “I’ll repeat what my partner said. Why do you have a bounty on your head?”

“I don’t know! I...maybe it’s the guys that have been trying to kill my family!” William squirmed as they both looked at him, unimpressed and not too convinced.

“Something tells me the folks that have been after your family, aren’t the type to use bounty hunters to do their work.”

Again, William began to internally panic as he tried to think up an answer. Realizing his previous answers had been less than satisfactory. “My ma! She might’ve put that bounty on my head to try and reel me back home.”

Evelyn blinked.

“...Your mother put a bounty on you?”

“I mean, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing she’s done.”

The Echani mumbled something, before stepping to the side and nudging Amea to join her. “It would make some sense as to why this wasn’t through official channels. If his mother isn’t an idiot, she’d know just throwing out a general bounty would likely get her son killed.” Evelyn whispered quietly, her gaze shifting over every now and then to keep an eye on the young man.

“Provided she had the right contact within the Guild...paid for particular discretion. Not to mention we have been slowly building up a rep for bringing in targets alive.”

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

Okay, hold the phone for a moment. As Amea stepped aside, and as she listened to Evelyn rationalize and make sense of what the kid was saying, Amea felt a very immediate sense of frustration flare against her nerves. Was all of this — the gunfights, the chase, the capture — just a big play to scare a son back into his mother’s arms? Her teeth gritted, her lips twisted before she shook her head.

“I hate these people.” Amea growled before she glanced over her shoulder. “I swear, they were better off when I was still in the business of robbing them blind. Threw some humility in their damn bones.”

Her attention wandered between Evelyn and their prisoner with a thoughtful frown.

“Do we let him go? Hand him in?” She frowned and shook her head. “Don’t much like the idea of being taken for a plaything of the rich.”

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

“I don’t like the idea either, but I also don’t like wasting an opportunity, and time.” Evelyn hummed to herself quietly, chewing on her lip slightly as she thought. “I say we drag this kid back to the contact, squeeze that damn Rodian for more credits, as payment for the hassle this has already been, and no doubt will continue to be.”

The Echani stepped away and approached William once more, who was now seated on the side of the medical cot.

“Why the feth are you even out this far in the galaxy? Surely you’re not dumb enough to risk your life just to experience a little nightlife?”

He squirmed a little, his gaze shifting over to Amea fearing she’d lose her patience finally. “It was just unbearable, my ma was so damn controlling, keeping me under a literal lock and key!” Evelyn’s posture suddenly tensed, her right hand twitching slightly. “I needed to get out, I’m a social person, I can’t remain cooped up somewhere like-”

It turned out that it wasn’t Amea he should’ve been concerned about. As a second later a fist slammed into the young man’s face.

William crashed backwards into the cot, almost falling off the other side. The Echani pulled her fist back, seemingly to follow up but instead it uncurled into a pointed finger.

“You ungrateful little shutta. Your mother lost the person she loved, she’s trying to keep you safe, and all you care for is a night out?!” It was a rare sight to see Evelyn this pissed off, and all of a sudden too. Her other hand curled into a fist, but it was clear to see the Echani was trying to keep her cool.

At least physically speaking, less so verbally…

“Be goddamn thankful you still have your mother. That you still have a parent there to look after you, to care for you. She is trying to keep you safe from a literal assassination plot. Don’t be a bloody moron.”

Evelyn exhaled harshly, glaring at William, the anger fading as she turned towards Amea. A simple look, before the Echani turned fully and stormed out of the medical bay.

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

To see anger get the better of someone that otherwise seemed so in control was enough to throw even Amea off. When the rock in her storm became the storm itself, certainty turned into uncertainty and it would show. Amea’s jaw slackened in disbelief as she watched Evelyn unleash on the kid, and as she left the room Amea found herself dumbstruck and silent. Her eyes wandered between the door and the kid with the black eye. He was scared, confused, and beneath it all — indignant at the treatment he was receiving.

A long sigh blew from Amea’s nose as she closed her eyes. She gave the kid a look before she passed him something for the pain. “Take this.” She said and put it to his nose. “Inhale deep and the pain will fade faster. I’ll talk to my friend, and you stay where you are.”

“O-okay.” The kid whimpered and let in a deep breath before he passed out cold. Amea slid her thumb from the label to reveal its true nature with a grin. The man would be out cold for a while longer yet, and with that she left the medbay to follow the trail that Evelyn left behind in the force.

Upon finding her in the rec room, Amea took a seat next to her. For a second she didn’t know what to do. This was Evelyn’s forte, the thing that kept Amea around. For Amea to be the supportive one felt… Wrong. Not bad, just wrong. Her hand reached out towards Evelyn for a moment before she retracted it in what felt like a pang of fear. Her arm reached around her shoulder before she managed to tug the echani woman into her embrace and let her thumb brush back and forth with great care.

“Hey,” She said and began to turn around and face the white-haired woman next to her. “I, uh—”

This wasn’t easy.

“I’m here for you. If- if you need to talk, or… Anything.”

Amea was not in her element for this.

“Want me to space the moron? I could space the moron if you just say the word.”

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

Evelyn had found her stop inside the rec room, slumping down into one of the few couches that were present. She let out an audible sigh/groan as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her anger had gotten the better of her, sparking to life as old memories attempted to surface.

She should’ve known something like this would happen, having so recently gone back home to visit her grandparents.

...And to visit where her parents rested.

The whole trip had reminded her of those earlier years. When she was younger and much more volatile. Easily set off into a violent outburst whenever someone mentioned her parents. Though back then, she had no restraint and could arguably have seriously injured someone if nothing had ever been done.

Fortunately that never came about, thanks to her grandfather's intervention, and inventions. But that anger would forever linger within the Echani, no matter how much she buried it down.

She shifted forwards, hunched over and just stared down at the floor. Evelyn could hear Amea approaching, but didn’t move or seemingly address her. It wasn’t until Amea had pulled her closer, that the Echani melted into the embrace.

A part of her did subconsciously acknowledge that the roles had been reversed. Usually, it was her that did the comforting, but the fact that Amea was making an effort made Evelyn smile. Slowly but surely, the Echani’s body began to shake, from amusement. It became evident when she let out an amused snort and glanced up at her girlfriend.

“Only you ‘Mea, you would be the one to suggest spacing the guy.”

Evelyn untangled herself from Amea’s arm, but did kiss her on the cheek as a thank you. “But no, no need for that. I’m good, I just...thought I’d had that side buried further down than I did.” The Echani fell silent, but it was quickly interrupted by the telltale rattling of something or someone within the walls of the ship. A particular white-furried source made itself known as a maintenance vent popped open.

Sensing the negative emotion, the young Shinri wasted no time in hopping down and rushing over to where they were seated. Evelyn couldn’t suppress a smile as he climbed up onto her lap.

“Ah, there you are Hoshi. Was wondering where you got to.” Evelyn immediately began scratching him behind his right ear. The small being was an ever present source of comfort, for both of them.

“I’m surprised you left our target unattended...” She glanced over at Amea, but trailed off as another line of thought interrupted. “...You knocked him out, didn’t you?”

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

A dorky smile spread on Amea’s lips as the situation seemed to be contained. Any doubt cleared the second Hoshi entered the scene. The furred little creature wrapped itself up in her lap.

“I took him for a fool and I was right.” She grinned. “Sniffed the chloroform like his life depended on it.”

A moment passed, Amea fell into a brief mood as her own fatigue began to show. By now it had been a few days where sleep just didn’t come to her. The dreams, the lucid experiences within her own mind, it was all wearing on her. For a second her eyes closed and then she shook herself awake again.

“We should probably hand the kid over.” She muttered and rubbed at her eyebrows. “Saves us all the headaches of keeping him around.”

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

The Echani just smiled as she sat there with Amea, enjoying the quiet moment with Hoshi. It was these little moments, the time in between their somewhat turbulent lifestyle, that Evelyn enjoyed the most. She could feel Amea beginning to slack beside her, fatigue slowly but surely slipping into sleep.

But just as inevitable, the brunette jostled awake a moment later when she realized what was happening. She knew something had been bothering Amea for a while now, at least for the past few days. Often, Amea would wake up in the middle of night and be unable to return to sleep. And Evelyn had been trying everything she could to try and help her, but whatever it was that was plaguing Amea’s sleep, it wasn’t going away.

That concerned the Echani greatly.

It reminded her how Amea was when they first met, of which had slowly been lessened as things seemed to become more settled for the brunette. Now, something new was trying to threaten what they had been building together. And Evelyn wanted to tear whatever it was out, and throw it into a volcano.

“Agreed, and we both need some sleep after today’s chaos.” Evelyn mumbled, stifling a half yawn as she began to sit up a bit more. “We should go and contact Varo, let him know we’ve got the kid and on our way back.”

Evelyn stood up, offering a hand to help Amea up, but Hoshi also used it as an invitation to climb up it and onto the Echani’s shoulders.

“And make it perfectly clear to Varo, that we’re wanting double the pay we were initially offered.” There was an edge to Evelyn’s tone, whether from the chaos of today, or still lingering from her outburst a little bit prior. But it was clear she was ready to make their Rodian contact squeal if he was thinking of screwing them over.

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

Blonde hair, amber eyes. For each small taste of death that passed her by, the more lucid the image got. Even as Amea nodded off for just a moment she felt the other woman’s presence in her own, providing enough clues as to who it was without really a need for answers. Whatever had happened was a side-effect of the evening that had birthed her and whatever it had left behind. As soon as the idea of sleep was proposed, Amea shook her head.

“No.” She practically begged. “I’d rather stay awake, maybe we’d catch a movie. Or…” Right, Evelyn gave that serious look again. Amea averted her attention and rubbed at her neck with a yawn. “Fine. We’ll reel this in and then we try to rest again.”

She rubbed her eyes with her finger and her thumb. “Do you want the honors or should I?”

“... Mentioning his mistress seemed to work wonders last time.”

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

“I’ll do it, his guard will probably be lowered with me calling.”

Early on the pair had built up a ‘good cop, bad cop’ shtick when dealing with the Underworld. Who was which role was fairly obvious, but that line had somewhat blurred over time as Amea influenced the Echani’s outlook.

She leaned in to give Amea a small kiss. “If sleep evades us, we can watch a movie instead.”

Picking up on the more negative mood that had settled over the brunette, Hoshi opted to switch from Evelyn’s shoulders and settled down on Amea’s lap, curling up.

Evelyn walked over to where a large round terminal was. The Echani moved around it until she reached the holoprojector side. She input the correct details and waited, crossing her arms together as she stared. Eventually, the projector hummed to life as the familiar holo-visage of Varo appeared.

[Ah, if it isn’t my favourite Echani!]

“Cut the crap Varo, we’ve got the kid.” Evelyn’s curt response took the Rodian back, who just blinked and said nothing for a couple seconds. Then he suddenly became enthusiastic again.

[Wonderful, I’m assuming you’re on your way back? Excellent, I’ll get the credits read-]

“We want double.”

[Double? The initial offer was already enough!]

“You neglected to inform us there would be another group after him and-”

[That’s just the nature of the gam-]

“Which is a load of bantha chit. The bounty was a ‘special commission’ as you worded it. It was never intended to be a general bounty. Therefore, someone had to have tipped this second group off about this.”

[Okay, so the information got leaked. What do you want me to do about it?] There was a moment where the Rodian’s eyes flickered off screen, then back to Evelyn.

“We want double the initial pay.”

[Out of the question-]

“You also neglected to inform us that the kid’s parents had just endured an assassination plot.”

[That...was not really necessary infor-]

“Shall I go contact Zu, and tell her about your wife?” There were several moments of silence, as the two just stared at each other. Until finally, Varo spoke up.

[...Double it is then, but hurry up. No delays.]

And just like that, the Rodian ended the call a second later. Evelyn sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“Well, I think that went alright.”

Amea Virou​

 

[Amea Virou]

Evelyn Shaw

It was true, Amea was the bad cop in the partnership, but that wasn’t necessarily to say that was who she was, right? She looked down upon her hands and gave a mournful glance as she turned them around, palms-up for her to see. A kiss brought her out of it, and with it a smile grew on her lips.

“Deal.” Amea whispered. Hoshi hopped in her lap and Amea gently raised him up to snuggle his face against hers. “I don’t understand how you put up with us, little buddy.”

“But there ain’ enough words to express how much it means to us both.” Amea said and wrapped him in a hug. “Gar cuyir ner vod.” The creature looked confused. Amea bobbed her head from side to side. “You are my brother.”

Her eyes lingered on Evelyn as she wrapped up the conversation. Hoshi escaped Amea’s grasp and laid down on the couch as she stood up and approached her girlfriend.

“More than alright, you did great.” The brunette murmured and leaned in to place a kiss on the Echani woman’s cheek. “Couldn’t ask for a better partner.”

The alarm went off.

Amea let out a sigh.

“I think our guest has awoken.”

 

[Evelyn Shaw]

The Echani chuckled as she watched Amea and Hoshi interact, one of her favourite pastimes if she was being honest. Hoshi just had a natural way of easing the mood in the air, making others feel comfortable if they willingly open themselves to it.

He was equally as part of this little trio as either of them, and there would be hell to pay if anyone dared to harm him.

Evelyn’s smile turned into a blush at the compliment, she went to speak but was interrupted by the alarm going off. Instead, she joined Amea in sighing.

“Of course it couldn’t be simple...probably should have given him a double dose.”

She fixed her girlfriend with an amused look, before leading the way out of the rec room and back towards the medical bay. Expecting to see the door forced open or something, Evelyn was surprised to find it was still shut. A quick input on the controls and it unlocked. Preparing herself for a potential ‘jumpy guest’, the Echani moved into the room.

William was absent, the bed he had been occupying now vacant. But the young man was nowhere to be seen. Evelyn looked around, but quickly found her answer.

A hanging vent cover, leading into the maintenance tunnels.

She sighed again, but it turned into a small laugh.

“You know, this oddly reminds me of that early incident. It was like....what, day two of owning this ship? I woke up, couldn’t find Hoshi so I began to panic a little. Ran into you in the rec room, having also been in a panic because you had picked up a potential security breach. Only to find out it was because Hoshi went exploring the maintenance tunnels.”

She looked at Amea, then back to the vent. “He does know he’s on a ship currently in hyperspace, right?” Evelyn shook her head, panic did tend to make people do stupid things. “Do you know where this tunnel passes through? I suspect he’s probably going to exit through the next vent.”

Amea Virou​