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Optera sat up from sleep with a jolt, her eyes adjusting to the dark as she desperately reached out with a hand to feel Palakwi sleeping soundly beside her.
The human exhaled shakily, running her hands through her sleep-tousled hair and choking down a sob. Axolt’s loud snores could be heard from the other room.
It had been over a month ago, but she could still hear the twi’lek’s screams echoing in the back of her head. The color of spilled blood. The faces of the bounty hunters that she had beaten into an unrecognisable pulp. Palakwi’s face staring blankly at her, as she fell to the ground sobbing.
Optera buried her head in her hands, sighing and muffling her sobs and whimpers as not to wake the sleeping twi’lek.
She flinched momentarily when two arms looped around her shaking form.
Palakwi hummed. “What’s wrong, fire-hawk? Are you okay?” Her voice was gentle in the dark, filled with worry.
Optera sniffled, trying to regain her composure. She rubbed the tears from her eyes, keeping her breathing steady. “Can I ask you something?” Her voice cracked.
Palakwi sighed. “Of course.”
“Do I scare you?”
Palakwi hesitated, thinking of the blaster currently under the pillows. The closet of weapons in the hallway. She knew she was currently snuggling someone who had killed countless victims with no questions asked other than what the pay was. She had seen her in action firsthand, had seen her drag what was left of the bodies away. Optera was a highly-skilled bounty hunter with a large kill count, and she was an escapee with a big bounty on her head. Yet despite all that, she still trusted her. She knew Optera would never turn her powerful wrath onto her, and she knew the human cared deeply for her wellbeing.
“No,” Palakwi answered truthfully. “I don’t fear you, dear.”
Optera broke. Unable to hold her tears back she leaned into the twi’lek’s embrace, sobbing freely onto her shoulder and gripping her shirt as if it was a lifeline. A million alarm bells rang out in her head that she desperately tried to silence.
Outsider, outsider, outsider-
she exhaled sharply.
Palakwi held her closer, gently nuzzling her neck and murmuring soft nothings against her skin. She soothingly rubbed the human’s back as she wept, not caring when her shoulder grew damp from Optera’s tears.
“It’s okay, I swear,” Palakwi assured her.