Astro trudged back through the streets of Saintland heights, breathing heavy from the encounter with Lil’ D and Thumper. What the fuck was my life? I’m apparently not only live in a horrible neighborhood but I'm now also the favorite customer of an arms dealer? Astro kept thinking for a bit before a thought popped into her head. I probably have guns at home. At least that’s something in my favor.
And what did he mean “something Nyx put me up to”? How much is Nyx involved in all this? Astro kept walking, her chicken buckets rattling on the side. Astro turned the corner onto North Rainbow St. and broke out of her trance after seeing a small child next to her apartment building. The child climbed up the slide and swung himself down it, before a large thud was heard and the child yelled “OW” as they collided with the massive rock outside. Well I’ll be damned thought Astro to herself, as the kid climbed out of the slide and ran around to go up the ladder again.
Shaking her head, Astro walked past the playground of pain and up the stairs into the apartment. “Nyx, I’m home!” she said loudly into the apartment. No response. Setting down the KFC on the table, she walked towards the bedroom and tried the door. Surprisingly, it opened and Astro looked into the room.
Sitting on the bed was a quietly depressed Nyx, curled up in a fetal position. A handgun sat on the bedside table next to her with the red dot showing on the safety. “Oh Nyx, no…” Astro said concernedly, moving to pick up the gun and took it to the other side of the two person bed. Putting the safety on she set it on the other bedside table and sat on the bed between Nyx and the gun.
“Nyx, are you ok?” Astro asked, empathetically. Nyx continued staring forward on the bed before shaking her head side to side. Astro looked at the quietly distraught girl next to her for a second, before sliding over so they were touching and wrapped her arms around her. “It’s going to be ok, we’ll figure this all out” Astro comforted. Nyx thought for a second before laying back onto the bed behind her. Astro followed the action, laying on the bed next directly touching her, arm beneath.
She stayed there together for a while like that. Not talking, just comforting Nyx. After a while, her stomach rumbled again. “Hey Nyx?” Astro asked, turning her head to face her. After a few seconds of pause, Nyx replied “Yeah?” “I brought you back some KFC. Chicken wings and deep fried Cod. One of the wings is gone though, I hope you don’t mind” Astro offered. Nyx turned solemnly to Astro, and she could tell she was still deeply upset. “Astro… We’re vegans…”
“Oh” Astro said, a look of shock spreading over her face, before turning to deep guilt. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know and I just didn’t really think about it assuming it was-” Nyx laughed solemnly rolling her head over onto her stomach, placing her head on Astro’s chest. “It’s ok, Astro. It’s only $20. We’ll just order doordash” Astro stopped talking and spoke again, guiltily. “Ok. I really am sorry though, I feel bad now”
“Don’t be” Nyx corrected, pulling out her phone and reaching her arm around Astro’s head to type. As Nyx ordered, Astro looked up at her face about 6 inches away from hers, contently ordering by her ear. “What do you want, Olive garden or McDonalds?” She asked, looking into Astro’s eyes.
Astro looked over Nyx’s shoulder and saw something she recognized. It was the picture of her in the coffee shop that made an appearance on her wanted poster. However, this time it was zoomed out and much bigger so that she could see the people sitting around her.
Astro was placed in the back right of the picture and leaned cheerfully against the windowed nook embedded into the wall of the coffee shop. Directly to her left was Nyx. However, it was a much happier and better put together version of Nyx than the one partially on top of her right now. A long, black, loose short sleeved dress belted at the waist was on her adding a casual look and her hair was braided on the sides.
Across from Astro was Lil’ D, wearing the same loose jersey clothes as before. To the right of Lil’ D was a figure Astro hadn’t seen before. A tall girl in a light green shirt, with a black overcoat placed overtop. She wore woodland camo BDU cargo pants and combat boots. Her hair was styled a short and sharp light green. Finally, to the right of the girl was a man she didn’t recognize, outfitted in a full golden suit and short curly hair.
“Nyx?” Astro asked, staring at the large framed picture “Can you explain that picture?” Nyx looked at the picture for a second before responding. “It was a hangout after one of your business meetings. We would hang out with the people afterwards and have fun. It’s too bad it can’t happen anymore…” Nyx responded, darkly. “Buisness meeting? What business did we do? And why can’t we do it anymore?” Astro asked, trying to understand.
“Honestly, I don’t know what business you did. You kept it secret. I just came along to the afters as your girlfriend. And for a good reason too, It was to protect me. And the reason we can’t do it, well…” Nyx paused her explanation for several seconds before continuing “Most of the people there are gone. Permanently” Astro pondered for a second, looking at the painting. “Can you explain? What happened to them?” Nyx looked saddened by the question but still responded.
“Well, there’s me and you obviously. With you losing your memory and all. Lil’ D is the one in the back, he’s still kicking I guess. Doing worse though for a while now.” Astro spoke up “Oh, I walked into him at KFC! He’s an interesting guy” Nyx looked a bit taken aback, but continued. “Next to him is Luna, she got put in the slammer almost 6 months ago now. Shame, I liked her a lot. And next to her is Mackerel. Took 4 bullets to the chest during a fed raid”