…the ratings you’ve mentioned. Running the driver at full voltage all the time is generally not advised 12v nominal for motor; 12v MAX for qwiic driver because things tend to start cooking themselves
Since qwiic is a requirement I’d suggest trying to either try to find a motor that has a lower voltage, or you could try underpowering it (provide 9-10v or so…though this is pushing the product’s limits, it should be ok in small spurts)
You could also try using a non-stepper motor if you don’t need repetitive angular precision