I inserted a bit of time for some conversations to happen in. This was meant to be a short fluffy prompt fill and then it kind of exploded. I had no idea what to do with Claptrap and it shows, sorry for people who like him.
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Within the first ten minutes of consciousness Axton decided to ignore the little garbage can as much as possible; fucking robot didn't know when to shut up. Maya had made it clear to the little waste of metal that neither she nor any of them had any intention of humoring the little fucker or this minion business. Claptrap had thankfully gone off to sulk in a corner and the vault hunters had settled down with Axton and Salvador near the fire and Zer0 and Maya sitting on a frozen couch, as a blizzard raged outside.
Axton was grumpy and cold and had recently been blown up, which probably contributed to the sullen tone undercutting his, "Well, anyone have any bright ideas?"
Zer0's mask flickered to a quick question mark before he shrugged and said, "It's clear as day/ a freezing waste/ is not our place."
Maya glanced at him for a moment, there had been something off about that statement . . .
Salvador snorted, "No shit spook . . . did, did you guys see that girl in the ECHO? Said she was here to help us?"
All of them nodded, but Zer0 flashed to a :( and said, "Intentions unknown/ we should not trust blindly/ she may be a trap."
Maya frowned, she was sure now, "Why are you talking like that? Is that poetry?"
Again a flashed facial expression, a :) this time and a quick,"I am accustomed/to speaking in this fashion/deal with it Maya."
Well this was going just fine, Axton thought as Maya and Zer0 degenerated to oddly rhythmic name calling and sniping, with Salvador opening his mouth every other line to add more fuel to the fire. Time to intervene.
"Alright Guys, break it up, it's not helpful at all. How about we all get some sleep, huh?"
Salvador shut his mouth with a pout, but nodded, "Yeah, exciting day we all had."
They all mumbled good nights and sprawled about in the icy room. Within about two minutes Maya was shuddering with cold, her clothes weren't really designed for this. She sat up and eyed the spots near fireplace that Salvador and Axton had claimed. They looked much warmer but they were taking up nearly all of the space . . . She squared her shoulders, marched over to them, and shoved them around a bit until she could use Salvador's chest as a pillow and curl up between them.
Salvador chuckled once she was done wiggling and asked, "Comfortable chica?"
She spoke with her eyes shut, "It is way too cold and way too stormy to be worrying about niceties Sal. Go to sleep."
He chuckled again and closed his eyes.
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It was another hour before the first little intermittent rattles started. Axton sleepily peered around when they started lasting for ten or twenty seconds at a time; was it Claptrap, a piece of the robot's junk tapping in the little drafts from the blizzard? He traced the sound to . . . Zer0. Who had curled in on himself on a couch that had to be as hard as a rock and twice as cold.
"Zer0, what the hell are you doing?"
His mask pulsed with a ! before switching to a :| and holding it for several long seconds.
"Trying to sleep here/ no space nearer the fire/ why are you asking?"
"Fucking haiku spouting beanpole" Maya grumbled from deeper in the pile, "Gonna freeze your pretty little helmet off if you don't get over here."
"Damn it Zer0, just get over here and cuddle with the rest of us."
Another long shiver wracked the mystery man before he managed to quaver out, "I would not impose/ but since you insist on it/ you are far too kind." and stood to his full and very skinny height, no wonder he was so cold. He was limping as he walked, scuffing his left boot into the snow; and he kept his arms curled up against his chest. He noticed Axton still watching him and his visor switched to a worried sort of face /:(
Salvador was watching too, and asked worriedly,"Hey man, you okay?"
Zer0 paused a long moment, his mask flickering between sad and worried, before he sighed and said. "Metal limbs are not/ ideal in sub-zero/ the seams are aching." He traced a line just above his left elbow, another just above his left knee, and a third just above his right wrist.
Salvador blinked once, snorted and shook his head. Axton rubbed at the bridge of his nose and stood, tromped over to Zer0 and swung most of his weight around his much wider shoulders. Zer0's mask flickered to :o before switching to :( and he started stammering out . "You aren't worried/ . . . You shouldn't-"
"Ahh, shut up and go to sleep Zer0." Maya grumbled from where she had snuggled into Salvador's side."
Axton huffed as he and Zer0 sat, backs to the fire, Zer0 nearly sitting on Maya.
"The lady's right Spook, go to sleep." Salvador laid back and closed his eyes.
Zero looked at Axton his mask a question mark.
Axton smiled and laid down, curling himself away from the fire for Zer0 to lay down. "Go to sleep Zer0, we'll probably need it and we can work something out for you tomorrow."
A quick :) and a shuffle as Zer0 finally laid down to get warm, and the cavern was still once more.
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And then Claptrap said something stupid and ruined the moment. :) The next morning they probably made him something impromptu out of couch stuffings and bullymongs. Yeah I decided he's a cyborg, so him and Hammerlock can be cyborg buddies. Also Hammerlock just has more robust and simpler cyborg limbs, so that's why his work on the glacier and Zer0's are glitchy.