A/N: A quick bit of feelsy stuff with Tina and Moxxi. No romance, unlike nearly every other fic I have on here. Just a cute little thing I thought of.
Also, sorry in advance if there's an S missing here and there. The S key on my keyboard has been acting weird and doesn't work more often than it does. I usually catch it, but I'm reasonably sure I missed a few, even after proofreading.
After deciding to give herself a day off, Moxxi decided to do what he hadn't done since his funeral and go pay her respects personally to Roland. As she approached the grave with a few flowers in hand, a statue of the man himself standing tall with its shadow overcasting the grave, she noticed that she wasn't alone. A usually hyperactive and maniacal child was hanging onto the statue as if hugging it, and she could hear faint sobbing. Normally the child tended to get on her nerves, but seeing her in that moment was breaking her heart. "Tina? Are you okay?"
Tina, not expecting anyone else to be there, was startled and let go, falling to land on her rear end. She sniffed, then quickly wiped her eyes. "Yeah, I...I'm fine, girl. Whatchu talking about?" Her voice lacked its usual tone and enthusiasm, and was still a bit shaky.
"You don't look it." Moxxi kneeled down next to her, causing her to turn away. "Come on, sweetie. You don't have to hide it. A lot of people are upset because of this." Technically she rarely took her own advice in this situation, and in fact was fighting off tears herself in that moment, but for now she was just trying to help Tina. After a few moments of Tina not saying anything, she looked down at the grave and laid the flowers on the ground at the base of the statue. "He was a great man that did a lot of good. He didn't deserve what he got, but at least he went down trying to save us all, and it took Handsome Jack himself to do it."
"I don't care. He should still be alive." Tina stopped trying so hard to hide it since Moxxi obviously wasn't leaving.
"Unfortunately life isn't fair, especially on this godforsaken planet. A lot of good people will die young while douchebags will live for far too long. But in a case like Roland's, we can keep his memory alive by making sure that what he died for doesn't die with him. We just have to keep trying to better Pandora, one slimeball at a time."
Tina finally faced Moxxi and hugged her tightly, sobbing once again. "I-I-I just-I miss hi-i-i-im!"
Moxxi, though caught a bit off guard at first, hugged the girl back. "I know, sweetie. We all do." She continued to hold her and let her cry on her shoulder, a few silent tears of her own creeping out, until Tina finally calmed down a bit, then asked, "You live in the middle of Tundra Express, right? Do you have anyone else there?"
Tina shook her head. "No."
Moxxi thought for a moment. She never thought she'd offer this to the most annoying and hyper child she had ever met, but felt bad for her, and if Roland loved and respected her as much as he did, there must have been a reason for it. "Do you want to come to Sanctuary with me for a bit? I don't know how long, but I know when I get upset, I don't like to be alone." Although her choice of company wasn't usually a 13-year-old kid.
Tina pulled back out of the hug and looked at her. "Really?"
Moxxi smiled kindly. "Of course. Only for a little while, but you're welcome to come with me."
Tina smiled and bear hugged her. "Awwww you da best!"
Moxxi was surprised by the strength of the hug from such a small girl, but she knew as well as anyone that strength could come in small packages given how she used to be back in the day. She didn't even get a chance to hug her back before Tina pulled out of it again.
"Hey. Hey. You live in that bar, right?"
"Uh...above it, yeah."
Tina was bouncing slightly, her usual demeanor beginning to return. "Could you hook a girl up? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?"
"Tina, you're 13. No I will not give you alcohol."
"Awwww, come onnnnnn! Shorty, why you gotta be like dat?!"
"Because you're 13." Moxxi stood, beginning to slightly regret her offer already.
"But I'm almost 14!" Tina stood and followed her as she returned to her car.
"Still too young." Moxxi got in the car and Tina followed along shortly after. Tina talked the majority of the trip and Moxxi had to keep reminding herself of what had made her offer in the first place. Tina was probably faking most of this cheerfulness, unless she really was that quick to change emotions.
When they arrived, Moxxi dropped the car off at Scooter's, whom she had borrowed it from directly, and Tina jumped out before it was was even halfway stopped. "FINALLYYYY! UGGHHHHH I hate car rides!"
"TINA! What the hell are you doing?"
"Uh...getting out of the car. Duh."
Moxxi rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. "Just...don't do that again. Ever. You'll hurt yourself. Now come on." She led Tina, who was merrily skipping along beside her, to her bar and poured herself a drink once they were inside. She wasn't about to turn the kid away, but she might need a little help to not go crazy in the meantime.
"Awwwwww why you gotta drink in front of me if I can't have anyyyy? That's just meeeaaaannnn."
"Because I'm an adult," more of one than she liked to admit, "and I can."
Tina sat and spun on the chair for a few moments, then got up and started running around the bar, exploring every inch to keep herself busy.
Moxxi watched her move about faster and more nimbly than anyone she'd seen for a long time. "Curious little thing, aren't you?"
Tina was in a back corner where she was momentarily out of Moxxi's line of sight and found a beer bottle that was still half full. She picked it up with a sly grin and nearly drank some when she heard Moxxi behind her.
"Tina, no! Put the beer bottle down!"
"I just want a little little bit! Just a little taste! Come on, pleeeaaasssssseeeee!"
"No. Besides, you don't know who drank out of that, and I wouldn't call most guys here exactly clean." She held her hand out. "Give it to me."
Tina pouted slightly, then handed it over, folding her arms after.
Moxxi thought for a moment. She could easily regret this because sugar would likely only make this worse, but had to do something to distract her from her weird fascination with drinking. "I have some cookies behind the counter if you want some."
Tina's eyes went wide and she perked right up as soon as he heard one of her favorite words. "Cookie?! What kinda cookie?!"
"Chocolate chip, of course."
"OOOOO CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIIIIIIIIESSSS!" Tina shot passed Moxxi and went behind the counter herself, immediately finding them.
Moxxi walked over and looked behind the counter, finding Tina happily munching on a jar full of cookies she usually kept for herself when she got a random sugar craving. She folded her arms and leaned on the counter. "Wow. That was fast." Half of the jar was already gone.
Tina spoke, but it was indecipherable and cookie pieces shot out out of her mouth.
Moxxi raised her upper lip in disgust. "Honey, it's not polite to talk with your mouth full."
Tina swallowed a huge glob of cookie. "Yes, right, of course, I knew that. I shan't do it again!" She took a bite from another cookie by itself instead of shoving multiple into her mouth at once.
Moxxi raised an eyebrow this time. "You are a strange little child."
"Now now, Madam Moxxi! Who's the one being impolite?" Tina took another bite, finishing off that cookie.
"Oh, right, sorry."
Soon, it became dark, and Tina was getting tired. She had been spinning on one of the bartools again and stopped to let out a big yawn before falling forward onto the counter with a thunk.
"I think it's time I take you home. You look like you're about to pass out.
Tina popped up again. "What? Nononononono I gots a better idea! How about you let me stay the night and take me home later? I won't be loud, I promise!"
Moxxi considered both of her options for a moment. She could send the girl home when she obviously still didn't want to be alone, or she could let her stay and risk not sleeping because she didn't know the child' s sleeping habits, but considering she was a 13-year-old that lived on her own, assumed they weren't even mildly normal. She looked at Tina again, who had pulled out the big, sad, puppy dog eyes. Normally she could see right through those (Scooter loved to use them when he was little.), but this time was reminded of the broken little girl she had found hugging Roland's memorial statue instead. Her heart won out again. "Alright, fine, but I'm going to bed soon. When I say to go to bed, you go to bed, and no arguing or playing around. Got it, squirt?"
Tina jumped up and clapped her hands a few times with a big smile on her face. "Yeah, sure, whatever, YAYYYY! Sleepover at Moxxiiii's!"
"That means you have to calm down."
Tina froze, then straightened up. "Yes, ma'am!"
Moxxi opened the door that led to her home above the bar and Tina marched passed her, exaggeratedly moving her stiff arms and legs. Moxxi rolled her eyes, but this time with a bit of a smile, then followed her up the stairs. The place was nothing too special. It had a little bit of decoration, but not much. She pointed to a couch. "You can sleep there. It's the only possible place besides my bed."
"No fear, Madam Moxxi! I can sleep anywhere!" She really wasn't exaggerating.
Moxxi walked into her room and brought out a folded blanket and a pillow. "It can get a bit drafty in here sometimes, and that couch isn't exactly the most comfortable thing around." She had actually done that on purpose so that he had an extra excuse to suggest moving to her bed, which was the most comfortable thing in the place, with other guests she had invited over for less innocent purposes.
"Thank you, miss!" Tina watched as Moxxi laid down the pillow, then laid down on top of it and Moxxi draped the blanket over her.
"There. Hopefully that'll help at least a little bit."
Tina smiled up at her. "Nighty night!"
Moxxi smiled as well. As much as she hated to admit it, Tina had grown on her a bit throughout the night. "Goodnight, sweetie." As Tina tried to sleep, Moxxi took off her accessories in her room then washed off her makeup in the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment, her thoughts drifting to a place they hadn't been to since her children were little. She had always thought of Tina as just an annoying little brat with zero concept of boundaries, but tonight she had seen two completely new and different sides of her. Yes Tina had been hyper, but she seemed to go into stereotypically fancy more often than stereotypically street, which almost seemed to be her actually acknowledging boundaries for once, or perhaps lacking in as much energy as she usually had, and earlier she had seen her without a single ounce of that hyperness and held her as she cried over a man that even Moxxi knew she was incredibly close with. She found herself worrying about if she would be alright when she had to go home alone again and felt slightly responsible for her. She was still a child, after all. Every child needed some sort of guidance, protection, and love. She splashed her face one more time with water, then returned to her room and shut the door almost all the way, leaving it open just a tiny bit, then got ready and climbed in bed.
Tina fell asleep instantly, but her dreams were less than pleasant. She awoke and felt scared and sad, then walked over to Moxxi's room. She poked her head inside the door and whispered, "Psst. Moxxi. You awake?"
Moxxi wasn't, but was a light sleeper. She sat up, lifting up the blindfold she had over her eyes to help her sleep. "Tina? What is it? I told you to go to bed."
"I know but...I uh...I had a nightmare."
"You did?"
"Yeah...about...him. Can I sleep in here with you?"
Moxxi's heart melted once again and she couldn't refuse. It was the first time she allowed someone in her bed that she wasn't dating for a long time. "I...I guess so." She pulled back the covers on the other side of the bed.
Tina walked over to the open spot and laid down, pulling the covers over herself.
"Do you want to talk about the nightmare? Sometimes it helps to get it out."
Tina hesitated, but figured she might as well, feeling oddly comfortable around Moxxi by now. Her voice began to shake as she explained it. "He was being attacked. I couldn't get to him because I was stuck behind some indestructible wall. I could throw things over it, but I couldn't climb it. I kept throwing bombs and dynamite, but I ran out, and they got him."
Moxxi instinctively held onto the scared child and pulled her in close. "Honey, what happened wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done anything. You've helped his dream be a few steps closer to reality and, so long as you keep doing that, I know he'd be proud of you. That's all you can do."
"But...I want to do more. I wish I could have done more." Tina buried her face in Moxxi's chest, tears beginning to form again.
"There's no point in dwelling on the past. You're young and you've got a long future ahead of you. You can't change the past, especially when there's nothing you could have done anyways, so just focus on now and the future. Right now you're a very valuable ally to the Vault Hunters and to everyone trying to make Pandora a bit more tolerable."
Tina was silent, but cried again for a few moments, albeit much less hysterically than before, and Moxxi held her once again through all of it. She lightly stroked her hair. "Ssh. You'll be fine. Everything will be alright." After a while of laying like this, she noticed Tina's breathing became much more shallow and slow. She tilted her head to get a little bit better look and, sure enough, she was fast asleep. She smiled and lightly kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, sweetheart."
