Title: Finders Keepers
By: Emerald Padparadscha
Roland looked up as a disheveled, slag-covered, yet still familiar Siren walked into the strategy room of the Crimson Raiders. Lilith tended to end up in some rather odd and, admittedly, awkward situations due to the unpredictability of her powers. While her condition wasn't too disconcerting - she looked otherwise fine - he was curious. "Anything I should know about?"
Unimpressed was an understatement for the look she gave him. She brushed back her bangs, the fine coating of purple sludge giving it an oily look. "Has Mordecai ECHO'd you in the past couple of hours?"
He frowned. "This has something to do with you being covered in slag, doesn't it?"
As expected, she launched into her explanation aka alibi. "I was filling him in on the new Vault Hunters, and he was telling me about this Hyperion convoy -"
"Hyperion convoy?"
"Yes. Hyperion convoy." She repeated. "It's supposed to pass close to the Tundra Express on their way to the Highlands, I think." She put her hand on her hip. "I tried to teleport back to save some time. Instead, I ended up in the Arid Badlands."
Roland motioned to the slag. "And, in a slag pool. Obviously."
"Obviously." She tried to sound casual about it. "Anyway, when I teleported, it felt like something else was in the phaseblast with me."
He sighed. "Lilith, are you telling me -"
"- remember how we used to -"
"- Mordecai could literally be anywhere -"
"- he wasn't in the Arid Plains." She said. "So it's not on the ANYWHERE list."
"Mordecai." Roland already had his ECHO out. "Mordecai, answer me." The only thing that came across the line was static. Two more tries yielded the same result.
"I'm sure everything's fine!" Lilith sounded as believable a she usually did in these situations. "Just because I ended up in a pile of slag doesn't mean he did, too. There are worse -" The look Roland shot her redirected her words pretty well. "- and better places he could be!"
Elsewhere, in The Dust...
The sun was about the brightest and yellowest he'd ever seen it, especially given he usually went way out of his way to not look directly at it. Or, indirectly, for that matter. It was hard not to when Sirens go teleporting you out into the middle fo nowhere and you wake up flat on your back.
"Next time," Mordecai groaned, sitting up and readjusting his goggles over his eyes. "I'm taking the bus." He stood, brushing the sand from his clothes as his vision cleared. The sand dunes, brown cliffs, and hard-packed trails driven by technicals and and runners were uncomfortably familiar.
He wouldn't be surprised if Hell asked Lilith to babysit sometimes.