Game: Borderlands 2
Pairing: Axton/Maya
Genre: Romance/Humor
Rating: T
Hunk of Burning Love
/1/
Curiosity Killed the Commando
"You ever been worshiped before?"
Maya blinked, the sudden question pulling her out of her musings. It only took a second for the Siren to reacquaint herself with her surroundings, her keen ears detecting the faraway chants of a cult, nose wrinkling at the smell of burning piles of goo, skin freezing as the bitter cold nipped at it.
Given where they were and the mission they were on—deep in Frostburn Canyon tracking down a band of fanatics that had devoted themselves to the "Firehawk"—it wasn't wise that she had let herself get lost in thought, but she had found herself quite incapable of keeping her mind from wandering. With all that had been revealed to her during the short time she'd spent on Pandora, who could blame her?
She had been so deep in her contemplations that she had not even noticed that the Commando—Axton—had approached her.
To cover her surprise—how long had he been standing there?—she drew her lips into a thin line, putting her hands on the crate she had been using as a chair, leaning back and looking him up and down in an appraising manner meant to unsettle him.
"What?" she asked. Oh, she'd heard him despite her mind being elsewhere. She just couldn't believe that he'd be asking so invasive a question.
Axton—who was not intimidated by her in the slightest—frowned, his thick brown eyebrows nearly touching in the middle of his forehead. "Worshiped. Made into a god. Goddess. Whatever." He scratched the back of his neck. "I was just wondering if any of this stuff was a touchy subject or somethin'."
The Siren's brow furrowed. Looking behind the Commando, she took note of the other two members of their little band. Zer0 was sitting just a little ways down the hill doing just that—sitting. Kreig was…dancing, for lack of a better word. Salvador was absent, back at Sanctuary sleeping off a hangover, and Gaige was making use of Scooter's garage to patch up Deathtrap.
Satisfied that no one was around to pay attention to her and Axton's little chat, she turned her attention back to the brown haired man standing before her. "Why do you care?" As an afterthought she added, "I'm not your turret."
Axton crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the jab. "What? I can't ask a simple question?"
"You never bothered before."
"Shit, I was just curious. Bite my head off why don't you? And, in case you haven't noticed—" here he opened his arms and waved around them "—I've been a little busy tryin' to keep us all alive."
"Is it that same trying that's been bankrupting us at the New-Us?"
Axton huffed, finally a bit irritated. "One time. It was one time. 'Sides, I don't see you doin' any better." He nodded his head at her. "What, with your Siren powers 'n all, I'd have thought you'd have Jack's head by now."
Maya couldn't stop the angry flush that painted her pale cheeks red. Her lower lip trembled and it took all her might to keep from springing to her feet and spitting in his face. Instead, she took a breath, calmed herself, and raised her eyebrows in a haughty appraisal of the man. "Oh yeah? Well at least I'm actually useful during combat. I heal you guys and freeze enemies in their tracks. What've you got? Your friggin' girlfriend?"
"Hey!" Axton barked, a vein sticking out in his forehead. "Watch it! That's my one and only you're talkin' about!"
"Funny how only an inanimate object will put up with you."
"At least I have somethin'. What do you got?"
"Is that a trick question?" Maya flicked her wrist, activating her powers.
"An intangible blue ball? That's not desperate."
"Self-projecting much?" Maya retorted.
The two glared at each for a moment before Axton threw his hands up in the air in defeat.
"Bah! Forget I said anything," he said crossly, storming across the snow-buried road to plop down heavily upon a chest. Maya perked her ears, listening as he muttered curses under his breath, moaning something about not being able to live with women, but also not being able to live without them.
She raised a slender blue brow in curiosity, staring at him intently as he quietly complained. Thankfully, he did not notice her sweeping gaze.
Maya had never met a man like Axton before, that was for sure. To be honest, she'd never met anyone like any of them. She'd never met a Zer0, a Salvador, a Gaige, and certainly not a Kreig. They weren't the monks, didn't have any interest in using her powers to enforce and scare the local populace. Hell, they hadn't even been shocked when she'd revealed her abilities to them.
Perhaps it was because they were all lone wolfs, because they were all used to their own unique talent sets to keep them afloat that they did not feel the need to pressure her to use her Siren powers. Sure, they were grateful when she did, but they weren't lying to her, weren't secretly using her Siren status to their advantage.
They were searching for answers, for adventure, for loot, for purpose…just like her.
She sighed.
Maybe…just maybe…she had been too hard on Axton, so used to people trying to use her for their own gain as she was. Maybe…just maybe…she didn't have to keep her walls up forever. Maybe…just maybe…this could be her one shot at a sort of normal life…at a normal…friendship…
"I'm a Siren, not a god. Goddess. Whatever," she said suddenly.
Axton's head snapped up and he stopped fiddling with his thumbs, looking at her with a combination of curiosity and caution.
Maya took in a deep breath before continuing, not quite believing what she was doing. "Not that I don't mind it when people fear me. If you're worried about me being jealous of Lilith or something…" She paused, eyes going misty as she remembered the life she had left behind. "…don't be."
"Hm."
"What?"
Axton shrugged and looked down the slope at their compatriots, ignoring her question. "Let's get a move on!" he called. "Those worshipers ain't gonna kill themselves!"
Zer0 was on his feet in an instant, Kreig meandering along after him shouting strange obscenities.
Looking back at Maya, Axton said, "I was just thinkin' that maybe you guys competed for stuff like that. Followers, worshipers, cultists. That's what I would do if I was you. Beat up the competition and take their stuff."
Maya snorted and stood up, brushing herself off, eager to end the conversation the closer Zer0 and Kreig got. It wasn't like she didn't like talking about her past, it was just that she didn't. She was with Axton—sort of—but she wasn't ready to share everything with everyone just yet. "You obviously don't know much about Sirens."
Truth be told, she didn't know much about Sirens, but she was keeping that tidbit to herself.
"Never said I did."
Snorting and rolling her eyes, Maya made a move to go join Zer0 and Kreig, but before she could get farther than two steps, Axton had caught her by the arm in a firm yet gentle manner, lightly pressing his fingertips against the blue tattoos that danced across her pale skin.
She flushed—despite her best attempts not to—as he drew her in closer, his breath tickling her skin, lips mere inches from hers.
"If anything gets weird or uncomfortable, let me know. I won't let those crazies lay a finger on you."
The blue haired woman opened her mouth, closed it. Where had that come from?
Without another word, Axton let her go and walked off to join the Assassin and the Psycho, leaving a very confused, hot, and bothered Siren to trail along behind.
