song: Robert Ellis - Good Intentions

I woke up from something tearing through my skin. I had no idea what it was and how bad it was, so I slowly opened my eyes to see Bloodwing sitting next to me on the floor and pecking at my arm with his beak.

"What the shit..."

I sat up quickly, moving away from Bloodwing. The bird looked at me confused and cawed happily. He looked at me as if he expected something from me. I took a look at my arm. There were a few bleeding wounds, but they were rather small. I looked at Bloodwing again and stretched out my hand to him with a sigh. He happily hopped closer and bit me again.

"Ouch! What the hell, dude?" I exclaimed. Guess, I'd never learn with this bird. In my defense, Bloodwing just seemed like a very cute bird and could easily make you forget how much he could hurt you. He also seemed to be really happy to see me, because he started hopping up and down excitedly. He also started screaming his lungs out, as if I was a dumbass for not understanding what he wanted from me. Maybe I was a dumbass for that, who knew.

"What is it? What do you want?"

Bloodwing hopped towards the back of the container and came back with a can in his beak after a while. He dropped it in front of me and looked at me expectantly. I picked up the can and looked at it. Skag meat.

"Oh, you want a treat, huh? Did Mordecai tell you to wake me up?" I asked. Bloodwing cawed happily.

"Fine. You did a pretty good job at waking me up. Let me see if I can get this open..." I replied. I couldn't believe I was actually talking to a bird. I fiddled with the can a little and managed to get it open after a while. I took out a big chunk of skag meat and threw it at Bloodwing. He hopped upwards, caught it in his beak and started happily chewing away at it.

I got up and started getting dressed again. Mordecai was apparently long gone already, so I figured I'd get out, so I wouldn't overstay my welcome. I put on my cargo pants and reattached all my holsters and my guns, before I started putting on my tank top. I was still tired and felt every muscle in my body when I stepped outside the container to get some fresh air.

Just after I stepped out, I heard some commotion behind me and then, all of a sudden, Bloodwing landed on my shoulder. I got the fright of my life, screaming a little as he looked at my face. I firmly believed I was about to be ended. But, fortunately, all he did was rub his beak (bloody from the skag meat) against my cheek. Then he took off, probably to go and reunite with Mordecai.

"Bloodwing seems to have taken a liking to you." I heard a voice call out to me. I turned towards the source of the voice, Lilith. She was leaning against the container with a smug grin on her face.

"I guess. I mean, he did give me all those bites and scratches." I said, showing her my arm. Lilith took a look at it and grimaced a little.

"I suppose Bloodwing shows his affection in strange ways. If he hated you, you'd already be dead by now." she replied.

"Yeah. I guess. Hey, do you guys have anything here I can clean those wounds with? If not, I'll just see if I can get something from Zed's, since I'm here already."

"Sorry, I think Mordy took all the healing kits. It's like he collects the damn things or something."

"Typical. Well, uh, I guess I'll see you around or something?" I said. I wasn't really sure how to talk to Lilith. I mean, I barely knew her. And she seemed to have a bit of an attitude, although I was fairly certain that was a well put together act.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something." she replied. Oh shit. She probably was Mordecai's girlfriend and I was going to get the crap beaten out of me now. Wonderful. Why did I always end up in situations like that? It was ridiculous.

"Uh, sure, what about?" I answered, trying to play it cool. Please don't say it, please don't say it, please don't say it.

"Mordecai."

Fuck. I knew it. I fucking knew it. She was his girlfriend or something and she was jealous. I mean, back home I wouldn't have cared about such a thing if it meant I could have some good fun, but Pandora was different.

Any friend I could get here, I actually needed. Allies were important. I wasn't gonna screw this up. I could at least try not to. Plus, I felt Lilith wouldn't hesitate to blow my brains out right here. This was just the worst. I knew I'd get myself into some terrible situation if I accepted Mordecai's offer to stay with him and here I was. I just never learned. Ever. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"Hey, Mordecai and I are just friends. Like, literally, there is nothing between us. I mean, if you want me to back off from your boyfriend, I get it, just tell me and I'll back off, no big de-"

"No, no no! Hell, no. I'm not his girlfriend or anything like that. Ew." she interrupted me. Oh. Oops. I blushed violently.

"Oh, uh... this is awkward. I thought you guys had a thing or something..."

"Ew, no. Absolutely not. Mordecai is a nice guy, but no. Don't worry about that at all. Never in a million years." Lilith said. She seemed so appalled that I had thought they had something going on, it was almost comical. I mean, I thought Mordecai was pretty hot, but he was probably not everyone's type. What I wanted to know was what she wanted to talk about, if it wasn't some jealous thing.

"Okay, what did you want to talk about then?" I asked. This was really confusing. What other reason could she have to talk to me? I mean, seriously, she had nothing to do with either my business or Mordecai's business. I didn't get it. She looked at me and sighed, as if she didn't know how to say something.

"You like him, right?" she asked. Shit, how did she know? I mean, of course I liked him. I think it was fairly obvious that I liked him as a friend. Wait, was this maybe one of those 'don't lead him on' talks?

"Yeah, sure, he's a good friend." I replied with a shrug.

"You know what I mean. I've seen the way you looked at him last night. Anyways, that's not my point. I don't care who you're into and who you're not into. None of my business. But you see, Mordecai is a bit of a loner and for him it's a big thing to let someone get so close to him." she said. I really hoped my blush was gone at this stage. This talk was really awkward and I hoped it would stay between her and me. And that it would end soon, because I just felt really uncomfortable. Hell, I didn't even know myself how to feel about Mordecai.

"Wait, did he... I dunno, say something? About me?" I asked. Lilith gave me a triumphant grin. Shit. Did I let on too much?

"No, he didn't. But we've all spent enough time with him to see that he has definitely taken a liking to you. And you seem to like him, too, so I'd suggest you make some sort of move on him sooner or later, if you are seriously into him." she suggested. Okay, what the fuck? She wanted me to fuck Mordecai?

"Uh... okay, but why? I mean, not to be confrontational, but how is that your business? Why do you care?"

"It's none of my business, but... ugh. See, he and Roland are just on their way to get the last piece of the Vault Key from Patricia Tannis. Which means, we're apparently really close to the Vault. And none of us know what expects us there or on the way there, so you know. Use your chance, while you can and all. If you are seriously interested in him, that is. If not, don't give him any false hopes. He's enough of a loner already and I think he might not take it well if you lead him on." she replied. I nodded. That seemed like a fairly okay excuse for that awkward talk.

"Okay. Well, thanks for the heads up, I suppose. Can I be honest with you and can I trust you that this thing stays between us?" I asked. I had no idea why I trusted that woman, but well. She seemed to care somewhat about poor Mordecai. Plus, there weren't really many other women around to talk to.

"Sure. My lips are sealed." she answered.

"See, I have no idea myself how I feel about Mordecai. On the one hand, yeah, I find him really damn attractive. Like, the dude is hot. On the other hand, he seems to be very content with just himself and I really like having him around as a friend. I don't wanna ruin that. And then again, that being said, I'm just really damn thirsty for some good sex and I don't know what to do about it. Sorry, if this is too much information, but damn, I really needed to tell someone.", I said.

"Wow. Uhm. I didn't expect that, but... well, Mordecai doesn't seem like the relationship type. But I'm fairly sure he wouldn't have a problem if you included some benefits in your friendship, if you know what I mean." she answered with a wink. I stared at her with my mouth open for something that felt like ten minutes.

"Wow. Shit, girl, I didn't take you as someone that would suggest that, but okay. Thanks for listening to my rambling anyways. I'm actually surprised you don't have a thing for Mordecai, but okay."

"No. Firstly, not my type at all. And second, well, there is someone else."

I raised my eyebrows at that. Someone else? That sounded interesting... I wondered if she'd tell me who it was...

"Oh my God. Okay, hold up. It's not Brick, is it? Or Scooter?"

"What? No. Jeez, girl, you have horrible taste, if you think I'd go for them."

"Alright, alright. Spill the tea, sister, because I'm interested."

"It's Roland." she said. I gasped. This was probably the most girly talk I had had in the last 10 years, and I was thoroughly enjoying it.

"Roland? Roland, the lancer? For real?" I asked. She rolled her eyes and blushed a little. She looked around quickly and then nodded.

"Yeah. And it looks like they're going to be back soon, so... no word to them if you meet them on your way into town, okay?" she said. I nodded.

"If you keep your mouth shut."

"Deal."

"Man, that was quite refreshing. Having a girl talk, I mean." I commented. Lilith looked at me, a little taken aback and then nodded slightly.

"Yeah... yeah, I was never really friends with many girls, but this was fun, I guess." she replied.

"If you ever wanna talk again or want a coffee... you know where to find me, right?" I said with a smug grin on my face. She nodded with a smirk on her face.

"The Middle of Nowhere, I'll stop by for some... uh... tea."