A/N: I only own my OCs. Everything else belongs to Gearbox.
So, thoughts? This one is one I like a good bit, just because it's
short and sweet.

Property of Hyperion
Chapter Eleven: Honesty


I stared into the water, tapping my axe on the ground with less rhythm than a seizing Bullymong. The disjointed tune I was humming wasn't as bad as others I'd vomited forth, but I couldn't remember where I'd heard it from - if anywhere at all. I liked this quiet, though. Shame it wouldn't last forever. Eventually, I would go running off in search of someone to kill, only to come back covered in blood and sit to stare at the other Vault Hunters. I was still haunted by the fragment of a memory that had hit me earlier, but my body seemed not to notice this time. Good. I'd been through enough for one day.

Footsteps from the shack alerted me of someone's approach, and I paused my humming and drumming. The young girl plunked down beside me, huffing loudly. "How goes it, Krieg?"

I stared at her in silence. She couldn't see it, but underneath my mask, I was frowning at her. Not that I disliked her. Gaige was one of the people I didn't have to force myself to protect. Still, she was hard to follow sometimes. A tendency to rant about science and all that. She was fiddling with her fingers, preferring to focus on them than on me. "So, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

Silence.

"Are you even listening, meathead?"

Her eyes met mine, and her trepidation faded to resigned conclusion. "Of course not. You don't talk back. At least, you don't make sense when you do. So I won't ask." There was quiet that spanned between us, making Gaige feel smaller than she already was. She turned back to look at the far off lights: the Hyperion Dam and Eriduim Extraction Plant. We were probably headed there tomorrow. Gaige sniffed. "Thanks for sticking with us and all. I missed you, like, a lot. It just wasn't the same without you." Her voice was soft; I had to work to hear her. "I can't put my finger on it - not that anyone can physically touch a metaphor or a sensation - but it was darker without you. No matter what Axton or Sal says, we need you. So, don't go away again, okay? Kay. Glad we could have this talk." Without looking at me, she stood up and walked back to the shack.

"Well, that was unexpected."

From the ground, I called over my shoulder, "Rolling heads are better than stones!"

I thought she chuckled but couldn't be sure.