"Alright, see ya soon, Lil," Zane sighed as he ended the transmission, looking over to his team as they idled about. They were still in the control room for the laser, idling about and waiting for…well for them to get a means off the Skywell. Zane was still moderately upset Rhys didn't plan a means for them to get off the asteroid once they were done taking out the laser, but he'd take it out on the man's bar when they got down to Atlas' HQ. "Alright, everyone, listen up," Moze, Amara, and FL4K perked up. "Lil' sent Ellie with the recovered Maliwan ship; she's gonna be here in 'bout an hour, so we have 'til then to…I guess idle around and maaaaybe get to where we started from."
"Well, should be a fuck-ton easier," Moze stood up, stretching her arms. "We already wiped most of Maliwan's soldiers here. Should probably even be a nice little walk back."
"A shame; I'm well rested now, and I wouldn't mind a fight." Amara stood up as well, cracking her knuckles. "And I think FL4K's good as well, what with that energy they siphoned."
"Indeed," The Beastmaster pat their chest. "I can go for quite a while. It's almost shameful the hunt concluded when I'm at my best."
"Well, we got choices." Zane shrugged. "We can either head right for the evac spot, or we can hit the bar." Moze raised a brow.
"There's a bar?"
"Yeah," Zane tapped his ECHO device. "I was in their servers, Mozzy Moze; they have a bar 'bout two floors down, where the soldiers here went for relaxing. We could chill there 'til Ellie's inbound." Zane wanted to see Maliwan's alcohol selection and, of course, compare it to Moxxi's.
"Sure, I'm down."
"Likewise."
"I cannot drink, but I will see if they have any food for Meat-Thief." Zane stood up and started walking. It was unorthodox, sure, but the Operative needed a time-killer, and it was this or actively trying to wipe out all the Maliwan soldiers.
It could be done, yeah, but at this point, he wasn't gonna put out the effort unless it meant loot. And Maliwan's guns were shite.
Well, Moze found out where Maliwan's budget went. The bar was an impressively sized and stocked one; tables set about as the bar itself was stocked with all manners of alcohol and drink. A jukebox played tunes over in the corner as the dim light gave it an eerie, but calm atmosphere. Like a restaurant at night.
"Oi, pick ya're poison." She didn't even realize Zane was already behind the bar; the Operative mixing a few drinks as the Gunner shook her head and sat down at the bar as well, hearing the others do the same. "So, Mozzy Moze, anything ya want?"
"Just…give me a rum and coke or something—" The dark drink was set in front of her before she could finish, Moze just staring at it. "…okay, well, that was fast."
"Thank ya; I pride meself in bein' a good bartender."
"Since when could you bartend?" Amara asked bemusedly, drumming her fingers on the bar counter. "Then again, considering how much you like your drinks, it seems right you'd be good at mixing them, too."
"Right ya are, Amara," He mixed a drink and slid it over to her too. "I have a diverse list of skills. Amusingly, drink mixin's one, so is sign language."
"Wait," FL4K spoke up. "You learned sign language?" Zane's response was a rapid series of hand signals Moze couldn't understand even if he paused between each one. The Beastmaster slowly nodded, reaching down to pat their jabber. "Well spoken."
"Huh." Moze took a sip of her drink, enjoying the mild burn it gave. "…so…here's a thought that, with this lull, is coming back." It was a thought that crossed her mind every so often but, with all the bullshit they had to put up with and go through, she never really had time to linger on and ponder it. "What happens when we're done here?"
"Whaddya mean? We'd head back to Sanctuary and—"
"No, I mean, like, done," Moze enunciated. "Done dealing with the COV. Done with all this? Do we go our separate ways or…?" The question, clearly, caught everyone off guard, given how silent they were. She guessed it was something they hadn't considered either, or if they had, they didn't have an answer either.
"We stay together." FL4K spoke at last. "Fate and Death brought us together for something, and so it would be wise for us to remain together, as a pack, from now on."
"Honestly, tin man makes a good point." Zane shrugged. "I only went to Pandora to give meself some time to rest, away from the scallions of people wantin' me dead. Didn' think I'd go there and end up meetin' some mates I'd wanna stick 'round with."
"Agreed. I'll let someone else protect the people back home. I'll stick around with you idiots, see where it takes the Tiger."
"Oi, I prefer 'bold and brash'." Zane smirked.
"Belongs in the trash is better." FL4K added. The moment of tenseness swiftly became relaxed again, Moze smirking herself and nursing her drink. That put that thought to rest; something she thought she'd have done when it was all said and done. Least it put things into perspective. Like it or not, she was stuck with them, and at this point, she wouldn't have it any other way.
Ellie was gonna be there soon. She wanted to try some more drinks before that happened. She had a feeling she'd need the liquid confidence for what was coming when they got to Promethea.
(So, shorter, non-canon chapter. I wanted to give the characters a moment to breathe, and to answer a question that's pretty rational. Also, I didn't feel like putting out a big chapter today; I had some stuff to handle away from , yet I didn't want to leave you all in the dark. So, thanks for reading, and hope this short chapter doesn't deter anyone.)