Songs: Nouvelle Vague - Ever Fallen In Love ; GRiZ - My Friends And I

"This is really fancy. Wow." I said, as I looked around. The party was basically where we were all living (except for the super rich people who chose different places to stay). They had really made the place look like the backyard of some big mansion. There were people with small snack trays going around and everyone was somewhat dressed up (but not too much to make it look ridiculous).

This was actually the first time ever I had seen Mordecai in a proper shirt. To be fair, it was a very light linen shirt and it wasn't really the black tie kind of fancy, but still. I only had time to throw on one of the dresses I had found on the market the other day. It was long and flowy, white with embroidered red flowers. The embroidery made the dress surprisingly heavy and I really hoped it wouldn't annoy me by the end of the night.

"Yeah, these parties are always over the top. If it wasn't the best opportunity to find a squad I'd never go." Mordecai replied.

"Oh come on! There's free food. And it seems like a fun way to hang out with some other people."

"Yeah, I don't enjoy either of those things."

"You like hanging out with your friends."

"I do, but the people here aren't my friends. All they do is networking, trying to get ahead in whatever company they work for, or trying to save their careers when they get a bit older. It's pretty pathetic."

I looked at him laughing and shaking my head. Mordecai was impossible. Just impossible. Thankfully it wasn't too far from where we were staying, so he could just head home when he felt like it.

"Come on, it can't be that bad. Did you see anyone you know yet? Did you spot Gaige and Axton?" I asked. Mordecai shook his head and then looked down at his ECHO device. He tapped on it a few times and then looked over at a group of staff members with a big grin on his face.

"They're over there with our friend from the market. Blending in in a staff uniform. Not bad." Mordecai said and nodded towards the group. I squinted at them and could make out Gaige's red hair and the hand of her robotic arm. Axton was standing next to her. He could have easily fooled me, since you could really only see their faces and a small bit of their hair. And next to them was our friend from the market.

"Damn. They're doing a really good job with their disguise. I'm impressed. Didn't know she'd be here, as well." I said.

"She gathers information and sells it to the highest bidder. Of course she's gonna be at an event where a bunch of rich people and a bunch of fortune seekers shake hands." Mordecai replied.

"Yeah, that's true, I guess. Okay, any ideas on who we should team up with?" I asked. I looked around me. People were standing in little groups, chatting to each other. With a lot of them you could see how they didn't really want to be here. Or how they didn't really want to talk to the person they were currently talking to.

There was a group that had some Maliwan emblems on their clothes. Most people were affiliated with some sort of corporation. There were quite a few Vladof employees here, a couple of Hyperion ones (we usually tried to avoid them), Maliwan and Jakobs made an appearance here and there. A lot of people were from Dahl and Pangolin, Anshin wasn't as present for some weird reason. I hadn't seen any Torgue or Tediore employees so far, which was a little odd, but then again I never saw a Torgue or Tediore sniper rifle, so I guess it made sense.

"I don't know. I'd try and stay away from the Anshin and Pangolin people, they haven't been really good this year from what I've seen." Mordecai answered.

"Agreed. I was thinking we could maybe team up with Anouk and Nadia? Maybe some other people as well? How many do we need for a squad?"

"It's a minimum of 4 people, maximum of 8. So if we don't find anyone else, we can just ask Nadia and Anouk and be a small squad. But most people will probably get as many people together as they can." Mordecai said.

"Should I see if I can find the girls? And ask them before anyone else does?" I wanted to know. To be honest, I had no idea how to find more people. This kinda setting wasn't new for me, but it just felt wrong at this stage.

"Yeah, sure. See if you can check in with Gaige and Axton and see if they know what they're doing or something."

"Got it."

With that I wandered off into the crowds. With all the people around I had a hard time finding Gaige and Axton among the rest of the waiting staff. They were all dressed in uniforms and all you could really see were their hands and faces. It wasn't easy to identify anyone, unless you got a closer look at them.

"Congratulations on the bronze, Miss Haile. Would you like a drink?" I suddenly heard a voice say behind me. I turned around and looked straight into the face of the girl from the market. Of course.

"Oh, uhm... sure, thanks. Are you looking out for Gaige and Axton?" I asked her as I took a drink from her tray. It was probably pretty expensive stuff and I really didn't want to drink anything in front of Mordecai, but it would look strange if I was just having a conversation with a random waitress, so I had to take it and get rid of it quickly.

"I got them in and that was my job. I'm not a babysitter, only for my roommate Camila." she answered and gave me a courteous smile.

"Camila? You live with Camila and Yolanda?" I replied. I mean, I should have seen it coming, really. But it still came as somewhat of a surprise to me. Her smile dropped a little when I mentioned that.

"How do you know that?" she asked quietly, quickly regaining her composure. I grinned at her. It felt pretty good to be one step ahead of her this time.

"Been at your house. Turns out, Yolanda is his mum. So we'll probably be over a couple more times. Thought you should know in case you try to sell us out." I answered. She smiled at me and this time I could see it was a genuine smile. I suppose I had somehow earned her respect with that.

"I'll keep that in mind." she said and nodded at me before she went on her way again. Okay. So that worked out better than expected. I guess we were friends now or something. Who knew. I didn't even know that girl's name.

Anyways, I needed to go on and look around for Nadia and Anouk or Gaige and Axton. If I was just standing around looking into the distance, it would be really suspicious. I took a big sip from my glass. Thank God this stuff was in the tiniest, fanciest glasses. I could get rid of it really quickly.

"Hey, Nova!" I heard to my left. I turned around, almost choking on my drink, just to see Anouk waving at me. Thank God. At least I wouldn't have to run around completely without a plan anymore.

"Anouk!" I replied and made my way over to her. She reminded me so much of myself when I was younger in this whole fancy party setting, I was tempted to tell her to go home, catch up on some sleep and study for that test.

"How are you? Have you been here for long?" Anouk asked as I approached her. I quickly finished my drink and put the empty glass on one of the standing tables all around us. I kinda felt bad about letting the waiting staff take care of my empty dishes, as if I was somehow better than them.

"Not that long. Only got here about twenty minutes ago. We met up with Gaige and Axton and then kinda had to rush back. Have you been here for long?"

"For about an hour, maybe? I don't know, I like to be here early, even if I'm not really talking to so many people. I mean, apart from all the shaking hands and congratulating and being congratulated and stuff."

"Yeah, well, it's kinda obligatory at this point, but congrats on winning! You did really good, I'm proud of you." I said. I could have shot myself in that moment. Why would I tell a random girl that I was proud of her? It was a slip of the tongue, really, but man, this was an awkward one. Anouk looked a little taken aback and confused, but not in a bad way. Maybe I was lucky again this time.

"Thanks. You did really well, too. I mean, it's your first time, that was pretty neat. You deserved that medal." she replied.

"Thanks. Anyways, you've been here for an hour already? Been talking to many people?" I asked. I was really hoping no one had asked them yet.

"A few here and there. Not too many. Why? Any reason you're asking?"

"Well, there actually is." I answered with a big smile.

"Are you gonna pop the question?"

"I'm gonna pop the question."

"Okay, okay, do it!" Anouk replied and grinned widely. It was a little odd, but this seemed to be a really big deal to everyone, so I just had to go along with all the excitement and glitter and glamour.

"You and Nadia wanna form a squad for the competition with me and Mordy?" I asked. Anouk clapped her hands excitedly.

"Yes! I've been hoping you guys would ask us, because you're both really, really good and you also seem so cool! We'll be the best fucking squad." she said. I grinned and looked around me quickly to see if I could see Gaige or Axton, but nothing.

"Awesome. It's a deal then. You got any ideas if there is anyone else you want to join us?" I wanted to know. We both looked around us for a little while, just scanning the people talking, when a group of young men caught my eye. After watching them for about ten seconds I was sure they were talking about us. They kept glancing over at us and then started laughing and grinning.

"Ugh, those guys are terrible. They're working for Maliwan and they're just absolute douche bags. I've met them before." Anouk told me quietly.

"Really? They talking about us?" I asked.

"Probably." Anouk replied and rolled her eyes when they started approaching us. They had arrogant, smug looks on their faces. God, I hated them already.

"Anouk is making friends with our newcomer. How cute." one of them said.

"From Pandora. I'm surprised you even managed to register. They teach you how to read and write on Pandora or did you get help from someone?" the other one asked me. I really wanted to punch him.

"You'd be surprised, but most people on Pandora can read and write. Probably better than the two of you. Besides, I grew up on Aquator." I replied.

"Aw, from Aquator? Anouk, maybe she knows your mommy!" the first one said. Anouk crossed her arms.

"You done?" was all she said. This was going in a direction I didn't appreciate. At all.

"Yeah, stop being mean to her because her real parents didn't want her." the other guy said. My hand automatically wandered to my hip, but of course I hadn't brought a gun. It was a silly reflex.

"Okay, you two little shitheads, at least Anouk's adoptive parents chose her, while your parents are stuck with you two scumbags. Bet they wished they could swap you for other kids, but unfortunately they can't, because then maybe we wouldn't have to put up with you." I spat. I mean, this was a personal attack against me, even though they didn't know it. Neither did Anouk.

"Jeez, someone's pissed off. Your parents give you away, too?"

"You know what? We'll beat your asses in that squad competition. And then, when all of this is over, we'll kill both of you, because you both are fucking terrorists. We know, you're with the Crimson Raiders, newbie, and we're not even gonna talk about all the terrorist groups little Anouk has supported." the second one said. I don't know why, but that threat really made me feel anxious.

"Whatever, fuck off." Anouk replied as they were leaving. Murdering your Vault Hunter pals? Destroying that flying city? Hell - that's a start. Jack's threatening ECHO messages kept repeating themselves in my head. This was bad, this was really bad. I thought I had forgotten about it, but right now it was all coming back.

"You okay?" Anouk asked me and looked at me concerned. I just nodded, trying to get it together again.

"Nova!" I heard an urgent whisper behind us. I turned around and looked into Gaige's face. She smiled, but looked a little worried all the same. Oh no. What had gone wrong?

"Gaige! I've been looking all over for you. How are things going?" I asked her. She just shrugged.

"I don't think they're going too great. We'd been watching Aurelia for a good while, but I think she spotted us. She just left the party, which is really early. Barely been talking to anyone. I'm afraid, we made her suspicious."