Chapter 1
Zane wakes with a start, cold sweat dripping down his face. He pushes himself up and coughs away the faint taste of ash. There's a strange pain below his knees. It's strange that he can sometimes still feel his legs, even though they were lost after the incident. Groaning, he uncovers himself and massages around his knees, the feel of the marred skin makes him shiver.
As he sits in the dark, Zane hears footsteps passing his door. They're heavy and precise. Zane instantly recognizes them as Fl4k's. What are they doing up at this hour?
Unsure of what this hour is, he grapples for his ECHO device. The screen blinks 3:05am. He shakes his head, do robots like Fl4k even sleep? He huffs and runs his fingers through his hair.
He tries to go back to sleep, but gives up after another hour. Swinging his legs over the side of his cot, he reaches for his prosthetics. He carefully straps them on, grunting at a small shock when he plugs them into his neural converter. An electronics prodigy on Junpai-7 created the device so Zane's prosthetics can move and feel just like real legs. He flexes his ankles and wiggles his toes.
Once dressed, he carefully straps up his boots and makes his way to his door. It slides open with a hiss to reveal the empty common area. A service bot collects empty glasses and plates from the table.
"Bring me a coffee would you, buddy?" he asks, sitting down at the table. The bot nods and floats off in the direction of Moxxi's bar. While he waits, he puts his arms on the table, resting his head on them.
"Are you alright, Zane?" The deep, robotic voice startles him. How did he not hear them approaching?
"Good morning beastie!" he chuckles, straightening himself and turning to Fl4k.
"You are not normally awake at this time," their eye squints slightly as they look him over.
"Eh, no big deal, beastie. Just, uh, not tired anymore." A lie, but the nightmares are nothing new to Zane. Fl4k seems to hesitate but simply says ok before returning to their room.
The service bot floats back into the space and Zane gladly accepts the steaming cup. He gets up and walks over to the large windows at the end of the room. Looking out over Promethea, he ponders just how long it's been since he's gotten a full night sleep.
Once he finishes his coffee, Zane returns to his room to work on STNTL before the day's mission.
Zane lives for battle. He and his digi-clone work in perfect unison, taking out bandits left and right. He challenges Moze and her Iron Bear to see who can kill more enemies in under a minute. Iron Bear puts him to shame, but he grins widely.
When the team returns to Sanctuary III, he offers to buy a round of drinks at Moxxi's and they make their way to the bar.
They talk about their hauls from the day, Moze boasts about a new shield and Amara found an anointed gun. Moxxi keeps the rounds coming.
Eventually, Fl4k excuses themself for the night. Amara and Moze follow soon after. But Zane stays. He munches on some fries and asks Moxxi for another beer.
"Tell me, sugar," she says, delivering his drink. "What do you think about Fl4k?" Zane chokes, and coughs.
"What do you mean, darlin'?" he asks, face suddenly warm. Warm? Why is he blushing?
Moxxi just laughs and sways off.
By the time he finishes his last beer, the bar is nearly empty. There's a man passed out on a stool in the corner. Another drunk man is dangerously close to getting shot by Moxxi. Zane figures now is a good time to go.
He strolls back to his room, dreading what sleep has in store for him tonight. He pulls his jacket off and sets it on his workbench next to STNTL. In the bathroom he carefully removes his eyepatch and washes his face. He examines his face in the mirror. His white hair is disheveled and his beard could use a trim, both easy fixes. The dark circles under his eyes though? That's another story.
Zane is just about to sit on the bed to take his boots off when he hears the familiar, heavy footsteps passing his door. He stands and goes to his door, but realizes he forgot his eyepatch in the bathroom. Quickly he grabs it. However, by the time he makes it out his door, the robotic hunter is out of sight. Turning to go back into his room, he notices Fl4k's door is open.
"Huh. Alright," he whispers to himself, cautiously approaching the door. No one really knows what their room looks like. Fl4k is a mystery. Sometimes Zane thinks they like to be mysterious. He freezes in the doorway, three heads turning to him. Fl4k's pack rests on their separate beds throughout the room. There's a large skag named Mr. Chew, a spiderant named Broodless, and a jabber named Meat Thief.
Zane raises his hand, "mind if I come in?" He takes a breath and slowly steps across the threshold, his eyes darting to each creature. But they don't do anything. Meat Thief turns his back to Zane, flicking is long tail. The other two simply observe him.
"Alright..." Emboldened, he takes another step and takes a proper look around. Unsurprisingly the room is very similar to his own. Broodless' metal leg is laying on the workbench, spare parts are scattered across it as well. He walks over to a shelf where there is a collection of books and absently runs his fingers over the spines. As he does, something bumps his leg. He looks down to see Broodless gently bumping her head into him.
"Hi?" He says, a little uneasy. Her acid could easily melt through his flesh. She bumps into him again and he reaches down, gingerly touching her head. It's surprisingly smooth. He strokes it softly and she makes clicking noises. She was greeting him. Zane smiles and pets her some more.
"Where is your master?" He asks. Broodless just clicks and bumps her head against him again, requesting more pets. Zane chuckles softly but obliges. There is something soothing about petting the spiderant.
She lets him browse the room a little more before he finds himself in front of Fl4k's bed. Is it just Zane, or is their bed larger than his? Then again, Fl4k is over a foot taller than he is so it makes sense that they would have a larger bed. But damn it looks comfortable. He sits down on the mattress to wait for Fl4k to return from wherever they went. The bed is considerably softer than his own and he resists the urge to groan as he sinks into it.
Broodless comes over again, clicking for attention. Zane strokes her softly.
"Do you have trouble sleeping too, sweetheart?" He leans forward to pet her with both hands. "You did a good job today. You deserve a good rest." She clicks happily but doesn't leave his side. Blaming a sore back, Zane eventually lays down on the soft mattress, just for a moment. That's what he tells himself. Then he'll go back to his room. The sheets smell crisp and the pillow is so soft. Unbelievably soft, his eyelids are getting heavier by the second and his hand hangs off the edge of the bed, softly caressing Broodless' head.
Why can't his bed be this comfortable? It's so… unfair…
Zane has woken up to some strange things in his time. But never to a skag licking his face.
"Urg…" he wipes the awful smelling goo off of his face. "Why?"
Mr. Chew just wags his stubby tail and pants like it's no big deal.
Zane can't help but chuckle and pats the skag's head. He shakes his head, trying to remember how the animal got into his room. He looks at the bed and, shit, he fell asleep in Fl4k's bed. He's not sure how long he's been asleep. If it hasn't been long, maybe he can sneak out and get back to his room before anyone notices. He's just starting to sit up when…
"You snore." The deep robotic voice startles Zane. His breath catches in his throat, caught in the act.
"Does that mean you were watching me, beastie?" His voice is hoarse. "That's creepy," he smirks.
The bot huffs but seems amused. They inform him that everyone else has already had breakfast and are preparing for another mission down on Promethea. Zane is surprised the beeping alert on his ECHO device didn't wake him up.
Standing up, he runs his fingers through his hair and mumbles an apology for falling asleep in Fl4k's bed. As he passes them, they grunt.
"Check your pockets," the hunter says. "There is a reason I named him Thief." They point at the jabber, who is lounging in his hammock but awake.
Zane pats his pockets, mouth falling open when he can't find his shield.
"Give that back!" the jabber waves it around like a prize.
Zane chases the animal around for a moment before it jumps onto Fl4k's shoulder. They are chuckling, eye gleaming as they look at Zane.
"Give it back, boy." They say, never taking their eyes off the man.
Meat Thief grumbles but returns the shield.
"Thanks," he clips it back on his belt and makes his way to the door.
"I do not mind." Fl4k says.
"Huh?" Zane looks back over his shoulder, finger hovering over the door button, but Fl4k is facing away from him.
"You being in here. I do not mind."
Oh. Zane didn't expect that response. He smiles sheepishly and apologies again, rubbing the back of his neck as he leaves the room.
Zane stares at his reflection in the mirror for a long time. He looks better, the circles under his eyes are considerably less pronounced. It's strange, he doesn't remember having any nightmares. He must have been absolutely exhausted. But something about the whole situation feels odd somehow. And what the hunter said as he was leaving their room. That they don't mind Zane being there.
He joins the rest of the group at the Fast Travel station and they head out for their mission. The battle lets Zane forget his thoughts of Fl4k. This is familiar, this is safe. Whatever happened last night was a fluke wouldn't happen again.
The fight is more difficult than their last battle. A goliath heavy shoots at them from across a large courtyard. A bullet from his gun hits Zane in his leg, the pain making him grunt and stumble. He straightens himself, hoping no one noticed. The girls are gleefully targeting the heavy with everything they have, oblivious to his actions. Fl4k on the other hand, is staring right at Zane.
When they return to Sanctuary III the girls invite Zane and Fl4k to join them at Moxxi's for a round. Zane politely refuses, grunting as he takes a step, the pain shooting through his leg again.
"You alright?" Moze asks him.
"Oh, don't worry about me. Just old stiff knees. Nothing a hot shower and rest can't fix," he smiles. "I'll join you ladies for a pint later." Moze seems satisfied with his response and she leaves with Amara. He turns towards his door and catches the hunter watching him intently. Their glowing eye squinted slightly.
"You are injured." They say, sounding concerned.
"Nah, I'll be fine, beastie," he replies, suddenly aware of how fast his heart is beating. What's gotten into him? "Like I said, stiff old knees." He hobbles towards his room, feeling Fl4k's gaze on his back.