Authors note: First update in a while. It's a short one. Working on something bigger. Thanks for your patience! Hit me up on my tumblr nishakadam if you want to keep up with more borderlands/psyren content. I appreciate all your love ~
Fast-travel made Mayas hair stand on end, but it was a necessary evil in order to reach Sanctuary. She once tried to understand how it worked, even listened for hours when Gaige explained it piece by piece, but her discomfort remained steadfast. Truthfully, she doubted its safety every time.
Even so she materialized on the other side, emerging from the bitter cold of the Fridge and stepping into the arid summer heat of the floating city. Maya breathed in air that wasn't rank for the first time in hours and got her balance. She counted her fingers, making sure everything was still with her while Krieg followed through the travel system and landed somewhat less gracefully next to her.
He stumbled forward and shook his head, stray snowflakes falling from his shoulders as he did. Maya gave him a once-over and tried to brush off what remained of the snow on his head, not surprised that it melted off him as soon as they'd arrived. Krieg seemed just as relieved to be out of the cold as she was and he huffed, looking through the archway of the fast-travel pavillion and closing his eyes blissfully, calmed by the sight of the city beyond and it's meandering, non-cannibalistic residents.
The ache of her muscles after a long day tempted Maya to kiss him goodnight and fall into her bunk, but the thought was interrupted by her growling stomach. Rations, if a scavenged Dahl protein-packet counted as such, hadn't been enough to be considered dinner. Maya eyed the clock in the travel pavilion, reading 3:15am. Krieg turned back to her and squinted with concerned at Maya's hands clutching her own stomach. It whined again, loud enough for him to hear from a few feet away. He smiled behind the mask and came to the same conclusion she did, clapping a hand over her shoulder as they exited the concrete hutch and turned down the alley.
"Moxxi's?" Maya proposed, already knowing his answer and walking ahead. Krieg nodded and his hand moved down to hers, holding it gently as they plodded down the stairs and towards the neon lit entrance of their favorite pizza joint. He hadn't eaten anything for hours either and didn't let on that he'd given her the only food he found. She needed it more than he did, he knew, but the hunger was worth it with the promise of triple-cheese, meat-stacked goodness just a doorway away.
"Ohhhoho yes," He licked his lips, "-the night is young and the MEAT has been prepared." The scent of melted cheese and bacon hit him when they neared the archway and Krieg swallowed to keep from drooling, letting Maya lead him by the hand and up the steps, into the bar.
The usual 3am crowd was bent over the counter and the slot machines were dark. Moxxi's music was turned down to a low roar for the sake of the neighbors and the few drunks that remained dozed off with their heads on the wood next to their condensating liquor bottles, water pooling on the bar table. Moxxi ran a cloth along the surface and hummed a tune, turned away from the pair when they entered, cleaning with one hand and clearing clinking bottles with the other.
The unofficially designated vault-hunter booth was tucked away in the corner an arms reach from the jukebox. They made their way over, both eager to splay out on the bench seat and enjoy each other's company while they waited for a well deserved midnight snack. They weren't expecting anyone to be there.
Looks like someone had fun at the Gulag, the voice mused, taking in the sight of the other four battered hunters slumped over the table, broken and blood spattered and not entirely conscious. Axtons scalp seemed split open and he held an icepak against the bandages, resting his head in his hand with his eyes shut. Gaige scrolled through her echonet with a zombified stare and Sal had his assault rifle splayed out in pieces, picking through the parts and swapping out rusty metal for shiny Hyperion yellow. Zer0 laid back with a blank screen and an arm around Axton, loosely holding the soldier in place to keep him from falling onto the table. None of them paid any mind when the pair walked up.
"Really, guys?" Maya frowned at the splay of her teammates and sighed. She just wanted to be left alone to eat without being pestered, but that was a rapidly vanishing possibility. More concerning was the lack of room and she briefly considered hauling Axtons broken ass to HQ just to free up a spot. The soldier cracked an eye open and looked up at her, flicking between the siren and her hulking companion as his head swam. He sniffed blood back into his nose and spoke through the new gap in his teeth.
"Oh wow. This concussion must be worse than I thought." His eyes were fuzzy and the whole room swung when he opened them. Axton squinted at Kriegs distorted image, the mans huge hand still clutched in Maya's, but beyond that odd detail something else wasn't right. His colors were off and Axton dreaded to think what the Hyperion engineers metal fist might have done to his vision. "Why is Krieg blue?"
That got everyone's attention. All four heads snapped to attention and Maya felt her cheeks warm as she froze in place. Oops. She forgot that she'd left a kiss on his cheek. And his neck. And all over his chest. In all the chaos of escaping the Fridge Krieg didn't bother to clean himself off and didn't see the need to, and now he was smudged blue in more than one spot and red with blush from the neck up. Maya gripped his hand harder and shot him a panicked look, eyes wide and lips sucked in, trying not to scream.
"Oh my GOD," Gaige gasped and her robot arm swung to grip the seat behind her, nearly clocking Sal in the process. "YES."
Maya smacked her free palm into her forehead and groaned.
"I knew it! Hey, pay up!" Gaige shoved Salvadors shoulder and he swore something nasty in Spanish, muttering under his breath while he fished out a fat wad of cash and shoved it at the girl. She held it above her head victoriously with a 'boo-yah' before pointing it back at Krieg and Maya. "I told you they were cozy! A thousand bucks worth of cozy."
"One thousand dollars?" Zer0 buzzed, displaying a $$$ sign before a :P face, "A meager bet, honestly." The assassin shifted and nudged Axton to get up, standing in front of the booth with the soldier leaning on his shoulder for support. "Lilith owes me big." A 'BYE' in red letters shone in front of his mask and Zer0 hobbled Axton out the door to go collect his wager.
"Flowing BLOOD MONEY for our AMOR, the pizza sauce on a fresh LOVE PIE." Krieg threw his head back, cackling at the absurdity of it all and hollering over Gaiges laughter.
Maya yanked him back towards the bar, ignoring the open space that their friends had left and instead steering away from Gaige's flurry of questions. She ignored them and sat down at the farthest end of the counter with him at her side, pressing a hand to her cheek and trying to extinguish her blush. The psycho put their joined hands on the counter, rubbing circles in her hand while she composed herself and only making it more difficult. He giggled when she glared at him, smiling wide behind the mask.
They bet on us getting together. It would be bad if it wasn't hilarious. Too bad it's hysterical. Krieg didn't feel half as embarrassed as she did but he tried to come down from the excitement, clearing his throat to keep from giggling, glad she couldn't see the grin that stuck on his face.
Next to him the siren cleared her throat, composing herself. She looked his way and forced a nervous smile, eyes flicking back and forth from the many blue splotches on his mask. He looked ridiculous. And happy.
"You've uh, you've got a little something right here." Maya tapped her cheek and he mirrored her, huge fingers brushing his own cheek and coming back blue. Krieg looked at his blue fingertips and then at her, sitting close to him. She was fighting the giggle that she held in her cheek and that wouldn't do, not for a second.
Her nose was scrunched with exertion, forcing the laughter down. Krieg tilted his head, fixed on it. He wasn't thinking when he reached for it, tapping two fingers against the tip of her nose with a gentle poke.
"Boop."
A blue smudge smeared on her nose and she got a taste of her own sweet medicine. Maya shrunk back, eyes wide, gasping with surprise before the dam broke. Her laughter spilled out and she let it come over her, lilting and bright, a laugh that was puckered with giggle snorts that she didn't try to hide. To Krieg, it was the most heavenly noise.