"Hey, killer. Heard the latest broadcast?" Lilith pulled up a chair and sat on it the wrong way around. Her arms across the back of it, she rested her chin on top, smirking at the taller, muscular Siren.
Amara lightly tossed the double-bagged bricks of eridium to one side - one of Lilith's requests - and perched herself on the corner of the nearest counter.
The Children of the Vault's broadcasts were hard to miss. They were on every station she turned to, even in the Runners. The only way to escape all that religious propaganda bullshit was to lock herself in a room with all the blinds closed and bury her head beneath a pillow. Luckily for her, she'd been too busy, killing bandits and what-not, to make out the exact words from the Twins. All she could remember was the annoying tones of their droning voices. Birthright this, followers that.
Amara gave Lilith an annoyed dismissive wave before depositing her gun on the counter for some maintenance. The damn safety had been sticking all week. She wouldn't have cared - who needs safeties on Pandora? - but Zane had been bitching for the better part of a week about it, to the point of getting on her nerves.
Lilith pursed her lips to one side, annoyed, and backhanded the Siren's elbow.
"This one was serious. They called you out."
Amara raised her head, blinked once. Then her lips parted in a wide smile. Her? Little old her? Her actions had finally caught their attention. It made her pride swell.
"I should be flattered."
"Yeah, I would be too, but that was before... you know." Lilith shrugged with the roll of her amber eyes.
Amara had heard the stories, of all the people the Crimson Raiders had lost, how some big-time maniac had kidnapped Lilith and turned her into a living battery. The impending addiction that came afterward... Save for those side effects, Amara would have indulged in some of that eridium if it meant her powers would be even stronger. Then no one, not even those Twins, would be able to stand in her way.
"So what are you going to do?"
Amara shrugged.
"Depends on what they said." She had no time to waste on useless threats. She had other matters on her mind at the moment.
"Says you should know better than to try and stop them. That if you got in their way, they know how to deal with you. That they can take away what makes you special."
Amara scoffed and rolled her eyes. Amara was Amara; there was nothing those two idiots could do to make her any less than she was... then she noticed Lilith's Siren markings flickering along with hers. As if they were trying to communicate.
Then an awful thought crossed her mind.
No, she was born with these, born a Siren. They would have to kill her first before... no, that just didn't make sense. She wasn't going to let those Steam Subject rejects take her birthright. She'd smash their faces in before that happened.
"I've seen the impossible become the possible, killer. I wouldn't put anything past them, especially if they're making threats. Trust me when I say that you definitely want to watch your back. I don't have a magical bag of pixie dust to bring you back if they off you."
"Pixie... dust...?" Amara had never heard that before. Maybe those withdrawal symptoms were starting to addle Lilith's mind.
"Yeah, from that book? Uh, Peter Pan? Mordecai lent it to me, said it was supposed to 'cheer me up' or some nonsense."
"What... does the pixie dust have to do with anything?" As much as she was glad for the explanation, it only made Amara more confused.
Lilith's cheeks flushed red and she averted her gaze.
"It's supposed to... bring you back from the dead, I think? Or..." She chewed worriedly on her lip. "Forget it, that was a bad analogy."
Lilith stood from her chair and gestured for Amara to follow. The taller Siren gave the bag of eridium another look before following. Perhaps Lilith's "pixie dust" was right there...
The redhead led her out to the balcony overlooking the Crimson Raiders' compound. Night had settled more quickly than Amara suspected, and the people were up and about getting drinks or taking care of the last of their daily work. It was peaceable, unlike the town on Pavali Amara had grown up in. Lilith was leaning against the railing, looking more tired now that she no longer needed to save face in front of the others.
"... look, I'm not going to tell you what to do with your powers. In fact, you should do whatever you feel's necessary to get the job done. But don't follow in my footsteps. That stuff..." she nodded back towards the almost-forgotten bag, "... always comes with a price. Ask yourself if you're willing to pay it." Lilith wrung her hands together as she stared out across the compound at absolutely nothing. She'd become more somber in the years she'd spend on this wretched planet; she only wished she'd become more responsible sooner. Then maybe...
A warm hand came to rest on her shoulder, almost familiar but not. Lilith didn't want to give into that delusion again.
"No need to worry," Amara replied. She could make no promises, not even to herself, about what she would do to end the Twins insane plan to conquer... well, everything. Whatever it took to get the job done...
"We have you watching our backs, after all."
A breathy chuckle escaped Lilith. Faith? In her? Look where that had gotten those who'd believed in her in the past. Maybe that faith was misplaced, maybe not, but she wasn't going to make the same mistakes again.
She patted the hand on her shoulder and turned around.
"I won't let you down, killer. Just as long as you don't."
"If we do, I'm sure it won't matter at any point. You'll have missed the chance to say 'I told you so'."
Lilith laughed this time; it felt good, recalling the memory of what it was like to be happy.
"Get out of here." She gave Amara a playful shrug and returned to leaning against the railing. "Mordecai and Tina've got a job for you, and neither of them is good on patience."
As Lilith watched her go, an empty calmness seemed to wash over her. She couldn't put a name to it, couldn't be sure that it was a good feeling or not, but she couldn't help but sense that everything was going to be alright.