They once where one
As they enter headquarters there is a strange sound coming from upstairs, a bizarre vocal grinding and scraping of phonics. The sound is foreign to Mordecai, but as it registers to Maya her face lights bright as the sunniest day. She smiles so wide and then suddenly begins sneaking along the stairs in an effort to not be heard. Mordecai follows along equally quiet, but with a lot less effort. The sounds ahead are loud and frantic, as if a deep panic has set in.
Mordecai watches as Maya sneaks into the room, then pounces like a mountain lion onto the person who was shouting in some other language. He hears her lift off the ground but turns only in time to see her coming down on him. They both hit the floor with a tremendous 'thud', she grins as her look alike scrambles into a sitting position.
"SCHWESTER!"
"BRUDER!"
They hug each other as if they had spent an eternity apart. Finally Maya stands and pulls her brother to his feet, on closer inspection he almost a carbon copy of Maya- minus the curves. His face is just as light and fair, his eyes the same almond shape, curved with his smile - so much like her. Both of them carry gently rounded angles on their chin cheekbones, shoulders and so on. As this person places his hand in hers so than she may assist him up, Mordecai realizes that even their hands are similar. Similar, but not quite the same. Both with their long fingers, as if they where made to dance across harps and pianos. Her hands have some scratches here and there, dirt under the nails from her continuously pushing herself back up off the ground. His hands are pristine and clean, the nails are polished and shine brightly with reflected light. Another difference, his hands appear to be those accustomed to work- narrow fingers with slightly pronounced knuckles. On her finger there is only one callous, on her right fore finger- where her pen usually sits.
He can't help but gape at this person, whose hair is the same color as Maya's, although it is restrained in a tight french braid. Just as long as hers, it hangs down past his belt where it's tied off and curls into something like a fish hook. This man wears black pants that cling to his skin, black shoes that are more like slippers as they are fastened closed with three white buttons. A long black robe hangs stiffly over his shoulders, the crisp sleeves extend to his wrists. Poking from under the cuff of the sleeves is the very edges of the white clothing beneath. The collar of the coat rises all the way up his neck, and is adorned with a little white square at the center.
More incredibly than all of this is the fact that his markings just like hers, a perfect mirror image on his left hand of her right, the three dots beneath her right eye sit beneath his left. He even has blue lips like her, as this person laughs, Mordecai notices there is similarity there as well.
Lilith gawks at this display of apparent joy from someone who had been screaming what were assumed to be obscenities just a moment ago. Allfather smiles from off to the side as he watches the look of mild amusement slip off the visible portion of Mordecai's face, to be replaced with obvious confusion.
"Ju are safe schwester?"
He says this with his hands on her shoulders and firm glare aimed at Mordecai, who only smirks back. She laughs and reaches up to lightly slap his cheek, turning his gaze away from her husband.
"Jes broder I am safe- I have been well cared for."
Her brother looks back at Mordecai, a disapproving look scans over the hunter from the steel toes of his boots up to the red wrapped over his dreadlocks. Ah, this is the brother she missed so damn much? What an ass. Where the hell did that accent come from? It wasn't there a minute ago?
"Hi behsndeln ju?"
"Nein broder, hi iz gutig."
Lilith narrows her eyes as she tries to figure out what they might be saying. She has determined that "broder" means brother, "schwester" is sister and "jes" means yes. The rest of the conversation almost lost, where it not for the way her brother glared so intensely. After sighing heavily she realizes that Mordecai is right fricking there. After damn near a week long disappearing act- he just pops up out of freaking nowhere and acts like it's all good. She turn and marches over to him before swinging a heavy punch into his left shoulder.
"And where the crap have you been!? A whole fricking week and you can't be bothered to check in and make sure everything is all right here!? I told you I needed you here!"
Mordecai huffs and rubs his now sore shoulder before looking down at Lilith. She dislikes the way he sets his mouth in a thin line before answering her.
"You didn't need me, you have a whole damn city full of people that need to get off their asses."
She jerks her head back and puts her hands on her hips.
"They needed to get off their ass so you can take a vacation!?"
"That was the plan, but plans never seem to go the way I want 'em to."
"So what the hell where you doing for a week?!"
Mordecai reaches into his back pocket for a small pile of folded papers, then in his other pocket for a data drive and hands them to Lilith.
"Turns out the wall we put up was electric, Maya found a way to power it without using gas or generators. We cleared some of the houses that where just not going to be fixed and got the soil turned- she's the one who planted everything though. She even managed to fix the well."
Lilith blinks in shock at the papers with little satellite pictures on them, she flips through them then looks curiously at the drive.
"Schwester did all that work? What did you do?!"
Mordecai looks over to the angry man who seems to snarl at him, he wonders if now is the appropriate time for him to say something crude. However before he can come to a decision Allfather steps in from somewhere beside Lilith.
"Kotyk that is enough! This is very poor behavior of a priest of Athenas. Do not make me regret this decision my son."
Kotyk huffs and crosses his arms over his chest before closing his eyes and trying to calm himself. When he opens them again he now has a calmer demeanor, the glass color of his blue eyes far more clear and serene.
"Apologies for my misconduct, although I believe the question was valid."
Maya's arms are crossed over her own chest, although the appearance she gives is different. Instead of her usual black gown and cap she wears her hair is a loose braid thrown over her shoulder, her shirt is one of Mordecai's spares. Only slightly loose on her shoulders and tight across her bust, the sleeves almost reach her elbows and the black shirts hem is tucked into her pants. The pants are something Mordecai had brought for her, she didn't ask where he got them. They are printed with brown camouflage and in relatively good condition although they don't fit quite right. A few sizes too big, so they sit lopsided on her hip and need to be held in place with the belt Mordecai gave her on the day of her arrival. Further down the pants end up tucked into the combat boots that climb halfway up her calves, sticking out of the right boot is the hilt of a large knife.
She glares at her mirror image, with her changed appearance- her glare is quite a bit more imposing. Her fingers drum over her bicep an obvious show of her irritation.
"He was with me the whole time, Kotyk. "
Kotyk blinks in shock, his hands sliding down from his agitated position.
"Schwester, I was only concerned for you. I don't want you to get hurt- I have been so worried schwester. Mein altes schwesterfehlt mir."
She looks at him sideways, not quite as moved by his words as her father would have thought. From the left of Allfather, brother Sophis finally decides to make himself heard.
"While this reunion has been touching, I believe we are here to do more than just check up on you Sister Maya. As you are still in one piece, I believe it is safe to ask about the state of the supplies we gave you."
Lilith looks around the table for a moment before snatching up a stack of only slightly crinkled papers. She flips through it before handing it over to Allfather who simply waits to hear what she says.
"We have a larger population now than we did when Maya first arrived. We have completely used up the medical supply and our food is running very low. Although with the addition of the blankets and clothing you gave us many of our children have been getting through the nights better. None of them have died in the night from cold or starvation in almost a month- which is great for us! Most of the rest of our population has been working to repair much of the broken parts of the city- just because we have the supplies to do it now."
Mordecai looks at her with a slight smirk, is that what they told her?
"We would very much appreciate it if we could keep moving forward like this but without further assistance I'm afraid we'll just fall back into our previous stupor."
Sophis arcs an eyebrow at her, clearly not impressed.
"You used up the years worth of supplies we gave you in about three months and now you're asking for a refill?"
Kotyk leans forward to gape past Allfather's chest in shock at Sophis. He shakes his head and regains his composure, awaiting his father's decision.
"Another poor representation of the order of the storm, Brother Sophis. However that is a lot of supplies to use so quickly- Maya?"
She steps forward and folds her hands over her stomach and just slightly raising her chin before she speaks.
"Upon my arrival to Sanctuary a vast and many people in various places all over Pandora came out of hiding. They came bringing sick children, pregnant women and brain addled men and thus the population of the city increased exponentially. So too did the need and consumption of supplies, I myself kept track of the inventory and it's use. I do not believe any bit of it was squandered- the need to be resupplied is genuine and urgent."
She lowers her chin and steps back to her place beside Mordecai, Allfather shoves the papers into Kotyk's hands before answering.
"By what percent has the population increased?"
He looks to Lilith, who inwardly curses- she doesn't know how to speak like Maya just did. So perfectly reasonably and to the point.
"Ah, well we have at least five times the population- we can't contain any more people. We have actually had to close the gates and apply a pass code to the fast travel stations- I was thinking about opening up Fyrestone but I'm not sure its ready to be populated. It was really trashed the last time I saw it."
" Maya said she and her husband had been working on the place. Is it fit for population?"
Lilith looks over to Maya and Mordecai. Maya furrows her brow, she doesn't like the answer she has, Mordecai answers before she can.
"The only available housing is the soldier's barracks- the rest is just a bunch of piled up scrap metal. We have some guards there already so we can work on repairing the shit- but I was thinking of just tearing down the other houses and putting up another set of barracks."
From across the center console Lilith narrows her eyes at him, he hasn't said shit about this plan to her.
"If we set up more barracks we can bring down the healthy ones from here to either train as soldiers or to care for the garden that mami put up. Its all food she planted so it's important and it's gonna need constant attention- gotta make sure nothing picks at it you know."
Kotyk looks displeased and queries his concern.
"Why only the healthy, do you not think the ill could use the clean air that the garden will give?"
"The ill need a doctor first and we only have one. Zed stays here- so do the sick- I say the healthy ones go so they can work and train better."
"You say you want to train more soldiers- what do you need soldiers for?"
"To take back New Haven, we have more people than we have room for. If we get more room we can take care of more people."
"You have so few in leadership positions- how will you care for so many with so few leaders?"
"Leaders can be made."
With that Mordecai looks across the center console to Lilith, she smirks at his semi sort of compliment. Allfather seems to mull this plan over and decides it is a good one.
"We will increase your supply by eight, on one condition."
Lilith looks over to them, her eyebrow arced up only for a moment.
"And that is?"
"When you retake this 'New Haven', we request that a chapel be built. You people need more than just supply, they need hope and faith. That isn't something put in a box and given to you."
She smirks, she had been waiting for this request for a while.
"Fair enough, I hope you don't mind waiting awhile though. We have to get Fyrestone in order first, we have to train up some soldiers and then we have to fight to get New Haven back. It's currently being used as a bandit strong hold."
Allfather simply laughs at this response.
"As expected but if you don't mind I would like to have a look about the place my daughter has been calling home."
Sophis struggles not to roll his eyes.
"If you don't mind sir- I will take my leave. I still have work left at the abbey."
Allfather waves him off, then motions for Maya to come close. She smiles slightly as she steps forward to stand in front of him again- it has been so long. He looks her over, reaching out and tugging at a loose thread on the shirt. He snaps it off and smooths out the wrinkles it left behind.
"Come now daughter, you and my new son can show me around this place."
From behind Allfather, Kotyk blinks in confusion for a moment before his face returns to a more placid state. Mordecai can't help but laugh at the comment, he tries to stifle it but instead just blurts.
"Que paso?"
All father is less than insulted by the reaction he decides to slap Mordecai's shoulder in a half-assed kind of hug.
"You married my daughter, that makes you my son-in-law. Feel free to call me 'dad'."
From behind them Lilith struggles to contain a fit of hysterical laughter, she winds up speed walking out to the balcony and having a sort of smiley seizure out there. Mordecai lifts his goggles and lets them hang around his neck as he smirks.
"Whatever you say old man."
Kotyk snorts before asking.
"If you do not mind schwester, I would like to see where these children are staying first. The situation seems quite dire- I would like to see it so that I might know if there are any other ways we may be of assistance."
"Jes broder."
Maya nods and leads them out of the room through the hall down the stairs and out of the headquarters. They trot out across the pavilion that some women still sweep across, picking up any debris that might have blown in. Behind Maya and Kotyk, Allfather chats idly, attempting to get to know his new son, Kotyk leans over to his sister and asks in a whisper.
"All is well though ya? You are safe- happy?"
She gives him a small smile, not liking all the doubt but appreciating the concern.
"All is well broder-"
"Then please, let me see."
"It is a lot- I do not know that I can separate it all."
"Then don't, I just- I cannot seem to stop all the worrying."
The four of them come to a doorway where the door is just curtains, Maya pauses in place and closes her eyes. Kotyk leans forward and presses his cheek against hers- where the three dots beneath their eyes match up. In an instant the blue lights up and the pair just stands there this way while Mordecai blinks in confusion and shock.
"Mierda!? What are they doing?"
Allfather smiles warmly at the scene, he'd been waiting to see them reconnect since Maya popped into the room.
"She is showing him her time here."
"What? She can do that?"
"Only with him and only when those marks on their bodies are touching."
"What?"
"He has been very concerned for her, because whenever she feels something strongly enough- he feels it as well."
"How's that?"
"You must realize, male sirens are... not common."
"They ain't supposed to exist."
"Indeed. When they where conceived they where a single embryo- for some reason late in the first trimester it split and became two. In the beginning they where one person."
"..."
These words sink deep into him as he watches the two standing so still, he wonders what she is showing him or if he is simply seeing everything. In Maya's mind flashes of the wedding replay in her head, the walk around the abbey, short words and the night. Visions of the night are accompanied with flares of fright, nervousness, anxiety then the sensation of calmness. It is followed by a feeling of intense blazing warmth, of feeling wanted. The images and feelings afterward are less pleasant, a flurry of blood and anger running bodies, dirt, brooms, bullets and red hot fury. After a while she begins recalling the way Mordecai had marched over and taken her broom away. The revealing of her new house, and the things he filled it with. A calm pleasurable warmth accompanied by various images of sleep, the feeling of aching muscles.
In Kotyk's mind the images fall in place and slip through, some more vibrant than others. What plays out in his head first is, of course, the wedding. The strange man standing at the alter, stiff shoulders and a posture like he was just so irritated. When he looked over and saw her, it changed. Kotyk watched the stranger's expression and posture become one of far more interest. This scene passes, he gets a vague image of the reception, but words play out in his voice- clear as a bell.
"I'll mean it mami, will you?"
A scene of him exposing his back, those images embedded in his flesh. The images of her arrival on Pandora are a blur of blood, bullets and screams, the time after passes quickly in haze of heavy labor and menial chores. The images slow again, and suddenly he finds himself watching a little green fish swim in a little glass bowl. The image is accompanied by the sensation of overwhelming joy and appreciation. He feels her sleeping against her husband, nothing has happened on this night but still he keeps his arm around her. The last image that plays out is one of Mordecai sleeping on her chest, again nothing happened but still he holds her closely.
They separate and Kotyk finds his head swimming with lingering emotions that are not his own, it takes a moment for him to steady himself. They are accustomed to this, there is no need to discuss the contents of the imagery they have shared. His worries have been laid to rest, that's all he wanted. Maya reaches out opening the curtains and walks in, her brother follows her, Allfather and Mordecai follow suit.
The floor is cold cracked cement, clean but cold and dark. The place is sparse but for the rolled up blankets wrapped around pillows and clothes. The little bundles are set inside 'rooms' that are partitioned off by chalk lines to evenly divide the available space, there are no mattresses or furniture. In place of decorations on the wall are several fliers and random papers gathered up and stuffed into cracks in the wall. The papers block up gaps in the windows, a desperate attempt to keep out the night's cold. Days on Pandora are roughly ninety hours long, but so are the nights-long brutal unforgiving nights. Kotyk's breath hitches when he sees the place, Allfather looks around stunned. Maya can feel the deep sorrow that seeps into her brother, she looks to them knowing the feeling.
"This is one of the first places I cleaned when I arrived. It's much better than it was, I was able to clear all the garbage and I have put up traps to keep the rats out. With Scooter's assistance we where able to fix the bathroom although we are still having trouble with the shower. It works but the flow is very poor, I think something is in the pipe because the water sort of stinks when it comes out."
She continues leading them through the small building, showing them the one fridge in the place. It remains empty as it doesn't function yet, then she shows the the bathroom facilities. A row of nine toilet stalls, six sinks, the other three of which where ripped from the wall long ago. Underneath each sink is a bucket filled with wash cloths and bars of soap. Allfather raises an eyebrow at it.
"Since the showers are not functioning, I have them wash from the sinks. The water flows faster and it gets relatively warm, so it works."
Off to the side of the room on a weak shelf are all the towels neatly stacked and folded up. The rest of the room is barren, they walk past the shower stalls- which smell like rotten water and rust. Kotyk looks around, not at all liking the silence.
"Where are they right now?"
Maya reaches over to Mordecai's pocket plucking out the face of a digital watch and stuffing it back in. Mordecai smiles as she does this, he finds it far too amusing when she pilfers his pockets for various items. Mostly the part that she doesn't seem to think it odd anymore, unlike her father and brother who both look taken aback when she drops the watch back where it came from.
"Right now they are taking their lunch rations at Moxxi's."
Allfather sighs to himself as they walk out of the building and looks around to the others.
"Maya, are all the homes like this?"
She looks at him, her good cheer having vanished.
"Not every one can be as lucky as these children. The other places... have been difficult to repair, most of the places simply cannot be repaired with what we have at the moment."
"Do you have enough space for every one that's already here?"
"Daisy and I had to go about assigning addresses to people, we did rather well. Only one family in most rooms- if the family is small enough we can fit to two in a room."
Allfather lifts the flat of his palm, stalling her words.
"I have heard enough, I believe it is time for your brother and I to take our leave."
Maya watches her father grimace and rub his fingertips against his temples, Kotyk sighs heavily from beside him. Maya nods at them then looks down at the floor, she nervously pats wrinkles out of the front of her shirt.
"Then please allow to escort you back to the station."
Allfather doesn't say anything, he just nods and allows her to lead the way. They slowly make their way across Sanctuary, watching as a few kids walk out of Moxxi's bar, holding an empty plate and fork. They wave to Maya as they pass the group and go back to their 'rooms', Maya waves back at them cheerfully. A line of people with dust masks goes around the corner in front of Zed's miniature hospice. After a few minutes of walking in silence they stand at the station, Allfather pats her shoulder, nods at Mordecai and heads back to Athenas. Kotyk reaches out and touches Maya's hand for a moment, allowing their markings to sync up. He releases her hand and turns away, he doesn't bother to bid farewell to Mordecai before he leaves.
"Well that was fun."
Maya looks over to Mordecai who seems relieved to have gotten rid of those two, how sad. She sighs wistfully before leaving the station and looking curiously up.
" Morty... what's that?"
He strolls out beside her and follows her line of sight. His eyes go wide and breath leaves him in an instant.
"Fuck."
An ominously familiar blue light flickers to life on a craft far overhead, until a familiar silhouette is outlined on Pandora's moon. The Hyperion satellite has been reactivated.
A/n: alright peeps, any questions? Was everything clear?
What do you think of her dear brother so far?
Btw his name is pronounced ko-tee-yek
and a great loud applause for my fabulous beta reader ALEXANDRIASINCLAIRE!
