BEAUTY
They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in that sense there is no one singular or correct definition of the word. To the people of Pandora, the place is grotesque. The planet is hideous and horrid in almost every possible way. To outsiders, it is nothing but a giant graveyard-filled with walking corpses.
However to Angel it is beautiful, it is the most wonderful place she could hope to be. She lays in bed with her eyes closed and smiling to herself when she hears distant thumping from downstairs, how odd to see a married couple so fond of each other that they would make love like that. How odd that a man could be so satisfied with a woman that the thought of being without her would horrify him. She lets the sound fade into the background to be over powered by her flow of thought.
With a deep breath Angel reflects back onto her life before her mother had vanished, had left or was taken. It was lovely, her mother would wake her in the morning to a quick bowl of hot oatmeal with crunchy dried fruit on top, sitting beside it was always a short glass of milk. On the opposite side of the table was a travel mug of coffee and two pieces of toast sitting on a napkin. Jack would walk down the hallway sounding his departure with the clicking of dress shoes against the tiled floor. As he passed he would place his wide hand on the top of Angels head ruffling her hair before grabbing his coffee and toast in one hand and leaving. Her mother watched him leave but no one said good morning or have a nice day.
Whenever Maya came up to bring Angel downstairs for breakfast it was just the two of them for almost an hour- sitting at the small couch with its low coffee table munching on whatever it was that Mordecai had brought home the previous night. As soon as Mordecai would come up stairs he would just as soon plop down on the couch pulling Maya into his lap and eating whatever she had left. No one said good morning really, but they always seemed pleased to see each other even though they had been in bed together just a moment ago.
Angels eyes fluttered open as she thought about it a bit further, she realized that her mother and Jack had separate rooms, Jacks was to the left and her mothers down the hall to the right. Dinner was that way too, everything was done in shifts so that the two would never have to be together for any prolonged amount of time. Her mother would make dinner, she and angel would eat then she would place a third plate in the microwave for whenever jack got home.
Here was very different, Mordecai and Maya would always walk on either side of Angel when the three of them where out. They moved this way in case her crutches slipped- they could catch her. When ever Angel decided to stay put she would watch them walk together to the fast travel station. They walked so close, although they generally had a weapon or something in their hands she noticed that they tended to bump their elbows or forearms together as they walked. When they weren't on a mission or where just lazing about headquarters or home she would often find Mordecai with his arm slung over her shoulders.
The whole place was weird, scooter often echoed Moxxi and Ellie just to check in on them, they stayed on the network chatting about nothing for a while sometimes. Lilith would go out and visit a statue, she would talk to it like she expected it to respond to her sometimes. It never did but for some reason she would always leave something behind for it, a piece of bread or a drink even sometimes gifts. Brick would drop by headquarters unannounced to spend time with Lilith, he never flirts with her just talks until she laughs. Mordecai sometimes went and played poker or something with brick if they couldn't find a mission to kill time. Axton and salvador often where seen up to various trouble here and there.
Most amazing was when people called her, they called her to see how she felt. If she was lonely or wanted to come out. Even Zed was unique as a doctor, he would take her in and check her over all the while asking if she was uncomfortable or if he was bothering her.
Angel never liked doctors, because they where the ones that held her down, strapped her to tables and shoved various needles and tubes into her. They never looked at her in the face- they spoke to each other over her body like she couldn't hear them. When they did their experiments they looked at charts and little beeping things instead of asking her how she was or if these things hurt. Her eyes open and she looked up through the glass ceiling at the satellite over head floating without a single light to be seen. Jack isn't gone, he's just angry and he's working. She can feel it, he's going to come back and he's going to bring down terror.
At this thought something flares up inside her and she finds her brows furrowed into a strong glare as she focuses on the giant heap of scrap metal hanging in front of the moon. He intends to hurt these people he intends to brings them so much more than pain and death, her mind races backward to the sensation of long needles being crammed into her body she could feel it when they made it into her bones.
" fuck you "
The sound of her own voice was odd in the silence, it was all she could hear. How strange to hear herself suddenly sounding so firm and unwavering- was she angry? That's what it was she was angry at him not for what he already did but for everything he intended to do.
Looking back she recalls him looking at her with terror in his eyes, a lopsided grin creeps up her face she thought to herself, that she would see it again.
Downstairs Maya rustles in place a bit peering across Mordecai's bare chest and looking at the blinking numbers on the side of his echo which sits on the bedside table. With a sigh she gently slides out from under his arm and begins to get dressed for the day. As she steps up the stairs she hears rustling noises- her blood runs cold and Maya quickly presses her back against the wall. She peers through the small gap between the door and its frame and is surprised to find Angel fumbling about in front of the stove. Angel huffs as she attempts to crack another egg into a sizzling pan with on hand while she keeps herself upright on a single crutch. Angels leans most of her weight on one leg and crutch and presses the toes of her other foot against the floor to steady herself.
"yea!"
Maya watches as Angel celebrates a small victory of not having got any eggshell in the pan, she drops the shell into a bucket off to the side. Maya smiles as she steps out into the open, allowing Angel to turn and see her.
" is my cooking not good?"
Angels face blanches at the question before Maya breaks into stifled laughter and walks over took into the sizzling pan.
" what are you making?"
Sitting on a smooth chunk of wood are fatty slices of bullymong meat neatly arranged in rows. Angel grabs one slice and carefully lays it down beside the eggs, then another and another until the pan is heavy and full.
" I was reading some of the book you have upstairs and a few of them mention a breakfast of 'bacon and eggs'. As far as I can tell bacon is the fatty parts of something called a pig and the eggs are usually from a chicken- but I was doing comparisons and figured that rakk eggs would work instead, so far it smells kinda good."
After taking a deep breath through her nose Maya responds
" it smells lovely, but I need to ask – how did you get down all those stairs?"
Angels gives a cheeky smile, showing off how rosy and full of life her face has become.
" I just walked, I figured I should learn to walk again. I mean it would be nice to go across the room by myself."
Worry is written all over Maya's face, although she smiles and diverts the subject.
" well is there anything I can do to help you?"
Angel hobbles around to face Maya before she turns back to flip the 'bacon' with a knife.
"well I would like if we could all eat together, can you get d-morty up?"
Maya arcs an eyebrow at angel whose words seem to have stumbled over each other.
" you alright?"
" y-yea- just go wake up the old guy before it all gets cold.."
Maya watches as Angels face flares bright red, curiosity has never been something she could ignore very well.
"what ? I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that- get who up?"
Angel turns and glares, her face still bright red. She works her jaw a bit in irritation as Maya gives her that smug look.
" him, wake Mordecai up PLEASE"
"I'm not suuuure that's what you where gonna say... I mean how do I know who you where actually talking about."
Maya crosses her arms over chest and rubs her chin with one hand pretending to think.
" YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHO IM TALKING ABOUT! JUST WAKE HIM UP!"
A moment later they both hear the door slam open, Mordecai shouts at the both of them.
" I am awake already! What the hell do you want!?"
Maya whips around and gives him a sweet smile as she bats her eyelashes at him.
" oh daddy we where just talking about you!"
Angels face flares even brighter, the warmth of her embarrassment making her feel as if she has a fever. Mordecais furious expression falls and shift to one of mild interest as his lips begin to curl into a crooked smile.
" oh yea? What'chu callin' me daddy for hmm?"
He walks up behind Maya, wrapping his arms around her and dropping hisses on her neck, she just laughs.
" oh it was Angel- she told me to wake up 'daddy' so we could all eat the wonderful breakfast she made."
Mordecai places his chin on Mayas shoulder and gives a lopsided smirk to Angel whose face remains stoplight red. She splutters over her words for a moment before huffing as if she where deeply offended.
" I said NO SUCH THING! What I SAID was please go get Morty- Mordecai THE OLD GUY!"
He snorts before stepping out from behind Maya to walk up to angel and grip her up before passing her over to Maya. He shakes his head amused with the pair of them.
" go sit down mija"
Maya snorts and drags Angel off to the couch where she refuses to face her.
" do you know what it means?"
" that im a big baby.."
Angel huffs still embarrassed.
" when he calls you mija"
Angel turns and look over her shoulder at Maya who is still far too happy.
"..."
"Mordecai is Truxican, a race of people that live on Atremis. However they like all humans have their roots on Eden- when it was called earth there was a country called Mexico. In mexico fathers would refer to their daughters as 'mi hija'. Over time it became shortened to 'mija'. Miija is what fathers call their daughters."
Angel blinks in shock at Maya's words, not sure if she should believe them. Off by the stove Mordecai grabs cracked plates from a box beside him and begins tipping eggs and bits of meat onto it.
" ah, it smells real nice...mija?"
He sets the plates down on the makeshift coffee table and find Angel sitting on the couch swatting big pearly tears away from her face.
" oi what happened?"
Mordecai looks over to Maya who can't seem to stop smiling , he pauses to try and hear Angels words through her hiccups.
" she was talkin shit and a-and it got in my eyes.."
He watches as Maya claps her hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter, with one hand he reaches over to her and wipes away Angels hot tears only to find her arms quickly thrown over his shoulders.
After an awkward but delicious breakfast Angel asks if she can visit with scooter who is more than happy to have her company.
" 'ey mami, what was all that crap this morning?"
Maya look over to Mordecai smiling warmly at him.
" she didn't know what 'mija' means"
"oh?"
He can't help but snicker at the situation.
"did she.. call me 'dad' ?"
"she was going to, but I think she was too embarrassed"
"oh, you really helped with all that crap didn't you"
Mayas laugh is loud and warm.
" I saw an opportunity- I had to take it!"
Days turn to weeks that slip into month's – Angels becomes less and less dependent on her crutches, Maya belly slowly begins to swell up showing off how prosperous their small strange family is. On most days Mordecai wakes up and slips out of the room and up the stairs to prepare a small breakfast while Angel hurries down the stairs to wake up Maya and brush her hair like Maya used to do for her.
These days Mayas face is a bit rosy in her cheeks and her body a bit plump. Although whenever she laughs Angel could swear it was like birds chirping in the morning. She never wanted to look back to life before this, it always stole away her smile. She no longer visited sanctuary because Mordecai asked her to stop using the fast travel station. Worried it would glitch and hurt their baby. When he mentioned it he had been so flustered about the admission, that he was worried.
She wasn't alone though, Allfather came to visit always with Kotyk at his heels. The sound of them speaking to each other in their strange clicking noisy language was always odd. This was mostly because when angel asked Allfather what they where saying he only shrugged. No idea. Angel loved when he visited he always stroked her hair, which was growing back in strange lengths and not at all other spots. He called her child and seemed very fond of her, Kotyk would greet her with a hug and sometimes a piece of fruit.
The remains of the monks of Athenas worked in what was once Lyncwood, which had gone back to being called New Haven. They toiled at the soil digging and trying to cleanse it with sunflowers that grew tall and strong under the almost perpetual sunlight of Pandora. Small drills dug well and allowed them to plant potatoes and onions and recently carrots. They had a plethora of bladeflowers to make stew out of although it was always kind of rubbery. Allfather had managed to use the fiberous plant to make paper and was rather determined to keep every piece of scrapped wood until he built a spinning wheel. After he taught had accustomed himself to shaving bullymongs that Mordecai shot down with high dosage tranquilizers he ran the oddly soft fur through the wheel.
They now had yarn.
Seemed a bit silly until he and Kotyk made a loom. They put it together in front of Mayas house. Angel couldn't stop laughing when she looked at the landscape and found a few monks digging red dirt out of the side of mountains. To watch sunflowers turn purple from eridium and then be used as dye.
They where a very strange people determined to spatter Pandora with a all the colors they never really had in their own lives until now. Angel smiled at the image and thought to herself how beautiful that was.
a/n:
i know its been a damn long time since i updated but holy crap have i been busy and please don't kick me OUCH! okay i deserved it.
ah if i ain't asking too much can you tell me what you thought?
