Wow, it's been a while since I wrote for this thing. Hope you haven't forgotten me.

Don Socrates: Glad to hear it. I'm waiting on infinitexephos for his portion of the collab so I can't write 'til he gets back to me.

Prophet21: Yes, yes he is.

Disclaimer: Confusion.

Chapter 18- The Romantic

Gen groaned, his head thumping against the bar a second later. Moxxi gave the Splicer a concerned look. He'd arrived at the bar about half an hour ago and offered her a thousand dollars to not call the other Vault Hunters unless he asked her to do so and a further five hundred if she injected him with the contents of the hypodermic needle next to him in the event of him passing out. He had then proceeded to start drinking. She was actually getting a bit worried. Despite his near immunity to alcohol as evidenced by him only showing signs of drunkenness after a dozen bottles of Rakk ale, she was worried he might give himself alcohol poisoning at the rate he was going. Finally she couldn't take it anymore.

"What's got you like this, hon? You don't usually drink like this unless something's bothering you."

The Splicer groaned again and raised his head just enough to see her. "…Just… stuff. Lots of stuff."

"What sort of 'stuff?'"

"Ugh. Feelings. They suck." His head hit the bar again.

"What sort of feelings are you talking about? You're not being very specific."

"…'Friend or more than that' type of feelings."

Moxxi nodded sagely. "You have a crush."

"Ugh."

"It's nothing to get so worked up over."

"I think it's a bit more than a crush, Moxxi. I've had those before. This isn't one." He had raised his head to look her in the eye as he spoke.

The bar owner decided on a direct approach. "So, who's the lucky girl? Or guy? Whichever is applicable."

The Splicer didn't reply, his features darkening with a blush. Moxxi smiled and leaned in. She already knew who it was but teasing the boy was always fun.

"Alright, let me see if I can guess. It's a girl, right?" Gen's blush deepened. "She has red hair." Even darker now. "And a robotic arm." Gen abruptly sat bolt upright.

"Okay, that's enough already!" He yelled, still blushing furiously.

Moxxi gave him her most charming smile. "I'm just fooling around with you, hon. But, if I may, what brought on the sudden realisation?"

"…I… don't know. I just… I don't know what to do." He took a swig from his latest bottle.

The two fell silent as another person came up next to Gen.

"Two bottles of whatever he's having." The stranger said, pointing at Gen. Moxxi gave them their order and took the money but the figure didn't leave. They were clad in a hooded jacket, their face hidden in the shadows. Gen glanced at them, clearly hoping they would leave, and went to take another drag from his bottle only to find it was empty. The Splicer swore and turned to order another when the stranger slid one of their own bottles, already opened, to the green skinned teen. The Splicer raised an eyebrow and glanced over in time to see them tuck away an ECHO. "Person I was meeting just cancelled on me." The stranger explained.

"Bummer. Thanks for the drink though."

"No problem."

"Just in case you were planning something, I'm immune to a lot of poisons and carry the antidote to most of the ones that still affect me. No offense."

"None taken. This is Pandora after all."

Gen frowned, something about the stranger's voice sounded familiar. "Hey, have we met before? You sound familiar."

"I think I would remember meeting someone with your… unique skin pigment." The stranger sounded amused.

"Fair enough. Must be the drink."

"Perhaps. Well, if no one else is showing up, I suppose I will leave. Goodbye."

"See ya." Gen watched the figure leave before saying, "That was weird."

Moxxi made a noise of agreement before saying, "So, back to the previous topic of conversation."

Gen nodded. He took a sip from his drink to prepare himself but abruptly froze, the bottle falling from his hand and a look of horror appearing on his face. Moxxi gave him a concerned look. Just as she was going to ask him if he was alright Gen said, "Moxxi. Someone spiked this with coffee."

Under her makeup Moxxi went pale. She turned and darted to a hatch behind her bar. The hatch led to where she stored her booze and was perhaps the most secure room in the building. She promptly stepped inside and slammed the door closed behind her, locking it securely. She wasn't entirely sure if it could or would stop a coffee-crazed Gen but she was willing to try. She then pulled out her ECHO and contacted the other Raiders. They deserved a fair bit of warning.

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Salvador frowned as he watched his character in the game get killed by Gaige's, who happened to be in a tank. The teen had convinced most of her teammates to play a game with her, with Krieg not playing because he kept trying to attack the onscreen enemies with his buzzaxe and Gen not playing because he was absent. Everyone paused as their ECHOs abruptly received a call from Moxxi.

"Hey, Mox. What's up?" Gaige asked, still playing.

"I don't have much time to explain how, but Gen drank coffee by accident." Everybody immediately froze, going deathly pale.

Salvador summed up their feelings with a single word, "Fuck."

And then Gen kicked the door down and blurred into the room, insane smile in place and form blurred from the speed he was vibrating.

"FUCK!" Salvador yelled, jumping right over the couch. The rest of the Raiders scattered. Ominously, Gen didn't make any move to follow them. He just started laughing.

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The next morning was when everyone woke up. According to Zed Gen had made use of a nerve agent rigged all over Sanctuary to knock everyone out. Zer0 was missing. The Splicer had been found hanging upside down from the Raiders HQ balcony with a rope around his ankles and the only thing stopping them from seeing him naked being thick white bandages that he'd apparently wrapped himself in, the only visible parts of his body being his eyes and mouth. He had been fast asleep, snoring quietly as he hung there.

The Splicer was now sitting in front of Roland, trying not to laugh as the man explained exactly what he had done while under the influence of coffee. The reason for his amusement was simple: Roland was dressed in a hot pink tutu, had his face painted to look like a clown and his hair had been dyed electric blue. Apparently Gen had stolen everyone's clothes and burned them, replacing the men's clothes with tutus with messages on the backs and the women's clothes with skimpy, bright red bikinis. When he'd woken up and seen Gaige, the Splicer had promptly collapsed from a nosebleed. When he'd then woken up to Axton he spent ten minutes laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. It hadn't been helped by the fact that he had seen the words 'Turret Fucker' in big bold letters on the back of the Commando's tutu. The boy had apparently painted everyone to look like clowns and had dyed everyone's hair different colours. He had also painted the entirety of Sanctuary neon green and had super glued a dead skag pup to Salavdor's head.

"Roland." He said, getting the man's attention. "Shouldn't getting yourself a change of clothes be more important than telling me all this?" He was barely holding back laughter and Roland's next response was what broke open the floodgates.

"You broke the Quick Change. We're stuck wearing this until Gaige can fix it."

Gen burst out laughing, actually falling out of his chair.

"You realise that you're stuck in those bandages until then, right?" Roland said.

"Nope. I've… I've got… clothes… stashed." Gen gasped out between laughs.

Before Roland could respond his ECHO lit up, Zer0's picture appearing.

"Zer0, good to hear from you. What happened?"

"I'm in Thousand Cuts; My suit is painted bright pink; Outside and inside." Zer0's voice was dull.

Gen promptly started laughing again.

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Gaige grabbed the Splicer as he was walking back to his room, still chuckling to himself on occasion. He glanced her way and raised an eyebrow, making an effort to keep his eyes on her face and not stray.

"…Can I talk to you?" She asked.

The Splicer shrugged. "Sure."

She followed him to his room, not saying anything but seeming nervous about something. Gen began digging around at the back of his cupboard. Apparently the others had grabbed all the clothes in his room and burned them in retaliation for his actions.

"What are you doing?" Gaige asked curiously.

"I've got spare clothes stashed. Just grabbing a set."

"…Do you have anything that might fit me?"

Gen's reply was to toss a spare vest and a pair of cargos her way. He grabbed himself a set and turned around to find Gaige had already slipped on the clothes with a sigh of relief. He gave her an expectant look, glancing meaningfully between her and the door.

"What?" she asked.

"I need to get changed and since I'm not actually wearing anything under these bandages…" He trailed off meaningfully.

Gaige's eyes widened in understanding and she blushed, quickly leaving the room and waiting outside. When Gen opened the door again he was back in his usual attire, sans shoes and gloves. He gestured for Gaige to enter and sat himself on his desk chair.

"So, what's up?" He asked curiously.

"…Do you really not remember anything when you drink coffee?"

Gen tilted his head, confused at her question. "No, nothing. Why?"

"It's just… I found this in my room." Gaige held up a folded piece of paper.

"…So?" Gen asked slowly.

Gaige was turning red now. "Just… just read it."

Gen raised an eyebrow at her odd behaviour but stayed silent, taking the paper from her. He unfolded it and began reading. As he did so his jaw dropped, his eyes widened and his face began to heat up with a blush. When he finished he just stared at the name signed at the bottom: his own. The whole note had been a love letter for Gaige and now he was left with absolutely no idea what to do or say. He could only assume that the lowered inhibitions from the coffee, combined with his conversation with Moxxi beforehand, had caused this sudden outburst of emotion. That still didn't help with the current situation though.

Surprisingly it was Gaige who broke the silence. "I… I understand if this was just another one of your pranks when you were under the influence of coffee. I'll… I'll just…"

The Mechromancer stood and made to walk out the room.

"…What if it wasn't a prank?"

She froze.

"What if the coffee actually made me see sense for once?"

She slowly turned back to him, her eyes wide.

"What if I meant every word of this letter?"

Gen was on his feet, letter still in his hand and watching her with hope in his eyes.

"What would you say then?" He asked quietly.

"…Are you being serious?" She asked, shocked.

He smiled thinly. "I know, it's scaring me too."

She slowly approached him until they were less than an arm's length away from one another.

"…I would say… maybe it's worth trying." She whispered, smiling slightly.

Gen blinked before smiling widely. "Well then, let's try."

Gaige reached out and took the Splicer's hand, causing him to smile even wider. Suddenly he pulled her forward into a hug.

"Let's try, hm?" He murmured playfully.

She rolled her eyes at his antics but hugged him nonetheless. After a few minutes of comfortable silence Gen asked, "So, should we tell the others now or later?"

Gaige made 'hm' noise and said, "Later. Too comfy now."

Gen chuckled before saying, "Don't you have to fix the Quick Change?"

"Scooter can do it."

"We all know you're better when it comes to this sort of thing."

She pulled away enough to send a mock scowl at him. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were trying to get rid of me."

Before Gen could reply Monty trotted into the room in search of his master, which would have been fine if the skag was not also wearing a pink tutu modified to fit him with the message 'Just Got Neutered' on the back. The new couple took one look at him and burst out laughing. They were still chuckling when they left the room.

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"No doubt about it, it's him."

"How can you be sure?"

"I slipped him coffee. He painted the entire town green and dressed the Vault Hunters in tutus and bikinis. Besides, do you know anyone else with green skin?"

"Fair point."

"What do we do now."

"Now... Now we go see what little Genesis has been doing with himself since he... left our company."

"Are you sure about this, Sin?"

"It's just a little visit, what's the harm?"

"...Fine."

"Good boy."

Well… this happened. I thought we were overdue another appearance of Coffee-Crazed Gen but I also had the romance thing in my head when I started this chapter. Hence, this. I finally got those two together, so rejoice or whatever. Now I can finally introduce a story piece I've wanted to do for ages.

As always, please Read and Review.

Until next time,

Elemental Hybrid