Chapter Text
“Come on Maya! It’s fate! It’s destiny! Your timing is perfect! You have to come!” Tina begged, bouncing back and forth next to Maya to make sure she was in her field of vision.
Maya pinched the bridge of her nose. “Tina, I’m here to help the Crimson Raiders with some logistics and supplies. I’m not here to go... to... what is it exactly?”
“It’s the new and improved Carninvora! Moxxi took over the whole rig after the team took out Pain and Terror!”
“Ay-oh!” called Moze from the passageway outside.
Tina grinned. “And now it’s a regular bandit bloodbath!”
“Did I hear a bandit blood bath?” asked Ava, poking her head into Maya’s bedroom.
Maya, who had taken a firmer stance in training her protege, instantly summoned the rage from her youth and glared at Ava. “I said you can come with me to see everyone, but you’re not setting a foot off of this ship. Is that understood?”
Ava froze. “Right. I- I’m... going... to go say hi to Fl4k.”
With that Ava ran off and Maya deflated.
Tina whistled. “Well look at you. I heard you were on mama skag duty, but I haven’t seen you lash out like that since you left Pandora. That’s exactly why you should come with me to Carnivora!” she yelled, slamming her hands on Maya’s table.
Maya sighed. “Listen, it’s just not my thing-”
“Oh come on! Lilith is too busy. Ellie has too many ex’s. Amara’s on mission.”
“What do Mordecai and Brick think?” asked Maya, raising an eyebrow.
Tina grimaced and curled into herself a bit. “They... sort of kill the room.”
“And a siren monk won’t?”
“You’re a girl!” Tina insisted, throwing her arms forward. “You’re hot badass siren! They’re a couple of old guys who hover around and steal my free drinks.”
Maya blinked. “Tina...? Are you... this isn’t just for the battle royale, is it?”
“Of course not!” Tina yelled angrily, slamming her hands down on the table. “I want to go have a night out where I can tear someone’s head off and tear someone else’s clothes off!” she growled as she clawed at the air.
“The spoils of blood sweat and carnage!” called Krieg from the door.
“Krieg!” Tina called excitedly before she ran over and dragged him towards Maya.
Maya looked up and gave Krieg a kind but tired smile. It’d been a long while since she’d seen her friend. They hadn’t had a chance to connect when she had come to help the Crimson Raiders with the Kalipso Twins. Seeing him now though... it felt just like yesterday she was holding onto the gunner’s seat for dear life while he drove them off a cliff to nail a stray skag.
But... she knew exactly how this was going to play out.
“Wouldn’t it be awesome if Maya came with us to go shred some flesh at Carnivora?”
Krieg’s eye went from Tina to Maya with a small crinkle in the corner, hinting at a wide smile underneath that mask. Maya blinked at the subtlety of the movement. Krieg... was not known for delicate expressions, but years can change a person. Looking him over, even his frame seemed different. His shoulders were relaxed and this idle breathing didn’t remind her of an idling technical.
The siren sighed in an attempt to cover up her gawking and tapped her toe on the ground. “Now how could I say no to a face like that?”
“Yes!” yelled Tina.
Krieg gave a full-body cackle. “A BLOOD MOON TO PIERCE THE HEART!” he called, raising his axe in victory.
“Ugh. I missed you ya big one-man-murder-band...” Tina cooed as she hugged one of Krieg’s arms, seeing as it would be impossible to wrap her arms around his chest. “Now c’mon. Help me go get ready for a night with some bandits!”
Krieg raised both arms into the air as Tina pushed him out of the room from behind. “GATHER THE GRAVESTONES AND PICKLE THE INSIDES!”
Maya listened to Tina’s and Krieg’s laughter and general merrymaking until they were too far to hear. She sighed and interlaced her fingers on the table to hit her forehead. Here she was, trying to teach Ava to be a responsible future Siren and be a respectable figure for Athenas, while going to a murder campaign for entertainment.
Still, she thought lifting up her head, it felt really great to be with friends again.
“Huh. I guess Moxxi liked the decor...” Maya commented, seeing that Moxxi hadn’t done much to change the entrance of the old Carnivora set-up.
“Yeaaah Moxxi said something about Pandora-esque, Pandora being a blackspot for investors, capitalization, construction worker strikes... I dunno. She just left it as is. It’s super popular anyway. People still watch it across the echo-net. What’s up guard-guy?” Tina greeted the bandit standing at the entrance with a salute.
He stopped her from continuing. “Does Moxxi know you’re coming?” he asked coldly.
Tina shrugged.
The guard lifted his head to look at Krieg and Maya. “And you brought a vault hunter and a siren with you.”
“I figured a VIP gets a plus two on her invitation,” Tina teased.
“We gotta problem here?” Maya stepped forward to back Tina, casually placing her hand on her hip just above her Maliwan.
“Nah!” Tina insisted with a wave of her hands, immediately disarming the siren. “I’m just a fan favorite on the echo-net and Moxxi likes being able to advertise me before a show. This is her media man. Half his job is keeping an eye out for me before a show.”
“Not like she’s personal friends with the boss or nuthin’,” the man commented towards Maya. “You stayin’ for the afterparty tonight, girlie?”
“Can’t you tell? I’m all dolled up!” Tina announced, waving at herself. Maya... struggled to see what was different. The not-guard who had failed to give his name looked equally convinced.
“Riiiight. How could I miss it? Time-bomb Tina, a siren, and...?” the man paused at Krieg, unsure of what to make of the vault hunter/psycho.
“Maya’s close personal friend, Krieg,” Tina finished coyly before the other two could get a word in.
“Tina!” Maya hissed. Tina just grinned at her friend.
“Huh. Alright. I can make that work. Hurry up and head in. Your usual entrance should be ready from last time. If it ain’t, have fun.”
“Thank you, Jeeves!” Tina saluted and marched straight-legged away from the entrance. Maya followed, shrugging as she passed. The not-guard gave a shrug of the shoulders in response. As Krieg passed by, sizing the man up, he gave a casual upward nod.
“ ‘Maya’s close personal friend’?” Maya pressed as she walked just behind Tina through a lazy group of bandits hanging out before the show.
“I’ve been waiting for a chance to say it. You guys are never together anymore so I never get a chance to tell people the hot siren and the ginormous psycho are a thing!” Tina complained loudly enough to turn heads. People started lowering drinks and psycho girls started to eye the couple. Bandits didn’t really take their eyes off of Maya. Krieg started to walk closer to the girls as he stared them down.
“Thanks for the target on my back, Tina,” Maya hissed.
Tina laughed. “If you think this is bad, wait until you hear what Moxxi is going to say.”
Maya stopped. It hadn’t really occurred to her that Tina had just set up the dominoes for the galaxy to find out that Krieg was... close with a siren. Maya had always walked around with a target on her back. Despite her complaint, that was nothing new. Everyone wanted a piece of a siren —whether it be in a metaphorical sense or a physical one changed person to person —but now Krieg was going to be put in a special line of fire. Not just for psychos and bandits poised against a vault hunter, but everyone who had ever wanted a metaphorical piece of a siren.
This wasn’t safe, not for Krieg. She couldn’t put that sort of target on his back.
Behind her, Krieg gently pressed his fingers against the small of her back, nudging her forward.
The touch sent electricity up Maya’s spine. It was... pleasantly unfamiliar. New. Krieg had touched her before, but never so casually intimate. Thankfully Maya’s shock didn’t scare Krieg away, so when she looked back at him he was still looking down at her. The wrinkle at the corner of his eye. A smirk or a reassuring smile? Honestly, Maya couldn’t tell. But she’d find out.
Alright... message received.