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She likes Pandora, and for no other reason than "it's fun".
He doesn't. But he likes her, and he wants her to be happy. Helios is great, but it's too much of a cage for her.
She likes to start fights, too.
"Can I come with you to R&D?"
"Last time I took you there, you bullied my workers."
"Well, they're weird. They stare at me."
Of course they stare at her. Any sane man would stare at someone as beautiful as Nisha Kadam.
"Then don't go."
"But I want to punch some nerds."
"You don't punch my nerds unless I say it's okay to punch my nerds."
"What's the point of going to R&D if you can't punch nerds?"
"Nisha-"
Those sum up most of their quarrels.
She gets antsy, too. She wants action and adventure. Of course she does. She's a vault hunter.
It's why Jack gets her a town of her own, where she can beat up as many nerds (or whoever else) as she wants.
Sometimes, he visits.
They're on the roof of her house in Lynchwood. Laying back, looking up at the sky. Concentrating on the stars helps Jack think. It's easy to do that in Helios.
He thinks a lot.
Nisha is rubbing the blood and grime off of a pistol. It's old. Made out of old metal. Not one of the new ones like Hyperion makes. Not a Hyperion gun at all. It looks like it came out of an old timey Cowboy film. It's fitting, but Jack would rather her use one of the many guns he gifted to her.
Jack shifts his hands, laid on his stomach to crossed behind his head. He wants to say something, but he's not good with words.
It's alright, though. Nisha isn't the wordy type of gal.
"You know what would be a good way to die?" She says, voice like warm honey. Jack hums in question, not breaking his gaze from the sky. "There are a lot of ways, but I think a woodchipper would be pretty funny. Buy me a would chipper, hun? Place it haphazardly around my house? Pick up each of my bite sized pieces? Maybe launch them into Pandora from the moon, like we did with that statue's head of that one guy? Remember that? I do."
He says nothing. He doesn't really know what to say in time. Nisha is sort of weird.
"How would you like to die?"
He responds almost immediately. "Heroes don't die, kitten."
A soft chuckle. "Uh huh."
When she doesn't continue on, Jack busies himself with his thoughts. Not always the wisest choice, but it's a habit he's fallen into.
His thought process lead him down one path to the other. Nisha's not the kind of person to care who the "good guys" and the "bad guys" are. Even if she did decide to distinguish them out, she wouldn't care to take sides. Knowing her, as long as it was fun, she'd be the villain in a heartbeat.
But she doesn't care enough to take a side like that. She's on Jack's side. Whether or not she thinks that's the good side or the bad side doesn't matter to her.
Of course, it is the good side, he thinks. He knows a lot of people disagree. A lot of people on Pandora. They don't get it, or understand.
He's not sure if Nisha understands.
Or maybe she does, and she just doesn't care?
She's got the 'go where the wind takes me' attitude.
See where thinking too hard gets you, Jack? Now you're paranoid.
Jack is fidgeting, and he can feel eyes on him. And when he stops staring up at the sky, she's looking at him.
"You know, no one can see us up here. It's curfew, too."
Jack hesitates. Nisha doesn't.
His mask comes off and she's kissing him.
She always says it feels better when it's off. Feels real. Jack, reluctantly, agrees.
They stop, out of breath, and Nisha lays her head on his chest.
Jack tries to be romantic, because that's just the sort of guy he is, and goes to hold her hand. "You know I love you, right?"
Unfortunately for him, that's not the sort of girl she is.
So she laughs at him.
They're in bed together, naked and sprawled out. It smells of sweat and sex. The sun is just about to come up. Jack's exhausted, but not because he didn't sleep all night.
Nisha's head is turned to face Jack. He's not looking at her, though. He's focused on the window. Watching the sun come up. He feels her eyes burning holes in the back of his head.
"Hey, Jackie. Look at me."
He doesn't.
"Jack."
"Sweetheart." He tries to sound bitter.
"Why are ya bein' pissy. What did I do? Was it the nipple pinching? Come on, that shit's funny. You like it."
"No I don't."
"Was it the tickling? You definitely like that."
"No I don't!"
Silence.
"Okay, you're right. I do like it."
She laughs, and he likes it because it's so genuine. All her laughs are genuine, whether it be towards some stupid joke or someone's brains being blown out. It's something he likes about her.
"Tell me, Jack. I might just right my wrong if you tell me. Or maybe I'll wrong it even more. Who knows." She's so devious, it sucks. (Sucks because it's hot.)
Jack sits up and stretches himself out. "The life of a lover's tragic, sweetpea. I wouldn't be able to help myself when you don't understand."
She rolls her eyes and rolls so that her back is facing him. "You know I don't like it when you talk in riddles. This ain't no game of Bunkers and Badasses."
He grins. It's usually hard to find upper ground with her, so when he annoys her, it's sort of like a fun little game. He lays on his side, right up against her back. He wraps his arm around her waist as he presses his face into her neck. "What? Why not, Nish? You don't wanna be my sexy sheriff queen or something?"
"I'm going to shove dice up your ass."
She finally rolls over to face him, but her face is pressed against his chest. Jack runs his hands into her hair. It's calm, and quiet. It's nice.
He waits a few more seconds before he decides to ruin it. "Do you love me?"
She looks up at him, eyebrows raised and expression... exasperated. "Huh?"
"Well, I mean. I need to know whether or not to take it back. What I said before. I don't want to go out and say it when you don't feel the same. So if you don't love me, I don't love you. But if you do..."
He's being honest and exposed and it's okay, because it's Nisha.
She looks like she's processing it. He doesn't blame her, because she had a wild ride not too long ago.
"You askin' me if I love you?"
He nods.
"Does a Bruiser clear a bar after he drops a log in its bathroom?"
Jack squints. "What? Is that a yes? What does that mean?"
She laughs again, almost howling, and kisses the breath out of him.
He thinks that might be a yes. Not sure.
Nisha's weird.
That's okay. It's one of the many things he likes about her.