Chapter Text
Sanctuary’s rooftops were nice today, a gentle breeze whistling past the flying city, which was gratefully free of the stench of skag urine and gore. Maya sighed wistfully, enjoying it while it lasted. She loved the adventure and being a Vault Hunter, a powerful Siren (second only to Lilith, perhaps), but just having a moment where she could just rest peacefully and be happy for her life now was a great stress relief.
Just as she closed her eyes to bask in the light of the Pandoran sun, she heard shuffling, the sounds of someone climbing onto the roof to sit next to her. Curious, she peeked one of her eyes open to see Krieg sitting next to her, relaxing just as she was, the one eye revealed by his mask staring up at the sky in its usual dull expression. She gave a small smile, knowing the large Psycho felt more at peace around her, which was a good feeling compared to all the poor people of Athenas always being constantly scared of her and her Siren powers.
They stayed like that for quite a while. Krieg was very quiet around her most of the time, only the shuffling of his feet or his muscles twitching tipped her off that he was still there. She could tell he was just being thoughtful of her space, perhaps wanting to have his own time to just sit there and be amazed at his new life, not feeling comfortable anywhere else but here.
We’ve got that in common, big guy, she thought with a trace of a smile on her face. Being a Siren, either people were scared of her or wanted to start worshipping her. The Vault Hunters and Sanctuary had been a welcome relief, where she wasn’t a monster or a goddess. She was just Maya, a Vault Hunter, and she appreciated that a lot more than she let on. Despite the male dominant Vault Hunting team, they didn’t give her any slack or special treatment - though that didn’t stop them from making a flirty joke or two every once and a while.
Maya tilted her head towards Krieg, which was her usual way of asking if she could lean her head on him. She learned that sudden touches or sudden movements around Krieg tended to startle him and send him on one of his rants, which almost always took a long time to help him out of. Krieg turned his head at the movement, realizing what she wanted, giving a grunt that told her she was allowed. With a small chuckle, she scooted a little closer to rest her head on his side.
It took a few minutes but Krieg eventually relaxed at her touch enough to wrap one arm around her, scooting her closer in a sudden sweeping movement that made Maya laugh. “The blue in the heart, in the mind, in the sky!!” He semi-shouted, waving his other hand toward the sky for a moment before letting it fall back to his side. He often referred to people by what he remembered most about them, such as “TINY” for Tina, “TURRET MAN” for Axton, or “DWARF” for Salvador. Some of the Vault Hunters had been offended by it for a while until they realized it was just his own way of remembering them.
She settled in next to him, his body warm against hers, the breeze becoming slightly chilly as the day faded into night. “Thanks. You’re pretty, too,” Maya replied to his statement with a sly smile and a laugh that was trying not to turn into a snort. Krieg just ruffled her hair in response to that, which actually caused her to give a snorting laugh, and even he gave a short hysterical laugh at that. “You’re lucky I like you, I would’ve punched anyone else for laughing at my snorts.”
She heard a low, grumbling, pleased noise in his chest, like a cat purring. She glanced up at him to see his eye fixated on her, searching her face - he was pleased, but surprised with her statement. “Yeah, I like you. Couldn’t you tell? It’s nice being around you - I know you’ve got my back and I hope that you know I’ve got yours.”
Krieg shifted, lowering his head to hers, touching foreheads. “Boop.” Krieg said in a silly, light-hearted tone. She responded in kind, pressing her forehead against his with a verbal “boop.” And so the feeling was mutual. The two of them were a strange pair, but she couldn’t think of anything more perfect to top an already extraordinary life on Pandora.
As she closed her eyes, starting to doze off from the combination of feeling safe near him and his warmth, she could have almost sworn she heard a soft voice say, “Thank you... Maya.”