Pandora's Youngest

“Nah, you could be. It comes with practice. You think I was always this plucky?” Not counting the fact Gaige cut off her own arm, there had been times where she wished she could’ve gone back home and forgotten about Pandora. But warrants were a hard hurdle to get over. “You’re not wanted by the cops, far as either of us know, which means you’d have an easier time getting around the galaxy than I would. You’d be good at keeping ships fixed. And if push comes to shove, maybe you don’t gotta kill people to hunt vaults.” With a wide grin, she held up her ECHO for Avery to see the rough sketch of some kind of device that looked vaguely like a potato gun, but with wrenches coming out of the end. “Whaddya think?”

Avery had never considered it before, that there were other ways to hunt the vaults. But did keeping ships fixed count? Not that she didn’t mind being a helping hand, but it didn’t feel like the same thing.

She squinted at the drawing, trading in her shock momentarily for a look of perplexity. 

Tyreen snorted at the red head’s explanation of how she got here, especially at her analogy. She had spunk, Tyreen would give her credit for that. “Well, I’m not too good at all the mechanical engineering stuff, but I do know a good scrapyard we might be able to look through together if you tell me what you’re looking for. You look like you can hold your own, but two heads are better than one, yeah?”

“You betcha, teamwork makes the dream work, heh~” It seemed Avery had a knack for finding the strangers on Pandora who weren’t completely evil, or a knack for being found by them. She’d met all of her friends that way actually, and more often than not nothing too bad came of it. 

“I dunno, this planet’s pretty big. Plenty of unexplored areas around here people haven’t been to yet.” Tyreen shrugged, playing up a little more innocent than she really was. “What were you looking for all the way out here, by yourself, anyhow?”

“I was lookin’ for one of those wheel things... Cyclones I think they’re called?” Avery had honestly been more concerned with getting her hands on one than learning their name, which she realized now probably wasn’t helping.

“Waffles it is. I’ll even see if I can steal some maple syrup from… somewhere.” Or something. She was pretty sure maple trees didn’t grow anywhere on Pandora. Maybe she could get those cactus things cut up and try to make some kind of syrup out of them. “You didn’t. You didn’t do anything bad. And yeah, it’s normal to feel that way at first. But it’s a survival thing. You or them.” Gaige hooked her arm around Avery’s shoulders and hugged her a little tighter. “And I prefer your company better anyhow.”

Avery nodded, laying her head on Gaige’s shoulder. A survival thing. Avery had been surviving for a long time but she’d never been pushed into a corner like that.

“Guess I ain’t cut out for huntin’ vaults and stuff, I’m not as badass as you. I think I threw up the first time I saw a dead person up close so I guess I’m doin’ better now, but maybe I should stick ta cars.

Gaige’s mouth twisted to one side in thought. A beer always helped her forget certain things; there was no guarantee it would work for Avery. Maybe something milder. And Gaige’s other ways of coping weren’t suitable for Avery either. “I could spike some hot chocolate for ya, even find some decent marshmallows to throw in there for you, if you want. Find a good comedy to put on, too.” Was this what it was like to help someone cope with trauma? Feeling helpless? Gaige wasn’t like it one bit. She curled her arm around Avery’s shoulders and pulled her close. “… what’s one food that always makes you happy?”

Avery nodded slowly, trying to process and push away the last few minutes at the same time. She couldn’t remember how she’d done it before, getting rid of the feeling. It reminded her of the first time she’d seen someone die or the first time she’d heard gunshots up close; she’d had her dad then and he’d made it better. Now she had to do it on her own.

“Waffles. Use ta help my daddy make ‘em all the time. My mom too.