Impending Storm

Around a table in the middle of the plaza, Kane sat leaning back in his chair. He had eaten his fill, and now he was looking to the surrounding areas to see if there was any threat lurking about.

With sharp eyes, he noticed people in blocked off windows and peeking out of nearly closed doors, but instead of seeing them as threats, he saw them as sheep staring at a lion. He didn't bother to concern himself with them as they all were cowering in fear.

He half turned in his chair so he was staring at the dozen or so members of the Order of the Impending Storm who had come here with Maya, and he couldn't help but laugh internally.

Every one of them had a gun visible to anyone who wasn't blind, which was just laughable considering they all supposedly had taken vows of non-aggression. 'So much for that!' Kane thought with a hint of amusement.

Despite having guns, their formation was sorely lacking, their gear was shoddy at best, and not one of them had a shield. Even bandits had shields, and they had no order whatsoever!

This was probably the most pathetic cult or following Kane ever seen, and he had seen his fair share in both lives! The Order members were still shuffled close together, but the way they held themselves, it looked as though a group of kids got together to look tough against a bully, but at the last moment they cowered in fear.

None of them dared to do or say anything now that their "deterrent" wasn't by their side, which was again, laughable. Call them what you will, but bandits were no pussy's! They would run right towards a threat, rather than bend over.

In the Order's defense though, they were pussy's and they knew it. Comparing them to the likes of Atlas or Maliwan was an insult, as either of the two Corporations could annihilate everyone on this planet in a few hours if Maya wasn't here.

And even if they attacked him, and that was a big fucking IF, Kane wasn't worried in the slightest. At the first sound of gunfire, he could be in their ranks and have them dead in under 10 seconds.

His and Luna's shields were some of the best in the universe, so he knew she would be okay until he had dealt with the situation. And she could also flip the table over for cover, so there was that to consider as well.

As for Radar, Kane didn't think anyone, not even he could kill Radar anymore. Sure he could kill the bodies she possessed, but trying to get to her main core to shut her down, one would have to go through a literal fortress, his fortress, and that was if she decided not to move the A.I. Core somewhere else. Nope, there really wasn't a need to worry about Radar.

Looking at the guest at the table, Kane saw Maya stuffing her face with an assortment of different foods. He also noticed how she favored meat foods, most likely because she lived with people who didn't eat meat and never got to eat the stuff.

Deciding to probe a little, he asked, "How do you feel about the Order of the Impending Storm using you to keep the inhabitants of Athenas in check, so they remain scared and obedient and pay "Tithing" money to keep you from killing them?" Okay, it was less probing and more like dropping a hornet hive on the situation.

His question must have caught her off guard because she started choking on her food. Kane passed her a glass of water, which she accepted gratefully. Finally clearing her windpipe, she stared intently at Kane.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, not breaking eye contact with him. "Well, th-" Kane was interrupted as a member of the Order started shouting, "Don't listen to him, Child!! He is a SINNER!!"

Kane had no idea who the guy was, but he was a little annoyed at having been so rudely interrupted. Faster than anyone could see, Kane drew a pistol from out of nowhere and shot the man who just shouted right between the eyes.

Pistol still raised, he kept it level with the remaining Order members. "Make any sudden movement, and you won't have to wait for the fucking Storm any longer!!" Kane stated, his voice laced with promises of pain. It did the job of silencing the remaining people, at which point Kane looked back to Maya, who was staring at him intently.

"As I was saying. The Order has been using you to keep the people in check, as well as cower any would-be threat to the planet. No one wants to face the wrath of a Siren, so they use you to get "protection" money from the people, and those that decline are made an example of. The Order are the only ones who are allowed weapons, so the people can do nothing but follow their wishes." Kane explained, causing Maya to snap her gaze to the still frozen Order members.

"IS THIS TRUE?!" She shouted, anger evident. Her tattoos were even glowing slightly, adding more terror to the people. As angry as she was, no one dared to meet her gaze, nor dare answer her question.

"Allow me..." Kane said, moving to a random house. For a while now, he had noticed eyes inside watching the drama unfold, so he figured they might want to see it up close.

"Excuse me!! Could I please talk to you for a moment?!" Kane shouted through the door. For a minute there was no answer, but soon enough the door opened slightly and some eyes came into view.

The man was obviously scared, so Kane didn't jump to make any sudden move that might startle the poor bastard. "Y-y-yes-s?" The man stuttered out.

"I'm sorry to bother you, and I apologize for my actions earlier, but I need your help. I shouldn't have done what I did in your presence, and the presence of children, but it was necessary. He was a horrible man, you no doubt already know this, but the lady here doesn't." He paused to gesture in Maya's direction.

"The Order used her to keep you scared, but I assure you, she had no knowledge of it. Could you please come out here and explain how the Order has been operating over the years?" Kane could tell his words had some sway over the man, but it didn't look like it would be enough.

He thought he was going to have to play on their "Tragic Pasts" to get him to come out, but instead a different voice stepped up. The door swung all of the way open and a short woman, maybe 4 and a half feet tall, in late 20's or early 30's stood there with a steeled expression.

'She's hot!' Kane thought, giving her a quick once over.

"Out of the way Harold!!" The little woman shouted, pushing the scared man back further into the house. "You'll guarantee my safety if I speak?" She asked, arms crossed over her chest, pulling Kane's eyes to her ample bosom.

With a quick shake of his head, he brought his focus back to her eyes. "I will!" He declared, then as if to prove his point, he turned to look at the cowered Order members. "Any of you even look at her in the wrong way, and I'll blow your head off!!"

His statement was met with two of the younger members pissing their pants, while a middle-aged man passed out. "That will do!!" She said, giving him a quick once over herself, then made her way towards where Maya was now standing.

She went on to tell Maya about all of the Order's misdeeds, about how if anyone refused to pay tithing, they were made an example of to keep the others scared. At the end of her explanation, she asked, "Did you really not know about them?"

She was skeptical, and Kane thought she had every right to be. It almost sounded like some sick joke, and at any moment she half expected Maya to start cackling like the villain they were all led to believe she was.

"I didn't!!" Maya answered through gritted teeth, her anger filled eyes directed towards the Order members. The short woman looked as though she was staring off into the distance at her answer, but came back to reality fairly quickly.

"Whatever! No use cryin about the past! My brother and I don't hold you responsible for the Order." She said, then turned to walk back to her house. As she passed Kane, she slapped his ass before she said, "You stop by later, yeah?"

She didn't wait for Kane to answer, instead she walked slowly back towards her house, her hips swaying almost hypnotically as she did so until she finally got inside and closed the door.

After she slapped his ass, Kane was hard pressed to take his eyes away from her retreating figure, eyeing her up and down, watching her swaying hips. Yup!! He will be back later for sure!!

Lost in his fantasy's, Kane didn't notice Maya shouting at the Order members until one of them said something stupid, which resulted in him screaming on the ground in pain, a knife sticking out of his gut.

Seeing everything that was going on, Kane went back to his chair. For now he had no idea where he needed to go to retrieve the fragment piece, so he would wait until Maya was done with whatever she was going to do next, then see if she would give him a tour of the place.

He watched as she gave a similar speech to what he remembered her saying from the game. Stuff about how the people had nothing to fear from her or the Order any longer, how she would leave the planet and whatnot, promising to one day return to protect it for real.

She said she would make sure the people were happy before she left, making sure the Order or some other power hungry group didn't take over while she was gone.

From his memories, Kane knew she originally left Athenas about 3-4 years before the start of the story of Borderlands 2, so he was only speeding the process along by a few months, maybe a year at most.

He figured it only took her so long to get to Pandora because she had no ship, and after being kept hidden away for 27 years in a monastery, she had explored a little of the universe. She might have also gone straight to Pandora, but she did her own thing there before Hyperion contacted her.

Kane wasn't one for politics and the like, so he told Radar to look after Luna while he went exploring the place. Getting out of view of everyone, he teleported high into the air before he let himself glide around, taking in the view of the place.

It was beautiful.

With just a glance there were a few locations that stuck out from the rest, all of which Kane decided he would explore in his time here. Although one place he thought couldn't wait was a tree. Not just any plain old tree, this one was massive, like 2 kilometers or more massive!!

Another thing that caught his eye about the tree were the extremely large dino-birds! The first thing Kane wondered about them was if they tasted good, while in the next breath, he wondered if he could ride one.

With that thought in mind, he didn't need anything else to convince him to go. Gliding his way over, he was very thankful the sky was so clear. With not a cloud in the sky, he was able to make out a few of the birds flying towards him, although it didn't look like they were coming to welcome him.

Smiling happily, Kane disappeared from view of the birds, only to appear on the back of the furthest one, that way the others wouldn't be able to see him. Trying to stay on the damn thing was a lot harder than he thought, and he was blown off.

The bird, obviously having felt something touch it, whirled around in the air, squawking loudly, getting the attention of the lead birds. Righting himself in the air, Kane teleported back to the bird he was trying to mount, but instead of getting on right away, he made a hammer similar to Brick's appear, then brought it down with everything he had right on the bird's head.

The thing was disoriented for a moment, which was all Kane needed. He teleported so he was on it's back, then while holding on tight to a scale-like thing jutting out of it's neck with his right hand, Kane pulled out his pistol.

With burst fire mode already selected, Kane pointed the thing towards the nearest approaching bird to the one he was on, then fired. A few of the bullets bounced off it's head, letting Kane know either the thing had naturally tough skin, or it's head was armored similar to Skaggs on Pandora.

However, like all things Kane had met thus far in this world, it's eyes and mouth were weak points, and luckily for him, a few of his shots had hit both such spots. The bird dropped like a brick of lead, causing the ones at it's back to swing wide of him to avoid the shots, but Kane wouldn't let them get grouped back together.

Like a mad man, he fired all around him, some shots hitting their mark and taking out some of the birds while others went wild. There were only two birds left, not counting the one he was on, and Kane had just swapped his empty pistol for a loaded one, but before he raised it into the air, his instincts kicked in and he pulled his arm towards his chest, narrowly missing the fangs of the bird he was riding.

"YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!!" He shouted before he swapped out the pistol for the hammer once again. Bringing it down hard, Kane heard a cracking sound from where he had struck, followed by the bird roaring into the sky, no doubt in pain.

After that first time of trying to eat him, his bird never once even turned it's head to look behind it. Instead it chose to go wherever he nudged it with his feet, making the ride a lot more enjoyable.

With his birds new injury, It was a slight bit slower than it was before, but combined with his teleporting they were extremely fast.

The other two birds were made short work of, at which point Kane had his bird make it's way to the ground where he retrieved all but 3 of the dead ones he had killed, the reason being because the three birdy corpses were already claimed by the local wildlife.

He could have tracked them further, but the ones he had were already more than he would probably ever eat. He didn't even know if they were edible or poisonous.

After claiming his trophies, he and his newest pet made their way towards the top of the big ass tree. He thought he was going to have to teleport out of there given it was the nest for the birds, and him having just killed almost a dozen of the damn things, he didn't think he would get any little birdies flying out to greet him, however that was not the case.

Having obviously watched his little showdown with the other group of now dead birds minus one, the birdy things were smart enough to know they were not the predators here.

Dismounting his bird, he walked around on the largest limb of the tree, his gaze going all around to admire the beautiful scenery.

Something of note about Kane, he was the most untrusting son-of-a-bitch there ever was, so letting down his guard and defenses was the last thing he would do for anyone. Minus the dumb bitch who had killed him in his previous life.

When he turned his back to the bird he had been riding, he was basically baiting the thing to attacking, which it did. The opening was too good for it to pass, and upon seeing it's chance it stuck faster than a cobra, yet it was quite pitiful to Kane.

Having expected as much from the thing, he slowed down time in the space behind him, causing the bird to move as if it was inside molasses. Knowing he could only hold the space like that for so long, Kane brought out his trusty hammer once again and smashed it over the things head, causing it to collapse.

"That was the second time you've tried that shit!! Do it again and it will be your last!!" Kane stated while making gun motions to the bird. He didn't think it could understand him, but it almost looked like the thing nodded it's head at his statement.

Deciding to get rid of any idea of rebellion from his new pet, Kane made some obvious gestures which even Skaggs could interpret, prompting the bird to do as he instructed.

Each time it obeyed, he pulled out a corpse of something he had killed and allowed it to snack. The other birds around him watched on, some of them disinterested in the newcomer, while others wondered what would happen if they too did as he instructed.

One of the smaller drakes felt the need to test Kane, which he was all for. It warily approached him, stopping just under 10 feet away before it lowered it's head to the ground in subservience.

Seeing the gesture, Kane decided to test the thing. He approached it slowly, making sure he could bring out his daggers or swords in an instant if it tried to attack. However, regardless of how prepared he was, it wasn't necessary because no sudden strike or movement came, much to his amusement.

He walked completely around the thing, petting it here and there, finding places the thing clearly enjoyed being scratched and pet, while some caused it to tense up and hiss a little. Under its jaw was the most noticeable pleasure spot, similar to how a dog enjoyed having behind its ears scratched, the dino birds were the same.

"I'm gonna call you Drake!!" He said, patting the bird's hard hide skin. It's skin was smooth, unlike dragons, which had scales. He marveled at the similarities in the head though, looking just like he thought a real dragon would.

Back to testing shit out, he learned near the joints where the wings connected to the torso were sore spots, ones which got instant hisses, while it's back was welcomed. For hours he experimented with Drake, and he was thrilled at the progress he had made thus far.

By no means could he say it was perfectly trained or that it wouldn't rip him apart if he showed he was weaker than it, but he learned a lot about a creature he had never even heard of before.

Done with all of the little things, all he wanted to do now was see if it would let him go for a ride. The difference between mounting this time and mounting mid air, he was able to find a proper spot to sit, one which would be comfortable for both him and Drake.

He also realized the scale-like thing jutting out of their necks that he had grabbed onto the first time was like the optimal stabilizer for these things, like they were meant to be mounts for riders.

He wondered if he could get a harness on it's head to better his steering like a horse, but he threw that thought out of the window fairly quickly.

If he was going to have these for pets, he wanted them to be able to attack as well, and basically putting a muzzle over one of it's main sources of damage was the wrong way to go about it. Plus he figured there was only so much they would let him do, and putting something over its mouth was a big no no.

Getting into position, he gave a slight kick to the drakes hips. He wasn't prepared for the almost instant launch, but with his new seating, he was able to stay seated much better this time and didn't fall off.

He also noticed a marginal difference in the speed of this one over the one he was previously riding, and he had to give praise where it was due. Despite this one being about 2/3 the size of the other one, it was much faster, although he guessed what it made up for in speed, it lost in strength compared to the others.

"Let's go explore!!" He shouted, getting what looked to be a nod of understanding in return. 'Am I imagining this shit?' He thought, but quickly shook it away. If he was right, and they were smarter than your average bird, great! If not, more food!!

--------------------------------------------------

(Maya POV)

After she told the town they had nothing more to fear from her, Maya went back to the monastery and pretty much forced the monks to stop what they were doing. She knew where the Armory was, and after threatening a few of the Order members to take some guns and ammo to the people around them who would be willing to take them.

Despite having taken the vow of non-aggression, she figured they would rather be able to defend themselves then pretty much be slaves to another group again.

Some of the things she had learned today had been an eye opener, and if the Order wasn't the only thing standing between the town and bandits, she would have killed them all.

She also realized the vow meant pretty much nothing except to a few people, but honestly they sounded a little screwed up in the head as well. I mean really, you'd rather take a vow to not defend yourself... that was just stupid!!

You could not make the vow, still defend yourself, and still not hurt someone all at the same time!! Making the vow had no special powers, so it was just lost on her.

Once most of the people were given weapons to arm themselves with, she gathered a few people who seemed smart enough from the town, and maybe one or two who belonged to the Order.

She pretty much made them the council for anything that went on around here, and they could pose a small tax on the people to pay for town repairs and to pay for protection if need be, but they weren't to use the money to live out certain lifestyles like the Order had done before.

She wasn't the best person at sorting this kind of shit out, but there had been some stuff in a few of the books she had read over the years about governing a town. She couldn't fix everything overnight, but in time she figured everything would work itself out. Maybe not the right way by any means, but as long as people didn't kill each other for sport, she would consider it a win in her book.

After hours of doing her best to get the town somewhat organized, she was hungry and decided she would pay the strangers a visit.

"Come to think of it... where are they?" She mumbled silently to herself. When she ate with them, she learned their names and that they came here to explore the place, but that was about it.

Hoping they were still here, and that they had more of the food they had before, she set out to find them. Running down the cobblestone road towards where she parted with them, she saw the little girl leaning against a building.

'Her name is Luna, if I remember correctly!' She thought, a little unsure if that was her name. Relieved they were still here, she slowed her run to a walk and made her way over to Luna, then noticed right away the tall red-haired Sasha sitting around the corner with that same puzzle box in hand.

"Hey!!" She said, coming to a halt a few feet away from them. "Hey!!" "Hey..." Luna greeted back enthusiastically while Sasha didn't even spare her a glance. Luna always seemed more than eager to bring up Maya's powers, asking about what she could do and which skill tree she was going to go down.

Maya had no idea what a skill tree was, but right now she wasn't really interested in talking about her powers. "Where's Kane?" She asked, hoping to eat something sooner rather than later. She knew Kane was the one with the food, so naturally she would go wherever he was.

"Gone. Went exploring," Sasha chimed in, still not looking away from the puzzle box. 'Well... this sucks!' She thought as she sat down next to Luna. She had no idea where to even start looking for Kane, but she knew as long as she stayed next to these two, Kane would eventually show up. Oh how right she was.

She had just gotten situated with her back against the side of the building when something whooshed passed them. If she was hearing right, whatever it was, was cackling like a madman.

Getting to her feet, she took off in the direction the strange thing went in, followed by both Luna and Sasha, and unsurprisingly, Sasha was running while still messing with the weird box.

Shaking her head to get the weird woman and the box out of her mind, she looked ahead to focus back on the situation at hand. "What was that thing?!" Luna shouted from behind her. "No idea!! It could have been a Tericon, but I've never seen one before!" Maya shouted back, her eyes on the sky.

Luna had read about some of the species found here on Athenas before coming here, yet she had never heard any mention of this 'Tericon' thing, and now she was more than a little intrigued.

Rounding a few corners, the three of them came to an open area overlooking the mountainside, their eyes darting around to try and spot the strange creature. So focused were they on the skies above them, they hadn't taken the time to look down below them, which was where Kane currently was.

Maya was just about to look somewhere else when something shot up from below the cliffside, causing a gust of wind so powerful that it knocked all of them on their asses.

"What the-!!" Maya shouted, only to go quiet when she saw what was in front of her, or better yet, who was in front of her. There was Kane, riding something she had only read about in books.

She must have had her mouth hanging open, because Kane laughed for a minute at her expense, shouting, "That's right, take it all in!!" Soon all of them were back on their feet, still following Kane with their eyes.

He did a bunch of loops in the air, flew around the forest, and scared the life out of a few people before he finally decided to stop what he was doing. Maya watched closely as Kane dismounted from the large draconic bird thingy, then began to scratch under its jaw while saying, "Who's a good boy?!! Drake's a good boy!!"

The thing seemed to like the praise as it leaned in closer to him while it's tail went back and forth like a little puppy. When he finally stopped touching the thing, he took a step away from it, then pointed downward at the ground, causing the thing to lay down.

She watched as he reached inside his bag, then pulled out a bloody steak so big it could have fed 10 people easily! Her own mouth was salivating at the sight, and just as she was going to ask what he was going to do with it, he tossed it into the air towards the thing.

"NOOO!!" She shouted, reaching out to Phaselock the meat before the bird could eat it, but it was like lightning as it snapped it's head up, grabbing the meat out of the air.

Feeling despair, she was about to grab Kane and start strangling him when he pulled out another steak. 'What?! How did he....?' She thought, her mind coming to a halt.

Kane had pulled out 5 of the steaks in total before he stopped, then turned his attention back to her and the others. "Meet Drake!! My new pet!!"

She was just about to ask him how he managed to find one of these things, let alone tame it when Luna spoke, "What is with you and pets?!! First it was Skaggs, now this thing, what's next?!! A huma-!!"

Luna stopped mid-speech when she realized what she was going to say, then thought about her own position. "Don't answer that!!" She quickly added, knowing with his personality he would most likely say something like, 'I already have a human pet!!' Then stare at her like she was an idiot.

He always said stupid things like that, and honestly she hated it, but he told her he wouldn't change.

Watching the weird interaction between Luna and Kane was a little unsettling, but Maya didn't let that stop her from walking towards Kane, eyes still on the Tericon in front of her.

Based on everything she read about them in the library and how it described their appearance, this was without question a Tericon. They weren't by any means rare or hard to find, however living through a meeting with one was.

They almost always hunted in groups, and they were very territorial. Stay out of their territory, you were fine. Get too close and you become lunch, simple as that. Yet despite everything she read about them, here one was, a pet for a man who had arrived here just a few hours ago.

"How did you get it to like you?" She asked, not being able to keep her curiosity at bay any longer. "Like me?" Kane asked, thinking the question over in his head.

"He doesn't really like me all that much, just what I can give him. Make no mistake, if at any moment in time I show that I am weaker than him, he'll attack me. Right now, I'm like the Alpha of the pack. He is subservient because I can get him what he wants, but no one will be a slave for nothing. There is only so far you can push something before they fight back. After all, a cornered animal with nothing left to lose is the most dangerous!" Kane said, letting them all know that Drake was still a deadly creature, despite him being Kane's pet.

"Can I go for a ride?!!" Maya asked excitedly. For the few minutes she watched Kane do it, she was enamored by the idea of doing it. "No!" Kane said, crushing her short dream the instant it popped into her head.

"Why not?!" She asked sharply, her eyes fixated on Kane. "I trained him to listen to me!! If he attacks or kills you, it's not my problem! And if he decides he doesn't want to listen to you mid-flight, well... It'd be a shame!" He answered, getting a huff of annoyance from her.

"What about you, huh?!! You did it and you're just fine!! I can do it too!" She declared, much to Kane's and Sasha's obvious amusement. Luna didn't find the situation funny, but she looked like she was starting to feel sorry for Maya.

"Comparing yourself to Kane is like comparing a teardrop to a typhoon! You might be able to wet the surface, but he can destroy it!!" Sasha said, not even bothering to act like her spoiled little rich girl persona. Kane noticed she seemed to pick her situations to act like that, and apparently this one was just too funny to even try.

Perplexed and annoyed at having been brushed off so easily, Maya asked, "You honestly think I couldn't stand up to this guy?! I'm a Siren!!" Sasha seemed to laugh in her face at that, making Maya even more angry.

She was about to show them all what she could do, when Sasha said, "You think being a Siren is all you need and you're unstoppable, but you are so wrong!! You all die just as easily as a regular human does, the only difference is a lightshow that gives you a perk. Still wouldn't stop a well placed sniper bullet! A bomb!! Or falling over a thousand meters to your death! Kane has contingency plans for if something goes wrong when he's taking a stroll through town, while everyone else in this universe plays things by ear. So yeah, Kane is better than you!!"

There was silence for barely a second before Kane finally spoke, "Before you all continue this shit and drag me into something I don't want to do, just shut the fuck up!! If I wanna have a pissing contest with a bunch of women, the situation is going to be completely different, and it sure as fuck ain't gonna be with you lot!! Anyway!! I'll be back on the ship!!"

He didn't bother to see how they would react, instead he walked over to Drake and mounted before they shot off into the sky, leaving Maya and Sasha to stare at his disappearing figure.

"Oh, GREAT!! He left me!!" Luna shouted, breaking everyone out of their little moment. Maya watched as she got to her feet and took off at a jog towards their ship.

Not having anything better to do, and still hungry, Maya took off after her, Sasha trailing only a step behind. "And where do you think you're going?" Sasha asked her, getting a blank stare in return, almost as if Maya was saying, 'Are you serious?'

"He's got the food!" She answered, like it was all the explanation that was needed.

------------------------------------------------------

(General POV)

Getting back to the ship, Kane was wondering what he should do with Drake. He expected the Tericon to fly off back to the tree, but instead stayed right where they landed.

"Go away!! SHOO!! I'll come get you tomorrow!!" Kane shouted to Drake, making shooing gestures and whatnot, yet the bird didn't even flinch.

"*SIGH* Fine..." Kane finally relented after ten minutes of trying to get the bird to fuck off with no success. Walking over to a cave-like overhang of the mountain, Kane brought out one of his King-sized beds. He put it under the overhang to keep it out of the rain and to have somewhat of a shelter from the elements.

Looking at Drake, he pointed to the bed then back to the bird. It was a simple order, one which even stupid animals could interpret.

He only had to gesture towards the bed twice before Drake made his way over to it, then without any decorum whatsoever, he hopped onto the bed. Granted Kane wasn't expecting a bird to appreciate the magical greatness that was a bed, but it still annoyed him.

He may as well have just given the thing a large futon instead, but nooo!! He had to give up one of the comfiest beds in existence.

He watched as the bird leaned side to side, going this way and that, until it finally found it's comfy spot. "I guess you do appreciate a good bed..." Kane mumbled, which prompted Drake to raise his head, bouncing the bed a little.

Craning his head a bit, Drake looked as though he was studying the bed in great detail, then after a few minutes it buckled it's weight so the bed would bounce.

Like it had just discovered fire, Drake roared as it shot Kane a look, which he interpreted as, 'Are you fucking seeing this shit?!!'

Staring blankly at the bird, Kane thought, 'I spoke too soon... Idiot bird!' He watched as Drake bounced on the bed non-stop for well over 5 minutes before he shook his head and went inside the ship.

He was quite hungry and Lasagna and garlic bread, with a nice bottle of 1947 Cheval Blanc St-Emilion wine sounded like heaven. Just one bottle of this wine went for about one hundred and forty thousand dollars in his previous life, a price which he just couldn't justify at the time.

However, now that he was akin to a billionaire, and with his plans for the future, he figured he could allow himself to splurge a little. He had only ever tried this vintage once before, but it was at a dinner party for some very satisfied client who wanted to keep good ties between the two of them.

He didn't think Lasagna would do the wine any justice, but he didn't give a fuck. He loved fine foods and the like, but sometimes he wanted to have wine with a burger or a beer with a finely cooked steak! Didn't matter so long as he enjoyed whatever he was eating or drinking.

Half way through his dinner, the door to the dining room opened up and Luna, and Radar walked in, and to Kane's surprise, Maya bringing up the rear. He didn't think she would be here with all of the shit he had dropped on her today.

"You do know your Tericon is jumping on a bed outside, right?" Maya said as she stopped a few feet away from the table.

"Wow, Sherlock! Your powers of observation are as keen as ever!" Kane said, his tone practically dripping with sarcasm. If she was annoyed over his words, she didn't show it. Rather she let out a little laugh, then like she had planned it, she asked, "Mind if I join you for dinner?"

"*Sigh* Yeah sure. Pull up a chair." He answered, getting a fist pump in return. Had they been off his ship, he might have been more inclined to say no, but as she was already here and the fact he had an almost limitless supply of food, he figured why the hell not. Plus she might turn out to be a good dinner guest.

-------------------------------------------------------

Dinner was actually more enjoyable than Kane would have guessed. Maya made good conversation, and she acted in a no-fucks-given manor, which Kane was all for. People like Brick who spoke their mind and did whatever they wanted were the ones you could really trust and count on.

It was those silent schemer type people you couldn't really trust. He would almost be worried about Luna and Tannins in that regard, but for one, if either of them didn't like something, they would straight up tell you about it.

For two, scheming took time away from experiments and research, something Tannis was loath to do, while Luna was a mixture of both himself and Tannis. She loved the experiments and research, but she also loved the testing of said research.

She didn't want to be cooped up in one place for a long period of time. That, and she hated nearly every person in the galaxy, and from what he said, they were all doing a bang up job of killing themselves, something she didn't want to interfere with.

Once dinner was over, they all talked about random crap for a few hours until the conversation eventually leaned towards the Eridian ruins and ancient rooms.

This was what Kane had been hoping for, and seeing his chance he asked, "Maybe tomorrow you could give us a tour of the Eridian ruins and all these cool places. It sounds like it would be awesome, and comparing them to the ones on Pandora could tell us something about their culture."

Really he had no interest in the Eridians and their culture. Sure it could lead to him building cool never before seen tech, but he already had that. And from what he knew, the Eridians sacrificed their entire civilization to seal the Destroyer in the Great Vault, something Kane wouldn't have done.

Saying he wanted to compare them wasn't really lying though, as he would take pictures, maybe take a few small pieces and stuff for Tannis to study, but for the most part it was all just so Maya would show him the crypt place with the fragment in it.

"Yeah, that would be awesome!!" She agreed, then she left the ship to go back to the monastery. Once she was gone, Kane also went to his room and cleaned himself up, then made his way back into town.

Following the same route as before, he eventually made it back to the building he was looking for. Walking to the door, he barely knocked before the door flew open, and the same short woman was standing before him.

"I was worried you weren't gonna show!" She said, her lips curving into a seductive smile. Gesturing for him to come inside, she raised her hand for him to wait a minute. She ran down a hallway, only to come back a few seconds later dragging her struggling brother behind her.

"Get the fuck out, Harold!! Come back in the morning!!" She said, ignoring all of his protests. With little to no effort, she threw him outside, locking the door behind her.

"Sorry bout that. Damn brother refuses to leave the house sometimes. Anyway, the name's Hannah. My rooms this way." She said, taking his hand and leading him towards her room.

"The name's Ka-" He tried to say, but she didn't seem to care. As soon as they entered her room, she turned and jumped on him, her lips locking onto his.

'It can wait...' He thought, losing himself in the moment.