So, this whole thing came about while I was on a Borderlands fanfic kick at the same time I was on one for Avengers, the latter being the fandom I've seen soulmark stories for the most.

Combine that with my love of Maya/Krieg, and you get this.

And while the notes at the end will better explain my justification of using these two (okay, kinda little rant-like, I'll admit, but I don't mean for it to be), long story short is that I both accept Maya as asexual, but see her as still being capable of romance, and pretend that she isn't sometimes in order to justify any M stories of her and Krieg I want to read. I just think of them as two different Mayas.

Hence why you'll notice I don't say which type of Maya this is.

Happy Valentine's Day, and read on!

Soulmarks

For a while, her first meeting with Krieg is a source of confusion for Maya. At least, until a few days later in Liars Berg, when Krieg finally makes it clear that he apparently has a voice in his head that often tells him what to do, though apparently not the kind that tells him to do bad things, and from what she can understand, seems to be part of him.

Because apparently, what she thought had been his first words to her must have, in fact, been directed at the "little man" in his head.

And apparently, the next two things he said probably weren't directed at her either.

Which made sense, because they certainly weren't the words of her soul mark.

No, her soul mark consisted of only four words, and for most of her life she'd thought that they meant her soul mate would be some sort of cocky jerk.

That's why she stopped firing when he suddenly yelled, "Turn around, pretty lady!" and threw his buzzaxe. That's why she didn't move; the way he said it made it seem like he was actually trying to tell her something.

It occurs to Maya that the two things he said prior to that were probably directed more at the cannibal Rats than her, at that point. What they were supposed to mean, however, was something else entirely. Again, she later considers the "little man" might have been the intended subject, too.

Later, after he proclaims something that she interprets as "thank you" for phaselocking that Rat, he stares at her for a moment, like he isn't sure what to do.

She moves her left hand onto the upper part of her right arm, rubbing the words covered by her sleeve, and gestures to the train with her free hand, "Do you want to come with me?"

The way his one visible eye blinked and he touched his left thigh told her all she needs to know there.

She smiled, "My name's Maya."

"Krieg," he growled.

The others were uneasy about him when they met them on the train. Maya's certain that he didn't fuss about riding on the outside of the train just to avoid problems for her. Any further arguments on allowing him to join, however, ended before they could start when she told the others "my soul mate goes with me whether you like it or not."

She could do worse than this particular psycho, all things considered.

As time goes by, and he proves to have not only her back, but the others' as well, and he becomes an unlikely friend to Tina, and his social skills get better, and he manages to somehow treat her as something precious and as a person at the same time…

Well, he's still a psycho, but crazy seems to be a requirement for living on Pandora. They both have their good and bad qualities, anyway.

As far as soul mates go, Maya wouldn't trade Krieg for anything. And Krieg tends to make it pretty clear that he feels the same way about Maya.

End

For anyone that's wondering, Maya's sorta on the right track with her logic, but not quite.

Essentially, both parts of Krieg needed to be speaking to her for it to count as the first thing he said. Outer Krieg had to listen to Inner Krieg with what he said to her. None of the other words counted. They're both Krieg, after all. Another way to look at it is that Outer Krieg needs to say something close to what Inner Krieg wants to say for it to really count. The "poop train" comment… well, she was right about that, I think. The other two things, however, were essentially only half of him talking to her. "Turn around, pretty lady!" is essentially the first thing a whole Krieg says to her. I really hope that all made sense.

And for those who didn't think it was obvious enough, Maya's soul mark is on her right arm. It's part of why she keeps it covered. Krieg's soul mark is on his left thigh. It was almost his right, but then I remembered that he holds his buzzaxe in his right hand, and in my head it just looked better if he essentially confirmed Maya's suspicions with a free hand. And no, Maya's psycho comment don't count as her first words to him. Think about it, at no point is she actually addressing him in that statement. Krieg's lucky on that point, that would have been horrible to have on your body growing up.

And oh god, was it a nightmare trying to think of a good place to have Krieg's soul mark. Since I'm basically using their standard outfits in this fic, I wasn't sure if I could get away with just putting it on his upper body and going "fanfic, I can do whatever I want" without seeming stupid. That basically left me with two places; his face or his lower body. Given how long it is, face was out. Lower body, however… well, I kept thinking that there was no way I could justify Krieg taking off his pants at the freaking station without wanting to dope slap myself. Finally, I got the idea I ended up using, which I'm pretty happy with.

And for anyone who wants to point out that Anthony Burch has officially stated Maya is asexual… Well, for starters, this is a fanfic. Secondly, I've done some research since learning this fact, and from what I've found, being asexual doesn't actually mean you're incapable of having an emotional relationship with someone. Like, kissing and stuff. Yeah, sex probably won't be happening, but couple-y stuff? Asexual people can want that. Anthony, like many people, just assumes it means they don't want sex or a relationship at all. Just go to asexuality dot org (remove spaces and actually put the dot, of course) and click the words "About Asexuality" at the very top of the page.

I'm tempted to do a chapter from Krieg's point of view, but as we all know, his outer self is really hard to write dialogue for. If anyone is willing to help me out with that, I'd consider it. Just, you know, note me and stuff.

Reviews and Constructive Crits are accepted and welcomed. If there's anything you think is awkward, or you notice any grammar or spelling errors, please tell me.