This is a flashback to when Amon was a kinderguardian, before The Dark Below DLC in D1.


Eladrin, Ravi, and Amon sat in a circle around Cayde on a patch of grass in the Plaza, watching him gesture animatedly as he talked. Ravi was soaking up every word, green eyes narrowed in concentration as they cataloged each instruction and began trying to formulate strategies in their head. They were quite the studious guardian, often spending their free time reading or doing research for Ikora. Reading, especially historical works, was something Ravi and Amon had bonded over, and sometimes Amon wondered if Ravi was really meant to be a Warlock instead of a hunter. You wouldn't know it by looking at them, however- Ravi was covered from the neck down in intricate tattoos and markings, and various piercings gave a snake-like appearance to their androgynous features. They were often subject to ridicule because of this, so Amon and Eladrin both were fiercely protective of them.

Eladrin, on the other hand, could not have cared less about anything Cayde was saying. He stared at the Exo and silently resented him for producing such an inescapable state of ennui. Games were, in his words, a waste of both his time and his acumen. Eladrin usually preferred to spend time painting or tending to the growing collection of indoor plants that were taking over his apartment. Stepping into that home was like venturing into the jungles of Venus- beautiful and dangerous, especially if Eladrin was in a sour mood. However, Amon knew that the cold Warlock secretly enjoyed occasions like this one, as it provided an invaluable opportunity to bond with his fireteam.

Amon tried her best to listen to Cayde, but as usual, her mind was running a million miles a minute. It wasn't like she needed to pay attention anyways- she had played Blackjack with Cayde more times than she could count. As Cayde droned on, Amon's eyes wandered over to a pigeon pecking around near one of the planters. For some reason, she had always felt a strange compulsion to try and pet birds whenever she saw them. A few months ago, she had nearly gotten into trouble for trying to free an emu that some civilian was parading around on a leash. Amon had decided then that emus were her favorite, but after that encounter she made sure to practice ignoring the impulse. Besides, Eladrin would crucify her for touching another 'filthy creature' without gloves.

Her eyes shifted to peer at her Awoken companion and he met her gaze with a pained smile that didn't go anywhere near his grey eyes. She returned a look that he knew meant to 'play nice', and he responded by winking at her and flipping his long, rose-colored braid behind his back.

"Ok, I don't think I'm forgetting anything. Am I forgetting anything, Adi?"

Amon's attention was pulled back to Cayde at the use of her nickname. 'Adi' was just an acronym made up from her initials, because her name was too fancy for him to remember. Or so he said. And now it was her turn to use a nickname he hated. When she had first arrived at the Tower she had, in her state of confusion, stupidly read his name as "Kay-dee" instead of "Kay-dh", much to the amusement of everyone around her. Everyone except for Cayde, that is.

"Don't think so, Katie."

"Hey! I could write you up for that."

"But that would be an unobstructed abuse of power, boss!" Ravi, pure-hearted as ever, came to their friend's defense. They were brilliant, and an excellent Nightstalker. However, they could be a little obtuse when it came to things like banter or sarcasm. Hence, Cayde convincing Ravi to refer to him as 'boss'.

"Gosh, Ravi, you're so right. Thanks for keeping me in line, kid."

Amon shot a glare at Cayde, but he ignored it. She hated it when he messed with Ravi and had gotten into heated arguments on more than one occasion with Cayde concerning the matter.

"Are the cards shuffled?" She asked.

"You know it. Shuffled and reshuffled, for good measure," Cayde responded, popping the cards in the air so that they arced gracefully from one hand to the other. "Everybody place your bets!"

Amon, Eladrin, and Ravi each placed a pile of 250, 100, and 400 Glimmer, respectively, and waited for Cayde to place his own bet. He slid a small, beaten up envelope into the center. They all stared at it, and then at him.

"Trust me, it's good. But, it's a surprise for whoever wins." Cayde put his hands out as if to push back any disagreement. "I'm matching all of your wagers, anyways."

Before anyone could protest his technically invalid bet, he started dealing out cards; two face-up cards for each player, and for himself, the dealer, one card facing up and one facing down. No matter, the bet wasn't important. At least not on that occasion. Cayde always insisted on being the dealer and would not participate otherwise, they had learned. Amon chalked it up to a combination of him having control issues and the fact that he just liked to mess with people- something that was easily done from a position of power. Everyone examined their cards for a moment, and then the game began.

"Alright. Ravi, start us off," Cayde said.

Ravi stared at their cards- a queen of hearts and a four of clubs- before tapping their finger on the ground. "Hit me," they said, in a very serious tone. Cayde drew from the deck and placed a 3 of spades down next to their initial two.

"Another," Ravi demanded. He drew again, this time adding a 10 of clubs. "It appears chance was not in my favor," Ravi sighed. Amon reached over and patted her hand on the despondent hunter's shoulder. She knew how competitive they could get, and they were probably already dying inside as a result of the loss.

"Its alright, Rav. Still just the first round," she said. Ravi gave her a disheartened smile as they prepared Glimmer for the next round.

It was Amon's turn next. She had been dealt a 10 of hearts and an 8 of diamonds- certainly not a terrible hand. Seemingly, she was the only guardian in the Tower who had ever bested Cayde in one of his games, much to his chagrin. "Hit me," she said, tapping her cards. Cayde handed her a 2 of clubs from the pile, giving her a grand total of 20. "Stand."

Cayde gave her a nod of approval before turning to Eladrin.

"Surrender," the warlock said without missing a beat. There was not an ounce of dismay in his voice.

"Oh come on, at least- oh. Alright, yeah, that's pretty bad," Cayde shrugged. Eladrin's cards totaled 14, and he wasn't one for taking risks. "Okay, my turn. You and me, Adi."

Cayde flipped over his hole-card, revealing an ace of spades. Combined with his 7 of diamonds, he had what was called a "soft 17", meaning he would be allowed to hit his hand instead of having to stand since an ace had a flexible value of either a 1 or 11. Usually, casual groups would outlaw the concept of a soft 17, as it gave more power to the dealer. However, this was Cayde's game, and nothing was ever truly casual with him. He smiled, drawing another card to add to his hand. It was an 8 of clubs, so he drew once more. That time the card was a 6 of hearts, meaning his hand total was over 21- a bust.

"Dammit," he cursed.

"Ha! I win." Amon smiled as Cayde begrudgingly pulled out 250 Glimmer to match her wager.

"Since you've never played, Ravi, I'm gonna leave everybody's wager in the pot for the first three rounds instead of sweeping them," Cayde said, addressing the two losing participants.

Amon bit back a smile, pleased that she had genuinely started to rub off on him. When she had first met Cayde, she wasn't particularly fond of him. In fact, she thought he was a massive douchebag, what with the way he had immediately dismissed her. She had only just risen, but was still insulted by his unwillingness to even look at her when she approached. However, his attitude changed once she brought back the cloak of an Archon after her first mission.

Apparently that was what it took to win his approval, because ever since then Cayde had been more than happy to send her out on difficult assignments, and even went so far as to personally check up on her progress. He had also taken the time to show her how to properly use the Golden Gun after she accidentally summoned it during a routine patrol- a training task usually delegated to lesser ranking guardians. The two had quickly grown close since then, and as he opened up more and more to her she made it a goal to bring out the caring, attentive man she caught glimpses of behind his aloof facade.

I guess he really is capable of not being an asshole.

Gathering everyone's cards, Cayde began to shuffle the deck to deal out the next round. The group played an additional eight rounds after the first, and Ravi managed to lose all of them except for one, nearly crying in relief that he retained some semblance of luck after all. Eladrin also won a single round, while Cayde and Amon had traded off victories.

At long last, the final hands were dealt out for the tenth round. Cayde froze as he laid out Amon's cards- a 10 of hearts and an ace of spades- an automatic Blackjack. Unless he also had a Blackjack, he would not only have to pay Amon three times her wager, but she would also win the entire game since they had collectively decided the pot would go to the best of 10 rounds. It wasn't standard practice for a game of Blackjack, but nonetheless everyone had gone along with it. Cayde dealt out his hand, taking a deep breath before flipping over his hole-card.

"Ha! I win! Take that, sucker!" Amon exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. "I beat the Cayde-6 at another round of cards. Where is my crown?" She laughed along with Eladrin and Ravi as Cayde pouted and tossed the Glimmer he owed into the now-substantial pile of wagers, mumbling something under his breath about flukes.

Amon had her Ghost deposit all the Glimmer while she snatched up the 'surprise' envelope and ripped it open, pulling out a coupon for a restaurant named Spicy Ramen.

Spicy Ramen. Large. 5 stars. Extra dumplings.

"Cayde…" she looked up at the Exo, who was giving her an innocent look. "This is expired."

"Nah, I'm a regular! They'll accept it. Don't worry."

"I was really hoping for like...a massive Glimmer credit, or something. Not an expired coupon." She frowned. Glimmer had been tight lately, thanks in part to the fact that all her armor was in dire need of replacement. "I heard this place was expensive. Unlike you, I'm not sitting on a pile of Glimmer. Even including the amount I just won."

"If you need to scrape Glimmer together maybe we can work something out, I've got some caches that need to be found that are muy caliente…" Cayde trailed off, noticing the unamused faces of the guardians sitting around him. He chuckled, rubbing his horn distractedly. "Look, Adi, if you know me, or know my chicken-"

"You have a chicken?" Ravi interrupted. Eladrin rolled his eyes at the exo, annoyed by his ability to steer any topic towards himself.

"Well, maybe not the chicken, but if you know me- and trust me, Adi, I know me- you will love Spicy Ramen. Just tell them that I sent you, and give them this coupon. I'm good for it."

Amon crossed her arms and glared at him. "Do I know you, Cayde? I mean, what about the other five? And I certainly didn't know that you had a chicken, or whatever."

"Adi, don't bring Caydes one through five into this," he joked, hoping and failing to get any response out of the pissed off hunter. "Look, how about this- how about I take you there myself, instead?"

From beside him, Eladrin coughed, drawing his attention. He was the oldest on their fireteam by at least fifty years and had known Cayde since before he had become the Hunter Vanguard. Therefore, he was pretty good at seeing right through his bullshit. Eladrin cocked an eyebrow at the Exo in surprise, a silent exchange passing between the two of them.

Cayde stuttered nervously before continuing. "My company is invaluable, but it'll be my treat." He added, thanking the light that he couldn't blush. Because he would have been blushing- asking out one of his hunters, one who was barely a year risen? Sure, she may have killed a Gatelord and conquered the Vault of Glass, but still- that was quite the blunder, even for him, as Eladrin had subtly pointed out. Not to mention inappropriate. Probably. Zavala never mentioned any rules about that stuff, so he didn't know for sure.

Luckily for Cayde, Amon was oblivious. "Uh, sure, I guess that could work," she responded, her features softening slightly.

"Alrighty then. Let's say I owe you one, Adi- gotta take a rain check for now. But you can cash it in at any time. Any other time."

Ravi, who had been watching the exchange quizzically, suddenly piped up. "Boss, are you asking her on-"

Eladrin elbowed them in the side, cutting off their question. Of course Ravi would choose that moment to be socially observative.

"Oh- ok," Amon stammered, unsure of why everyone was suddenly acting weird. Her face began to feel hot, confusing her even further. "Sounds good," she finished, but it sounded more like a question than an answer.

Before things got any more awkward, Eladrin came to her rescue, grabbing her arm and yanking her to her feet. "Come, Amon, I want to show you that submachine gun I was talking about earlier. I really think you'd like it. Ravi, would you be a dear and finish turning in our bounties while we run this errand?"

Ravi gave Eladrin a salute and began to gather up their things. Cayde was hurriedly jamming the cards back into the box, but he stopped and called after the two as they began to walk away.

"Adi-"

She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder.

"See you around, yeah?"

Amon smiled and waved a hand at Cayde to confirm. She was glad the Vanguard had taken a liking to her- she could still hardly believe it, really, and Cayde proved himself to be an important ally and treasured friend, despite his initial impression or flaws. Namely, his proclivity for being a cocky asshole. She was wearing him down though, slowly but successfully pushing through the barricade of comedy he wielded like a weapon. Amon made a mental note to ask him about the chicken the next time she saw him.

That was the last time they would all get to sit and play cards together, but they were none the wiser. The darkness below was gnawing its way out once again, and it was heading straight for them all.

The coupon stayed in Amon's belt pouch for years, too valuable for her to ever throw away. Unfortunately, she never did get the chance to cash it in.