Thanks to everyone who reviewed and a big thx to my Beta Qrow!

You guys said bring on the angst... well, heres your fair warning. Enjoy!

DROH


Entry Log 64 - 00:22:35

The bar that the camera flicks onto is a familiar one. Cayde is a known regular here and sometimes the poker games end up here too. It's not a fancy place, there's no neon lights or interface screens and all of the furniture is solid wood framed in metal edging. A ceiling fan lazily turns the air which holds several coils of thin, dancing smoke from various addictive substances. The place isn't busy as the Exo makes his way through the bar, there's barely half a dozen people plus the staff. It's no surprise, given the time showing on the clock in the corner of the feed which reads 3 AM in soft blue letters.

"Traveler, today's shift was hell," Cayde grumbles under his breath, running a gloved hand over his face and nodding to one of the female Exos who waits tables. She smiles and tilts her head slightly at him like always. A silent sign of 'I'm here if you want me', a sign he's never bothered to answer. He makes his way towards his normal spot, a comfy table near the back, when something catches his eye and stops him dead in his tracks. The camera pans to follow his gaze and then shudders for a moment as Sundance blinks in surprise.

Skylar's hair is hard to miss, even in the low lit room. She's sitting at the bar, the colorful array of liquor bottles in front of her bouncing the light around and giving her small dots of colored light in places. The hunter is slouched over, an elbow on the table as she swirled the contents of a glass in a raised hand. She's wearing civilian clothes, a beat up hoodie and her underarmor field pants. Her Ghost, Sterling, is floating near her, a look of concern shifting his form as he blinks.

"She shouldn't be up," Sundance' voice nearly echoes off her own mic. "She was only discharged last week." The feed turns back to Cayde who is frowning but simply shakes his head. He doesn't say anything to his partner, just slowly changes his course and heads over to his friend and charge. Sliding onto the stool next to her, he raises a finger at the bartender who knows him well enough that he doesn't even need to ask what the Exo wants. The feed zooms out slowly till both hunters are in the shot from behind and it doesn't take long for Skylar to let him know she's aware he's there.

"Long night?" she asks quietly, but doesn't turn her head to look at him, her gaze locked on her half empty glass. Cayde folds his arms on the table and rolls his shoulders.

"You could say that," he muses as the Awoken bartender drops off his nearly glowing green drink. He picks it up in a lazy motion between his thumb and two fingers and takes a generous swig before turning his head to look at her. "What's your excuse?" He's trying to be causal, but the way his eyes shift makes it easily to tell he's worried. The Exo hadn't seen Skylar since she left the hospital.

"It's my new habit," the amber haired woman answers and then knocks back what's left of her drink. "The place is growing on me." She sets the glass down near the edge to the inside of the table and nods to the Awoken who picks up a clear blue bottle of vodka and pours another three fingers into the tumbler. Cayde waits till the man is out of earshot, serving another customer to say anything.

"You've been here at this time before?" he questions, wearily, and she nods she head. "How many?"

"I think, hm..." her free hand rubs her neck in thought. "This is night four?"

"Five," Sterling corrects quietly, the southern twang of his voice nearly lost do to the lake of volume. "And that's your fourth drink." His mothering only gets a snort from his partner as she takes a sip.

"Right."

The frown on the Exo's face somehow deepens despite the lack of bend in metal and wires. "Shit Sky, what the hell are you doing?" he grumbles, his voice more serious than before. "You might be out of the hospital but you need to rest, take care of yourself." His concern is evident, given the Golden Gun user drinks more than he should as well. Skylar just hums half heartily and still doesn't look at him. She takes another sip of her drink and Cayde just stares at her as minutes rolls by. His drink isn't being consumed and by the five minute mark he let's out a small sigh. "What's wrong rookie? You can talk to me you know."

"How am I still a rookie?" Skylar asks instead, finally turning her gaze to meet his, a brow raised but her lips vacant of the smirk that should be there. "I mean I've helped save the world, what, three times now?" her gaze goes up as if trying to mentally count.

Cayde shifts in his seat, finally taking another sip of his own drink. "True, but you're still my rookie. No one else had that title." He muses once again. Skylar frowns at him, holding his gaze for another few seconds before she looks back to her drink again.

"Right," she sighs out, clearly tired, the rings under her eyes darker than ever. She's not playing along like she normally does and that seems to make Cayde agitated.

"Skylar-"

"I can't okay?" she snaps, cutting him off, her hand tightening around her glass. The Exo is stunned for a moment as she takes in a slow breath and closes her eyes. "Every time I try to sleep I..." she shakes her head. "I'm dealing with a lot of 'phantom pains' the alcohol helps." It's an abrupt change to cover up something she almost admitted to, but it's true all the same. Cayde nods slightly, understanding, though he still doesn't look happy. They both go back to nursing their drinks for a few minutes. Cayde finishes his and starts another and Skylar is on her 6th before he seems to find something to say.

"Maybe Ikora could help," he offers thoughtfully. "After what you've done, the Vanguard owes you." He taps the edge of his glass with his pointer finger, a restless fidget of his. Skylar let's a single, humorless laugh escapes her lips. She gives him a grim excuse for a smirk that has him blinking in surprise.

"The Vanguard? Fuck no, the Traveler is the one who owes me. Owes every single one of us for keeping it afloat. And for what? We live with the pieces of a life filled with pain and loss." She scoffed and took a gulp of vodka again, Sterling murmurs her name but she ignores him. Cayde shakes his head. She's too wasted to think straight, but her words still leave his shoulders stiff and his finger stops tapping the glass.

"Damn it Sky, I think you're pushing the line here-"

"Oh? Like you do when you sneak around and go behind Zavala's back?" she interrupts again and Cayde bristled but she kept going. "The Traveler doesn't care what happens to us Cayde, maybe not even the Vanguard."

The Exo flinches, hurt crossing over his face before it turns to anger and his free hand clenched. "That's not true. I'm here aren't I?" His near snap draws her gaze to his again, her head turning to look at him. She's frowning and something like regret dances in her eyes for a moment before it's gone, covered in pain and anger again.

"Did you know," she started flatly, "that direct contact with the Darkness, those wounds left behind even after its removed, can never be undone? That your Ghost can't revive you to the state they did before it happened? That you're stuck with whatever damage it caused for the rest of your life?" She says it so matter of factly that it blows the wind out of the Hunter Vanguard, the anger in his metallic features slipping away into stunned shock. Skylar eyes him blurrily for a moment more and then turns back to her drink, tapping the side of it with a finger like he had been doing. She bit her lower lip, eyelids drooping, the effects of the drinks slowly taking their toll. "I can't… When I look at myself in the mirror I can feel that pain all over again." She curses under her breath as if regretting her words the moment she says them.

For once her mentor doesn't have anything to say and it's his turn to stare at his glass as if it holds answers. Finally after a few more minutes have passed on the clock and Skylar has waved off a refill he manages a few words. "I'm sorry Sky..."

The blade dancer stares mournfully at her glass and then finishes off the liquid inside. "It doesn't matter," she murmured and fishes into the pocket of her pants, placing a pile of glimmer on the table. She quickly slips off her stool before Cayde can say anything else, pausing as if she's about to lose her balance but regains it after a moment. "See you later," is all she says and walks out of the camera's view with her Ghost right behind her. Cayde doesn't reply, doesn't even turn to watch her go. He hardly moves for a long time, his hand on the table, wrapped tight around his half gone drink. He's motionless enough that Sundance floats closer in worry, zooming in on her partner in the feed.

Then the glass cracks suddenly and green liquor flows out of the opening onto the table and his hand. Cayde doesn't seem to notice, just places his face in his newly raised hand, palm across his eyes.

"Shit."


And thus, the shit truely hits the fan. :)

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