I have a lot thanks to give today to peoples, so I'm just going to get started.
First off, apparently ask and you shall receive? I got a beautiful people of fanart from the lovely Savbakker. Check it out on their Tumblr or on mine as I reposted it there under FeatherFang. Thank you soooo much!
I also recently posted an explanation for my change in writing for this story from chapter 13 to 14 and on.
Another big thanks the kind souls who not only review but take the time to message me about the story, it means a lot.
And as always, a big thanks to my Beta!
Now, on with the story! If you'll excuse me I have a feeling I'm going to both made you guys very happy and get very much happy with this chapter so... -straps on army helmet- I'm going to go hide in my pillow fort now.
Enjoy!
Entry Log 88 - 00:33:42
"What the Hell Cayde?" Tevis' voice is the first thing that's picked up in the feed as it flickers onto a scene above a large round table in Cayde's personal quarters. There's five people at the table, all familiar faces from past logs. Skylar is on Cayde's left, hand pressed over her mouth, posture bent forward as she tries and fails to cover a round of giggles. Tevis is across from the Exo and looks like he just got the rug pulled out from under him. Filling in the other two seats are Banshee and Shaxx, both of which look amused as well. The Exo himself looks like he just found the biggest stash in existence, his smirk large enough that the hinges are protesting slightly.
It's clear they're playing poker by the cards and piles of glimmer on the table, plus the drinks at everyone's sides. There's a rather large pile of winnings in front of the host of the game which sits right next to the winning hand - a royal flush - to which Tevis is sputtering at. "How? To The Nine, how? There's no bloody way." He gets a slightly evil chuckle in reply and if he'd still been human Cayde would have been wiggling his eyebrows though the plating on his face does shift to simulate it.
"Oh there's always a way, not that I'm going to say what that is. Hunters have got to keep their secrets after all."
"Bull. Don't try that on us Cayde. You're in the presence of two other hunters." His argument is sound and Skylar seems to agree as she finally gives up and drops her hand from her mouth, moving it to her eyes as she full on laughs her ass off in that giggly I've-had-too-much-to-drink way of hers. At that all four men look to her and either smirk or laugh lightly themselves. Cayde just shakes his head.
"Hey, you're the one that didn't fold Tev, everyone else had the right mind to do so," he pointed out, leaning forward on the table. "How much do you owe me now?"
"Oh shut up," the Nightstalker grumbles.
"No need to be a sore loser Tevis," Shaxx teases. "We all lost money tonight, well everyone but Skylar, she just broke even." He glances at the only female there as she sighed, finally catching her breath again. She meets his gaze and shrugs her shoulders in that flippant 'hell if know' fashion of hers. Cayde's her mentor but he's never taught her any of his card tricks, it's her own streetwise moves that have carried over from her past life. Tevis just grumbles under his breath and Banshee chuckles before pushing back from the table.
"As much as I'd like to stay, I've got a shop to open in the morning," the gunsmith pointed out looking at them all with a smirk. "Thanks for the games and the lighter pockets, but I'm out." He picks up the remainder of his glimmer, which is much smaller than what he had before. Shaxx sighs and follows suit.
"I'll have to agree to that. I have a game planned at dawn, need to rest before then," he winked at the guardians in the room and he got a range of reactions from snorts to giggles. Cayde just smirks.
"I'm sure your ass is sore anyway, you never did quite recover from Iko-"
"That's enough out of you," the Crucible master cut him off with a half-hearted scowl. "Don't make me bring up why you were banned for three months from the games."
"Hey! I keep telling you, they were just really lucky pants!"
That of course sends Skylar into another round of giggles because everything is funny right now. Cayde stands and walks them to the door, his Ghost and the feed following him. His housing is much larger than Skylar's, consisting of three different rooms rather than just one. They talk for a few more minutes at the door about guns and promising new guardians and when that is finally done, and the door is closed, six minutes have passed. The Exo glances up at the feed, a smile still on his face, and then makes his way back to the kitchen/rec area they were playing the game in. From what is caught on the screen, his place is actually rather clean, even his kitchen counters of black and red tile are clear of dishes.
His fellow hunters are waiting for him when he gets back, having just finish a conversation of some sorts as the fee catches the Nightstalker's nickname for the blade dancer at the end. Tevis is standing and cleaning up the table, gathering up the cards into one pile. Skylar is now lounging on the table, head burrowed into folded arms as she watches Tevis. Cayde doesn't say anything at first, just starts picking up glasses and setting them near the sink. When he turns around he meets his old friend's eyes and gives an easy going smile.
"Don't worry about paying me back, I was only teasing." Cayde knows Tevis does more for the Vanguard than any amount of glimmer can ever compare. The hunter just nods his head, finishing up putting the cards back into a neat deck again. He glances at Skylar when she yawns and Sterling appears at that, nudging her shoulder.
"Guardian, we should get going," he mothers, and Tevis snorts slightly when she waves him away. Cayde shakes his head, walking over and looking over his rookie.
"Naw, probably not the best idea tonight Sterling," he points out. "She's completely wasted, and we have reputations to keep. She can just crash here tonight." When he gets a suspicious glower from the Ghost he holds up his hands. "I'll sleep on the couch! Come on, you know me better than that!"
Sterling just gives him something close to a huff, his pieces spinning.
Cayde looks at Tevis who just smirks and shrugs his shoulders. Ghosts are the closest things Guardians have to family in most cases so they do tend to be protective. "Okay," Cayde murmurs, putting his hands on Skylar's shoulders. "Come on Sky, let's get you to bed." It's a bit of an act, watching the female hunter grumble and then sit up and stand up. She's trashed, but not as bad as she used to get, she still has some sense in her. No one can blame her for drinking and no one ever will. It's a common vice among all of them, but Cayde still looks bothered as he leads her from the room. "Be right back," he calls over his shoulder, Sterling following behind.
"Sleep well, Little Falcon," Tevis calls from behind and Skylar snort slightly mumbling about not being nearly as tall as him. Cayde chuckles slightly, clearly enjoying her enamored state which only makes her Ghost glower at him more.
Hands still on her shoulders from behind the two make their way through the main room, dodging around an old couch and three different book cases, though only one seems to hold books. The others have a slew of objects from past adventures and soon enough the feed is out of the room and into the bedroom, which has a larger bed than most but is covered in weapons hung on the walls like all the others. There's a chair near a sliding door that leads to a tiny balcony and as Cayde is on one of the top floors in the tower, it's a great view, the sky pitch black and moon half full.
The only other thing in the room is a guitar leaning up against the wall near the bed. It's old, something Cayde found in a decaying music store in old America, two of the metal wires are missing and a small crack is near the center hole. It's never been played, but the Exo had never gotten rid of it.
Skylar still has enough sense to sit down on the edge of the bed on her own as her partner set himself down on the night stand nearby. She's not wearing armor thankfully, and her boots are near the door out - a habit she's always had. All there is to get off really is her cloak and her normally nimble fingers fail her as she tries to get at the hook and eye latch, brows furrowing. "Oh for the love of..." She sighs and the scene is oddly reminiscent of the first time they met. The camera zooms in as Cayde leans over and grabs her hand to stop her and take over.
"What would you do without me?" he teases, crouching to get to her eye level and easily undoing her cloak. Skylar is eyeing him quietly as the fabric slips off her shoulders and pools around her waist. Clearly his jest means more to her than just that, and given what's been said before, it's not surprising. There's a look in her eyes that has Cayde pausing and he tilts his head, curious. "What?"
"I just..." she closes her eyes, taking in a deep breath. "I'm pretty sure I'd be dead by now, without you, I mean," she admits sadly, opening her eyes slowly again. Maybe she's not as drunk as everyone thinks she is. Maybe it's all an act and she overplays it to distract herself because she knows better that to get that drunk ever again.
Cayde gives her a look that's somewhere between shocked and pained, and sets his hand on her shoulder. It's all too easy to forget with how happy she acts, that she really is still nearly as hurt and scared as the day he gave her the Ace of Hearts. Better, but still healing.
"You shouldn't say things like that," he grumbles. "We both know you're a badass, you'd be fine."
"Not after Crota," she states before he can say any more. Her eyes wander back up to his and she gives a small, trying smile. "Maybe even before that." She says it so softly that the camera hardly picks it up and Cayde just stares at her, confusion in his brightly lit eyes. It's clear he doesn't like what's she saying, but there's more to it than that. More to those words and they both know it. He shakes his head and takes in a breath.
"Listen Sk-"
His words are gone, smothered and retracted and from the view of the camera it's easy to see what the female hunter was planning, the way she had leaned in, but the Exo hadn't seen it coming at all. Still there's no way around what's seen now, with Skylar's lips pressed firmly over his mouth, her eyes half lidded as she stares him straight in the eyes for one long moment that could have spanned eternity. Then she slides them shut and presses harder. If an Exo's eyes could widen, they would have, but even without that, the shock written over Cayde's face is evident and he blinks a few times quickly as if to make sure he's really there.
He is, and just like the reckless sharpshooter he is, Cayde tightens his hand on her shoulder and presses back, presses because Exos can't really kiss, not like a human can. Skylar doesn't seem to mind either way and her arms reach out, resting over each shoulder and crossing behind him as she tilts her head to the side. The Exo closes his eyes for a moment, his free hand, brushing over her neck and into her hair.
A visible shiver racks up her spine, and even though barely a minute has passed, that uncontrollable reaction, breaks them apart. Cayde pulled both his hands and mouth away from her, eyes snapping open. He looks confused again, pain etching his suddenly clenched jaw. Skylar opens her eyes much slower, blinking in a haze of liquor and hormones. She looks like she might say something, but the Exo shakes his head slowly, bringing his hands up and gently pulling her arms away from him.
"You need to get some sleep Sky," he whispered and quickly stood up, dropping her arms to her sides. His face in nearly that of the normal, unreadable Exo face and Skylar is too tired and drunk to have it in her to argue, or at least that's what one can assume as she silently agrees and licks her lips as she stands and pulls back the covers. She slips into bed and rolls to her side, looking away from him quickly after that and the Exo simply waits, unmoving for a moment before reaching out and running his hand over her hair once and pulling back. "Night Rookie."
She doesn't reply, and the camera feed follows him from the room as he flicks off the light. He's not alone in the next room, Tevis is leaning on the wall near the door, arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed. Once Cayde has clicked the door shut he lets his arm fall to his side and sighed, shoulders slumping.
"How much of that did you see?" he grumbles quietly and his friend opens his eyes at that question, meeting his gaze, the camera zooming out to comfortably capture both of them.
"Enough to know you're an idiot," he answers calmly. "After all, who pushes the person they care about away like that?" His words get the Exo bristling defensively, shoulders going from slumped to tense in seconds.
"I'm not...It's not like that-"
"The only one you're fooling is yourself Cayde," Tevis butts in, frowning. "If it was true you wouldn't have waited that long to push her away, hell you wouldn't have given her that gun the way it was. Might at well have wrote her a damn love letter."
"She doesn't-"
"Wrong again," the Nightstalker cuts in once more, pushing away from the wall. "And no, she didn't do it because she was drunk. Do I seriously have to spell it out for you?" He scowls at his commander and friend. "That woman has cared about you more than you know for a long time. I know because she told me once when we went out drinking a year back." He snorts, shaking his head when the Exo opens his mouth to say something. "If anything she becomes way too honest when she drinks. Doesn't sugar coat anything."
Cayde quite suddenly looks agitated. Like a cornered cat, he pushes past his friend and walks into the main room. "It's not that simple Tevis, and I think you know that," he hisses, keeping his voice low as to not wake the subject of their slowly progressing argument. The frontier master follows him, face calm once more as if to help balance out the emotions of his friend.
"I know it's not," he agrees with a nod. "Nothing worth having ever is. But you need to make up your mind about her Cayde, because if you don't you might miss your chance. She might move on."
His words leave a tense silence in the room, one that engulfs both male hunters as they hold each other's gaze, the seconds ticking by on the clock. It's like a challenge or a bet, but this time it's not for money and neither of them is eager to fold. After a good five minutes Cayde finally seems to find a way to voice his thoughts.
"Something you want to share Tevis?" He doesn't get the answer he wants, instead his friend smirks at him and the pulls his ghillie fashioned hood up over his head.
"Maybe, maybe not, but you sure you want to wait to find out Cayde?"
With that, the Nightstalker heads to the door, shutting it behind him without another word, leaving Cayde to stand there looking blindsided again. He looks up to his partner recording all of this after a moment and then sighs and sits heavily on the couch.
"I should ground him to Earth for that," he grumbles to himself, suddenly sounding tired. He could do that, but it's obvious he won't.
After all, it's all true, and he knows it.
-peaks out from between pillows-
Now before you start ranting can I just point out how much fun this chapter was? I loved being able to bring little snippets from D2 into this.
In other news, I got a beautiful piece of fanart from the lovely Savbakker. Check it out on their Tumblr or on mine as I reposted it there under FeatherFang. Thank you soooo much!
Please Review!
