Vendrick was exhausted. After spending so much time out in the system he decided to come to the Last City for a little R&R. In hindsight, it was a stupid decision on his part because as soon he got within Vanguard airspace, his ship's holo-display was instantly flooded with unclaimed patrol and strike assignments. This was likely due to the absence of experienced hunters, the only ones available being new lights. Once word got out that he was within patrol space, most of those assignments were defaulted to him and two other available hunters, Jun and Sierra. Another stupid decision on his part was suggesting that the three of them take a single ship rather than separate ships to save fuel. They took Jun's ship as it was the largest out of the three of them however, spending four weeks in a metal box with two other people was grating on one's nerves. At one point he even deactivated his Exo mind's sensory receptors just to get some semblance of space, at least mentally. He was really looking forward to crashing in his apartment and just sleeping for hours on end.

His apartment was located in one of the residential districts that had a healthy mix of both guardians and civilians. He shared a three-bedroom apartment with his friends Flux-13 and Tonitrus-9. Though it was Tonitrus who primarily used it since his duties required him to be within the city. Flux didn't use it as much, being The Young Wolf and all, but he frequented it a bit more than Vendrick did.

The maglev train finally stopped at his district and he disembarked. It was about noon so there was no one else out but him. It was kind of refreshing walking down the sidewalk with a cloudless sky overhead and a familiar neighborhood surrounding him, it was…inviting. What wasn't inviting however was the state of his apartment. Stepping through the door, he flipped on the light and was greeted by the sight of Flux wearing nothing but his Calus-themed boxer shorts and was covered in empty chip bags, sprawled out on the couch, asleep. Various wrappers, drink cans and other garbage littered the floor. The garbage that was put in bags was thrown into the corners of the main living area. The kitchenette wasn't much better. Dirty dishes, cups, and silverware were piled high on the counter and food containers were scattered about. Stacks of old pizza boxes covered the table and the trash can was filled to the brim with instant ramen packaging…wait, did Flux get into his ramen stash?!

It was at that moment that his ghost decided to pop into existence. "Oof. That's rough buddy," the little bot said as she eyed the trash can.

"Thanks Twilight, I noticed."

With an annoyed sigh, Vendrick walked up to the sleeping titan and proceeded to slap him on the stomach.

With a grunt the titan's body recoiled at the sensation, his optics coming online.

"What the...Oh! Hey Ven!" Flux exclaimed, an excited smile growing on his face plates after recovering.

"Hey yourself." Vendrick said as he crossed his arms. "What happened to the apartment?"

"Oh that, heh…uh…" he said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I kinda got lazy…"

"Kinda?!" Vendrick said, doing a quick sweep of the room. "Understatement of the City Age."

"You're gone most of the time. I'm surprised you still care about this place." Flux said, waving his arms around.

"So my absence makes it ok to turn it into a pigsty? I may be out most of the time, but I still comfortably call this place home." He pointed an accusatory finger at him, "And you're gone just as much as I am!"

Flux looked to the floor feeling defeated. "Alright…I'm sorry. It's just…Tonitrus does most of the cooking and he's been swamped with both Vanguard assignments and stuff from his warlock order. You've been out for weeks and you know the best places to eat."

Flux paused trying to gather his thoughts. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's been lonely…I don't know how you hunters do it."

The look on Vendrick's face softened. "What about your titan friends? They've been around, right?"

Flux's shoulders slumped. "Well…yeah. Don't get me wrong, they're awesome to be around but they're not… I sometimes feel that I can't be who I am around them as I am with you guys.

"And that takes the form of you parading around in your underwear all day?" He mused.

"Hey, even the most hardened titans can admit that armor can get stuffy. So what if we like to do that sometimes." Flux said indignantly.

The two exos shared a quick laugh before Flux moved into a sitting position allowing Vendrick to plop down on the couch, his limbs splaying about.

"You know if you were having issues, you could've told me." Vendrick stated. "I've been calling you guys periodically."

"I know, I know. But titans are supposed to be the strong ones and with my reputation as 'The Guardian' I figured I could control my home situation."

"Flux, Tonitrus and I are basically your family now. We don't care about your reputation or class, or whatever. We'll always be there for you."

"Thanks Ven."

"Besides, hunters are supposed to be the solo types"

"I still don't understand how you guys deal with it."

What was supposed to be a few minutes of chatting turned into a long conversation as for the first time in several weeks, the two exos caught up, sharing stories with each other and having a good laugh. Around sunset, Vendrick wanted to sleep but Flux insisted on playing video games to which Vendrick gave in. They played long into the night though not too seriously as they simply enjoyed each other's company. At some point, Flux ordered a large pizza from a local shop that was all too familiar with the titan.

Eventually the exhaustion Vendrick was feeling earlier caught up to him. With a yawn, he stood up from the couch, stretching his arms.

"It was fun Flux, but I plan on sleeping for Traveler knows how long." He said as he started heading to his room.

"Night and…thanks for hanging out." Flux said, fist bumping his friend.

As he twisted the doorknob, Vendrick turned to look at him one last time before retiring. "And please start cleaning up."

Flux put his hand on his hips in mock frustration. "You're not helping me? It's like an ogre stormed through here."

Vendrick shot him a grin, "Yeah and that ogre was you," he said gesturing to his friend. "Do what you can and I'll help you when I wake up."

Flux gave a salute, "You got it!"

Vendrick stared at him for a few moments before letting out a sigh, "You have no intention of cleaning, do you?" He half asked.

"You know me so well," Flux laughed.