Cog

Adiagieto

“-and then the hydra EXPLODED in my face! AGAIN! The blast threw my body so far I swear I caught flight, I was already dead but then I hit the ground and-”

“Let’s not talk about that part,” Sundance chastised. Cayde’s ghost was rapidly dodging waving arms as her hunter animatedly regaled their escapades from earlier in the day to a captivated audience consisting of the bartender and his cat. “That sound will haunt me for years.”

“Swear totheligh’ I saw’is body fly past my scope” a far more sloshed Andal Brask announced, sitting up to wrap an arm around Cayde’s shoulders. The sudden shift in position clearly messed with him, because the man who was normally so agile instead tipped forward and mashed his cheek into a steel chest.

At least he had the drunken awareness to look mortified. “‘msorry, you’realot closer than you looked ‘nd I…” he mumbled, nearly incoherent as he pushed himself off of Cayde. His ghost, Luan, was swaying above his head; she managed to convey a look of displeasure and concern with her upper nib drawn down into a frown. It’s a look she wore often.

“Woah, easy there pal,” Cayde gripped Andal’s shoulders and hauled him away from the bar covered in glassware and other potential hazards. “Let’s get you home. I’ll cover your tab this time, you’re lucky I love you.”

“Huh?”

“I said you’re lucky I owe you.”

The pair stumbled out of the bar, Andal allowing Cayde to carry most of his weight. Neither of them really trusted the sniper’s feet at the moment. This part of the city was loud and bustling even at this ungodly hour, and a drunk guardian fresh off a successful mission hobbling home was a common sight. Two less so, the foot traffic was dense and people were easily separated. But Cayde and Andal were two gears locked in tandem, and years of working together gave them a synchrony needed to stay connected in the crowd. They ducked under flailing arms and through pulsating bodies until at last the people began to dwindle. Finally, Cayde thought, I was getting a headache.

With more room to move and less people to interrupt, Cayde also got the chance to give Andal a once-over. He was still clinging to the exo’s shoulder and his eyes were squeezed shut. His skin was flushed red, making his sharp features slightly softer. His hair had escaped its ponytail somewhere along the line and floated in messy half-flat curls. It was a cute look, Cayde decided, kinda like bedhead. He wouldn’t mind waking up to that.

Fuuuuckkk I’ve got it bad.

You’re telling me, Sundance’s voice replied in his head. Thirty years of this nonsense.

He chose to ignore his ghost in favor of the beautiful hazel eyes that were opening in front of him.

“Why’dwestop?”

“Just wanna check on you. You feeling okay?”

“Yeap, I feel grea’.” To illustrate his point Andal began to untangle himself from his exo crutch. Luan immediately rematerialized to stare at Sundance. Their ghosts had long since given up asking the friends of their guardians to talk them out of a bad idea.

“Hey now, let’s not do that,” Cayde reattached himself to Andal’s side. “You’re so smart all of the time, and you are so dumb when you’re drunk, gosh you’re adorable.”

Luan groaned. “If he doesn’t remember you saying that tomorrow I’m telling him myself, you two are insufferable.”

“‘mrigh here, heard him jus’fine,” Andal grumbled, “I resen that rem’rk, m alwaysmart,” his head lolled onto Cayde’s shoulder as they continued to walk, this time on quieter streets towards Cayde’s apartment. It was moderately closer than Andal’s. He blinked slowly a couple times before looking up at his friend of decades. “You think im cute?”

“No comment.”

“Yeah, okaayyyy. Surrre.” his attempted side-eye dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“Your head is gonna hurt so bad tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

They continued hobbling towards Cayde’s apartment, stumbling through the door the moment Sundance unlocked it. The moment it clicked behind them Andal tried again to slip out of Cayde’s grasp.

Cayde saw the exact moment Andal’s knee buckled, saw his weight falling to the floor, felt his own arms reaching out to hold onto his friend before his cognition could catch up. A rush of light burst through him into the man in his arms, the pair suddenly across the room from where they were a moment ago. The air simmered with solar energy. Andal’s back hit the wall with a soft thump, head pillowed by one of Cayde’s hands. His chapped lips parted, a flush burning on his high cheek bones, darker than before.

It’s the solar heat, Cayde reasoned, he doesn’t love you.

“Sorry,” Cayde muttered. He was all too aware of his other hand on his best friend’s hip, “didn’t want you to fall.” Their faces were so close.

Andal was quiet for nearly 20 seconds, and in each of them Cayde contemplated starting a new life in further and more remote parts of the system. “Wounda hurt.”

“What?”

“Carpet.”

“Uh, ‘fraid I don’t follow. Did you hit your head?”

The human jutted his chin in the direction of the door, but it just turned into a lolling motion that had his head bumping against the wall. His neck was long and exposed, cradled in the hands of a warmachine, and if Cayde had lips the urge to kiss him would have been unstoppable. How many times has that neck been put on the line for Cayde’s sake?

Tevis had gotten a plush rug for Cayde a week ago. Said he was sick of getting woken up by people dropping their gear whenever he stayed over. It was nearly the size of a Minotaur and a garish shade of orange that had Cayde doubling over with laughter when he first saw it. Now it lay beside the front door, and he’d completely missed it.

“Huh. Yeah.”

“Wasgunna sleep there.”

“Why? You can sleep in my bed.”

At that Andal’s flush hit a fever pitch and he refocused his eyes on the person holding him up. “Woah, maybe nottonight, m’really drunk and whew, take me to- no, it’s buy me din-”

“For sleep,” Cayde interrupted. “As in, not with me. Next to me. Or I can sleep on the couch if you want.”

“OH!” Andal’s eyes bounced around Cayde’s face. Was that… disappointment? Relief? Fuck, he was seeing things now. “Yeah, let’sgota bed.”

The pair unpeeled themselves from the wall and pulled themselves to the bedroom. The blankets were messily thrown across Cayde’s mattress - he’d forgotten to make the bed before leaving on their last mission, as he often did - but the mattress itself could easily fit two adults. Andal made one final break for freedom as he sprawled out across it. Luan transmated his gear away before he could ask.

“You shoulprob’ly sleep on the couch,” he mumbled. He was looking blankly up at the ceiling, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “Been havin… nightmares, donwanna wake you up.”

The exo paused midway through retrieving a blanket that had fallen to the floor. They’d shared a bed countless times before, be it huddling for warmth in Europa’s frigid caves or out of sheer exhaustion with the rest of their fireteam, and the nightmares had never been an issue. They happened, sure, they came with the lightbearer territory. Dying repeatedly does not play well with the mind. But whenever Andal jolted awake at night with the fear of god in him Cayde was always there to talk him down. If the nightmares were getting worse, he wanted to know. He wanted to help, if he could.

“I don’t mind,” He sat down beside the man, still splayed out and avoiding eye contact. “I never do. Did something happen to make them worse?”

Hazel eyes closed. “S’not that, just…” he trailed off, his drunk mind clearly struggling to find a good explanation. When that didn’t work, he apparently gave up. “Just for t’night. ‘M okay, promise.”

It didn’t alleviate all of Cayde’s worries, but he knew when not to push. “Alright, I’ll take the couch. If you need me I’m in the living room, don’t be afraid to wake me up.”

Andal nodded stiffly, the most coordinated he’d been in hours. Sleep was clearly tugging at him as he settled under a pile of blankets. Satisfied, Cayde turned to leave.

As his foot crossed the threshold, Andal called out one last time. “Thanks for bringin me home. ‘nd catchin me, an’taking the couch. Love you.”

All of the momentum carrying Cayde through the doorway was pulled back like a lasso around his heart as he whipped his head around. Andal was out like a light.

Tempo

Cayde was dead. Again. His poor Ghost had been working overtime to rez him as fast as she could, but she could only channel so much light through her little shell. Her guardian getting gunned down six times in the past half hour wasn’t helping.

Shiro could only watch in horror as bullets whizzed over Sundance’s shell, missing by the narrowest margin. His own cover was slowly being chipped away as more shots tried to find him. The constant barrage of fire in between Shiro and Cayde’s Ghost made any rescue attempt certain death.

The static of a com feed coming to life startled him out of his despair. “Cayde, Shiro, I got the last code. Headed your way, what’s the situation?” Andal’s voice was haggard and his breathing was strained, but he was talking. He was alive. He could help.

“Cayde’s down again and I’m cornered by covering fire! The captain got the jump on us!” Shiro answered, raising his voice to be heard above the din. Another bolt impacted Cayde’s corpse, missing Sundance by an inch. “Hurry!”

Andal cursed. “On it. Hang in there, you’ve got a 7 of diamonds on its way.”

Cayde’s body dissipated into light motes and reformed, on his feet and firing back. Two shots immediately hit his chest, a third cracking into his horn. The blue exo staggered momentarily, then raised his hand cannon again.

“CAYDE!” Shiro shouted, “OVER HERE!” His own yellow-hooded head popped up from behind the cracked steel, drawing the attention of their attackers long enough for Cayde to roll behind Shiro’s improvised rampart. Another bullet embedded itself in Shiro’s faceplate, making his vision go pixilated as he fell into a squat. An arm pulled him down further just as more bullets flew where his head had just been.

“I’m back up,” Cayde yelled into his comms. “Would love an assist, our cover won’t hold for long.”

They both felt Andal’s response rather than hearing it. The air grew thick with ozone and that familiar metallic tang grew unbearably strong. The impact of a single shot echoed around the ruined laboratory with a thunderclap. Shiro knew from experience not to look as arc energy sparked from the hole in the captain’s head ruthlessly leaped from enemy to enemy. The smell of charred Eliksni flesh descended on the pair of exos, and the clamor of their firefight vanished.

Cayde slumped heavily against Shiro as they leaned against the metal slab. Ragged edges poked Shiro’s sides, but he couldn’t care enough to move as Sundance and Suzume began mending their guardian’s wounds.

“Good shot Andal,” Shiro puffed. The word slurred, and he realized his jaw was hanging loosely from one end.

“Yeah, thanks for saving our asses. I owe you a drink.” Cayde closed his eyes, and for a moment he looked so exhausted Shiro thought he was going to die again.

They flew back open at Andal’s response, the spark of defiance back where it belonged. “Pretty sure you owe me several, you still haven’t followed up on your promise from the Nessus incident.” Somewhere nearby, Andal gave a low chuckle that turned into a pained wheeze.

“And you still owe me 60,000 glimmer and a new pair of pants from poker night!” The turquoise exo yelled, bolting upright to scan the area for their sniper. His knee nearly gave out on him but he paid no mind to his fussing Ghost.

“Okay, so we’re even.”

“We are SO NOT!” Cayde balked. “Those were my favorite pants!”

Shiro rolled his eyes as he helped Suzume reattach his jaw. He held it in place as her light funneled through him and with a click it popped back into place. “How do you even lose 60,000 glimmer in one night?”

“Nonono, that’s just what’s left. He actually lost 90!” Cayde explained, waving his arms around wildly. “And when he couldn’t pay he ripped my pants!”

“I didn’t mean to! I didn’t trip on purpose, not everyone can see in the dark, Six.”

“And whose fault was it that we were walking home at two in the morning?!”

“YOURS!”

“Nuh-uh! Your drunk ass got us lost! Y’know what, I’m cutting you off, I refuse to encourage your alcoholism.”

“Fine, then you owe me a week’s worth of ramen!”

“A whole week?!? You’re insane!”

“Not after Nessus I’m not!”

“One night. That’s it. And I want new pants.”

“Only if I get to pick them, you’ll extort me and get the most expensive pair you can get your metal paws on!”

“You don’t know my size!”

“You’re an 11, Tevis is a 13 tall, and Shiro is a 16 long.”

“Dang, you do know my size. Wait, how do you know my size?!”

“I do all of your laundry because you always forget!”

“Mhmm, sure. Not because you were staring at my ass?”

“If I was, I wouldn't tell you!”

“So you WERE!”

Bounty

The season was coming to a close, as the biting winds that whipped about Cayde-6’s cloak readily reminded him. He bolted up the hangar stairs three at a time, barely avoiding the frosted patches as he went. Saint-14 hollered something about his pigeons, and that it was “GOOD TO SEE YOU ARE STILL IN ONE PIECE”, but Cayde didn’t have time to respond. He had a deadline.

He bolted up to the rooftops and across the tower’s main courtyard to avoid foot traffic, much to Zavala’s annoyed protests and Shaxx’s bewildered shouts. The ruckus clearly preceded him as he ducked into the bazar; Osiris’ glare with a single eyebrow raised was particularly piercing. Ikora mirrored the Warlock Vanguard’s expression perfectly, but she didn’t have the mask to hide her smirk.

Cayde dodged out of Tevis’ grasping hands and mentally thanked Shiro for stopping the void-attuned hunter from tethering him to the spot. He would have to thank his fellow exo properly once his mission was complete. For now he continued to scramble his way across the tower in hot pursuit of his goal.

Finally, the open door frame to his destination was in sight. If only the person standing in it would get out of the damn way. Always the same human, the one with blonde swept back hair, a perfectly unbroken nose, broad shoulders and an enormous ego. Currently he was wearing minimal armor and a cocky smile directed at the person inside the office, as if they were in on some joke only they could understand. It made something purple in Cayde’s core grow spiky.

This feeling, it was new and gross. It made Cayde feel like a piece of shit. It only made itself known when this new guy — Griffen Dickwad or something — showed up to the tower three weeks ago. He was a newbie, but he got the hang of things pretty damn fast. More guardians is always a good thing, Cayde had thought at first. That didn’t stop the covetous little creature in his skull from rearing its ugly head though, especially not when Griffen made his infatuation with a particular Vanguard known.

With an (admittedly louder than necessary) clearing of his mechanical throat, Cayde announced his presence to the human roadblock. He was sure the chaos behind him that was just dying down was enough, but it still satiated his jealousy to see the human’s expression shift away from its previous mirth into contempt.

The blonde opened his mouth to say something, but before he could the senior hunter was pushing past him and catching the door with his heel, closing it behind him with a snap. Then, he slammed the thick stack of paperwork for all the bounties he’d completed on Andal’s desk and stared so hard it was as if he was reaching into the Vanguard's very soul.

Andal slowly looked from Cayde’s eyes to the papers under the exo’s fingers and back, blinking rapidly. The room went deathly quiet.

Andal’s lips pursed for a moment before he finally broke eye contact. “Thanks” he said, eyebrows pinched slightly as he kicked his chair back on two legs.

“Sure. Anytime.” Cayde answered non-chalantly, and turned to leave.

Andal choked on the air Cayde so desperately wanted to be sharing, scrambling to grab for the exo’s arm. “Wai- wait, stars above Cayde, how many bounties is this??”

“27. You should know, you gave them to me.”

Traveler help him, Andal Brask was beautiful. The dark bags under his eyes did nothing to diminish their hazel color. His hair was tousled and his mouth formed that adorable little frown that he only did when he was worried about Cayde. No one else, only me, his mind readily supplied, and he had to stomp down that thought.

“Wh- twenty… 27?! When did I give you… did you do all these today??”

“Mmmmhmm” Cayde readjusted from awkwardly leaning over the desk to side-sitting on the corner closest to the other man, angling away from him. He grimaced internally at how tight Andal’s grip on his wrist remained, but kept up his facade of disinterest as best he could.

Or at least, until the worry on his fiance’s face became genuine panic. They were both aware that the Vanguard office left little time for sleep, and Andal had mentioned in passing that he wasn’t sure that the missions he was handing out in his dreams were as fictional as he thought, what with the system’s horizons expanding every day. He’d meant it as a joke, but they’d both known sleep deprivation was a very real threat. If Andal was genuinely losing track of something as foundational as bounties, what else was he forgetting?

All the tension flooded from the exo in one fluid motion as he turned to fully face his partner. “Hey, it’s okay. I kept asking for more bounties as I finished them. I had a productive day, that’s all. Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

The deathgrip on his blue steel forearm lightened as Andal realized Cayde wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t seem convinced, but his brow wasn’t quite as closely drawn together and his breath slowed to a more reasonable tempo.

“Right. Yeah, guess I did give you a lot. Why in the world would you do 27 bounties in one day? And what was with… that?” he asked with a glance past him to the door, then yanked his gaze back up to his eyes.

And fuck. This is where he had to explain himself. In his original plan he dramatically walked out and left the consequences of his actions for future Cayde. Now he IS future Cayde, and he’s looking down the barrel of the gun that is his own jealousy.

“How many bounties does that bring me to this season?”

He saw the moment realization hit Andal, the way the question settled and clicked into place in the beautiful, overactive brain he loved so much. Andal had his answer. He probably would’ve had it the moment Cayde waltzed in bristling with spite had he not been so exhausted.

“Hey, don’t worry about that. You know that I don’t do public leaderboards.”

“Does he still have more than me?”

Cayde hated how his voice sounded, laced with bitterness. It wasn’t for Andal, that he knew, and he didn’t want it to be for one of his fellow guardians, but who else would it be directed at then?

Andal sighed, using his free hand to grab a small ledger from beside Cayde’s armor-clad thigh. He flipped to the tabbed page and pointed to the table keeping track of current bounty scores. For the first time in years Cayde wasn’t in first, consistently falling just short behind him for the entire season. It should’ve been impressive for a kindergaurdian, but it just pissed him off more.

“See?” Andal released Cayde’s forearm to properly entwine their fingers. “Griffen turned in 8 today, you’re well and beyond him now. You’re not losing your winning streak anytime soon.”

Cayde grimaced. “It’s not about that.”

“I know.”

Of course he knew. Cayde tilted his neck to lean their foreheads together, forcing himself to look at the man below him as he admitted “I’m worried you’ll think he’s better than me and… I don’t know, leave. It sounds stupid out loud.”

Andal hummed. “It is a little stupid yeah.”

Cayde squawked, pulling away just a little to see the adoration written so plainly on the Vanguard’s face. “I mean, it’s understandable! You can see where I’m coming from, right? He’s hot, he’s new to the tower, he’s human-”

Chain

For as long as Crow had known Cayde-6, the exo had worn a chain around his neck. It was a subtle thing, thin and painted black, only just beginning to chip. Crow hadn’t noticed it for nearly a year because it blended into his cloak. It was weighed down under all the layers of armor and never sat openly on Cayde’s breast. Okay, weird fashion piece, Crow assumed. It didn’t necessarily fit into Cayde’s wardrobe, but it was simple enough not to raise any eyebrows.

What gave Crow pause was that he never took it off. That chain was a staple of the exo’s appearance, just as much as his cloak wrapped around his shoulders or Ace of Spades on his hip.

“It must have something on it!” Amanda insisted when Crow brought it up. “Something special, like a Vex-crystal thing.”

The hallway leading to the hangar was dimly lit and narrow, made worse by the two figures congregating there. Crow shook his head. “Pretty sure we’d have noticed if it had something on it.”

“Why would he wear a chain with nothing on it?!”

“I’ve heard it was a popular Golden-age trend.”

Amanda cocked her eyebrow and her hip simultaneously. “You really think Cayde-6 would follow a Golden-age trend? Really? Where’d you even hear about that?”

“Someone on Kepler,” Crow shrugged. “Do you genuinely think he’d wear Vex tech?”

“Touché. What do you think it is?”

“I told you, I don’t think it’s anything.”

“Just a regular old chain?”

“Yeah, maybe it was a gift.”

“Boring. I think it’s a bullet.”

“What???”

“Yeah, y’know. Like if he ever needs ammo and is at the end of the line he can pull out one last dramatic shot. Very Cayde-6 in my opinion.”

“A bullet with a hole in it??”

“Hey, it’s better than nothing!”

“I said it was a gift! Like Shiro or Banshee or someone.”

“You think it’s an exo thing?”

“No?”

“Then why did you name exclusively exos?”

“They’re the people who like him the most!”

“Fair. For the record I still think that’s boring.”

“And I think having a spare bullet on a necklace is stupid.”

“Wanna bet on it?”

At this a blue steel face rounded the corner and planted an elbow against the wall to lean nonchalantly. Speak of the devil. “What are we betting on and can I join?” Cayde asked, eyebrow plates waggling cartoonishly.

“Hey Cayde,” the two of them said simultaneously. Amanda continued with “what’s on your necklace?”

Cayde immediately sobered. “Ah. I knew this day would come.”

Crow met Amanda’s gaze from the side.

“Yeah, I would’ve told you sooner,” Cayde went on, unphased. “But once I tell you…” he dropped into a stage whisper “I gotta kill you.”

Amanda rolled her eyes. “Yeah okay, hardy har. What is it?”

“What’s the wager?” Cayde asked.

“We haven’t set one.” Crow muttered. Shame was dragging a flush to his cheeks: he wasn’t worried about Cayde getting upset, but getting caught in the act gossiping didn’t feel great.

“10,000 glimmer.” Amanda declared. Crow balked.

“10k?! Just for this?”

“What, can’t pay it?”

“I can!” he huffed. “But that’s pretty extreme!”

“Fine, 5,000.”

“Fine. What if we’re both wrong?”

“If you’re both wrong,” Cayde interjected, “you’ll get back to work.”

“And just what are you doing?!” Amanda pointed an accusing finger at the Vanguard.

“Hey, do as I say, not as I do. Now what are your bets, we’re burning daylight here!”

“I think it’s a bullet.” Amanda said confidently, turning to Crow.

“I don’t think it's anything.” Crow responded, a little quieter.

Cayde grinned. “Looks like the both of you are on your way to work.” And with that he turned on his heel and began to walk away.

The two of them stammered. Crow finally got his wits about him enough to sprint after the retreating exo. “Hey! Now you have to tell us what it is!”

Cayde turned and started walking backwards. “I never said that. Crow, there’s a mission on Nessus that looks good for you, want me to reserve it?”

“No no no,” Amanda had caught up. “No one here is leaving the Tower until we know what it is.”

“You gotta tell us,” Crow added. “Please?”

Cayde sighed loudly and stopped. “Fine, but only because you asked so nicely.”

It took him a moment to find the chain under the many layers of armor. He hooked it over one thumb and (at an agonizingly slow pace) pulled the chain away from his neck. At its lowest point it appeared to get stuck, but he tugged a little harder and it came free.

A single ring was strung across the chain. It was simple, a gunmetal gray color with an ace stamped on one side and a diamond on the other.

Cayde let them drink in the sight with an uncharacteristically shy grin before speaking quietly. “Exo fingers weren’t really designed for wedding rings.”

When neither of them spoke he raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Amanda finally picked her jaw off the floor long enough to speak. “You’re married?!”

“Was married, yeah. Why are you so surprised?"

Amanda caught the flicker of sorrow that crossed her friend’s eyes. Apparently, Crow didn’t.

“Why haven’t we met them? Or have we and you just haven’t told us? What are they like? How did you meet? How long have you been together? Does Zavala know?” He paused, eyebrows furrowing. “Is it Zavala??”

Cayde’s eyes went wide with horror. “What? No! He’s… just- no.”

“So when can we meet them?” He demanded.

“He’s dead.”

The silence that descended on the trio was so thick you could pierce it with a glaive.

“Oh,” Crow whispered. “Shit, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It happens in this line of work.”

“What was his name?” Amanda asked softly. “How’d you meet?”

Cayde's smile returned. “Andal Brask. The best shot I’ve ever known. We were on the same fireteam, it turned out to be a good group so we stuck together.”

“And what was he like?”

Cayde sighed. “Let’s talk about that another time. Right now, I need to know if you’ll take that job on Nessus. Cabal info retrieval.”

Realizing the conversation was definitively over, Crow nodded. “Send me the coordinates, I’ll be on my way.”

“Before you leave, mind if I take a look at your sparrow?” Amanda offered. “You said it was unstable when cornering, right?”

Crow nodded. “Any idea how long that’ll take to fix?”

“Well Niik and I will have to see it first,” she scoffed. “Shouldn’t be longer than a day. Give me the codes so I can work on it while you’re gone.”

“You can use mine on this mission,” Cayde offered. “It needs to get out of the hangar.”

“Thanks, both of you.”

“Sure thing.” Amanda said as the two of them started walking towards Crow’s sparrow.

“Anytime.” Cayde called after them. His thumb and forefinger absently traced the ring strung around his neck; for a fleeting moment he could’ve sworn his cloak felt warmer than it had in years.

****

‼️DO NOT CROSSPOST MY WORK OR USE IT IN GENERATIVE AI IN ANY REGARDS‼️

Main fandoms:

Destiny (rip)

Furi

r1999 (but I’ll never write for it)

Fallout

Dead Cells

Hollow Knight (but I’ll also never write for it)

Legends of Runeterra (not league, how dare you)