Reshimun

Any uncredited stickers are mine or logos from the game. And after watching the vidoc from today, I now need to draw Blue in clothes too.

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"So it's not surprising he's still not here."

"No it is not and... he is new to being Vanguard. It is not unexpected he might become... detained." Eris approached a large glass container vaguely reminiscent of an engram with several segments in front removed. It contained rocks, several plants, and a small creature.

"Well if he makes us wait past dinner he'd better be buyin' us food."

"Hmmm..." Eris peered inside at the container's green and black splotched resident.

"His name is Captain Jacobson and he is a frog!" Failsafe said brightly, startling both Eris and the Drifter, despite both of them having known she was there. She had been so quiet after initially greeting them that her voice now seemed loud.

The three-eyed witch and the rogue Lightbearer made brief eye contact in acknowledgement of their shared nervous response. The Drifter grinned. Eris' lip quirked slightly and she turned back to the enclosure, tilting her head.

"The frog is... a captain?"

"That is his name! However, the frog has no real authority."

Failsafe's voice changed as her politeness filter switched off. "Not that it wouldn't improve things around here if he did."

"Ha!" the Drifter laughed. "Failsafe, I like your style."

"Thank you!" Failsafe's politeness filter once more engaged. "And I like your...your... your ability to give compliments!"

"It has more than the expected number of eyes for a frog," Eris said quietly as she continued her examination of Captain Jacobson.

"Yeah, well, you have more than the expected number of eyes for a human," the Drifter said as he moved closer to her. "Doesn't make you any less cute."

Eris sighed again. "There are many who would disagree with your opinion."

"They'd be wrong."

Eris continued her inspection of the enclosure and its resident. "One of my visitors on the Moon recently informed me that... when asked what the scariest thing they'd ever encountered while on adventures was... they said me."

"Just because someone is terrifying does not mean they're not hot, Moondust. In fact, the argument could be made that bein' scary makes someone even hotter."

"Hmmm..."

"Would you like to pet him?" Failsafe asked brightly, attempting to change the topic of conversation.

"His skin looks... toxic." Eris said.

"It is!" Failsafe said with excessive cheer. "Wearing gloves is highly recommended."

"I'll pet him," the Drifter said, reaching out a gloved hand. Captain Jacobson made a soft, happy sound. "Aww... Isn't that cute. He likes it. Reminds me of Udon."

"He is considerably smaller with far fewer legs," Eris spoke quietly as she observed the interaction closely.

"Most things have fewer legs than Udon," the Drifter said, chuckling.

Eris' lip quirked again. "Indeed."

The Drifter continued petting the frog. It climbed onto his hand.

"Do you have a pet as well?" Failsafe asked. "The Saint-unit has come to visit with pigeons so that our pets can play together. Would you like to bring your pet here?"

"Uhhh..." the Drifter paused, the frog on his hand, a look of concern on his face.

"That would be... ill advised," Eris answered.

"Udon's a... ambush predator from Savathun's Throne World, Failsafe," the Drifter explained, carefully rotating the frog as he determined how it preferred to be touched. "He can snatch a Ghost goin' at top speed outta the air, and he has a pretty nasty bite. It's strong enough to pierce Hive chitin. He probably shouldn't' be around anything small, cute, and delicious. Like you, Captain frog. I could just eat you up." He licked his lips as he brought the frog closer to his face and grinned.

"Oh! Please do keep him well away from here!" Failsafe's voice sounded excessively cheery.

The Drifter coaxed the frog onto its back and began gently stretching out its legs, running his fingertips along its sides. Eris frowned. He was drawing invisible lines on the frog, sectioning it in similar ways to how he had deboned chickens in front of her before, mentally chopping it up. Eris turned and looked sharply at the Drifter.

"What?" He asked her, feigning innocence badly.

"We shall not endanger the life of your pet, Failsafe." Eris fixed the Drifter with a withering glare.

He stuck his tongue out at her and gently put the frog down.

"Did you want to feed the batadactyls?" Failsafe asked. "Their names are Petris and Babata!"

Eris walked around a partition to where the flying animals were perched. A small bowl of food was nearby. Slowly, so as not to startle them, Eris picked up a piece of unidentified meat and held it out to one of them. It gobbled the food greedily. She repeated the action with the second one.

Both batadactyl's screeched. Eris looked about in alarm.

"They make those noises when they are happy. I find their screeching very soothing!" Failsafe said, her voice almost gleeful.

"Petris." Eris repeated the name. "An interesting choice of name. Have you met the queen's Wrath?"

"Hunter Vanguard Crow introduced us! Petra Venj has met Petris the batadactyl and they got along very well!"

Eris nodded and then turned to look in the large glass box beside her. "Is that... a tiny... tree?" she asked.

"Yes!" Failsafe responded.

"Bonsai, right?" the Drifter asked.

"Yes, it is!" Failsafe's digital presence spun its outer ring.

Eris looked across at the Drifter through the glass, confused.

His grin widened and his eyes sparkled as he realised he knew a word she did not know. He winked at her. She frowned back.

"It's a way of makin' trees tiny," he explained. "You train it real slow to grow like that. Some people do it for years and years. It's a patience and meditation thing."

"It seems like it would be torturous to the plant," Eris said dryly.

"Eh... the line between art and torture gets pretty blurry sometimes."

"I assure you. I am not torturing my tree." Failsafe chimed in brightly before switching off her politeness filter.

"At least I don't think I am. Do you think it feels pain?" Her voice was lower without the filter, and sounded concerned.

"Nah, it's fine," the Drifter reassured her. "Unless you start hearing it screaming," he added. "Then you should probably stop. At least... if you don't like screaming."

"Tsch," Eris shook her head dismissively.

"I'm surprised you managed to crash land the H.E.L.M. with all the pets making it out ok, Failsafe." the Drifter said as he turned toward the AI projection while nodding in appreciation. "That took some skill."

Failsafe's digital projection shifted colour to her politeness filter, her voice changing again. "Outside of the Eliksni who turned into Scorn, all biological crew members survived. It is something I am very proud of. I have become very competent at crash landings!"

"Ha!" the Drifter smiled a toothy grin. "Me too."

"We have this experience in common!" Failsafe's projection changed colour. "I'm sorry," she added in a more sombre tone.

"Yeah," the Drifter said wistfully and more gently. "Me too."

"Eris! Drifter!" Crow stepped through a nearby doorway. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's all right We were just lookin' at Failsafe's frog. Did you know its skin is poisonous? I pet it!" The Drifter reached out to shake Crow's hand with a mischevious look in his eyes.

Crow reached automatically to shake his hand and then stopped. Looking at the Drifter's hands, concerned. The Drifter laughed and pulled back his hand.

"Be sure to avoid licking your gloves." Eris said to the Drifter as she stepped between him and Crow.

Crow motioned to the door he'd just come through and began to walk in that direction. Eris followed.

"Don't say it that way, Moondust." The Drifter said as he followed Eris out of the room. "That just sounds like a challenge."

"Ugh."

Once they had left, Failsafe began searching through Vannet records looking for any evidence of bonsai trees screaming or feeling pain.