#destinytober

“Hey now, Kell of Light, the night’s still young,” said Drifter, his tone carrying something of a jovial chastisement. 

Eris turned to find him crouched down to level with the two young trick-or-treaters, whom she could now identify to be a child seemingly dressed as Mithrax, and a young Eliksni dressed as a Titan. She couldn’t help the snicker that escaped her lips as she watched Drifter struggle with one of the things he usually did best: brokering a deal.   

“I’ve got about a hundred more of you to account for, give or take. Just… Divvy that loot up with your friend, won’t you?” 

Some things haven’t changed, Eris thought as she amusedly followed the rest of the exchange.

“Yeesh. These kids are something,” Drifter exclaimed a couple of minutes later as he retook his seat opposite Eris, at the two large crates he’d transformed into a makeshift workstation.

To this, Eris did not immediately respond, fixing him instead with a knowing smile.

Drifter raised his gaze from his own project to meet Eris’. 

“What?” he asked suspiciously. “I don’t have something on my face, do I?”

“No. Not unless you count that glint you’ve had in your eyes since this morning,” she responded before picking her knife back up.

“Oh, so a man can’t get into the spirit of the Festival of the Lost?” he asked, his attempt at an indignation demeanor betrayed by his buoyant grin.

“No, I just find that you’ve adopted a lot of the traditions around here for someone who was only to be here in passing.”

“Oho, this again?” Drifter retorted as he ran a cloth over his finished work. “You know, Moondust, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted to get rid of me, with how often you like to bring this up.”

“Fret not, Germaine. I’ve still got some use for you,” she replied.

“That’s a relief. Is it the cooking?”

Eris stopped in her tracks, spinning her knife idly in her hands as she pretended to ponder his question. 

“No.”

“No?”

“That is what I said…”

“Oh, so you don’t care for my cooking. Noted,” he replied with mock offense. 

“That is not what I said,” replied Eris as she resumed the finishing touches she was bringing to her carving, trying, with difficulty, not to entertain Drifter’s snickers. 

The sound of bickering kids emanated from the neighboring corner, towards Ada-1’s base of operations. 

“Damn,” Drifter started, flicking on a match. Its tiny flame illuminated his face as he momentarily held it up to his eye level before lighting his small candle. “We’re gonna have to wrap this up quickly before visitors start flowing in. No guarantees that we’ll have a moment to finish this tonight after that.”

Eris nodded. “I’m nearly done with my lantern.” 

“Good, good. So then… The back rubs?” he casually added, as he carefully lowered the candle through the top of his decorated pumpkin. 

“Pardon?” she questioned, brow furrowed, visibly confused about this non sequitur.

“It’s got to be my elite back rubs that have you hovering around me still, yeah?”

“Hovering around you?” she asked, her eyebrow now fully arched.

“Hover around, keep me around… Same difference!” he exclaimed, all too tickled to be messing with her.

“Tread lightly, Germaine. I’m quite literally armed with a knife,” Eris shot back, the steel of the blade reflecting the light as she juggled it skillfully.

“Sounds like you could use a back rub,” Drifter replied, leaning forward in a mock conspiratorial tone. 

Eris sighed softly, reaching for the matchbox to light her own candle. 

“It all sort of grew on me, you know...” A serious note entered Drifter’s voice, his tone deepening as he spoke.

Eris lifted her gaze to meet his eyes, finding him focused on closing the top of his lantern. After a moment of suspended silence, she opened her mouth to respond, and just as she did, Drifter spoke again.

“The traditions around here are like those variety candy packs these days—a mixed bag. Some old, some new. Hell, we have Eliksni living among us now. A whole lot of things I never thought I’d live to see came to pass.”

Standing up in order to place her candle in her newly completed lantern, Eris let out a contemplative hum.

“Hmm. Like engaging in the pre-Golden Age era custom that is carving jack-o’-lanterns, with a retired Hive God?” she asked, her inquiry delivered with a subtle tone of amusement.

“Like I said—it’s all grown on me,” he replied with a wink.

Drifter rotated his lantern to have its adorned side face Eris, who drew a sharp breath as soon as she saw it.

Cleanly carved on his pumpkin were three perfectly round eyes, and right below it, the very realistic outlines of two closed lips, tilted up at both corners and into a tight smile. It was the kind of carving that departed from the usual exaggerations befitting a classic jack-o’-lantern, the kind, Eris found, that earned a designation that was nothing short of a work of art. 

Drifter’s unusual silence signalled his desire for Eris’s genuine reaction, unmarred by any silly preamble he might have formulated.

Eris let out a deep, genuine laugh, her head thrown slightly back and tilting to the side.

“Germaine…”

“What?” He, too, was now engaged in a more nervous rendition of her laugh.

“I was hoping there was something you weren’t good at,” Eris said, crossing her arms as she shook her head in disbelief.

The Drifter let out a sigh of relief.

“What, you wanted my lantern to look bad? Sorry to disappoint.”

“You’ve managed to portray me… At peace.”

“I just stayed faithful to the reference,” he said, gently gesturing towards her face.

“It’s impressive,” she replied. Her gaze pointed towards the Drifter’s lantern, but her eyes were distant. “I quite like it.”

“So… You think I’m good at everything?”

“You’re not only good but great at annoying me.”

“Right, right. Don’t keep me waiting now. Let’s see yours!”

Eris hesitated for a second before bringing her gloved hands to either side of her lantern, slowly turning it to face him. The candle flickered with her movements, sending a new source of light dancing in Drifter’s eyes. For a moment, she thought the candle had suddenly become brighter. 

“Oh, Moondust… This…”

“It’s the teapot. From—”

“I know what this is,” Drifter brought a pointed finger to the pumpkin, tapping it with emphasis. 

“Of course I do… You think I don’t remember this thing?” he said with a laugh that was syrup-thick with an old feeling.

Eris closed her eyes, not unlike she did several times during this session, as she took herself back to that seemingly endless night in Europa, when she, along with The Drifter and Elsie Bray, had first arrived at their humble outpost. After rummaging through the meager rations left behind by its previous inhabitants, Drifter had fished out an old, loose-leaf green tea can, along with a bright red teapot, with the vestiges of what ostensibly looked like the markings of a Clovis Bray logo. 

Until this day, Eris wondered how the appealing prospect of having her first proper cup of tea in weeks had manifested on her face, but however it did, Drifter had caught it immediately. That teapot carried many a frigid night, served as the conduit for many a deep conversation that brought two fire-forged souls closer together—comfort in the midst of chaos.

“I remember that wonky eyesore. Can’t say it didn’t serve us well back in the day though…”

“It’s more than that. While I was one with the Hive, I would sometimes fall into a trance, particularly in the first hours. I found that focusing on a focal point helped me ward off the disruptive whispers of pure power.”

She closed her eyes once more, reenacting what she’d done countless times as a god of vengeance. 

“That teapot came to mind one day. I found in its bright carmine color, its comical imperfections, and, perhaps more importantly, in the memories it carried, a grounding force. I greatly credit it for keeping me grounded, and out of the worst of harm’s way.”

“You still have it, don’t you?” Drifter’s quiet voice interrupted her daydreaming, bringing her to open her eyes once more. “Last time I saw that thing, it was well on its last legs. That abomination hanging off of it can barely be called a handle anymore.” 

She nodded, then fixed him for a moment with a regaled smile. “Yes, I still keep it around.”

“Hey… What’s that—”

“Trick or treat!” 

Drifter was cut off by the sound of two young girls coming from the entrance. 

“I’ll cover them while you tidy up,” Eris said, pushing away from the table, not giving Drifter a chance to object, enjoying the simple pleasure of a final say.

Without questioning her, the Drifter immediately crouched down.

Without looking to see if he had, Eris spun with a back-handed sword strike which could have taken off his head had he not moved. Instead of decapitating the Drifter, Eris' sword sliced through a Grim which had silently flown up behind him. The flapping Dread fell down in two pieces which, in turn, dissolved into Pyramid energy before they hit the ground.

"Thanks!" the Drifter said cheerily as he stood back up and continued shooting anything that looked like it might be targeting the three-eyed witch as she danced through the battle, dealing out death with her sword and her frozen orb.

Beside them, Elsie Bray materialized, shot several hostiles with her pulse rifle, and then disappeared.

Four Husks ran toward them, raising the pointed blades on their arms, ready to parry Eris' Night Terror sword. The Drifter tossed a jade coin at their feet. It exploded into a solar grenade with a loud "Ding!"

Four Geists rose up from the immolated corpses of the Husks, homing in on the Drifter. Both Eris and the rogue Lightbearer heard the staccato of Elsie's rifle as it ripped through the airborne worm-shaped living missiles. They burst into an angry but harmless orange resonance cloud as they died.

A Tormentor stepped in front of them.

"Watch this!" Ana Bray called out. Her golden gun rang out three times, hitting it once in each shoulder. Her third shot went wide as she was caught in a Strand grapple from a Harbinger of the Witness.

Elsie ran to help her sister.

The Tormentor roared, grievously injured but still stomping toward Eris and the Drifter. It lunged to grab Eris but she was already behind it. Before she could cut it down the Drifter had rapid-fired Trust into the Tormentor's chest from his hip, emptying a full clip. The monstrous Imprint of Nezarec fell to its knees, roaring as it dissolved.

Eris growled in frustration.

"What? First you complain I don't shoot fast enough. Now you're complainin' I do. There's no winnin' with you Three-Eyes! I think you just like complaining."

"Tsch."

Elsie Bray slid to her knees, gunning down a Quantum Goblin, before rolling and coming up to her feet with her back to her sister.

They both watched as Eris' Ahamkara bone whipped past the Drifter's head, inches from his ear, to freeze the Shadow Legion Psion behind him. Eris followed up with a shot from Loud Lullaby, shattering the Psion.

The Drifter gave Eris an adoring look before spinning and firing his hand cannon into the knee, gut, and face of an Incendior before it could set them both on fire.

The corner of Eris' lip lifted in a small smile as the lifeless Incendior fell at the Drifter's feet, then she bounced lightly on her toes once before running toward a group of Taken.

"Dammit! Hold up!" The Drifter went chasing after her, tossing a Glacier grenade ahead of her to give her cover from oncoming fire.

Ana watched them with a grin. She shot two Vex Harpies out of the air, then asked Elsie, "Do those two always flirt this much?"

"Constantly," Elise said with undisguised exasperation in her voice. "Although at least they're admitting they're doing it now." She gunned down two more Harpies and a Minotaur.

"They used to deny it? How can they possibly deny that? It's clearly flirting."

"The worst part was for the longest time on Europa they weren't even admitting it to themselves."

Ana smiled as she shot down another Harpy. "That's adorable."

"That's certainly one word for it."

A Taken Phalanx sent out a blast from its shield. Eris mostly avoided being struck but it caught the flat of her sword. The force of the blast ripped Night Terror out of her hand and sent the weapon flying off the edge of the platform. Eris summoned a long spike of Stasis and stabbed the Phalanx through the eyes, freezing and then shattering it.

The Drifter saw where the sword had fallen and scanned their surroundings quickly. Eris was impaling Taken Thralls like they were olives on her Stasis toothpick, tossing her Thrall-kebab aside to shatter when it was full and summoning another. She would be fine on her own for a bit. She did not need his help with Thralls, but she was more effective with her mean looking sword, and the Drifter felt they were both more likely to survive this if Eris was more effective.

He took a running leap and caught the edge of a pyramid obelisk, pulling himself up and then dropping down on the other side to roll and hit the ground running. Night Terror was wedged in a tree a short distance away, stuck between twisted roots and bulbous growths. The Drifter grabbed the pommel of the weapon and turned to run back only to find his nose inches away from the belly of a Devoured Taken Ogre.

Before he could react it slapped his hand cannon out of his hand and grabbed him by both shoulders, lifting him up so his feet dangled in the air as he struggled to reach for the scout rifle on his back.

The Ogre's single eye flexed, preparing its Rotten Surge to disintegrate the Drifter with Arc energy.

Then the Drifter heard it. The sound. Louder than Ana Bray's Golden Gun. Crisper. Sharper. More intensely focused. Ana's was great and all but nothing could beat the heartstopping potency of the original.

Three shots with the power of small suns, so brilliant the Drifter's vision went white.

He landed on his ass, his legs splayed out in front of him, blinking with one hand in front of his face.

The shadow of an Ogre was seared into the stone obelisk behind where the Ogre had just been. The Drifter blinked a few more times to clear his vision and looked around. Nothing else was near him.

No sign of the guy. Typical.

The Drifter sighed, shook his head, picked up Eris' sword, fetched his gun, and ran back to the battle.

Eris tumbled to the side in front of a Taken Barrier Colossus. She shot it reflexively with her hand cannon twice. The bullets ricocheted off of the magical bubble surrounding it as Eris' three eyes narrowed in frustration.

She heard an insidious laugh from somewhere above as a Hive Relic sword materialized in front of her. Eris' mouth twisted into a snarl as she grabbed the weapon and focused her will. She sliced the edge of the blade through the air once, twice, and the barrier surrounding the Taken Cabal rippled and fell away.

Eris stepped in close and used the Relic's edge as an extension of her mind to cleave the Colossus in two, right up the middle, from between its legs to its now neatly bifurcated helmet. Its massive slug launcher clattered uselessly on the ground at her feet.

Above her, the Witch Queen flapped her giant wings, applauding with her claw-like hands.

Eris twisted, jumping and planting one foot firmly on the knee of a nearby Taken Knight, using it as a stepping stone to partly climb up the side of the Knight and swing, taking off its head with the Hive weapon in her hands, disproving its right to exist.

Savathun chortled in delight overhead.

Eris felt the Relic in her hands begin to hum almost in happiness. She landed on her feet and swung it through the air again several times, sending wave after wave of malachite coloured intent across the battlefield, disintegrating a Malignant Vex Wyvern, a Minotaur and several Sol Divisive Goblins before the Relic's magic began to fade. Eris concentrated and sent one last blast of Hive magic into a Taken Servile Captain with the remainder of the manifested blade's energy, immolating the Captain in a burst of Soulfire as the Relic dissipated.

"Oh, Honey." Savathun crooned. "You use it so well."

Eris summoned her Ahamkara bone to her hand, coating it once more in Stasis as she glared up at the Hive god of cunning flapping above her.

Savathun manifested a lightning bolt between her hands. "Look familiar?" she asked.

Eris remained silent, defiant, waiting.

"Wasn't this what you used to have, dear, so long ago?" Savathun asked the tiny former god, so small and squishy and filled with hatred on the ground below her.

Eris snarled, her three Hive eyes flashing. Ice crystals began to swirl on the ground under Savathun.

"Interesting how you're wielding what used to be my power and I'm using what used to be yours. But tell me, don't you think it's fun to be on the same side for a change?"

A bolt of Arc energy left Savathun's hands. Eris tensed as a brilliant streak of power leaped from the Witch Queen, directed, not at the Bane of the Swarm, but to the side, electrocuting a Harbinger of the Witness who had just dragged and then suspended the Drifter in Strand.

"See?" the Witch Queen called to Eris over her shoulder as she flew away. "I'm helping!"

Eris made a small growling sound at the back of her throat and then ran toward the Drifter. The Harbinger had dropped him on a platform half-way up a flight of stairs. Eris' sword fell out of his hand and slid down the steps. He lunged after it.

Before Eris could reach him, another Tormentor ran up, sending bolts of Void energy toward the Drifter from its scythe.

The Drifter rolled first one way, then another, dodging the blasts as Eris fired Loud Lullaby into the Tormentor's glowing pauldrons.

The Tormentor jumped and landed, bringing the butt end of its scythe down on the steps in front of the Drifter, knocking him prone and sending him sliding further down the stairs with a shockwave before rushing in to grab the rogue Lightbearer in its giant hand.

Eris wasn't close enough. Without Arc and her Light she wasn't fast enough. There was no way for her to get to him in time.

Just before the Tormentor's grip could close on the Drifter, the monstrous Dread was struck by a sphere of Void energy. It was shoved back into a group of Thralls which were, themselves, vaporized by the impact.

The Tormentor fought to regain its footing against the vortex of the small black hole sucking its energy as Ikora flew in the air above the Drifter. Both Eris and the Drifter emptied their hand cannons into the Tormentor from opposite ends of the stairs. After a few moments, the bullets combined with the Nova Bomb won out and the Tormentor was gone.

The Drifter holstered his gun briefly to give Ikora a two-fingered salute as he came to his feet holding Eris' sword. The Warlock Vanguard nodded to him and flew off across the battlefield to another nexus of hostiles.

The Drifter met Eris' eyes momentarily from the foot of the stairs. His own eyes lit up briefly at the sight of her before they rolled in frustration as pyramid resonance energy rippled in the air and a detachment of Shadow Legion materialized between them.

Eris sent her frozen sphere ping-ponging between several Psions and a Phalanx, freezing and slowing them as she ran down the stairs. The Drifter, from below, began to hack at a Centurion with Eris' sword.

The Drifter wielded the blade very differently from Eris. In her hands, Night Terror was an extension of herself. She spun and whirled in a deadly dance with it, graceful and viciously precise. The Drifter used Eris' sword like a machete. He chopped and hacked with ruthless strength, cutting down anything between himself and Eris with effective, if inelegant, brutality.

A Shadow Legion Centurion fired its projection rifle at Eris. She mostly dodged out of the way but the shot clipped her leg and she fell to one knee, her blood smearing on the steps as she grunted in pain. The Drifter drove the cruel perpendicular knife tip of Eris' sword into the side of the Centurion like a pickaxe before twisting and pulling, repeating the motion to rip out the Centurion's black coated guts until it could not shoot anyone any more.

They met in the middle of the now-dead cluster of Shadow Legion. Gore from the Drifter's onslaught was splattered across the frozen and shattered remains of what had previously been Eris' opponents.

"You dropped this," he said, breathing heavily as he handed Eris back her sword. He watched her look him up and down from three steps above him. A small smirk appeared on her face as Night Terror returned to her hand.

"Sorry I made a mess," he said with a toothy smile, fully aware he was covered in the black ichor that was Cabal blood.

Eris' mouth opened slightly and the barest tip of her tongue darted out to lick her top and bottom lips before she turned away from him and began limping down the steps toward cover.

"Wait… what?" he asked, blinking and following her with a surprised smile. "Really?"

He caught up to her and raised one of her arms up over his neck to support her as she hobbled.

"You like that? Do I need to do that more?" he asked as he scanned around them, ready to kill anything taking aim at them.

"Hmmm…" was her only reply.

"That was absolutely disgusting," he continued, the terrain under their feet making wet squelching sounds as they walked, "but… ya know… if it does something for you…"

"Hmmm…"

Behind the wrist of a giant stone hand, Eris pulled the Drifter's scout rifle off of his back and watched over him as he bent down, pulled an arm-length cloth from a pocket, and bound the wound in her leg. He pulled the knot snug, Eris added a bit of Stasis for extra stability, returned the Drifter's gun to him, and then they were off again.

Even though they were not inside the monolith where the guardians were fighting the Witness directly, Eris and the Drifter both knew when the first potent blow had been struck. A shockwave rippled through their opponents as the Witness' control of them slackened.

By the third major blow from the guardians, the Vex and Taken were largely gone, the Witness' will no longer strong enough to hold them. The Shadow Legion and Dread remained loyal to the last moment, but when the ghosts of all the guardians rose up and channeled the Traveller's light, the fighting stopped.

Everyone heard the Witness' dying scream as it was unmade and most were knocked off their feet as the final blast shook the Traveller. The Dread and Shadow Legion turned and ran, scattering in all directions.

Eris found the Drifter on the ground holding his ghost. He gave her a strange look that meant more than she could read as she helped him to his feet.

And then began the slow and painful task of finding the injured, recovering the bodies of those who had fallen, providing first aid to the severely wounded until medical specialists could arrive, and above all, the anxious, desperate search for friends to discover and embrace those who had survived, and to sit in quiet sadness next to the motionless forms of those who had failed to do so.

Eris leaned against the Drifter, limping as they made their way through the battlefield.

They found Zavala coordinating transportation for the wounded. They found Caiatl and Mithrax tending to their own people. They found Glint and Crow along with Suraya and Louis, locating and extracting anyone still alive from hard to see crevices and mangled architecture.

They were on the periphery of people assembled near the triangular hole in the Witness' monolith when the sobbing Guardian stepped out and disclosed what had happened to Cayde-6. Eris and the Drifter shared a look then. One of understanding, acceptance, and quiet gratitude that they had both survived.

Elsie's left arm was slightly mangled but she was otherwise fine. The Exo Stranger stood protectively beside her sister, as though she wasn't certain whether or not one or both of them would disappear.

Devrim and Marc were unscathed. Saint was enthusiastically and joyfully hugging and lifting a confused Nimbus twice his size. Osiris and the Drifter nodded to each other, both quiet, both tired. This was not the first battlefield they had met eyes over.

Savathun was nowhere to be found and her Lucent brood, for the moment, had gone to ground. No one expected that to last long but everyone was grateful for the respite in hostilities. Luzaku, likewise, had not remained, although several people mentioned they had seen her alive, floating off in the direction of the Blooming Deep.

Eris found Mara Sov and gripped the Awoken queen's arms tightly for a few minutes of silent communication before Crow approached his sister and Eris wordlessly let go. The Drifter then followed as Eris saw and went directly to Ikora.

The Warlock Vanguard looked stoic and her voice was calm as she gave directives to care for the injured. But the Drifter saw Ikora's face when Eris pulled her close.

He stood a little bit in front of them and turned his back, pulling out a coin and rolling it across his knuckles, partially hiding them both and giving them a small amount of privacy as Ikora trembled against Eris and Eris spoke to her in soft low tones.

The occasional person approached and the Drifter shook his head and pointed them toward Zavala. He only turned around again when he felt Eris' hand on his arm.

"You have medical supplies on the Derelict and can tend to my injuries, yes?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Yes. Good. I would prefer not to distract the field medics from those more in need of them."

"How bad are you hurt?" he asked.

"Minor."

He nodded. "You good to go now?"

"Yes."

The Drifter looked around as though he still couldn't believe what had happened then he pulled Eris close and held her tightly, whispering into her ear.

"Transmat firing."

"Did you make it yourself?" the Hunter asked. She wore a large pumpkin on her head. Eris eyed the deep black applied to the rest of the Hunter's outfit. It blended it beautifully with her equipment, making her look like a walking shadow.  She would easily have blended in with any dimly lit background if not for the ridiculous orange headpiece she was also wearing.

"You must have," the Warlock added. She was outfitted in a parody of the Drifter, complete with a poor facsimile of his face upon her head bearing an idiotic expression even the Drifter wouldn't make. Eris was vaguely insulted on his behalf, although he likely would have been flattered. The rest of her armour was a half-hearted attempt to mimic his clothing with abysmal results.

Eris glared at all three of them and did not speak.

"Holy crap!" the Hunter said, leaning her pumpkin in closer. "You got flowing tears and everything! Damn! You really look just like her."

"Do I?" Eris's three eyes stared into the eye holes of the pumpkin mask. The Hunter wearing it paused.

"Shit! You've nailed the voice too!" the Titan exclaimed. "Amazing!"

The Hunter took a step back. "Uh... guys?"

Eris continued to glare at her.

"Oh wow," the Warlock crouched down, eye level with Eris' right hand. "The special effects on your orb are amazing too. That looks like real Soulfire!"

"Guys..." the Hunter took another step back and reached out to gently tug at both the Titan and the Warlock's clothing.

"Does it?" Eris asked, glaring at the Warlock now.

"Y-yeah," the Warlock stammered as realization gradually began to overtake her. "It um... it does... it really... does." She stood, the Drifter's distorted face tilting sideways.

"How droll." Eris intoned, continuing to glare at the fake Drifter.

"Uh..." the Hunter tried to pull the Warlock to the side, but the false Drifter was fixed in place. "We should go."

"But what's the..." The Titan looked at the Hunter and then at the Warlock and then back at Eris. "Oh."

"Is there anything else you feel the need to impede my progress with this evening, guardians?" Eris did not keep the irritation from her voice.

The Warlock in front of her visibly shuddered.

"N-no," the Titan beside her said meekly.

"Then please do continue on your way..." Eris said, icily as she waved her free hand in a dismissive gesture. "Somewhere else... far from here..."

The Hunter tried to pull the Warlock in front of Eris out of her way. The Warlock was fixed in place, staring up at her. Trembling.

"Now." Eris added, leaning forward at the false Drifter in her way.

The Rahool-faced Titan stepped behind his terrified friend and lifted the Warlock up by the waist, physically removing her from in front of Eris.

Eris continued down the stairs as the three guardians stood quietly on the landing above her, watching her. She reached the next landing and looked back up at them with one final withering stare.

"Shit!" the pumpkin-headed Hunter exclaimed. "Go! Go! Go!" She threw a smoke bomb at her friends' feet and all three disappeared.

Eris heard their frantic footsteps ascending the stairs away from her.

"Tsch." She said dismissively to the air before continuing on her way toward the Annex.

Ada's loom was louder here, but not overwhelming. It did nothing to disguise the telltale sign of the Drifter's boredom.

"Ding!"

"Ding... Ding-Ding!"

As Eris stepped through the gate she watched him bounce the coin off of the floor, the table, his winch, and the railing before catching it. As annoying as it was, it was also an impressive display of dexterity and spatial awareness.

The Drifter's face shifted from a neutral expression to a wide grin as he saw her.

"Well, now. That's the best possible thing that could'a happened to me today." He bounced the coin off the floor into the upturned helmet on his work table without even looking at it. It landed with a soft "tink" among the others. "How'd I get so lucky?"

Eris continued to approach him, her face impassive. Inwardly, she took comfort in his obvious delight in her presence. It was so much more pleasant than being gawked at.

"Ikora and I were scheduled to meet, but she was required in the Tower..." Eris explained as she continued toward him, "So I came to her here... and now our business is concluded."

She sat on the bench beside him, placing her Ahamkara bone in her lap and carefully lifting large lit candles on to the floor at her feet so he could sit next to her.

"Wait... wasn't that gonna take all night?" he asked, grabbing a datapad from his work table before sitting in the spot she'd cleared.

"It was," Eris said, not hiding the irritation in her voice as she relocated the last candle. "It ended up being... shortened."

The Drifter tilted his head and leaned back against the railing. "So... does that mean you're free tonight?" He raised one eyebrow, still smiling.

"Yes, however, I am certain you have your rat race."

"During Festival of the Lost? Pickin's are slim to none right now," he told her with a sigh. "They're all runnin' Haunted Lost Sectors for candy. I already cancelled half the Gambit matches before you got here. My attendance is abysmal right now. This is the best possible time for me to close early. Let me get the word out," he began tapping on the data pad. "And then we can go actually participate in the Festival of the Lost, not just work through the whole damn thing."

"I have already had the Festival of the Lost 'participated' upon me on my way here." Eris intoned, the Soulfire in her eyes glowing slightly brighter when she said the word "participated."

He looked at her, confused. "Come again?"

"I was accosted on the stairs," she continued dryly. "And accused of performing a very realistic impersonation... of myself."

The Drifter burst out laughing.

"Oh... Oh that is just amazing. Did they uh... figure it out?" He continued laughing.

"Eventually."

"Ha! What happened then?"

"They panicked and fled in terror."

He leaned forward and thumped his fist on his knee, still laughing.

Eris stared at him impassively. "The one most terrified of me was dressed as you."

"Ahahaha! Ok...ha..."  He put his hand flat on his chest.  "That is ridiculously funny but, I can tell you don't find it as hilarious as I do." He grinned at her and then his eyes sparkled. "Although... it does give me an idea..." He gave her a mischievous look. "If you're up for it..."

"Hmmm?"

"How about this: we flip the script."

Eris mouthed the words 'flip the script' soundlessly to herself before tilting her head. "I do not follow."

"Well there's all these guardians wanderin' around wearing masks of us. Let's change out of our usual digs, keep our helmets on, and wander around wearin' masks of them for a change, huh?"

"What? How?"

"You'll have to hide the glow ball... put it in a backpack or somethin', but Poison Promise Hunter gear is pretty stylish and the mask is completely... What's that word? The one that means you can't see through shit?"

"Opaque."

"Yeah, opaque. You'd just be a regular Hunter. No one would see your eyes or your face. And I'd be... eh... what do I feel like tonight? Titan or Warlock? Huh... decisions, decisions...."

"Why not Hunter?" she asked.

"In the exact same clothes as you? Together? That'd be embarrassing. You know what happens when two Hunters see each other are wearin' the same clothes. One of 'em has to change. It's like some sorta compulsion or something. Can't have a Hunter feelin' like they're in a uniform. That'd be like... conforming to somethin'. Makes 'em twitch."

"A pity you have no other Hunter outfits to choose from with all the things you offer people here in the Annex who play your game."

"Uh... Ok, well, you do have a point, then. Fine. Two Hunters. Out on the town. You in?"

Eris took a moment to think about his words. She remembered the interaction on the stairs and the part of the Hunter's outfit that was not a pumpkin. "That... depends."

"On?"

"There is... a shader I have seen some guardians wearing... occasionally."

"Oh?" He leaned forward, keenly interested in what shader would catch the notice of Eris Morn.

"My understanding is that it was obtained from Shaxx... And was a mark of great pride during the battle against the Witness."

"Oh that shader," his eyes became snake-like. "Yeah I know the one. And I can see why you'd be interested in that one in particular."

"I am assuming you did not... earn one from Shaxx... Did you? That would be the only one I would want to... try out... It did not exist when last I wore a Hunter's clothes."

The Drifter practically flowed as he stood. He hopped up so he was sitting on the railing overlooking the mote bank in the main room of the Annex and then he swung his legs up and over, landing on his feet softly on the other side. "You're gonna have to wait a moment," he said, leaning on the bottom rung of the railing to look at her. "I gotta look somethin' up before I answer your question." He winked and spun on his heel, walking to the shelving against the far wall.

"What?" Eris asked, confused by his unexpected behaviour but also mildly amused by his unexpected burst of agility. When he wasn't pretending to be harmless, the Drifter moved like a dangerous snake. It was a quality Eris found somewhat alluring.

"Now where did I put that... here it is!"

He pulled out a large, heavy volume from among the books on his shelves and brought it up the short set of stairs.

Coins, tools, a disassembled gun and an upturned helmet filled with yet more coins made small metallic sounds as he shoved them around on top of his work table to make room for the thick book. When he dropped the tome onto the surface it made a low thunk and the coins in the helmet rattled.

The Drifter ran his fingers along the edge of the pages, picking out a spot not too far into the text. He opened it up. Eris stood up from the bench and came to look.

"Let's see... cataclysm.... dee-butt-ant..."

"Deb-ewe-taunt"

"What?

"Debutant. The word is pronounced debutant. It's French."

"Ok, well, that's not the one we're looking for.

"What one are we lo-"

"Here we go!" He pointed at the page. "Number one: to receive money as payment for work that you do. Nope. Not money. Not paid."

"Hmmm..."

"Two: to get an amount of money as profit or interest on an investment or loan. That's closer but, really not what we need. Three: to make a particular amount of money from a product or business activity. Nah. Too specific. Four: to obtain in return for labour or services. Now I could work that one if needed but it'd be a stretch. Oh! Here we go. Jackpot: to get something that you deserve."

Eris looked at him quizzically as he turned to face her.

"You, my beautiful three-eyed witch, once told me, and I quote 'you deserve the good things in life too, just by virtue of being human, everybody does'... therefore..."

He flipped the cover of the book over, snapping it shut before he continued.

"Since that shader, or rather, the consequences of me havin' it... namely bein' able to sneak out in-cog-neato with you... is absolutely one of the good things in life right now." His eyes glittered with delight. "Yeah. I have uh.... earned... that shader... and, more importantly..." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "I have it."

Eris looked at him in surprise. "How?"

The Drifter pointed to the doorway, flicked his finger slightly up and to the right, and then flicked his hand forward, indicating the route to Ada's workshop.

"Ada earned it for you and... gifted it to you? That does not make any sense. She loathes you. And she does not compete in the Crucible."

"No. She made it. She made the shader. Where do ya think that one-horned loudmouth gets all his pretty shiny clothes to bribe guardians into playin' something as un-fun as Crucible? He contracts them out from her."

"And she sells them to you behind his back? I would think she would be under some sort of agreement of exclusivity."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the Drifter raised his hands up and stepped back from her. "I didn't say she sold 'em to me. And I didn't even say she knew I was gettin' 'em from her," he gave Eris a toothy smile.

Eris sighed deeply. "Of course. You stole it."

"Stealin' is a strong word for this... I prefer the more gentle, but still equally accurate... acquired."

Eris sighed again.

"But..." He stepped in close to her, taking her hand. "I did help quite a bit with the city defenses while all that was goin' on. And I didn't ask for nothin' from him for that. And I'll bet you anything you like that if I reminded him of that and asked him for it, he wouldn't say no. I just uh... skipped out on the askin' part."

"Why?" Eris said, exasperated, pulling her hand back from him. "Why not just ask?"

"I don't want him to know that I want his dark, creepy, badass lookin', superblack thing. That is my direct competitor... not to mention a giant blowhard... and I don't mean in the fun way."

"Tsch. I'm surprised you don't have experience with him in the 'fun way' as well."

He smirked at her. "That's cute, but Warlords are a hard no for me."

"Ah," Eris reached out a hand and placed on his arm gently. "Yes. That is... fair."

"So..." He leaned in close to her. "Have I met your criteria for goin' out to the festival tonight with me?" He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, his eyes gleaming.

"Hmmm..." Eris stepped back, cradling her Ahamkara bone, thinking.

He reached out to gently touch her elbow, giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

Eris sighed deeply again.

"Nothing too noisy."

His grin got wider as she listed the conditions of her acceptance.

"You got it," he said.

"And if the crowd or... the volume or... anything else becomes unpleasant..."

"Four squeezes and we GTFO, no questions asked, just like before," he reassured her. "We don't go anywhere you specifically don't wanna go, and don't do anything you actively don't wanna do. But stuff where you're willing to try..."

He spread his arms out with a hopeful smile and leaned back with one eyebrow up, his eyes pleading.

"Very well"

"Yes!" His hands formed fists and he bent his knees, briefly closing his eyes in an expression of delight.

"You clearly want this very much."

He gave her his best shit-eating grin. "You're gonna love this. This is gonna be great."

"I am concerned I am regretting it already."

"Don't say that! We haven't even started yet. Now come on over here and try on these clothes." He tugged her gently toward the side of the room. "Gotta get into our guardian costumes so we can go trick or treat."

Eris frowned. "What is trick or treat?'

"It's fun, Moondust. You know, that thing you're allergic to. Come on!"

"Ugh."