#devrimsperch

The hours ticked by, and the ghost nested in the scrap of fabric didn’t budge. One, two, three, four, eight, sixteen... It was only after the sixteenth hour was creeping towards the seventeenth that one of Heutte’s spines twitched. A few moments later, the ghost’s optic onlined with a dull hum. It flashed bright white for a moment before dimming to its usual green.

“Recalibration complete. Reboot successful,” Heutte droned, wobbling into the air. He hovered in place, bobbing from side-to-side as he tested his newly-calibrated equilibrium. It would suffice.... until the next time he was violently lurched across the room, that was. 

It was only after those first, bleary moments of checking his systems that he noticed something shouting for his attention. Ping, ping, ping, ping! A series of messages was lined up for his perusal, each more urgent than the last. They were signed with a very particular tag: Nini.

Vipeks had gone long enough without stopping in to see the EDZ vendor, Devrim Kay, a human sniper. Rumor had it that he was more friendly towards Eliksni than most, but Vipeks was anxious nonetheless. Strange looks, snide comments, surprised comments, whatever would happen, Vipeks wasn’t ready for it.

But there were resources to be turned in, and bounties to be collected. So Vipeks bucks up and makes their way to the old church, green cloak and Titan Mark setting them aside from the purple-adorned members of the House of Dusk. They didn’t like standing out so much, but it definitely helped them get shot at less...At least as far as Humanity was concerned in the matter.

Claws tapping on wood, accenting footsteps, would announce their arrival long before they step into view. When Devrim’s at last in their line of sight, they clear their throat to speak up in mispronounced but understandable English. 

“That’s fine. Most of my guests are spontaneous anyways.” he smiles, liking the firm grip the Exo gave. “Nice to have a hand round here… how long do you plan on sticking around?”

“Seeing as how the Cosmodrome is still under lock-down and Felwinter’s Peak is off limits to Guardians outside of Iron Banner, seems like I’ll be here as long as you say I’m needed.” Shiro hefts the well-used RUSH72 pack to punctuate his statement. “Oh, that reminds me...”

@devrimsperch

“What a way to make a first impression. Do you introduce yourself like this to all your vanguardians?” Devrim teased, a playful tone to his upturned lips. “Thank you- again. It’s nice to meet you, Adrian.”

Devrim strode over to his hotplate, setting it up to heat some water for the both of them. “What brings you to my humble abode? Shouldn’t you be off in Crucible celebrating Crimson Days?” he asked, curious. Sure he had Guardians flit through here day in and day out, but it wasn’t often they had made the move to actually make nice with him. Many of them babied him, were parented by him, or just wanted to get their patrol duties done and get back to wherever or whatever they had been doing before.

He wondered what kind of tea Adrian would like, as he snuck a glance at the other to give him a quick once over. Squinting, he came to a decision- Ah, spiced chai. Obviously.

A soft warm chuckle escaped his lips as he smiled brightly, both at the thought that the older Rifleman had indeed seemed rather pleased with the introduction and gift; and the jest of getting to know the other Van-guardians much like their current manner. Another soft chuckle left his lips as he thought about trying to get to know someone like Asher Mir, while the man was unarguably brilliant, he had the social skills of a Thrall. “I’m fairly sure the likes of Asher Mir is far too busy in his research. Osiris is more than likely breaking something within the infinite forest, plus he has his. . . followers.” He deftly glossed over the word ‘Followers’ having met with them a few times before, it was usually best to quickly finish what business you had with them, then hightail it out. They were fairly fanatical about the man they put upon a pedestal, but once in a while they tend to give some decent insight.

Besides, there weren’t too many other’s he’d bother introducing himself to, even among the Vanguard faction. Many of the Guardian leaders that held posts upon planetary bodies were all busy fighting their own battles to even worry about lone guardians. Sloan was trying to keep the floating structures of Titan from sinking into the methane abyss, Ana was dealing with Rasputin. Much like them, the other’s were dealing with varying issues on their own planets. “Crimson days at the Crucible? Just not as much fun as racing a sparrow through dubious tracks.” He mused, his Ice colored hues seemingly sparkled at the mention of racing sparrows through the wilds, dodging an array of always changing obstacles and danger.

“Plusssss he got into trouble!” Came the melodic, singing filled the air around them, it’s tones continually shifting much like a wind chime in the breeze. Shifting out of the transmat zone, Jade lazily spun through the air, it’s Jadeite shell catching flecks of sun through the window. “Commander Baldy  was super mad we were away, exploring for so long. Far far away! He can stay mad though, I got to see the Ocean!” The chiming notes changed as the little ghost giggled while spinning in place, leaving her Guardian with a look of amusement painting his face.

“We may have gone further than what the Vanguard trio allowed. Zavala is. . .Zavala and I don’t quite see eye to eye, so to speak. He seems off put by what I’ve been trying to do for a bit now. After talking with Ikora, he sort of overheard what Jadeite and I were trying to accomplish, then he sort of put us on leave.” The man gave a light shrug of his shoulders, head cocked to one direction as he nuzzled the ghost that floated into the crook of his neck. Every twirl of Jadeite's shell tinkled against the few piercings he had up the edge of his ear.

“We got grounded. Not allowed to take part in guardian duties for a whole week. No flying off to other planets, or halfway around the world.” The little ghosts melodic chimes had gone low, it’s verdant shell drooping slightly.

Hidden in Heutte’s new nest beneath the stairs is a browning leaf, something glittering green beneath it. Closer inspection would reveal that the leaf and the object itself hadn’t made it there by accident. The leaf was carefully rolled around the tiny pebble, a shard of green jade so like the one Devrim had given him. The little light had attempted to wrap it as one might a gift, but his work was clumsy and awkward.

As he would have said (if he were with Devrim at the moment), such tasks are not easy without manual dexterity. 

In Heutte’s rush to discover answers to his questions and finding his Guardian, Heutte had forgotten something very important. That ‘something’ was a little ghost wandering through the church wearing a triangle shell. Their soft pink optic glanced around the building, scanning various piles of rubble as it went. To an outside observer, it would be easy to mistake the ghost for one on its search.

“So big, so empty, so lonely,” the ghost muttered to itself, it’s natural cadence something like a sing-song trill. “Where are you, where are you, where are you? You said you would be here.”

The ghost slowly drifted towards the nook beneath the stairs, pausing when it spotted signs of another ghost’s nest. Ghosts had a way of recognizing the signs of habitation of their own. With a quiet trill, the little ghost scanned the gap. “You were here. Where are you now? Don’t leave me alone out here,” they kept rambling, their optic starting to dart about the surroundings. Iceni was genuinely starting to fear something had happened to the friend they had reconnected with after believing them deceased for almost a year, and that something may now come for them.

::Query: Captain Devrim? Are you available? Statement: I require your assistance in setting up a transmat beacon as quickly as possible, no delay.::

“So… not to be a nuisance, but have you figured out our situation just yet?” Devrim asked from his lumpy, albeit very comfortable pile of various pillows he’d settled upon whilst drifting among this Ghost’s transmat-dimension? Slipspace? What even was this called?

“No rush, of course.”

Heutte, who was busy fussing across the ‘room’, suddenly froze in midair at the question. He remained impossibly still, as if someone had pressed pause on time and space itself, before exploding into a fury of light and movement. Crack. Faster than the eye could follow, the ghost reappeared just inches from Devrim’s face. Maybe time and space was broken in this tiny transmat-dimension, or at least warped? Even Heutte, a ghost known for having the ‘zoomies,’ should not have been able to move that quickly.

“Have I figured this out? Have I figured this out? You’re the one who broke into my house, and I don’t see you helping,” Heutte scoffed at his ‘guest.’ If at all possible, the ghost managed to sound furious and exhilarated all at once. The two points of his shell narrowed over his optic, as if squinting in exasperation at Devrim. The rest of him continued to just flutter and fidget as usual. His optic cycled  brighter, flashing white-hot as iron.

“Oh, please don’t. Please don’t. You’re the one who broke it in the first place. I’m sure you would just make it worse. You can’t even read the fluctuations in the temporal fields!” Heutte wondered if he should mention that transmat-dimension wasn’t designed to hold someone with as much matter as Devrim, and it could collapse in on them at any moment.

@devrimsperch

“That place sounds beautiful… I’ve only been to old North America a few times. Just on scouting missions with Guardians. Never got to do too much.” Devrim hummed, reminicing about his travels, despite how few he’s been allowed to have. Guardians almost always refused to let tower militia get involved in anything. It was a fight, tooth and nail, to get permission to scout alongside them.

He perked at the dreams Adrian seemed to have. Guardians and how they remembered things always intrigued him. He always wondered what it would be like, to live like your past life was just a dream. “A husband and a name? Well, that is quite a bit to celebrate!” he hummed. “What did you find out about yourself?”

“It really is beautiful out there, wilderness reclaiming what civilization had taken for centuries. Though there are quite a few Encampments and Communes like the Farm. One was a couple hours away from where Jade resurrected me the first time. Friendly people, though they don’t get too many guardians passing through, but it seems like they make do on their own. Most of the threats are wildlife getting too close to their boundaries.” A smile upon his face as he reminisced about the gorgeous sites. Spectacular sunrises and sunsets that set the mountain ranges ablaze in pinks, reds, oranges. The way the setting sun looked over the ocean, coloring the waves dark blue, how the sand felt against his skin. If he could get away with playing hooky from guardian duties a little more frequently, he wouldn’t mind traveling around a bit and experiencing the sights.

He had a husband, or very least a Fiance. Though he was fairly certain even with fuzzy details the figure had been male, yet no matter how often he tried forcing his dreams to move further. To remove the block that had kept him from seeing clearly, they usually ended in him waking up and staring into the darkness. Maybe one day those dreams would become clear enough for him to truly see the part of himself he was missing all this time. He took another sip of his cooling tea before inhaling deep enough for said tea to travel down the wrong pipe, plaguing the guardian with violent coughs and watery eyes. “Wait what!?” He asked, voice rather scratchy as he continued to cough for a couple more minutes until his airways were a bit more clear.

“Yeeeeeeess!” She sang around, twirling through the air, seemingly rather pleased with herself. “While we were searching around your Second Birthplace, I was scanning and found something encased in the calcium deposits at the bottom of one of the hot pools. Naturally I scooped it up and been routinely repairing it, it was both badly damaged and covered in sediment.” She continued to float through the air, her voice an array of melodies.

“Wait, wait, was that way you had to perform a reboot that afternoon? Because you took a dip in a boiling hot, acidic hot-pool to grab something you found? Wait, do you just float around picking up whatever catches your eye?” He asked his Jadeite shell with a small grin, hues still tinged red. “Well lay it on me.”

“I don’t take just anything. It’s gotta be interesting first! Okay, okay! Drum roll please!” Jade announced before synthesizing her voice into a series of low rolling sounds, then stopped. “Your name is Adrian Blackwater, no middle name that I could tell, profession; a glorified gravel monkey!” Revealing the Guardians name and something close to a profession before dissolving into a fit of windchime like giggles as she rotated on an axis, obviously pleased with herself. A small laminated badge materialized out of thin air before falling to the ground with a small plopping sound. Most of the colors were worn, and the name of whatever institution it had belonged to were all but gone, leaving only a couple letters. First and last name were still readable, along with what he thought was a dreadful picture of someone that looked almost like himself. Maybe younger? Grey hair, Light blue eyes, possibly a tan that spoke how long that person had been out in the sun.