♤ More Than Fine, More Than Bent on Getting By

[deal_me_in]

WHO: Cayde-6 and all'a you
WHERE: IN YUR SPACE Here, there, anywhere! Ugh, just tell him to go home
WHAT: Someone is totally not having attachment issues and just wanting to hang out because that what u do
WHEN: Post-Billicity, through June
WARNINGS: N/A I think
NOTES: Prose to start, will match as preferred.



♤ Fancy Meeting You Here!
For the lack of adrenaline Cayde had still found himself able to go along as though nothing had happened, because things being 'normal' acted in its own way like an energy boost, just being in familiar territory with people whom not only did he know, but that knew him back. He knows it's not nearly so simple, of course, but that's a different sort of problem that he knows he can't personally fix for everyone. Not that it means he won't try to make things a little better.

He certainly hasn't been particularly shy about popping by the more frequented places of the town to begin with, and now it's like he's doing so with a vengeance. The greenhouse, sure. The diner? Of course. The hangar? You bet. The Deep End? Absolutely. He may even be there more often than usual, if only because he knows it's a sure place people come by, if not for the hard liquor then maybe for some coffee. Thought you were about to have a quiet drink? Well, look alive, you've got company. Maybe he'll even try picking out a tune on that guitar there that's practically become a communal instrument. And then there's the amphitheater, because he knows some people use that as a place to blow off some excess energy.

For people he's more familiar with, it shouldn't come as a surprise to find him just there in their space at some point, invited himself in, made himself at home. It's fine, we're all fine. Yes, he's terribly clingy (even though he will attempt not to make it obvious) because being in a busy city and yet finding yourself able to still be isolated is an experience he could have done without. No, he's not going to outright admit it, but it's been a long month. Let him have this. Please.


♤ Great Googly Moogly!
It never fails; you're just going about your day like usual and then you turn and suddenly find yourself startled by a pair of googly eyes staring at you. Unless you're Ikora, in which case this will probably not startle so much as prompt an arch of a brow. But there they are.

Helmets are a prime target, especially on the back. Doors, trees, Jon's chair, someone's mug, a random wrench, Ophiuchus, glasses (I mean, how can you not?!)- free game. Sky's the limit- although if Cayde had the means, he might have very well tried that too.

Not to worry. This too shall pass. Probably.

Or at least it will when he runs out of googly eyes.


♤ Not-Home-Away-From-Not-Home-Away-From-Not-Home
The days and nights in the city facsimile had been more like regular days back on Earth and yet they still had felt incredibly long. Staying awake most of those nights just lent to the impression. He's sure that the exhaustion he feels is more mental than physical, but he's been most determined to make his rounds.

The old Agrii furniture store is one of Cayde's more random haunts, a place he enjoys poking around for supplies and random knick-knacks when he's bored or to sprawl out on one of the many beds. At the moment it's the latter, and should anyone happen to wander into the bed section, they'll find the Hunter lying across the end of a bed on his side, an arm tucked under his hooded head, optics shuttered, hand cannon still holstered at his side. Exos don't need to sleep, but in keeping with the habits of their formerly fleshy selves they can if they wish, and low and behold, it looks like he's doing just that, finally given in to all the running around.

Hovering watchfully nearby is his Ghost Sundance, and should they suddenly find themselves with company she'll swivel around to look at whomever might come upon her sleeping Guardian.


♤ Aces Wild
((AKA if you have any other ideas or something you want play out, toss down a starter or bother me to hash out some deets, whichever!))

Comments

[deal_me_in]

It was kind of an amusing conclusion considering that it wasn't at all wrong, although Cayde hadn't particularly meant reboots and deaths to be synonymous. Then again, that was kind of how it worked, pre-Light.

There was that particular look the kid got whenever something piqued his self-interests. It wasn't a super obvious shift, but it was all sorts of things that made it, really. Even from the few interactions they'd so far had, he'd caught on pretty well as to what sort of person he was dealing with, especially as someone who had a habit of watching for people's tells. The Exo wasn't so sure he liked any sort of interest of that sort when it came to a Guardian's practical immortality.

"Things're weird here," he replied, holding up his hand to forestall any immediate questions. "Not sure how things'd work out, being in a different world, maybe even a different universe altogether."

[demjiin]

Kaz knew that he had his own set of tells, everyone did, but he was more attuned to finding them in others. As far as his went, they abated as soon as Cayde put his hands up; sharpened attention dissipated and his eyes slid back to his drink.

"Ah. Well, that would make it difficult to test out the idea."

Using one hand to pick up his cane, he came around to the other side of the bar that his drink was on. Sitting helped, but first he dragged another barstool around so he could still see Cayde, but he could also stretch out his bad leg to the side.

"Short of death then, I'm assuming you are capable of withstanding heat or cold."

[deal_me_in]

Cayde casually set the guitar aside, resting his elbow on the counter as he sat away from the wall. He smirked, not finding himself surprised at all that the thought had been on the kid's mind, but having all the more reason not to let his guard down. He'd died plenty of foolish deaths, but as a test wasn't going to be one of them.

"Where's this going, kid? Beat around the bush all you like, but I'm not hopping in a freezer or into a fire without good reason."

[demjiin]

Kaz's dark drown eyes studied Cayde for a moment as he took a sip from his drink.

"Since you've agreed to work for me for the moment, it would be safer to know. I'm seeing what your limits would be now when there isn't a crisis at hand."

Kaz raised a quizzical eyebrow.

""Unless you would prefer to find out the hard way, that is?"

[deal_me_in]

"Oh, how thoughtful of you!" Yes he was being absolutely sarcastic.

Cayde reached over to grab a bottle from the shelf, setting it on the counter as he pulled up a glass from behind it. He poured the nearly glowing blue liquid as he settled back into place. "Way I see it, life's all about finding things out the hard way," he said as he picked up his drink. "Now, I agreed to play bodyguard. So unless you end up traipsing into a frozen wasteland or something, I don't know why else you'd be asking me such specific questions."

[demjiin]

Kaz snorted at that.

"Spoken like a man that is made out of metal. Or one with a death wish. Or maybe just some skewed maiming wish instead. Whether or not you could come back from death, you must be aware that you're more durable than others."

Kaz had no idea what Temba might throw at them, either. But he highly doubted that Cayde couldn't survive most of what would kill the other Temba residents.

[deal_me_in]

Flashing Kaz a jaunty grin, Cayde tipped back his glass for a quick swig. "Oh no, definitely not into maiming. And not too keen on dying, believe it or not," he said as he turned his glass between his fingers.

"Aware that I'm more durable than others here might be? Quite. But I will be damn pissed if you intentionally use me as a shield."

[demjiin]

"I'm not planning on using you as a shield."

However if that likelihood ever came up, Kaz might revisit the idea.

"But isn't that what 'bodyguard' entails? At the very least you will be more durable than I am."

[deal_me_in]

"Hence why I said 'intentionally'. Now, I know you're kind of rude and that attitude of yours can find all sorts of trouble, which probably can't be helped. So okay, yeah, I'll step in."

Cayde tapped a finger against the rim of his glass. "If you mean to start up a fight just because I happen to be there so you can duck behind me- that is an entirely different matter."

[demjiin]

That came as a surprise to Kaz. Not the assessment of him being rude, or having a bad attitude, but that anyone that he wasn't paying handsomely would willfully act as a shield for him. Honestly, he wasn't thinking of picking any fights, but he didn't often and still had a long list of enemies in Ketterdam alone.

"...why would you do that?"

Very rarely, Kaz would actually sound like what he was; a 17-year-old kid.

[deal_me_in]

So under that gruff exterior there really was a kid in there after all. Cayde otherwise didn't seem surprised at the response. Kaz came off as the sort that relied on himself out of necessity. Shiny, thriving cities and happy people did not breed such life-worn adolescents. Here was a kid who'd been through a lot.

"You might think it strange, but believe it or not, there are people who are willing to lend a hand without it being asked of them. Seeing someone in trouble and turning a blind eye? Not my thing. Maybe I'll be called a meddler, but if it makes someone's difference at the end of the day, well I'm fine with that."

[demjiin]

A long time ago, when he was barely 9, Kaz felt he'd been naive enough to think other people might just want to be kind sometimes. It was a notion he'd long since given up but this was different. This was someone that didn't seem to like him that much, casually saying he would have Kaz's back regardless of what his mouth said. Cayde's explanation didn't clarify much since it was entirely against Kaz's own lived experience.

Kaz took a small sip of his drink then cleared his throat, "Is that something you do often? Adopting people, I mean."

Ah yes, Kaz's go-to unpleasant attitude whenever someone was unexpectantly nice to him. But he had to keep up the pretense of being contrary.

[deal_me_in]

Cayde laughed. "Adopt people? No. Look out for others? Yeah. Part of what I do back home. But even then it's not all about duties and what sits right with you."

He tipped back the rest of the glass, draining the spotchka. While it wasn't exactly his favorite drink he did like how it seemed to glow, and that had been one of the easier things to get in quantity while they were on Coruscant. At least between him and Cobb he was sure they'd have enough stock to last a good while, hopefully longer than they intended to be stuck here.

"You ever stop and think- am I happy with who I am?"

[demjiin]

Cayde couldn't know it, but that was a very loaded question for Kaz. Instead of answering at first, Kaz had set his drink on the bar and stared at it in silence for a moment.

"Truthfully? I'm not sure what it would felt like to have been happy, so I can't answer that."

Make of that whatever you want, It's a lot more candor than Kaz usually gives. He looked back up at Cayde.

"I'll ask you then; are you happy with who you are?"

[deal_me_in]

"Eh, happy comes in different shades for different people. Would it be easier to conceptualize if I'd asked if you felt good about who you were instead?"

Cayde poured himself another glass, glancing at Kaz out of the corner of his eye. That it seemed the kid was giving his question actual thought was something, at least. The answer he ultimately gave was nodded at, a fair response, if a sad one, but you didn't end up conniving and distrustful of others without reason.

"Me? There's definitely room for improvement," he said, picking up his drink, watching the liquid tilt from one side to the other as he swiveled the glass around in hand. "But overall? Yeah. I'm pretty happy with who I am. I am far from perfect- I know, I know, surprising as that may sound- but I know I could've been a lot worse."

[demjiin]

Kaz frowned, trying to puzzle out meaning but eventually had to ask;

"What do you mean 'I know I could've been worse?'"

[deal_me_in]

"Anyone can be worse, kid. You don't let yourself start caring about things, or thinking- really thinking about the things you can possibly do, then you can turn out pretty mean."

Cayde drank from his glass, looking over at Kaz.

"You got something that keeps you going day to day?"

[demjiin]

Another loaded question, but Kaz didn't hesitate on answering.

"Vengeance."

It was the same answer he'd had since he was 9 and crawled out of the Ketterdam harbor with white-hot rage burning a hole in his heart.

[deal_me_in]

"Ah, classic. 'Burn the whole world down' kind of vengeance, or targeted?" Cayde asked, resting his chin against his palm.

He knew the feeling, he'd even been there. He knew it wasn't a healthy course, but people had their reasons. It was the afterwards that usually was the problem.

[demjiin]

A smirk crept across one side of Kaz's mouth.

"It's become a little bit of both."

The smirk vanished though. Unhealthy was a polite way of putting it. When it had become an all-consuming need, it was pretty easy to call it an obsession.

"But mostly targeted."

[deal_me_in]

That was downright creepy coming from someone so young but Kaz acted like someone so much older and thoroughly seemed like the sort who would follow through. Cayde shook his head.

"Well, I won't ask the why's, especially given how little inclined you seem to like to talk about yourself," he added with a faint smirk of his own, "-but I sure hope you have plans for what happens after all that. Vengeance has a habit of leaving a big ol' void in its wake"

[demjiin]

"That would be where 'a little of both' comes in."

This is Kaz's major flaw. He had already taken apart the slimy merchant's life and taken his freedom. And he had become so thoroughly involved in taking apart the barrel boss Pekka Rollins' life that while he was doing exactly that, his plans were rapidly coming to fruition. But he had nothing beyond that he wanted. He had turned his gang, the Dregs, from a lot of washed-up old cadgers into a force to be reckoned with. He had more money than anyone from the barrel had ever dreamed. At 17 all that he had fought and bled for was becoming his...and he had no idea what should come next.

"There are a few things I want to invest in, but mostly I want to get back to Ketterdam because it's my city."

[deal_me_in]

Cayde wasn't much for planning things out, but he liked having things open-ended. Sure, it looked like he wasn't going to get much chance to do anything given he was the Hunter Vanguard and expected to stay close to the Last City, but it didn't stop him from trying, and it wasn't as though he hadn't the best interests of home at heart. If bad things were going to keep coming for them he preferred to head them off.

"So when you say you want to get back to this place do you mean from here or are you somewhere else even back where you've been?" Cayde asked. "What's this Ketterdam like? And on what world?" Did they cover that before? He never got to ask much about Kaz, but then they hadn't really chatted like this before.

[demjiin]

Kaz frowned a bit.

"I'm not actually sure what the world is called since I had never been in space before I came here. Where I'm from is called Kirch and Ketterdam is the capital city."

It's still an island nation and it is probably relevant to mention that Ketterdam was only an island because the Council of Tides, grisha who had power over the ocean, flooded the land bridge connecting Kirch to their closest neighbors the Shu Han. But no one has ever seen the Council of Tides for 50 years.

Ketterdam is...unique."

He had a more thoughtful look now.

"There's everything from wealthy Merchant mansions, to just prosperous people that work for them; lawyers and doctors."

Then that small smirk was tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"And then there's the Barrel. It's pretty much a nonstop party with gambling, entertainment, drinking, and company all available for a price. People come from all countries to slip into the crowd anonymously and be able to do whatever they want if they pay for it."

[deal_me_in]

That made sense, Cayde supposed. In that kind of setting you probably had more than enough to worry about within the sphere of your own world that there was no sense in thinking about beyond, especially if technology hadn't evolved to such proportions.

He observed Kaz as the teen spoke of his city. Even he had to grin a little. Seemed like no matter the world or universe or whatever, you still had similar themes.

"Sounds like my kinda haunt," the Exo chuckled as he considered the Barrel.