Archive of Our Own

Shin's eye opened when he heard the front door open and close. He sighed in annoyance.

He thought maybe now that the Cabal threat was taken care of Wolf would fucking relax!

No such luck. She was determined to fill her days with activities now that the Provings were over. Most mornings it was going to the gym with Bear and Rat to work out and sweat. Then she came back to whichever apartment Shin was sleeping in and took a shower. Today it happened to be his apartment. He was almost sure she preferred it. Wolf's kitchen area in her apartment was appalling. It was all frozen meals or freeze dried rations or, worst of all, meal bars. Shin's place was better because he actually cooked the food. Then after breakfast she usually went off to do something for the Vanguard unless Shin specifically had something in mind for them to do. That or sex which Shin did not mind at all. But the whole thing was irritating anyway. Shin could never go back to sleep when he felt her leave. He'd already gotten used to the sound of her sleeping body and the silence in the room afterwards was deafening.

It was no wonder she was always so fucking exhausted, woman couldn't sleep in or rest to save her life until she was about to collapse.

With a groan he sat up. Usually he laid in the bed for a bit longer, stewing, before getting up and preparing breakfast so he could have something together when she finished with her shower. Even after more than a week she was surprised Shin always made her breakfast, and often times lunch and dinner too. Clearly she either ate out or out of a microwave most meals. Shin didn't do that and it was easier to just cook for himself than make sure a restaurant had not only vegetarian options but options he'd even like.

He grabbed a hair tie off the side table and pulled his hair back, trying not to be annoyed. He was getting pretty fed up with this shit honestly. He needed to have a real talk with Wolf about it. He wanted to be with her and she kept running off every day. He didn't begrudge her wanting to hang out with her friends but he spent most of his time away from her and they were actively dating.

Bitterly he realized this was also probably a reason she had so many exes. She was never fucking around and most men were too big of cowards to ask the Young Wolf, Godslayer, Hero of the Red War that she was to actually spend time with them.

Weaklings.

He rubbed his face and was about to get up to go into the bathroom to start the day when the door opened again.

She was back. In armor and not her workout clothes (which he did like her in, they made her legs and ass look amazing). Not for the first time Shin thought she looked out of place at his apartment in the Wall, which was utterly unlived in; featureless walls and lack of anything indicating anyone even lived here other than some food in the kitchen and a couple of guns hanging on the wall. This place wasn't where Shin lived, his ship was so it was empty and off white on every surface, all the furniture had that slight sheen to it of pure glimmer fabrication like plastic. In comparison Wolf's gear set was maximalist today, brilliant colors and her vest was ringed in little charms and noise makers that twinkled when she moved. Light etching had been carved into parts of her armor so they glowed in the facet she was in. It was orange so Solar. She was without her helmet and her hood was down, the bottom edge nearly at her heels.

"You're up," she said, surprised.

"Against my will, I am up," he complained.

"Good. We're playing Gambit," she said.

He blinked. "What?"

"I said; we're playing Gambit," she repeated herself. Shin groaned. "Stop complaining."

Shin dragged a hand down his face miserably, "I have to deal with that stupid Warlock today don't I?" He was already in a pissy mood because of his relationship with Wolf and now that idiot?

"That 'stupid warlock' is like your only other friend," Wolf said.

He gave her an annoyed look. "That's your friend, not mine," he said pointedly. She just rolled her eyes at him.

"I sent him a message but if not I need an invader, now c'mon," she said.

Shin got up despite his complaining, grabbing his pockit from the bed side table so he could open his vault link. "You could invade for once in your life," he said.

"And leave blockers to the randoms? Absolutely not. I prefer winning."

Shin didn't argue. She wasn't wrong exactly. Blueberries were hit or miss when playing and other than the paper Dredgens Drifter had coined (which still pissed Shin off to no end) most Gambit players were mid at best. Couldn't cut it in Crucible or as a field operative so you staked a claim in Gambit where the combatants were simulated and the pvp was far less intense than Crucible. It wasn't a no skill game by any means but you were more likely to run into chaff playing Gambit than Crucible because Drifter didn't have brackets, he basically drew your name out of a hat.

"Fine," he grumbled, looking down at his pockit and finding his Skinner loadout. It looked nothing like his usual or Crucible armor and was entirely made up of Gambit stuff and covered in green snake motifs marking his Reaper role status. He'd bicker and bitch with Savant all game about who got to invade but at the end of the game neither of them wore the Invader role. The other parts of the game were just too important to waste valuable rule changes on the Invader gear rule set. He looked around, "Where's my stupid Ghost?" he asked.

It took him a second to find him playing with Wolf's Ghost over by the sink. He'd left the dishes in water last night when Wolf had shown up unannounced after being gone for two days running a strike for Zavala and Shin hadn't been able to clean up after that. She also did that which needed to be talked about because she left and he had no idea where she was until she showed up at his door. He hadn't been able to ask until later because she'd pulled him over to the bed to have sex. "Ghost," he called as it was spinning its prongs to make bubbles. It stopped and looked at him, he just beckoned it. He shook off the water and floated over to Shin. "Gambit armor," he said, selecting the loadout to trigger the transfer out of the Vault to his Ghost locally. He hadn't played Gambit since before Europa so had put the gear away. Before then he usually had it on an armor stand on his ship for ease of access.

"Oh? We're playing Gambit again?" And his armor appeared on him, including the helmet. His Ghost also talked around Wolf now. It was so weird. His Ghost hadn't talked around people for centuries, even when he'd been Jaren's Ghost. Now all the sudden he was talking around Wolf.

"Don't sound too excited," Shin said, rolling his shoulders so the leather gear settled on him properly. "I just do what Wolf says okay," he said and she laughed.

"Seems wise. Who knew you could do that," and Shin flicked him on the top fin in annoyance, sending him floating backwards a few inches.

"He's so grumpy," Wolf said, smiling. "Has he always been this grumpy?"

"The word you're looking for is annoying; and yes," Shin sighed. He selected his weapons from the Vault too. He couldn't use the Last Word or Thorn in Gambit. It'd give him away. He selected a handcanon he liked, an auto rifle, and a scout rifle for regular play, his preferred Gambit sniper rifle, and a rocket launcher. They were all Gambit weapons because Shin was playing it up. What annoyed him the most was his loadout was so close to Savant's. Shin used the Dreaded Venture but Savant had some fucked up sniper from Eric's personal collection. Even in the hands of an idiot like him it was a killer.

"Ready?" Wolf asked him.

"Yeah," he sighed. "We need to stop at the Bazaar though, I want to grab a breakfast wrap or something."

"Sure!" Then she grabbed his hand. As much as her being gone irritated him whenever she was around it always made him forget about it. Like now. What was he annoyed about again? "Let's go before Drifter closes staging," and she dragged him out of his apartment.

--

It was always crowded on days Drifter decided to organize Gambit. His station down in the Annex was only open for an hour or so in the morning for bounty collection so the most Gambit games would be played and the most Guardians could rotate through. It wasn't a huge amount of Guardians, just a two or three hundred, a small percentage of the actual militia, but it was enough that could make waiting to play Gambit last hours.

Unless you were in with Drifter Shin supposed.

The stop at the breakfast place along with Wolf coming backing for him meant most of the Guardians had already come through, grabbed their bounties and gone off to await the start of the games. That left only a handful of Guardians in here including their 'in' with Drifter.

You'd never know it from talking to the idiot but Savant-3 was literally one of the best Gambit players there was. It infuriated Shin to no end to admit that but... it was true! He even had a 'Dredgen' title to back it up; Dredgen Hunter. A real tongue in cheek name because sometimes Savant acted more like a Hunter than a Warlock. He also was merciless in hunting down enemy teams when he invaded.

Savant was leaning on the railing next to Drifter but not in his space. "There you guys are, I thought you weren't going to show," Savant said as Shin just went and collected the bounties, ignoring Savant and Drifter. The more he could ignore Drifter the better. Savant was an Exo with a shiny black chassis and a face model Shin could only describe as 'cute', with a thick white paint stripe down the center of his face. And he had a series of glowing pin lights around his skull the same green color as his eyes and mouth. He had two antenna sticking out of the sides of his head Shin knew could wiggle almost freely. Shin wasn't into Exos but, infuriatingly, he'd heard plenty of other Gambit players call Savant handsome.

Annoying fucking robot.

"Skinner didn't want to play," Wolf said, bumping into him.

"Didn't want to bicker about invasions more like," Savant said smugly. Shin rolled him eyes in his helmet picking the bounties he actually gave a shit about.

Wolf collected all the bounties, not looking at them, "We'll see you in the flotilla," she said brightly to Savant.

"Can't wait," Savant's voice was just as annoyingly bright.

"You done?" Wolf asked Shin, not to rush him just to ask.

"Yeah," and his Ghost must have been waiting because he was on his ship a second later. The Gambit flotilla was already in orbit, waiting for Drifter to announce where Gambit was today. Shin didn't try to understand how the Haul worked but to organize the play space it needed to be closeish to the location it was replicating. It made about as much sense as Shin being able to make fire with his mind. But that would take time. The Derelict was slow and Drifter hadn't even closed staging yet.

Shin sat in his pilot chair and ate the breakfast burrito they'd gotten in the Bazaar. "Ghost, patch me through to Wolf," he said between bites.

"Yeah?" Wolf asked out of his Ghost.

"Don't do that thing you do where you don't eat," he said. Which was another thing he'd noticed about her that made him crazy. The woman... didn't eat! She often just skipped meals or had a meal bar and now he knew why she liked him taking her out to eat or cooked for her so much; she actually ate real food. Shin had a feeling he wasn't the only person in Wolf's life annoyed with her food and sleeping schedule. It sounded like something Cat or Bear would lecture her about if the eye rolling the few times he'd brought it up meant anything.

"Oh," she said, sounding surprised. She'd completely forgotten he'd also ordered her a breakfast burrito too. How the fuck was this the Godkiller when she never slept and forgot to eat? Traveler's Light. "Good idea. Also respond to my fireteam request dumbass."

"I'm ignoring it just to bother you," he said dryly. She laughed. His Ghost closed. "Accept that request," he said to his Ghost.

"Done." Shin finished off his his breakfast as the Derelict started moving from its position at the front of the flotilla. "Gambit matches are inner Reef orbit," his Ghost said after a few minutes. That meant either Mars, or the Tangled Shore, or even an Awoken colony asteroid. Good enough.

The engines rumbled louder and his Ghost started turning the ship to the outer system. Shin let him do the driving because there were so many ships and they all needed to move in formation through NLS. It was easiest with Ghosts. Ships winked out around him as they engaged NLS and Shin tossed the aluminum wrapping into the small waste container in the cockpit as his ship snapped out of space, headed for the Reef.

--

The worst part about Gambit was the waiting. Even when fireteamed with Savant you had to wait. Shaxx could run multiple games at once, letting other announcers commentate on lower bracket games. But there was only one Haul, and only one Drifter. Shin had his pockit propped up on the console of his ship watching a live feed of someone in a game now. They were doing terribly.

"Well they can't all be like you, kiddo."

Shin flinched and glanced over. That thing was back. Well it had gone back to looking like Jaren now. It was leaned against his controls, head facing the cockpit window like it was looking out into space. Shin didn't respond to it. His Ghost was watching the feed with him, hovering over Shin's shoulder. Nothing for days and now this? Why now?

Then it turned and looked right at Shin and it immediately triggered his fight or flight response. He stayed almost perfectly still instead.

The thing that looked like Jaren leaned over, hand passing uselessly through his Ghost. "You taking care of my guy? He's a real stubborn one. But I'm sure you knew that," it said, a smirk heavy on their mouth. "Two peas in a pod you two are. Far more than we ever were."

"Hey Ghost," Shin said, ignoring the not-Jaren. He didn't like it even pretending to touch his Ghost. "Send a message to Wolf if she's okay with me coming over to her ship."

"I assume it's alright-

"We always ask."

His Ghost gave him a look. "Since when?"

"Do we have to go over Wolf's Stasis melt down again?"

"Ah. Right," he said, not dismissively but like he had forgotten and perhaps didn't care. "I sent the request," he said. Then, "She wants to know if you're just coming over to make sure she had breakfast."

Shin chuckled. "No," he said. "Not this time."

"Awww, what a sweet guy you are now, kiddo." Shin continued to ignore not-Jaren and his sarcastic remarks. "Almost makes up for all the shit you've done."

"She said you can."

"Great, get me there," Shin said anxiously. Not-Jaren was still there and Shin could feel it leering at him through the angled planes of his visor.

He was glad when his Ghost transmatted him to standing on Wolf's ship. She was sitting on her day bed eating the breakfast burrito still. "I dunno if I like this. It's spicy," she said.

"I told them mild," Shin said apologetically. Wolf couldn't handle spicy food.

"Do you want it?"

"Are you done?"

She looked at the burrito and then took another bite, "It's still better than the pasta in my rations," she grumbled. Shin went and sat next to her. "You didn't make breakfast," she said, it was almost a complaint.

"You were gone like ten minutes. It takes me that long to get out of bed. So this I'll blame on you," Shin said, leaning back onto the bed's side.

"So what'd you want to come over here for?" Wolf asked as she went to get rid of the trash.

"No reason," he said. She looked at him curiously. "What? I need a reason to spend a long ass Gambit day on your ship?"

She giggled. "I guess not," she said.

"Don't act like its weird I want to spend time with you," he said softly, leaning over to kiss her lightly. Because he did and he missed her when she was gone all day.

"Its not," she said, tugging on his scarf playfully. He glanced down when he felt pressure on his arm, just Wolf's hand tracing some of the heavy stitch work on his bracer.

"We should do it more often," Shin said, trying to broach the subject gently and not just barreling headlong into it. He kissed her again, savoring how nice it was.

She ended up half in his lap as they made out, waiting to get called for a game. He was of half a mind to pull out of match making and fool around but resisted the temptation. He actually liked playing Gambit and hadn't played in months so he kept his hands to himself other than to hold Wolf against him.

Either they made out for longer than Shin thought or it took less time to get a game but Wolf's Ghost floated over to them. "Drifter is requesting a transmat pull," he said, interrupting.

"Already?" Shin asked.

"That was fast," Wolf said.

"Just got lucky I guess," Ghost said.

The two exchanged a look. "Or Savant whined and complained about wanting to play with us to Drifter," Wolf said, amused.

"Sounds like him," Shin sighed.

"Helps when your third is fucking the guy running it," Wolf said just to annoy him.

It worked. "Stop reminding me!" Shin cried.

Wolf laughed brightly and untangled herself from him. "Let's go!" Wolf said enthusiastically. Their Ghosts came over and a moment later they were both pulled off Wolf's ship and down to the Haul.

--

The first game back Shin was reminded how much bickering he did with Savant, who was their designated Collector. Thanks to his ability to skip across the ground at speed he was better at scooping motes than even a Hunter. Most of the bickering came with who got to Invade when they'd banked enough. Wolf stayed around the bank as their Sentry and she was deadly at dealing with blockers.

Despite the arguing they still won by a stiff margin.

A few hours later during the second game Shin attempted not to argue with Savant because he was reminding himself he was trying to be different, better. He could play nice with this stupid ass Exo.

It didn't really work.

At the very least the arguing about who got to invade was cut down to a game of rock, paper, scissors. First single elimination, then best of three, then five, and then Wolf had barked at them to figure it out and Shin had jumped through because he was winning. But the non stop bickering about picking up motes or slaying or yelling at their random forth (who was never a Dredgen and Drifter always seemed to 'randomly' give them a useless teammate), didn't let up.

By the end of game two Wolf kept dying at the bank because she couldn't stop laughing at them which pulled her focus long enough for a Taken Knight or Phalanx to slap her around.

"I missed you guys," Savant said at their third game while they stood in the transmat zone as Drifter decided on what they were going to fight. "Gambit was so boring without you," he said brightly, cocking his helmet at them in a very Hunter way that was supposed to be 'cute' or 'sweet'. It was irritating how many Hunter mannerisms he just had. And worse because they were all Eric's mannerisms so it was like the shrimp was here with them just in a Nezarec's Sin and a blue velvet duster.

"Did it stop you from playing?" Wolf asked.

"No."

"Then it couldn't have been that boring. Skinner said he wouldn't play without me," she teased Shin. Dredgen Skinner was Shin's Gambit alias so he could engage with the game and not tip off Drifter. At first it had just been a cover to keep an eye on him but over the years he cared less and less as Drifter proved to be not as great a problem as he was concerned about. Now he just kept it up because he was sure Drifter would not want him hanging around. Something something Shin killed most of his friends. As if. Dredgen Hope was the last original Shadow so could say whatever he wanted but the man hadn't exactly been the most social in the cult. He certainly hadn't been flocked with friends in it. Hope had been a loner even amid a bunch of weirdos like the Shadows of Yor.

Whatever lie he said to make himself feel better Shin supposed. That's what he did.

"I was busy," Shin lied, the modulator in his helmet changing his voice so he didn't sound like himself. It was even deeper and graveler than he could pull off. Savant said their fan club loved it. Shin always rolled his eyes at that.

"Doing what? Gargling rocks?" Savant asked him breezily.

"Better than gargling cock, bitch," Shin growled, the voice changer making it even darker than usual and that made Savant laugh so hard it made his voice box audibly crack and release a strange audio feedback noise.

"Hold onto... somethin'!" Drifter called, "Transmat firing."

"Did either of you hear what we're fighting?" Savant asked mid transmat.

"Does it matter?" Shin asked once they were on a simulated Reef landscape that mimicked an Awoken asteroid colony

"Not really," Savant said as they all ran off as soon as their feet hit the polished surface of the Awoken architecture.

"Uh- Fallen," their random fourth said, speaking up for the first time in fireteam comms.

"Literally no one asked," Shin snapped and the Guardian, a Titan wearing all Vanguard standard gear, yelped in response.

"So testy today," Savant teased him.

"Yeah. I gotta play with you," Shin growled.

"You always play with me. That's why Gambit is fun!" Savant said as he jumped into the air and threw a Vortex grenade far down range where it perfectly hit a group of dregs that all exploded into a shower of motes.

Shin didn't reply because he would be damned if he admitted out loud Savant was right.

--

The end of their third game came with Wolf cracking four Golden Gun shots into the Primeval's face and then whipped around as Drifter announced an invasion. She shot the invading Dawnblade out of full Radiance with one shot to their head, sending them back to their side. Then she fired the last shot into the Primeval. In the moments between killing the Dawnblade and turning back around the rest of them had been whittling down the Primeval so her final shot killed it. The Primeval twisted and was ripped apart as the Taken energy inside it was destroyed. Shin just stared at Wolf as Drifter was shouting excitedly over comms about the play. A few simulated dregs shot him, jostling his armor but not so fast his Ghost couldn't just repair it even faster. Then they were pulled back to the Derelict.

After match rewards were collected even as Drifter had brought a new group on to play. Shin only glanced at what he got; helmet that was worse than the one he had now, some terrible weapons, and a couple of tokens. He had his Ghost turn the weapons into glimmer. Wolf was inspecting a new Trust she'd gotten before deciding it probably wasn't as good as one she already had. It also became glimmer. She just left it on the collections table, her Ahamkara's hoard of glimmer full enough. Whoever came next round would get an extra bit of glimmer.

Shin was not a little impatient waiting for Wolf to finish talking with Savant after the match. She was fireteam lead so had control over transmat off the Derelict. Reward collections was on the lower area of the Derelict, below the stage they were originally transmatted onto. Shin leaned against the wall of the stage, arms folded, staring at them under his helmet wishing Savant would kindly fuck off.

It must have eventually worked, or Wolf was just annoyed with him absolutely mean mugging Savant through his helmet, because she said bye to Savant. "Okay we're going, grumpy ass," Wolf said to him over comms, he could hear the roll of her eyes in her voice. Shin said nothing.

Then they were on Wolf's ship. Shin pulled his helmet off. "I don't know why you just can't be nice to him-- what are you doing?" she asked as Shin pulled first his helmet off and then her own, tossing them both onto the day bed.

"You're a real annoying person," he said and then kissed her. That surprised her too and it took her a moment to start kissing him back but she certainly did. She curled her arms around his neck. Blindly Shin undid a few snaps and velcro on his gloves and gauntlets so he could pull his gloves off, already thinking about what he wanted to do. Wolf made a cute noise when Shin picked her up and found the closest flat surface, which happened to be the wall of her ship.

When they finally came up to breathe she gasped out, "We have got to work on your communication skills."

"If it works, it works," he rumbled, also out a bit out of breathe. He kissed her jaw and high on her neck since the underlayer had a high collar. Even being supported Wolf pressed herself against Shin encouragingly and it went right to Shin's head.

They probably had an hour or two before their next match, plenty of time to do whatever came of this. They'd made out some between games but the way Shin put his hands on her belayed that he wasn't just interested in that. It seemed like Wolf was always into him if he even made a passing note of it and she initiated the rest of the time. Taking time between Gambit was probably the longest time they'd spent together and not had sex.

Wolf couldn't help the whine that escaped her mouth as Shin shoved his hand down the front of her pants. She was wearing a two piece underlayer today since Gambit didn't actually have any dangerous atmospheres. Shin's other hand was under Wolf's thigh, holding her against him.

Wolf cursed softly when Shin fit his hand between her skin and the thin fabric of her underwear. She squeezed his shoulders, gasping as he adjusted her against the wall and was able to press two of his fingers into her. She was warm and eager and dug her fingers into his shoulders. "Fu-- Shin," she gasped and that was his favorite thing. Also a new development. He loved hearing her say his name when he made her feel good. He peppered a few kisses against her face and mouth as he worked his fingers in and out of her and sometimes rubbing against her clit making her moan his name again.

Only because it was such a distinct sound in the otherwise quiet ship did Shin even hear the sound of a transmat activating. They both froze and Shin looked down into Wolf's purple eyes. She was just wide eyed, all horniness evaporated instantly. Thankfully Shin was big and broad enough to block what he was doing but there was no denying their positioning.

"Light blind me! You didn't tell me you hooked up! Finally!" Savant cried.

"Savant I told you to request a transmat!" Wolf yelled over Shin's shoulder at him. Shin quickly removed his hand. Her face was deeply purple and Shin wasn't sure if it was embarrassment or anger. Honestly it was probably both.

She shoved Shin off her and Shin took a couple staggered steps back. He leveled a look of reproach at Savant. Savant wasn't even paying attention, his stupid Exo face looking weirdly betrayed by arriving to them making out because thankfully that was all he'd been able to see them doing. hin wasn't quite sure what the loud conversation he wasn't a part of was about but from the sound of it Wolf was mad Savant had just appeared on her ship without a request, and Savant was upset Wolf hadn't told him. Like it was any of his damn business. They were just talking over each other for a few minutes, Wolf getting more and more worked up. She wasn't screaming but she was getting very loud and honestly Shin thought she was so hot when she was mad, especially when not at him.

"Savant," Shin poked in when Wolf stopped to breathe. "Get the fuck out," he growled.

"Excuse me, we're talking here," Savant said, not derailed at all.

"Yeah. I'd rather do other shit than listen to you talk to Wolf. Get the fuck out."

"Both of you get the fuck off my ship!" Wolf cried.

"I didn't even do anything," Shin complained but he saw Wolf wasn't having any of it.

"Ghost, get these men off my ship. Lock the transmat," she said and Shin didn't have a chance to protest other than glare at Savant before he appeared back on his own ship.

"This is bullshit," Shin went and sat in the pilot's chair, folding his arms, sulking.

"Wolf's disbanded the fireteam link," his Ghost said.

"Ugh," he grumbled. "Fucking Savant."

"He could take a leaf out of your new book and ask before just assuming he could come aboard," his Ghost said.

"Heh, who knew you'd tell me Savant should do what I do."

"Just about everything else you do he should abstain but that? Would do him some good," his Ghost said. Shin just grumbled wordlessly, pissed. He had fully been expecting to get laid and was even still hard from the whole thing. Now he just had to sit here, pissed off.

Now not fireteamed it took a long time to make it through the queue. Shin didn't even care. He only played Gambit to play with Wolf anymore and she hadn't left the flotilla. So he didn't either. "Drifter is requesting a transmat," his Ghost said.

"Yeah, fine," Shin said. His helmet appeared on his head and he landed on the Derelict's stage. Drifter was doing his pre game banter and Shin looked at his teammates to see what he was working with. It could have been worse he supposed and was a Titan who went by the name Dredgen Twain and wore Reaper armor and two Walocks who played enough to have Gambit weapons but no role armor. At least he wasn't with newbies. He hated playing with newbies. A bit of a further glance showed Savant sulking on the steps leading up to Drifter's podium. It looked like he'd been properly yelled at by the set of his head antenna. He had no one but himself to blame for getting thrown off Wolf's ship and kicked off the fireteam.

He heard Drifter call out to prepare for transmat just as he decided to check out the opposing team. Probably wouldn't matter. His helmet did tell him, in the seconds before he was taken out of the Derelict, that the team was all Dredgens.

Fucking Drifter.

They landed on the simulated ground and Drifter's amused voice started calling the match. "Drown him out for me," he told his Ghost. Immediately some mid Golden Age music started to play in his helmet, smothering Drifter's voice but not so loud it covered the sound of gunfire or the Hive bellows.

The first batch of motes went in no problem while the opposing team was hanging onto a huge amount, banking none. It was enough to trigger the portal and he jumped through after dumping his motes off at the bank.

He landed on the opposing team's side in a good position. His HUD showed they were all farming up fifteen motes for each player. Two of their players still needed a handful of them. He got into a position and pulled out his sniper, taking a knee and bracing against his thigh between a set of Scorn tanks. He watched them on the opposite platforms collect their lasts motes and enter the unprotected area around the bank. He trained his scope on the first Guardian but before his finger pulled the trigger he hesitated.

"Oh, what a real bastard," he muttered to himself.

It was Wolf.

Drifter had put them on opposite teams, and then stacked her side with other Dredgens. That just wasn't fair.

He was so distracted being annoyed by this entire situation he didn't see the other Hunter across the way counter scoping him. Then a high powered laser smashed into his head and he appeared back on his side. He hated linear fusion rifles so much!

"Ooooo, tough luck, hot shot, better luck next time," Drifter's smarmy, smug, voice said into his helmet as Shin ran out of the spawn area.

The rest of the game was a stomp. It was embarrassing. Every time Shin invaded he'd get a kill or two then his scope would train on Wolf and he hesitated pulling the trigger long enough for one of her teammates to counter snipe him or shoot a rocket at him or turn him into cosmic dust with a nova bomb one time. Wolf never pulled the trigger on him personally but she was responsible for most of his deaths. The invader on the other team also prioritized him even if he was holding the fewest motes, meaning Drifter had also told them to do that. Only when he was dead did they worry about his teammates. His team wasn't even bad. It was just hard to compete with a bunch of Dredgens who were experts at dismantling a Primeval once they had it summoned and no amount of Shin trying to stop them fed the Primeval enough. He just sat down after his third invade during the Primeval burn phase. There wasn't a point. He was proven right when less than thirty seconds later the end gong sounded, signaling the end of match as one team melted their Primeval.

They were transmatted to the rewards area. Shin just dismantled everything there, not interested in the auto rifle or the cape. His Ghost quickly transmatted him back to his ship.

"That was a mess," he sighed as he sat in his pilot chair. He had a phantom headache from the amount of times he'd been killed. Not a real headache but a weird ache he couldn't quite place.

"Drifter did that on purpose."

"Yeah, no shit," he grumbled. "Take me out of the queue. There's no point."

"Very well. Shall we go back home?"

"Try and put me through to Wolf first."

His Ghost was quiet for a second. "Her Ghost said she's talking to Savant right now. He'll have her reach out when she's done."

"She yelling at him?"

"I don't know. She's not a yeller."

"Yeah," he sighed. He rubbed the side of his head that tickled like he could feel the bullet as it'd turned his head inside out. It was a fake sensation of course. He just waited. Every now and then he'd glance over just to make sure not-Jaren wasn't there. But he wasn't. He'd tormented Shin enough today it seemed.

"Shin?" Wolf's voice came out of his Ghost, startling him.

"Wolf-

"I'm sorry about earlier," she said before he could say anything.

"You know Drifter was going to do that?"

"No. I gave him a talking to too."

"Oof, poor bastard," Shin said.

"I know you'll never answer a call from him but Savant told me to tell you he's sorry, for the match and earlier. He didn't know Drifter was going to do that either."

Shin let out a long sigh. It literally wasn't worth it. "It's okay."

"It's still annoying. I'm done with Gambit for the day."

"Yeah?"

"Drifter's smug ass smile before our match really pissed me off."

"He does that. I'm good with Gambit today after that stomp into the dirt. You just going back to the Tower?"

"Yeah."

"I'll meet you there then."

She didn't say anything for a second. "I already know this is going to annoy you but suck it up." Shin furrowed his brows. "Savant wants to apologize and take us out for dinner. You are coming."

"I sure as shit am not," he growled. He was not going out to dinner with Savant after the bastard had cock blocked him, and also ruined his game day! But mostly for the cock block!

"Yes, you are," she said sternly. "He's your friend don't be such a whiny ass about it. He's buying too."

Shin glared at his Ghost like Wolf could see him. "You should be more mad at him interrupting us," he growled.

"I already ripped his head off about it. Trust me; he learned his lesson," Wolf said, getting heated for a moment.

Shin paused for a second. "So what did he think we were doing?" Because he'd die on the spot if Savant had seen anything.

"Just kissing," she said. "He said he was so excited he barely saw what was happening before I started yelling at him," she sighed.

"He's so stupid," Shin grumbled.

"He's also sorry. Now I will meet you at the Tower to go to dinner with him," she said pointedly.

"Fine," he finally growled out.

"Stand to enjoy yourself," and then his Ghost closed.

"She's got a point."

"Not now," he told his Ghost as he pulled his ship away from the flotilla.

"Savant's not that bad."

He wasn't but at this point it was a principle thing. Shin had a reputation and while he was changing some stuff he did enjoy his reputation of being intimidating enough that most Guardians didn't want to talk to him. Savant was too stupid to get the vibes. "Don't tell him that," he said and calculated the NLS rajectory to get them back to Earth. Space winked out and Shin leaned back in the pilot's chair.

"His Ghost is worse," his Ghost insisted.

"They're both annoying," Shin grumbled.

"Yeah but Savant doesn't try and name you," his Ghost said, annoyed. Only Ghosts or their Guardians named Ghosts. His used to have a name. Jaren had named him but he'd never told Shin what it was and it wasn't like Jaren and his Ghost talked loudly or anything. He didn't like to remember that since he was bitter about it. So his Ghost had no name. Ghost was as close as he got and his Ghost never corrected him. It was something Savant's Ghost, Orion, thought was a terrible thing and kept trying to give his Ghost a new name every time they hung out.

Earth snapped into view as the NLS powered down. Shin guided the ship back into low orbit before taking it down at a near full vertical dive above the City before pulling up so hard that had he not been a Lightbearer the G-force would have killed him. City air control gave them a heading and his Ghost dropped him off at the LZ in the Tower.

"Maybe you should change what you're wearing," his Ghost said as he went to wait for Wolf to tell him where to go.

"Why?" Shin asked, giving him a look through his helmet.

His Ghost dipped in the air like a sigh. "Isn't it customary to wear a nice outfit on a date?"

"It ain't a date."

"It isn't?"

"It ain't a date if there's a third wheel."

His Ghost didn't understand that. No shit, he was a Ghost. "Well I bet Wolf would like it if you weren't dressed like Skinner," he said, front fins coming together like a narrowed eye. Shin didn't react. "You know part of changing is also caring about what people think about you. Especially Wolf."

Shin knew that but he was still mad about the whole thing.

He flinched. "Yeah kiddo, not like the only reason she even likes you is because you don't worship the ground she walks on," not-Jaren leaned against the railing next to him. Shin looked away from him and at his Ghost instead. As if that thought hadn't occurred to Shin numerous times already. The only thing Wolf hated more than people invading her privacy was acting like she was a god among immortals. The girl killed gods. She wasn't a god.

"I guess," he allowed. He wasn't even looking at the not-Jaren. "Would be awkward if I was seen without a helmet like this," he motioned to his Gambit gear set. Officially Shin Malphur was banned from Gambit and his face was well known again thanks to playing Crucible again. It'd just make his life more difficult to be caught out as Skinner. His Ghost flexed in a look of relief Shin had decided to listen to him. "Just the regular stuff, don't want to look bad."

"You do that enough yourself," not-Jaren said. Shin continued to ignore it.

"Debatable," his Ghost tsked.

"Oh fuck off," Shin said but there was no heat to it. His Ghost made an amused noise, not enough to be any sort of laugh.

There was a series of rapid transmats around his limbs and chest. He looked down when it was done. "I own this stuff?" It looked like the stuff City Hunters wore. A lot less padding and plate, more leather and fabric, stuff so soft and comfortable you didn't even need the typical under layer.

"I improvised."

"Meaning?"

"You had some stuff you haven't used in sixty years. I made it look nice."

"None of my actual old stuff, right?"

"No. I'm not stupid."

"Debatable," Shin said back to his Ghost at the same time not-Jaren did. That was annoying. "Ask Wolf where the fuck we're going."

His Ghost was quiet for a moment. "She said she's waiting for Savant." Shin grumbled wordlessly. "He didn't leave when we did I guess?"

"Probably something with Drifter, fucking weirdo."

"I did tell her where you are, though," he said helpfully. Well that was something. He was glad she wasn't actually mad at him about Savant showing up on her Ship and totally running the mood. Fucking Savant. It hadn't even been his fault!

He waited a few minutes and perked up when a Hunter came over. He recognized the way she walked now and even in soft gear he knew it was Wolf. "Hey," he said.

"You look nice," she said and stood right where not-Jaren was standing, leaning against the railing. The strange apparition vanished as she did.

"I did it," his Ghost said immediately. "Shin didn't care. But I care," and he floated over to in front of Wolf.

"Well thank you," she said and his Ghost looked elated when Wolf stroked one of his top prongs. He never looked that happy when Shin did it. Shin also wasn't a beautiful woman so he also didn't blame him.

"Does Savant just... transmat onto your ship whenever he wants?"

"He can during Gambit, yeah," Wolf said.

Shin stared at her. "What the fuck? How come you never let me do that?"

"You never asked, idiot," she huffed at him and lightly punched him in the side.

"Contrary to popular belief I can't actually read people's minds." Shin also assumed she'd just say no. "I did tell him to request to transmat in today though. I fucking told him but he didn't listen. Don't say anything to him, I already gave him the verbal lashing of his life."

"Ah, so that's why he was sulking on the steps during our pregame."

"Probably," she shrugged. "He should be here soon. Be nice."

"I'm not nice," he grumbled.

"No you are not," she sighed, annoyed with him.

He reached over and grabbed the side of her hood, pulling her closer. "Yeah and that's why you like me," he said in low, dark tone.

"You're so full of it," she playfully pushed him away and Shin let her go. Then she looked away from him, "Oh, Savant's here, c'mon," and she just jumped over the railing to the lower level of the Tower. Shin followed.

They went up to the Warlock who was looking around for them. Without the Sin glued to his head he was actually shorter than Shin, a thing that pleased Shin immensely. He didn't realize it was them until they were right in front of him. "I can never recognize you out of your Gambit gear," he said.

"That's because you're an idiot," Shin said. He knew calling Savant an idiot wouldn't get him a look. Savant was an idiot. But he was their idiot. Not that Shin would ever say that aloud.

"Very funny. Let's go, it's down in the City," Savant said and was transmatted away. Their Ghosts followed him and Wolf and Shin kept in step with him down on the surface.

"So where are we going?" Wolf asked, her helmet evaporating off her face. Shin's Ghost hadn't bothered to even put him in another one.

"This ramen place I like." Wolf didn't look so sure about that.

"You don't like that?" Shin asked her.

"Cayde had terrible taste in ramen," she said at length.

"This place is really good, promise," Savant said.

"I'm sure it is," she said slowly. Savant talked banaly as they walked, both of them just making noises to indicate they were listening. Being friends with a Warlock tended to mean there was no dead air in a conversation. They always had something to say. At least Savant talking about his research was somewhat interesting.

"Here we are!" Savant announced. They were outside a little hole in the wall restaurant with a grand total of four tables. There was an older man of asiatic decent in the place, face full of steam from the bowl of ramen he was eating. The glowing sign over the door said Yummy Noodle House in City script and also again smaller and not lit up in Russian and Mandarin.

"Hold up," Shin said before Savant busted in.

"What?" Savant looked at him, wide Exo eyes unblinking.

"Can I even eat at this place?"

Savant cocked his head at him. "I don't know why you wouldn't be able to? They serve food."

"I know you're not that stupid," Shin wasn't amused.

"Why would I take you to a place that you couldn't eat at," and Savant shoved him inside. He heard Wolf giggle as he stumbled inside.

"Hello, welcome!" two women from the kitchen called. "Sit sit! We'll be right out."

Savant sat at the table by the window and they joined him. "So this place only serves one type of ramen," he said. "But it's awesome."

"You still haven't confirmed I can eat at this place," Shin grumbled.

Savant's eyes lulled in their metal sockets in annoyance. "Yes."

One of the women bustled out from the kitchen. "Hello- Savant!" By the Light. Just great.

Savant had taken them somewhere he was a regular enough they knew him by name. "You brought friends," the elderly woman beamed at him.

"That's a strong word," Shin said. Wolf jabbed him in the ribs.

"He said this place was really good," she said.

"I'm Irina, what do you three want? The special since Savant is here?"

"Savant said you just make it one way," Wolf said, confused.

"Yes, but we have a special version just for him," she said fondly. Shin almost gagged. Disgusting.

"I don't eat meat," Shin said, "or gelatin." Most ramen was some sort of bone broth and Shin hadn't eaten any meat products in over a century. Shin also thought bone broth tasted disgusting.

"That's fine. Two regulars and a no meat. It'll be right out," and she scurried away.

"She's nice," Wolf said.

"I can't believe you brought us to a place where you have a special dish," Shin said blandly.

"The food's good what's it matter if I do?" Savant asked.

"I take it you come here a lot?" Wolf asked.

"Yeap. Since they opened. I've known Irina and her wife Yui for hmmmm, fifty years? Sixty years? Something like that," he said brightly.

"That's so cool," Wolf said.

"Yeah, great," Shin rolled his eyes.

"Don't be so sour," she scolded him.

"Being friends with Lightless is like owning a dog; you invest in your own sadness," Shin said dismissively.

"I just don't think about it," Savant said, Exo mouth making a slightly strained smile. Savant knew this.

Shin was totally ignored for the rest of the conversation. Fine with him. He didn't have anything to add and he was still stewing about Savant coming in unannounced and ruining the rest of Shin's day. They were talking about Vex shit, as it usually turned to when the two were together. Wolf was good at destroying them and Savant liked to use their parts for stuff. Shin reluctantly had accepted a Vex head lamp from him when they'd become closer than strictly Gambit teammates. He didn't like the thing really. It looked at him. He kept it in his closet where it couldn't look at him while he slept.

Three enormous bowls of ramen was brought out in short order. Shin's looked similar to Wolf and Savant's but without the perfectly cooked and sliced pork cutlet. His had a lot more mushrooms, and a similarly fried piece of seitan. There was also a thin red ring around the edge of the bowl on top of the broth Shin noticed. Wolf was talking to Yui and didn't notice, just smiling as the old woman fawned over Savant. Shin avoided being noticed by Yui easily enough, Savant and Wolf were way more charismatic than him.

Shin tried the broth first. The noise he made made did not go unnoticed; It was a deep, satisfied, hum. "Wow you like something, a shock," Savant said.

"You know I like things," Shin gave Savant a look for that.

"Like what?"

"Her," he pointed at Wolf and Savant was too shocked by the come back to think of something witty to say. Wolf had a hand over half her face, her face flushed. "This is really delicious," he told Yui in his best Nice Young Man voice he could muster.

"Wonderful! We made it when Savant told us he had a friend who didn't eat meat-

"You don't have to tell him that," Savant said and the air got a little warmer from Savant having to vent some of the embarrassing heat his body was generating.

"Awww, you care," Shin said sarcastically.

"Shut up and eat your soup," Savant scolded him like he wasn't totally flustered Yui had just ratted Savant out.

Shin chuckled and did. It was really good. Also super spicy. Like the type of spicy you only liked if you were a masochist. Shin had been ready for it so he'd been able to enjoy it-

The air around them dropped twenty degrees. Shin put his hand on his bowl and flushed Solar Light through it to keep it warm. Wolf was suddenly ice cold and her face was dark and inflamed. "What did you feed me?" Wolf gasped at Savant. She'd taken an unexpectedly large bite with a bunch of the broth.

"Do you not like it?"

"I fucking hate going out for ramen with Exos," and she got up and left.

"Wha- Wolf-" Savant called after her. Shin didn't move. "What?" Savant asked, confused.

"It's almost unreasonably spicy, dumbass," Shin said, sipping some more broth out of a spoon even as he said that. It burned his mouth like hell but it was so good he couldn't help himself.

"You're eating it," Savant said.

"Yeah idiot, I'm Asian," Shin rolled his eyes. Savant, as a robot, didn't understand that. "I grew up eating shit like this. Haven't had it this spicy in a while but," he shrugged.

"Where'd Wolf go?"

"She'll be back," Shin had a feeling she was going to find some alley, stab herself to kill all the heat in her mouth, and be back once she'd been revived.

Shin just quietly ate his ramen. Savant ate his with some unease, unsure if Shin was right. But just like Shin guessed Wolf was gone for five minutes before coming back and smacking the back of Savant's head with the butt of a knife so he'd actually feel it and she wouldn't hurt her hand. "Dumbass, humans actually have taste buds."

"But Shin's eating it," Savant pointed at him.

"Shin is also a Ghost killing maniac and can't be trusted," Wolf said and sat back down next to Shin. She pushed the bowel away. "Didn't even warn me."

"He's not good at that, terrible track record," her Ghost said.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know you were busy today?"

"I told you," Wolf said.

"Yeah but I'm stupid," he protested. Wolf huffed but was fighting a 'this idiot' smile at the edge of her lips.

"And what about you?" Wolf asked Shin.

"It's good," he said.

"Ugh."

Yui came back over seeing Wolf wasn't eating. After being assured it wasn't because it was disgusting Wolf just couldn't eat an Exo's level of spicy another bowl of ramen was brought. This one the same as the first but without the noticeable red ring of oil along the top of the soup. Wolf took a tiny sip of the broth, determined it wasn't going to blow her head off, and ate it.

"What other Exo do you go to ramen with that this is a repeat offense?" Savant asked.

"Cayde had no taste buds either," Wolf said casually. "Bastard dragged me to his favorite place several times they specialized in spicy ramen. I eventually learned to avoid him when he was like that."

"Cayde only had good taste when it came to friends and guns. Everything else; trash," Shin said. "Still find his garbage around in stashes sometimes," Shin rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you found won't beat the time I had to ask the new Vanguard why he was hiding prototype Omolon rocket launches with some really weird Golden Age porn and if he wanted them still," Savant said.

"I don't even want to know," Wolf and Shin said at the same time.

"Probably for the better," Savant said.

Now that Wolf had food that didn't burn her face off the meal went by normally. Shin was gladly not invited into much of the conversation. He finished his ramen and just sat, listening as Wolf and Savant talked about Gambit and Vex. Normal stuff they talked about. Their Ghosts followed Orion around the restaurant where he was allowed to go wherever he wanted, poke his optics into any cabinet and bowl he wanted with impunity. Perfect for a group of nosy Ghosts like their Ghosts.

Yui brought out treats once the ramen was all gone. Sweet red bean inside sweet bread covered in sugar glitter and little star shaped sprinkles. It was extremely cute. Shin could appreciate the cute but Wolf absolutely lost it and got super excited about the little confections. That sounded about right for her enjoyment of baking. Yui was equally thrilled to tell Wolf all about the sweet bread and how to prepare it. Shin just watched fondly, a small smile coming to his mouth. It was nice watching Wolf get so excited about stuff that wasn't killing the City's enemies. She was so cute as she asked Yui how to make the sweets and where she bought glitter sugar and star sprinkles and how she flavored the bean paste and all the little things about baking Shin didn't know about. He could cook. Couldn't bake to save his life.

Eventually Wolf had exhausted Yui's ability to explain verbally how to make the red bean buns. "We can always come back and she can show you," Savant said helpfully.

"Oh... are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose," Wolf said.

"She doesn't mind. Right Yui?"

"No no! Of course I can show you some other time. But they're all made now," she laughed. "You should come in the morning when I make them."

"Okay," Wolf beamed at Yui, her hair starting to glow faintly. She was barely holding an excited vibration like she got after a raid. She was very excited to learn to make these red bean buns. Shin couldn't look away from her.

Plans were made with Yui to come back in a few days, Wolf was booked up the next few days. Yui made a passing comment that Savant was never this busy and Wolf must be a very important Guardian to be such. Wolf just laughed it off like being reminded didn't make her super uncomfortable.

Shin was glad when they finally got up to go, the conversations reaching a natural ending. It had been barely sunset when they'd arrived but when they left the moon had risen over the Wall. They'd been in there a while. As they walked Wolf brushed her hand against him. Briefly he grabbed her fingers and gave them a squeeze before letting go. The three of them having dinner wasn't news worthy because the Young Wolf often had dinner with her friends and she, Shin, and Savant were a known trio by reporters.She was in a really good mood. Shin liked seeing her like that. Savant was happy they had liked the place he'd picked after Wolf's encounter with the super spicy ramen. He filled the air around them with sweet, banal, talk, asking Orion what he found in the ramen shop and if he was being nice to Wolf and Shin's Ghosts.

As they got near the Wall Wolf turned and asked him quietly, "Did you enjoy dinner too?" not wanting to interrupt Savant.

"It was fine," he said.

"You didn't talk much."

"I don't talk much." That made her chuckle. "I liked listening," he assured her. "And the food was good. Even if Savant's a huge dork."

"Yeah he is-

"You guys whispering about me back there? You know I hate when Hunters are whispering about me," Savant said, mock stern.

"We're saying you're a dork," Shin said and Wolf laughed into her hand when Savant's metal face shifted in surprise.

"Hey now. Idiot is fine, dork is too far," he said, feigning insult.

"Yeah yeah," Shin rolled his eyes as they came up to a Wallhaven transmat anchor, this one was a bit fancier; the circle made of a polished white granite.

Then they were back at the Tower.

"We'll see you later, Savant," Wolf said, tugging on Shin's cloak. "We got stuff to do."

"Ew," Savant's Exo face scrunched up.

"He ate the spicy ramen, hell no," Wolf said matter-of-factly.

"Fuck you, Savant," Shin said. The three of them laughed.

"Gambit tomorrow?" Savant asked.

"I'm busy. Maybe the next day," Wolf said. "Bye!" She didn't have to pull on his cloak too hard to make him walk away.

"Was that for real?" Shin asked her, reading between the lines about the spicy food.

"Mmmm. Maybe?" she teased him, walking backwards towards the stair well with the small Ironwood tree.

"He already ruined my day, don't let him ruin my night too," Shin complained.

Wolf laughed and turned forward as they came up to the edge of the railing of the stairwell. Shin checked behind his shoulder quickly and saw no one was there, or around, this time of night. She squeaked when he came up behind her and pressed her into the railing. "Someone's impatient," she said, trying to be smug but he could hear it in her voice. She was also impatient.

"What can I say? I like having you to myself," he briefly kissed the exposed back of her neck and he heard leather complain as she gripped the top of the railing. Then she pushed him off and turned around, grabbing his hand. He jumped over the railing with her. When they landed Wolf still had his hand and dragged him through the door and into the wall towards her apartment.