Future Stuff ::1:: Been Up All Night

[sword_breaker]

[This was not clicking for some reason. He has been staring at these reports for the past hour and half, nothing having been accomplished besides from papers being shuffled around in a semblance of productivity and knives thrown into the pillar behind him out of sheer frustration. His fingers tapping along the worn metal to keep himself from doing further property damage at this rate.

The bottom line was that stress was gnawing at him.

Not from the job though. If anything, reports should came as second nature after the past few months and coordinating had been relatively easy once the rough first week passed by. Being a vanguard should cause less stress than doing actually fieldwork yet here he was at a breaking point almost.

There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Those stupid letters and photos and other bullshit weren't coming in anymore.

Something had to have happened and he's stuck here in this goddamn tower like a fresh rezzed moron.

His hands were effectively tied as well. No one could be sent out without the other two's approval and even then it'd be brought forward to discussion by the head vanguard. Which means that nothing could happen for days and he'll be sitting on his ass like he already was. All it did was make him all the more frustrated about having given up his freedom to leave as he so pleased because at least then someone would be out there trying to figure out what happened.

The hunter buries his face in his hands with an exhausted sigh leaving him. He probably looked like hell at this rate. Throwing himself into long hours had made his sleep schedule an abysmal handful of hours in the past few days. Half the time he didn't know how he wasn't passing out during meetings. Be easy to. Pull the hood further down, lean down on the table and maybe get an hour or two of on and off rest. Might be the best time to try it out to be quite honest since the hall was dead before attempting it when there'd be actual repercussions to getting caught.

He grunts after stretching out on the table some, pillowing his head with his arms for something close to comfortable. Shade is called out of transmat to keep a watch on things while an attempt at a nap was made. The ghost whirling softly in concern but does as told.

Things suck. Might as well try to ignore it for the time being.]

Comments

[notthatkindofkell]

[Andrei made James a promise: he would always meet the team for Iron Banner. Never mind that her husband has been locked in his office for the last several weeks, trying to solve Praedyth's Paradox. He must have had the date marked somewhere because he emerged two days ago, kissed her, and announced that they were needed on Earth.

He did spend an entire day with her before they flew out. She supposes she can't be mad at him.

She can't be mad at James, either, when she comes back to rumors that he has locked himself in his office. Where is Liam? Where are Annalise and Val? His locking himself up is never a good sign.

Nobody has dared to interrupt the Hunter Vanguard yet. Mykelle thinks they just haven't had the right woman for the job.

She sweeps into the Tower in full Iron Banner gear, Patience and Time strapped to her back. A few people move to intercept her; leering at them through her helmet stops them, somehow. Or maybe it's the fact that she wears her old Sunsetting shader, the one that she and James wore to match during their heyday.

They know who she is. Mykelle Hooke: Crucible Attendant, Defender Against Atheon, Kell of Kells.

And she's here to see an old friend. She raps four times beside his office door and waits.]

[sword_breaker]

[Shade gives a warning noise and floats to flash a light at the dozing hunter to alert him to the presence at the door. He gives a frustrated groan and slides up to glare down at the mess of papers strewn about.

What the hell? Does no one understand what a closed door meant this late at night?

He rubs his eyes with a growl of frustration.]

Unless this is tire news, it can wait till morning. So go away.

[notthatkindofkell]

That's quite the greeting to get when my husband and I came all the way from Venus just to check up on you.

[sword_breaker]

Oh well isn't this fantastic. Good to know you two back and all. Now please go away, Kell.

[notthatkindofkell]

How long have you been stuck in that office, James? Do you have any idea what day it is?

[sword_breaker]

I leave after a while every night, ok? I don't sleep here or anything. Just work. So I'm not stuck in here. And it's a Monday so what?

[notthatkindofkell]

The Iron Banner competition is this week.

[sword_breaker]

Whoop de fucking do.

[notthatkindofkell]

Andrei left his study for the first time in two weeks because he has a promise to keep to you.

Besides. You look like you could do with a bit of time out of the office.

[sword_breaker]

Well I'm not exactly a warlock who has the freedom to do my own research and all that. Vanguard now which means I can't skip out and gallivant in the Banner like I used to. Hell I can't damn well do a lot of things right now.

I have reports to finish anyway. So you two can go off and enjoy the Banner. I'm staying here.

[notthatkindofkell]

Well there's not much fun in a two-man fireteam.

Can I help? Andrei is a master at paperwork. Then you could get out and shot things with the time he saves you.

[sword_breaker]

As I said, you two will have to do it without me. I can handle these reports on my own.

[To be honest all this frustration could be expended in the banner easily but he didn't know if he could hold back old habits. That was the last thing he needed on top of everything else.

So he tries to get his reports back together in proper fashion and tries to hide more personal items away. Those weren't helpful either.]

Huh...you can come in. But that's it.

[notthatkindofkell]

[Right. She'll see if he's still saying that once she's inside.

She opens the door and steps inside. The paperwork isn't a surprise. ...nor are the knives sticking into the pillar.]

So, how's Liam doing?

[sword_breaker]

[The hunter instantly freezes up at the question but it's for a brief moment and then he's back to reading over things. Just got to lie through his teeth. Should be easy enough but all it does is remind him of how he doesn't know a damn thing.]

Good.

[His hood remains pulled up to hide the dark rings under his eyes and the fact that he can't look up at her.]

[rocketsout]

[It's a month out, and he's never been happier to see the inside of his ship in his entire rezzed life. Though it's difficult to shed the stink of Venus (and the char, the dirt, the blood), the cockpit's filtration system is doing its best, and the sheer fact that it's climate controlled would almost be enough to make him weep, were he any lesser a guardian.

As it is, it's just nice to be setting a course back home. He feels like hell, looks worse, and his comm and visual systems have been knocked out for the past week, courtesy of an errant minotaur. Thankfully his visor still retained its emergency translucency, but that didn't mean that that was any help with communication with the rest of the Host, or anyone outside for that matter.

Now that they've struck a hard blow to the Hezen Protective though, he's more than ready to have some time to himself. Earth is absolutely stunning as it comes into view, and the Tower is the best thing he's seen in a long while. Vex are dead, none of his men are, he could care less about everything now.

His ship is docked as quickly as humanly possible, and he's transmatting down soon after. Armor stays on, broken helmet and all, because it's been weeks since he's seen a proper shower and he's not about to subject anyone to that. A proper shower, sleep, it all sounds heavenly. But it's not the most important thing.

With his comms going out, he hasn't been able to send word back to a particular hunter vanguard, and while a majority of the week has been spent fighting for his life, unfortunately the thought of using someone else's frequencies hadn't occurred. He feels bad about that one, now that he thinks about it. But the least he can do is let the other guardian know he's alive, right? Right.

Apartment is a bust, the door's closed and there's no sign of life inside. It feels distinctly wrong, too quiet, too empty, even with the bustle of the rest of the tower around. Courtyard? No, that's also not right, though the sight of fire and the stink of iron serves as a reminder that he's apparently made it back right as the Banner was starting. Damn. Going to have to miss this one, he's in no shape to be putting forth his best effort.

The hall, then. Or James' quarters. One of the two has to be right, and a quick scan of the area gives him that answer. That's a hunter, all right. There's a slight twist in his chest at the sight, and he can't help the relieved grin that plays at the corners of his lips. Too long, a month was definitely too long to be away, regardless of duty calling or not.

His voice is hoarse when he manages to speak, water would be excellent, but he tries to be as casual as he can, leaning in the doorway with a cock of his head to Shade.]

Table has to make for a shit bed.

[sword_breaker]

[He slits his eyes open at the sound of a voice, one that was far too familiar for him to make a wrong guess at who belongs to. The hunter rolling back up and standing still at the sight. Right armor and that goddamn grin on his face.

All he can do for a couple moments is stare. He doesn't know if this is all a stupid goddamn dream at this rate or reality. Still...titan to deal with.

He hesitates before starting to walk over, his pace steady and slow. Heart pounding in his chest. Hood being pulled down as he approaches.

As soon as he's close enough though, he tightens up a fist and slams it straight into Liam's visor with a sharp crack. His knuckles are definitely bruised after but it gets the damn message across. A message that was enhanced by a fierce glare and a harsh snarl of sheer frustration.

All of that pent up fear and angry being put out front and center to be seen by all especially the titan.]

You son of a bitch.

[notthatkindofkell]

[Okay, that definitely wasn't a good sign. Still wearing her helmet, she sends a quick message to Andrei. He'll be glad to see his old teammate, and get the other side of the story.]

Andrei will be glad to hear it. He's off looking for the rest of the team.

How've you been? Besides busy?

[The answer is fairly obvious, considering how he's hiding under his hood, but she can hope he'll be honest with her, right?]

[sword_breaker]

[Great. Damn warlock will be looking and lo and behold one will for sure turn up to be missing. That was not something he wanted to deal with right now and especially with other people. He barely could on his own.]

Of course he would.

I've been just fine. What about you?

[rocketsout]

[Out of all the possible reactions that he could have expected, a sharp blow to the head is certainly not one of them. His head goes flying back, and there's a grunt of pain as he scrabbles to get ahold of the doorframe in order to stop himself from pitching over. It's one hell of a hook, has him seeing stars for a moment, helmet or not, and all the old aches from previous blows to the head are back in full force. Hopefully nothing's bleeding again, he's already got enough bruising and half-scabbed wounds to deal with, he really doesn't want to add anything else to the mix.

There's no yelling, but that's not a good tone of voice, he's at least cognicent enough to know that, and while there's a moment of confusion, he can at least process some of what's being said. Okay, still not what he'd expected, but he'll roll with it, just as soon as he gets his footing back.]

Yeah, okay, missed you too. I'll take that one, just no more punching!

[notthatkindofkell]

Not too busy. The Crucible areas on Venus are more secure than ever, now that we have a Tower and consistent guardian presence. Basically I stand around and give people orders all day while Andrei studies. At least we get to train together in the mornings.

[sword_breaker]

Asshole I have every right to punch you! A week! A whole week of nothing and you stroll in as if it was nothing.

[He keeps his hands balled up tightly and still brandishing that glare as sharp as any of his throwing knives. And then he finally snaps, raising his voice to shout at the man because by the traveler he was done being quiet and wanted to vent. The arc seething under his skin at the moment and ready to be popped at a moment's notice.

Titan deserved every moment of this.]

[sword_breaker]

[There's a flicker of jealousy but he keeps it to himself and out of his actions as best as possible.]

Good to know. I'm glad you two are enjoying it there.

[notthatkindofkell]

We do miss our friends.

And there are those spurts where he locks himself in his study and doesn't come out.

He's...really excited to see you.

[rocketsout]

[Years ago he would have gotten defensive, thrown something, anything back regardless of how right the hunter actually was. In this case, one hundred percent, of course, but that was beyond the point. There's even a faint stirring of arc under his skin in response to the anger, instinctual and frenetic, but he quells it with a thought, tamping it down and keeping ahold of his temper.

Because James is right. As much as he'd like to believe that his own intentions are good, he did...kind of drop the ball, imminent danger or no. And so he swallows his pride, raises his hands in a slightly disarming gesture, and hangs his head.]

Yeah. Yeah, alright. That one is my fault. And I'm sorry.

[sword_breaker]

Well at least he came out for Banner which is nice. I ugh look forward to seeing him at one point or another.