rekindledtitan | Excerpt 003: Ship’s Cradle

Of all the things Hughes thought he would experience during this swap, seeing Earth for the first time - let alone from space - was not one of them. Despite the small, cramped space, the seemingly patchwork ship, and all the other details his (extra) sensitive mind is picking up right now, the only thing that has his attention is the view.

"Wow." Normally, he'd be breathless from a view like this. Today, however, he's simply stunned. "This view... this is amazing." Part of his brain reminds him that he needs to take care of Blaze right now, since she's not used to having a human body and all that entails. The rest is searching for the right words to encompass the beauty of what's in front of him.

He's not going to care if it's a long night. He could stare out at this view for days.

"Yeah." In spite of all the unease and exhaustion playing with her mind right now, she smiles unconsciously at that reaction. She leans against the starboard wall, letting him move up front for a better look. "She's beautiful. Worth fighting for."

The gravity in here is a little off, since the ship is angled such that Earth herself sweeps up the left of their field of view. Blaze has felt it before, though she's starting to realize how viscerally disorienting it is in human form. It looks like there's a sea - an ocean? - below; craggy mountains almost obscured by clouds that flash with silent lightning. They swirl slowly around a silver sphere, encircled by clear sky as if someone dropped a pebble into the storm.

Some pebble, though. It dwarfs the sheer mountains below it.

Blaze is used to the sight, though, and there are certain things to attend to. Besides the life-support, which is coming to life in a slightly louder hum of heating coils and the soft hiss of cycling air. Blaze is opening up one of the bigger wallcompartments, which contains a small armory of guns from snub, stocky hand cannons to a pair of rocket launchers, each locked securely on a rack designed for the purpose. "Here, I'll get y- the weapons stowed."

Most of them. Her hand brushes over a shotgun, lingers on a well-worn pulse rifle. What can this body even handle...?

"Weapons?" Hughes hasn't taken any time to explore his current body. The parts that are relevant - the faster processing, the more efficient movements, the amazing eyesight - have all been analyzed, but past that? Well, he's out of sorts, so he's allowed to not be as curious as normal? He's almost to the point over stimulated. Given the situation they're in, he's honestly glad he took the time to set aside his own weapons before coming into the Nexus before this whole thing happened. Blaze didn't need that addition to things that could hurt her. "Probably for the best."

Finally, he pulls himself away from the view to look at Blaze and holy damn that weapons cache. "Wow." That seems to be his favorite word right now. "Are they all yours?"

"Sure. You see anyone else on this bird?" She brightens up proudly. The way to a girl's heart is through her armament, it seems. She points out a few of them, starting with a gleaming, relatively lightweight hand cannon. "That's the first gun I got the day Ghost woke me: my friend Kaolin gave it to me, to help us get home to the City. That Pulsar rifle I dug out of a cache in Old Mumbai; won that one from a Hive knight on the moon. And that sidearm is interesting: Awoken work from out in the Reef..."

Nearly all the guns have the same slightly mismatched quality as the ship: some parts are so worn that the new bits have to be replacements. High-tech as they are, all of them seem to have some small story behind them. These are antiques in their way: handed down and lovingly upgraded for who knows how long. And all carry echoes of Light from the past Guardians who've wielded them.

Blaze stifles yet another yawn and moves around to his back. "And this- hold still a second - this one's my favorite pulse rifle. Steady, sights are sharp, handles nicely when you're moving fast."

She's detaching the pulse rifle from his back as she talks, checking it's safely unloaded and feeling for any wear it might have taken during the last day or so. "...Feels a whole lot heavier like this, but you can still tell how good the balance is." She sounds nearly affectionate. "Give me a second, I'll get the fusion rifle off as well."

Being attached to weapons is nothing new to Hughes. Whether each one is unique in its own way or it's a favored set of them, he's certainly seen similar things and doesn't find it odd in the least. "Sounds like you know every piece of these weapons. I take it you've been taking care of the repairs and rebuilding as well?" He hopes that doesn't sound offensive, but it's obvious from looking at them that they've needed some love over their time with Blaze. Regular use of any weapon will do that, though.

"You bet. Treat your gear right, it'll do the same for you. Your weapon's almost as important as your plate. 'Course, gunsmithing ain't my specialty - programming only takes you so far, you know? But we've got a guy back at the Tower who's a real master. Knows everything th... ...ere is." Another yawn's wrenched its way out while she's locking the the fusion rifle into storage.

"Guardian, may I remind you that your functioning will be impaired until you rest." There's no 'may' in the Ghost's tone, and the formal title, in this case, sounds just a bit like a parent using a child's full name to scold them.

Blaze grimaces to herself. Procrastination doesn't suit her, doesn't sit well with how she sees herself. But she feels no eagerness to see what waits for her when she closes her eyes.

"So, uh." She rolls her shoulders with a sigh. "Anything I need to do before I get down to some shuteye?"

Hughes can't help but chuckle at the yawn. He's been there before, that place where you tell yourself you can stay up 'just a little longer' before you hit the hay.

That place where you don't want to fall asleep for fear of what you might see.

"Got any good reading materials that aren't classified that I could look at? I could stare at the sky for a while, but I do like learning new things while I can." Is there a way for an exo to smile? Because if so, Hughes is trying for that facial expression right now.

...and he's just not going to talk about how sore Blaze is going to be in the morning if she doesn't have any real bedding in here. There will be pain killers provided instead.

Exos don't seem to have the flexibility around their mouth for smiles: perhaps that's why Blaze has smiled so little since their switch. But there's a certain shift of the brow plates, a brightening of the optics that conveys the message. Blaze blinks at him over another stifled yawn, clocking for a moment how she must look.

"Sure, we've got- wait, don't tell me you're planning to sit on your ass around here for however many hours?"

Now it's Hughes turn to blink at his companion.

"I didn't think I needed to sleep, so I thought I'd do some reading." Beat. "...I need to sleep, too, don't I?"

"No," she say firmly. "I- you- whatever. Shouldn't have to cycle down for another couple weeks at least. Means you've got time to go have some fun. No reason you need to stick around here. Go try out the body, crash my Sparrow a few times. I haven't even seen you use my thrust pack once."

He vaguely remembers her Sparrow, but he's not exactly looking forward to running around by himself in her body. Sure, he has Ghost around if something goes terribly wrong, but what about his body? He's sure as hell not going to just walk away while she's sleeping in his body in space in this tiny tin can of a ship and--

"...did you say thrust pack?" Oh sure, now he's curious. "What's that and how does it work?"

Blaze comes so close to cracking a grin. So close. She moves over to slap the thrust module built into his armored back.

"That's what this is. You use it to lift when you're jumping. Takes you a whole lot higher, further and faster than a regular leap." It's a hell of a bunny hop. "There's kind of a trick to it, but Ghost'll help you. Go try it out in the Nexus. Jump up somewhere high, do some recon our way."

"You're asking me to go?" The Ghost sounds concerned.

Hughes would have to twist around to see it, but Blaze looks honestly torn, her expression pained before she sets her mouth and nods stubbornly. "You won't be far. And I won't be long."

Every part of Hughes' current exo body is humming with excitement. He's never had a chance to try something like this. Will never have a chance again, likely. To jump that high... it would be like soaring short distances through the sky. What an amazing feeling that must be. He wants to try so badly right now...

But he can't bring himself to leave Blaze behind. Even in times of peace, he can't get over leaving a comrade in arms alone without some promise of safety. Today is no exception.

"You're going to need a lot more sleep than you think," Hughes says after a minute. "After the hell we've been through? I'm gonna guess you'll be out for at least nine or ten hours." Slowly, he turns around and gives what he hopes is the most smile-like expression he can make. "Besides, if no one's there to laugh at me when I land ass-over-tea kettle, who's going to stop me from lying when I say I did it perfectly from the start? Except Verity, and that answer doesn't count."

Sorry, Blaze, but it looks like you're stuck with him for now. Between comrade-in-arms desires and a subtle Dad Mode coming on, there's no way Hughes is leaving right now. The thrust pack will just have to wait a bit.

"Nine or ten?" No hiding the sharp intake of breath at that. Her eyes are wide when Hughes turns to look down at her, though they narrow in a frown quick enough.

"You're not serious. That's no reason to sit around here Ghost, get him out of here."

"...Splitting up within the forum was one thing. I'm not comfortable leaving my Guardian in a whole other universe."

"Light! What is wrong with you two?" She glares at the Ghost, irritable and exhausted. "Can't a bot get some sleep in peace?"

"My body needs that much sleep after a day like today. After the hell we've been through, it's a wonder you didn't pass out on your feet already."

Watch closely as Hughes crosses his arms in front of his chest and gets angry without raising his voice. He has a fantastic 'son, just don't' look that he would love to be pulling right now, but he'll make do with the dimmed eye circuits and tapping his fingers on his forearms in a slow, methodical manner. Blaze may be upset and shouting, but she's also exhausted. It certainly doesn't hurt that he's stronger than her at the moment, either. She's a kid throwing a tantrum and that's nothing new to him.

"Look, I get that this whole situation is fucked up and that some time alone would probably be nice. However, if something were to happen to you while you're in my body, I doubt you'll know enough to respond appropriately. The best thing we can do is stay together right now."

Blaze can't argue with the biology. She glowers up at Hughes, who... actually makes her body look pretty damned intimidating in return.

"What the hell is going to happen while I'm asleep?" She's tensed, automatically ready to fight- but she's not, she can't. It's probably sheer adrenalin keeping her standing right now. And it's stupid to make threats you won't follow through on. But bloody Light she wants to hit something. As she's thinking that, her curled fingers brush the cloth at her side. She swallows hard and turns on her heel. "Hnnh. Fine. Guess I can't stop you wasting your time."

She goes back to the weapons, stares at them, and concludes by taking that plain and slender hand cannon she pointed out to Hughes. Her first weapon as a Guardian. Perhaps the only one she can count on right now.

If Hughes could roll his eyes right now, he would. This has been a pretty fantastic temper tantrum, one to even rival those of his firecracker of a daughter. It's almost endearing. Almost. Blaze is still likely to get an earful about the incident after she's gotten some sleep and they've figured out how to get back into their own bodies.

But... wait a second. "Are you... sleeping with a gun?" Sure, the safety's probably on, but... what.

She didn't actually hit anything: that counts as self-restraint! Not enough to keep her from feeling embarrassed later, but she'll argue she had reason to be stubborn.

"Safeties're engaged, and it's unloaded." She peers up at him blankly. What, he's never done this? "Smart circuits're powered down, I checked. So yeah, I am." She sounds a little uncomfortable even beyond the grumpy exhaustion.

She can argue all she wants - he's not going to let her off easily.

"Uh huh." It seems dangerous to try and take it from her, so he'll just watch her a little more closely while she sleeps. "You get some rest, then, and I'll do some reading for a while." He's assuming Ghost can point him in the direction of some reading material. "Good night, Blaze."

"...Hnh. See you in a few."

It's actually going to take a while to sleep: she's been awake so long her systems won't wind down, and arguing with Hughes has her circulation flooded with yet more nerve-wracking chemicals. Hopefully the exhaustion will kick in before she gets frustrated at not being able to shut down.

Meanwhile, Ghost will helpfully and quietly show Hughes around his options. They have all kinds of public data files, a whole lot of ancient texts, and low-security mission reports. Some of them concern Blaze and her Ghost. She even has a folder for her favorites. There's also a compartment with some leather-bound books if Hughes prefers paper. Two are travel guides, written by a couple of Hunters about the places they've scouted. There's a compilation of military texts, the Pahanin Errata, plus a famous Warlock's lectures on military philosophy.

And of course there are plenty of image and video collections. The City-style internet may have an awful lot of gaps when it comes to past culture (and even some odd things missing from its own history), but there's still a vast cultural inheritance behind them

Edited 2016-02-04 21:07 (UTC)

Although he keeps a wary ear open for signs of trouble from Blaze, Hughes is happy to read through anything and everything he can get his hands on. With the upgraded processing power, he cruises through the mission reports and ancient texts first. It seems a nice way to get to know his sleeping friend a little better. He skips the lectures on military philosophy, though, because he gets enough of that in his own world.

Those pictures, though, are going to hold his attention for a long time. He's never seen buildings like that or dreamed of such beautiful places. It's amazing to see the differences between his world and Blaze's and it helps cement what the texts were talking about. A win-win all around.

Hughes can extract information aplenty here. Guardians clearly face enemies who vastly outnumber them, apparently by combining extensive intel and resource-gathering with strategically chosen strike missions to eliminate key targets: disrupting command chains, supply networks, denying attempts to seize key assets. At least, when they aren’t seeking ‘sources of increased Darkness activity’ or delving into ‘Darkness-intense zones’. Whatever the objective, on a long mission enemy casualty estimates can stack up to hundreds per Guardian.

Despite the formidable opposition, there are few mentions of Guardians gathering in groups of more than three or six. Though Fireteam leaders are named there’s little visible regard for hierarchy in the field. Even missions assigned by Vanguard Commanders back in the Tower are often phrased as requests.

It’s possible too to get a sense of the combat tactics favored. Blaze seems to favor shock and awe, aggressively testing her enemies’ defenses and charging in to hit their ranks at the densest point. Only where that proves ineffective does she resort to more tactical methods. Needless to say, her solo missions have a particular number of references to ‘Guardian impaled’ or ‘Guardian disintegrated’ or ‘Guardian incapacitated by tripmine detonation’. And immediately after: ‘Following Ghost resurrection…’

Blaze, meanwhile, is quiet for the first hour or so, once she finally gets to sleep. It’s only once she hits the dreaming phase that her pulse accelerates and her breathing quickens. And then the dream passes, and another hour goes by before it returns, and then again…

She has a vague sense of being surprised to be here. She can’t remember why. It seems inevitable now: here is where she was born; here she must return. No remaking by alien gods or meddlers can change that.

Once again it is evening as she comes down onto the field. The sun slants low over the mountains, making black silhouettes of the tower and the silent army before it. This doesn’t matter. She does not remember what is in the tower but she knows those who wait. She breaks into a run as she comes to meet them. There are others at her side, or distant, fighting their own foes for the same goal. (There are others, more distant, who walk ahead untroubled. She cannot heed them.)

They are all there, of course. Those of the Tower and those of the Nexus mixed in with the faces of long-forgotten names. She faces Hirune bare-handed; afterward, tries to take her gun before Jesse and Ulysses-10 tag-team her. Bare-handed suits her, but she takes a gun anyway and moves on. And there are Holliday and Steve, Banshee-44 and Verity and Harrowheart and ah, yes, Samus…

She’s slept four hours, or perhaps close to six. By then her heart is pounding, her breathing shallow. There are slight twitches in her fingers, the restless jerks and gasps that betray intense dreaming. The Ghost takes note: these phases seem to be getting longer. It drifts closer, fluttering anxiously, but doesn’t dare get too close. Exo psychology plus human biology is an unknown quantity.

That is a lot of information to parse through, and he's certainly not going to be able to make sense of all of it tonight. Still, it's amusing to know Blaze is the kind of exo who believes in the 'try, try again' method of making things work. If only Hughes could introduce her to a few friends back home with that attitude...

Dream cycles are nothing new to Hughes. He's kept watch while others sleep many times. The first one passes by with only a little attention given to it. When the second comes around, though, he becomes more interested, given the physical response to the dreams. That much is not normal. People have a tendency to wake themselves when nightmares get bad, but Blaze seems intent to push through them. She's going to feel even worse in the morning if this continues.

When Ghost drifts over, Hughes follows. Something isn't right, he can feel it. Carefully, he rests a hand on the back of Blaze's (err, his?) head, to keep her from hurting herself when he wakes her. "Blaze?" His voice is soft, warm despite the body its coming from. "Hey, can you hear me? Wake up, buddy."

"Careful!" the Ghost warns in a whisper... despite the fact it doesn't know what they need to be careful of exactly.

...she hits the earth, rolls to her feet painfully- what's that voice? Suddenly she's unsteady; her feet aren't on the ground any more. Someone's over her, talking in her face-

Groggy and confused, she stirs enough for her conscious mind to process 'Hughes?' and half in the dream-state, she thinks: Hughes!

Her weapon hand lashes out with a grunt, trying to backhand him with the butt and lunge past him to her feet... although neither her limbs nor her balance are exactly where her instincts say they ought to be.

"Whoa! Calm down there." The extra quick reflexes are certainly a help in getting out of the way before Blaze is up and on her feet. They're also fast enough to catch her before she falls over or runs face first into something. He gently holds her in place, doing his best to keep the touch as light as possible until she's more cognizant of what's going on. "Careful - don't want to hurt yourself."

She tries to shake him off and keeps struggling for a minute when that fails. She's still breathing hard, cold and a little damp with sweat. "What?" She tries to swallow, but her mouth is dry; her limbs shaky with adrenalin. "Ghost!"

"I'm here. You're awake. And this is Colonel Hughes, remember?"

"...knew that." She tries to snort, as if that's some kind of joke.

It's a poor joke and Hughes isn't about to laugh at it.

"You're running on adrenaline, take a seat." Whether she likes it or not, he's going to 'help' her sit down. "That must've been one hell of a dream. Your heart rate is up, you're clammy, and you're trying to laugh it off. I'm sure you don't want to talk about it," no one ever does, "but is there anything I can do to help?"

So many instincts kicking in right now. Father, friend, comrade-in-arms... he's having trouble picking one and sticking with it long enough to even form a coherent thought.

She's burned through the brief spurt of energy, and doesn't resist being plonked back down. She's trying to straighten out her thoughts - she's still human, Hughes is here, Hughes- Hughes saw this. This state. Light, humans just aren't built for this.

"Help?" Blaze sounds outright confused by the word. She rubs at her face, mindful of the glasses when she nudges them. Finally she pins down what's confusing her. "...Why'd you wake me?"

"You showed signs of physiological distress. We... were concerned." Blaze may not (apparently) be thinking straight, but her Ghost has Hughes' back.

"It's not good to be like that for too long," Hughes adds. "I'm not that old, but I'm still human. My body's not quite as durable as I'd like it to be." He's trying to be self-deprecating here to take Blaze's mind off of the fact that they're so worried about her.

"...you wanna talk about it?" he asks after a moment of silence.

Blaze tightens her mouth in a grimace – she might brush this off, but she can’t overlook the fact that she’s wearing Hughes’ body. She has no idea what it can handle – or what she’s liable to do to it. She just has a hard time believing a dream could do much harm...

“It’s just a dream,” she says, which is true in its way. It’s the only kind she knows. “Exo stuff. Nothing to say about it.”

Nothing that’ll help, anyway. She can’t talk her core programming away and no good can come of explaining the dream’s contents to anyone who isn’t Exo. To her friends. Why do that to them? She likes her friends.

And she wants them to keep liking her.

"Given your physical reaction, I know it was more than that. Humans sometimes do strange things while they dream, but they don't have the same kind of physical reaction as they would to getting the hell beat out of them in a fight." This would be the perfect time for a frown, but Hughes can't really manage that when he's not in his body. "What happened?"

Let's face it, Blaze, it's going to be best if you open up.

The only reason Blaze's reactions are ever hard to read is that metallic mask, and she's missing it now. There's no hiding the alarmed widening of her eyes, the uncertain frown, the questioning look she gives her Ghost. She has no grounds to argue from, and she's awful at lying on the fly.

She looks down at the gun still in her hands, her mouth tightening. "It was a dream about fighting, like that's a surprise. Didn't figure... I guess this body doesn't handle it so well."

Human minds aren't quite so... meticulously accurate about simulating the effects of combat and injury.

"Seems like it was more intense than just a dream." Or maybe it's just a difference in how people like Blaze dream? "It's almost as if... you were experiencing the dream physically as you slept. That would explain the physical reaction, at least."

Well, maybe, but the idea makes Hughes feel a little better about it.

"Yeah, it's sorta like that." She shrugs. "I don't know what other dreams are like. Mine are always this way." She yawns. "Guess I'll get more of the same when I go back to sleep. How long was I out? I, uh. I can't tell."

"A little over five and a half."

Again with the desire to frown. This time Hughes crosses his arms in front of his chest to emphasize his point. "If it's going to happen again, you're going to feel even more like hell tomorrow. You need some actual rest if we're going to have any chance of functioning properly tomorrow. Is there something we can do to prevent this from happening again?"

She looks up at him blankly. "Stop dreaming? Didn't know you could. I just sleep right through them. It's normally fine when I wake- but then no-one ever woke me early before."

"Perhaps your- um." The Ghost looks up at Hughes. "Your body will adjust in time. At least... I hope so."

Hey, it was worth a shot. Sure, it was a complete shot in the dark, but you can't know if you don't ask, right?

"I guess we don't have much of a choice, do we?" He sighs heavily and nods. "You should try and get more sleep, then, but if it looks bad again for my body, I'm going to wake you up." Because he likes his body, damn it.

"You keep making me start again, the whole thing's just gonna take longer," she points out with something that might have been a sigh but just turns into another yawn.

It's actually kind of hard to consider sleeping now, but better get it over with. If Hughes isn't going to stop her, she'll haul herself right back over and slump down against the wall again.

"You need the rest." Otherwise she's going to fall asleep on her feet tomorrow. Probably literally.

Once Blaze is settled again, Hughes will go back to reading, though he'll be keeping a much closer watch on his friend this time. If it gets bad again, he'll wake her up, but he's really hoping to avoid that. The more rest she can get naturally, the better.

Blaze shrugs and settles back to try and sleep again. When she does sleep… well, again, after an hour or so the dreams return. From her vital signs, they seem to come in short bursts within the dream phases, getting more prolonged as she keeps sleeping. If Hughes lets her, though, she’ll eventually push through them.

Her Ghost doesn’t leave her side this time, silently watching to make sure her vitals don’t show dangerous signs of physiological stress.

If Ghost doesn't get excited like before, Hughes won't wake Blaze this time around. Even if she feels like hell in the morning, getting some amount of sleep is good for her. It would be better if she weren't so mentally stressed, but there's nothing that can be done about that.

Watching the sun rise over the earth when the time comes will be a great distraction from the sleeping Blaze. It's a sight he's only going to be able to enjoy once and he's taking full advantage of that.

It makes quite a sight up here, with no atmosphere to smear the light. Whatever the viewscreen's composed of, it automatically modulates that view of the sun to prevent blinding the pilot, but the light is still brilliant and sharp against the void, lighting up the swirling clouds below them and mingling with the gentler light of the Traveler's silver sphere.

It also wakes Blaze from her uneasy sleep. This time it's far more natural, a quiet shift in her breathing as she stirs and blinks at the deck-plates. She feels... better. Almost peaceful. Naturally she pulls herself onto her feet, shivering a bit. She doesn't keep this place warm (it's much warmer than the Nexus, of course) but somehow it feels even colder after she's been asleep so long.

"Hey." Her voice is rough, a little groggy, but she's steadier on her feet as she moves up alongside Hughes. The Ghost is floating around her attentively, getting her to reach up and give it an affectionate touch. "I miss anything good?"

"Hell of a sunrise, but nothing else." No need to bring up the ruffled sleep cycles, considering she didn't do nearly as bad this time around. "Feeling better after a little more sleep?"

"...Yeah. Better than I figured on." She leans over to access the environment controls and dial the temperature up about ten degrees. "Kinda cold and... nnh. Stiff. Is it supposed to hurt when you're stiff?" She flexes her shoulders with a small grimace.

"The cold thing is normal. Your body heats up when you sleep so the air feels extra cold right after you wake up. It's probably worse because of the cool temperature of the ship, too." Hughes can't really be certain, given his current body, but that seems like a good guess.

"Being stiff comes from the cold and the hard sleeping surface. It'll get better as you get up and start moving around." There's no way getting around that one in a place like this. And given how much Hughes has beat the shit out of his body over the years. For a man so young, you'd think he'd be able to recover better after a a single night on a rough bed. Sorry, Blaze.

"Always better when you're on the move." That's one piece of advice she's more than willing to take. She's moving right now, going to put that gun back in safe storage. "Uh. Sorry if the body's still sore when we get restored. Not sure I could've slept that much on a bed." She does care if her friends have to suffer the fallout from her habits, she just doesn't see much way around it.

She takes a minute to watch the view when she comes back: it's different, with these eyes, but it's still wonderful, still awesomely vast and serenely beautiful. A thought occurs to her, and she lets out a low 'heh', chewing it over before she changes course again and looks at Hughes.

"How are you holding up? My body doesn't have many needs, but, uh. It's still different."

He shrugs at the concern. "I've got some ideas that should help." A few stretches, a hot bath, a glass or two of whiskey... All useful in different ways, and each with their own set of pros and cons.

"It's... different, but I guess I'm okay? I don't really know how to know if something's wrong." He awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed. "Reading didn't help much with that either. Anything I should be watching out for?"

She grunts, her gaze dropping for a minute as she considers what to ask. Senses shouldn't be an issue. No pain since he hasn't been injured, no fatigue as a matter of course...

"I don't know. How's your memory?" she asks offhandedly. It's usually perfect, at least... for her most recent life. But she wonders. Wonders if he feels the same flashes of the past flickering in, fragments of mostly-forgotten memories jarred loose and slipping into his perceptions.

Reincarnation does funny things to the mind. But Hughes ought to be more stable, she hopes. His mind is young. Less clutter from past lives.

"Memory?" That seems like an odd question. "Can you elaborate?"

He's now trying to index everything that's happened in the last day or so since the start of this whole body swapping thing began. The swap itself, the subsequent freak out, the flyers in the Forum, the meet up at the Harp... Everything seems to be there, so what is Blaze worried about?

"Just... wondering if everything's coming back when it should. You know. Probably nothing to worry about." She pauses and adds, attempting to act casual, "You have a family, right?"

Subtle, Blaze. Even her Ghost is blinking at her.

Hughes blinks. "Are you serious? Of course I have a family. The pictures are in your pocket for fuck's sake! Or, at least, they were." Beat. "...you didn't lose my wallet, did you?"

It's not like he can't replace everything in said wallet, but damn. This was quite the shit to drop on him without warning.

"Huh? Don't think so." She pats herself to check which pocket he's talking about. She didn't exactly empty them out, so his wallet should still be there, and she pulls it out after a minute. "This thing?"

"Yes, that." He takes it from Blaze and pulls it open, heaving a sigh of relief when all of his pictures are still there. "I'm so glad these are here. I just had a few of these printed last week. My daughter gets more adorable with each passing day." Cue the flipping around of the photo in his hand to show to Blaze. A little four-year-old girl with pigtails playing with a doll out in the snow, where the two of them appear to be making a snowman. "Isn't she adorable?!"

Thank goodness he's not in his body or he would be making all kinds of faces right now. Blaze doesn't really need to see that so soon after waking up.

She's still a little sleepy; it doesn't fully register what he's doing until he flips the photo round to show her. Blaze catches a glimpse of the child before she flinches, dropping her gaze down to the deck. The controls. Anywhere else.

"I- I'm sorry." This must look weird. Maybe insulting. She knows that. "I can't. I bet she's a sweet kid and all, it's just- weird. Right now."

That's a terrible excuse, but evasiveness never suited her. She rubs her ear, trying to think of a subject change. "I don't know much about kids. Guessing she's, what- five, six?"

Hughes is frowning so hard right now, somewhere in that exo body he's currently residing in. But not the angry or hurt kind of frown he usually pulls with Roy when the Flame Alchemist pushes off his pictures. No, this is the kind he reserves when something's terribly wrong and no one will tell him what it is.

"She's four," he says with a nod. "But... are you okay? It's okay if you don't like kids, but that kind of reaction... it gets a guy worrying." Dad Mode is back in full swing, it seems.

"Nothing wrong with kids." She doesn't know how to explain convincingly without it getting ugly. "Just... uh. I'm wearing your body right now. Seems weird."

It seems wrong, and Hughes might agree with her if he had any way to grasp what the hell she's on about.

Ghost attempts to come to her rescue. "

Long-term memory can interact strangely with a new body. I think Blaze is primarily concerned with whether you can access your memories as you normally would. When you wish to.

"

"But... she's adorable either way." Okay, he told himself he wouldn't come down on Blaze about the subject like that, but come on. She's the most adorable thing in the multiverse!

That gets him to blink. That is terrifying. "What do you mean 'new body'? Are you suggesting you get more than one?" Because that's not something he's ever heard of before. Yes, even in the Nexus.

"Yeah. I bet she is." She's not being sarcastic in the slightest. But she's not sure how little it takes for her memory to latch onto someone, and dreaming of another child - a friend's child, seen through her father's eyes - is more than she can accept.

She dives into the subject she'd prefer to explain. "Kinda. Ghosts can resurrect us even when we've been blasted into dust. When you come back, especially the first time, it- yeah. It can mess with your head some. Things get, uh, stirred up.

"...I'm not so good with faces, right now. You could tell me about your daughter?"

"...I see." Definitely terrifying. "I think I'll avoid anything that might, uh, kill me right now. Just to be safe."

He crosses his arms in front of his chest and thinks about that for a minute. How best to describe the light of his life? "She's a tiny ball of spunk and energy - takes after me in that matter, much to her mother's dismay. Despite her age, she's got quite a mind of her own and is quite stubborn, but the way she emulates her kind, soft mother never ceases to amaze me. She's... well... perfect." Not a word he uses lightly, but he really does mean it.

“You ought to be fine,” Blaze assures him. Tries to. “You already got jumped into my body, you shouldn’t lose anything if you’re resurrected. I’m pretty sure of it.” Her Ghost sighs quietly.

“She sounds like a great kid.” Blaze dares to look Hughes’ way, mouth quirking with the reflex of a smile. “Makes the fight all the more worthwhile, knowing who you’re doing it for.”

“And it’s another reason to get home safely,” the Ghost adds quietly. It almost sounds like a reminder.

Hughes nods along with Blaze's assurances. He certainly doesn't feel any better about the idea, but he won't say anything further about it.

The picture is tucked back into his wallet carefully before he hands said wallet back to Blaze for safekeeping. A lack of pockets means he's not about to hang onto it right now, despite a desire to do so. "Maybe we should try and figure this whole charade out, then? No time like the present and all that. Well, uh, maybe after some breakfast for you, of course." He nods to Blaze. Damn this is weird.

Blaze blinks, actually looking a bit dismayed as she replaces the wallet in the pocket where she found it. "I ate right before we came back here! I haven't even been active!"

"No, but it has been some time. I'm sure you'll be hungry soon." The Ghost isn't going to let her run herself into the ground so soon. It's with Hughes on this.

"...Fine. Give me a minute to wash my face. Skin's feeling kinda weird." There's a compartment along one wall that opens into a small cleaning unit - it looks like it's actually for equipment maintenance, but the important thing to Blaze is that there's running water and a clean cloth she uses to dry off delicate gear. She remembers to take the glasses off and set them aside gently, first.

The Ghost looks up at Hughes in the meantime. "Should we look for any type of food in particular? I've never had to account for human eating habits before."

"It's just a little sweat and oil. A quick rinse should be enough." Watching Blaze wash up makes Hughes think a bit more critically about his usual routine. His body looks like hell right now - the least it could use is a quick shower and a hot breakfast. Coffee would be nice, but unnecessary. And, of course, a bathroom break somewhere in there, despite all the awkwardness that presents.

"Something savory would probably be best," he says as he turns to Ghost. "Eggs, toast, some bacon or sausage... things like that. There's a few diners in the Nexus we can visit for that." He'll try to steer Blaze away from anything too sweet - too much sugar in the morning isn't good for anyone.

Blaze is very unsophisticated about washing. She’s just splashing cold water over her face and scrubbing vigorously until she has to suck in a breath-

-gasping involuntarily at the cold, blinking water away and brushing damp hair from her eyes. What she needs is a shot of coffee and an excuse, any excuse-

-she blinks again, and she’s just hunched over the compact workbench in her own ship, the familiar vibration coming up softly through the metal to where she’s gripping the edge with white fingers. She lets out a long, unsteady breath, trying to place herself while the others talk. Then she slaps the bench top hard enough to make her Ghost jump and leave her hand stinging.

“Blaze! Are you all right?” Her partner ventures closer, but she just waves it off and steps back over to the pilot’s seat, drying her face. She’ll need another minute of squinting before she remembers to go back for the glasses.

“Fine. You two figured out where we’re going yet? I want to get back to figuring this out. Still think Hughes ought to go for a test run. Can’t hurt to learn what you’re packing now, right?” Not like she hasn’t been pushing her temporary body.

Hughes hovers a bit more than is necessary when Blaze seems to lose her grip on reality. He's not pushing - yet - but the desire should be obvious, despite his lack of facial expressions.

"Yeah, we'll hit the Nexus for breakfast. We can figure everything else out after that." Hopefully after they get their bodies back. Sorry, Blaze, but there won't be any trying things out while Hughes has your body. He's ready to be back in his own already.

Blaze looks up at Hughes for a second. If she notices his concern, she’s dismissing it as readily as she does Ghost’s. Why get concerned about something that can’t be changed? That surely doesn’t matter in any case?

“Right.” Dried off, she replaces the glasses carefully and checks they’re straight. She takes a last look at the view, nodding toward it. “That’s something, you know. Seeing Earth the way our- hm, the way humans see it. Wouldn’t mind remembering that.”

The cloth is put away for later washing before she nods to Ghost. “All right. Make it somewhere we’ve already seen. No wandering about.”

She's going to try ribbing Hughes into some fun if she realizes he's backing out on that.

"The Harp it is, then." They've got plenty of savory things to eat there and the staff is always accommodating to his out-of-the-ordinary requests. No reason to think they'd do otherwise, given they saw him in Blaze's body yesterday. "Can you get us back to the Nexus?"

She can rib all she wants, but it's likely she's going to get frowning Dad face in response.

Blaze nods to the Ghost, who flashes and announces, “If everyone’s ready…”

Since everyone is, it transmats them to a point outside the main door of the Harp. Blaze leads the way in. She wants to get them a table well inside by a wall where she doesn’t have to keep looking up at strangers. Might mean less stimulation for Hughes to deal with, too. She’ll let her friend order, only butting in to veto any coffee (for some reason, she’s not in the mood for that) and to check if he wants another powerpack.

The guy could use something to lighten his mood, in her opinion.

Less people to deal with is probably a good idea right now. Being in a familiar place, but not sensing things as he normally would, puts him on edge. He order breakfast for Blaze quietly, passing on the powerpack for himself, and sighs once the satyr-waiter is out of earshot.

"I know food's off the table, but I don't suppose I can have a drink in your either, huh?" Not that it would do much for his nerves in his own body, but he needs something to fidget with right now.

She's been eyeing the table grimly, but now her head snaps up, looking startled at him.

"That's what the pack is for. You didn't realize?" She's been trying to get you buzzed this whole time, Hughes. "Guess it's not as close as I thought."

"I'm not sure we really stopped to explain everything clearly," the Ghost points out diplomatically. It's quite an understatement. Moreso considering the number of things Blaze has actively chosen not to stop and explain.

He blinks. Once. Twice. Then he shakes his head.

"Could've told me sooner. I could've used a drink yesterday to calm my nerves even a little bit." Take that as a 'yes I'll take one powerpack, please.'

"Anything else I should know while we're on the subject?"

"Uhhh. Nothing urgent, I think." She cocks her head at him speculatively. "Okay, here's something. Give me your arm, and hold it still."

Soon as he's got his hands on that powerpack, he's taking a nice long swig, because this seems like it's about to be one of 'those' kinds of conversations.

He holds out his arm, perfectly still despite his nervousness. "Now what?"

She grabs his arm with business-like briskness, finding the catches and the circuit overrides from memory. Lucky her armor isn't too fancy and secure yet, because this way she's able to detach the gauntlet and slide it off, giving Hughes his first look at his new hand.

For the heavy gauntlet and the weight behind it - for the steel-crushing strength it still bears - the Exo hand seems oddly slender, almost skeletal in its white plating. The sleeve of his innermost bodysuit extends over the wrist, black and soft, but Blaze rolls that back a bit so he can see the joint. There's a minimum of visible moving parts: his body looks armored even beneath the armor.

"All right. Mind the shift in weight," she warns, setting the gauntlet aside. The caution is reinforced by the heavy thunk: there's quite a bit of mass layered into the armor along with fancier ways of making her punches hit harder.

Blaze turns his palm over, and then runs her fingertips lightly over his hand. And it turns out that whatever the stereotypes about robots, an Exo's sense of touch is thousands of times more sensitive than a human's. Hughes will be able to feel his own fingerprints, the tiny scars on his skin, the precise friction and flex as human skin brushes against its machine counterpart.

Hughes watches with an immense fascination as Blaze removes the gauntlet. And then she's running her fingers - his fingers - along the exo hand and the sensations are exhilarating. He can feel his own finger prints, feel the dozens of tiny cuts along his fingers from his push knives, all the small things that make his hands so rough. It's amazing...

...for about three seconds until it becomes a little too much. He snatches his extended hand back rapidly, which brings about a whole new set of sensations. The mix of warm air currents with the cold, stale air creeping into the Harp. Tiny particles floating in the air bumping into his hand. The moisture of Blaze's breath against his skin as he pulls his hand past her face.

"Enough. Enough." The experiment was fun, but Hughes wasn't ready for so much at once, it seems.

Blaze is obviously startled when he jerks his hand away, glad she wasn't trying to hold on. She blinks at him for a minute, then picks up the gauntlet to offer it to him. Hovering between them, the Ghost looks a little wide-eyed, for a being with just one eye.

"You all right?" Blaze queries, low voiced and frowning quietly as she watches him.

"Yeah, fine." There's an audible sigh as flexes and stretches his fingers after the gauntlet is back on. Now he gets the need for the armor - feeling that all the time would be hell on the senses. "Just a little much, that's all."

Don't mind him if he finishes off the rest of that powerpack, though.

"Guess you're not calibrated for my senses either." She nods. "That's one reason Exos wear clothes, even those who've left combat duties. Cuts down the extra sensory input if you don't want distractions." Which isn't such a big deal for everyone, but... stimuli tend to trigger the memory, too.

Hell, even the tactile feed through the armor isn't far off a human's sensitivity, but it's much easier to handle.

She chuckles. "Course, mostly it's just habit and culture. Feels kinda vulnerable otherwise, you know?"

"Guess some things don't change no matter where or when you're from," he observes with a chuckle.

And then breakfast arrives. A plate full of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and a fresh, warm strawberry scone. It may look daunting to Blaze, but Hughes is sad that he won't get to enjoy it. The food at the Harp is always amazing. "Don't have to eat all of it," he notes, "but at least half would be a good start."

As for himself? Hughes is getting another powerpack. The edge hasn't worn off yet and he could use a little more to push him in that direction.

"Humans." Blaze shrugs, but there's a kind of affection in her voice.

Faced with the full breakfast, she gives a grim nod (in complete contrast to the way her mouth waters and her stomach growls at that smell). She digs in with a steady determination most people reserve for digging trenches. Maybe she's actually trying not to enjoy it.

She's deliberately not thinking on her moment of confusion at the cleaning bench; she'd rather not think about any of her current sensations, but there's nothing here she's allowed to hit. Hard to do that and eat, anyway. Suddenly the risks of talking to Hughes seem much less. Blaze eyes him as he starts on the next pack. She knows her own capacity; at this rate, he'll start to get pleasantly buzzed pretty soon. Pretty chatty, too. It's worth venturing some conversation to see if she can get him started. She's planning to put away all the food she can, and it'll help if he supplies the noise.

Blaze, too, can be more calculating than she normally appears.

"Don't really get how you do it, you know." She's still getting to grips with the cutlery, eyes on the bacon she's cutting. Thank Light for Hughes' muscle memory. "I always figured that's why they chose us from the dead. No family ties left, even if you weren't Exo. Only the fight. Makes it easier."

No-one to miss you, or be missed in the field. Only your brothers and sisters in arms, and who would abandon them?

Hughes is quiet for a moment while he finishes the second powerpack. The buzz is... different from what he's used to, but not unpleasant. As much as he wants another, he's going to pass for now. Best to see how this settles out before diving in too deeply.

"If you have no family, what do you fight for? What makes it worth while? Is it your comrades-in-arms? Your friends? Pride for a job well done? There's any number of things to become attached to, all of which can cause ties that hurt when they're lost or severed."

Maybe not the kind of noise Blaze was hoping for, is it?

She was definitely hoping for more harmless family talk and less of this weird introspection stuff, that’s for sure. Maybe she’s not very good at harmless chatter right now.

“I fight for all of those. The Light. The City. Humanity. Fun. Still seems less- hm. Distracting, if you ask me. All those reasons come back to the battlefield. You lose them, it’s probably because you’ve lost everything. Nothing else to worry about.” She has another mouthful, swallows and shrugs. “It’s simple.”

Hughes nods along as Blaze explains. "It's the same way with family. If you lose that battle you're fighting, that war? You've likely lost your reason for fighting as well." He shrugs and leans back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"It's all a matter of perspective. My family makes the fight worth while for me. I have every reason to give my all, because they're waiting for me. For some, the risk is too great. For me? It's exactly what I need."

Somewhere in that Exo body he's currently residing in, Hughes is smiling about that. He could say any number of things about the subject, but, really, it comes down to choosing your reasons for fighting. And for Hughes, it's his family. Always has been, always will be.

Blaze grunts in a way that says she still doesn’t get it. But also she’s taking the chance to shovel that hash brown into her mouth. Here’s hoping her next lesson isn’t ‘the joys of indigestion’.

“What about them? Doesn’t bother them when you’re off in the field? When you’re up against that risk?” Keep talking, Hughes. She has no idea about any of this stuff. “Besides, seems to me family’s a whole distraction on its own.” What's the jam supposed to be for? Doesn't go too well with the eggs, she's figured that out anyway.

Hughes made sure to order things that wouldn't cause Blaze any discomfort. He knows his own body well enough to avoid all the worst things for her.

"They don't like it, and my daughter may not understand what's going on, but my wife does. She knows when the fight's important, understands why I do what I do. If I were to stop for any reason, she'd tell me to pick myself back up and keep going." He chuckles softly. "She's as determined and stubborn about things as I am, and about me most of all. There's no way she'd let me stop unless I was physically unable to keep going. Even then, she'd have a hell of a time getting me to stand down."

Hmm, that buzz seems to be fading already. Time for another powerpack. One more can't hurt, right? "Honestly, having my family be a distraction for me is a good thing. I remember to go home, to take time to enjoy life outside of work. It's important, with all of the crazy things happening in my life, to remind myself why I do what I do by spending time with my family."

“Sounds like a woman I’d like to know. Military too?” Blaze has her own ideas of what’s good for both of them right now, and she looks quite approving as Hughes calls for another powerpack. “Guess I’ll have to take your word on the rest.”

She’s quiet for a minute or two, frowning intensely. She’s running short on stuff to talk about that isn’t awful: her head’s too full of things she doesn’t understand or want. It occurs to her that she ought to apologize for last night and without thinking she adds, “Sorry if I, uh, yelled last night.”

Only once it’s said does it occur to her that's too close to one of the subjects she’s trying to avoid. (Too damn many of those, part of her thinks irritably.) Should have saved that for a more opportune time. But- Light, it’s said now, she ought to say it sometime. It’s not going to get more comfortable three hours from now. And maybe this isn’t so bad. Hughes can’t fault her for not talking unnecessarily when she’s busy cramming her mouth with half the day’s nutritional requirement.

"No, not military." Like Hughes would let Gracia near the mess he finds himself in. "She stays at home with our daughter. I... don't know what I'd do without her. Without her help, our household would fall apart. She tracks bills, does most of the chores, does all the hard parts of raising our daughter, and still manages to make it all look easy. I admit that she's my everything. ...well, she and my daughter both, but I don't rightly know what I'd do without them outside of continuing the fight."

Is it easy to tell that he's beaming somewhere in that Exo body he's currently residing in? He's used to talking about his family with others, used to telling them about the cute things his daughter is doing or the way his wife looked so beautiful when he left the house that day, but this? This is different. And it's wonderful.

Hughes is vaguely concerned by the change in subject, but he takes a moment to think after the words are out there. After dipping into the next powerpack, he speaks. "You sure everything's okay? I'm not upset about what happened, but I am worried. What's going on in that head of yours? Do you want to talk about it?" The answer to that last question is obvious, but it needs to be asked anyway.

“What’s her name?” She has to ask. He’s so happy when he speaks of his family. It’s obvious to Blaze, knowing the signs: the exact way his optics flare, the affection and pride in his voice… it’s almost visible, the way he brightens up.

Weird as hell to hear in her own voice, though.

She should have asked him about this to begin with, she thinks. Should have known…

His questions bring a shrug as she puts away another hash brown. The food’s keeping up its end; it buys her time before she has to answer. “Not much to talk about. Think my systems are just off. Not used to the way this body responds.”

She notices the way her Ghost is looking at her and swallows to insist, “There’s nothing worth worrying over.”

"Gracia. Our daughter's name is Elicia." More beaming. He's just so damn happy about having them in his life.

"Bullshit." Hughes knows his own tells well enough to see Blaze use them. The use of the food in front of her to have an extra moment to think. Not meeting Hughes' gaze unless absolutely necessary. Slight changes in breathing pattern. Sorry, Blaze, but there's no way around this now that you've brought it up. "If it bothers you, it's worth worrying about. Now come on. Tell me."

“Hmm.” She nods; she’ll remember the names. His love for them is something to see. Really is the kind of thing they’re out there to protect. Except Hughes is out in the line of fire, too. That’s… still something she’s glad to avoid with her brethren. She knows war and its costs very well. But it’s been a long time since she could put a name to anyone in Hughes’ position.

Her head snaps up when Hughes calls her out, staring at him fiercely. But she doesn’t deny it. Can't, really.

“Worrying isn’t going to fix anything, Hughes,” she points out. Still, she’s stopped shoveling food into her mouth; she lays down knife and fork for a while.

“Exos used to get rebooted once in a while,” she says quietly. “Reset, memories wiped. Happened to everyone at least once. That’s why we don’t remember our origins. I wind up mentioning that to most people here. Thing is – they didn’t wipe everything. Stuff gets left behind. Fragments. Trace memories.” She wishes she had a power pack right now. It’d make talking easier. She sighs wearily.

“Like I told you earlier, the reincarnation process – getting remade mind and body – that stirs things up, rearranges them. Does funny stuff to your head sometimes. And I estimate I’ve been through about three dozen reboots. That makes for a lot of clutter. So I don’t honestly know what’s going on in here, but I am sure it’s meshing pretty badly with human senses.” It’s the only sensible explanation for what she experienced earlier. New sensations contaminating the old.

Hughes nods along quietly as Blaze explains. Memory wipes, fragmented memories... it's the kind of burden you don't know how to sympathize with unless you've been through it personally. It also sounds like the kind of thing that could break a person if they don't find a way to come to terms with it fast.

"I can see new senses dealing with the changes poorly, but you're telling me this happens no matter what body you're in?" Talk about not being ideal. He frowns internally. "Anything I can do to help?"

"They're my memories... kinda. Guess they come with me." Things have felt a little different, but that aspect definitely hasn't gone entirely.

"Isn't anything to do. That's why I don't talk about it. Just got to handle it like I always do." She picks up the fork and stabs the scone experimentally. "We get back to our own bodies and it'll be easier."

"These... memories - they're what you dream about?" It's a logical assumption to make, given the way Blaze is trying to avoid the subject. He pauses for a moment, thinking through everything they've talked about. "Is there a way to try to piece them together?"

"Basically." A short nod. A lie. Not wholly a lie, though, and better than leaving him wondering. What she's told him is just uncomfortable; the rest is knowledge that shouldn't be shared. She starts dicing up the scone, although that doesn't work as well as for the less crumbly food items.

"If there was, someone else would've figured it out. Other Exos have spent years on this stuff, Hughes. Centuries, trying to figure out how we work and what's in our heads. The things they've tried- I don't want to waste my time the same way. Got too much to do."

"So you're saying we should find a way to get back to our own bodies now that you've mostly finished breakfast, right?" The light teasing is his attempt at relieving some of the tension in the air and getting them focused on the real reason for coming back to the Nexus. He's eager to get back to his own body, to give Dr. Hill a piece of his mind, and then go home. He hopes he can swing a sick day to spend some extra time with his family after all of this is over...

"Shoulda found it at the start," is her opinion. Gruffly delivered as it is, at least she's happy to take the offered opening to get back to the important matter here. She gets back to plowing through the food with a will, ensuring that they won't be delayed for much longer.

"So," she says between mouthfuls, "which tactic are we going with? Finding Hill or... this empathy thing?"

"We haven't had a response from our Warlocks. I'm afraid they may be out on a field mission."

"So... empathy, huh?" Hughes sits back in his chair and sighs. "The hell is that supposed to mean anyway? I'm pretty sure you and I have understood each other pretty well from the start."

Unless it's about more than simple understanding. In which case he has no clue what to do. They've certainly walked more than a few miles in each other's literal shoes... what more does the doctor want from them?

"Seems like we've seen more of each other already than we ever would otherwise." Would Blaze normally let anyone bar her Ghost see half the things Hughes has (knowingly or not)? She'd rather not have to see them herself, honestly.

"Tried out everything I can, right?" She's thinking out loud while she munches the scone. "Eating, sleeping, getting hurt, getting cold, getting emotional. Don't know how you focus with all that going on in here, but that's a whole other matter."

"Sounds like you could use a drink." It has been a stressful time for both of them. And if Hughes can drink in her body, Blaze can certainly have one in his. He orders a whiskey on the rocks for her from a passing waiter for her and another powerpack for him.

"Hope it's not too much for you," he adds in the most snarky voice he can manage.

"It's one little drink, Hughes." She snorts (that, at least, she has the hang of). Drinking has so far been easier than eating.

Watch her end up coughing when it arrives and she tries to knock it back in one go.

"It's a little stronger than you might think." But he'll let her decide that for herself.

When the drinks arrive, Hughes raises his in a toast. "To getting back to normal." And then back it goes all in one shot to keep that nice buzz going.

"Getting back in the fight," Blaze adds, lifting her glass. A moment later, of course, she slams her glass down on the table and leans over it, coughing.

"I take it that really is strong," the Ghost observes helpfully, swooping in to check on her. She gives it a look, still clearing her throat.

"Yeah, well- that was new."

It's a good thing Hughes can't choke on his drink or he would have. He should be more worried about the fact that she could've choked on the ice, but he can't stop laughing. That reaction was simply amazing.

"Care for another?" he asks when he's regained his composure. "I've still got half of my drink left." Only because he had to stop drinking when he started laughing.

Blaze grabs a napkin to wipe her mouth, shaking her head at his laughter. Oh, well. Must have looked pretty silly.

"Sure. I can handle it." From that look, she's taking it as a challenge. She'll defeat all your whiskeys in single combat! ~~Before~~ Right after breakfast!

"I hope your body can handle it, Hughes..."

It does look silly. Whiskey is a sipping drink! ...well, good whiskey is, anyway. He can't vouch for what the Harp has.

"All right then..." Hughes orders another whiskey - neat, this time, since Blaze intends to slam it - before turning to Ghost. "With some water and the intention of not doing anything, it'll be fine. Hell, on top of that breakfast? I don't think it'll be an issue at all." Oh how much he'll regret saying that in a few hours when he has his body back...

After the ordered drink arrives, Hughes raises his in challenge. And then he'll throw the last of it back without a second thought. Yup, today will be a fun, buzz-fueled day.

"I... hope not."

"Relax, Ghost. Hughes knows this stuff." Blaze has probably heard of sipping, but it's safe to assume she thinks it's for other people. She's better prepared for the drink this time, and... at least doesn't wind up spluttering, even if she pulls a wince.

"See? Not so hard." She gives Hughes an actual grin before pulling a bit of a face at the taste. "That the worst you've got?"

"I really hope you know what you're doing..." the Ghost mutters.

One more drink leads to another, and the little bot's fears mightn't be so unfounded. Once Blaze starts to relax for the first time in this new body, trading jibes with Hughes... it's also not long before her head starts swimming in a whole different way. Her laughter slows down to a chuckle, and then a puzzled look at her glass while she tries to remember what they were laughing about. Right before the table seems to be coming closer...

The Ghost jumps, flicking its gaze between them as Hughes also slumps over the table. It zips around them, trying to rouse either. But it also refuses to let the staff disturb them, checking and rechecking its readings hopefully while it waits...

The first thing Hughes notices when he comes to is how much everything hurts. His back, his arms, his head... He doesn't remember it hurting this badly a minute ago.

But... hang on a second. Why does everything hurt? In Blaze's body, he lacked a whole set of sensations that he was used to, but now they're all back. Which could mean only one thing.

His eyes shoot open and he sits upright in his chair, causing it to rock underneath him. After taking a moment to steady himself, he rests his hands on the table and tries to focus on, well, anything. Seems those drinks are catching up to him more than he expected. When he's able to focus on his hands, though, he laughs excitedly. They're his hands!

"Blaze." Ow, his throat is raw, too. Lack of sleep and drinking will do that, though. He tries again, pushing a little harder on his vocal cords. "Blaze. Wake up." She needs to enjoy this moment as much as he does, though he might suggest skipping the victory drinks.

"Hughes? That is you, isn't it?" The Ghost hovers down to scan him, then flits excitedly back to Blaze's sluggishly stirring form.

You can tell when she heeds Hughes's voice: she shoves herself up from the table, head snapping left and right as she gets her bearings.

"What? Hughes? Ghost?" Wait that was his voice. And this is her voice- oh! "Thank Light!" She straightens up and looks down at herself, hands flexing, downright giddy. "It's about damn time!"

She feels so much stronger, so much easier already! Another second and she's out of her seat and hauling Hughes up for a victory dance. "Don't know how we did it, but I'm not gonna complain!"

Oh that victory dance is a bad idea. Hughes puts his heels down and digs in to keep Blaze from spinning him around.

"Whoa, easy there. You may only be buzzed, but I'm most certainly not." Wait. That doesn't make sense. Hughes frowns before trying again. "I mean, I'm more than buzzed. I'm... drunk?"

Ugh, he should not have let her order more drinks his head is swimming and oh god what is Gracia going to think when he gets home like this? He pulls himself away from the Exo and flops back into his seat, almost falling over in the process.

"I... haven't been this drunk in a long time. Damn."

"Huh? What's wro- oh, right." Human intoxication. Not so good for moving around, apparently. Blaze reaches out to steady him automatically, but her demeanor is still lively and cheerful as she leans on the table. "But we're back! What's not to be happy about?"

She lifts a hand to touch her Ghost, sharing a moment before her partner swoops back to Hughes.

"Are you, um... feeling all right?"

"Yeah, m'fine. Need water." Hughes rests his head in his hands for a moment before sitting up straight, taking a deep breath as he does so. Slow and steady is the way to do it.

"Need to sober up before I go home, though. My wife would kill me if I went home like this after disappearing for a couple of days."

"Got it." Blaze flags over one of the waiters eyeing them from a safe distance to request a couple jugs of water. She can't seem to stop pacing, though, only pausing to tilt her head down at her human friend.

"Don't think she'd need to try very hard. Really hit you bad, huh? Was I like that a couple minutes ago?"

"More-or-less. Hughes, maybe we should get you somewhere quieter."

"It gets worse as it settles in," Hughes adds. He thanks the waiter when his water arrives and begins sipping it slowly. In the end, he'll be fine, but while the worst of the drunkenness is still coming? Well, best to get the water in while he's thinking about it.

"Quiet is good, but I can't exactly go home right now." But damn does he want to. If he could send Elicia off for the night he could spend all evening with Gracia and then--

The fantastic thought is cut off when he remembers he's in public. He coughs rather conspicuously and takes a long drink of the water in his hands. "Think I'll need a place to crash, too," he says after a minute. "Not your place, though. No offense, but I hurt like hell right now." Or, at least, he knows he should. The whiskey is making that less and less noticeable by the minute.

Blaze flexes her shoulders sympathetically. It's so good not to be stiff any more. Seems like pain was the only sense that didn't dull when she was a soft organic life-form.

"Yeah, better find somewhere that's set up for humans. You have any friends who live around the Nexus?"

"Not in the Nexus." Not that he would choose to stay with, anyway. He takes another sip of water and then settles into a thoughtful look.

"If I had a phone, I could try Katsuya... Maybe he'd let me stay with him for a bit?" It might be a rather large inconvenience for his friend, but Hughes has been meaning to visit for some time now. He raises an eyebrow at Blaze. "You wouldn't happen to have one handy, would you?"

Blaze jerks a cheerful thumb at the Ghost, who answers, "If you know his number I can access the comms network and put you through to him. Or I can try to find it myself..."

Ghosts: master hackers, occasionally shaky on boundaries. Goodness knows how the City factions keep any secrets.

Edited 2016-03-18 22:43 (UTC)

Hughes thinks for a moment before checking his pockets for his wallet. Once he finds it, he fishes out a card with Katsuya's number on it and hands it to Blaze. "I can meet him at the portal to his world, but not sure how much further I'll get on my own."

That is not funny at all, so why is Hughes chuckling? And... grinning. He finishes off his first glass of water and sets it aside. The second can wait while they make the call to the officer.

Blaze shows the card to Ghost, who promptly hovers between them and shifts form. The little bot's silver shell splits apart into its individual points, all spinning around the expanded blue orb of its inner light.

"Establishing the feed now. I'll relay any audio from you once he answers."

"Sure." Blaze takes a glance at the card and passes it back to Hughes. She doesn't know why he's chuckling, but now she's laughing too. "...What's funny?"

"This is Suou."

So professional and polite. There's a distinct sounds of keys being pressed. He must still be at the station. What time is it in Sumaru, anyway?

"Hughes? Is that you?"

He snorts at Blaze's question, still laughing a bit. "You are funny."

And then Katsuya's voice is there and Hughes is completely distracted. "Katsuya! Hey, I have a favor to ask..." He chuckles a bit. "I feel really bad about calling while you're at the office, though." Not like he's got any clue what time it is there. It could be early in the morning or late at night for all he knows in his buzzed state.

"You're funny." Drunken comebacks are one area the machines are definitely not superior. Blaze hasn't lowered her volume to mind the open comm, either.

But a thought occurs. "Oh! Suou! We oughta tell him we got switched again!"

"Blaze, the comm is open."

"Blaze? Ghost?" Okay that's new. He supposes that makes sense considering that they were swapped for a long while, but...

Wait.

"Are you drunk?" The key pressing has stopped. Katsuya seems to have assumed he is not getting any more work done for today. He starts packing up to leave the station.

"....You don't want your wife to see you inebriated." Katsuya can guess what the favor is. "Will Blaze be joining us as well? She's welcome to. I'm assuming she is not used to this sort of...actually I'm not even sure how you managed ot get her drunk, but..."

Edited 2016-03-19 02:09 (UTC)

Hughes grins as he regards Ghost. "Maybe a little." Stop laughing, idiot. This isn't funny.

"And Blaze is drunk because we both had drinks, duh." It's obvious, Katsuya. Can't you tell? "I had whiskey and she had several powerpacks." Beat. "Well, technically, I had the powerpacks and she had the whiskey, but it's all the same now that we're ourselves again." Another beat. "...damn, I didn't even get to taste it. Maybe just one more wouldn't hurt...?"

If Blaze doesn't stop him, he's totally flagging down a waiter for another drink.

"Hughes!" She can't really tell him off when she's still laughing. "You said you're already too drunk!"

"Oh dear- that really doesn't seem like a good idea. Um, Officer Suou? I'll try and get Hughes safely to your portal."

"Why don't you all come. I have a feeling you'll need a hand with Blaze as well." And if she gets too rambunctious, Katsuya can just set her loose in the warehouse district and let her take care of some demon nests.

Since he won't be able to do his nightly patrol when he's now effectively on babysitting duty.

The good thing is his portal is right outside the station. Katsuya is waiting for them, his coat on over his suit and briefcase held lightly in one hand.

No one physically stopped him, so another shot of whiskey for Hughes it is!

"That sounds great! It'll be fun!" He pushes himself to his feet a little too quickly, rocking a bit as he stands. "We'll be there... soon." Luckily for everyone, Hughes isn't so dumb as to forget to drink some more water, so he slams a second glass before settling the bill. He can expense this later, right?

It's not too long of a stumble over to Katsuya's portal and getting through is nice and easy. Hughes' grin is a bit lopsided when he spots the officer and walks over to him. He reeks of alcohol, but that's not stopping him from pulling his friend into a hug. "Katsuya! It's good to see you again! Keepin' busy, I assume?"

"I'll try... but I can't guarantee where my Guardian will go at this point."

Blaze is almost laughing too much to push away from the table and follow Hughes. She does try to wrap an arm round his back and keep him on his feet, but once they get to the portal there's no resistance to letting him head over to Katsuya. The Exo just chuckles a bit and looks around, optics brighter than usual.

"Hey Suou! Thanks for picking up the distress call! ...Wait, Ghost, 're we supposed to come through this side?"

"Yes, hello."

The hug is really not necessary but Katsuya (wisely) decides it's not worth arguing about and gives Hughes a small pat on the shoulder with his free hand.

"Is this really a distress call so much as an unexpected visit?" He's not sure why he find's Blaze's antics to be funnier than Hughes'. Possibly because he should know better. "Come on, let's get you lot back to my place." Ghost gets a knowing look from the officer that says he's already decided to take care of them. Ghost thankfully won't have to deal with his guardian alone.

Unnecessary hug is unnecessary, but Hughes seems happier for having given it. He's also surprisingly good on his feet despite how drunk he smells. "What? No, no. It's not a distress call at all. I just can't go home right now." The reason is most definitely obvious.

"Besides, it's been too long since we spent any real time together. No time like the present, either, right?" Hughes has a mischievous grin on his face as he nods to the officer in a knowing way. He's far too happy given his current state of inebriation.

Ghost is lurking in Blaze's shadow faced with these unfamiliar and public surroundings, but he flutters in acknowledgment of Katsuya's kindness. He sounds both uncertain and grateful when he points out, "We don't want to be any trouble."

Blaze is much louder in her inquisitiveness: "Your place?" Hmmmmmm! She frowns in concentration. "We're not gonna start any wars or crash your timeline or anything doing this, are we? We're definitely not allowed that. Hard negative from the commander."

"No wars to be started, anyone who asks we'll tell you're in costume. The timeline's suffered much worse than a visitor from a friend, let me assure you."

It isn't far to Katsuya's modest apartment. In fact, it's rather on the large side for a typical bachelor's home in Japan but Katsuya's had to care after his brother, too. Until recently, that is.

"My brother's room is unoccupied and clean." Katsuya points out to Hughes. "So whenever you feel you need to, you're welcome to sleep there."

He's less sure what to do about Blaze and Ghost, for for now Katsuya gestures to the couch and turns on the television. He's careful to turn the subtitles on as well since he knows neither of them speak Japanese.

Short walks are good, considering Hughes is almost laughing himself silly the whole way. There's absolutely nothing funny going on, but he can't help himself. He's simply... happy.

"Sleep? I couldn't possibly sleep now!" Of course not. He said when you're ready, Hughes. "You need to tell me all about what's been going on with you," he adds suddenly, a hand resting on Katsuya's shoulder to get the officer's attention. "I haven't seen you in... forever, I think. Or something like that, anyway." Hughes waves his hand vaguely at the air to emphasize his point.

Blaze is probably giving Hughes plenty to chuckle at, too, because she's looking around with wide bright optics like the alien tourist she kind of is. The comprehension has clicked that they're in a genuine pre-Golden Age human city and it's alive and thriving away all around them.

She's never even seen her own city from ground level before.

Ghost has ducked out of view, but that doesn't stop her pointing out every new sight and smell and sound with bemused fascination. Anyone else they pass gets an overly friendly nod and greeting. She's temporarily distracted from her original intent to go kill something, and her Ghost isn't complaining.

Katsuya's apartment gets an equally curious inspection, Blaze strolling into the center of the room as she looks around. Her armor's started to spark a little, so her Ghost's first job when it re-materializes is to murmur for her to keep a grip on her power. Fortunately she's focused enough to take heed. For the moment.

"Didn't know you have a brother," she comments cheerfully and obliviously, leaning over to inspect the television like its an antique. "Hughes is right, this is no time to sleep. We only just got back in action!"

Katsuya's quick to explain (in Japanese, obviously) that his tall English speaking companion is a huge tech geek and is attending a science fiction convention if anyone stares for too long.

Having them both in his apartment is a welcome thing--Katsuya had begun to forget what it was like to have company. Never a good thing.

"I've been...actually I've been studying some old recipe books of late. Trying to get a feel for what I do and don't know. There's been...talk of a business venture in the Nexus. And I'm considering taking it."

"Business venture?" It takes Hughes a little longer to process that thought than it should, but when he does, his face lights up. "You mean... more sweets?!"

Honestly, the fact that the television is on behind him doesn't even phase Hughes at this point. Now that the topic of sweets has been brought up, everything else is secondary to that.

"Sweets?" Oh, right. Food. Blaze glances at them, but this is human stuff. Though she's still listening, she joins Ghost in studying the television with its ancient-yet-vaguely familiar dialect and amusingly energetic hosts. Civilian programming, huh?

It's a little cramped in here for the big Exo, so she plonks down on the floor in front of the couch, making it creak under her. She'll just sit down for a minute, while they study this cultural insight.

"Well, not just--" Hughes is entirely too close for comfort and entirely too excited about the prospect a bakery opening in the Nexus. Well, another bakery. There's plenty already in the shopping districts and he tries not to think too hard about how awful he'll feel if this fails.

"Yes. It will mean more baking for me." He nods slowly.

The television meanwhile has started playing advertisements in it's usual energetic splendor. Katsuya glances over to Ghost and Blaze, smiling warmly at the sight of the Exo woman watching the television.

"It must seen terribly outdated to you. The tv I mean."

The intelligence officer's enthusiasm only grows when Katsuya confirms his plans. "Do you need any help? I may not be a baker, but I'm sure I could help with advertising or something. And taste testing, of course." There's a wink thrown in there for good measure, but Hughes' honesty is quite obvious.

It's a really good thing he's too distracted by the prospect of Katsuya's new business venture to pay attention to the television. He might not leave it alone if he did and he's already a handful enough without the added help.

Maybe it's the buzz, but Blaze is chuckling readily at every new ad, amused as much by the enthusiasm behind the wackiness as anything else. Humans are so funny. Why is there an over-sized dog dancing around? What's up with the horde of tiny marching... somethings? Who knows!

"Oh, sure," she agrees blithely, leaning back to look up at Katsuya. "The City uses any tech we can get working, but I've never seen any this old. Kinda crazy to see all this in action. You have to wonder if our civilian channels are like this."

"

Some of the local text is legible, but I'm still analyzing the spoken language. It seems very close to the Old Japanese I've heard before. Though I haven't really heard enough for a solid comparison.

"

"It is Japanese." Katsuya confirms, giving Ghost a nod of his head, before slipping into his native tongue a moment.

"I had turned on the English subtitles as I was unaware if either of you still had record of my language in your time. I'm afraid I know very little of when you both are from, though I was told it was a version of Earth."

He's happy to switch back to English and translate if need be. Until then he's shifting glance back to Hughes.

"I'm not sure yet? I'd have to ask Ms. Radio about what needs doing."

Hughes should really be taking more mental notes about all of this, but now that he's seen the television and all the bright, happy things happening on its screen he can't focus on anything else. "Is it always so... cute?" It's easy to see he's not upset by that because of the way he's grinning like a fool.

He does take note about Katsuya's comment, though, and nods vaguely. "If you need me, you let me know."

Both machines listen with interest, Ghost chirping for a moment before asking, "Would you mind translating? I'm afraid I can't access those language files from here."

"Sounds familiar," Blaze comments breezily. "Must've heard a dialect of that before." She'll be paying attention to the translation, even if it makes her chuckle. Not because it's particularly funny, she's just in a chuckling mood now.

"Our Earth is round about a thousand years ahead of this. Assuming we've got the estimates right. Not like we can really tell. Got records of lots of ancient languages though. Crypto-archaeologists love them. Hell, most of us know a few."

"That's certainly something. A thousand years into the future? Hell. This must look like the stone ages to you. Considering the differences between now and a thousand years in the past from myself...."

Katsuya shudders slightly. It's an unsettling thought in many regards. Partially because of how inefficient his life must be in comparison.

"Hughes, you're from an altogether different world, are you not?"

Hughes is overcome with a very somber mood when Blaze and Katsuya talk about the relative difference in time between their worlds. Having been to both, if only briefly, makes him feel a bit more like an outsider than he would have expected. It also puts a lot more of what he's seen in perspective, and cements some of what's been said in the Nexus about time being relative as real.

"I am," he answers with a nod. "We have some technology that's considered old even by your world's standards, Katsuya, but even then we're missing a lot." He smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck with one hand. "Different paths of development, I guess."

“It’s more complicated than that. We’ve got tech that’s more advanced than yours, sure. We’ve got tech seven or eight centuries old that’s still beyond us. Golden Age secrets.” She raps her chestplate for emphasis. “Technology leaps ahead, gets knocked back. It’s not linear. The people change, though. Not at the core, but they grow.”

She leans back against the couch, accidentally nudging it across the floor as she looks up at Hughes. Despite her little ramble, she’s curious. “What kind of tech do you have?”

"They use alchemy. It's a fascinating field of study, though I must admit I don't fully understand it. It sounds like magic, but Hughes has assured me in the past that it is most certainly a science."

He too is looking Hughes' way.

"Your world seems very interesting."

"Some people use alchemy," Hughes corrects with a chuckle. "There are some of us who can't figure it out in the least, despite years of reading up on it. We also have basic things like cars, trains, and ships for transportation, and basic radios and telephones that still require wiring for communication." He chuckles softly. "A bit dated by Nexus standards, but it gets the job done."

He can't help but smile a bit, though. "Glad it's still interesting to someone besides me."

"Heh. You know the saying about sufficiently advanced science and magic, Suou?" Blaze pauses to wonder out loud, "Do you have that yet?"

"Alchemy as in transmutation?" The Ghost is certainly interested too.

"No, nothing like it." Katsuya shakes his head. "Up until a few years ago, I would have insisted there was no such thing as magic, but well." His hand strays to his chest and Katsuya breathes deep.

He's walking proof that it does, now.

"We have cellular phones, though nothing like the devices I"ve seen in the Nexus. Otherwise, the tech you see in my home is the level we've reached."

"Exactly." Despite not knowing much about it, Hughes is all smiles that Blaze and Ghost seems to understand what he's talking about without having to explain it.

"It's not a bad haul," Hughes notes, motioning to the television. "We don't have anything like this on my world. It's fascinating." And if he isn't careful, he'll be drawn in by more of the colorful commercials coming on the screen...

“It’s a great thing, isn’t it?” Blaze looks between both of them, her gaze bright and joy in her voice. Being drunk and back in her own body has her downright bubbly. “Knowing there’s always another horizon. Always another space of possibilities you haven’t explored. You’ll do thousands of things we didn’t and we- we’ll do things you never need, I hope.

“I mean-“ she waves at Hughes, “alchemy never worked for us and magic is sorta recent. If it’s the same thing you call magic. Suppose your demons work in a similar way. Contracts and all. Haven’t had more trouble with those, have you?”

Drunken robot means talkative, thinking-out-loud robot.

"Fascinating is a good word for it." Katsuya agrees, smile on his face as he nods along to Hughes--not that the officer sees it if he's watching the television again.

"I have heard there are a few stragglers who stayed in the Nexus." Katsuya's expression stiffens slightly. "Though I haven't heard of them causing any trouble, but I've kept an ear to the ground for any signs. Here in Sumaru, that's another story." The officer shakes his head.

"I do patrols every other night, cycling through the wards and eliminating threats."

Talk of patrols and dangers pulls Hughes away from the television instantly.

"Are you still having problems here?" He frowns. "You said you were going on patrols, but I don't recall you saying you were going out every other night." The thought that he might be forgetting because he's intoxicated doesn't even cross his mind. He doesn't forget things. Ever.

Ghost looks up and spins at the mention of stragglers. "You mean like Angel?"

"Angel doesn't count," Blaze insists. "She's a friendly. Absolutely confirmed." Ghost decides not to argue with this definition of 'demon'. Especially since Blaze's attention has already moved on to the 'actual' kind.

"We'll help you clean them out!" she volunteers happily. "About time I got some work done. Static's starting to make my sensors itch." After all, she's been out of combat for more than twenty-four hours now. It's unthinkable!

Excerpt 003: Ship’s Cradle

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Sorry for the delay! My internet at home died this weekend. D:

No worries! I know how that is!

I'm told by my husband that the tech we had over fixed it, though, so progress!

Excellent news!

I'm super excited!

For being online, or for Jetpack!Hughes? :P

Both, obviously! XD

XD Blaze fails at bribery; tries getting cranky.

Hughes is a dad. That's not going to work on him. =P

She did not anticipate the Dad Powers!

Not everyone does, and that is their downfall. XD

Careful, Hughes! Don't diss Teddy!

If Teddy weren't a gun, this conversation would not be happening. LOL

She needs it to kill the monsters! Okay, she doesn't, but her instincts don't get that. :P

Sounds like an exo with a gun problem. ;P

Absolutely: she needs more guns. ;)

=P

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject