Blank Slate Ch.27: Dream Team

Table of Contents https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/225386550/0/0 "Sorry to just dump you all together and leave," Blanc apologized, "But Keis has been assigned to a mission, and we have to go. Have fun!" Keis nodded farewell before he and Blanc transmatted into their ship, leaving the six of us in the courtyard. I turned to the other five Guardians. Blanc and Keis had brought Welkine, Quintel, Ilya, and me to the Tower to meet a couple of Keis' friends. I stuck out my hand to our two new acquaintances, an Awoken Warlock with grey hair and a Hunter in black armor half-covered in tallies. "I'm Natalie," I greeted, "You can call me Nat. Nice to meet you." The Warlock shook my hand and returned, "Our pleasure. I'm Nulluj. You can call me Null." "And I'm Ilya," Ilya hailed, nearly tackling the Hunter with a hug. He quickly shoved her away and inveighed, "Traveler above, woman! I'm Yvan-8! Get off!" "Not a hugger?" I whispered to Null. "More of a stabber," Null jested. Quintel shook Null's hand and introduced himself. "I'm Welkine-2," Welkine said. He spread his arms and jokingly approached Yvan, pretending he was going to hug him. Yvan didn't seem to think it was a joke and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Ah!" Welkine yelped, rubbing his face and beginning to stand back up, "It was a joke, dude!" "I know," Yvan grunted, crossing his arms. His helmet dematerialized, revealing his peach-colored metal Exo "skin" and red eye lights. Welkine fell back down laughing, "Oh my gosh! You look like a peach! A peach!" Before I could even cover my mouth to snicker, Yvan stepped forward and planted his boot next to the giggling Titan. Welkine stopped cackling as his gaze met Yvan's glare. Yvan nonchalantly reached back and unsheathed one of the four knives dangling from his waist as he spoke, "Tell ya what, kid. If you never say that again, I won't spill your guts across the floor." Yvan stepped back, but kept the knife out and twirled it around in his hands. Welkine stood slowly and inched away, putting Ilya between him and the Hunter. Null leaned next to me and spoke loudly enough to be heard by everyone, though he acted as if he were trying to whisper, "He's such a softy. If you get to know him better, he'll stop threatening and just skip straight to murdering you." I couldn't help but giggle, and Yvan sheathed his knife. "Obviously, you don't know me better," Yvan addressed Null, "Or I'd have killed you a thousand times over." "Sociopath," Null chirped. "Aggravate," Yvan returned, then he sighed, "Lets go sign up for something. I can't handle just sittin' around with you morons." "Already taken care of," I declared, planting my fists on my hips, "Cosmodrome patrol." • • • I ducked behind the wreckage of an old building as Arc bolts darted past me. Fallen Devils were scattered among the ruins, trying their best to kill the six of us as we casually worked our way through the Cosmodrome. "Are you serious?" Welkine asked, his voice crackling on the comms. "For the tenth time, you chowderheaded clodpole!" Yvan shouted, "Yes! Now shut up!" "I can't believe we fell for that," Quintel murmured. "How did you find out?" Ilya inquired. "When Blanc asked us to punch Keis, I asked why," Null explained, "She confessed that she just wanted to see if someone could do it. When he catches your punch, he's just reacting. Using reflexes. The same thing would happen if you waved your hand in front of his face or shook him." Quintel ran up from another structure and took cover next to me. "I still want to punch him," I said, leaning around the building to shoot at a Vandal, "Its like a fun game. How can he catch our punches? Is it because he's an Exo? Do they, like, have karate programmed into their databases or whatever?" "Nat," Yvan asked, "What the heck are you blabbering on about?" "No, Nat," Null answered, "Exos don't work like computers. Their minds are like a human's. Their bodies are mechanical, and that's the only difference. Keis just has really good reflexes." "Oh," I formulated, "Okay, I didn't know that. That explains why Welkine can't do it. Like when Yvan nailed him." "Hey!" Welkine whined. Yvan chuckled, "That was fun." • • • "Remind me why I'm surrounded by idiots in the middle of the Cosmodrome," Yvan griped, kicking a spray of snow into the air as we strolled down an abandoned path. "Because you wanted to kill stuff to distract you from how annoying we are?" Quintel guessed. "That," Ilya agreed, "And Keis got us all together because we're his friends." "There's my point," Yvan hissed, "It wasn't Keis. The guy has the socializing capabilities of a rock, which is probably the only reason I go on missions with him. Blanc is the mastermind." "You make it sound like she's some kind of villain," I chided, hopping through the snow, "But you're right. Without Blanc, Keis probably wouldn't think to hang out with us." "Huh, I never thought about that," Quintel said. "Wow, Blanc really does a lot to get us together," Welkine pondered. "Yeah," Ilya concurred. "And we're all together now thanks to her," Null added. "Yeah," Yvan growled, "I'm gonna dunk her in paint, tie her to a rock, and throw her off the edge of the Tower." "Glad to know you're enjoying your time with us, Yvan," Null jested. • • •