nexus_crossings | Some Reassembly Required

Some Reassembly Required

There’s an open, grassy area on the edge of the Wilds, some distance from the most popular Nexus parks where people are enjoying their picnics and centaur polo and so forth. It’s a good place to go if you want slightly more peace and quiet - or in Blaze’s case, a good open space in which to make a lot of noise. The robot soldier has a few small crates out on the grass. One of them she’s sitting on; the others are being used as tables which hold a small array of tools and components and blocks of metal. She’s working on modifying a pair of heavy armored boots much like the pair she’s wearing, refitting the soles and reinforcing their structure. Her Ghost hovers beside her, inspecting a blueprint spread out atop one of the boxes. The little bot is spinning his pointy shell back and forth as if concerned, but Blaze pays him no heed.

“So,” she says, speaking up while she works. “People change. Some of us change more than others. Sometimes we don’t notice how it happens. Sometimes,” she yanks out a component and chucks it down beside her, “we don’t get a say. So what part of yourself would you want make sure you held on to? What’s the part you’d want to be remembered?” She pauses, then looks up at the nearest people. “And, hey, anyone got some spare explosives?"

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It's strange to hear Angel speak of individuality as if it's a privilege Blaze can bestow - or withhold - at her pleasure. Absurd to see her so overwhelmed at a gift that demands no sacrifice and only the barest level of decency. And still. Angel looks at her with wide eyes and hesitating even to hope and Blaze understands what it means to her.

"You have it backwards. I have no right to deny you one. Especially not after you've fought alongside me so many times. Patched me up, helped my friends." She's rubbing an antenna awkwardly. "Besides, you know, when I'm telling stories about our missions, I'm gonna need a real name to call you."

"And...what would you wish to call me to your friends?"

The demon leans forward slightly, nervously fluttering closer to the Exo's eye level while she waits for Blaze's opinion. There has never been a thought that this moment would or even should come. Now that she's here Angel has no idea what to think. To say or expect. Her breath catches in her chest.

"Whatever you choose is fine by me. All that matters is that it was given to me by my--by you." Would it be a name to match the Exo's? If she is Blaze-37, what would Angel be? Or perhaps a more human name. Any name.

It's so overwhelming to even consider.

She meets Angel's gaze and for once Blaze hesitates herself. She doesn't have breath to hold, but she can feel the intensity of this moment suddenly. She hadn't planned on this. She's not even that creative. What if she suggests something awful and Angel latches onto it?

"It'd have to be something you like the sound of," she says. "You're the one who's gonna get it yelled at you all the time. Something with a good weight to it. Something like Nike, I'd figure. I mean we could make a list if you want to look over options."

Blaze wants to name her and she wants to name her after a goddess? There's warmth pooling in her cheeks before any other aspect of her nervous expression changes. To think a bound angel who was too weak to have a name or an identity would be free, trained, and named in such a way...

There's a melodic ringing hanging in the air.

It takes Angel a moment to realize it's coming from herself. She's laughing, a wide smile on her face. Eyes bright. Later she will worry and fuss about being worthy of such an illustrious name. She will wonder why Blaze considers her a signal of victory. But those are not now.

Now, Nike only has one thought. She flutters close and takes one of Blaze's hands in both of hers.

"Please, call me that. If it isn't too presumptuous...I want to hear it."

She's shrugging in embarrassment as soon as Angel laughs, hands lifted. "If you don't like it, you don't have to-"

Warm hands close over hers, and she realizes she's misjudged. "Oh. Well then. I'm glad you like it. Figured it was short and fitting. And, well, you look like the pictures." She quiets for a second, placing her other hand over Angel's and clasping them gently. "It's good to meet you, Nike."

"It is an honor to serve at your side, Blaze."

Nike holds her head high and meets the Guardian's unblinking gaze with as much dignity and occasion as she can muster. It's quite a lot, considering her kind are basically order incarnate. She has resting serious face whether she likes it or not.

The smile withdraws itself back to it's ever so subtle quirk of her lips. Nike ought not cause a scene over something like this. Blaze was trying to ask very serious questions before they got onto this subject. But while she's schooled her expression again, her hands stay grasped in Blaze's yet.

"I like it. Thank you."

Good. This is... overdue, that's the word that comes to her. She broke a few chains and made some promises and left Angel to her own devices, and Blaze once assumed all the rest would just come naturally. She never asked.

She can do better than that.

"You're always welcome." She gives a 'hnnh' and pulls away then, reaching down to unseal a side pocket. "Got something else for you. Kinda the same thing, I didn't think of you needing one but then I realized- well, uh."

She holds it out. It's a PINpoint, similar in outward design to the City's comm units. Blaze explains, "So you can go visit places without me calling you there. Or, you know, keep in contact with your friends. Ghost programmed it for you."

Nike is careful to let go when Blaze pulls away, though her curiosity gets the better of her as she flutters a few inches higher and inches closer to peer over the Guardian's shoulder while Blaze roots around her pocket for something or another. The device is familiar only in passing; Nike is certain she's seen these before but their exact function has thusfar eluded her.

Her gaze immediately goes over her wing toward Ghost. It functions similarly to the bot? Getting things and people from one place to another, talking to people. And Ghost even taught it what it needs to know to serve her! Nike nods in understanding, but that may be a bit misplaced.

The second its in her hand she's holding it up and then dropping it--startled visibly when it falls to the ground and diving to try and catch it.

"It doesn't float like Ghost does!" She exclaims in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, I hope it's not broken."

Blaze opens her mouth for a second- and then bursts out laughing. Okay. Okay, she didn't see that coming. She claps a hand on Nike's shoulder as the angel stoops to scoop up the PINpoint.

"Relax, it should be sturdy enough to take a knock or two." And it only landed on grass, here. She's still chuckling. "I guess I see where you got confused, but this isn't nearly as smart as Ghost is." Although if Nike's that unclear on the idea... "Uh, would you like me to show you how to use it?"

"It did not speak to us, so I had inferred it was not as smart as Ghost, but..." Nike's wings fluff out a bit just as they always do when she's particularly embarrassed or startled about something. She clearly hasn't been paying enough attention to these strange devices and what they're capable of doing.

"I'm sorry, Blaze. Would you please explain to me the functions of this device?"

This time Nike holds the PINpoint very carefully in both her hands.

Blaze gives her shoulder another pat. Poor Nike. She's cute when she gets confused or flustered. "Pull up a box and sit with me. I'll talk you through it. My contact's already in there."

From now on the summons needn't be only one-way. This way she can talk back. Even if it may take her a while to get used to that idea.

Nike flutters down until her boots--she wears shoes now and that is still odd to her whenever she remembers it--touch the grass so she can comply with Blaze's instructions swiftly and efficiently. She's actually much shorter than the Exo is when she's not fluttering about.

Once she's got a box hauled over next to where Blaze is working Nike carefully extends her wings out just enough so they won't be pressed uncomfortably against the ground while she takes a seat and leans over to study what Blaze is doing.

"Does this put me in touch with Ghost then? Or with your headset?" Not that it matters much. Ghost is always a part of everything her Mistress does after all. She's just trying to understand.

Blaze should be more careful with her words - she's struggled to keep in mind that an instruction to Nike is not something the angel feels free to take as a request. Not like a Guardian. She's getting better, but too often, as now, she lets her guard down and doesn't notice what she's saying.

In this instance, it's likely to pass unnoticed. Blaze holds the device between them, pointing out every step she takes.

"It'll go through Ghost, but he can put you straight through to me unless I'm occupied. Or, you know, non-functional. Here, see this? It'll store contacts for anyone you want to add in, so you can just select them and make a call."

"I'm more worried about interrupting him if He's occupied, since it's his duty to keep you safe."

Nike is whatever Blaze orders her to be. A gun, a shield, a healing hand. A servant to care for their gear or a comrade in the field. But Ghost has a more direct purpose and it's one Nike admires greatly. Keeping Blaze alive and well no matter how dire the circumstances cannot be a simple task.

"I don't think the knaves have a phone, alas. Maybe if I got the number to the pay phone near the vending machines they like to frequent, they could speak with me there..."

"If it's an urgent situation, nothing could take my attention from saving my Guardian." Ghost is quietly firm about this. "But it would be my pleasure to relay your comms otherwise."

"The knaves are those crows, right?" Knaves seems like a pretty kind descriptor from what she's heard and seen of them. (But she is shiny and easily taken for a statue. This may have influenced her experience of them.) "Hmmh. Well, this'll probably work better with your other friends. People with hands."

The barest hints of a smile creep up on Nike's lips again and she nods toward Ghost. That is such a relief. Knowing that her whims and queries will never put Blaze's safety at risk.

It makes it much more likely that she'll use the phone now too.

"They and Nekomata are my closest friends. Aside from the people you've introduced me to that have needed healing. Sir Fairfax, Johnny. Oh! I could exchange numbers with Sir Jake too. He's even taller than you are and very kind despite his hulking stature."

"Don't know why you're all worried about my safety, I'm the one covered in armor," Blaze grumbles. The whole point is for her to take the fire so they'll be protected, after all.

At this point she was really expecting Nike to say she didn't have any friends, so the angel's small list gets a particularly eager nod of approval. "Good! See, you're getting the hang of this. Uh, which one is Nekomata?" Jake is new to her too, but Nike says that name like she ought to know it.

They'd like for her to keep going on living to do just that, too. No one gets a lot done when the tank is dead. Basic combat tactics, Blaze. Come on.

"The cat demon with the interest in coin and information. She and I gained freedom in the Nexus at the same time. We do not keep in touch frequently, but she has always expressed an interest for making sure a fellow demon is well cared for." And Jake's an even bigger cat man so really Angel is friends with cats and birds and people who need healing.

And that's about it really.

"Practically kin then. You've made a good start of it." It's not so long since her only friends were her Ghost and one Gunslinger (and technically, his Ghost too). Blaze sees reason for optimism. "You should try befriending a few more humans- or mortals, however you want to put it. Nothing wrong with other species, but maybe birds and demons aren't good practice for socializing."

"Well, she's born under a different Arcana than I. We are very different among our own kind. Here in the Nexus, however, I suppose there is a sense of camaraderie between us. She came to me often after I entered into a soul contract with yourself and Sir Jesse. I suspect to make sure I was being treated well, though she asked many questions about the contract itself and how it affected me. I have not seen much of her of late. She has been quite busy with her information business I'd suppose."

To another species, Nekomata and she may very well be nearly one and the same. Even if it seems preposterous to Nike, the reasoning does follow a sense of logic. As does Blaze's next instructions. Nike bows her head forward in acceptance of the terms.

"I will endeavor to make alliances and friends with more humans, then."

Edited 2018-07-24 19:39 (UTC)

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Some Reassembly Required

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Figured now should be about the time I brought out these bad boys

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Thank you for the image of crows hanging off a payphone shouting into the receiver

Nike calls but they just tell her to bring snacks every time

That is accurate

Snacks and Tribute but they've learned not to pull her hair or feathers bc she gets angry

They won't like her when she gets frowny

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