Eyes Up, Guardian

Chapter 9

As expected, Tessa was true to her word. A few days after he'd helped her with the TV and console, he was reading over a few papers for Ikora when she walked into the Hall of the Guardians. She sauntered up to the table where he was standing beside Ikora.

She was dressed in her armor, the strong fabric and sturdy chest plate hugging her body. She stood next to him, on his left, smiling at him and nodding to Ikora, who was on his right. Her helmet was tucked under her arm, balanced against her hip.

"Let's go." She told him simply, glancing to Ikora, who nodded.

"What?" Damian asked, placing the papers he'd been reading onto the table in front of him. "Go? Now? Like right now?"

Five minutes later he met Tessa on the hanger floor. She'd changed some of her armor from before, most recognizable was a Graviton Forfeit helmet, one of the few hunter armor items he could recognize on sight. Her armor was a pleasing mix of blacks, grays and blues, he assumed the shader was probably Shimmer, but he wasn't positive.

He was wearing simple gear, strong but simple robes colored with a simple red and gray shader called Barrier Ethos. He hadn't really planned anything, but he didn't mind, he didn't care much for making flashy impressions. That is, until he saw Tessa give his armor a once over and smirk, then quickly try to hide it.

"What?" He asked, frowning but also wanting to smile as he headed over to where she was standing, "Am I boring?" He asked her, teasing.

"No, no, of course not. Soft red and gray are both very vibrant colors." She said, matching his teasing tone. He grinned at her, and she grinned back, then started to head up the ramp, into her ship.

      He paused at the foot of the ramp, looking up after her, "Are you sure you don't want me to take my own ship?

     "It's fine, c'mon, this way we don't have to worry about meeting up." She replied, pausing at the end of the ramp to listen to him, then waiting for him. He nodded and followed her up, into the ship. Like his, beyond the ramp, on the right there was a doorway leading to a small kitchen and– if her ship had the same layout as his– a tiny bathroom. On the left was a closed door, probably leading to her bedroom. The space on either side of the ramp had multiple racks, cables ran up and down the racks, securing the ammo crates and various weapons stacked there.

Tessa led the way straight ahead, through a door into another little room. The front was the cockpit, complete with two seats, a huge windshield and an array of buttons and gadgets. The back half of the room was a living room of sorts. There was a comfortable couch, along with a few blankets and pillows. There were also a few cabinets of books, the doors glass, allowing him to see inside. He'd never known she'd liked to read, and he probably wouldn't have guessed. Looking at the shelves, he noticed some of the titles were familiar

"I spend a lot of my time in my ship, but this is only a fraction of my collection." She said, following his gaze.

"You have good taste." He replied, feeling himself smile as he moved closer to admire the books.

"So I've been told. Half of these Ikora gave to me." She said.

"Wow." Damian said, lifting his brows. It was surprising to think Ikora would be willing to give books away rather than hogging them for her personal libraries. But, if Ikora had given these to Tessa, it would explain why he recognized so many of them. She did have good taste, but her taste was also wide, and he was able to find a bit of everything on her shelves.

"Where do you keep the rest?" He asked, looking away from the shelves after a long moment.

"Mostly my apartment in the Tower, then some at my friend's apartment in the city."