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#like in my brain he's like the destiny equivalent of ryan reynolds idk
keesdarlin · 5 months
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☆// striking midnight (MDNI, 18+)
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info! cayde-6 / fluff + gender neutral reader
cw! n/a
notes! just a silly little idea i had. also new year's eve has been a little bit rough, so i'm writing this to cope a little bit lol. enjoy :]
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in all honesty, what you were doing probably seemed pretty sketchy to someone who was uninformed. or maybe even someone who knew what you were doing. to the unsuspecting eye, it probably looked like-
“are you rigging a bomb? what are you doing, guardian?” your ghost asked, hovering anxiously over your shoulder. 
“no, i’m not rigging a bomb,” you retorted, moving around some wires attached to your little contraption. it was colorful and roughly the size of a backpack, mostly metal cylinders and colorful tubing with wires attached. you sighed to yourself, still fiddling with it. “...they’re fireworks.”
“ah. a colorful bomb,” your ghost replied, an air of disappointment in their tone. 
“no, no. it’s a light show. we’re gonna send these off to celebrate the new year,” you explained, not looking up as you screwed in a loose part. 
“but why do we need to celebrate again? it’s just another completed revolution of the earth around the sun. there’s been a ton of these; it’s nothing new.”
you sighed. you had set up a display leaning against a trash can to the left side of the little alley you’d set up shop in, your headphones connected wirelessly. on the screen played a sort of podcast – two humans sitting together at a table, reflecting on the year with music playing in the background. the viewer count in one corner of the screen read a measly 24, not that you really minded. a countdown to midnight sat in the other corner. the hosts wore no armor, just civilian clothes. you yourself wore minimal armor. probably not the smartest decision considering that you were currently working with explosives, but you wanted to honor the holiday. not quite in your civvies, but not in any kind of battle suit either.
your screen glitched where it leaned against the trash can, the hosts’ voices becoming momentarily distorted. you leaned over, hitting the side a few times. the screen corrected itself. old tech. “because of what it means,” you began, focusing back on the work at hand. “a new year is a fresh start, a clean slate. holds new opportunities. think the light of a new day and all that shit. symbolism.” a beat passed as you rearranged some wires, and then, “i learned that we used to celebrate it before the going got tough. guess i got a little bit sentimental.”
your ghost hummed somewhere behind you, their shell rotating curiously. “well, i think that’s quite nice, guardian.”
“thank you,” you mumbled appreciatively, distracted with your work.
a thud sounded behind you, but you didn’t think much of it. if it turned out to be a threat, you had confidence in yourself to handle it. do you stayed the course, twisting and rearranging and soldering quietly as you hummed along to the music on your livestream. at least it’s nice out. all chilly and calm, just like winter should be. not a peep. judging from your ghost’s silence, they didn’t detect a threat either.
“whatcha got there?” a robotic voice asked from behind you.
you looked over your shoulder to find none other than cayde-6 leaning against the wall of the alley, watching you work. one of his hands lingered near his hand cannon, the other draped across his torso, blue eyes glowing in the dim light.
“a bomb,” your ghost answered easily, shell spinning.
“not a bomb,” you rushed to assure the hunter vanguard. “and not funny,” you directed at your ghost before turning back to the exo. “they’re fireworks.”
“ah,” cayde nodded. “pretty bombs.”
“they’re not bombs,” you corrected, standing to face him. “they shoot up in the air, they’re not gonna hurt anyone.”
“oh, relax. i’m not here to snitch on you or anything like that,” he said nonchalantly.
you looked at him again, gazing pointedly at the hand that lingered near the gun resting in his holster. “mhm,” you said, tone disbelieving.
cayde coughed awkwardly, bringing that arm up to cross the other over his chest. “say, do i know you from somewhere?”
you sized him up, somewhat offended. “i work at the tower. i’m a weapons expert.” i’ve actually worked on the ace of spades, you thought, but left it unsaid.
“of course i knew that,” he assured, nodding. sundance thrummed by his ear, observing.
you nodded too, half-heartedly affirming him.
“so what’s with the bombs?”
“am i the only one that celebrates new year’s eve around here?” you asked lightly, tone bordering on a laugh. 
cayde whistled. “from what i’ve heard, yes.”
you frowned to yourself, shoulders slumping. “that is so disappointing.”
“i suppose so,” he agreed. “how are you planning on celebrating?”
you pointed to the podcast playing on your monitor. “once that timer hits midnight, i’m gonna get off the fireworks. probably get a bite to eat after.”
“sounds… interesting.”
“care to join?” you offered, giving him a lopsided grin.
cayde seemed to think on it a moment and then shrugged. “i mean, why not? as long as no one gets hurt, of course.”
“great!” you smiled, turning back to your machine. you quickly went back to soldering and tweaking various parts of it.
cayde came up, crouched down next to you. “so how long do we have until it’s time to set this sucker off?”
you spared a glance to your screen, checking the countdown timer. “a couple minutes.”
“a couple minutes? and you’re still working on it?!” 
you waved him off. “calm down, i know what i’m doing,” you muttered.
“you’re sure?” cayde checked.
you turned to him, eyes narrowed. “if you don’t trust it, leave.” when he didn’t, you turned back to your work. a few more sparks flew before you finally stood up, setting your hands on your hips. “there.”
cayde hummed, standing up beside you. “okay, great! now what?”
you gestured to the screen. the timer in the corner stood at only 11 seconds. the both of you watched as midnight grew closer. “5… 4… 3… 2… 1…”
the timer hit zero and you pushed a button on the contraption with your foot, stepping back. thankfully cayde followed suit because, a moment later, a barrage of fireworks went up in the air. both of you watched as they exploded in a colorful, booming display of sparks. “wow,” he whispered breathily. 
grinning, you turned your gaze to him, nudged him with your elbow. “happy new year.”
although it seemed a little hesitant, cayde smiled back, eyes glowing a little brighter. “happy new year.”
“now…” you trailed off, grabbing your display screen and dropping it into your bag. another troop of fireworks went up and your grin seemed to gleam a little brighter around the edges. “we should probably run before we get in trouble.”
cayde blinked at you. “what?”
you laughed, staring at him a moment before taking off down the alley. “we should go! you think i got permission from this?”
and then he startled into the realization. you jerk. he broke into a sprint after you, watching the fireworks over his shoulder as he went. “i guess i assumed!”
“no way!” you called, mischief clear in your voice.
he shook his head, following you around a corner. “you owe me ramen for this, kid!”
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