"So you're telling me that Uldren Sov is back, and some idiot ghost decided to turn him into a guardian?"

Hawk's eyes peered over the top of her cards and she nodded, before flicking one towards the pile with a little more force than she meant, "Crow. His name is Crow,"

The Drifter eyed her in confusion, his vision not even passing over the table before placing his own card down. The last time he mentioned the awoken prince in front of her he regretted it. He hadn't brought it up since. But this time was different. No anger, or rage, just quiet acceptance. It set his teeth on edge, but he smiled falsely instead, "And why're you trusting ol drifter with this information," 

The hunter leaned back in her chair, and despite her helmet, the two had spent enough time dealing cards together that the Drifter could picture the look on her face, "If you tell Eris, I'll shoot you"

He chuckled and raised his hands in mock surrender, but his tone was sincere, "Don't you worry, sister, Moondust won't hear it from me," Today, they weren't playing for glimmer. One might call it a casual game between close friends. Drifter called it an exchange of information. He had a reputation to uphold. And the information Hawk had was always worth more than what was in her ghost's pockets.

She didn't immediately answer his question, but he knew good things come with time.

She shrugged, absentmindedly flicking another card across, "Figured you probably wouldn't try to immediately put him down for what Uldren did to Cayde," 

"Eh, you're not wrong," he nods to himself before flashing a look of concern, "Does Mara Sov know?"

The hunter gave a slow nod.

"And?"

"Thought it was best not to talk to her right now,"

The Drifter grunted. Probably a good call, he thought. "What about Petra?"

"She's aware. Wanted some time to think,"

He placed a card down carefully, "What about the kid… Crow, you said?"

Hawk shook her head.

"So, just Osiris, me, and a few awoken," The Drifter sighed and bit his lip, "You're walking a dangerous path, bird"

"When do I not?"

He glanced up. Hawk had her head lowered to her cards, but Drifter knew she had already stopped playing a few turns ago. To her surprise, he folded his cards on the table and stood up, "C'mon, got something to show you,"

She let her cards fall face up. Easily a winning hand, but she had more pressing things on her mind. He led her over to the console and brought up some feeds on the screen, "Was a pain to do but I planted those bugs like you asked. Check this out though,"

He clicked on the feed and dialed up the audio. Static crackled and popped through the speakers, "I set these up myself, they're fully functional, not a damn thing wrong with them," he fidgeted with a dial and moved the cursor along, "See here it's fine, just ambient room noise. You can even hear Saint in the background," Hawk could just make out the titan retelling a conversation he had with the Eliksni refugees. "But when we move to this  section of time…" Static plays again.

Without a word, Hawk leaned over the console and the Drifter backed off to give her space to work. He grabbed a drink for himself and poured another for her, but it sat untouched. With maddening patience, she twisted the dials, looking for any clues, any slight hints, that would reveal the distortions secrets. 

"Since we're getting everything out in the open" He again offered her the glass which she took this time, although she almost dropped it in her trance. "You wanna tell me why you're spying on Osiris' place?"

She placed her helmet on the bench beside her and took a sip, her eyes never leaving the screen. The drifter raised an eyebrow and, not for the first time, took note never to get on her bad side. Her focus was uncanny. "Gut feeling," she muttered, her lips drawn in a thin line.

"Gut feeling of what?"

For a split second, their ears twinged at a slight moment of clarity in the transmission. She froze, before slowly honing in on it. Hidden in the distortion was a series of notes that now hummed from the speakers.

The Drifter slowly approached the screen, "What the hell… I've heard that tune before,"

Hawk switched the recording off and silently withdrew from the screen. Shifting her weight to her hands on the console, she looked towards the hanger in thought. The Drifter eyed her with suspicion. Out of habit, his fingers itched towards the hand cannon resting on his belt, but he discreetly hid his reaction by moving them to rub his chin instead. This was Hawk, not some other vagabond looking to make a quick pile of glimmer. He glanced at the gun they had made sitting on her hip. Hell, he'd even trust her with his life, if it ever came to that.

After what seemed like an age to him, she looked back at him. If there was fear in her eyes, he didn't see it. She took a slow sip before her unearthly eyes rose to peer at him from beneath the strands of hair that fell in front of her face.

With that tone in her voice, it wasn't hard for him to believe that she'd killed a god or two.

"What do you know of the Witch Queen, Savathun?"

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