“Shouldn’t you be on the Throneworld?”
Shaxx’s voice was jovial as the other Titan approaches. Though despite the slight reprimand he reaches out to pat Darrix’s shoulder, puffing his chest out more than usual. “Come for some Crucible, Titan? I’ve got a match coming up in half an hour that could use you.”
Darrix laughs, steadying himself after the well meaning but strong handed pat. “I have today off! Well, from that anyways. I had to help with the Titan situation earlier and I was given leave for the rest of the day. So, I figured I’d do some Crucible!”
Shaxx’s grin was audible in his voice, as was his pride. “I’m glad to hear that, Guardian. Do you need any bounties before you ship out? You’ll need to watch the boards for the arena to be announced, I haven’t quite decided which one I’m going to have you all use yet.”
Darrix can’t help but bounce on their heels, nodding excitedly.
“Okay! And yeah, if you have a melee bounty or a grenade bounty I’ll take those!”
Shaxx picks up his datapad, swiping left on the screen to activate it. “Oh, you know me, I *always* have a grenade bounty. But how about a Super bounty too, eh? You need more practice getting them out in Crucible.”
“Ehh..okay. But only because you say so.” Darrix chuckles, shrugging his shoulders. “You know I’m no good at getting Supers out when I’m panicked.”
“Exactly my point! You need more practice.”
Darrix was a long ways off before Lord Saladin made his way over to the Crucible Handler; casually, but firmly.
“Shaxx. I have a question for you, if you’re not busy.”
Lord Shaxx looked up from the computer that was replaying an earlier match, hands resting on his hips. “Not too busy, no. What’s wrong? Something on your mind?”
“Yes. I’ve noticed that Hive fanatic seems rather drawn to Crucible, and Trials of Osiris, and yet, he avoids Iron Banner like the plague. Any thoughts as to why?”
“Many! I’ve wondered why on several occasions. Partially, I think they’re frightened of failure, and Iron Banner contains many failures.” Shaxx’s hands did not move from his hips, though he rocked once, twice, on his toes.
Saladin, however, did not seem satisfied by this answer, a growl entering his voice. “But that doesn’t keep him away from the Trails, and yet he’s never won a match! He’s never ascended to the Lighthouse! I’m starting to think he never will. So, why is Iron Banner so different?”
Shaxx sighs, heavily, shaking his head and stepping away from the computer to be face to face with the other. “I think that has to do with Saint-14 being his mentor. Saint pushes him to do Trials, and Darrix enjoys the small fireteam format, compared to a bigger team. It’s why they prefer Elimination Crucible to, say, Mayhem. If there’s too much going on, they get overwhelmed, and then they start to fall. I’m trying to work with them about it, but it’s been slow going. But progress is progress nonetheless!”
The growl in Saladin’s voice didn’t subside, even as he begins to pace back and forth along the Crucible platform. “I could help him. You know I could. And yet, he doesn’t even give me the time of day.”
“I think-“ Lord Shaxx butts in, holding up a finger. “That bridge has been burned, my friend.”
Saladin looks up, dark eyes narrowed. “What? How?”
Shaxx glances at the computer as it gives a beep of protest, and he turns to face it once more, typing in a passcode and an override code.
“See, you think your disdain is hidden behind your gruff exterior, but you can’t hide everything. When Darrix first arrived to the Tower, you *were* one of the loudest voices to tell them they weren’t welcome, and that they wouldn’t ever amount to anything.”
“It was fuel for his fire! A chance for them to prove me wrong!” Lord Saladin’s fist slams against a wall, causing Shaxx to growl a warning of his own.
Saladin pauses, taking a breath. “I’m sorry, this is just irritating nonesense. How could that have burned bridges?”
“Not everyone uses that as fuel, Saladin. Darrix isn’t Zavala. They aren’t one of your Young Wolves. They’re very emotionally sensitive, another thing that we’re working on. Well, that’s more Saint and Eris’ domain, but nonetheless. You can’t just yell at them that they will never succeed and expect them to just brush it off. It’s rather like, say, Corinth. You know, Cayde’s kid? You wouldn’t tell him he wouldn’t amount to anything.”
Saladin shakes his head, but hesitated before responding. “No. I wouldn’t. But I don’t let Corinth participate in Iron Banner either.”
Shaxx sighs heavily, shrugging his broad shoulders. “Then I don’t know what you want me to say, besides I don’t think you need to worry about them doing Iron Banner.”
“Tch. If we could get him off of that Throne World, and get them to stop consorting with the Hive, maybe we could turn him into a decent Titan. Give him something worth fighting for.”
Saladin had stopped pacing, his gaze turning outwards, towards the Last City, and then up, at all of the ships littering the sky. “They have the whole of humanity to fight for, and yet all they care about is a bunch of rotting corpses pretending to be Lightbearers.”
Shaxx..almost rose to the bait. He could feel a familiar prickle of Arc energy at the base of his skull, but he ignored it; taking a deep breath instead.
“I understand that you’re upset, Saladin, but that’s no reason to attempt to make me see them in a worse light. I rather like Darrix, if I’m honest. They’re very loyal, and a decent team player, when their competitiveness doesn’t get in their way. You can’t focus on the negative and expect the positive to just appear in front of you.” He glances up, noting the other Titan’s disapproving glare.
“If you don’t believe me, go talk to Eris yourself. Or Ikora. Or Zavala. They all trust our Hive Fanatic, and I trust him too. He’s sweet. Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean you can make other dislike him.”
Saladin sputtered an angry response, made incoherent by the fact that he was quickly stalking off.
Shaxx smiles a little, behind his helmet, finally turning to fully face his computer once more.
“Now, how about we do give them a little something to fight for. Is the Dreadnaught clear for a match, Arcite?”
