Serene, Tranquil. Violent, Hurtful.

Yetta was going to take today off, at least that was the plan. She just had to check to see if she had any mail or packages. Probably not, in all fairness, but it didn't hurt to check. Pumpkin spice filled the air around her as she stepped out into the streets. She mouthed a quick "what the fuck" before continuing to the Tower, looking at the various paper lanterns and candles that lined the roads. Jason floated beside her, ooh-ing and aww-ing the decorations. 

"Care to fill me in on this?" she asked, hands in her pockets as she walked. As always, there was a slight bounce to her step, and she rolled her neck, working out the kinks and sore muscles from sleeping weird.

"It's The Festival of the Lost this month!" he beeped excitedly. Yetta ahh-ed, still not understanding, but rolling with it. "I wonder what masks we're getting?"

"Masks?"

"Eva gives each guardian a mask for this month. You'll get one too, once you talk to her."

"I'm not interested, really." Yetta stepped into the tower, closing the doors behind her and locating the elevator quickly. "What do we do, like what's our goal with the festival?"

"Candy!" he beeped at her. "Candy and some fun. It goes on all month. Well, on a more serious note, we remember the people we've lost."

Yetta nodded, stepping into the elevator that took her to the courtyard. "And I'm guessing you want a part in this?"

"Of course! I've never had a guardian to celebrate with, I feel like I've been missing out!" 

"Fair enough. Fine, I'll sign up."

. . .

The woman that Yetta saw about the festival was fairly nice. She smiled, beckoned 

Yetta over, and sparked a conversation. "I have not seen you before, are you new?" she asked, giving Yetta a cardboard mask. "Let me be the first to welcome you to the festival."

Yetta turned the mask over in her hands, inspecting it. It was a head of an Awoken woman, red hair and an eye patch over her left eye. She didn't know the woman, but figured she had to have some importance to have a mask made of her. Jason popped up over her shoulder, and the woman chuckled softly. "It is good to see you, little light. You've finally found your guardian?"

"Yep!" Floating closer, he asked, timidly, "Miss Eva, ma'am, may I have a mask too?"

Laughing, Eva tapped her head, placing a small witch's hat on Jason. He twirled in the air, and flew back to Yetta's side. "He's been alone for a long time. It's good that he found you, Guardian. Micah tried to shepherd him, hoping that he'd find somebody, but he went on his own, a headstrong ghost indeed."

"Micah? Who's that?"

Eva hummed again, going back to assigning quests and rewards to guardians as she talked. . "She shepherds lost ghosts. Your little light here was with her for a time, but grew impatient. So he left her side. He visited the tower every festival. Some of our newer guardians have ghosts that he was friends with, so he visited mostly to see them. I did try to keep an eye on him, even gave him his own gifts so he wouldn't feel so left out."

Yetta nodded, chewing on the information. She had to let Eva get back to her work, however, and waved goodbye, walking to Kadi, the bot busy with the various guardians that at least had people to send them mail. Yetta had a hunch that Carman would send her something, being off world and a workaholic who didn't really…come back during a particularly busy mission. When her turn came up, she set some glimmer on the table in case she did have anything. "Hey Kadi, any mail for me?"

The bot searched her archives. "No," she beeped. "No mail. Do you want to send a message?" Yetta looked around, watching the line.

"No, not today. Thank you though." She pushed a little glimmer towards Kadi, a tip of sorts. Turning to leave, she bumped into a hard back, stumbling back. "מהלך מזוין, או שמישהו הציב פה קיר??" she growled, the Hebrew slipping out of her mouth easily. The person standing in her way turned, a brow cocked up in curiosity.

"You alright?" he asked. Yetta felt her heart drop into her boots. 

"Ah- Crow- it's good to see you," Yetta stammered out. The awoken man turned towards her fully, smiling easily. He snapped his fingers, trying to place who she was.

"Yetta, right? Carman's student?"

"Yup. That's me," she laughed slowly. "Been a while?"

"It has, actually. I'm just grabbing some mail and heading back to the Helm. What are you doing?"

"Just checking to see if I had any mail, then going back to fighting with my landlord."

Crow grew concerned, getting out of her way and walking with her to a seated area. It was still stiflingly warm, so some shade over the seats and tables was a blessing. "He's not charging you rent, is he? He's really not supposed to, I can get the Commander if need be-"

"No! No, it's not that," she corrected. "He knows not to charge me rent. He's just letting the complex fall apart while we're still living in it. Like, I no longer have a working shower. My neighbor, Ms. Noble, who is the sweetest woman I've met there, her stove stopped working. She uses a camping stove, but she's lucky if the outlet she uses will give any power."

"That sounds…really illegal." He balanced a knife, having it stand on the table, with a finger keeping it in place. Yetta tried to do the same, moving it around as she fidgeted. "If the outlets are shorting out, it's a fire hazard. You don't have a shower that works, and if he's letting the building just rot while there are people living in it, he could get a hefty fine for it.

Yetta shrugged. Truth be, she really didn't want to go through the commander to get this fixed. He was eerily calm, visibly tired, and scolded guardians constantly for their really dumb choices. Was it any wonder? "I'll just keep pestering him. He has to break at some point, right?" Looking up at her companion, she shielded her eyes from the sun.

"If he doesn't give in, reach out to me, I'll get Zavala involved."

. . .

Yetta cursed as the shower head hit her in the head, a collision of heads. "לכל הרוחות!!" she yelled, Jason sitting a good distance from her. The landlord still hadn't listened. The shower was now falling apart on her. As if not working wasn't enough, now she had to deal with it crumbling down on top of her.

"Yetta, you need to reach out to Crow, and get this fixed," he reminded her. Groaning, Yetta sat on the toilet, head in her hands, and fingers ruffling through red strands.

"Call him then, and let him know." She sighed, softly, and distantly heard a knock at the front door. Judging by how soft it was, she guessed Ms. Noble. Standing up, she padded over to the door, opening it with a soft smile. Ms. Noble, as guessed, stood on the other end, her withered hands crossed over each other on her cane's head. Intelligent green eyes sparkled at her, wrinkling as the old woman smiled back.

"Hello, dear!" she chirped. "I heard you having a bit of a struggle through the walls, is everything alright?" Yetta stood aside, letting the old lady in. Louella shuffled in, her various bracelets and necklaces clinking against each other. Closing the door, Yetta followed, sitting on the couch next to her neighbor, and reaching for the tin of cookies she kept in case Louella visited.

"My shower head just fell off, no big deal. Jason is reaching out to somebody to fix it. Mr. Fravender won't respond to any messages."

"Oh, that sorry man." Louella grabbed an oatmeal cookie, leaning close. "It's because you don't make him any money, dear. He can't charge a guardian rent, so he won't go within ten feet of you." She took a bite, humming in delight. "Perfection as always, darling."

"Why won't he fix your issues? The problem plug started sparking now-"

"Only if I use it. But I'm old, and more likely to kick the bucket than he is. Milking me for my pension seems to be his way. If your contact gets him to get his shit in gear, the better for both of us, personally."

Yetta laughed, eating her own cookie. "Hopefully. Or he just gets removed entirely." Shrugging, she brushed crumbs off of her undershirt.

"Oh, my. Did I catch you at a bad time, dearie?" Ms. Noble looked up, taking note of the armor set on the bed, and the gun set beside it.

"Just getting ready to do some patrols. They can wait but I had yesterday off."

"A guardian never sleeps, does she?" Louella chuckled softly, taking a bag of tea out of her purse. "For Miss Carman. I have heard she likes tea, and please, do extend an invitation to my house at some point. I would love to personally meet the young wolf and trainer of my favorite neighbor." Standing up, she brushed crumbs off of herself, and shuffled back towards the door. "Well, dear one, I will let you go back to getting ready. Keep our planet safe dearest. I shall come over again soon!"