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Because they are friends, Drifter does Eris the courtesy of pretending he doesn't see her skulking in the hallway that's adjacent to his alcove in the Tower. She keeps glancing in at him as she paces past his doorway, a sour look on her face. Drifter figures that if he needs to know what she's up to, either she'll tell him or he'll poke around later until he figures it out.
Eventually, Eris's voice crackles across his comms. "What have you been telling people, rat?"
"Lotta things, probably. Depends on who you mean." Drifter looks up at the doorway again but does not see Eris. He exits his alcove and is halfway down the stairs before he spots her, down towards the balcony and most of the way around the corner. Her back is turned to him. He snorts and calls to her, "Don't feel like chatting face to face?"
"I thought about it," she says, speaking loudly so that Drifter can hear it from her as well as on their comms. "But it's better for both of us that you're not within arm's reach."
Drifter can hear the grim smile in her voice. He knows she is not kidding.
Her volume drops so she's only on comms. "I ask again, Germaine: what have you been telling people?"
"And I ask you again, Moondust, which people are we talking about here?" Drifter leans a shoulder against the hallway wall and folds his arms.
"Eido. She said that you--what did you tell her? About the time we've spent together?"
Drifter can't help but laugh. "What do you think I told her?" Before Eris can say anything, he clarifies. "I told Crabcakes the truth. You did the hard work, spent a lot of time yelling at that tree, while I just stood around and let you insult me."
There's silence on the line.
"I tried to make her understand that my thing was an important part of your process, but maybe I didn't explain it right."
"That is hardly the extent of the work you did," Eris chides.
"What did you tell Eido?" Drifter asks, turning the question around. "She musta asked, or else we wouldn't be having this little confrontation."
Eris's answer comes haltingly. "I told her that your assistance with the Pyramids was invaluable. Trying, but invaluable."
"See? We're basically saying the same thing."
Eris steps around the corner and turns to face Drifter. "I do not understand why you insist on downplaying your contributions."
"You get a reputation as helpful, people start asking you to help," Drifter says with a shrug.
All three of Eris's eyes narrow, and she purses her lips. "Surely Eido already thinks of you as helpful."
"If she does, that's her problem." Drifter shrugs again. "Life's full of disappointments, and I'm more than happy to be one of 'em."
She closes the distance between them, standing closer in Drifter's personal space than he expects. "You sell yourself short."
"You say that like you're surprised."
Eris barks a laugh. "I've known you too long to be surprised by that. If... If I'm being honest, I'm more surprised that you..." She trails off, looking at him for a long moment and then looking away.
"That I didn't tell Crabcakes about our adventures on Europa?" Drifter finishes for her.
"Yes."
"How we huddled together, sharing body heat and a single sleeping bag, getting close and then getting even closer--"
"You are incorrigible." Eris frowns at him, but she can't keep the warmth from her voice or her cheeks.
"And you are gonna make me pull out Eva Levante's dictionary again," Drift says, a fond smirk on his lips. "I didn't tell Eido about Europa because it ain't none of Eido's business. Hell, it barely feels like my business some days."
Eris glances around, checking to make sure that they're alone, before putting her hands on Drifter's face and pulling him close for a kiss. It's a swift thing, careful, barely-there and yet more than Drifter had been expecting.
"It's still your business," Eris says to him when she pulls away.
"Good to know," Drifter says, grinning and nodding knowingly. "Good to know."
"Light help us both," Eris mutters, shaking her head, but she's smiling too.