Work Text:
"Dagh-- Sir." The Drekhar was standing awkwardly just outside of his room. A hiss of steam left the room while Tyl Regor glanced over his shoulder.
"Speak." He said, gesturing with his partially-connected cybernetic arm. There was little of his original body left, and unlike many others in the Grineer Empire's leadership, he actually made an effort to keep his replacement parts well-maintained and clean.
"There's… There's a Tenno in the main room."
"... Do I need my battle augments?"
The massive Knux and the Ack and Brunt were not the easiest weapons to transport, but Tyl was prepared to face down yet another Tenno. Something seemed off though as Tyl studied the Drekhar. He had made this one. Almost every Grineer stationed in the sealabs had been born under his watchful eye, and many were the famous Tubemen - made of fresh, hardy genes, immune to the degenerative condition that many older Grineer suffered from. One drawback was that these Tubemen were frequently birthed early. Tyl did not consider this a drawback. A tired sigh left him as he finished reconnecting the last of his cybernetics. One metal arm was offered out as he turned, balanced seemingly precariously on slim, athletic prosthetics that resulted in a markedly top heavy appearance.
"Come here, my child." He said quietly, dropping the pretense that the Drekhar were only his soldiers, and he their general. "Come here. What bothers you so? You seem scared."
The Drekhar folded into Tyl's arms like they were made to be there as the older Grineer knelt to hold them. And, in a way, they had.
"I think the Tenno's crying." They said, curling into Tyl. Touch was one thing the Grineer had traditionally been denied in their development. Tyl was slowly but surely changing that, comforting his Tubemen - his children - when they were scared, hurt, or simply just lonely by holding them close to his chest and letting them listen to the steady rhythm of his cybernetics. "I didn't know they could cry. Be careful, Dagh. Be careful ."
Tyl let go of the Drekhar and walked to the main room under the tacky statue. The floodlights above filtered through the water before reaching the ground and painting gentle patterns. A Warframe was sitting in the arena, curled inward on themself and quietly making gasping noises that, yes, sounded like crying.
"Tenno."
Tyl's voice was never gentle. He spoke Standard better than most Grineer, but there was still a dark roughness in the way he spoke. But this time he tried to soften the edges. To not startle the Tenno too badly. They still jolted slightly when he spoke, sitting up and turning to point their eyeless face at him. A massive fish passed overhead, darkening the arena before it swam away and the light returned.
The Tenno raised their hands, slowly making motions Tyl immediately recognized as Grineer sign language - probably learned from the Meridian. He watched them speak, giving them time to finish what they were saying.
Am sorry. Know not where go else.
Tyl walked forward and sat next to them, tucking his legs underneath himself and quietly continuing to study the Tenno. A small laugh escaped him, and he shook his head.
"You came to me ? What happened, Tenno? Why did you come here?" The whole situation seemed slightly ridiculous, but he waited, making sure the Tenno had time to answer. Part of him wanted to correct their signing but they had learned later than most Grineer… and the Meridian may have developed their own dialect of hand-sign.
You right were. She now gone. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Didn't know. Sorry.
Tyl places his hands over the Warframe's, quietly shushing them as they once again began to cry. Instinct drives him forward, and Tyl pulls the Tenno to his chest - holding them there and rocking them gently. Something clicks and beneath his mask Tyl's eyes go wide. He presses his masked cheek to the Warframe's head, still rocking them. Nothing changed about his voice, but he is somehow impossibly gentle when he speaks again.
"Oh, child. Oh, child, child, child. Who did this to you, child? What happened?" Tenno and Grineer don't matter anymore. The being in his arms is a child . "I have been so cruel to you, child. I have been so cruel, I didn't know, and yet you came to me. Why?"
"She's gone. The Lotus is gone." The Tenno spoke - and yes, that is the voice of a child coming from the Warframe. "She left us. You were right. I- I don't know what to do."
Tyl's shoulders slump. He almost wants to celebrate. The Lotus is gone. But he can't. He's holding a crying child who couldn't think of anywhere else to go so they came to an enemy in search of some form of comfort. So he holds them and lets them cry.