The bland, serious walls of the Tower underwent its seasonal change slowly at first, but when the whispers of The Dawning started, it was as if the Traveler flipped the stronghold's festive light switch.
Vallory always treasured this season, and one reason was because it came after the Festival of the Lost. The Dawning was a time to feel more alive after spending the duration of the Festival remembering her fallen friends. She'd always found it easier to celebrate their lives after the Festival ended, anyway. Something about the painful reminder of their faces on the memorials made it harder for her to move on.
The air at this altitude could be sharp and unwelcoming, but everyone did their part to spread the warmth. Families taught their children how to make special paper lanterns that would be infused with Solar light from initiate warlocks, every booth had a heater set up from maintenance, hot beverages were made and passed out every hour. It was a nice, warm place for active Guardians to come home to after their missions.
Vallory especially appreciated the difference in volume. As a Titan, she rarely had much time to relax her ears. Around this season, the Tower replaced its evenly spread busy clamor for concentrated spots with idle chatter. Vallory wasn't too picky about it, but it certainly made the place feel more like a hub instead of a flea market.
But there was something extra special about this Dawning. About two weeks earlier, Val saw an elderly woman dressed in knitted clothing leading some groups in decorating, and the Titan immediately dropped what she was doing to greet the woman. It was none other than Eva Levante, whom many Guardians and other Tower-goers lovingly referred to as Shader Grandma.
Eva Levante seemed to remember every face here, which is one of the many reasons why people loved her. She also gave the best hugs-Val felt its warmth even through the bulky plate armor that she wore.
Eva had also set up her family's grand oven, and many civilians and Guardians learned how to bake that same day. Vallory was one of those newbies; she always had an interest in cooking, but lacked experience when it came to baked goods and other sweets. Eva was quick to make Vallory change from her battle armor into more comfortable clothing, saying that it would not be wise to wear metal when working with a hot oven. It became routine for the Titan to switch into casual clothing before landing her jumpship at the Tower's Hangar. She made sure to visit every day, and spent at least a few hours baking every visit. She'd spent the past couple of weeks baking and delivering sweets and pastries to her friends and comrades, from cinnamon-dusted Gjallardoodles for Commander Zavala, to Awoken Corsair-themed frosted cookies for Petra Venj.
"Whatcha baking today, Val?"
Vallory looked up from her mixing bowl. A thick, dark brown batter rested inches from the lip of the large wooden container. Her bright yellow-green eyes met the hazel eyes of a younger, shorter, tanned girl in dark-purple robes-Karyna, her best friend.
"I'm uh... trying my hand at a certain recipe," Vallory replied, then resumed mixing the batter with a wooden spoon. She focused on blending the ingredients, hoping that Karyna wouldn't notice the hint of a blush on her light blue cheeks.
"Oh? Which one?" Karyna inquired, leaning over the counter to get a closer look at the mixture. Her caramel brown hair was choppy and uneven, like she had cut it herself. It stopped just short of her shoulders, framing her face. The girl's face had lighter splotches of skin scattered about it, and people often mistook it for war paint. In fact, Vallory was one of those people, but she learned later on that Karyna had vitiligo. "Can I help? Where's the recipe? Is there a recipe, or are you just making one up?" The warlock's inquisitive eyes scanned the items on the table: basic baking ingredients like eggs, flour, milk, butter, and sugar... along with a small glass container of peppermint extract and a large bag of dark chocolate. She seemed to come to a conclusion. "Oooh, peppermint! And dark chocolate! I don't think I've seen you make this one yet!"
"You haven't, because this is my first time making it," Vallory said with the tiniest hint of exasperation. She liked to think she was used to her bubbly friend and her rapid-fire questions, but that wasn't the case. "And I appreciate the offer, but I kinda wanna make this one on my own." Satisfied with her work on the batter, Vallory began to scoop it out onto two baking pans, smoothing them over evenly with the spoon.
Karyna's nose crinkled as she frowned, but her disappointment lasted just a moment. "Oh, alright," she conceded. She placed her elbows on the counter, and was about to rest her head on her gloved hands, but then she quickly shot upright, alerted. "Wait!" she exclaimed, then continued with a sly smile, "these are for a special someone, aren't they?"
The faint blush on Vallory's cheeks became more prominent, and she knew she'd been caught. "Shut up," she said, upon seeing Karyna opening her mouth to speak again. "It's not like that." She turned to place the baking sheets in the oven, trying to hide her stupid grin.
"Oh my Traveler, you are truly an awful liar," Karyna teased, hopping up to sit on the cleared space of the counter. Her small frame took up very little of the hard surface, and her legs dangled several feet off the ground. Vallory turned to glare at her, and Karyna added, "well, you're an awful liar when it comes to doing cheesy or wholesome stuff."
Vallory wiped her hands on her apron. "I hate you," she lied, then crossed her arms and leaned against the edge of the countertop, near her friend.
"Is it for..." Karyna's gaze moved over to an isolated corner of the courtyard, where there was a partially raised gate. "The Drifter?" she whispered.
Vallory's eyes followed her gaze. She said nothing, only bit the corner of her pink lip, hoping to stop herself from saying something stupid.
"Maybe," Val muttered, then swore under her breath. Eh, oh well, she thought, for nothing she could do would disprove the obvious. She looked at her warlock friend out of the corner of her eye. The girl was grinning at her devilishly. Val rolled her eyes, trying to downplay her embarrassment.
"Well, Val," Karyna started, and the expression on her face became smug. "I won't try to make you feel any worse than you probably do right now, but I just wanted to say," she paused, taking in a deep breath. "Since I first became a Guardian, I've seen you with so many partners that I've lost count. And of the ones I do remember, I know that's not even half of your total."
At this, Vallory regained her composure. Karyna was right; she did find her way around, and there was nothing wrong with that. If anything, she was a little proud of her sexual endeavors.
"But," Karyna continued, "this is definitely the first time I've seen you do anything like this for any of your partners."
The Titan could feel her neck and cheeks getting red with color, even with her Awoken-blue skin. Karyna was right-everything Vallory did was either casual or done as a joke, and she certainly never did anything for her partners that didn't result in sex. When the idea to bake something for The Drifter first came to her, her intentions were pure. Mostly. Any interaction with the shady individual was hardly pure.
"I dunno," Vallory began, and a soft bell chime interrupted her. She uncrossed her arms and slipped on a pair of quilted red oven mitts. "I just thought I would do something nice for a change. And you know he doesn't exactly have a... 'safe' diet."
Karyna snorted at that. "Ha! And here you are baking him sweets!"
Vallory swatted the girl's shoulder. "Whatever, you know what I mean." She strode over to the oven, removing both trays with ease, and set them on another counter to cool them. It didn't take long, due to the cold weather.
Karyna hopped down from her counter and stood beside Vallory, who had procured a triangular metal cutter, and assessed the freshly baked goods. Val's mouth watered at the smell, but she quickly pressed the cutter into the pan. She repeated this until she had turned the two blocks of brownies into a large platter of stacked triangles.
"Wanna try one?" Vallory asked, holding out a brownie for her friend.
"Do I?" Karyna beamed, then seemed to remember her manners. "I mean, yes. I would be honored."
The warlock plucked the brownie from Vallory's fingertips, and they both bit into their respective pieces. It was warm and soft and seemed to melt in her mouth. The dark chocolate was rich but not overwhelming, and the peppermint left a cool aftertaste. It reminded her of the chilly sensation she got when she first held a Mote of Darkness in Gambit, and the rush of blood when she hopped through the invasion portal for the first time.
It was perfect.
A low hum came from beside Vallory, breaking her out of her reverie. She looked over to see her friend's eyes closed, a blissful expression on her face.
"Well?"
"I think he'll love it."
Vallory smiled sheepishly. "I sure hope so."
-x-
After she carefully wrapped the plate of brownies with clear cling wrap, Vallory hung up her apron for the day. Karyna had wished her luck with delivering the brownies and suggested that Val should buy some milk, so she stopped by a dairy stall and bought a half gallon.
Now she stood by the gate to Drifter's hideout, balancing the platter on one hand and holding the jug of milk in the other. She took a deep breath to compose herself, and slowly ducked through the opening.
"Knock knock," Vallory said, standing upright. In the corner of the dim room she saw the back of a man in a long, dark leather coat with fur shoulders. He was hunched over a work bench, so the top of his short black hair and the black bandana wrapped around his forehead were barely visible. His gloved hands were tinkering away at a hand cannon. She noted the Tex Mechanica logo on the barrel and smiled; he had good taste in weapons for sure.
The Drifter turned his head, the fur on his pauldrons tickling his chin. His blue eyes skimmed over Vallory, and he smiled in recognition. "Well, if it ain't my favorite Guardian," he said, placing his tools down. He turned to face her, his demeanor all swagger, and grinned that winning smile that made most people uncomfortable but always made Val feel relaxed. "You don't look like you're here for some Gambit," he said, noticing that the brown-haired Awoken girl was not wearing her usual black bulky armor, but instead she stood before him wearing a black turtleneck sweater and a dark blue pair of jeans. Her dark clothing made her light blue skin and bright eyes more noticeable, and even though he'd seen her plenty of times without her armor, the sight of her momentarily stunned him.
The Drifter's gaze moved to the objects in Vallory's hands. "Oooo, what's that ya got there?"
"Just a little something I made for you," Vallory responded, moving to place the brownies and milk onto a free spot on a table. She unwrapped part of the plate and removed a brownie, then offered it to him. "Dark chocolate motes."
The Drifter took the pastry from Vallory's hand, the tips of his gauntlets brushing lightly against her bare fingers. She could feel her skin getting hot; she was immediately thankful for the poorly-lit room and the fabric of her sweater covering her skin.
She watched his scarred face as he took a bite of the brownie and chewed. "Mmmm," he said, with his eyes closed, and Val shuddered. There was something about that noise that pleased her; it was low and and almost rhythmic. "You're always feedin' me," he said, opening his eyes. "And here I thought our setup was casual."
Vallory shrugged, then smirked at him. "I can't casually feed the guy I casually fuck?"
At that, The Drifter let out an honest laugh. "Fair enough."
She watched him eat the rest of the brownie, then he popped open the jug of milk and took a swig. "Thanks for the grub, Miss Chosen One."
"Thanks for letting me share," Vallory smiled at him. They locked eyes for a moment, and she seemed to consider something, but shook the thought away. She told herself that she had just wanted to do this nice thing and be on her way, at least this time. In the spirit of The Dawning, she told herself, even though she wanted nothing more but to hang out here in his shelter, away from everyone else.
"Well," she finally said. "I'll let you get back to work."
Val could've sworn that she saw a hint of disappointment in his icy blue eyes, but she told herself that his desire for her to stay was different than hers, even if it was just this once.
She moved to leave, but paused. "Hey, Drifter?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, Hotshot?"
Vallory leaned towards him and swiftly planted a kiss on his cheek. "Happy Dawning," she muttered, her face still close to his. She was starting to feel embarrassed again, and she didn't want him to catch on to that, so she quickly strode away and out of his corner, ducking under the gate.
Vallory didn't get to see The Drifter lift his fingers to his cheek, where she had kissed him moments ago. She didn't get to watch the surprise on his face turn into a huge grin, or how he cursed at himself under his breath afterwards.