"Enjoy."
"Thanks."
The sweet scent of fried gyoza and soy sauce wafted through the air as Vallory handed over glimmer to the cashier. The small girl behind the counter at the Tower's ramen stand attempted to give the Awoken Titan her change, but Vallory shook her head. "Keep it."
The cashier's eyes lit up. She looked like she had wanted to decline since it was quite a large amount of cash leftover, but instead she muttered a "thank you". Val smiled in response, glad for the fact that the restaurant owner let the employees keep any tips.
Carefully, she lifted the warm plate of dumplings and a bottle of soda from the service counter. Vallory looked beyond the customers at the nearby tables and bar stools and decided she wanted to sit up on the balcony. Most people didn't want to make the climb, but the view and the solitude was worth it.
She strode over to the staircase and began to climb. Normally, it wasn't hard for her to balance her meal, but this time the round dipping bowl containing the sauce was filled to the brim. It didn't help that there were several flights of stairs to the top. She took slow, calculated steps, glancing at the plate every now and then to make sure she hadn't spilled any.
At the top level, she let out a satisfied exhale-no liquid had escaped the container. Her bright yellow irises scanned the terrace; the only soul present was a gray pigeon searching for crumbs under a table.
She set down her food and drink on a table against the wall, far from the pigeon. Vallory didn't care for the City's pigeons, but her best friend, Karyna, had taken a liking to them. It made eating up here with her friend a bit of a pain since some of the birds were bold, and Val was certain that that was another reason why most of the patrons preferred the seating on the lower level.
The metal chair screeched as she pulled it out. Vallory moved to sit down, her eyes fixed on the still-steaming plate of gyoza.
"Val! Hi!"
Startled by the shrill voice, Vallory almost missed the chair. "Geez, Ryna. How the fuck did you get up here without me noticing?"
Before her stood a giggling girl in burnt-orange Warlock robes. The girl was short and slim, but her robes billowed out around her, giving her figure some volume. Her tanned skin was golden-brown under the string of decorative lights hanging overhead and brown hair framed her marked face in uneven chunks. In one of her gloved hands was a nearly-full plastic water bottle.
"Sorry," Karyna grinned. "Maybe I'm just that good. Or maybe you were too focused on your food, as usual. Or maybe I followed you and waited for you to pull out the chair before running up the stairs. Who knows. I could probably put a Hunter to shame, if I really tried."
Vallory couldn't help but smile at her energetic friend. Karyna could strike a conversation with just about anyone, but Val often struggled to break the ice. Words always tumbled out of Karyna, and Val somewhat adored how she could speak her mind so easily. Except...
"Oh no." Karyna sunk down into the chair opposite from the Titan, concern clear on her face. "Was that too cocky of me? I didn't mean for it to be. I was hanging out with some of the fledgling Hunters earlier, and they really like to show off. Like, everything was a competition to them. It was challenging to keep up with the constant one-upping."
Val raised an eyebrow, but offered a sympathetic smile. Though her friend was talkative, she often backtracked or apologized. It was good that she was mindful of other people's feelings, although it could be a bit much.
"You're good, Karyna. Don't worry." Vallory plucked a pair of chopsticks from the container on the table, but gestured to the clear bottle in front of the Warlock. "Since I'm sure that's not alcohol, is that water?"
The question seemed to pull Karyna from her despair; she sat upright and grabbed the plastic cylinder. "Yep!"
"No tea for you today?" Vallory asked, gingerly dipping a dumpling in sauce before popping it in her mouth. She took a moment to savor her food; the dumpling wrapper was slightly crispy but just soft enough that it nearly melted in her mouth, and its pork filling was juicy and packed with flavor. City food rarely disappointed her; she found it beneficial to frequent many different restaurants, even though she was a good cook herself.
"Nope, no tea for now," Karyna beamed, her hazel eyes alight with excitement. "I'm trying this new thing."
"And what would that be?"
"A spit-take!"
"A... what?" Vallory's eyebrows furrowed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd guess you were trying to pronounce the name of a mushroom," she paused, "I'd say 'a tasty mushroom', but there aren't many food items that aren't tasty, in my experience."
Karyna rolled her eyes at Vallory. The Titan simply continued eating.
"You know, a 'spit-take'." Val said nothing, only gave Karyna a curious glance while shoveling food into her mouth. "It's when one person says something shocking while another person is taking a drink, so the one drinking ends up spitting out their drink. Like on TV."
"Oh. I see. I think," Val said, contemplating Karyna's explanation as she chewed.
The young Warlock let out a frustrated sigh. "Sometimes I forget that you don't really watch... well, much of anything, really."
When Val opened her mouth to speak, Karyna cut her off with a wave of her hand. "Yeah, yeah, 'except for the stuff you make me watch'," she mocked, in her best impression of her friend.
She wasn't too keen on most of the movies and shows that her best friend showed her, but she enjoyed hanging out with her. In truth, Val liked a few of the things that they watched together. Whether she really remembered the titles or any of the names of the characters was another thing.
"Here, I'll give you an example. Say something shocking, something that would surprise me. And I promise I won't spit on your food."
Vallory was about to decline, but Karyna had already twisted the cap off her water bottle. She sighed as her friend tipped back the water into her mouth.
"Uh..."
Karyna looked expectantly at Val. But, this was her best friend-what could she say that she didn't already know?
"Cayde and I slept together, once."
The Warlock girl swallowed her water. "I knew that already."
"Really? How?" Val inquired, a confused expression on her face. "We hadn't told anyone. Well, I hadn't, until just now."
"Okay, I didn't exactly know. I just had a hunch. It was something I assumed, since you guys were close, and since you're rather proud of your promiscuity... I figured it was bound to happen." Karyna glanced over to see Val nodding slowly. "Wait, it was just once though? You guys weren't just friends-with-benefits or something?"
Vallory popped the last two dumplings into her mouth and chewed, and Karyna fidgeted impatiently. "Yeah. Just once. Entirely by accident, honestly. Cayde and I were close, but it was never anything more than good friends between us. At some point early on in our friendship, I considered trying to bang him, but he wouldn't let anything develop between us," she paused, taking a sip of her soda. "Not that he wasn't attracted. I think he had a lot of uh, feelings. For someone else. Whether it was stuff from the past or someone who was still alive, he never let on."
A look of sadness passed on Karyna's face. Val felt a pang of grief in her chest; this was probably the most she'd talked about the deceased Hunter Vanguard since they laid him to rest less than two weeks ago. She hated seeing her normally bubbly friend have anything but happiness and optimism on her face.
Finally, Karyna said, "You were never one for romance beyond the bedroom."
Val inclined her head in confirmation, then took another gulp of her drink. "Right. So I backed off. But one night, I think during the Solstice of Heroes, we both got absolutely shit-faced. We both drank our asses off for a whole day, and eventually crashed back at his place. We both blacked out, but when I woke up I was completely naked in his bed."
Whatever sadness that Karyna felt was replaced by laughter. "Oh man, I bet that was awkward!"
"Actually, not really. We just kinda looked at each other, laughed, Cayde said something snarky, and we moved on."
Karyna gazed at Vallory fondly. "That does sound like something you two would do, I suppose."
They shared a moment of warm silence that Val realized she couldn't share with anyone else. Perks of having a best friend.
"Anyway," Karyna spoke, breaking the silence. She took the bottle back into her hands. "That wasn't shocking enough."
"Alright," Vallory exhaled. She welcomed changing the subject, at least. The task at hand, however, was a difficult one.
She watched Karyna, who was eyeing her in anticipation, take more water into her mouth.
The two of them went through a cycle of Vallory attempting to say something incredulous, followed by Karyna failing to be surprised. Minutes passed; Karyna downed two thirds of her water already, and Val had gone through so many remarks that she was sure she'd have to start making stuff up.
"This is getting absurd."
"Ugh." Karyna, who had been sitting on top of the table for a while now, hopped down. "We'll work on it later. Maybe after you've had time to think, you'll have some sudden revelation or forgotten secret to share with me. Just make sure I have water at the ready." She swished the remainder of the water in the bottle at Val.
Vallory picked up her empty plate and half-full soda and stood up. "Sure," she replied, then walked over to the trash can and tossed the plate in. "What now?"
"I was gonna ask you the same."
They both sighed.
"Oh," Karyna started. "I got a weird message from like, almost a month ago? I think? Did you ever get one of those?"
"'Weird message'? Like, 'weird' how?"
"It was a message telling me to meet someone here, in a corner at the tower. Nearby here, actually," Locks of her hair spun as she craned her neck to look around.
"Wait-are you serious?" The look on Val's face turned from surprise to amusement as she realized to whom Karyna was referring. "You haven't met him yet?"
"Err... you have?"
"Well, yeah. I figured a lot of people had."
"I didn't really wanna go alone," Karyna said sheepishly.
"Well, let's go, then," Vallory decided, and walked toward the staircase.
"What, like, right now? But..."
"It'll be fine, trust me."
Vallory was already halfway down the stairs when Karyna muttered a reluctant "alright".
Karyna caught up to the Titan as she was passing the ramen shop. Val had only slowed her pace to give a slight wave to the cashier. "How far is this, exactly?"
"Just around the corner, actually." Val made a sharp left turn after the ramen shop. Before them was a gate, mostly closed; it was lifted roughly two and a half feet from the ground. An eerie pale green light emanated from the gap. Karyna stood behind her, unease clear on her face.
"I'm going in," Val said, crouching near the gate's opening. She ducked through, a motion that was becoming familiar to her.
On the other side stood a man in a long, dark green coat. Short black hair poked out of the bandanna tied around his forehead. His hands were clad in black gauntlets, and he gestured with them as he conversed with a small hunter. His blue eyes met Val's, and he gave her a slight nod, acknowledging her presence.
Karyna popped up beside her and clutched Val's arm firmly. For the shy girl, passing through the gate was an ocean and Val was safe, dry land.
Upon seeing the newcomers, the man in the coat became noticeably uninterested with his current conversation. "We can talk more later," he said, flashing the hunter a smile and patting his shoulder. The hunter seemed to get the idea; he sighed and moved past Vallory and out of the room.
"Well now," the man drawled, "A pretty lady with another gal wrapped 'round her arm."
"Hey, Drifter."
The man known as The Drifter flashed Vallory a toothy grin. "Hey, sister."
"This is Karyna. Friend of mine. She's a little late on the invitation."
"Nothin' wrong with that," he winked. "Name's Drifter."
Karyna looked from The Drifter to Val, then back to The Drifter. Val wore a smirk as she stared him down. "Uh, hi," she muttered.
"Can barely see ya back there. C'mon, I don't bite," he grinned. "'less you want me to, that is."
Karyna took a deep breath and mustered up her courage. "Okay," she said, and stepped forward. "What was that message about?"
The Drifter told the Warlock all about the operation he was running, "Gambit", he'd called it. Vallory peppered in a few comments since she was already familiar with The Drifter and his Gambit. Karyna was thankful for her friend's presence in the conversation, but she was wary of how comfortable Val was with this whole set up.
"Don't be a stranger," The Drifter called out after the two women as they left.
"Well, isn't he a charming fellow," Karyna said once they left The Drifter's corner. She twisted the cap off her water bottle and lifted it to her lips.
"I want him to rearrange my guts."
At that, Karyna spewed water from her mouth. She coughed and choked, and Val crossed her arms and had an amused expression on her face. The Warlock managed to sputter out a questioning "what" between coughs. After a few more moments of Karyna violently coughing, Val downed more of her soda and suggested that Karyna drink the water to clear her throat.
Karyna's coughing became less frequent. "What the hell, Val?" she stammered.
"What?" Val replied. "I don't know what's confusing about that." She paused, then offered, "I want to jump his bones."
Karyna glared at her. "I got that," she snapped. "I just didn't expect it, is all."
"For what it's worth, I think you nailed the spit-take."