Disclaimer: We still don't own Destiny otherwise Xur's prices would have been adjusted for inflation.
Between Talzen's tall tales and Lana's constant badgering, the Titan couldn't decide whether this was a bad day or a horrible one. He regretted letting the Warlock say what he had; there was no doubt the Huntress would suffer for his actions. He shouldn't have let him lie to their Vanguards. Nolano had wanted to speak but he didn't, he couldn't.
He just wasn't a very assertive person. And he was aware of how ironic that was coming from a big, boisterous Titan. So all he could do was stand at attention with a look of apprehension on his face. He'd known it was a detail the City's Commander was not quick to overlook. The Titan only hoped that something good might still come from Zavala's observation.
As they had been dismissed, Nolano sort of slumped away. Lana, detecting his sullen mood, had given him a soothing pat on the head. At least there was one lady he could be comfortable with as opposed to being a fumbling, nervous mess. And for that, at least, the tall Titan was very grateful.
"You should have seen the look on Bo's face when she aimed her last shockwave at his feet," Talzen laughed as their Fireteam ascended from the Vanguards' post. "I thought he'd pissed himself."
"Fuck off, Warlock," the Hunter replied darkly. "You almost passed out when her field knife went whizzing by your head."
"Quite the contrary," the Warlock retorted. "I knew that Dreg was behind me the whole time. If her aim had been better, I wouldn't have had reason to worry."
"Her aim was perfect, you ass," Bo defended; now if only he'd have found his conscience in front of the Commander and Cayde, Nolano frowned.
"So, where are we going?" the violet-haired Huntress chirped, changing the subject as she kicked her legs a little at Nolano's side. She was still riding happily along from atop his shoulders, her fingers laced through his dark hair to keep her balance. After all, it wasn't all the time she got to be nine feet tall.
"I have a lady waiting for me," Talzen replied smartly, his eyes darkening as he gazed in the direction of the dormitories.
Bo just rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, "Unfortunate wench."
"I'm kinda tired," the Titan shrugged, "I was just gonna go get a little sleep."
"Wrong answer!" Lana laughed as she dropped her palms to either side of his head and wrenched his head in the direction of the Hangar. Unfortunately, the Titan knew what she was implying.
"Isn't it a bit early for drinks?"
"Never!" the Huntress answered.
"Of course not," Nolano shook his head as he made his way toward the lounge. Then, as an afterthought, he questioned, "Bo?"
"Not a chance," the other man shook his head, laughing as he followed the Warlock in the direction of the dormitories.
The Hunter Lounge, as it was coined, was always the most popular one-stop shop for Guardians going into or coming out of the field. It served the Tower's best selection of alcohol and hosted the best collection of Guardians with loose morals. There was food, of course, and a jukebox filled with music from artists that nobody'd ever heard of.
Lana was usually kept on a tight leash when it came to liquor but always jumped at a chance to get Nolano alone there, liberally abusing his tendency to be, in general, a pushover.
As the Titan had expected, the bar was relatively empty. It was not quite drinking prime time by the Tower's clock. The Huntress slid down the Titan's strong frame, taking a perch on a stool at the bar as two shots of her 'usual' were promptly poured by the able-handed Seamus.
"So Tiny, why the long face?" she asked just before downing the first of her tequila shots in a single go.
'Well this is just wonderful,' the Titan thought. The tiny Huntress couldn't hold her liquor to save her life. He took a seat next to her, shaking his head sadly, "I think I let someone get, I don't know, wrongfully punished… maybe?"
"Why?" Lana shot him a skeptical glance. "That chick Tal' was talking about sounded like a total twat-wad!"
"She wasn't that bad. You know how he exaggerates everything."
Then, leaning forward, Lana narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice, "Was she hot?"
Nolano squirmed uncomfortably on the stool beside the violet-haired Huntress, letting his eyes fall to his hands, where his fingers were nervously at work ripping apart a cardboard coaster that had been left on the bar by someone long before he'd taken up sitting there. The Titan was thankful that the little Huntress he'd brought with him had slowed down her usual binge drinking, instead choosing to continue conversing with him. Her second shot sat forgotten on the dark surface of the bar.
When a new guest entered the establishment, a bell that had been positioned at the top of the doorway rang through the relative silence of the bar. Both Nolano and Lana turned around in unison.
He watched a slight-framed Huntress hesitate at the entrance, scan the establishment without allowing those haunting green eyes of hers to fall on any patron in particular, and then proceed to a place located at the far corner of the bar. The path she chose to reach that seat had been deliberate and he'd had to look away, back to his hands and the shreds of the coaster he'd spread across the counter top.
Her armor was strikingly similar to that worn by the Huntress he'd met that day in the Cosmodrome; sandy sable with accents of crimson and white. Her boots had been rust brown, stained in the dust of creamy white limestone from the caves in the Russian back-country. Something inside just told him that it was her.
Her voice, soft and feminine, rang out to the bartender, "Evening, Seamus."
"Serra," the retired Guardian replied gruffly. "Been a while since I seen you around, kid."
Nolano's heart started to race as he remembered Bo identifying her for Cayde.
"She is hot! That's her, isn't it, Tiny?" Lana grinned, nudging his shoulder as she took a large sip of her second shot. If only she'd been drunk enough that she wouldn't have been so quick to piece such information together.
"Quiet, Lana," he pleaded, but made no other response as he placed a supportive hand on her back to steady his slightly woozy friend, already starting to become a bit tipsy. To be perfectly honest, Nolano had no idea what the other Huntress looked like without her helmet on. Whether she was Human, Awoken, or Exo… the Titan turned slowly to look at the very woman he'd happened upon earlier that morning.
She was pretty, maybe downright beautiful, but it was hard to say for sure in the dim light of the bar.
Brown hair, lighter at the top of her head where the sun must have brought about natural highlights. She wore it long, half of it pulled away from her face but still a few dark strands of hair fell forward towards her eyes. Her hair was longer than most of the other female Guardians he'd been brave enough to admire from the relative safety of being seated halfway across the bar from them. She had high cheekbones, dark eyelashes, and arched eyebrows.
"Such is life," the brunette shrugged, her eyes still fixed to the barkeeper.
Yeah, she was pretty.
"What'll it be?" Seamus asked her.
"Whiskey, neat."
Nolano frowned, catching out of the corner of his eye that the barkeeper had placed the glass he had previously been polishing in front of the lone Guardian. He turned in the direction of the other pair of Guardians to grab the bottle and returned to where she sat to pour her drink, just as she'd asked.
"Leave the bottle, if you please."
And her words, the way she'd said them with a glimmer of sadness laced underneath… Nolano felt his chest constrict. He had to look away. He was partially to blame for this.
Seamus asked skeptically, "This ain't gonna turn into another show like last time, is it?"
"My word," she laughed lightly.
At the same moment, a Fireteam of six walked into the bar but Nolano didn't turn to look at them.
"T-that works?" Lana asked Nolano, flabbergasted as she placed open palms over his chest plate. "You can just-just ask for the whole bottle?"
Smirking, he took both of Lana's wrists and moved her hands off of his chest, leaning over to reply, "For some people that works."
"You're payin' for all you drink, Serra," Seamus called over his shoulder, as he made his way over to the violet-haired Huntress who was now motioning him over. His voice was a lot more polite when he asked her, "What can I get you, darlin'?"
Lana asked innocently, twisting a strand of dark purple hair around one of her tiny fingers, "Can I have a bottle, too, please?"
Seamus looked at Nolano.
"No," the Titan shook his head. "That's not – let's not do that. Maybe just one more?"
"Vodka sprite!" Lana chirped happily, finishing what remained of her tequila shot.
Nolano glanced across the bar to look at the Huntress named Serra once more. She had her attention turned to her whiskey and was swirling the glass that she'd poured. Nolano was taken by the way that the amber liquid caught the dim, grimy light of the bar; he watched her finish the glass in a single gulp, gracefully pouring herself another and quickly disposing of it in the same manner she had the first.
"Slow down, sweetie," the Titan watched as an older Hunter slid between her barstool and the empty one beside it. He was leaning on his forearms against the bar, watching the woman beside him. The five remaining members of his Fireteam took two tables slightly behind where the Titan was seated with Lana. He motioned towards the barkeeper but kept his eyes on Serra.
"You brought the peanut gallery with you, Hunter," she lowered her voice, scowling over at him as she poured herself a third drink. But she didn't finish this one nearly so fast as she had the two that had come before it.
"Hey, Isaac!" one of the Titans called from the table behind Nolano. "Bring cards, will ya?"
"And yer lady," an Awoken Warlock in a crimson jacket added, smirking for the collective snickers from the group of men surrounding him.
The Hunter nodded, leaning against the Huntress' shoulder as he pried the bottle from her fingertips before she could make to refill the glass that she had just emptied. He took a long drink from the bottle; it had already been just under a quarter of the way full when he'd taken it – but he seemed smug when he sat it back in front of her, significantly less full than it had been when he'd taken it from her. If she had wanted to protest, he silenced her with a confident, "Heard ya pissed Cayde off somethin' fierce, woman. What'd he give you this time?"
"Two weeks."
And the Titan could almost feel the disappointment seeping from her, like smoke as it constricted his airways and his breath caught in the back of his throat. She put on a brave face for the other Hunter but Nolano could read her underlying sadness through the shadows; silent and substantial.
The Hunter nodded, leaning forward against the bar on his forearms. His voice was low as he leaned over to whisper something that Nolano couldn't make out, pressing his forehead against Serra's temple. She'd relaxed, smiling, for whatever it was he'd chosen to share with her. And Nolano looked away, embarrassed that he'd been staring at them.
"Of course I'll show you how it's done, old man," she pushed the whiskey back towards him. "But if I'm to carry you through the Crucible, you should help me out with a little more of this, wouldn't you agree?"
"I prefer it when you call me Hunter," but he took the bottle and helped himself to a long draw.
"No fair!" Lana pouted at Nolano's right, catching his attention as she paused to take a sip from the bright pink straw that the barkeeper had managed to find especially for her. "The hot ones never talk to me! They must think I'm with you, Tiny!"
"You're the one who brought me here," he reminded, failing to hide all of his irritation for her implied message.
"Hurry it up, Isaac," the same Titan from earlier called out, motioning towards the empty hands of the other Guardians gathered at his table.
The bartender had put a tray of drinks before the Hunter and he'd responded by pushing a bit of glimmer back across the bar to Seamus. He turned back to Serra, asking, "Come sit with us?"
She glanced over her shoulder at the rowdy table of men behind her, not moving her head to carry out the action. She bit her lower lip, her features softening – probably she thought Nolano wasn't still watching her, hypnotized by even the most subtle of her mannerisms. But she shook her head, murmuring, "Not tonight. I'm not really in the mood for…"
And at her pause, she waved her hand in the air; a graceful flick of her wrist as though the motion alone could convey her meaning.
Isaac laughed, offering her a sideways hug as he pulled her shoulder against his chest, "Don't wallow, sweetheart. Cayde never stays mad at you for long."
She nodded, her eyes locked on the whiskey bottle still in front of her.
"And if ya can't make yer own friends," the Hunter chuckled, his voice light and teasing, "Mine're right over there."
Nolano froze when Serra's eyes skimmed the entire bar, locking with his. A glimmer of recognition passed between the pair and the Titan immediately dropped the cardboard coaster that was still in his hands.
Just as the Hunter, Isaac, stood to carry a tray of drinks and deck of cards to his waiting Fireteam, Serra vacated her stool and brought her bottle of whiskey with her as she made to stand before Nolano. She smirked, stifling a smile with a slow pull from the bottle of whiskey and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, challenging the dark-haired Titan, "You never answered me earlier, Titan."
As she slid her open bottle of liquor across the bar, she stood between the two Guardians with her full attention on the Titan that she'd just taken to interrupting. Nolano's eyes widened when he felt her left hand land on his knee. The way her green eyes glimmered mischievously up at him as she let her fingertips run lightly up his thigh – those gorgeous green eyes that somehow still cut like poisonous daggers. And then the Huntress grabbed the front of his armor, her fingertips wrapping around the neckline to pull his face a bit closer to hers – so close that Nolano found himself lost in her features; he caught the faint, sweet smell of whiskey from her.
Confused was the state of mind that hit the Titan first. He got hugs and such all the time from Lana, but this… this was an entirely new monster. A situation he was less than equipped to handle from a stranger at a bar, regardless of how fascinating he thought she was.
And then she smiled, "You are afraid of me, aren't you?"
Afraid of her? Of course he was; if anything, he was quite frightened and uncomfortable with this whole ordeal.
"S-sorry?" the Titan stuttered, quickly averting his gaze. Her intimidating presence was enough to overwrite the jittery Guardian's mind, so he fumbled to come up with a response, "I, um, you look nice."
From beside him, Lana snorted, "Easy there, Casanova."
Nolano was relieved when Serra had released his armor to turn her full attention towards Lana. And he watched the two women stare at one another; Lana unashamed in her open admiration and Serra like she was sizing the other woman up with the same intense scrutiny she'd earlier awarded the Titan. Standing where she was, Nolano noticed that she was at eye-level with a still seated Lana; it was enough information for the Titan to deduce that this Huntress was slender, sure, but she was significantly taller than his friend.
"She's really pretty, Tiny!" Lana chirped happily.
Keeping her voice low, Serra challenged Lana, "Perhaps you should be afraid of me, too."
She didn't allow Lana to respond – Nolano could only watch, surprise evident on his expression, as Serra lunged forward at Lana. The brunette Huntress made a place for herself between Lana's thighs as her right hand found the nape of the other woman's neck, her fingers lacing through Lana's shaggy purple hair as she forced her lips over the other woman's. Then, as Serra held Lana's lips to her own, she climbed – actually climbed – up the bar stool so that she was now the taller of the two. Nolano felt his jaw drop open when Serra brought her right shin to rest just outside of Lana's left thigh, against the wooden barstool.
It was an impressive display of dominance; animalistic and carnal.
And even as the Fireteam behind them cheered their content, egging on the pair of female Guardians that they should have been carrying on with one another in such a manner, Nolano was slightly concerned for his friend. He could tell through her drunken gaze that Lana had become quite smitten with Serra – so when the taller Huntress had jumped her, Lana had all but invited the contact.
Isaac called out over his Fireteam's rumpus, "Not what I meant by making friends, Serra!"
When Nolano watched the Huntress' left hand come to flip the other Hunter off, he frowned. When she replaced her hand on Lana's hip, fingertips beginning to edge underneath the smaller woman's armor, he frowned. Serra had pulled off her gloves, pressing her chest forward against the other woman's armor until she was effectively pinned on her back against the bar. And Lana's right knee bent, her leg lacing with Serra's as she tried to pull herself even closer to the brunette.
Nolano knew his socially brave moments were few and far between but this was going to have to be one of them. Lana had enough liquor in her system that she would have likely dry humped a Frame by this point so, against the nervousness plaguing his thoughts, he determined to become to tiny Huntress' judgement call. Sure, if Serra was a lady he knew and was more comfortable with, he might have let them continue. But even if only in his subconscious, he knew he'd just told himself a white lie. Completing with Lana over a woman was something he never thought he'd have to do. His jealousy had flared, but it was soon replaced by concern. This new Huntress was a rather angry and somewhat violent individual in his current opinion. And with the influence of alcohol, he wasn't sure that letting the pair of them carry on together was such a good idea.
He was being the good guy here, of course...
The men behind them groaned in their disappointment.
"I'm sorry, really sorry," he mumbled, standing to separate the two. He picked up Lana as if she were a toy, adding, "I'm sure you're nice and everything but I'm fairly certain my friend isn't even sure where she is right now."
As if to prove his point, Lana wrapped her arms around Nolano's neck and began to nibble at his ear, purring as she did so.
"C-cut that out, Lana!" he pushed her away, unable to hide his frustration that she seemed not to have noticed that her make-out partner had changed. With Lana still being somewhat difficult, he sat back down on the stool and put the small girl on his lap. Thankfully, kinda, the violet-haired woman saw it fit more so to continue drinking than to caress a still slightly shaky Titan.
Serra only smirked, "I could have made room for you, too, ya know? What was your name?"
"No-Nolano," the Titan answered, a little taken aback by her offer. Lana had made passes at him before but it had never been anything serious. Nolano was pretty confident she'd successfully managed to hook up with Talzen, much to the Warlock's woman's displeasure, and her casual escapades with Bo were hardly a secret from their Fireteam. It was the Cheshire smile of this new Huntress that may have replaced caution with lust, but only for a moment. Even with his astounding lack of grace with women, he'd be lying if he said the dark corners of his mind hadn't pictured the bare forms of both women on top of his but, once again, only for a moment.
"Call me Serra," the Huntress took a seat on Lana's now empty barstool, pouring herself another bit of whiskey into the empty glass that the violet-haired Huntress had left behind. "What's your lady's name? I'm fond of her."
Serra; that was a lovely name. It seemed almost too nice for the brash Huntress who now sat beside him-
Wait, what was that about Lana being his lady? That notion was so ludicrous it was almost laughable but that he was fond of Lana was no surprise, either. She could be downright adorable when she wasn't drinking herself under a table.
"Oh! No, no, no; heh, uh, me and Lana aren't like that," the Titan answered quickly. "Not at all."
"But you know I wouldn't mind, Tiny," the small Huntress slurred her words, a quiet sort of pout, as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Then, she changed gears, placing a delicate hand on Serra's thigh as lust and alcohol glazed over her eyes once again.
"For not being 'like that' little lady, here, sure seems persistent."
"Lana can be a little forward sometimes," Nolano added sheepishly. "Sorry about this."
"Don't be sorry, Titan; I invited it," the Huntress smiled, her features softening as she looked at Lana. But Nolano watched her turn quickly and his eyes followed her attention. There was an Awoken Warlock standing behind her; his hair was bright red, his eyes a menacing gold; crimson – the one from earlier. Lana's reaction was to cross her arms over her chest and pout; undoubtedly under the impression that her new playmate was potentially being withdrawn.
A distinctly masculine voice purred into her ear, "Has someone been left out?"
Nolano watched in awe, jumping in surprise, as she spun quickly with her field knife already drawn. The speed with which she had reflexively reacted was impressive; when one considered the amount of alcohol she'd managed to consume on that evening, it was amazing. The cold tone of her voice caused Nolano's back to stiffen, "Touch me again and I'll have your hand for it."
Nolano found that he at least respected Serra's independent nature. She wasn't a pushover like he was.
"Easy, baby," the Warlock threw his hands up in surrender.
"Leave 'er alone, Guardian," Seamus warned from behind the bar. "She's a live cannon, that one."
But she had already turned around to face Nolano and Lana once again. Her attention was turned away from the Warlock and, from what Nolano could tell by the fierce look still melting from her otherwise angelic features, if her glare alone hadn't sent the other man sulking to a corner, he was either an idiot or had a penchant for involving himself in potentially volatile situations.
Nolano was the first to speak, "I'm sorry if you were given bad news upon your return. My squad leader has a bit of a big mouth."
"So I have you to thank for that?"
"Yes, I wanted to stop him… uh, Talzen, but I-I'm sorry," he bowed slightly as he spoke. Nolano had wanted to read something in her expression, any emotion, but her face was blank; he couldn't explain it – and her glare was most certainly not helping – but something about this Huntress had him just a little bit smitten.
"So, this Talzen of yours," she took a sip of her drink. "Tell me about him."
"Well, uh, Talzen does have a flair for embellish…" Nolano let his voice trail off as he was interrupted by a red-robed shoulder blocking part of his view of the woman before him.
"Now, you must have known I would love it if you played hard to get, baby," the Warlock had returned but this time with a fresh glass of whiskey on ice for the Huntress he'd set his eyes on.
Before he could hand it to Serra, Lana had snatched it from him, growling low in her throat as her eyes narrowed dangerously up at a Warlock twice the size of her. Nolano, in turn, only held up his hands defensively. Whatever this idiot wanted with the fiery Huntress he'd been conversing with, the Titan wanted no part of it for himself and Lana.
When the Warlock raised a hand to protest Lana's actions, Serra grabbed his wrist, swinging his arm behind his back and pressing his chest and the side of his face against the bar. Even slightly shorter than the Warlock as she was, she had been able to manage an impressive amount of leverage over his back to hold him in place; his wrist was wrenched painfully between his shoulder blades and the look on his face was enough indication Nolano needed to deduce that, any harder, and she was going to dislocate his shoulder.
With eyes wide, Nolano watched Serra lean over the Warlock to growl into his ear, "I'll take worse than your hand, little boy, if you so much as look at her again."
As the Warlock made to struggle against the Huntress' grasp on his wrist, Serra only pulled harder. Licking the shell of his hear, she added, "It's a shame you had to be so rude, Warlock. You're something rather handsome, I'll give you that."
The pinned guardian grimaced, relaxing against the bar top when she eased her grip.
Then, from Nolano's right, Isaac grabbed the Warlock by the scruff of his neck and chuckled, "I'll take it from here, sweetie; this one's my responsibility."
As the older Hunter removed the Warlock, the men still seated at the table he'd left behind were laughing animatedly at his failure.
"Why did you s-stand up for her?" the taller Titan asked.
Serra took her seat, finishing her glass of whiskey, as she replied as though it were the most obvious of answers in the world, "Isaac told me to make friends."
Nolano pushed Serra's bottle of whiskey outside of Lana's reach, pondering, "A-and you do...everything he says?"
Her eyes glimmered and she hid a smile behind her hand, "Feeling threatened?"
Nolano might have lost his voice, then – but something about the confidence he felt holding onto another woman in his lap emboldened him to play along with what he could only presume was her attempt at conversation, "Um, should I, Serra?"
But then Lana hiccupped in his lap, both guardians paused to look at her.
"Is she going to be alright, Titan?"
Following Lana's hand to an empty glass, he discovered that she had, in the short amount of time the Warlock had interrupted their conversation, finished the entirety of the drink that he'd brought for Serra. Nolano's face bent into a pained look of annoyance.
"I uh…I think she'll be fine. She just needs-" and Lana vomited, voiding the contents of her stomach into her and Nolano's laps. He sighed, "A little sleep."
He was slow to stand, trying to avoid the small puddle of her puke while still cradling the almost-incoherent Huntress gently against his chest. She moaned a bit with discomfort, still clutching her shot glass.
"I think I'd better go," the Titan offered Serra a meek smile before giving her a slight bow. As he hurried away, he added, "It was a pleasure meeting you."
On the down side, Lana was going to be rather annoyed when she woke up much later that night that he hadn't invited Serra to join them; it was a matter Nolano knew that she would take out on him. But this had been the most eventful day that he'd had in quite a long time. For better or worse, he was glad that he'd met Serra.