Work Text:
VALENTINE’S DAY, TAKE ONE.
(Senior Year)
“Whoa Lace, what happened?” Drayton had been summoned by the student manning the reception at the Polar Plaza, having told him that Lacey was waiting for him there, and to perhaps come over urgently. He was relieved that he did, as he didn’t expect to see his girlfriend shivering like crazy, clinging to her Granbull for warmth. Her face was wet with tears, and her clothes were damp too, though she had at least wrapped herself up in a towel to try and dry herself off. Even so, she had to have been freezing like this. She was wearing a winter jacket, scarf and gloves, but something had to have happened for it to still not be enough to keep her warm.
Lacey looked up to him, but seeing his face just made her even more upset, and she hid her face against Granbull’s fur. “I messed up, I messed up so badly..!”
He was quick to untie the cape that he kept around his waist, leaning over to wrap it around her shoulders, adjusting to cover her hair too. Then he encouraged Lacey and Granbull to come and take a proper seat on one of the benches at the Plaza. Once they did, Drayton wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her to lean in against him. She can take all the time she needs to tell him what’s going on, but it was alarming to see Lacey worked up in such a state.
She reached her hands to tug at the fabric of his cape, just to wrap herself up in it more. After some more sniffles, she finally spoke up again. “I-I was on my way to deliver you some cookies I made for Valentines Day, but I slipped on a patch of ice and, a-and while I um, landed in a heap of snow, I dropped the cookies in the water nearby. I-I stayed up late baking and decorating them, it took ages just to get them right, b-but even if an a-adorable Pokemon didn’t eat them once they ended up in the water, they would have been ruined the moment they fell in anyway… I feel like such a failure, Drayton…”
“Hey now, you’re not a failure,” Drayton reached his spare hand to thumb away the tears. “Accidents happen, yeah? Besides, uh… knowing you went to all this effort for my sake…” He shifted to lean the side of his head against hers, the arm around her keeping her close to him. Her body was starting to warm up in the process, which was a relief to him. With him on one side, and her Granbull on the other, Lacey’s trembling was beginning to subside. Normally Granbull was quite protective of her, but they had the same goal of warming Lacey up, so his close proximity to her was welcomed here. “Thanks, Lacey. It means a lot.”
“But you’re not even getting to taste the fruits of my labour… It’s all gone…”
“There’s always next time,” he replied quickly, his voice soft and assuring.
“It’s not going to be a surprise anymore though.” Drayton was used to her protests, so he shrugged against her. “... And it was for our first Valentine’s Day as a couple too…”
It’s too bad that there’s too many students around who could witness them, but the urge for Drayton to kiss her rose exponentially. Cute, cute, cute. She’s so cute. “How about we make them together then? Some cookies, I mean. When you’ve warmed up enough, we can head back to your dorm.”
Lacey nodded slowly. “I do have some leftover ingredients… okay.”
“Good, it’s a date then.” Drayton glanced about to see if anyone else was watching them in this moment. Seeing that nobody’s eyes were really on them anymore, he leaned over to press a kiss to her forehead. Her face flushed considerably, and she tried to hide her expression behind his cape. “... Listen, the main thing is that you didn’t get hurt. Sure, I’m a bit jealous of the Pokemon who gobbled up the cookies you made for me, but uh, what’s the phrase? It’s the thought that counts.”
She made a small huffy noise, muffled by his cape. He figured it would be a while before Lacey was over dropping those cookies in the icy water. She can be a perfectionist at times, and Drayton could tell that she was really bummed out about this. That annoyance eventually changed to a sigh.
“Your cape is so warm,” she admitted, “... it smells like you too.” Drayton’s face heated up at her comments, his eyes widening slightly. “... You should wash it more often though.” That additional remark made him laugh out loud with how sudden it was, especially after saying such cute things prior. She managed a giggle. “... Thank you though, Dray. I think I’ll be okay in a bit.”
Drayton exhaled a soft sigh. The nickname tugged at his heartstrings a little more. “... Wouldn’t mind staying like this forever.”
“But then we wouldn’t have time to bake cookies and enjoy them before bedtime. And you know I can’t have you staying over past curfew. It’s against the rules….” Aside from the fact she wasn’t yet mentally prepared for that, it was also a well known rule at Blueberry Academy that overnight sleepovers weren’t allowed at the dormitories. There was concern about students getting a bit too frisky, and one thing leading to another…
“I guess that’s true. Shall we head back? I’ll let you ride on the back of Dragonite,” he offered, and her face lit up. Lacey always adored his Pokemon, and while she’s now ridden on Dragonite’s back multiple times - before and after they’d started dating too - the novelty never seemed to get old for her.
“Certainly! Ah, I’ll return Granbull to her Poke Ball first…” Granbull looked a little disappointed by this, wanting to cuddle with her trainer for longer too, but she didn’t make a fuss. After returning Granbull to her Poke Ball, Lacey was about to remove the cape to give back to Drayton, but he placed his hands over hers to stop her. “Drayton?”
“You can keep wearing it for now, I don’t mind. Seeing you wear something belonging to me is mad cute,” he explained sincerely, not even minding that Lacey’s face started to look more like a tomato. “Anyway, it is gonna be a bit chilly while we’re flying back to the Terrarium entrance. It would suck if you caught a cold.”
“... Mm, it just wouldn’t be right,” she agreed with that last sentiment, even if all the other words that came before it were embarrassing. Once Drayton had taken his Dragonite out and helped Lacey climb aboard before climbing on himself, Lacey wrapped her arms around his waist to make sure she was secured. “Thanks for helping me warm up though… I know I must have shocked you, showing up like that.”
He settled a hand over hers as Dragonite took off to the skies - or rather, higher in the air of the Terrarium - flying them from the Polar Biome to the exit. While it wasn’t as cold as it would be in the sky outside, there was enough of a draft that Lacey felt the chill against her skin.
“You know, you can depend on me whenever you want,” he remarked, glancing over his shoulder. “I know you’re used to others going to you for help and you never expect anything in return, but we’re a team now, right? Sure, there’s a ton of stuff that you’re awesome at and don’t need my help with, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t stuff I can do for you.”
“Drayton…”
“And for the record, I’m not just saying all this cuz I’m your boyfriend… there’s been so many times you’ve helped me out, and even I want to return the favour where I can. Like warming you up from the cold… you’ve done that for me too, you know.”
“Huh? When was that?” she sounded genuinely surprised at first. But then her eyes widened as she realised what Drayton was referring to. “... Are you talking about when we were kids?! That was so long ago..! A-And that was your fault anyway, because you didn’t go outside with the necessary layers and–..!”
“Even so,” he spoke - normally he wouldn’t cut her off like this, but her protests weren’t landing for him here either. “You helped me out in more ways than you probably know. It’s an important memory to me, I guess.”
“Is that so? I’ll keep it in mind then…”
INTERLUDE: CHRISTMAS EVE.
(Eight Years Ago)
She had only just managed to glimpse him from the window, walking away from the hotel where the Unova League Christmas Party was being held in Icirrus City. The Champion, the Elite Four, Gym Leaders, other League staff and their families were all invited, along with a few other notable trainers who were set to inherit positions within the League. Lacey was among those considered family, being the daughter of Driftveil City’s Gym Leader Clay. While the majority of the party attendees were adults, there were some teenagers, and a few children there too.
Lacey, eight at the time, was among those children, and while she managed to strike up conversations with them and a few others, there was one who had evaded her most of that night. It was none other than Drayton, the ten year old grandson of Opelucid City’s Mayor and Gym Leader Drayden. Despite displaying such an easygoing smile, he was barely exchanging words with anyone else there.
If anyone from Opelucid was proving to be a hit with the attendees, it was Drayden’s prodigy of a student, Iris. She was practically a member of the family at this rate, and the word going around was that she would inherit the Opelucid City Gym. Lacey had heard that traditionally if gyms were passed down in that way then it should be going to Drayton, but she never truly understood it. Her parents never pressured her like that, but she supposed every family was different.
Even so, it didn’t seem right at all to her that he ditched the party - and wasn’t he aware of how freezing it was outside? None of the adults seemed to have noticed, and Lacey wasn’t sure about interrupting them either, so she rushed out into the reception, collecting her jacket, gloves and scarf to throw on as she ran outside.
The direction where he was headed, there were very few possibilities where he could be headed - and seeing as the Icirrus City Gym was undoubtedly closed at this time of night, that only left the other most notable location… Dragonspiral Tower. And for a child from such a prestigious Dragon Tamer family, it would make sense for him to be curious.
She hurriedly followed the small footsteps imprinted into the snow, realising her guess was correct. It was night-time, a young boy like Drayton shouldn’t be out there on his own! Perhaps the same was true for herself, being younger than him and a girl, but she justified it to herself that they wouldn’t be long.
“Stop right there!” she called out, seeing the boy standing at the edge before the body of water that separated them on land from the Dragonspiral Tower that stood out from it. That water was currently frozen over at this time of year, meaning that if he stepped out onto the ice, he could cross over towards the tower - not that he could enter, for the entrance was sealed over. “You’re not allowed in there, stop, stop, stop!!”
Drayton glanced over at the young girl who had chased him out here, stopping at his side. He wasn’t even trying to go out on the ice or anything, but she was grabbing at his wrist and trying to pull him away and he refused to budge.
“I’m not trying to go in though… Lacey, was it?” he laughed it off, watching in amusement as the girl was trying and failing to pull him away. “I just wanted to see the Dragonspiral Tower like this, that’s all. Man, it’s so tall…”
“You could have come out here during the day, why did it have to be now?!” she snapped, shaking at his wrist and causing his arm to sway side to side in the process. “You didn’t even put on your jacket, aren’t you freezing?!”
Oh, right. His jacket. Drayton knew he’d forgotten something. While he had an ugly Christmas sweater with an Axew picture on it and that was fairly warm, a jacket would have been a good idea.
“Huh, yeah. I’m gonna become a big block of ice. Maybe I’ll get frozen in time?” he joked, only for the girl to pull back and make an X shape with her arms.
“Don’t become frozen in time, that’s just not right! Your family will miss you..!” she protested, only for Drayton to pull a face in response.
“Why would they miss me? They’ve got Iris to fuss over.”
Lacey was surprised by such a bitter response, especially since he forced that smile again afterwards. It hadn’t occurred to her that Drayton may have been jealous of Iris, but it made sense. She really was the life of the party back here - one of them anyway, there were other extroverts like Skyla too. As much as Lacey wanted to ask him to elaborate on that remark more, she knew better than to stick her nose into other people’s business. “... A-Again, why did you have to be out here right now?” Drayton reached a hand to her chin, getting her to tilt her head upwards. “Ew, your hand is freezing–”
Her voice was cut off when she realised what Drayton was getting her to look at. The glittering stars scattered across a blanket of night sky, and the full moon in all its splendour, bathing the magnificent Dragonspiral Tower in a soft glow of light. This scenery reflected in the layer of ice that coated the small lake that the Tower resided in. Such an ancient and mysterious structure looked all the more beautiful to Lacey, in a way that she’d never get to see during the daytime.
“Cool, right?” Drayton spoke up, having drawn his hand back once he saw that Lacey was finally admiring the same view he was checking out before she had arrived.
“It’s so cool..!” she agreed, now that the wonder of it all had taken over from the annoyance she felt before. “Wow…”
He smiled to himself. “Wow indeed.” It’s not so bad getting to experience such an awesome view with someone else, he supposed.
After a few moments though, Lacey turned to him suddenly. “Hold out your hands,” she instructed, with a tone that suggested she would not take ‘no’ for an answer. Once he did as told, she removed one of her gloves and placed it on one of Drayton’s hands. Then she took off her scarf - an extremely long, pink and fluffy one at that too - and reached up to wrap it around Drayton’s neck and shoulders. “Seeing as you forgot your jacket, this should help you stay warm.”
She wasn’t wrong. The scarf felt insanely warm, and it had a cosy scent to it as well, like lightly toasted marshmallows. Drayton wasn’t usually one for wearing scarves either - in fact it was rare that he covered his neck up. He refused to wear his Dragon Tamer cape the normal way, and he never buttoned up his shirts all the way to the top, even going out of his way to have a popped collar. There was something about things like that which felt restrictive, and he wasn’t a fan ever since. He didn’t feel worthy of that cape either, but he felt a certain pressure to keep it around regardless.
This scarf however, was being loaned to him out of kindness, and he wasn’t going to turn it down. The snow was light, and the breeze was gentle, but the heat that dusted his cheeks and warmed his neck was prepared to withstand even the harshest of blizzards right now.
Just when he thought Lacey had only come out to scold him and drag him back inside, she managed to surprise him with this gesture.
“Th-thanks…” he breathed out, nuzzling his face into the scarf a little. “What the heck? This is the warmest cloud fluff ever…”
Lacey giggled, pleased with his response, clasping her hands together as she replied, “My mommy made that for me! She’s so good at making all kinds of accessories~!”
“But I feel kinda bad stealing one of your gloves,” he admitted, knowing that one of her hands was now left exposed to the cold because of him.
“Then you should have put a jacket on before going–” her voice was cut off when he took her hand in his own, the same hands that were currently missing gloves. “W-What are you doing, your hand is still really cold?!”
Drayton nodded, chuckling. “And your hand is hot, so it’ll balance out. It’ll make up for not being able to have gloves for both hands.” Her glove was a little bit small on his hand, but it was doing its job pretty well, he couldn’t deny that.
“Th-That’s not going to be super effective at keeping our hands warm! Here, this will work better!” And this next action added to his overall surprise. She tugged on their hands to stuff them into her jacket pocket, resting them there instead. “See?! It’s warmer!”
He stared at her, amazed that she did something so bold despite complaints over holding hands in the first place. Actually, this is a lot for his ten year old heart to take. Is it okay to even do this? Hold hands? The more he stared, the more her face started to become as pink as her hair, something he could make out in the glow of the moonlight.
She’s… cute. This girl is cute. Is that allowed? Drayton wasn’t especially familiar with cuteness as a concept. It’s… good, very good.
“Why is your face so red? Are you warm enough yet?!” Lacey spoke up again, obviously embarrassed by all this. Wait, was he blushing too? Huh…
“... Nah, I think we need to hold hands a bit longer,” he lied a little too easily. And what does she mean by those questions? Her face was red, and their hands in her jacket pocket were toasty beyond words.
“Your hand is a lot warmer now though,” she pointed out, her voice becoming a little more shy. “We should head back.”
He gave her hand a squeeze. “Just a little longer. We haven’t admired the Dragonspiral Tower long enough.”
“I suppose…” Finally Lacey’s gaze shifted from Drayton and back to the view they had been admiring before. “Did you know? The dragon Pokemon are said to be slumbering in this tower… I read about it in a book. Apparently they were sealed in special stones after a war that was a thousand years ago.”
“That’s one long nap,” Drayton remarked, causing Lacey to giggle. It was a cute sound though, and he wondered if he could come up with more remarks that would make her laugh again. “... I read about it too. There was a legendary dragon that was used by twin brothers to create Unova, but the twin brothers got into a huuuuuge fight. They were Super Smash Bros before Super Smash Bros was a thing.”
The video game comparison earned another laugh. “I think gaming would have been a better way to sort things out! But because of all that fighting, the dragon was split into two dragons. One was black and the other was white. Ideals and truth. I remember it in my storybook. And so the brothers and the dragons fought lots, but there wasn’t ever a true winner… I guess that it’s better to nap than fight so much though?”
It was Drayton’s turn to laugh. “Maybe they got bored?”
“Maybe!”
They stood out there in the snow, chatting about the legendary dragons of legend for a while longer. After some time, Drayton felt as though his earlier worries had ebbed away for now. Before he felt cold and isolated, but Lacey’s presence was a breath of fresh air, and for a moment, Drayton’s icy heart melted ever so slightly. Standing beneath the moon, she was the sun. Normally such a person shined too brightly for his liking, like Iris, and he didn’t feel like he had the right to call himself an equal, but this sun’s rays brought warmth to him specifically. Bathing in this feeling was so…
“Lacey?! Lacey!” a sharp, deep voice cut through his thoughts, and even Lacey herself had pulled away from him completely.
“Lacey, where are you?” a feminine voice, as mature sounding as the first, was also calling for her.
“Oh, my parents..! Oh no, I made them worry..!” Lacey bit her lip. “M-My plan was to find you and bring you back, Drayton! We stayed out here too long..!” It was a shame as far as Drayton was concerned. Being out here was much more fun than being at the party. “Aaahhh, I might be in big trouble now..!”
But soon enough, Lacey’s parents had noticed the footprints in the snow and found the pair before the Dragonspiral Tower, with Clay’s Excadrill following the adults in their search. Her mother Fay rushed over to scoop Lacey up into her arms to hold her close. “There you are, sweetie! We were so worried about you. What were you doing out here? It’s not like you to run off..!”
“Um, well, that’s..! Um..!” Lacey tried to speak, but she wasn’t sure if she could make any excuses here. Sneaking out like this was wrong after all.
Lacey’s father Clay couldn’t help but notice Drayton was wearing his daughter’s scarf and one of her gloves. He sighed. “Hey kiddos, you two shouldn’t be out here at this time of night. What’s the story?”
Drayton reached his arms to rest at the back of his head, forcing a smile. He didn’t want Lacey to get in trouble because of him. “Sorry sir, it was all me. I wanted to check out the Dragonspiral Tower. Lacey here tried to stop me, but I insisted.”
“And I’d heard from Drayden that you went to bed earlier… What in tarnation…” It was true though - before Drayton ditched the hotel, he did tell his grandfather that he was going to bed earlier. Clay shook his head. “It’s one thing to lie, but you dragged my daughter into it too. Hah… I’m not gonna be scoldin’ ya, but do realise I’m gonna be letting yer grandfather know about this, okay?”
“Kaaaaaay…” Drayton sighed, mentally preparing himself for the eventual lecture to come. “... Don’t be mad at Lacey though. She really did try to convince me to go back to the hotel.”
“Hey, don’t try to take all the blame yourself, that’s just not right!” Lacey piped up - just because she was being carried by her mother now didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of targeting Drayton with a well emphasised X motion with her arms. “... I should have told mommy and daddy that I saw you wandering off.”
“Oh honey, we’re just glad that both of you kids are safe and sound…” Fay replied - as much as she was sure there was more her husband wanted to say to the children, it could wait. “Come now, let’s head back to the hotel. It wouldn’t be very nice if you caught a cold.”
“Aight…” Drayton sighed - yeah, he was already anticipating the scolding he’d be getting from his grandfather later.
“Also, before you forget, youngin…” Clay placed a firm hand on Drayton’s shoulder. “Pink is Lacey’s colour, not yours. Make sure to return that scarf once we’re inside.”
Drayton gulped, feeling a slight shiver down his spine. “Yes, sir.”
VALENTINE’S DAY, TAKE TWO.
(Senior Year)
It was a huge relief for them both when Lacey didn’t fall sick after her mishaps on Valentine’s Day. While they had enough time to make a new batch of cookies, Lacey had insisted they claim half each to decorate in secret so that they could do a Valentine’s exchange the next day. They made up enough frosting between them with a few different colour options for variety, so the pair took to opposite ends of the cooking club kitchen in order to do their decorating without the other watching. It was surprisingly quiet in the kitchen, but Lacey supposed that most of the students no longer needed to make use of it after having done with making sweets the day before Valentine’s.
Once they’d finished decorating, they each grabbed separate containers to maintain the surprise. The next day, they agreed to meet in the Coastal Biome after class. Lacey had brought a picnic blanket so that they could sit down at one of the beaches there.
“It’s a little late, but… Happy Valentine’s Day, Drayton!” she held out her container to him with the cookies they’d baked together, but this was the half of the batch that she had decorated herself.
“Heh, I’ve been looking forward to these,” he grinned, accepting the container of cookies and opening it up. He was curious about how she would choose to decorate hers. Inside the container there was a variety of designs, some she drew on hearts, there were some where she had written XOXO with the frosting, a few reminded him of Dragon Pokemon Eggs, but there was one cookie that stood out to him. It contained mostly blue, but there was an odd black stick looking thing in the centre, a yellow circle on one end, and lots of little specks of yellow. It wasn’t that Lacey was a bad artist per se, but… she wasn’t exactly ready to display in an art gallery anytime soon either, bless her. “Hey Lace, what’s this one meant to be?”
“You don’t recognise it? But you reminded me of it yesterday!” she seemed genuinely surprised. “... When we were on our way back from the Polar Biome, you mentioned how I’d helped you warm up years ago.” Lacey leaned over his shoulder to point out aspects of the design. “This is the lake that the Dragonspiral Tower sticks out from, and that’s the moon, and the stars! Remember? You’d snuck out of the yearly Unova League Christmas Party, and I went to find you and you were looking at the Dragonspiral Tower, and it was a full moon, and we ended up staying out there for a while before my parents found– wait, what are you doing?” Drayton had gotten his Rotom Phone out to take a picture of the cookie. “W-Why are you taking a picture? It’s really not that cute looking. I’m not much of an artist, so…”
“I love it,” Drayton grinned, taking the photo regardless. Once the photo was taken, he didn’t hesitate to bite into the cookie, making ‘mm’ noises of satisfaction as he munched away. Once finishing that cookie, he was taking pictures of the other designs, admiring them. “Honestly, all of these decorations you’ve done are so cool. You thought of me doing all this, so I love all of them. And I’ll be stocking up on these later, just so you know.” He held up one of the cookies with an XOXO design drawn on it, knowing that it would cause Lacey to blush in embarrassment. “... But making a picture on a cookie based on a memory of ours? That’s genius, Lace. I never would have come up with something like that.”
Lacey reached into the container in his hands, pulling out a cookie with hearts drawn on it, popping it into his mouth. “... If I was a better artist, I was going to add little stick figures to represent us, and give you a little pink scarf. It really shocked me that you went out into the cold the way you did, but… I’m glad I followed you out there that night.”
“... Yeah. I didn’t have much of an opinion on you back then, but after that night, you stood out more to me than most people, that’s for sure,” he admitted after finishing his mouthful of cookies. Setting the container of cookies down, Drayton started to gaze at Lacey rather thoughtfully. Come to think of it, despite all the kindness she showed him that night, he wasn’t entirely honest with her, was he? “That night I… kinda felt like nobody would have cared if I disappeared. It wasn’t as though I actually planned to disappear or anything. At the time, I was feeling jealous of Iris, and I couldn’t take watching her win over everybody else, so I decided to bail. I expected nobody to notice or care, but then to my surprise, there you were running after me. I’m not that easily surprised either, believe it or not.”
She reached to place her hand over his. “You’re quite perceptive actually… I envy the way you’re good at anticipating things, so it’s difficult to take you off-guard. That quality especially shows itself in battle…”
As a battle opponent, Lacey knew never to underestimate Drayton. He was really good at adapting, and preparing counters to all the strategies she’d thrown at him so far. Sometimes it was truly frustrating knowing how much of an open book she’d be when it came to Drayton.
Still, knowing that she had managed to stun him in such a way with her actions that night would please her normally, if it weren’t for the context that surrounded his surprise.
“Mmm… you really helped though. Having you around took me out of that negative headspace super quick,” he adjusted to intertwine their fingers together. “Sorry if I got you in trouble with your dad that night though.”
“Oh, no! That’s…” Lacey shook her head. “... I don’t think I got in trouble..? Well, he gave me a little scolding, but nothing too severe. That said, I am afraid I must disagree with him about something.” She grinned up at him, giving his hand a squeeze. “I’m only going to say this once, but when I think about that night, I do remember you looking very, very cute in my pink scarf.”
Drayton’s jaw dropped a little. Come to think of it, Clay did make a comment about him wearing Lacey’s scarf.
But man, having Lacey actually comment on it like this is so… He reached his free hand to fan himself a little, feeling his face grow hot - more than he’d be willing to concede. Drayton made sure to note that down mentally. “You thought I looked cute..?”
Lacey giggled. “I surprised you again?”
Ah, this isn’t good. Her surprise attacks were becoming too effective. He leaned over to press a quick kiss to her lips, determined not to let her one up him on this. It worked to perfection. “... Don’t think you’re the only one full of surprises, Lace.” He reached towards his backpack to pull out his own container, containing his half of the cookies they made together. “Here you go, your share of the cookies. Happy Valentine’s Day, Lacey. Hope this is gonna be the first of many.”
At first her response was a bit delayed, still processing that kiss. Her eyes were wide and her jaw dropped a little. But then her face was burning red as she processed the following remarks and the Valentine’s gift.
“Th-thank you, and I hope so too… I’m curious as to how you decorated your half,” she admitted, accepting the container and opening it up. Her eyes scanned over the different designs he’d come up with, and for the most part she seemed a little amused. “... Wow, Drayton, this is so…”
“... Yeah..?”
“I mean, art really isn’t your strong suit here either,” she pointed out with a giggle. He chuckled at that as well. “... Are these hearts and bows? Oh, and this one here - were you trying to make it look like my hair clip?”
Drayton nodded. “Yup. If you can identify it, then I guess my art ain’t all that bad, right?”
“I suppose that’s true…” He had a point - if she could tell what it was, then Drayton accomplished what he had set out to do. She was nibbling on some of the cookies as she checked through the designs. His designs weren't as varied as hers, but when she got to the final cookie, she couldn’t help but stare, shocked. Her face was heating up again, it was so, so warm.
I <3 U.
It was so simple, so generic of a phrase to put onto a Valentine’s Day themed cookie, but it was enough to get Lacey’s heart racing nonetheless - because Drayton went out of his way to write it himself.
She picked it up from the container, and when Drayton looked at her a little quizzically, she showed him which cookie design she was focusing on in particular.
He rubbed his hand at the back of his neck, his face a little flushed. “Oh, yeah. When I was trying to come up with designs for you, guess that made its way in there. Does it bother you?”
“No!” Lacey answered a little too quickly. “... No, it doesn’t. I um. I’m happy… it’s a little embarrassing, a-and I know a lot of Valentine’s Day sweets have this sort of thing on them, b-but um. Ahh, I’m losing my train of thought.” With her free hand she was patting her cheek, hoping it would somehow snap her out of this flustered manner of speaking. “Um. I think suggesting that we decorate cookies for each other has ended up being quite the good exercise for us, don’t you think?”
This exercise had them considering designs with the other person in mind. Between the usual associations each of them expected, there were still expressions of feelings, acknowledgements of memories… it warmed her heart.
Drayton nodded, agreeing. “It was pretty fun, yeah. Though…” He leaned up, lightly tapping his finger against the cookie in her hand. “... don’t treat this as being my official love confession, Lacey. You’re gonna have to wait a little longer for that.”
Lacey almost dropped the cookie in her hand due to shock from his words. Oh, her face is going to overheat from this, it’s too much for her heart to take… “Y-You’re so… so…” A part of her was excited at the prospect, though another part of her wanted to hear those words properly right now. No, it’s too soon! Or… Ah, her head was all over the place. “... Fine, I’ll wait… but you do realise you’ve set a lot of high expectations now, don’t you?”
He laughed easily. “Oops, yeah. I guess I did…” Not that he minded. There was no rush for him to pour his heart out all at once. He was sure he’d find the best words to convey the depths of his budding feelings when the time was right. “So… how do you feel about a trip to Dragonspiral Tower after graduation?”
If the memory of their time spent there meant this much to them both, it was only right for them to return there someday. Even if the state of the tower had changed since they last saw it together, it didn’t matter. They weren’t the same people they were back then either.
She munched on the cookie in her hand as she appeared to be considering it. “Mm... I’ll bring my pink scarf then. Someone has to make sure you stay warm.”
He smiled brightly at that. “And I’ll return the favour tenfold.”