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Xayah had never been a fan of the cold. If she had it her way, she’d spend the winter hibernating in her bedroom at Anima Squad’s headquarters. But, alas, she still had her duties as a Battle Bat, and it was very difficult to say ‘no’ to Seraphine when she pouted so pitifully and batted those big, blue eyes of hers.
Thankfully, her task for the day was relatively simple - patrolling the beachhead, ensuring that Final City’s enormous walls were up to snuff. There were still some ongoing repairs from the last Primordian invasion several months ago in the summer. No more large-scale attacks had happened since then, just a couple skirmishes here and there—nothing her squad couldn’t handle. Still, Xayah found the lull of battles to be a bit unsettling. Either the Primordians were growing bored of fighting them—which was very unlikely—or their general was biding his time and waiting for the right moment to strike once more. A thought that left a sour taste in her mouth.
Xayah quickly made her rounds, wanting to get out of the frigid outdoors as soon as possible. The sky overhead was blanketed in dark, heavy clouds - a sign that snowfall was imminent. Satisfied with the state of the repairs, she jotted down some notes on the tablet that Seraphine lent her to reference for her written report. Once everything was done, Xayah returned back to headquarters.
As she passed through the sliding doors, greeted with the welcomed warmth of finally being indoors, Xayah found her commander as well as Admiral Sarah Fortune conversing by the reception desk. Seraphine’s eyes widened with delight upon noticing Xayah, and she gleefully bounded towards her before engulfing her in a tight hug.
“Ugh—Commander—“ Xayah groaned, “Can’t—breathe—“
“Oh!” Seraphine squeaked, finally letting her go. “Sorry,” she apologized, tucking a strand of hair behind her right ear. “Got a little excited there.”
“Really? Couldn’t tell,” Xayah quipped easily. “Did something happen, or…?”
Admiral Fortune joined them at that moment. She held out a small package wrapped with red and gold paper, neatly tied up with a green ribbon. Xayah took the package into her hands, reading the attached tag and finding her name written on it, framed with little hearts.
“A secret admirer, I gather?” The Admiral said, the corner of her mouth tilted upwards.
Xayah’s cheeks quickly began to heat, no doubt turning the same shade of red as the package. “It’s probably nothing,” she muttered.
“I bet it’s from your bo—“ Seraphine started to say, but Xayah slapped her hand across her mouth to stop her.
“Don’t,” Xayah hissed.
A small chuckle escaped from Admiral Fortune. “I’ll be expecting that written report later,” she told Xayah. She made to leave, but after taking a few steps, she stopped and turned around. “You can have the rest of the day off once it’s finished,” she added.
“Oh—thanks, Admiral.”
With a final nod, Admiral Fortune finally left, leaving only Xayah and Seraphine in the reception foyer. Xayah pulled her hand from Seraphine’s mouth, wiping it off on her leg.
“It’s totally from your secret boyfriend,” Seraphine said with a giddy smile.
Xayah groaned loudly. “I’m still not telling you who it is,” she told her firmly.
“Aw, come on!” Her commander pouted. “I promise I won't tell anyone!”
“Nope. Not happening.”
“Ugh! Fine,” Seraphine huffed, crossing her arms and tilting her chin away. “Not even for your bestie, huh?”
“Bestie who also happens to be a blabbermouth,” Xayah remarked.
“Ha! You admit it! I am your bestie!” Seraphine declared proudly. A heartbeat passed. Then she gawked. “Wait—hold on! I’m not a—!”
Suppressing a snicker, Xayah dashed away to the elevators, leaving the very flustered Battle Dove behind.
Xayah stifled a yawn, leaning back in her office chair as she scanned the contents of her typed report. She’d been staring at the desktop for so long that her eyes were involuntarily blurring the screen. This was part of the job that Xayah loathed the most, because it was just so darn boring to her.
“Screw it,” Xayah grumbled under her breath. She saved the report and sent copies to both Seraphine and Admiral Fortune. Finally, after slaving away over this dumb thing, she could finally relax for whatever she had left of the day.
Xayah glanced over at the package, unopened since she first placed it on her desk. She unraveled the green ribbon, and then made careful work peeling away the red and gold wrapping paper. Xayah’s breath caught in her throat as her endeavors revealed a black velvet box.
She delicately opened the lid, and gasped. A string of beautiful golden pearls glimmered against the dull light of her desktop screen. She removed it from the box, stretching the necklace between her fingers and holding it out in front of her. Her thumb rubbed against their smooth surfaces, completely in awe and wondering how someone managed to find these pearls.
And Xayah had a very good idea who that someone was.
A knocking on what sounded like glass made Xayah’s ears twitch. She turned her head towards the window in her room—and nearly fell out of her chair.
Her secret boyfriend—secret Primordian boyfriend—was somehow clinging to the sides of the window frame on the outside.
“Jesus!” she hissed, bounding from her seat and racing to the window. She unlatched it quickly, pulling the bottom panel out and yanking her idiot of a boyfriend inside. He was freezing cold and had a dusting of snow coating his back.
“What are you doing? You could get caught!” she scolded him, brushing the snow off him.
Rakan chuckled, bringing a hand to rest behind his head. “Just wanted to surprise my best girl,” he told her.
The anger that she initially felt slowly melted away. Xayah sighed. “No one knows that I’m… seeing a Primordian,” she warned. “And Seraphine’s already asking a lot of questions.”
“Well, maybe it’s time we told ‘em the truth,” Rakan suggested, hands coming to rest gently on Xayah’s waist. Xayah in turn reached a hand up to caress the side of his face, her pale skin a stark contrast to the grayish-purple tone of Rakan’s.
“Perhaps,” she agreed. “We do have Briar as an ally, after all.”
Rakan hummed in agreement, nuzzling his pointed nose against Xayah’s cheek and eliciting a small giggle from her.
“Oh–I got your gift, by the way,” she said. She held up the necklace of golden pearls. “They’re beautiful.”
Rakan lit up with a prideful grin. “Ah, I knew you’d like ‘em.” He offered his hand to her. “May I…?”
Xayah laid the pearls delicately into his palm. Rakan stepped behind her, brushing the strands of her silver hair to the side. He draped the pearls across her neck, Xayah shivering slightly from their cool touch as he clasped the necklace behind her. His fingers trailed down the sides of her arms before coming to wrap his arms around her stomach.
“Love you, baby,” Rakan said softly, planting a gentle kiss on her cheek.
Xayah tilted her head to him, fully melding her lips to his, her chest warm and full of tenderness. “Love you too, my sweet.”