“How did it come to this?” Maya wondered as she felt Val’s arm around her hip, and resting on the small of her back. Val leaned her other hand against the wall and touched her forehead against Maya’s, releasing a minty breath. 

Her supple blond hair billowed down her bare shoulders and covered her chest. Her hand wandered underneath Maya’s shirt and breathed down her neck. 

Maya suppressed a shudder that travelled through her body. She held Val’s wrist and didn’t know whether to push away or draw her closer. 

“Is this a dream?” wondered Maya. She opened her eyes and looked right into Val’s glowing pair. A hungry smile greeted her with glossy lips that came closer to Maya’s. She didn’t want to retreat as the heat rose into her face. “If this is a dream; then I don't want to wake up.”

“Mayaaaaa~” Val’s voice rang in Maya’s head like a gentle bell. The Valkyrie’s face retreated, and the image blurred to a Val with a wild case of morning hair. “Maya. Wake up.” 

Maya blinked several times, staring at the Valkyrie greeting her from the edge of the bed. It was the real one.

“DAMN. IIIIIIIIIT!!!” Maya cursed. “WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE A DREAM!?” 

“Maya.” Val tugged back one of Maya’s coils. The heat from her dream returned. More intense than before, as she knew this was the real Val. “You’re staring. Everything. Alright?” 

“Ah, Ahhhhhhhh… NOPE!” 

Val was in one of Maya’s old pyjamas—since she didn’t have her own pair. She wore the plaid pants and a short-sleeved shirt unfairly well; Maya had trouble looking away.

She brushed back her long shoulder braid. Maya noticed Val’s gaze wandering over Maya’s maroon nightgown. and smiled in response to how it complimented her figure. 

“Good. Morning,” she said fitly and helped Maya up. “How did you. Sleep? Did you dream. Well?” 

“Y-yes,” Maya stuttered, her eyes still droopy and ready to return to her world of dreams. She then noticed Val’s gaze subtly lingering below Maya’s collarbone. Following it, the heat redoubled. She quickly adjusted her gown. “Slept like a rock, which is rare, haha. What about you?” 

“Not. Well,” Val replied, and Maya’s expression grew weary. Then Val brushed back another coil from Maya’s face. “Lonely. Sleeping on the bed settee. All alone. Felt cold without. You.” 

“Ah, ahhhhhh,” Maya’s brain couldn’t handle this kind of information this early in the morning; it screamed. She lacked the caffeine or energy and was close to malfunctioning on Val’s bold words. “D-did you wake me up for something? Or did you come to ask me to share mine with you?” 

Maya’s brain immediately went for a joke. The laugh dropped when she realised what she had said and was truly on the verge of having her brain overheat. 

Then she heard the doorbell, cooling down and distracting her mind. 

“Something wrong. With your door. It makes. Sounds.” 

“Of course,” thought Maya. “She doesn’t know what a doorbell is.” 

Throwing her wrap around her shoulders, Maya trudged to the corridor with Val following close behind her. She spoke to the door intercom system but received no reply. 

Opening the door, she found no one outside. “Damn neighbourhood children,” grumbled Maya and slammed the door shut with an audibly long bang. “I hate when they do this! What time is it, anyway?” 

“Seven. AM.” 

“Seven!?” Maya wailed. “I could have slept in!” 

“Don’t worry.” Val suddenly held Maya’s hand, brushing her thumb over the back. “We can still. Go back and Sleep. Together.” 

“Huh?” said Maya, confused by the proposition until Val chuckled playfully. 

“Kid-ding. Do you want. Breakfast?” 

“The world is so crueeeeel!” whined Maya and washed her face in the bathroom. She let out a sob and theatrically held her chest. “How could she play with my poor maiden heart? I will never recover from this…” 

Maya left her bathroom with another sad sob. Though the aroma of blueberry waffles, powdered sugar and freshly brewed coffee instantly revived her spirits—including a Val still in her pyjamas and wearing an apron, which Maya didn’t get a glimpse of last time.

“Dear gods.” Maya clasped her hands in prayer. “Thank you for this. I think I’ll recover after all.” 

“Breakfast. Almost ready.” 

“Can’t wait for it,” replied Maya, gingerly waiting at the kitchen table and anxiously drumming with her fingers against it. 

She watched from a safe distance Val cooking. From how happily she moved her elbows to her waist while humming an unfamiliar melody. 

Maya put her hands on her chin and grinned. The heat returned when she remembered the dream she had about Val. It had been a long, long time since she last had that kind of dream. 

She couldn’t deny the feelings she felt for the Valkyrie. They had only grown stronger with each passing day and time they spent together or apart when she was at the university. 

Maya wanted her to know. She wanted to be with her and to experience what it was like to have a partner that loved you unconditionally. 

“What should I do?” mumbled Maya. “Should I take the first step or wait for her? I don’t know.”

“Breakfast’s ready,” announced Val, carrying two large plates in both of her toned arms.

“What am I gonna do?” she let out a wistful sigh, the heat colouring her cheeks to a rosy red as she watched Val coming toward her with a joyful glimmer on her face. “I think I like her more than I thought.”