Halo: The Dunes of 2560

Christmas Special (Separate from Main Story)

(Yes, you can read this if you haven't gotten far into the story)

December 24th, 2559

Osa 'Drazam was alone on this night at the base in the middle of the Dunes, he had recently driven patrols and traveled to several towns to collect UNSC Federal Income Private Village Tax information from small businesses. Before David left with everyone, he told him to finish the FIPVT Papers so that they could be brought to David's superiors before Christmas. Osa had known about the Christmas celebration for a long time, but his handler in the past never celebrated it. He got caught up in researching Christmas on a tablet device, he was interested in the whole event, but was saddened to realize that it was about gifting and receiving gifts. He felt left out, and saddened that he's never given anyone a gift in his life. 

He dropped the tablet down on the table, "Damn... What do I do?" He looked around, in his spinny chair, he could see in his vicinity, a lot of nothing really. His stomach growled, he thought about the peppermint candy and was hungry, so he got up and went to the kitchen. Candy does the shopping because, fun fact, he's a dietitian and Amateur chef, so the whole place was stocked full of the best foods for all 6 of them. He peeked into the refrigerator, and sauce some thawing steaks, he opened a drawer below them and saw some packaged cheeses. At the bottom is some Spinach, Celery, and Onions. Osa had spent a lot of time cooking for himself as he grew up on Reach, so he was getting an idea. 

He grabbed the steaks, and looked down at them and wondered, "They all love these, I love these, they taste yummy when cooked..." It clicked for him, he would cook his friends a big meal they'd love. 

He began by frying the steaks until they were fully cooked, and had a nice browned exterior. He let the steaks sit as he cut up Vegetables. He started sautéing  onions with celery, and oil, he added some garlic powder, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. He stirred it around in the pan as he grabbed the tablet device, he felt the urge to listen to music. He looked up classic Christmas music, he started playing Jingle Jangle Jingle by Kay Kyser. 

He shredded up the steak and tossed it in with the sautéed vegetables, added a pinch of more salt, and added a little red wine to deglaze the pan, he moved his hips to the music and sang along. Once it was finished, he let it cool off and wrapped it up in saran wrap, and put it in the fridge. 

He grabbed flower, bottled water, salt, and cold butter. He mixed these ingredients together to make a nice shaggy dough, he wraps it up and turns to see a confused looking Trent in the doorway, "Osa? What the hell are you doing?" Osa looked down at the dough and then back up at Trent, "I'm cooking a meal for my friends for Christmas." David glanced around the doorway, "Smells good buddy... Did you finish your assignments?" Osa had forgotten to do his assignments, and looked down again, "I had put it aside, I'll go do it--." David cut him off, "No no, keep cooking, please." Osa nodded, "Okay, I'll finish the meal." 

He cut the dough into small pieces, flattened them, and filled them with the beef and vegetable filling. He had a pot with 4 cups of oil in it, and put them in one by one. The fry oil splattered on the skin of his hand after the last one dropped, and he recoiled, "Damn it,  what  the hell!" David was watching him from the doorway, he chuckled, "First time deep frying?" Osa turned, "Yeah, I never had gotten been hurt by oil. This oil is fierce." 

One by one, Osa used prongs to pull the dumplings out and onto a wire rack, everyone was in the kitchen at this point, Red was the most curious, "Why do these golden nuggets smell so amazing? What did you do?" Osa grabbed one that was less hot and showed him, "I made them from scratch, they're my Christmas gift to all of you!" Red grabbed it, and tore it open. David tapped Red's shoulder, "Blow on it, it's very hot." 

They all sat down to eat plate-fulls of Osa's Steak Dumplings, Candy was chowing down on them by the handful, David used a knife and fork, Trent snacked on them slowly as he talked with Red. Crystal nibbled on her singular Dumpling slowly, Red also chowed down on his by the handful, but Osa had no Dumplings. David looked up to see he had none, "Ate them all already?" Osa shook his head, "I'm just so happy to see you all so happy." David grabbed his last one, and held his hand out to Osa, "Christmas is about giving and sharing, y'know? Please, take it, I don't want you to go hungry buddy." Osa took it, "Thank you David. Merry Christmas to you all!" 

(Wanted to write a bit of a feel good story for once, you know? I hope whoever is reading this has enjoyed this.)