Valerie’s head had been spiraling all day. And this hadn’t made things any easier.

It wasn’t a date. Not that kind of date. Eris obviously hadn’t meant it that way.

But as the two sisters walked downtown, hand in hand, Valerie couldn’t help imagining: what if it were that kind of date? They could… well. They were already holding hands. Valerie was already planning to pay for the ice cream herself (though, really, that was such a silly and sexist tradition; not really a requirement for a date, in Valerie’s mind). And, typically, the two of them didn’t shy away from their public displays of affection. And they’d spend the time mostly enjoying each other’s company, and the vibes of wherever they went.

Really the only difference between this kind of date—not that it was a date—and that kind of date was that maybe at the end of that kind of date, they’d kiss. Valerie felt butterflies well up in her stomach as she glanced surreptitiously at her sister’s face, and down to her lips. Maybe they’d kiss multiple times. Maybe they’d go back home and keep kissing. Maybe they’d do more than just kiss.

Gods, what the hell was she thinking? That was her sister she was thinking about. She obviously shouldn’t want any of that. But… She did? Why did she want that? She squeezed Eris’s hand.

Lost in thought, she hadn’t noticed the person walking past them who went out of his way to bump into Eris’s shoulder. “Watch where you’re going, cat-bitch,” he spat, turning around and glaring at Eris.

Valerie wheeled on him, seething. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Do not talk to her that way,” she yelled. Instinctively, she yanked Mana into her free hand.

The person backed off. “Woah, alright, whatever dude.” He looked genuinely intimidated as he turned and left quickly.

Valerie ground her teeth at being called “dude,” but decided she shouldn’t go any further. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm before turning to Eris. “You alright?” Valerie asked.

Eris’s ears were flat down. She was clearly agitated, glaring at the man as he left. She took a deep breath, relaxing slightly, and shrugged. “Happens sometimes. Still always sucks, though.” She looked at Valerie. “Thanks for sticking up for me. But… did you almost torch that guy?” She glanced at Valerie’s hand, which was still holding mana. But how could she have known that?

Valerie realized with a start that the two of them were Resonating. She’d pulled not just her own Mana, but also most of Eris’s. She stopped pulling, letting the Mana equilibrate between them. “Sorry,” she said. “For the record, I wasn’t planning to torch him. Maybe punch him, though,” she admitted.

Eris shook her head. “It’s fine. That’s the second time you’ve done that accidentally, though. You did that last night too.”

“Right. Yeah. Because strong emotions trigger it. I guess because I was angry at that dude. And feeling kinda protective, too.”

Eris nodded slowly, and asked, “What were you feeling last night, then?”

Last night, of course, Valerie had realized she’d fallen in love with her. She waffled, looking for literally any other answer. “Uh. Mm. I don’t… remember.”

Eris’s eyebrows indicated skepticism.

“It was a long night,” Valerie said defensively.

“Yeah. It was,” Eris acknowledged, though she didn’t sound fully convinced.

The two arrived shortly at Rudy’s, which had quickly become their go-to spot for these dates. Well. Not-dates. Even if it wasn’t “real” ice cream according to Eris, it was a very convenient walk to get there, and even Eris had to admit that it was always really good.

Christine was working the shop today, as she often did. Valerie thought she gave a small smile as she glanced at the two sisters holding hands. Valerie squirmed, feeling a little self-conscious about that. Christine had thought they looked like a couple before. Should Valerie be worried about people getting the wrong idea? Or worse, the right idea: the idea that she had a huge crush on her sister.

She separated their hands as a wave of shame passed through her. She sat down in a booth with her cup of froyo and sighed softly.

Eris sat down next to her, looking concerned as she placed her hand on Valerie’s shoulder. “Seriously, Valie,” she asked, “Are you okay?”

Valerie turned towards her, looking Eris in the eyes. Her face was so close. Gods, why did she want to kiss her? What the hell was wrong with her? That was her sister. Her amazing, beautiful, wonderful, brilliant sister. Closing her eyes, Valerie turned away and massaged her forehead.

“Not really,” she said eventually. “But I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about it yet.”

Hah. “Yet”. As though she ever would be. Though, as she thought about it, maybe she should try to tell someone about it. It was stressing her out a lot, and maybe it would be good to get it off her chest. Just, not to Eris, for obvious reasons. Maybe Danni would hear her out.

Eris nodded slowly in Valerie’s peripheral. Then she sighed, “Alright. Tell me when you are ready?” She gave Valerie’s shoulder a squeeze.

Valerie just grunted. “Yeah. I guess.”

Eris sighed again, chewing her lip. “Was it anything to do with the attack last night? I mean. Your first time being in real combat. That’s stressful.” She started to eat her dessert.

“Hmh. I mean. Maybe.” Valerie realized maybe she should be more eager to change the topic. “Honestly, it’s been bothering me less than I feel like it should have. I was pretty scared, at the time. They were way better than me. I don’t think I would have lasted another ten seconds, but…” Valerie trailed off.

“You’ll get better,” Eris reassured her. “… ‘but’ what?”

“But they got desperate, at the end. They tried to jump over me, and I think they were aiming for you. I don’t think I understand why they did that,” Valerie frowned.

“Hmm. I mean, presumably they were trying to stop me from completing the attunement.”

“Right. So that they could attune the Ley Line to their own devices instead of ours, I suppose?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Eris said around a spoonful of froyo.

Valerie nodded slowly in understanding, but something still didn’t seem to add up. “Feels like a weird coincidence that they attacked right after you started the unblocking process. If they wanted control of the Ley Line, why not fight us before we could get to it? Or even like, get there before us and attune it without us even seeing them.”

“It’s possible they were trailing us because they didn’t know exactly where the Ley Line was. I am better than most people at locating them,” Valerie said, a hint of pride in her voice. Her grin turned to a thoughtful frown. “But yeah, normally they’d attack before I could touch the Ley Line. Maybe since it was two versus one, they thought they’d incapacitate you quickly while I was distracted with the Ley Line, then they’d come after me? I could kinda see it.”

“I guess,” Valerie said. But she still wasn’t convinced. “I wonder if it had something to do with that device they were holding. That thing was weird.” She shook her head. “If we see that person again, we should try and get hold of it. I wanna study it. Maybe find out something about their motives. And maybe we could even reverse engineer it. Might be some cool tech.” Valerie looked over at Eris excitedly.

Eris looked back into her eyes, her smile growing into a grin. “You fucking nerd,” she said, in a way that sounded almost… adoring? Her tail swished playfully.

Valerie felt herself blush at that. She really had to get it together. Get a handle on her emotions. But dammit, if the way Eris said that didn’t make her smile. And her heart pound. Yeah. That part was complicated. Gods, was it complicated. Valerie managed to stammer out a “Shut up…”

Eris’s smile fell as she shifted uncomfortably. “Right. Sorry.”

“What? No, I… I know you’re just teasing. It’s fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I was just playing along. I like it, honestly. When you tease me like that,” Valerie said. It was complicated now. But she did still like it.

Eris giggled, “Alright. As long as you know I only do it because I love you.”

Valerie’s breath caught. Not for any good reason. She already knew that her sister loved her. And obviously not in that way.

But still. It made her heart glow.

Valerie murmured, “I love you too,” back. Trying, desperately, not to think about how complex that statement was. Trying not to make a simple “I love you” between sisters mean more than it had to.

And failing. Because, really, she wanted it to mean more. Even though she shouldn’t.

Eris tilted her head, probably picking up on Valerie’s confused body language. “Sorry,” Eris said. She paused, chewing her lip. “Too much?”

Valerie shook her head. Of course it wasn’t. That was just a normal thing that normal siblings said to each other.

Eris nodded slowly in response. Then tilted her head again. “You gonna eat that?”

“Hmm? Oh!” Valerie looked at her bowl. It was getting melty. She dug into it, tasting the delicious mix of mango froyo topped with kiwi and toasted coconut.

Eris giggled again. “What would you do without me?” she asked. Valerie just gave her an eyeroll and a smirk in return.

They proceeded to eat in silence for a bit. Valerie’s thoughts continued to spiral, though, as she tried to figure out what to do about her predicament. She’d apparently buried these feelings for a while, but now that she’d acknowledged them, she didn’t think she could stuff them back into her subconscious. She almost wanted to tell Eris her feelings, spill them out to her, but obviously she shouldn’t be doing that under any circumstances. Discreetly, she texted Danni, asking if she was free to talk at some point.

Eris finished her froyo and spoke up, asking, “Hey, Valie… Can I ask a favor?”

Valerie looked up, eyebrows raised. “Yeah. Anything.”

“Our wonderful parents have finally deigned to grant me an audience.” Eris’s voice was dripping with sarcasm and bitterness. She checked her phone. “Dinner. Next Tuesday. And… Well. Could you come with me? I kinda don’t wanna see them on my own.”

“Oh. Yeah. Of course I can do that.” Valerie was glad to, actually. She was concerned about how their parents treated Eris, and if she were there, maybe she could do something to partially shield her younger sister from that.

Without really thinking about it, she put her hand on Eris’s and squeezed it. She felt her face heat up as she realized what she’d done, hoping Eris wouldn’t suspect her feelings. But that wasn’t unusual for them. It should be fine. Hopefully.

Eris looked at the hand, looked at Valerie, and grinned. “Thanks,” she said. “It’s definitely gonna be a more stressful date than this one. For me, at least.”

“It’s a date, then?”, Valerie asked. Ugh. A date. That word again. Why had she even asked that?

“Heh. You know what I mean,” Eris said, glancing downing at the floor.

“Uh. Yeah. Of course.” Of course Valerie knew what she meant. But something inside of her still wished the word meant more. Gods, what a stupid thing to wish. It wasn’t going to happen. She should be ashamed for even wanting it. So, why—?

“Anyway. Seriously, thanks. I appreciate it a lot,” Eris said, smiling.

Valerie beamed back at her, and nodded. That was the important part, right? Getting to help her sister out. Getting to see her sister’s beautiful smile and know that she was partly responsible for it.

But why did it have to feel so complicated?

Valerie did her best to put the complicated stuff out of her mind. Temporarily, at least. Instead she tried to enjoy her sister’s company. After they had both finished their froyo, they walked home, hand in hand.