Eris stood in front of her mirror, attempting to apply her eyeliner. Her hands shook slightly, making it difficult to form an even line. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself for the about the hundredth time that day. But her hands continued to shake.

“Fucking shit hell,” she swore. Her gaze turned to the ceiling as she sighed a long, exasperated sigh.

Valie, who had been sitting on Eris’s bed just behind her, appeared at her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?” Valie asked.

Eris snorted out a dry chuckle. “No,” she said, “Not really.” She looked at Valie almost pathetically. They both knew why. Tonight was the night their parents had invited her over for dinner. And she really didn’t want to fuck this up.

A look of concern crossed her older sister’s face. “There anything I can do?” she asked.

Eris sighed again, glad at least that she had Valie. “Yeah. Put on my eyeliner?” She held the brush out to Valie.

Taking the brush in her hand, Valie smiled. “Alright,” she said. “Try not to blink.”

Valie’s face approached Eris’s, and Eris felt the intensity of those gorgeous eyes looking right into hers, her sister’s breath warm on her face. Maybe Eris hadn’t thought this through. The anxiety about seeing her parents was washed away by the tension of the moment. Valie hesitantly held the brush up to Eris’s face.

“Uhm,” Valie said, tilting her head. “I, uh. I might need to hold your head steady. Is that okay?”

“U-uh. Yeah. Sure.” Eris tried not to talk too much, lest she reveal how suddenly out-of-breath she was.

Valie’s free hand softly wrapped around the base of her skull, gripping her carefully yet solidly. Eris nearly gasped. Gods, why couldn’t she be normal about this? Valie’s face leaned in toward her again. And Eris could not, for the life of her, think about anything but the fact that if Valie were to kiss her, it would be almost exactly like this.

The brush approached her right eye. Valie slowly, softly, began to paint a line. Eris’s skin tingled, almost electrically, where the brush touched. Between strokes, Eris glanced down at Valie’s lips. She licked her own, almost without thinking about it. Hopefully it had been subtle.

It would be so easy. Hey, Valie, can I do something really stupid? That was what Eris wanted to ask. Gods, she wanted it.

Valie began to work on the other eye. Eris worked hard to calm her breathing. She fought the urge to put a hand on Valie’s waist.

After what felt like forever, Valie pulled the eyeliner brush away.

“Hey, Valie, can I …” Eris trailed off. She couldn’t. Could she? Her mouth worked, trying to form the words. Valie’s face was still so close. Her hand still held Eris’s head.

“Hmm?” Valie questioned. “Anything you need. Just ask.”

Oh, Valie, you have no idea what you’re saying, you beautiful sweet naïve person.

“Can…” Eris couldn’t say it. “Can I have a hug?” she asked instead.

Valie smiled brightly at her, putting the eyeliner down before wrapping Eris into a big, warm hug. The hand that remained at the back of Eris’s head scratched gently, massaging into her hair. Eris wrapped her arms around Valie and clung tight, trying to get as close to her sister as possible. It wasn’t a kiss. But it was still wonderful.

“I love you, Valie,” Eris whispered softly.

“I—. I love you too, Eris.” Valie punctuated the reply with a squeeze. And even though Eris knew that Valie didn’t love her in the same way that she loved Valie, she did appreciate Valie’s love. A lot.

Eris held on for a few seconds before pulling away. Even despite thinking that Valie suspected her feelings, she still couldn’t help herself from playing with fire. Teasing Valie, getting too close to her. She chided herself silently as she looked into the mirror to see Valie’s handiwork.

She hadn’t done it quite as Eris would have. The black lines were less bold than her usual, but with subtle wings at the very corners of her eyes. Eris smiled. That wasn’t a bad thing. Actually, it was kinda special. Like it somehow deepened the connection between the two sisters, for her to be wearing Valie’s art on her face.

“Sorry, if I didn’t do a very good job…” Valie started saying.

“Hm? No,” Eris cut her off, looking at her. “I like it. Thank you.”

Valie’s worried face transformed to a grin, and she chuckled, “You’re welcome.”

Eris smiled back, then look up and down at the two of them standing side by side in the mirror. “Kinda funny,” she said. “I think I’m dressed more ‘proper’ than you, for once.”

Seemingly, Eris’s style had been rubbing off on Valie a bit. Though she still wore a blouse, it had been paired with a skater skirt (Eris had talked her into buying it at the mall) and some very flamboyant trans-colored programming socks. It looked very cute on her. Meanwhile, Eris had dressed up a bit more. She’d even borrowed a pair of Valie’s slacks.

Valie nodded. “You look nice.”

“Yeah…” Eris wrinkled her nose. “Wish I didn’t have to dress like this, though.”

Valie’s grin faded to a frown as she nodded again. “Yeah,” she said. “I mean. You don’t have to.”

Eris looked at her dubiously. “You’re right,” she admitted. “But I want this to go well. I just. I want our parents to freaking respect me. And if this is how I have to make that happen…”

Valie opened her mouth, then paused and sighed before speaking. “Yeah, I hear you. I wish they would just… You know. Respect you for who you are, though.”

Eris nodded sadly, her ears flattening down. She felt a tinge of anxiety returning, tightening in her stomach.

Valie grimaced, putting her hand on Eris’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. Let me know if you need anything. I could even dress nicer, if you think it would reflect better on you.”

“Heh. I appreciate it, but honestly I kinda like seeing you push your style. Plus like. Maybe it’ll take some of the heat off of me,” Eris grinned.

Valie laughed. “Yeah. Hopefully,” she said. “Seriously, though. You need anything, let me know. Text me, if you don’t want to say it in front of them. Maybe we could even come up with a safeword, for if you really need to leave.”

Eris raised an eyebrow. “A safeword?”

“Uuhhh,” Valie responded, seeming quite flustered. “Sorry. I mean. Okay, that was a bad thing to call it. B-but you know what I mean. Like uh. A non-obvious signal. That you need to leave.”

Eris couldn’t help giggling at her. She felt her anxiety recede a touch. “Alright,” she said, “I get it. It’s a good idea.” She made a subtle gesture with her left hand, near her face. “How about something like this?”

Valie was still blushing a little. “I—. Yeah. Yeah, that works.”

Eris glanced down. “Anyway. I probably won’t need to just leave like that. And I’m sure it would reflect poorly on me if I did.”

Valie sighed. “I just want you to have the option. And… I mean. Your well-being is more important than what they think of you.”

Eris frowned. “Yeah. I guess.” Her stomach tightened again. She took a deep breath and tried not to clench her teeth.

Valie squeezed her shoulder. “Just remember I’m here for you,” she said. She looked at her watch. “We should probably leave. Want me to drive?”

Eris tried to smile, and nodded. They had plenty of time, but Valie liked to be early. Especially if she was nervous. Though if she was, she was doing a good job hiding it.

“Alright,” Valie said. “Let’s go, then.”

Eris looked out the car window as the sisters drove into their parents’ neighborhood. Curving roads snaked past mansion after mansion, separated by large swaths of finely-manicured grass, trimmed hedges, and imposing gates.

It wasn’t something she’d thought about much as a kid, but it was sort of shocking, in retrospect, that this place could exist so close to a city like Seattle. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Bill Gates lived here or something. Jeff Bezos, maybe. Who even knows.

“Kinda nuts, isn’t it?” she asked, mostly talking to distract herself.

“Mm? What is?” Valie questioned.

“I dunno. Just. All these fuckin mansions here. Especially with the housing crisis as bad as it is.”

Valie nodded, “Yeah. Kinda fucked up, honestly.”

Eris grunted. “Mm. Maybe. It is what it is, I guess.”

After a few minutes, they reached the Grimmhart estate. Whoever was operating the intercom let them through the wrought-iron gate, allowing them to park near the front door.

As Eris stepped out of the car, she looked up at the old mansion. Well. It wasn’t that old, really, she was pretty sure. But it looked intentionally ancient. It was built in a gothic style, with high-peaked roofing and spires atop dark brick walls that loomed over her.

Eris’s heart pounded faster. She clenched her fists and took a deep breath. She hadn’t been here in years. She’d barely been an adult, then. And somehow, being here again… It made her feel smaller. Less important.

Eris shook her head, trying to clear the feeling. As she did, she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Hey,” Valie said from beside her. “I’m here for you. And I believe in you.”

Eris took another deep breath. “I know. Thank you.”

At that moment, the front door opened and Michael exited, walking down the steps towards what Eris now recognized was his car. He spotted the two sisters and nodded in recognition before continuing on his way.

“Hmh,” Valie grunted. “Wonder what he’s doing here.”

“Business meeting with our father, I guess.”

“Mmm. Guess that makes sense.” Valie paused. “Well. You ready?”

“Eh. Not really, but I guess we can’t stand here forever.” Eris forced a chuckle as she said it.

“Just remember our safeword. Or. Signal. Whatever.”

Eris chuckled more genuinely at that. Thank fuck Valie was here. The two walked up to the door together, and Valie rang the doorbell.

Eris half-expected that the butler would let them in. Steve, assuming he was still working here.

But no, actually, it was Mother who appeared at the door. She was wearing an elegant dress. Silvery hair draped over her shoulders, though the age in her face was mostly hidden by makeup. She looked at Eris, giving her a smile that seemed a little bit too-practiced.

“Eris! Hello, dear. It has been a while, hasn’t it? And Valerie. Very good of you to join us.” She glanced down at Valie’s brightly-colored socks. “What an… interesting fashion choice.”

“Thanks, Mother,” replied Valie. “They’re trans pride colored.”

“Right. Of course. You know, I do have things that might suit you better. If you’d like to change, before your father sees… that.”

“I’m fine, Mother. Thank you,” Valie said, slightly more forcefully.

“I—. Very well.” Mother put up her hands in surrendered acceptance. “You are an adult, I suppose, and can make your own choices. Anyway.” She turned around and walked into the house. “Do come in. Dinner should be quite soon.”

Behind Mother’s back, Valie looked at Eris and raised her eyebrows, giving an exaggerated eyeroll. Eris thought she heard a tense sigh, as well. Yeah. Mother had been a bit pushy there. And had barely said two sentences to Eris, despite them not seeing each other in years. Eris sighed back, then nodded and shrugged in response. Valie shrugged back as the two of them followed after Mother towards the dining room.

The mansion was much the same as Eris remembered. The massive staircase that led upstairs from the lobby. The oil paintings that adorned the walls. The sheer size of it all. Her nervousness jumped to the front of her mind. Valie glanced at her, seeming to notice, then extended her hand to Eris’s. Eris took it, gratefully. She squeezed it tight, trying to focus on Valie instead of her parents.

“Your father should arrive shortly,” Mother said as she entered the dining room, turning towards them. “Ah. You two still hold each other’s hands? Aren’t you… a bit old for that?” Her tone made it clear that it was less a question and more a statement of disapproval.

Eris opened her mouth to say something, but she wasn’t sure how she could even respond to that. So she closed it, clenching her jaw, looking to Valie. Valie stood up straighter, squeezing Eris’s hand reassuringly, and said, “What were you just saying about adults being able to make their own choices?”

Mother gave her a clipped laugh. “Well. I suppose that is true. Though of course that doesn’t protect you from the judgements of others.”

Valie snorted in response, but didn’t rise to the bait. “When’s dinner?”

Mother looked as though she had wanted to continue that conversation, but she simply sighed and shrugged. “A few minutes, I think. You two sit down, I’ll check on the kitchen.” With that, she walked off.

Valie let out a long sigh. Then she looked at Eris with concern. “You doing alright so far?”

“Not great, honestly. But it’ll be okay. Just gotta get through this.”

Valie nodded, but the concerned look was still there. Together, the two walked to the gigantic dinner table. It was of the long rectangular type that could easily seat twenty people, though today there were only four place settings.

“Usual spots?” Valie asked. “Or do you wanna sit closer to Father?”

“I…” Eris almost said ‘usual spots’. But she wanted to be assertive. Take up space. Force Father to actually acknowledge her. But not too assertive. She also wanted to live up to her parents’ expectations. Ugh, this was so hard.

Surely, she could assert herself at least a little bit. Right? “I’ll sit closer,” she decided. And she sat down in the seat directly to the left of the head of the table, where Father would sit. Valie sat to her left. Mother would sit directly across from Eris.

Eris took another deep breath. She pulled out her phone, seeking to distract herself by scrolling through TikTok videos.

As she was showing a particularly funny one to Valie (who giggled), Mother returned, sitting across from Eris. “So,” Mother asked, “How was Germany? Exciting, I hope.”

“Um. It was definitely an interesting experience. Culture-wise. I’m not sure I needed to do a full four years there, though.” Eris still rankled at the fact that her parents had basically forced her to study there. Taking her away from Valie. Not giving her agency in her own life. But she had to play by their rules if she wanted them to accept her.

“Oh, I’m sure it was wonderful for you. Few people get that sort of opportunity, you know.”

The small talk continued in this one-sided fashion for a few minutes, until Father walked in. His grey suit darkened the door frame as he passed through it. His hair looked greyer than it had last time Eris had seen him. Eris silently hoped she was ready for this.

“Valerie, Eris. Good of you to join us for dinner,” he said, as though it hadn’t taken over a month to make this happen. As though it hadn’t been years since they had last seen each other.

“Hello, Father,” said Eris, hesitantly.

He looked at her and smiled. “You had a good time in Germany, then?”

As Eris opened her mouth, Mother replied, “Oh, yes, she was just telling me all about it. An excellent experience, I think. Right, Eris?”

Eris had expected to get to answer that question for herself. Instead, all she felt able to say was, “Yes, Mother.”

“Good, good,” said Father.

At that moment, a staff member brought in four plates of food to the table. It was a salmon and rice dish. That wasn’t bad. At least they’d seemingly remembered that Eris was pescatarian. Eris nodded to the server and said a quiet, “Thank you,” as hers was placed in front of her.

“So,” continued Father as he started to cut into his food, “How’s working for the old family business? Michael’s treating you well, I’m sure.”

“It’s not bad,” said Eris. Go on, she encouraged herself. Stick up for yourself. “Though I think, given my experience, I should probably be doing something more interesting than Ley Line unblocking. Honestly, I was hoping to be working on the receiver stations.” She started to hungrily eat her food.

“Ahh, well, I’m sure it’s not so bad, eh?” He chuckled in a way that made clear it wasn’t really a question. “Anyway. I’m sure you won’t be doing it for too long.” He gave Eris a smile that she couldn’t quite interpret.

“Ah,” he continued. “That reminds me of something. I was talking to Michael. He told me that Valerie has been doing the actual attunement on your jobs, right?”

Eris nodded. Michael of course knew that from the reports she sent him.

“Well, there’s been an interesting development. Our R&D team has been doing experiments and they recently discovered that the harvestable Mana output from a Ley Line is actually dependent on the skill of the person who performs the attunement. Can make up to a 12% difference, they’re telling me. Which of course is quite significant, over the long term.”

“Really?” questioned Valie. “That sounds very interesting. I’d like to read their paper. If that’s true, it could have interesting ramifications for devices too.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think they’ve published the results quite yet,” said Father.

“Then, who was leading the project? Could you get me in contact with the team who did the experiment?”

Father nodded slowly. “Yes, I suppose I could do that. I’m afraid I don’t remember the name. I’ll have to email it to you.

“Anyway, the point is that, for optimal Mana harvesting, you should have Eris doing the attunements. I trust that won’t be a problem.”

“Well, actually, because of the recent attack against us, we had planned to have me continue to do the attunements. Since Eris has more combat experience, it’s better for me to be temporarily incapacitated.”

“Oh, well. I’m sure you can manage, can’t you? You two are made of tough stuff.” Father replied dismissively.

“But Father,” Eris spoke up, “How is Valie supposed to learn if she doesn’t get a chance to practice?”

Father laughed patronizingly, “You still call Valerie that name? You’re an adult, for goodness sake.” Eris was taken aback by that, her ears flattening.

Valie admonishingly said, “Father! That’s too far. Honestly, I—. I like that she calls me that.” Valie reached out to hold Eris’s hand, which sat to the left of her plate. She took it gratefully, impressed that the usually-timid Valie had stood up for her.

As he saw this, Father scoffed at them. “And now you’re holding hands? Please.” He sighed. “I should’ve known having the two of you working together would be a bad idea. Clearly Eris has been a poor influence on you. I really should have done more to keep you separate.”

“I don’t know if sep—” Mother was cut off by Father holding his hand up to her.

Eris found herself reeling. Valie squeezed her hand tight, looking as though she wanted to say something back. Had Father really separated them intentionally? Because he thought she’d be a bad influence? That was so fucked. She squeezed Valie’s hand back, anger and confusion swirling through her.

Valie sighed, and then looked at her questioningly. With her free hand, she made a subtle signal by her face—their safeword. She was asking if Eris wanted to leave.

Did she want that? She felt awful. She wanted to run. But shouldn’t she be sticking up for herself? Or placating Father somehow? She did want to be on his good side. Wanted him to see her worth, so badly. But… She really didn’t want to be here right now. She wasn’t even sure if she could say anything.

Eris nodded at Valie, and was barely able to make the signal back.

“Father, thank you for dinner. I think we should be going now.” Valie’s voice was strong, but it sounded so distant. She stood up beside Eris, still holding her hand. Eris followed her in a daze.

“What? Don’t be ridiculous. Sit back down, right now.”

The world seemed to blur around Eris as she let herself be led down the hall and out the lobby. The argument continued, but she lost track of who was talking or what they were saying. Valie opened the car door for her, and she sat down, pulling her legs to her chest.

Valie drove them from the estate—Eris didn’t know how they got past the gate exactly. After driving for a minute or two, she came to a stop on the side of the street, looking over at Eris.

“Hey,” Valie said softly. “You alright?”

Eris felt her senses slowly returning. She shook her head.

Valie nodded. “Yeah. That’s understandable. I … Are you able to tell me what you need?”

Eris wasn’t sure what she needed. But she reached out and took Valie’s hand. Clutching it close, then pulling it to her head. Valie started to softly pet her.

Eris let out a sob. “F-fuck. Why is this so hard? Why don’t they respect me?”

Valie scooted closer to her, awkwardly hugging her over the center console. Still petting her. “I don’t know, Eris. I’m sorry. I feel like I only made things worse, too.”

Eris shook her head. “You stood up for me. Thank you,” she sobbed out. “Fuck. This is stupid, I shouldn’t be crying over this. It wasn’t even that bad.”

“Hey, no. It’s okay,” Valie said soothingly, stroking through Eris’s hair, rubbing her shoulder. “It’s okay to cry. That was kinda fucked.”

Eris could only nod softly, pressing her head forward to Valie’s chest. Then she let herself cry.

“There. It’s okay to cry. I’m here for you. You’re safe with me,” Valie reassured her gently.

Tears flowed down Eris’s cheeks as she clung to her sister. Dammit. Why was her father such a dick? How could she fix their relationship? Fuck.

At least she had Valie, though. Her wonderful Valie. The Valie that Father had intentionally separated her from. She clung tighter. Fuck that man.

“Valie. I love you so much,” she said, between sobs. “Thank you.”

“I love you too. And of course. I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you. As much as I can.” Valie’s fingers softly scritched the backs of Eris’s cat-ears.

“Always? You mean it?”

Valie paused. Not in a way that seemed uncertain. But rather in a way that seemed genuinely thoughtful. “Yeah. Always. I promised, remember? I meant it, and I still do.”

Eris found herself smiling through her tears. “Thank you,” she whispered. How the hell was she supposed to not be in love with this woman? Her smile grew.

They stayed like that for a few minutes. Calm returned to Eris as she cried herself out. “Okay,” she said. “I think I’m good to go home now.”

“Alright. Did you even finish eating? We could stop at Taco Bell on the way home or something, if you want.”

Eris didn’t feel particularly hungry. But it was true that she hadn’t eaten much, and some food might help stabilize her. So she nodded.

After they got home with food, Valie proceeded to cuddle her properly on the couch, until they turned in for an early night. In the same bed, at Eris’s request. Despite everything, she slept soundly.