"This blows, yo."

Meenah leaned against the entrance to one of the many clothing stores at the mall. Her phone, a flip-top she'd had for years, was pressed up to her ear.

"I don't wanna be stuck here all day. I'd rather be hangin' wit' you or Latula or somethin'. Babysittin' my sister ain't what I had in mind for a Saturday."

"Oh, dear. I can see why you'd get upset about that. I myself can certainly empathize with a situation like yours. After all, more than once have I had to take care of my own sister during our shared childhood, and being much older than her I had to take on certain responsibilities. Why, just think about all the writing time I've lost because of the care I've given to little Vriska. It's almost enough to-"

Meenah pinched the bridge of her nose. Aranea's little tangents were adorable, of course, but she hadn't called just to hear her girlfriend prattle on. At least, not this time.

"Look, Serk, just tell me what I gotta do to make this quick an' painless."

"Well, you're supposed to take your sister clothes shopping, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then just play along and help her find what she wants and you'll be out of there in no time. I know you can at least fake a smile for an hour."

"Meh."

"And besides." Aranea added, dropping her voice seductively. "Pick up some cute clothes for yourself and maybe you can try them on tonight at my house."

Meenah felt her face get hot. "Damn, Serk, you're gonna make me make a scene in public wit' that kinda talk."

"See you later, love. And do try to have some fun, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah. Love you, too." Meenah hung up and snapped her phone shut, then took the opportunity to stretch out her lanky arms before heading into the store.

Feferi was right by the kids' section, of course. She seemed to be comparing two dresses in her arms with what she already had on. Meenah gritted her teeth. This was not her forte at all. If only Porrim was here. She thought. Still, there was only one way to move forward. She walked over to where her sister stood. Feferi turned as she heard and smiled a big, toothy smile.

"Meenah! Finally! Okay, which dress looks cuter? This one has the most adorable swirly patterns on it, and I think they look wonderful! Oh, but this one has the nicest pink on it! It goes with my glasses and my purse! What do you think, huh?"

Meenah stared blankly. She had no clue which dress was supposed to be better, much less how the two were significantly different at all. Feferi was waiting, though, and she wasn't getting out of the mall until she had something. Meenah put on her biggest and fakest smile.

"Oh, yeah! They both look so great! How 'bout we just get both?" Meenah practically gleamed.

Feferi frowned, scrunched up her face and turned away in a huff. "If you're gonna not take it seriously then I don't want either one."

Meenah dropped the act. "Really, Fef? You gonna act like a kid like that? Pick a damn dress so's we can get outta here."

Feferi put the clothing back on the rack and picked up her little purse. "I'll keep 'em on my mind, but I wanna see the other stores before I make a decision." She started to stroll towards the entrance of the store, which led to the rest of the mall.

Meenah groaned as she trudged along behind her sister. This was going to take much longer than she'd hoped.

The mall was pretty big, and as a result, there were plenty of clothing stores to choose from. In every location, Feferi would find a few outfits she liked. When she showed them to Meenah, however, she would only get the same responses as always, unhelpful and unfriendly. Then she'd put them back, move on to the next shop, only to repeat the pattern verbatim. By the fifth stop, she'd had enough.

"Ugh, you're impossible!" Feferi fumed as she stomped out of the store and into the food court. "Mom shoulda named you Meanie!"

Meenah rolled her eyes as she followed the shorter Peixes. "Wow, Fef. Bringin' that one back from first grade? Classic."

Feferi stormed to the nearest bench and sat on the end, fists clenched. Meenah sprawled out on the other end, waiting for the tantrum to subside before this stupid trip could continue. The two stayed there for a bit in silence, neither willing to give the other an inch. Eventually, Feferi started to rummage through her purse for something. Meenah mentally sighed and laid back for the long haul. As she closed her eyes, she couldn't help but make a comment. "You're wastin' your time, ya know. I ain't good with this touchy feely stuff."

"You used to be."

Meenah opened her eyes. That wasn't the response she expected. She looked at Feferi. She had finished looking through her purse, and was holding what looked to be a picture in her hands. Her anger was gone, and her face seemed to be… trembling.

Meenah leaned over to catch a glimpse at what the picture was, and her mouth dropped when she saw.

It was Meenah and Feferi, standing arms around the others shoulder, in front of a big fish tank, which Meenah recognized as the shark tank from the aquarium from the next city over. From the way the two of them looked, the photo was about six years old.

Meenah looked up at Feferi, who was still looking at the picture. Tears were starting to well up in her little sister's eyes.

"We used to do everything together. Remember when you took me to get my ears pierced and didn't make fun of me when I chickened out? Or that time we toured that castle and snuck into the throne room so we could pretend we were queens? Even when you got too old for the stuff I did, you always hung out with me and shared everything with me and always made me feel like I was cool because I got to hang out with some as cool as you."

Tears were streaming down Feferi's face.

"But then you went to High school and it was like you totally changed. You made all these new friends and had all this new stuff happen to you and you didn't want to be with me at all. And then you went to college and you went away completely and *hic* and-" Feferi cut off, sobbing.

Meenah abruptly realized that this trip hadn't been about buying clothes at all. Knowing that she lacked the words to help, Meenah reached out carefully to touch Feferi's shoulder, just to try offer any comfort she could. Feferi, still crying, turned to Meenah and buried herself in her big sister's chest. With nothing else to do, and suddenly no desire to be anywhere else, Meenah held Feferi close as she cried and cried. Meenah stroked Feferi's back gently as tears soaked her t-shirt, willing to wait it out as long as it took. Eventually Feferi's tears began to dry up, but she didn't move from her sister's embrace.

Meenah tried to find the words. "Look, Fef, I.." A pause. She was so bad at this.

"Feferi." She pulled her head up and looked Meenah straight on. Her eyes were puffy from the crying.

"I ain't gonna lie to you. I'm gonna keep on growin' up. You're gonna keep growing u' too. There ain't nothin' we can do about that." Feferi looked crestfallen.

"But," Feferi looked back up. "That don't give me no excuse to abandon my little sister like that. Maybe I can't make up for all a' the time I missed, but maybe, if you'll have me, I can make up just a little."

Feferi stared at her sister for a long time before she gave a small smile and nodded. "Of course. What are sisters for?"

Meenah sighed in relief, wiped away a few tears of her own that she'd just noticed. This was gonna ruin her rep, but that didn't seem important any more."

"Sorry, I guess I got a little full of myself for a while there, huh."

Feferi giggled. It was a nice sound. "Well, maybe a little."

Meenah grinned. This day turned out to not be a waste after all.

"Whaddya say we go get some dresses, huh? I'll even let you pick mine."

Feferi laughed again as she jumped out of her seat and grabbed Meenah's hand. "I think I know just the right thing for you."

Meenah laughed herself-"Lead the way, lil sis."-as the two of them walked back into the mall together.

"Goodness, Meenah. That's certainly a… loud color for you, isn't it?"

"Shut up, Serk, I got it on a very good authority that I look great."