The weight of the Stanspray rested uncomfortably in Constanze's hand as she used a modified nozzle to apply the potion to the power supply. As she toiled away, making sure to coat every inch as to maximise their power reserves, her mind swirled with a countless number of thoughts, each and every one of them sending her one step closer to flinging herself in the frigid Antarctic waters. Even as this happened, however, one idea floated to the forefront of her brain:

It didn't feel right.

No, not the Stanspray. Though that was the case as she had designed it for someone Sucy's size rather than her own, it wasn't exactly what she was fretting over.

It wasn't the loss of the fortification potion either. Sure, it sucked that it was gone, but, as Sucy had said, they could always come back for more bile.

The thing that Constanze found herself so hung up on was something else entirely.

More specifically, it was the fact that she had just kissed Sucy.

On the lips.

Without warning.

And then she said nothing as Sucy just walked off.

And then Sucy had said that they needed to talk.

A low groan escaped Constanze's lips as she furiously sprayed at the engine with water in preparation, rubbing it down as if that would help wipe away her own embarrassment.

…

Ah, it was no good. She had absolutely nothing but the truth to explain herself with and yet within the truth, there were so many things to say that she couldn't possibly choose which ones to use. Normally, she would take a few minutes to sort out the contents of her mind, choosing the best, most presentable ones to write down on her whiteboard before editing out any parts that were still imperfect.

But that method wasn't exactly going to work, first because of the sheer volume of thoughts blending in her mind, but also because Sucy was going to be here-

"Constanze? I have something I want to tell you."

-any second now.

Well, she was here, and Constanze had even less of an idea what to say now as compared to 46 minutes ago. Curse Sucy and her impeccably efficient brewing.

The 2 of them stood in silence, but this one was far less comfortable, far less inviting than any of the ones they had shared previously. There would be no light jabs or levity from either one of them.

And as always, Sucy spoke first.

Scratching the back of her neck and giving a sigh, she looked off to the side, delaying the inevitable before finally starting.

"So, uh, look. I'm no good at this and, no offense, you're even worse, so I'll just cut to the chase."

Not offended in the slightest, Constanze nodded, bracing for what Sucy was about to say:

"Ever heard of the term 'ace'?"

Again, the room fell into silence, but this time, it had an entirely different texture as Sucy noticed a subtle change in Constanze. Or, rather, she noticed a not subtle change in Constanze.

She was positively glowing.

Pulling out her clipboard, Constanze started manically scribbling lines and shapes onto her whiteboard until she revealed it to Sucy.

It wasn't unlike anything Sucy had seen before. The 2 lines that appeared to be sliding scales with the letters 'R' next to one of them and 'S' next to the other in rigid, bold font and Sucy couldn't help but notice the dot in the middle of the one labelled 'R' and one towards the left of 'S'.

Yes, it wasn't unfamiliar at all, thanks to a certain pair of Japanese and American witches and their shockingly informative seminar held for the RGB dorms.

Still, two dimensions were limiting and there were at least a few ways to interpret what Constanze had just shown her.

So what better to do than hear it directly from her?

"Could you… elaborate a little?"

Constanze appeared to wrack her brain for a moment, taking back her whiteboard as she scribbled some more on it before wiping it off and shaking her head with a defeated sigh.

"Too much, huh?"

Tentatively looking up at Sucy, Constanze gave a light nod.

"Fair."

And then, pocketing the potion, Sucy started walking out of the room.

She didn't even have to tell Constanze to follow.

They ended up in the hall between their rooms on the Stanship, but instead of turning and staying in the larger room, Sucy merely dropped off the fortification potion, attached it to the Stanspray, and then…

And then she turned into Constanze's room.

"Relax. We're just talking right now."

The unease that Constanze hadn't even realized was showing on her face dissipated as the 2 of them huddled up on the cramped bed.

Even now, even with the circumstances, Constanze couldn't help but draw comfort from the cool heat on her side

"So imagine my wand is my mouth."

Raising an eyebrow, Constanze shot Sucy a questioning glance, prompting her to throw up her hands in defense.

"Oi, I'm going somewhere with this. Trust me."

Watching as she took out her wand, Constanze felt her eyes go wide and her cheeks darken as Sucy pressed it against her lips.

"I'm not talking about right here, right now, with me, but how do you feel about doing that?"

Ah. This was what she was getting at. Still, it was awfully considerate of her to do it in a way where Constanze only needed to nod or shake her head.

This time, Constanze nodded.

Sucy moved the wand down and around the back of her neck, sending a warm feeling down Constanze's spine as it settled around the back of her torso.

"Now imagine it's my arms. Is that ok?"

Another nod, this one more forceful. Sucy took a deep breath in and out as she continued.

"Now, try to picture my wand as my hands. Do you like this?"

Moving the wand down to her thigh, Sucy suppressed a grimace as she waited for Constanze's reaction.

On one hand, Constanze probably wouldn't mind too much if Sucy wanted to do something like that. It wasn't as if it bothered her too badly and she always wanted to see her happy, so if the question was 'would you let me do this to you', then she would have probably said 'yes'.

But that wasn't the question.

Between shakes of her head, Constanze couldn't help but notice the slight smile that disappeared from Sucy's face almost as quickly as it had appeared when she'd said that.

But Sucy wasn't about to give herself false hope. No, if she wanted to make absolutely sure of if this would work, there was one more thing she had to do.

"And what if we went further than that?"

Silence pierced the room as Constanze didn't say anything, spending almost a minute waiting for Sucy to clarify… something. But Sucy only listened. And after a while, Constanze realized something:

She didn't have to say anything at all.

Staring into Sucy's deadpan expression, Constanze figured that there was no point in lying, and so…

She shook her head.

"You wouldn't. Not with me, not with someone else, not with anyone, ever. I-is that right?"

Despite her best efforts, a hint of giddiness had started making its way into Sucy's voice and as a smiled danced on her lips, Constanze came to a revelation:

Sucy was the same as her.

So how to respond? There were about a million phrases colliding against one another, whizzing around in her mind, the only one that came to the forefront being far too permanent to write down.

But as she nodded and Sucy looked as though primed to speak, Constanze threw away her clipboard, silenced Sucy with a finger over her mouth as she realized that, all this time, she'd only had to say three words.

"I love you."