The crash was strangely smooth, Sucy thought. Maybe Constanze had found a way to conserve enough power to soften their landing, or maybe they'd just found a snow bank, but either way, all her bones were still attached to her body, so that, at least, was a plus.

"Constanze? You there?"

An oddly serene feeling fell over Sucy as she crawled to her feet, dusting herself off as she tried to ignore the cold quickly seeping into the ship. It didn't take long to find Constanze, scribbling furiously on a sheet of chart paper as her face was contorted in concentration.

"Hey. Got any ideas?"

Turning to Sucy, Constanze gave a nod before holding up the chart paper for her to see. On it was a simple diagram: they would take the forge serpent bile, brew a fortification potion…

"And use it on the ship's back up power supply…"

Sucy's eyes narrowed, Constanze's stayed glued to the ground, and Sucy started scratching the back of her head, an annoyed grunt spilling from her mouth.

"I see. We need to use the bile, huh? Is there any other way?"

Judging by Constanze's uneasy gaze, there probably was another way, but Constanze didn't seem to be all that partial to it. After a few moments of silent staring, however, she relented, disappearing for a few moments before coming back with a modified broom.

"Makes sense. We just take the broom to a leyline in New Zealand and we're home free. But if we do that…"

Well, let's just say that something like the Stanship doesn't exactly last long without enough magical power.

Sucy wasn't sure exactly how long Constanze had taken to build the Stanship. Was it about a year's worth of effort? A decade? Her entire life? What about a fortification potion? It had been 3 days and they'd already acquired all the necessary ingredients for it, so really, couldn't they just come back for more bile once the Stanship had been fully repaired?

But at the end of the day, she needs me to brew the potion, so this is really my choice, isn't it?

A slow nod from Constanze. A calculating glance. It was almost as if she could read her mind. She didn't even need to try to read Sucy's expression: the indignation was clear as day on her face. The gears in Sucy's mind were turning, her brow furrowed in concentration and the reluctance on her face was unmistakable, but…

In the end, there was only one real choice to make.

"Whatever. Let's get brewing."

They were just four words. Four words where Sucy had decided to put Constanze's desires before her own. Four words in which Sucy declared that she was going to do whatever it took to get the Stanship back to Luna Nova. Four words in which Sucy had decided to throw away her purpose for even coming on this trip in the first place.

Four words that had barely been uttered before Sucy felt something warm pressing against her lips.

Sucy's eyes went wide as she felt a pair of arms wrap around the back of her neck, her muscles tensed, rendering her unable to move as she stared right into Constanze's face, barely tasting the fragrance of mushrooms on her lips.

Just as quick as Constanze approached, however, she retreated, backing up so quickly that Sucy questioned whether or not that had really happened until she noticed the absolutely radiant blush on Constanze's face. Feeling her own face beginning to heat up, she debated whether or not to chug a temperature-adjust potion while waiting for Constanze to say something- bah, who am I kidding? Sucy was going to have to break the silence.

"U-um… I think that I'll start brewing now."

Her back still against the wall, Constanze watched as Sucy left the room and the moment she exited from her field of view, she sank straight to the ground, her legs buckling under her as she buried her burning face into her hands.

Why did she do that? It wasn't as if she was throwing herself at Akko the moment she sacrificed something for her, so why now? Was it a simple difference in preference? Was it because her life was now on the line, or the fact that Sucy had sacrificed that part of herself? Maybe it was her smile, or the comfort that Constanze felt doing something as simple as playing games with her, or maybe it was the way she made whatever she did look so effortless, or maybe it was her nonchalant attitude with everything around her, or the way that Sucy always knew what she meant without having to write it down, or maybe it was the way that she never forced her to speak aloud.

Or maybe it was all of the above.

Regardless, it was clear that it shouldn't have happened. Starting a job without knowing how to finish it was a mistake that Constanze swore that she would never do again, yet here she was, crossing boundaries without saying a single word.

If only she could take it back, walk up to her and say that it was a joke, or that she got carried away, or something, but it was simply impossible. She could interrupt Sucy's brewing and then what? Stutter for a minute while she tried to think of what words to use? Would she have too many thoughts to organize into coherent sentences? She could use her whiteboard, but somehow it felt wrong. Still, it wasn't as if she had a better option, so-

"Oi, Constanze?"

Tentatively poking her head back around the corner, Sucy was too busy looking at the ground to notice Constanze's bewildered look as she said:

"I'll… want to talk with you for a bit after I finish brewing. Is your room okay?"

Oddly formal language aside, Sucy looked up to see a blank-faced Constanze giving her a curt nod before slinking back into her room.

Wonder how much an amnesia potion would cost her to make right about now?

Still, as the potion started to boil, Sucy felt her anxiety slowly ebbing away as the bubbles from the cauldron released gas into the atmosphere. Alright. Just one step at a time. Add the flakes of gold, then the carbon, toss in some adhesive, and finally… the bile.

Carefully measuring out the amount, Sucy tipped her flask to pour it in, careful not to add too much before wiping her brow. Now, all that was left to do was stir.

Well, that and think about what had just transpired.

Alright, so Constanze had kissed her. From what Sucy could tell, Constanze wasn't exactly the type to go around kissing every girl she sees, nor was she much of a joker. Any possibility of her being anything less than 100% serious about that was roughly nonexistent.

But following that… Sucy really had no idea. Did she just get caught up in the moment? Was it a form of thanks? Somehow, that didn't feel correct. No, the fact remained that the most likely scenario was one where she'd fallen for Sucy's charms.

Lightly laughing to herself as she thought this, Sucy's smile faded once again as she returned to her thoughts. If what she'd predicted was the case, then what then? What did she want to do with Constanze? Or more accurately, how did she feel about Constanze?

The low roar of the potion-made fire under the caudron coincided with a brief splatter from the potion that left a sizzle in the hem of Sucy's robe, prompting her to cast her usual protective charms before continuing.

How did she feel about Constanze? Well, her smile was practically a national treasure despite its rarity and she was quite the entertaining gamer, but aside from that, something about that witch was… inspiring to her.

Whether she was riding a broom, or the ship was falling, or she was making lunch, or drawing up plans to escape Antarctica, or heck, even when she invited Sucy out on this trip in the first place, every action that she'd taken had thought behind it. The amount of care that Constanze put into every one of her prized creations made it that much more impactful when she invested even more time and energy into Sucy. The way that she always knew exactly what would make Sucy happy and the way she was able to so easily take control of a situation, it was all just… alluring.

That was how Sucy felt.

And so, when the potion was finished, Sucy knew that there was only one thing left to do. Practically running to the engine room, she burst through the door, potion in hand, saying:

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