-Anna-

Walking toward the central district, I look over the note that was delivered to me a couple of days ago from Lain. She wanted to hang out with me and requested that I come alone, which is weird, but at the same time I can’t really remember the last time that it was just the two of us hanging out without someone else being around. So, I am honestly rather excited to get to hang out with her.

I would have come by sooner to see her, but I have been busy with work and wasn’t able to drop by. So, it took a couple of days until I could get some time off.

Arriving at the gate, the guard greets me with a smile and waves me in with just a couple of questions before asking, “Would like an escort miss?”

“No, I’ll be fine, thank you.”

“Alright, just be sure to head straight to your sister's place, no detours.” He says with a smile.

“Will do.” I tell him, and happily walk through the gate while holding my basket.

Lain’s note said that she wanted to go on a walk at the park with me, so I figured that I would pack some food from work for us as a lunch. I just hope that she will be able to eat. I know that she only eats once a day, but she can probably snack a bit with me. I also made sure to pack a thermos with some coffee for her, just in case. Apparently, she has developed quite the taste for it lately even though she doesn’t even need the caffeine. She just likes to drink it.

Feeling excited, I arrive at her door and greet the guard. It looks like Private Rogers is on duty today, so I give him a wave as he smiles at me.

I think I like Roger more than Lance. Lance is alright, but he sort of takes his job a bit too seriously…

“Hello there miss Dixon. Here to see your sister?” He asks.

“Yup, we’re going to go hang out at the park for a bit.”

“Well, that sounds lovely. Just give me a moment if you will.”

He turns and knocks on the door, “Miss Lain, your sister is here to see you.”

From within the room, I can hear her call back and soon enough she is opening up the door. She is looking a bit flustered as she sees me and quickly, she looks around the hallway. “Hi Anna, it's just you today, right?”

“Hmm? Uhm, ya, mom and dad are both busy with work right now. Anyways, your letter said to come alone?”

“Right… Right, ya. Thank you for coming. So, we good for going to the park together?”

“Yup! I’m excited to go on our date.” I say with a smile.

“Date!?” She says, looking a bit shocked.

“Hahaha, not that kind of date. Sisters can go on dates. Look, I even packed some stuff for a lunch. I also have some coffee in here for you.” I say, showing her the basket, “Have you eaten today?”

She appears to calm down a bit and scratches at her horn with an awkward smile, “Oh, uh… ya, I already ate. But I can snack a bit. Thanks.”

Behind her, Sky comes walking over dressed in pajama bottoms and a big t-shirt, -Isn't that one of Lain’s? - and hugs her from behind. She looks as if she has zero intention of leaving the house today and is looking very comfy and a bit drowsy as if she had just got up from lounging on the couch and reading.

“Hi Anna… How you doing?” She asks, her voice lacking its usual energy.

“Hi Sky.” I respond with a big smile, “I’m doing good, just came over to hang out with Lain. Hmm, have you gotten taller again?”

“Mhm, Dr. Doe says I am 4’4” now and I am still growing. Horns are growing to.”

“Oh, that is so exciting! Mom told me that you were growing some. Can I feel them?”

“Mhm.” She nods her head and leans towards me. “But no petting...”

“I won’t, I won’t…” I tell her as I happily place my hands on her head. Ahhh! She is so soft! What is with this hair!? I’m so jealous that Lain gets to pet her whenever she wants!

“Oh! There are some horns growing here. They’re still pretty small though.”

“Mhm, I wish they would grow faster…” She says as she pulls her head away from me and rests it against Lain’s back.

Ah, I wanna pet her so bad! But I must act normal; I don’t want to scare her away. Maybe I can earn her trust and she will let me pet her in the future. Maybe she will even let me play with her big fluffy tail? Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful!?

Lain clears her throat, “Uhm, Anna… You’re getting a dangerous look in your eyes…”

“Ah! Oh, sorry… I was just thinking of something, not important…”

“Right…” She says as she looks at me with knowing eyes as she seems to move a bit to block Sky from me protectively.

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She knows me to well…

“Uhmm, well anyways! How about we head to the park? I haven’t gotten to hang out with you alone in a long time, so I was really looking forward to this.”

“Uh, me to.” She says with that awkward smile again. Turning to Sky, she asks her, “Will you be alright if I go to hang out with Anna for a bit? Just be a couple hours. If I am not back in time for lunch, have Mr. Rogers escort you to the cafeteria.”

“I’ll be fine. Mmm, I think I’ll just wait for you to get home and eat then. Don’t feel like going out today.”

“Having a lazy day?” Lain asks sweetly.

“Mhm, growing pains are making me feel tired. I just want to rest.” Sky says, looking tired.

She gives her a smile and pets her long dark blue hair, “Ok well, you just go ahead and relax today. I’ll be back later and cook you up some meat.”

“Mmm, thank you…” She mumbles, nuzzling into her back. Letting go, Sky heads back into the apartment and disappears from view after collapsing onto the couch.

Turning back to me, Lain says, “Alright, let’s get going. Mr. Rogers, I’ll be back later. Thanks for watching the place.”

“Of course, Madam, it is an honor to watch over the Princess.” He says with a short bow and a silly smile.

As we are walking away, I turn and ask Lain what that was about.

“Oh… Sky has been reading a lot of books on noble ladies and stuff and has been acting the part whenever she goes out. You know, being all prim and proper, and dressed nicely. Which is cute, don’t get me wrong… But the soldiers seem to be really getting into it lately and are playing along. Calling her Madam, Milady, and Princess, bowing to her and giving her offerings of candy and jerky. Although, it seems to be getting worse lately… The staff at the cafeteria even went and made a candle lit diner for her and tried to serve us wine… But well, I haven’t really tried to stop it, because everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and Sky is having fun.” She says with a shrug.

“Oh, I thought that she was acting a bit differently when she was out with mom and me. I hadn’t even noticed…”

“You were probably distracted with thinking about how cute she is and how much you want to pet her or something.” She says while looking at me with judging eyes.

“Can you blame me!? She practically radiates an aura of ‘Hug me, I’m adorable’!”

“Well, she is adorable. But you have to admit that you have something of a problem. Your obsession with cute things is nearing dangerous levels. I am honestly worried that you are going to end up in jail or something.”

“I wouldn’t go that far…”

“Sure, you won’t.” She says, staring at me with judging eyes again.

“I won’t! I swear! Don’t look at me like I am some criminal. Besides, you’re so lucky. Getting to have such a cute girlfriend all for yourself. Getting to hug and pet her hair whenever you want. I’m so jealous!”

“… She’s not my girlfriend.” She says, looking away with a blush.

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“We’ve never confessed to each other… I’ve never even told her that I love her…”

“Wait, really!? You do know that she loves you right? She was even asking mom and some of the female soldiers for advice on how to get you in bed with her.”

Lain looks down and starts blushing enough that the red in her cheeks starts to show through the grey of her skin. Slowly she stammers out, “Ah, I… I know that she is in love me… I’m not blind. I just haven’t been able to ask her to be with me yet… Properly… I know that we already sort of have this… thing going between us. Hells, people keep referring to us as if we are already married, calling us Missus…”

She stops and looks at me nervously, “I just, have some things I need to do before I can take that last step… Then I will make it official…”

We stop walking on the sidewalk, and I tilt my head a bit as I look at her, “What do you have to do? I say just hurry up and do it. You two are really cute together.”

She runs her hand through her hair and gives me another awkward look, “Uhm, thanks. I’ll tell you in a bit. Let go to the park? I could use some of that coffee.”

“Sure.” I say with a shrug.

After a short walk, we finally reach the park. Walking next to each other, we go around the pond in its center. Lain doesn’t say much as we walk, instead choosing to look around at the scenery and the sky. There is a bit of an overcast today, but it doesn’t seem that it will rain. It has started to get colder though. Soon we will be in the Fall Season and the temperature has continued to slowly drop. Looking over at Lain, I marvel at the fact that she seems to be entirely comfortable with just walking around in nothing but a skirt and a t-shirt. My eyes can’t help but fall on the scars on her left arm, the only imperfections that I can find on her flawless grey skin. She notices me staring and turns to me while covering her arm with her hand.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing… So, you really don’t get cold anymore? I’m wearing a jacket, and I am already feeling chilly.”

“Oh, uh… No, not really. I can tell that it is cold out, but it just doesn’t bother me.” She says with a shrug, “Same with heat, I guess me biology is just weird…”

“It's not weird! Its honestly pretty cool. If anything, I’m jealous. This winter is probably going to be another really cold one. It would be awesome if I didn’t have to worry about getting cold.”

She gives me a smile, “Well, maybe in the future. Researchers basically told me that they want to make more people like me, only without actually saying it. Maybe you can be superhuman in the future to.”

She looks down and whispers something to herself that I can’t quite catch, before looking over towards the pond. “Hey, how about we go and sit over there on that bench. I could use a snack.”

“Alright, that sounds nice. Uh, sitting at the bench I mean. I would have to think about the whole turning super thing.”

“Ah ya… hahaha. At least you would get to choose…”

“Lain, I’m sorry…”

“No, no its alright. Sorry.”

We sit down on the bench, and I look at her, “Lain, are you alright? You’ve been looking a bit out of it. Is something the matter?”

“Uhh… Well, sort of. I just have a lot on my mind lately. Some stuff I want to get off my chest and talk about… But that can wait! Let's enjoy your lunch first, I wasn’t joking when I said that I could use some coffee.”

“Alright, when your ready you can tell me. I’m your sister now after all.” I tell her with a smile that she awkwardly returns.

For a nice while we simple sit there and look out at the pond as I eat my lunch and Lain nibbles away at a sandwich and sips her coffee. Occasionally, I will ask her some stuff, and she will answer my questions. She tells me all about her first mission with helping at the southern wall and I listen as we watch the geese swim in the lake. After telling me about it, we end up sitting in silence as I finish my food, until Lain finally breaks the quiet with a question and a joke.

“Hey, we would all be screwed if geese were to mutate, wouldn’t we? They would probably turn into dragons or something crazy like that…”

“Don’t joke around about that, it might actually happen. You know that I got bit by a goose once?”

“Really?”

“Ya. Field trip back in middle school. We went to a farm, and I really wanted to hug one of the baby geese. Its parents freaked out and chased me all over the place and bit me. I had to hide on the bus for the rest of the trip…”

“You really have a problem, you know that…?” She says laughing lightly.

“I know, I just can’t help it. Cute things are cute and need to be pet.” I tell her and laugh.

Eventually we stop and Lain looks out at the water. After a few moments she collects herself and speaks. “I… I had two things I wanted to talk with you about. But can you promise to keep it between the two of us?”

“Of course, I promise. What is it…?”