Rules of Hospitality

The Canterlot boardwalk was beautiful at Christmas time, with its gently falling snow and the dazzling decorations that lined every storefront, railing, and streetlamp. It was one of my favorite places in the whole city, a place where I could be alone without feeling alone, and a place that was always bright.

I shivered as the cold winter wind blew across the bay, and watched the dozens of ships, from zippy little runabouts, cabin cruisers, and cuddies, to large yachts belonging to the residents of the Gold Coast bob in the icy water.

Every one of them was decorated for the holidays too, and they cheered me up a little to see them all done up so brightly.

My winter coat was new, a present from my mom to celebrate my first date. It was long, trailing to just above my ankles, and a deep, lovely shade of violet. I had my hair tucked into a black beanie with the Sparkle family crest on it, a six-pointed star that apparently dated back to some old noble family, but I never looked into it.

I’d gotten my glasses fixed two days ago, but occasionally I imagined I could still see the crack.

It had only been four days since the debacle with Sunset at the Note and, if I’m being honest, it still haunted me.

I keep seeing her face, twisted like it was, furious and vengeful. I’ve never had anyone look at me with that kind of naked anger before, and it terrified me.

And when she hit me-

“Hey Twi’!”

I snapped out of my darker wanderings and looked up. Sonata was practically skipping towards me, beaming that bright, beautiful smile of hers.

I’d come to the conclusion that while Sonata might be just ‘pretty’, her smile was definitely beautiful.

For the first time since I’d met her, Sonata was dressed in something other than her sharp, cleanly pressed bartender uniform. She was wearing a jacket of arctic blue that matched the overall tone of her hair, and was tailored to fit her modest curves in the most flattering way. The same could be said of her jeans that were padded against the cold and stitched with patches of various insignias, a few I recognized from TV shows and others from video games.

Most notably was her belt that had a heavy metal buckle forming the face of a snarling wolf.

She was also wearing her hair down, with her bangs kept neatly clipped to the side and the rest of her hair falling down her back like an icy cascade.

“Hey ‘Nata,” I closed the distance between us and embraced her, and as we pulled away I felt my cheeks warming. “How was your day?”

“Dunno, I woke up, like, an hour ago,” Sonata said with a guileless grin. “How was yours?”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little. “It was fine… my mom hasn’t left me alone since I told her we were going out, but I know it’s just because she cares.”

“So uhm…” Sonata looked down and I realized we hadn’t moved apart, I was pressed up against her still, and the blush on my cheeks deepened. “W-would you mind if I kissed you again?”

I don’t think I could have kept the smile off of my face if I tried.

With Sonata being a bit taller than me, I had to go up on my toes, but I managed to put a small kiss on her lips. I felt her smile against me and, feeling daring, I kissed her again.

This time I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, holding myself up and letting the kiss linger a little longer. I let myself feel the warmth and softness of Sonata’s mouth and felt my heart do backflips as she gently held me, seemingly content to return the affection.

“I really like doing that,” I giggled and I held myself close to her. “Uhm, if it’s okay with you, I mean.”

“Twi’, look at me,” Sonata said seriously, her face becoming a mask of intensity. “You are totally welcome to kiss me, any time, forever.”

The mask cracked an instant later and Sonata started giggling, and I started laughing right along with her. There was something infectious about her laugh, it wasn’t like Pinkie’s boisterous chortling that, I’ll be honest, sometimes got to be a bit much for me, it was a lighter and fluffier sound that tickled me and got me smiling immediately.

Sonata stepped away shyly as her mirth died down, and then gingerly offered me her arm.

“So… wanna walk?” Sonata asked with a smile.

I linked my arm with hers and snuggled in close by way of response. If I’m being honest, I was starting to see why everyone was always so excited about going on dates.

“Can I be honest, ‘Nata?” I started, feeling my mood sinking and compensated by drawing closer to her.

“Always,” Sonata replied in a softer, more serious tone.

“I-feel-like-a-fraud!” I said the words in a burst of noise that actually seemed to startle Sonata a little bit.

“W-Why?” Sonata looked down at me with blank surprise on her face.

“Because all this time I’ve been avoiding relationships and romance and stuff,” I grumbled, gripping Sonata’s arm a little tighter as I did, “and making my friends tiptoe around me when it comes to topics like sex, and then out of nowhere I go and get a girlfriend!”

“Ooh! We’re girlfriends now?!” Sonata chirped happily. “I’da been happy with just the date!”

“‘Nata, focus, please,” I said sullenly, and she ducked her head, looking chastised. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap, it’s just… it’s kind of been eating at me, like, was I wrong about myself?”

“Just because you don’t wanna have sex doesn’t mean you don’t want to be with someone who makes you happy,” Sonata said quietly, turning slightly to put a kiss on my forehead. “And… I want to make you happy, I like it when you’re happy.”

“Where’s the line, though?” I shifted uncomfortably before moving my hand around to link with hers, twining our fingers together.

I’d never really realized how comforting it would be just to hold hands with someone.

To be able to lean against them, feel their warmth, and not feel like I was about to be propositioned or something. The total lack of expectation with Sonata was more comfortable than I had expected it to be, but maybe that should’ve been more obvious after years of people constantly asking after when I was going to get a date.

They didn’t phrase it like that, and I know most of the people in my life meant well when they asked stuff like that, but it always made me feel self-conscious. Questions like that just made me feel like I was doing something wrong, but Sonata… not only have I never felt that way talking to her, I don’t think she’d ever make me feel like that.

Cliche as it was: Sonata made me feel safe.

“I don’t like figuring out who I am and then figuring out I was wrong, y'know?” I said the words a little bitterly, and Sonata gave my hand a squeeze.

“You weren’t wrong, Twi’,” Sonata said as we came to a stop by a pier that had dozens of people walking along it, admiring the decorations. “There’s a difference between wanting sex, and just wanting to be squishy and cute with someone.”

Sonata gestured out to all the people.

“See?” She continued. “Most of these folks are just being romantic and adorable, right? They're not screwing on the pier, they wanted something other than sex.”

“That assumes they’re not just gonna go home and go at it,” I replied dryly.

“Nuh-uh,” Sonata shook her head. “Doesn’t matter what they do after, because it’s two different things, y’know? I mean yeah, maybe they want the romantic stuff and the sexy stuff,” then she turned to me, smiling down at me as she did, “but maybe they don’t, there’s no reason you can’t just want the cute walk on the pier and not the bedroom stuff.”

“Romance versus sex, huh?” I rolled the thought around in my head a little before nodding. “I guess that makes sense, I’d always conflated the two in my head, but I suppose there’s no real reason for them to be considered the same thing.”

“Because they’re not,” Sonata said, and this time it was her turn to sound sullen.

“Hey,” I moved around to face Sonata and reached up to lay my hands on her cheeks and pull her down into a soft kiss. “I’m sorry I’m being such a downer,” I said as we parted, “I’m just…”

“A really loud thinker?” Sonata ventured playfully.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I agreed with a small laugh. “Every time I get stuck on something it fills my head up like an echo chamber.”

“Then talk to me about it,” Sonata said brightly. “I could listen to you talk forever!”

I felt my heart swell in my chest and my cheeks start to warm.

“I… I’m really happy, ‘Nata,” I said with a laugh, “it sounds so corny and dumb but you have no idea how happy I am right now!”

“You say that like you’ve never been happy before,” Sonata said it like a joke, but I could hear the undercurrent of concern in her voice. “You okay, Twi’?”

I nudged my glasses up and wiped my eyes with my sleeves, I could feel the gentle burn of tears trying to make their way to my cheeks.

“I feel like I’m having an allergic reaction,” I said with a dry laugh. “Like I’m allergic to being this stupidly happy.” I stepped in closer and wrapped my arms around Sonata completely, hugging her hard and burying my head against her chest. “I’m kind of a miserable person by nature, honestly, so uh, sorry about that in advance.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Sonata asked after a few minutes of me hugging the stuffing out of her. “I’ll listen.”

“I know you will,” I said softly, then I took a few deep breaths, stepped back, and said: “I was… bullied really badly growing up, like, constantly bullied, and I’m pretty sure it gave me a complex.”

Sonata took my hand and guided me over to a bench that lay under an awning near a street lamp, and we sat down.

“What happened?”

I swallowed hard and shrugged, trying and failing to look nonchalant.

“Kid stuff, I guess,” I replied after a moment. “They’d push me around, make fun of me, I’d get picked on because I was smaller and kind of a know-it-all as a kid.” I scooted closer to her as I spoke, and felt that old pain rearing up in my chest. “As I got older, it got worse, though.”

I shuddered, remembering my hellish middle school experience.

“I’d get picked on and made fun of by, like, a lot of kids,” I couldn’t stop talking, as soon as I started the words just fell out of me. “Some of them would hit me or steal my books, or worse… I’d get bullied out of the cafeteria and wouldn’t be able to eat lunch, and even hallways weren’t safe, eventually the only place I felt comfortable was the library.”

Sonata just hugged me harder and I let out a frustrated sob.

“Ugh, I’m sorry I’m so bad at this,” I pulled my glasses off and wiped at eyes again. “It’s our first date and I’m just… ruining it.”

“No, you’re not,” Sonata said firmly, turning to face me on the bench. “Why the heck would learning more about the girl I’m dumb for be ‘ruining’ our date?”

“Because I’m blotchy and snotty when I cry?” I replied, sniffling as I pulled a tissue from my pocket and started to wipe at my face.

“Here, let me.”

Sonata took the tissue and started carefully cleaning me up, and for a moment I was mortified. The moment lasted right up until I saw the look on her face; the calm smile and her gentle eyes as she wiped the tears from my cheeks and even under my nose.

Balling up the tissue, she underhanded it into the bin nearby before turning back to me and pulling me into her arms.

“See? Nothing’s ruined,” Sonata said as she snuggled against me.

“I… I guess anyone who can wipe up my nasty ‘crying face’ and still want to cuddle me afterward gets the benefit of the doubt,” I admitted with a small laugh. “God I’m a mess.”

“Everyone’s a mess,” Sonata said quietly. “Some people are just better at hiding it.”

I nodded and, for what felt like an hour, we just sat together and watched the world drift by. Couples moved to and fro on the boardwalk, and the snow fell lightly over everything, dusting their footprints in faded white.

For a while, it felt like the world had stopped moving. I rested my head against Sonata’s shoulder and she rested against me, and I found her hand with mine. I loved the feeling of her fingers linking up with mine. They felt like puzzle pieces that had slid together in just the right way. I especially loved the way she would occasionally turn and nuzzle against my hair, reminding me she was still awake.

Once, as she turned her head again, I turned mine too to stare up into those bright berry eyes of hers, and just… bathed in her smile.

“What’s up?” Sonata asked quietly.

“Kiss me,” was all I said, then leaned up towards her.

Sonata met me with her lips. I wasn’t sure how good of a kisser I was, and I certainly wasn’t in a position to judge if anyone else was any kind of expert, but I at least feel confident in saying that, whether or not she was very good, Sonata definitely had lips that were made for a good kiss.

Sonata’s mouth was wonderfully soft, and her lips matched up nicely against mine, and her nose tickled against mine playfully as she moved with me.

I let my hand find a place to rest on her waist, and felt her slim fingers trail along my neck and cheek. I liked that Sonata thought I was pretty… I don’t know if I agree with it, but I liked it.

As we pulled back, Sonata giggled and nuzzled the tip of her nose against mine, drawing a laugh from me.

“Yup, I still like kissing you,” Sonata said pointedly. “You’re a lot of fun to kiss.”

“That’s good because I’m pretty boring otherwise,” I said with a nervous laugh.

“No, you’re not,” Sonata replies, her voice firm. “You’re filled with light, Twi’! You shine so much!”

“What does that even mean?” I asked with a wry smile. “I’m pretty sure I’m not radioactive.”

“Technically, we’re all radioactive,” Sonata pointed out, to which I conceded the point, “but that’s not what I meant.”

Sonata shifted backwards a bit and took my hands, playfully running her thumbs over my palms.

“Even without our magic, my sisters and I can sense things about people,” Sonata leaned back on the bench and took my hand. “Aria is good at sensing emotional intensity,” I cocked my head questioningly at that. “More intense emotions are more filling,” she explained. “And Adagio is good at grasping the subtle overall mood of an area or crowd, which kept us out of a lot of trouble.”

“What are you good at?” I asked, feeling drawn in. It’s not every day you get to learn about the perceptive abilities of an alien species.

“Depth, I think,” Sonata replied uncertainly. “I don’t really know though, I just see people and some of them just shine… I don’t really know what it means other than that they’re incredible people, or they will be.”

“Will be?” I thought of Pinkie’s odd knack for ‘knowing’ things. “Are… are Sirens precognitive?”

Sonata shook her head. “No, at least I’m not, it’s more like I have a sense of where they’re going…”

“Like potential?” I wanted to be writing all of this down, but I hadn’t brought my notepad. “You can see what they’re capable of?”

“Maybe,” Sonata allowed, “or maybe it’s just that people with deeper emotions have the drive to be… more.” She turned to me again and smiled. “Like you, you shine so bright that I can’t look away.”

“I also may or may not have tried to destroy the world by tearing open unstable portals to other dimensions,” I grumbled.

“Sounds to me like you were just trying to escape,” Sonata replied quietly.

Her comment stopped me cold.

For years I’d lived with the guilt of what I’d almost done. The fabric of the space-time continuum had almost unraveled because of me, and I’d done it the moment I’d gotten my hands on power.

I barely remembered any of it, honestly, it was just a blur of manic activity and poor impulse control. I wanted to leave this world behind, desperately, it disgusted me in a way I can’t really describe anymore.

Vaguely, I remember looking at the world around me in contempt. I remember feeling how fragile everything was, and how all it would take was a snap of my finger and I could unravel whole portions of space. I remember…

I remember wanting to leave.

“I never thought about it like that,” I admitted in a small voice. “I only ever really thought about all the destruction I had caused,” I stared down at my hands and for a brief moment I could see the deep, dark violet skin of Midnight, “and how all it took was me getting my hands on power.”

“Power doesn’t make scared people less scared,” Sonata said in a voice that sounded much closer to her true age. “It just makes them more dangerous.”

“I… I made a mistake,” I sobbed, feeling my gut clench in shame. “And the only one who understood me was Sunset because… because she did the same thing, and I felt so relieved to be her friend!” I leaned against Sonata and let her wrap her arms around me as I cried. “She never blamed me, and she saved me! She was proof that, even though I messed up, I could be forgiven!”

I was such a mess. I hated how miserable I was being but somehow it didn’t seem to matter to Sonata. She just stayed with me, lending me her shoulder and her arms as my panic rolled through me.

“What if I’ve lost her forever, ‘Nata?!” My voice cracked as I rubbed at my face under my glasses. “What if I screwed this up forever?”

“I dunno, Twi’, I’m a Siren…” she pulled me close and sighed, “friendship isn’t really our thing, y’know? But I think she’s as messed up as you over this thi-”

Sonata froze, her eyes widening slightly as she went rigid and I watched a shiver go up her spine. Achingly slowly, she turned her head this way and that as if she were feeling for something more than looking. Sonata’s eyes were half-glazed and distant, and I felt an odd sense of worry well up inside me.

“Hey, ‘Nata?” I took her hand again and squeezed it. “You okay?”

“Why is she here?” Sonata whispered, and I saw a faint tightness around her eyes appear, the only hint of strain on her face.

“Who?” I asked quietly, scanning around us, “who’s he-”

“Seriously, Ari’, what’s your deal tonight?”

Now it was my turn to freeze.

Sunset Shimmer’s voice broke through the crowds as I turned my attention to the people around us, and she was clearly coming towards us. A quick glance in the direction of that familiar voice was all I needed to confirm the orange beanie and red-and-gold hair mixed into the crowd.

There didn’t appear to be anyone with her, but the crowds were tight enough that her shorter girlfriend was probably just obscured. Most likely the two were walking side-by-side, and I knew without a doubt that they’d be all but in front of us in less than a minute.

“C’mon,” Sonata tightened her grip on my hand and tugged me along with her, ducking low as she did and gesturing for me to follow suit.

We stayed below the line of the crowd as Sonata sidled around with eerie accuracy, as if she knew precisely where her sister and Sunset were at any given moment. Moreover, as we moved I realised she wasn’t just moving us about randomly, she was keeping us clear and putting us behind the two of them.

I turned to Sonata I followed her lead, intent on asking what was going on, when I realised something else.

Sonata was humming.

It was faint, almost impossibly quiet, but she was humming softly and as she did her eyes remained glazed over, as if she weren’t using them at all.

“Ari’, c’mon,” Sunset’s voice grumbled over the general murmur of the crowd. “Stop… Stop! What is your problem?!”

“My problem, Red, is that I fucked up!” Aria finally spoke up, her voice tense and angry. “Seriously, seriously, fucked up!”

Sonata pulled us into the lee of a street lamp where a small crowd was oohing and ahhing at the boats just as Sunset pulled Aria out of the crowd to the edge of the boardwalk where they leaned against the railing.

Aria looked as tense and pissed off as she had sounded.

She was wearing a long coal winter jacket similar to mine in style, and her hair was pulled back in a low tail and kept in check by her seemingly omnipresent green ballcap. Her eyes and mouth betrayed her mood, though, with the tense lines showing up as she stared out over the icy bay of Canterlot.

Sunset, on the other hand, just looked confused and concerned as she pulled her black leather jacket around her and moved closer to Aria.

“C’mon, babe, talk to me… what’s going on?” Sunset asked in a more gentle voice.

“We should go,” Sonata said softly, tugging at my hand. “Twi’?”

I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay and listen, to hear what Sunset and Aria had to say when they weren’t actively getting ready to beat my face in. I also wanted to know why Aria seemed so rattled… I’d never seen her like that.

Well, not counting the time Sonata had wiped the floor with her, I guess.

“Twi’, please,” Sonata pleaded, tugging a little more urgently.

“We’re fine, ‘Nata, they can’t see us, and the wind is wrong for them to hear us,” I assured her, patting her hand but not looking back at her.

“What did you fuck up?” Sunset asked.

“I picked that stupid fight with Twilight, Red,” Aria snarled. “She got huffy and took a jab at you, I took it personally and treated her like crap, and she snapped at me, and Sonata had to pull us apart! It was my fault.”

“She attacked you,” Sunset said in a deadly voice. “She tried to hurt you… I don’t care who provoked who, okay? Nobody but nobody hurts you! EVER!”

Aria groaned and kicked at the snow at her feet. “Yeah, fuck, I get it, okay? I’d probably be doing the same thing if it'd been you, but you’re not hearing me, here!”

“What am I not hearing?” Sunset’s voice was growing tired as she gestured.

“Sonata pulled us apart!” Aria hissed, and Sonata’s tugging became more insistent.

“Please!” Sonata begged, “please can we just go?”

“What’s the big deal?” Sunset asked with a shrug. “The last time we went to a bar you flipped a dude twice your size into a dumpster for getting handsy on me, and Adagio is jacked to next week… I figure Sonata can take care of herself too, right?”

“That’s not my point,” Aria hissed, grabbing Sunset by her lapels and catching her girlfriend off guard. “I crossed a line, okay? Y’know how I know?” Sunset just shook her head. “I know because I made Sonata mad, got it? Sonata doesn’t get mad unless you really fuck up.”

“This is Sonata, though,” Sunset said with a small laugh.

Aria’s expression didn’t get any less severe.

“Sunset,” Aria said darkly, “I need you to know something, alright? I love my little sister, I would kill for her, die for her, hell… I’d even apologise to her.”

“Twilight, please,” now Sonata was basically pulling on me, trying to drag me away from them, but I pulled back.

“Stop it, ‘Nata!" I snapped, finally looking back at her. I want to hear the-!”

Tears were streaming down Sonata’s face as she gripped my hand tightly, her chest was heaving with the effort of keeping her sobs in, and I felt my ire drain out of me in an instant.

“But when Sonata gets serious,” Aria's voice continued, “she gets crazy dangerous.”

What?

I looked back, certain I’d heard that wrong. Aria was dangerous, that was obvious, and Adagio had basically threatened to disembowel me in the middle of the Lounge if I wronged her sister, but I had sort of expected that from the ‘protective elder sibling’ point of view.

But Sonata? Dangerous?

“What?” Sunset said with a small laugh, unknowingly agreeing with me. “You’re joking, right?” she looked around as if expecting a camera to come out of the crowd and announce that she was being pranked. “Sonata? Your baby sister Sonata? The one gentle Siren?”

Aria scowled. “My ‘baby sister’ might be the nicest, brightest, most gentle soul in the world, but she still has a bigger body count behind her than my sister and I combined.”

I turned slowly to look back at Sonata who was staring at me with stark terror writ across her face.

“Sonata?” I said quietly. “W-... what’s she talking about?”

“Please don't hate me!” Sonata sobbed almost incoherently, “I’m sorry!”

Then she was gone, turning on her heel and bolting through the crowd and out into the city.

Panic surged through my chest as I lost sight of Sonata, and I made my decision in that instant. I didn’t care what else Sunset had to say, or Aria, or anyone else for that matter. I cared about Sonata, and Sonata was sprinting in the opposite direction looking more scared than I think I’ve ever seen any single person in the world look.

Running on adrenaline, I pushed and elbowed my way through the crowds, keep my head low and muttering apologies as I did.

I managed to pull free of the crowds a few moments later and scanned frantically for the familiar wavering tail of arctic blue hair. I could myself panicking, my breath coming in heaves, and my heart pounding as I desperately tried to catch sight of her.

“Calm down,” I muttered to myself, “calm down… you’ve gotta calm down.”

Sonata might have had a point about relying entirely on logic, but keeping a cool head had a variety of benefits in a crisis. I was an old hand at repressing my panicked emotions, and that came in handy as I took several deep, calm, and controlled breaths, and focused.

What do I know about Sonata? Not much, but I have more data than I probably need. What does she like, what does she hate? What brings her comfort?

Extrapolate.

I scanned the area as I walked, keeping my eyes low for signs near or below ground level. Since I’d exchanged numbers with Sonata officially, I’d learned a lot of things about her profession.

Namely: the best bars are underground.

A sign caught my eye, black-bordered with a stylised red rose in the grasp of a black raven, both on a field of white with a set of stairs going down into a basement level entrance. Stairs that had a single set of footprints still fresh on the fallen snow that were smudged and unsteady as if their owner had been running and trying to keep their footing on the icy ground.

“Eat that, Sherlock,” I muttered with a smirk as I made my way across the mostly-empty street.

The sidewalk adjoining the stairwell led down to a small landing and a heavy-looking metal door. Raven & Rose was written in small script across it and nothing else, but had no other markers signifying it as a drinking establishment; just a details-spare sign and a few words.

I walked up to the door and pushed, and I had to brace my shoulder against the weight of the door to lever it open. It cracked and I slipped inside, and the temperature went from freezing to warm, dry, and comfortable. Everything in the bar was done up in shades of dark woods, from the long bar to the barstools, to the narrow booths and cushioned chairs.

Everything in the small bar radiated comfort.

And in one of the booths at the far end I saw a mop of arctic blue hair, still damp with snowmelt, huddled over and leaning on the table.

The bartender eyed me for a few moments, then looked over at Sonata, then back at me, shrugged, and went back to polishing the bartop. I took that as a sign that I was allowed to come in and made my way quietly over to Sonata who still looked insensate.

I stopped a good foot or two behind her, waffling on how to approach her. Or rather, on how to address what Aria had said. I didn’t have the right to hear that, not like that, not from someone else’s lips rather than Sonata’s. She had confided a few of the things that she and her sisters had been up to over the centuries, and it was a little mind-boggling to comprehend.

Nothing that suggested any truth to what Aria had claimed, though.

Of course, if it was true than I probably wouldn’t be super thrilled to discuss it with my potential significant other either.

After another moment of dilly-dallying, I decided that maybe this time discretion was not the better part of valor, and just reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey ‘Nata,” I said softly, and she stiffened. “I’ll… I’ll leave if you want me to but… I had to make sure you were okay.”

“Why?” Sonata asked in a small voice.

“Because… well, why wouldn’t I?” I said after a moment of thinking the matter over. “Seriously, why wouldn’t I?”

“You heard what my sister said,” Sonata replied, still not looking back at me.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to ask this question, but I knew it needed to be asked regardless, so I just bit the bullet.

“Is it true?”

Sonata nodded sullenly in response.

I wasn’t sure how to take that. On the one hand it meant she trusted me enough to admit the truth, on the other hand, it was kind of existentially terrifying to consider the implications of what Sonata may or may not have been involved in during her life.

“Do you want me to tell you about it?” Sonata asked, her voice gray and hollow.

I moved around to her side and knelt beside her, reaching out to take her hand and grip it. Her fingers were freezing, and her hands were shaking badly, and I pulled them up to my lips and kissed them softly.

“Yes… and no,” I replied. “I mean, what kind of scholar would I be if I didn’t want to know, right?” I felt her tense again, but before she could pull away I continued. “But I don’t care about that right now, alright?”

Sonata turned to look at me, her eyes red and puffy with tears.

“I… I did a bad thing, Twi’,” she said in a voice so small I barely heard it. “I did a really bad thing.”

“So did I,” I replied quietly. “But you still like me, right?”

Sniffling, Sonata wiped at her messy face with one sleeve, then nodded with a weak smile. “I… I sure do.”

“I would ather never know what happened,” I said, feeling my voice quake and crackle with emotion, “than know that I hurt you, ‘Nata, o-okay?”

For several moments, Sonata just stared at me with her eyes red and her nose runny. A few times she swallowed audibly, opened her mouth like she was going to say something, then shut it as whatever she was thinking vanished between her mind and her mouth.

Through it all, I never let go of her hand, and she never pulled away. And eventually she scooted back in the booth and pulled me onto the seat next to her.

“You really don’t care?” Sonata finally broke her silence, and I responded with a smile.

“I guess I don’t,” I said shakily, adjusting my glasses a little. “I mean, I’m definitely curious, but I wouldn’t want people to judge me for coming within licking distance of the apocalypse so… I’m willing to call it a blank slate if you are.”

Sonata inched closer to me, wrapping her arms around me and burying her face against the crook of my neck, and I felt her shudder for several moments as I returned the hug by patting her back awkwardly. She took several deep breaths before regaining her composure and pulling back from me, wiping at her eyes a few more times as she did.

“So… a-are we still girlfriends?” Sonata asked.

I smiled and blushed.

“Yeah… yeah, I think we’re still girlfriends,” I replied, then laughed a little nervously. “A~nd speaking of which, my mom and dad might have wanted to, uh, maybe invite you over to spend Christmas Eve with us, if you aren’t busy with your sisters.”

Sonata took both of my hands in hers and smiled that cute, radiant little smile of hers before tugging me closer and meeting my lips with a soft, chaste kiss.

“I’d love to,” Sonata murmured as she held me tightly. “And I’ll tell you, eventually, okay? I just… I need to get it straight in my head first.”

“I’ll wait,” I said quietly. “I trust you.”

“Thank you,” Sonata hugged me a little tighter.

“So… can I ask a different question?” I said after a moment, and Sonata pulled back to look at me with a faint look of worry.

“Uhm, sure, I guess,” she replied after a moment of consideration.

“How did you know that they were there?” I asked, shifting in my seat to get more comfortable. “Aria and Sunset, I mean, and how did you keep track of them?”

Sonata brightened considerably at the question, and her smile returned in force.

“Oh that’s easy,” she said with a laugh as she signaled for the bartender. “Remember how I said the three of us are kinda good at different things, and that I can see emotions as a sort of… shine?”

“Yeah,” I replied cautiously. “So you tracked them by their shine?”

“Well, yeah, kind of,” Sonata made a little circular waving motion with her hand. “Sunset shines a lot, like, she’s stupid-easy to see, but my sisters are even easier.”

“You guys shine, too?” I asked, feeling excited again as she explained.

“Nope! We’re the opposite!” Sonata replied with a laugh as the bartender approached. “Two gin and tonics,” Sonata said, breaking for off for a moment before turning back to me, “Siren’s absorb ambient emotions, taking in the energy people give off, right? So we’re more like black holes, or cold spots… and Aria is kind of a glutton, so whenever she’s nearby I can feel all the emotional energy in the area start getting yoinked towards her.”

“I’m almost certain that when humanity imagined having alien senses explained to them,” I said dryly, “they probably never thought it would involve the word ‘yoinked’.”

“Sounds like a you problem,” Sonata quipped with a smile, as our drinks were set in front of us.

Sonata took the glass up in her hand and held it up, and I rolled my eyes but mirrored her gesture, taking up my own glass and clinking it against hers.

“To Twilight,” Sonata said brightly, and I blushed, “the cutest nerd in the world.”

“You’re awful,” I mumbled, my cheeks reddening as I took a sip of my drink.

It was… okay.

I lowered the drink, a little disappointed as I stared down into the sparkling liquid. It certainly looked nice but there was something… missing from it. Something about it wasn’t quite right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“He shook it,” Sonata said, her lip curling with disdain. “Blech… I can’t believe he shook it.”

“What?”

“Gin,” Sonata said, holding up the glass. “You never shake gin, it’s delicate, and shaking it shreds the flavor!” she looked back down at the glass sadly before taking another drink. “It’s good gin too… what a waste, why would you even shake anything for a gin and tonic?”

I sat across from her, silently listening to her rant as I sipped at the drink. It wasn’t all that bad, but I suppose I probably didn’t have the same palate that Sonata had. It tasted a little off but it wasn’t the end of the world, and I was perfectly happy just listening to her talk with her usual animation.

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” Sonata had been on a real roll with her rant when she suddenly clammed up and sagged back a little. “I get really worked up about cocktails and stuff, it’s stupid.”

“No it’s not!” I said with a degree of intensity that even caught me off guard. “I like listening to you talk! I like it when you’re excited about stuff! It’s… it’s cute.”

I tugged on Sonata’s hand, draping her arm over my shoulder and sidled closer to her as I did until I was I nestled warmly against her, stilling holding her hand as I took a deep breath and relaxed.

“Keep talking?” I asked quietly.

I swear I saw tears in Sonata’s eyes, but they were gone a moment later as she nodded excitedly.

“Yeah,” Sonata replied, smiling. “Okay, so… gin is really delicate because its flavor comes from juniper berries, right? And it gets sweeter as it gets colder but if you shake gin then…”

I nodded, closing my eyes as I listened to her explain the ins and outs of proper management of alcohol. Sonata had such a nice voice, especially when she was excited about something. I remember not long ago she told me she loved listening to me talk, and at the time it seemed kind of silly. But if her listening to me talk felt anything like I did now then… well, maybe she had a point.