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Over the years, they'd had plenty of tender moments between them; it was nothing new, nothing strange. Leo and Virgo had always been close in the same ways Grayson and Elke were close, they had simply also always been more. The affection between the zodiacs ran deeper and different from the one between the two teenagers on the bench, and this was something that he'd always accepted as truth and never thought to question. Lately, though, things were changing whether he wanted them to or not; things inside of him were shifting, awakening to ideas that may have always been there but had never been allowed to be properly explored.

He held an affection for Elke not unlike the one he'd held for Jude, though what he felt for the slim blonde at his side was much more powerful and stable than anything that had grown for the blunette. Time was a factor, of course, though in the cosmic sense he'd known them both just as long -- never as well, because it had always been Leo and Virgo in some manner, but he'd known them both. Had he been asked six months ago if he would ever look down in Elke's familiar, trusting face and feel his chest tighten with something so sweet it was almost painful, he would have laughed.

She's my sister, he would have said, shaking his head and looking at the person like they were crazy. And that still rang true, still pushed its way from the back of his mind to assert that he was her big brother, her protector, her friend. Still, there was a voice as old as time itself that grumbled, deeply disapproving, that he was lying to himself.

Grayson had never been good at dealing with things that he didn't feel ready for. He was not ready to look at Elke as anything but what he'd always seen her for: his precious, precious sister, a young woman he adored and cherished but not in the ways that a lover would. This in mind, he ignored the brief stirring in his chest, simply reached for her hand and pulled her to her feet.

Just like that, the spell of the moment was gone. Whatever had fluttered between them dissipated and he felt better for it, smiling lazily as he agreed, "Better get home before Dad and Pop have a cow."

He glanced down the street, started off at an easy pace. "When you get ahold of him, let me know. We'll talk about it more later, but... I want to be there, if you want me there."