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What is romantic tension anyway, right? That’s the question I ask myself as I get around to writing this. Is it when Anna and Elsa gaze vaguely at each other, and they think thoughts that will later cause them to berate themselves about impurity or something?
Was it romantic tension when Elsa and Anna walked on eggshells around each other, each so worried that they would freak their sister out by being too touchy, staring too much, giving too many compliments?
Was it romantic tension when they would sit together at the dinner table and think about how they could possibly confess their feelings to one another? Maybe, I don’t know much about romantic tension.
What about after they managed to work up the courage to confess their feeling to one another? What about when Anna sat down with her sister on the couch and she stumbled through her words?
‘Elsa… I need to talk to you about something?’ she had said.
Elsa had looked at her, and Anna had been struck by her sister’s beauty. ‘You can tell me anything, Anna,’ Elsa had promised.
‘The thing is, Elsa,’ Anna had started, heart hammering in her chest. ‘The thing is that I really like you.’
Elsa’s heartrate had spiked, but she hadn’t been sure they were talking about the same thing. ‘I really like you too, Anna,’ she had said, and then added, like a fool: ‘we’re sisters, after all.’
‘But what if…’ Anna had struggled, sure she was about to ruin everything forever. ‘But what if I didn’t like you that way? What if I wanted… more?’
Elsa’s heart had managed to both leap and sink into her gut at the same time. ‘I… I might be happy,’ she had stuttered. ‘I might think that maybe, just maybe, my feelings were reciprocated.’
There had been clarifying questions, there had been clarifications. There had been happy, tentative kisses. Did that mean the romantic tension was resolved? Did that mean that everything was good?
Or is romantic tension a few days later when the sisters decided to go on a date? When Anna suggested that they go rock-climbing and Elsa suggested they go to that fancy new restaurant the next suburb over. Melbourne was gentrifying after all, there were fancy restaurants everywhere.
Was the romantic tension resolved when they agreed to go to the restaurant on Thursday evening and then go rock climbing on Saturday afternoon? They even went out for lunch of Saturday before rock climbing.
They sat in the restaurant on Thursday and they stared into each other’s eyes and they gave each other compliments and talked a little about it being weird to be finally doing this. And they kissed again, after they had left. They kissed again at home.
They felt gross and sweaty after rock-climbing, Elsa’s hands were still shaking when they got home. Anna gave her soothing kisses and a massage and they kissed even more.
Was it romantic tension when they sat on Elsa’s bed (she had a queen and Anna had a single), and looked into each other’s eyes and exchanged kisses and touches and things went places from there?
What about when they kept having little disagreements on places to go for dates? When they liked different things in bed? When they needed a little time apart (living with your new partner already could make things a bit much)?
How about when they snapped at each other after a long day at work? Was that resolved when they apologised profusely, when they made each other treats or gave each other massages?
Or was it romantic tension when they got into an argument about the comparative merits of Blake and Delacroix’s composition and use of shapes and colours?
I don’t know much about romantic tension, but they enjoyed the argument.