Cancer and Scorpio are the two deep pools of emotions in the zodiac and, together, they form an intuitive and investigative couple. The signs are really, really similar. Cancer is the crab and Scorpio is the scorpion. Both are armored. Both have claws. Both like to dig holes and hide in them. There’s a small difference between Cancer and Scorpio heavy people. Do you know what that difference is?

This is what I observe when I talk with my Cancer friends on the phone. I’m a Cancer Moon so I have this energy too. We talk for hours and hours. Let’s say I schedule a short phone call with a Cancer friend to just catch up. Three hours later, we’re still talking. Now, within that three hours, we may have bid farewell multiple times. “I’ll let you go, I have to go eat lunch,” one of us may say. “Yes, yes,” the other affirms. “What are you going to eat?” With that fatal question, the conversation doesn’t end but veers into the topic of our favorite foods for summer. We talk about food for another hour.

Another experience with another Cancer Sun friend—he reaches out again and again. “Thinking of you.” “Do you remember when we were young together?” “How is your mom?”

Cancer doesn’t like to let people go. It might say goodbye to you many times over but it still won’t hang up the phone. This style of meandering with you through long periods of time is how Cancer earns its own reputation for being such a deep thinker. Cancer goes deep with you because it also goes far with you. If you talk for three hours or ten years, you eventually learn everything about a person.

Scorpio is different. Scorpio is not trying to hang onto a phone call. Scorpio is ruled by Mars which is decisive and time critical. It usually does not have an issue hanging up the phone when they sense that a conversation is done.

However, Scorpio is also a deep thinker. How does Scorpio garner so much information about its own surroundings? Scorpio isn’t trying to talk for three hour segments of time. Instead, Scorpio is trying to ask the right questions right off the bat.

Scorpio is a precise animal. Scorpions are desert animals and, in a desert, water is actually very hard to come by. Why is Scorpio a water sign then? Think about it. Scorpio deals with the resourceful conservation of water. Scorpio lives in an environment where water, representing emotion, needs to be used very precisely.

That’s the difference between a crab and a scorpion, between Cancer and Scorpio. Crabs live at the shore. They are swimming in water, in their feelings. Scorpios live in the desert. They are trying to hold onto their feelings and to transform them into hydration at the right time.

Cancer is the Moon’s home while Scorpio is the Moon’s fall. Cancers love to feed and to share their feelings. Scorpios love to hold onto their feelings. When a Cancer is excited or upset, you’re going to know because that Cancer will make a big splash. When a Cancer comes to an emotionally transformative point, they tend to erupt with ideas and talk a lot at once. They do this as long as they’re in an environment where they’re comfortable. When a Scorpio gets excited or upset, they tend to go missing. If a Scorpio goes on a creative tangent or if they’re really mad, they tend to go into their lair to make a creative project or process things in privacy. Even if they are comfortable with you, they just need that privacy.

The differences between Cancer and Scorpio don’t cause that much tension. These signs are trined, meaning they complement one another. Scorpio will sometimes keep their feelings on lock but they actually want to be gently nudged into sharing. Cancer is exactly the type of person who likes to encourage the reluctant to open up. Cancers love to share their thoughts and Scorpios love to listen. Hearing Cancer share their vulnerabilities make Scorpio, who does want to know about your deepest and darkest fears, more comfortable.

In behavior, Cancer and Scorpio are very similar. Both Cancers and Scorpios are exceedingly patient. Cancers will make their presence known when they are waiting for you. Scorpios are more likely to hide themselves. You can see a crab when it’s perched on a rock hunting eels but you don’t see a scorpion hiding in your shoe. You know when a Cancer is waiting on their feelings for you but you don’t always know if a Scorpio has a crush on you. Cancer is following you around and chattering like a bubbling creek when they like you. Scorpio hides all of their emotions when they desire you.

Both Cancers and Scorpios have long memories. Cancer remembers that thing you did ten years ago. Scorpio does too. The difference is that Cancer is hanging onto their memories about you because of their own nostalgic enjoyment. Remember how you wore your hair when you were fifteen? Cancer reminds you because they like remembering your hair back then even if you cringe with embarrassment. Scorpio, on the other hand, is trying to read your whole psychology. They feel like they know more about you now because they know where you come from. A Scorpio isn’t likely going to remind you of what your old hairstyle is even though they remember.

Because both Cancer and Scorpio make great psychologists. They both like to watch and read people while hiding their own thoughts at least a little. Both Cancer and Scorpio like to study emotion almost as a science or art. They’re both kind of like the really investigative aunties who know a lot about everyone around them.

What happens when Cancer and Scorpio come together? A lot of psychological analysis. They like to talk about their families, about the hidden nuances of every sensation, like to build emotional worlds using the rhythm of expression and withholding. Both Cancer and Scorpio know how to make people feel a lot of things. They can make each other feel big feelings.

I do think that Scorpio tends to initiate things more. Scorpio, as the Moon’s exile, is actually looking for something that Cancer has the power to give—that something is emotional catharsis. Scorpio wants catharsis and Cancer is just doing it all the time, is laughing and crying and screaming all the time. Scorpio is the wish for emotional transformation and Cancer is the daily practice. Moreover, Scorpio is ruled by Mars. Mars likes to take the lead.

However, the flow of a Cancer and a Scorpio’s relationships hinges on the Cancer’s pace. As the Moon’s sign, Cancer can change their mind every single day. They’re a lot more uncertain about their decisions than Scorpio. Cancer doesn’t respond to Scorpio’s questions the same way every single time—this makes Scorpio more inquisitive about Cancer’s true nature. They feel like they want to study Cancer through more time so they can predict them eventually. Scorpio is a sign that can sometimes put up defenses unless they are more actively curious about you than they are in protecting themselves. Cancer is an uncanny knack for igniting Scorpio’s curiosity.