Lyn laid on the couch as she stared into her white, stippled ceiling. The morning sun had peeked its way into the room, illuminating the tiny bumps and patterns that she had memorized over the night. Her stomach was growling, and her head was throbbing from the lack of sleep, but right now, nothing mattered more than her ongoing staring contest with the ceiling.

Until Irene's disapproving face popped into her view.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" she grumbled, dropping a broom onto Lyn. "If you're awake, at least help with the cleaning."

Lyn caught the broom and heaved herself up.

"Irene..."

Irene frowned. "What's wrong with you? Bad hangover?"

"Not really."

Lyn leaned on the couch and massaged her head. Once again, the memories from last night flooded her brain, followed by a wave of regret, guilt, and what-the-fuck-have-I-done-ness. She gulped; her mouth felt as though it was filled with coarse sand.

"So, I kissed Cinna last night," she muttered.

This was a sentence she had longed to utter, but never in her life would she have ever imagined herself feeling this terrible while saying it.

Irene's frown deepened. "Oh, good for you, I guess? Why do you look so sad about it? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"Did she not want to kiss you?"

"I- I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Geez, Lyn, did you kiss her without asking?"

Lyn rubbed her face. "I didn't mean to... She did kiss me back though, and then pulled me in for a second kiss."

"Hm, alright." Irene folded her arms and rested on the couch. "So are you two, like, together now?

"I don't know." Lyn closed her eyes for a while, before looking up at the dark-skinned woman. "But, you know how Cinna has those scars on her arms?"

"Argh, not this again. Stop harping on it. It's honestly not that big of a deal. Cyd's a fighter, you know? She's bound to have some injuries."

"You don't understand, it's not just a few scars..." Lyn's voice croaked in anguish as she recalled the dreadful image she saw yesterday. Her heart was once again pierced with a torrent of needles. "I- I don't know if I should be sharing this, but Cinna... she's been hiding a lot more scars, so, so much more. It's so bad, Irene. It's such a crazy amount that I'm- I'm sure it's not from her being a fighter anymore. It's- It's on the level of... I don't know, abuse? Torture?"

"Seriously?" Irene's expression went from annoyance to concern. "Where?"

Lyn gestured around her body. "All over. She's hiding them under her shirt."

"That's terrible," Irene said with a grimace.

"I know! I want to fucking kill whoever did this to her. God, just thinking about it now makes me angry all over again."

"Count me in; I'll help you. But anyway," —Irene's eyes flickered towards her with a glint of amusement.— "the fact you saw that, means she took off her clothes for you, huh. Did you guys do more than just kissing then? I want to hear all about it."

"Oh, well, about that... I sort of..." Lyn lowered her head; the shame that had grown exponentially over the night was pressing down on her, crushing her entire body. "I sort of just... erm... pulled up her shirt to look..."

Irene blinked. It took her some time to register what she had heard before she exploded. "You what?"

"Yeah, I don't know why I—"

"Why the fuck would you do that?"

Irene's outburst caused Lyn to lift her hands and cover her head instinctively.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I- I was so angry that I... lost control of myself. Those scars felt so bad that I lost control. I- I wasn't thinking. I even lost control of my magic for a bit... and then Cinna slapped me and ran off after that..."

Her left cheek was still stinging. She wondered if there was a mark; if so, she probably deserved it.

Irene ground her teeth and punched her in the arm. "What the fuck, Lyn... You're terrible."

"I know I am..." Lyn winced as she put her arms down. "What should I do, Irene?"

"What kind of question is that? Go apologize to Cyd first!"

"Of course I'm gonna do that. I mean, what should I do about her scars? I don't think she's gonna tell me where she got it but I want to find out who did—"

"Oh my God, Lyn, shut! The! Fuck! Up!" With every sentence, Irene whacked Lyn on the head.

Lyn yelped in pain. "Dude, what the h—"

"No, you keep your mouth shut! First, you kissed her without asking? Then, you pulled up her clothes? Now all you think about is her scars?"

"I told you, Irene, you don't understand. You haven't seen them for yourself—"

"It doesn't matter if I've seen them or not! All I know is that it's all your fault Cyd is hiding her scars!"

"What? Why would it be my f—"

"Because you're so fucking whiny about Cyd all the damn time! You think you're trying to protect her but you're literally just being so goddamn annoying and coddling, always blowing everything out of proportions! Look, if you don't want to see her get hurt ever, then why did you even let her into the team in the first place, huh? Why did you even ask her to leave her safe little cafe job?"

"I... I just..." Lyn felt her face turning hot as she whispered, "I just wanted to be with her."

"Oh wow, you're doing a great job then, really, 'cause you literally just chased her away forever!"

Lyn let out a soft whimper before burying her head in between the couch cushions.

"I did chase her away forever, didn't I..." she mumbled, a lump of dread growing inside her chest.

A knock came at their door, and they exchanged an inquisitive look.

"Who's here on a Saturday morning?" Lyn asked.

"Could it be Cyd?"

The possibility of Cydney being at the door drove Lyn to leap out from the couch and fly to the door.

"Cin— Oh, Millie? What are you doing—"

"Explain yourself, Lyn!" the tanned-skin woman demanded. Her usual cheerful face was distorted with anger, and her brown, curly hair looked like it was trembling along with the rest of her body.

"W- What?"

Lyn had never seen Millie angry before. In fact, she had never seen her even get mildly annoyed over anything before. But now, as she quivered under the conjurer's enraged glower, Lyn made a mental note to herself to never, ever, piss Millie off.

"Why did you call Cyd ugly?" Millie grabbed Lyn's arms and continued her interrogation.

Lyn had to stop herself from shrieking; Millie's grip was surprisingly strong, while her long nails dug into her flesh.

"W- What are you talking about? I- I would never say something like that!"

"Stop lying! I found her crying on the streets after your party last night, and she told me you think she's ugly!"

"She was... crying?" Lyn's voice cracked. To think that she had wished for Cydney to be happy and not cry alone in the streets again, but here she was, being the reason for her tears.

"Dude, why would you call her ugly," Irene interjected, "especially after looking at her body without her consent? What's wrong with you?"

"You what?" Millie had the same reaction as Irene, and Lyn covered her head with her hands once again.

"I'm sorry, okay! Don't hit me anymore!"

"You need to go apologize to her right now! She was so sad! You need to make this right!"

"Now? Like right now?"

"Yes! Come with me!"

Before Lyn could react, Millie grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the apartment, with Irene trailing behind.

They made their way to what Lyn knew was Cydney's address. Lyn had never been to Cydney's place, even though Cydney had given her the address when she was registering for the team. It was located in the South Boston area, somewhere pretty far from central Boston that Lyn was living in, and so it took them some time to get there.

When they got to the place, both Lyn's and Irene's mouths dropped in shock.

"This is the place?" Lyn eyed the old, three-story apartment building in disbelief.

The old-fashioned facade was rundown and unkempt, with grimy brick-red walls and leaking roofs. Cydney was a quester just like her, so why was she living in a place like this? Did she not receive her salary? Did Lyn screw up the payment process?

"Yep." Millie nodded. "This is a hostel that accommodates people with magic disabilities. It doesn't look great, but it's the only one in Boston, unfortunately."

"Only one?" Irene repeated.

"Only one. There needs to be way more, honestly."

"Yeah, for real."

As they followed Millie up the stairs, Lyn said, "I never knew she'd need to live in a hostel..."

"Of course she'd need to, silly," Millie replied with an amused expression, "how else would she use the shower, or cook, or get water from the tap?"

"You're- You're right..."

It had never occurred to Lyn that Cydney would need special accommodations in her day-to-day life. In fact, Cydney was such a powerful fighter that Lyn would sometimes forget that she could not do any basic elemental magic. How did it slip her mind that, in addition to not being able to send messages, Cydney could not use any of the basic household amenities? How did she even survive all these years?

"And that's her room." Millie pointed towards a door.

Lyn took a deep breath. She peered at her two friends, who nodded and stepped away, giving her some space. With a trembling fist, she knocked on the door.

It swung open, revealing a flabbergasted Cydney.

"Lyn?"

"Hey, Cinna."

Cydney shuffled on her feet as she glanced around. Her hair was not tied up into the usual high ponytail she always wore, while her eyes were red and puffy. When she spotted the other two visitors in a corner, she let out a small sigh.

"Oh, Millie must have told you about..." she trailed off, lowering her gaze.

Lyn had to stop herself from reaching out and caressing that forlorn, gloomy face. Instead, she clenched her fists and placed one of them on the door frame.

"Cinna, listen, I'm really, really sorry about yesterday night, and- and for what I did."

"It's okay, Lyn, you were drunk."

"No, being drunk is not an excuse. I was- I was angry, and I didn't think, and..." Lyn let out a frustrated sigh. "Well, I have no excuses, I don't know, I was just being stupid."

"You're always being stupid..."

"Well, yeah, you're probably right about that."

They both chuckled softly. Cydney raised her head, and their eyes met for a few seconds before she turned away again.

"I'm sorry, Cinna. I didn't mean to hurt you," Lyn whispered, "but somehow, I always do."

"Don't think that," Cydney insisted with a firm shake of her head. She noticed the direction of Lyn's distressed gaze and rubbed her hands on her abdomen.

"It's... It's disgusting, right?" she said, her voice trembling. "I- I can't even bear to look at myself in the mirror sometimes."

That statement struck Lyn into a frantic state.

"No, no, it's not!" she exclaimed, shaking her hands around agitatedly. "That's not what I think at all, Cinna! I- I know I made a big fuss over it, but I swear it has nothing to do with what I think of you! I just- I just really don't want anybody to hurt you, that's all! I think you're beautiful, with or without the scars, I- I mean it."

Cydney raised her eyebrows. "If my scars were on my face, would you still think that?"

"Of course, I'll find you beautiful no matter what. You're literally the sweetest, kindest, and most caring person I ever know; you were there for me at the lowest point in my life, even when you didn't even know me, remember? I love you, and every part of you—"

The words were stuck in Lyn's throat. Blood rushed to her face.

Did she just... Did she just say that she loved Cydney?

What the hell, Lyn. Was she stupid, or what? Well, okay, it's been well established she was stupid, but she did not need to go out of her way to prove it time and time again.

Cydney's face was also bright red now, and the two tomato-faced women stared at each other in silence for a long time.

Finally, Lyn cleared her throat. "A- Anyway, I know I've hurt you, but trust me, it won't happen again. I'll- I'll work hard to make up for it."

Cydney's lips twitched upwards. "What do you propose?"

"Oh, uh, I'm- I'm not sure." Lyn scratched the mess of her hair. "Maybe you could beat me up like what Irene does?"

Cydney giggled before giving her a peculiar stare. "You know, Lyn, we kissed before we even went on a date or anything."

Lyn stopped breathing. "Uh, well..."

"Where I come from, you go on a few dates first."

"Oh." There was a small pause before Lyn burst into a stuttering mess. "W- Wait, d- do you mean—"

Despite her blushing, the petite woman was a lot calmer than Lyn. "And isn't treating me food your usual way of making things up to me anyway?"

Lyn was once again struck into a frenzy by Cydney's words. She staggered on the spot; her heart was beating out of her chest while her head was spinning.

Then, she plucked up her courage.

"Al- Alright... Cinna, erm, do- do you want to go out on a date with me?"