Mae felt herself make a face. Was she really that different from Seven? "Hey, I can handle a bloody nose. I'm tougher than you think. Just because I'm generally smart enough to not get myself injured, doesn't mean I'm a wimp. I survived on my own just fine." There may have been a tiny edge to what she said. Mae wasn't sure where it came from, but it was there, rising, ever so slowly.

Maybe it was the bad night's sleep. Maybe it was how Seven was suddenly teasing her. Maybe it was that Seven was talking to her. It felt normal, and cute, and like it could have just been two people getting to know each other.

It hurt. It was like a knife going from one side of her chest to the other. Why did something so nice hurt? She shut her eyes, trying to breathe. Then that phrase cut in. Something's wrong with you today.

"What makes you say that?" she asked. Maybe she shouldn't have asked. She sat up, rubbing her head. She really wanted a drink all of a sudden, and not that crap beer Seven had. Something stronger. Strong enough to numb the sudden emotions she was feeling. "I just, I probably slept wrong. It's nothing." it was everything.

"Whoa, that's not what I meant at all. Like...to me a bloody lip, a busted nose, black eye? Those are like papercuts to me," they tried to explain. They raised an eyebrow.

"You're acting different. Like you're more...edgy. Like...like, me, if I'm being completely honest," they said, looking at her. "We are different, Maebell. Like night and day. But...if you say it's nothing, I believe you." They nodded, sliding a little closer, and realized they'd been doing that for a little while now, and their shoulder was touching Mae's now. They were usually only this close when they were sleeping.

"Is your bubble getting smaller?"

Mae was edgy. Mae was being different. Maybe she hadn't hidden it well enough, and the frustration got the better of her. She almost calmed, and then the other foot fell.

Is your bubble getting smaller?

There had been a lot of things that could have been said, but what happened was not what she had expected. Seven pointed out the dead zone. Mae's powers. The thing they had focused on to prove that Mae was upset was nothing more than the quiet space they had become accustomed to.

Mae tried to keep her emotions in check but frustration and pain was bubbling up. She wanted to retract the dead zone to stop herself from saying something she would regret, from letting Seven hear something Mae would regret. But the comment was too much.

"Of course, you notice if the bubble shrinks. I'm sorry I made you have to get closer to me." Tears sprang in her eyes and she swiped them, standing and moving away suddenly. The field expanded, letting the words reach where Mae hadn't wanted them to reach. "Yeah, we're different. And you know the biggest way? You say things, but you don't mean them! You come and go, and it's just, convenient. For you, cuddling is just a way to get silence. But it's not fair. I feel like I am in over my head here. I am just, opening myself up to care about someone who doesn't feel the things I do. To you, I'm probably no different than another pair of noise canceling headphones. And I just don't know if I can stand that tonight."

A drink. She needed a drink. Air. That too. She got up in a rush and hurried for the door, slamming it behind them. With clumsy steps, she found her way out, and tried to find somewhere, anywhere, she could just escape to.

"Of course I notice!" they snapped. "How do you not notice when the world is always screaming at you but then it isn't?" They recoiled as they spoke, something about this didn't feel right. Seven was angry, but they were more of a defensive kind of angry. They felt attacked. But...seeing Mae wipe tears did...something. They weren't sure what but it did...something and it didn't feel good at all. In fact, it felt like they'd been punched in the stomach, only Seven knew how to take a punch. That was nothing to them. This...this hurt. A lot.

"You're not like my headphones...you're warm," they said, feeling like that was the dumbest thing they could have said, so they added. "I don't know, Mae. I've never--" The door slammed by the time they found the correct words. "Felt this way before..."

They pulled the headphones over their ears and curled up on the couch. They felt a lump in their throat, and their heart was pounding like they were in the middle of a fight, but they weren't. They closed their eyes to sleep it off, and eventually they did manage to drift off to sleep. But it wasn't peaceful, between the buzz of the signals and the fluttering of their emotions. They tossed and turned on the couch, eventually rolling off the couch and hitting the floor with a thud. But they didn't get up. They just curled up and went back to sleep. Someone as cold and heartless and unforgiving as me deserves to sleep on the cold hard ground...

Their breathing eventually steadied as they drifted back off to sleep.

Mae found her way to a bar not far from home. It was one she went to from time to time. The drinks weren't bad during happy hour, and tonight she just wanted something strong to help her unwind. She could hear Seven's anger, feeling it cut into her heart. The world is always screaming at you, but then it isn't.

Mae was a horrible person. Seven hadn't deserved her to explode like that. All they said was she was acting weird, and she was. But Mae couldn't handle her feelings. She couldn't handle getting attached to someone that could hurt her. She had been hurt before, and she had trusted someone, only to be stabbed in the back. She couldn't do that again.

Seven...Seven wasn't a bad person, but Mae was a coward. She took a drink and tried to drown out the guilt.

"Hey? How about I get you the next round, honey?"

Mae looked over, and found herself being hit on by am obnoxiously intoxicated jerk. He had red eyes, and clearly one too many as it was. If this was a classier place, he would have been gone already, but she chose it for the price, not for the bouncers.

"Not interested," She growled. She turned back to the bar, but the idiot only slid closer. Oh hell she could literally smell how drunk he was.

"Don't be that way, cutie. You look to young to be in here. I won't tell on you, if you have a little talk with me."

"I said, no."

Did he not understand the word no? He knew enough English to call her several lewd things as he continued, but not enough to get the hint she wanted him to back off.

It was too much. She didn't have enough in her system to dull the pain, and this idiot was giving her a headache. She felt a hand touch her arm, and then she had enough.

“I said, leave me alone!” She swung her hand to get rid of him, and both her drink and the cup slammed into his face. It was a sound of everything unraveling in front of her.

There shattering glass, and a yell of rage. For a second Mae thought she was fine. The hand was gone from her wrist. The man had backed off. Then, she screamed as her hair was gabbed in a fist and she was yanked out of her seat. The bar-stool toppled. Other patrons were involved and trying to separate the fight, which really was just a painful yanking match with Mae's skull.

“Hey, let her go!”

Someone was yelling, Mae was swearing, but then a fist finally hit her and she went falling backward into the overturned stool. It buckled with the impact like so many matchsticks. There was more yelling and cussing, and then silence. He was outside the dead zone, outside the bar.

Mae, however, was already hurt. Ego, body, everything had finally been crushed at once.

Despite the efforts of the bartender to comfort her Mae shook it off. Like a defeated animal she hobbled her way home, feeling more awful than ever. Hopefully, Seven was asleep and wouldn’t see her come through the door like this... red eyes, busted lip, and it felt like her back was bleeding. She was done with today.

Yeah, the world was screaming at her too. But she was in her own bubble and nothing could silence the noise in there.

If her time cuddling with Mae was the best sleep they'd ever gotten, then this was by far the worst. But it was okay because this was what they deserved. They'd used Mae, and for some reason that made them feel things. Guilt, maybe? Who knew. They faded in and out of consciousness for awhile until Seven heard the door open, and they rolled over in time to see feet walk into the room, and they jumped up and walked over to their roommate.

"Mae, I'm sorry," they stammered, uttering words they probably never uttered words before, and then they froze. The red eyes, the busted lip….something bristled inside of Seven and they took off their headphones and let them fall to the floor.


"Mae! What happened? Who did this? Where are they?"


Their eyes narrowed before they turned around, stormed off to their room and grabbed their backpack, rooting through and pulling out a switchblade and a pair of brass knuckles. They put those in their pocket and turned back to Mae, looking her dead in the eyes and putting a hand on her cheek.

"If you have a name, that'd be great. Otherwise just give me a location, something to go on. Anything. I'll find 'em."

It was too much. Hopes of getting into bed without being noticed faded. Seven was there. Seven and their sense of justice ready for the rescue.

Mae wanted to be tough, and say she didn’t need Seven’s help. But everything hurt. Her heart, her face, her back. “The...the bar, McLarens. Ass wouldn’t leave me alone, and I hit him, and he hit back,” she hiccuped, trying to clean her eyes with the back of her hand. This was stupid. She needed to shut up and just go to bed. But the hand to her cheek made her shake. She felt herself leaving closer, accepting the contact. Wanting someone close.

“They threw him out, I don’t know what happened after. I just...I just wanted to be home.” She staggered to the couch and curled up, hugging her legs. Her jacket was too stiff so she wriggled free if that, tossing it in the ground. Little bits of wood were still stuck in the fabric, blood droplets on the lining. She shut her eyes, which was probably good. She felt like she didn’t want to see Sevens reaction. What would she think that Mae was so whimpy she couldn’t even fight off a drunk creeper?

Seven clung onto every word, feeling their muscles tighten. Someone hurt Mae and....they didn't like that one bit. And someone was going to pay for that. They were silent, and removed their hand from Mae's cheek as she finished speaking. There was no comment, no smart-ass quip. No "That's what they usually do, Maeflower." Nothing, just silence through narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw.

Mae went to the couch, and Seven started toward the door but as they opened it, they looked back over at Mae, then found themselves walking over to the couch and kneeling down. "I'll be back soon. Rest well, my Maeple Leaf..." they murmured, leaning down and kissing her forehead very briefly before turning and hurrying out of the door. McLarens wasn't hard to find, in fact they'd been here a few times before. They managed to get information, and actually came across the guy after getting thrown out of a nearby bar.

"You. You like preying on innocent women, do ya?"
"What? I didn't prey on anyone, she hit me so I taught her a lesson."
"I got a lesson for ya..." Brass knuckles were in their left hand, switchblade in their right.

The fight went quickly, but it probably would have had a similar ending if he was sober. They were off of their game, for some reason, and they didn't kill the guy. But he was going to regret and remember everything the next day. Seven had beaten that into him.

Over an hour later, Seven came back in without even so much as a scratch. They walked over to Mae, not even noticing their headphones were still on the floor.

Mae was convinced she imagined the nickname. It sounded sweeter than normal. Almost, affectionate. She wanted to believe that was a kiss. But that was just wishful thinking. Wishful thinking has caused too many problems for her tonight.

Mae stumbled to the bathroom shortly after Seven left, pausing momentarily to pick up the headphones and set them on the table. It was a mistake. Seven would come back fast for them. They needed the headphones. The world was just too loud without them.

Stripping Mae got into pajama bottoms and then assessed her back in the mirror. There were multiple cuts and splinters in different places in her skin. She would bruise, a lot. She struggled with some of the first aid supplies, crying more as the alcohol stung the injuries, then sinking to the bathroom floor and holding her legs in defeat. She made more of a mess than Seven did the entire time they lived here, and still had a bloody back and red eyes. Maybe she’d just sleep there. She deserved this. She made the mess and should just handle it now.

Mae wasn't on the couch, but their headphones were still on the table. They'd left without them. And they hadn't even noticed the noise. They looked in Mae's room, nope. Then, the bathroom. There she was, hugging her knees, her back all messed up. They felt something tug in their chest seeing this, and the hair on their neck bristled again.

Walking over without a word, Seven gathered the first aid kit, pulling the supplies together, and started tending to the injury on her back. "It's okay, Mae. Just be still; I got ya," they comforted, cleaning up the blood, and then started pulling all the trash together and getting rid of it. It never even dawned on them that Mae was shirtless.

"I took care of him for you," they said somewhat awkwardly. "I'll be in the living room if you need anything, okay? Just...let me know. I'll....let you get a shirt on and all." With that, they gave Mae an awkward side-hug and made their way back to the couch, curling up on their section like they usually did, only this time, they had a troubled look on their face, eyes closed as their body shook a little and their eyes started to sting. What...what was even happening.

Mae was too miserable to be embarrassed when Seven found her. She stayed still, set-consciously pulling the dead zone in so her cussing and whimpering were not shared. Seven had to listen to static and electronics for a few moments until the process was done and then Mae let her powers back out.

Gingerly, Mae pulled on the loose pajama shirt she had picked and joined Seven I’m the living room. She thought she had pulled herself together but then she saw the headphones and felt a little noise escape halfway between a hiccup and a son. ”You didn’t even bring hit headphones. F***in’ idiot.” Mae sat next to Seven, tears running down her face.

”Thank you....I didn’t deserve your help...”

Seven sat in their own thoughts as they waited. This was weird and confusing. Those twinges they felt...that was a hint of something else, wasn't it? They'd grown up in a cold household, and from there were raised by the streets, but...they understood the protectiveness. And they wanted Mae to be safe, almost like since she was their roommate, she was theirs to protect when need be. Or something like that. Hell, they didn't know. But...what they did...it felt right.

When Mae sat down, Seven laughed softly, and nodded. "I didn't even notice that I'd forgotten them until I got almost home..." they admitted, looking at her. "He won't be bothering anyone anymore. I made sure of that." Then, they decided clarifying might be a good idea. "I didn't kill him, I just beat a little decency into him. I hope. Look...we've established that I'm an idiot, yeah. But...if you didn't deserve my help I wouldn't have given it." They sighed, biting their lip a little.

"Look...I know I suck at showing it, and I'm a lousy f***ing roommate, but...I do care."

Mae listened as Seven confessed what they had done to the creep. She didn't seem upset by the violence, just, more concerned with Seven themselves. I'm guessing you're smart enough not to leave evidence or something. Just, I don't want more trouble for you because of me. If I hadn't been so full of myself I could have dealt with it better. I just, I just didn't know how to process all of this..."

Mae picked at her pajama bottoms, a loose string looking like it would be a good place to rip a hole in the knee. That was always a good choice when you were upset: destroy your own clothing. She sighed and put her head against her knees. "We're both lousy f***ing roommates, Sev. My problem was I cared too much. And I wanted you to care the same way."

She blushed, enough alcohol in her system to give her a spark of bravery. She looked over, then down again. "You were just too damn much for me to resist. It's like coming home and realizing I never want to leave. I know you're...not the easiest person to live with. But, I still like it. I still like you. The dumb jokes, and the cynical humor. I get that. You don't try to paint the world as perfect like everyone else. I like how real you are."

"No one will know it was me. No witnesses, no evidence," they affirmed, nodding sincerely. They didn't really know what else to say, but they listened as Mae continued talking.

"Caring isn't my strong suit, Maeple Leaf..." they admitted. "I..." they breathed, making and then breaking eye contact, but then looking back at Mae again. "I like more than just your powers," they blurted. "I like how you care. How we can just...relax, and talk. The things you do and don't ask anything in return. Sure, at first I was only there for the silence, but...I've grown fond of sleeping next to you. You're warm, and comfortable. I just don't...do...feelings that well." They looked away as they sat back on the couch, arms folded across their chest as they let the words sink in. They too had to comprehend what it was they had just said. Emotions were weird.

"Sev...I like that."

Somehow, just settling into the silence was more important to Mae than endless words. She could have kept confessing, but there was a clear understanding they both just sucked at this. Mae from her failed romance in the past and Seven from their lack thereof. Letting herself wriggled under Seven's arm so she was in a hug was all Mae could do. She didn't care if it hurt a little on her back. She just wanted to feel close. There was the bubble of her powers, and then that invisible shield around her actual heart she was sharing now.

Closing her eyes, she realized how exhausted she was, and was out before she knew it. Something about being there, and being safe. It could have been anywhere in that apartment, but she didn't mind so much with Seven by her side.