It happened in an instant, faster than the blink of an eye. They'd been sparring in a parking lot, a part of crisis city they'd managed to keep clear. Blaze was throwing punches and kicks to block the rubble bombardment Silver sent her way. Nothing new. There'd been an opening, she'd burst through a crate he'd thrown and caught him scanning for more debris. She'd capitalised on that moment and rushed him, igniting lest he tried to bind her in a psychic aura. It was a simple attack; a straight blow to the jaw, the kind of thing he'd take and shrug off before fighting back. That was, as long as his aura was defending him.

As long as he kept his focus, so long as he braced for impact, everything would be fine. She'd knock him to the ground, call him naïve, and he'd pop right back up. Same as ever.

She couldn't have known he'd overexerted. His powers were close to spent and thus, his guard failed to hold. Her fist struck his cheek directly, knuckles impacting just beneath his eye. Then came fire, following her fist a lick of flame caught the right side of his face and set both fur and flesh alight. Silver wasn't sure when she realised what had happened, but he heard her scream before he met the ground. He cried out, initially out of shock but soon agony overruled his senses. Flailing and rolling he cried out, his body acted without his input in an attempt to escape the spreading pain.

A knee met with his chest, pinning him his body in place, before a pair of palms grasped both sides of his head; further restricting him. He struggled against that contact, he couldn't help but writhe, but in an instant, most of the pain was swept away. Though his skin still throbbed, what had burned was still burned, the heat had left his face; the fire was gone.

Teeth still grit, he managed to pry open his eyes. As he opened both he found the world blurred but with only the left things were clear, the pain sapped from his cheek and gouged at his heart. In his moment of hurt so much hadn't registered, both that she had been the one to pin him and (far more importantly) what burning him would do to her. Tears ran down the feline's cheeks, her hands left his face only to clamp over her mouth. Her movement caused him to wince but his wince tore a sob from her chest. Silver couldn't hide his pain, no matter how he tensed or tried.

He could feel her panic, muffled by her hands and cries Silver heard two words repeated endlessly; "I'm sorry."

Silver tried to reach up, attempting to take one of her hands in his own, but she stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. He dragged himself to sit up, the brush of the air stinging his face, and found himself eye to eye with her. He watched as her tears started to transmute, watery lines through her fur suddenly ignited. She realised this less than a second after he did, stumbling to her feet and cowering even further from him. Her eyes left his, following her hands as they tore from her face. Tearstains burned on the back of her hands. Blaze beat the back of her palm with her open left but the flame split and spread faster, she slapped that palm against her thigh and her leg caught alight. Her tears engulfed her face, try as he might to stare he lost sight of her eyes.

"B-Blaze!" His voice came out as a squeak, talking stretched his newly scorched skin.

She'd heard him, but that meant she'd surely heard the pain in his voice. Blaze took another stumbling step, the fire stretched to consume her shoulders. He couldn't hear her apologising anymore, not over the roar of the fire.

His hand came up to hold his wound but he flinched at the contact; "I-It's okay Blaze, I-

Before he could finish she'd exploded, the flames had fully engulfed her and were now continuing their expansion. Embers were taking flight and he could smell the tarmac beneath her turning to bubbling back sludge. Blaze staggered back lest the flames crept toward him, but couldn't see where she was going. The ground beneath her had turned to tar; she couldn't have managed more than a step before falling to the ground. The tarmac was dipping beneath her; she struggled in the depths of an ever-deepening crater.

Blaze was crying, even if he couldn't hear it over the crackle of flame; Silver knew she was crying. Her powers were so closely tied to her emotions, when she was overwhelmed like this control over them was fully stolen from her. What would normally have helped to defend her now imprisoned both her body and mind. The crackling of flames deafened her just as the light blinded her; Blaze was cut off from the rest of the world, no one could reach her. No one but him.

His fist balled against the ground as he tried to push himself upright, his legs struggling to obey him. Finally managing to stand, arms spread as he fought for balance, Silver's eyes locked on the burning spire before him. Her jail was like a candle; the flame was wide near the base but tapered off as it reached for the sky. Despite the fire's size, he'd usually manage to snuff it in a second. In his current state, however, he knew it would take a lot more than that. Digging in his heels he managed to secure his stance before reaching across his body and focusing.

Energy started to gather in his right palm, he felt his head screech and spin as what remained of his power was pulled to a single point; constantly threatening to throw off his balance. The cyan-green light in his palm seemed so small in comparison to her red-orange prison. Grinding his teeth till they threatened to shatter, he closed his eye and curled his toes as he tried to give it all he had left. If he failed Blaze would be stuck here, if he failed it could be hours before she was free and he'd still be in no state to help her. When the flames finally cleared she'd be crushed, unable to cry or move; drained of power and drained emotionally. He'd seen it before, it'd happened often when they were kids. Someone would pick on her for her powers, unsure what to do she'd just break down; crumple into a mess of fire and emerge devoid of emotion. The day he learned to quell her flames and reach her was one of the best days of his life, he'd finally found a way to help his friend.

The breaking point hit, Silver felt his body sway as his mental grip threaten to slip. Before it could he took a single step forward, throwing that hand across his body a wave of psychic energy was sent from his body. He felt the blast push back against him as it escaped, his boots dragged as he struggled to hold his ground, but the rebound left almost as quickly as it had arrived. Even with his eyes closed, he knew he'd had some effect, the scent of smoke vanished in an instant; he'd at least pushed a portion of the fire away.

Silver heaved his left eye open but it didn't much matter which he used now; the world was blurred and spinning all the same. Despite the world's misshapen state, he could tell the fire was diminished, if not fully dispelled, and a Blaze shaped purple blur was sat a few steps in front of him. She was strong, but he really hoped that last blast hadn't hurt her. His breaths were shallow and his ears rang but he was still standing. He knew what he had to do; the same he always had. Get over there and hold her close, tell her it was over now; tell her it was fine. Legs failing, he started to stumble toward her, with every step closer she grew just a little more visible.

The firelight was nowhere to be seen, not a single ember remained. He'd blown away her burning tears; he'd blown away it all. She was on her knees, the ground beneath her still a crater of ooze struggling to solidify. Try as he might though, he couldn't focus enough to read her expression. Overusing his powers had numbed his body; the pain on his face had faded enough to speak even if his words were undoubtedly slurred by exhaustion.

"I-It's okay," He couldn't tell if he was whispering or screaming, as his arm dropped Silver's entire frame threatened to fall with it. Blurry as she was, he saw wet tears running down her cheeks. He could see her eyes, she was still so hurt and confused, "I'm okay, p-please don't…"

As if the draining of his power wasn't enough, dulling all of his senses, Silver's good eye had filled with tears. The feline hadn't often burned him, and certainly never this badly, but he knew how awful she must have felt; "It's not… y-your fault, B-Blaze y-you-

He felt himself stumble, the world lurched wildly and the ground scarcely clung to his feet. With the last of his energy he managed to wobble one step toward her; undoubtedly almost knocking her over as he fell chest to chest with her. Before darkness could claim him, he was thankful for what he felt. Her hands found his back and her head found his shoulder.

When Silver awoke he wasn't in the car park anymore. Dazed, the first thing he noticed was a weight on his lap and a soft touch against his aching face. The second thing he noticed was where he was. Though the world was still a little blurry, he recognised the charred ceiling above him and the torn fabric of the couch he sat upon. He was at home, sitting in the library that they had transformed into their stronghold. The third thing he noticed was Blaze; positioned directly in front of him. For a moment he thought the scent of smoke was clinging to her but he soon realised the smell's origin was his own burnt fur.

"H-Hey," he managed to mumble, forgetting the state of his skin and immediately wincing.

"Sit still, I'm not done with you yet," Blaze sharply replied.

She hadn't returned his greeting, clearly too focused on her task. He struggled to blink the sleep from his eyes; almost panicking as he found the right unusable before realising that was her doing.

It was only now he noticed their position; she wasn't quite sitting in his lap so much as she was hovering above it. Her calves were on the outer edges of his thighs, she'd effectively pinned him in place as she worked to bandage his face. Now fully understanding his surroundings and, more importantly, where she was, Silver managed to relax. Leaning back against the couch, whatever remained of his back quills hooking against the top cushion, he couldn't help but focus on her.

He could only see the lower left side of her body, his vision cut off before her shoulder. From this position he couldn't glean much about how she was doing, but one sign left him crestfallen. Her tail was drooping. Usually, Blaze's tail hung low but its end would point up and toward the sky. Currently, it was all tending downward and threatening to drag along the ground. His heart wouldn't let him stare at it, not for long at least.

It seemed as though she'd almost finished bandaging him, every so often he'd sight a needle and thread; likely being used to firmly secure his bindings. He bit back a gasp as she tugged to tighten an area but his toes and fingers curled reflexively.

He felt her hands quickly lead him; loose wrappings flopped against his collar, "Sorry."

Clearly, he hadn't hidden his pain well enough, another failure on his part, "N-No, it's fine, keep going."

Her hands slowly returned to him, her tail had shot straight with surprise only to flop down again. Wincing was just another of his many mistakes today. He was meant to be stronger than this. She told him it was wrong to beat himself up but in a moment like this, with her feeling like this, he couldn't help it. He hadn't noticed he was powerless until it was too late, until her fist was mere inches from his face; momentum already driving her toward the inevitable.

Upset as he was at his own failure, he was worried about his final action. He'd set the psychic wave to dispel flames but had no idea if it had done more.

Unable to hold back, words surely muffled by bandages, he asked; "Did I hurt you?"

"Wh-What?" She stuttered.

Trying to talk out of the far side of his mouth, Silver elaborated; "Did the blast hurt you, I-I wasn't sure how stable it was…"

"O-Oh, no. It didn't," She mumbled, "You pushed the flames away and left me unharmed, thank you for freeing me."

Silver heard the pain in her voice. He'd been unconscious when he should have been there for her. The way they were sat, it wasn't so that she could bandage him properly. It was so Blaze could hide from him. She could tend them from in front of him just as easily as above, but that would let him see her face. If his attempt to free her hadn't hurt her then she had to be hiding something else. Her expression, he could already imagine it. Blaze was good at maintaining a cold demeanour but only because she knew how and what to hide. She wouldn't face him, she'd hardly even speak unless he acted first.

Drawing on all of his nerve, he managed to ask; "Blaze, can we talk?"

"We probably should…" The hesitation in her voice was clear, her movements hitched.

She hadn't moved, he tensed; "C-Can I see you?"

Blaze seemed to debate for a moment but, finally, the bandages dropped, "…Okay."

Slowly, the purple cat lowered herself; sitting on his knees as her head shifted into view. The feline's ears were still crumpled, a sight he understood too well, and try as she might to look stern; her amber eyes ruined any semblance of a façade. It was clear she'd been crying again, regular tears rather than burning ones. Her eyelids were red and her muzzle soaked; she was too scared to dry herself with flames.

"Blaze…" The sight stung him, this was his fault, "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to apologise for, I'm the one who's sorry," She asserted, with every word her pain was made clearer, "This hasn't happened for years, I got too comfortable in the hope that I'd never burn you again," Blaze's gaze was locked on his bandages rather than his face, "That was foolish. It isn't as though you're immune to my flames, simply better equipped to handle them."

She wasn't wrong; it had been years since they'd last been in this position. Whenever a monster burned one of them the other could easily treat it, they'd learned to bandage and make ointment, but this was very different. Sure, they'd panic when the other took a hit, but there was never this weight in their stomachs; born of the knowledge they'd hurt each other.

Ignoring the pain, as best as he could, Silver managed to respond; "That's not a bad thing though, you should be comfortable with your flames."

"I got too comfortable and I hurt you," She rebutted, ears folding further forward, "How I felt up until today doesn't matter half as much as the mark on your face. I thought I was better than this, I thought I knew when to hold back. I was wrong."

"But you didn't hurt me, I made a mistake and got myself hurt," He tried to explain, fighting through his injury, "If I had noticed my power was drained I would have said and you wouldn't have hit me, none of this would have happened. It's my fault, not yours."

"Silver, half your face is burnt; I almost took out your eye. It's not a matter of whether you are your hurt, you absolutely are," She pushed, "It's not your fault. I threw the punch, it's my responsibility."

"That'll heal and I'll be okay, I'm okay now even, but I made a mistake and now you're beating yourself up about it. I don't want you to do that," He insisted, "It's my failure that hurt you. It is my fault you were trapped and it's my fault you feel like this."

A snarl slipped her throat, "It's not your fault, it's mine! I should have paid more attention, I should have seen that you were weakened, but instead, I rushed in. It's not your fault, I got…" Blaze caught herself before she could yell. He watched as her eyes shut tight, pausing for a moment, before she heaved a sigh, "I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to scare you away. I know that's stupid, I know you'd never leave, but whenever I hurt you like this I think of running away before you find the sense to leave me."

"Blaze," He reached up to hold her, fingers hitched on her shoulders, "I'm not going to leave your side, no matter what. If you ran I would follow. When bullies came I defended you, didn't I? Whenever your flames go wild I help you, don't I?"

"I know that, but I get so scared after those moments. Knowing I've hurt you cuts me to my core; it sickens in a way no disease can," She admitted, "I want to stay by your side, but it hurts to see what I've done to you. Even if you won't accept that it's my fault, seeing you like this hurts me. It doesn't matter if it's my fire or Iblis', it hurts me."

"It hurts you to see what you've…" He repeated, the reality their situation drifting to the front of his mind, "In that case, I'm not okay."

She blinked, head tilting. Her dower expression was quickly replaced by one of confusion; it was a small step in the right direction.

He quickly elaborated, "I'm only okay as long as you're okay, that's the way I've always felt," Silver nodded, fully serious, "These burns don't hurt me, but the fact that they hurt you does hurt me; just as the fact they scare you scares me. I'll have to heal quickly so we can both stop hurting, the only pain I feel is the pain of knowing you're hurt."

For a moment all was silent, Blaze seemed to be struggling to process all that. Just as he was about to elaborate further, a forefinger poked against his bandages. Silver couldn't help flinching, "The burns don't hurt huh? Is that right?" A sigh slipped free from her lips, he swore her expression softened into a smile, but just as quickly her brows reknit. She didn't look upset like she had before, but she didn't quite look happy; "You're so naïve."

"Alright, then they don't hurt that much," He said, squeezing her shoulders in an attempt to emphasise his point, "And they don't hurt at all, compared to seeing you hurt. I feel the same way you do, whenever you hurt; I hurt. I don't want you to struggle like this, just like you don't want to burn me. I want you to be happy but I don't want you to hide it when you feel otherwise, I want to help you. You're my partner, there's no one I care more about! Without you here, I don't know what I'd do."

His touch didn't have the anticipated effect though. Rather, instead of listening more intently, her eyes were cast away from his and he felt her awkwardly shuffle. A strange redness had crept onto her face, again she uttered that common phrase; "You're so naïve. The pain has made you delusional, you're rambling."

Seeing his initial attempt to emphasise hadn't worked, Silver leant in close to her; "Maybe, but it's true! I want to be there for you no matter what, if you're hurting then I'm hurting. I don't care what state I'm in, that's what matters to me."

"That's even more naïve," Blaze looked to him for a moment before that strange colouration spread further, tracing up to her ears. She glanced away again, pausing for a moment before continuing, "But, regardless of how naïve it is, you're right. The feeling is mutual."

Before he could process that her hand pressed on his chest fur, pushing him back against the couch and more thoroughly beneath her. His arms were made to release her as Blaze shifted beyond his vision again, leaving him with the sight of her tail thrashing just beyond her legs.

"It was an accident during a spar, I should have been faster to notice your weakness just as you should have better understood your limit. It's something we can learn from," Blaze talking in a faster, more serious, tone than before; almost lecturing herself and him simultaneously, "This shouldn't happen again, but it probably will. Our powers aren't toys, we need to strengthen them but also be mindful of them; my pyrokinesis especially. It's much harder for you to accidentally harm me."

"That's true," He admitted, "But it's also easier for me to defend against your attacks."

Silver felt the bandages stretch further but by now he'd grown used to the feeling. Blaze continued to speak, "Seeing as you're as insistent that this is your fault as I am this is mine, I think it would be best that we both train to rectify this issue. That way we can fully recover from this, both physically and mentally," She paused her wrapping, "Silver… your words have helped me but I'm afraid I still…"

He managed to smile, "You need more time, I know. I'll be here to help you, no matter what it takes and no matter how long you need; whether it's till I heal or beyond. Your powers are good, there's no part of you that isn't."

Blaze quickly returned to her work, "My flames aren't inherently good or bad, it's entirely dependant on how they're used and how well I can control them," As if her tail wasn't enough, he could hear that she'd perked up. Though she was talking seriously and quickly he could hear the smile carried on her voice, "It is only through training that I will manage to harness them for good, only allow them to harm those who would harm others. I'm sure with time and your help I will manage but I fear it's still well beyond my reach," A small sigh slipped her throat, her cadence returned to normal, "Regardless, we won't be training for a little while I think; at least, you certainly won't. I can't have you getting any more injured; if the worst happens and we're forced to flee, you need to be able to defend yourself. You're lucky the damage is only skin deep, I was terrified I'd broken your jaw with how you were mumbling."

As she concluded the binding briefly slowed, he felt her body shift.

"…Thank you," Those words were spoken a lot closer to his ear.

"For what?" He blindly asked.

"Just, thank you. There's no reason," She continued to perplex him.

Silver felt something touch the top of his head, just beyond the patchwork of his bandages. It wasn't the touch of her hand, he was certain of that much, but he had no idea what it could be. What little he could see was the edge of her purple jacket, Blaze was still close but he couldn't help noticing she'd leant down. Was it her forehead touching him? Her chin? As quickly as he noticed her strange shift, she shuffled back to her prior position. A few moments, and some more fiddling, later she'd lowered herself back down to sit on his knees. The frown had fully vanished from her face but she wasn't quite smiling. She wore her more typical, serious, face.

Beyond her expression though, he noticed the red hue had returned to cheeks face and a bizarre heat was emanating from her, "That should be your bandages done. We'll have to change them tomorrow, before midday…"

He noticed she'd trailed off, "Are you sure you're alright, Blaze?"

"Stop asking me that," The feline demanded, her attention snapping back to him, "We've been over this, we were both at fault."

"It being both our faults doesn't mean you're alright, if anything it means I should be asking," He reached toward her, trying to touch her forehead, "I'm only asking because you feel really hot and your face keeps getting redder… are you sick? Are you still upset?"

As he tried to take her temperature, elegant as ever, Blaze reached forward and caught his hand in hers. Her fingers met with his knuckles, preventing him from pushing past her grip, "I'm fine, you're the one who's injured. Sit there and let me treat you."

"We treat each other, we're partners, let me take your temperature!" Shouting hurt, but he wanted to make his point clear. The more she refused the redder she seemed to grow, "You're said you're done treating me, it's my turn to look after you."

"I said your bandages were done, I didn't say I'd finished treating you," She insisted, "I've still got to cook dinner, you need to eat to keep your strength up and heal properly. What's more I'll have to prepare clean bedclothes, if that burn gets infected I don't know what I'll do."

"We can do that later though, I'm not hungry and I'm not going to bed," He squeezed her hand in an attempt to make his commitment clear, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong! I was only upset that I'd hurt you, that was the only thing wrong with me," She really did look flustered, he couldn't understand it, "Your push didn't hurt me, nor did any of your attacks during our spar. You've already helped me!"

"Then why are you so red? What is this warmth?" He continued to pry, confused.

"It's just…" Blaze hesitated, but her quick and serious tone returned in the pause's wake, "It's just the remnants of wayward emotions, nothing more and nothing less. Don't worry yourself over them, it's not enough for me to combust."

"I don't care whether they'll set you alight, your feelings matter to me Blaze," He reinforced, again leaning forward; "We help each other, no matter how small the problem is."

"I'm telling you there's nothing wrong, it's fine! The heat has almost faded already," If anything, he thought she'd grown even warmer but Blaze cut him off before he could state such, "But… if you're really not going to believe that, and you really want to do something…" Their joined hands dropped to the couch, he felt her shift a little closer; "I suppose we can sit here for a while, until you're convinced I'm fine," Her gaze had dropped from him again. She was using a certain tone, the tone she usually reserved for calling him naïve, "I guess I'm a little tired, I've been working nonstop and I don't… want to let go of you yet."

"If you're certain that's really all you want, then okay," He conceded, "You should rest more comfortably though, right?"

Confused she started to shift from his lap, "What do you mean more comfortably? Should I get o-

Before she could even finish he'd leaned even closer, wrapping his free arm around her and pulling her into a hug. Her chin was pulled to top his left shoulder, the still fully fluffy side of his face was against hers. His chin came to top her own shoulder, thus granting him a full view of her tail. It was stiffly upright, a rare sight but a good sign. This position was much better, "Like this. You sitting in my lap for ages would have got uncomfortable, right? This is better, isn't it?"

"R-Right, y-yes," Blaze mumbled.

"Hey, you're getting even hotter. Are you really sure you're alright?"

"P-Positive…"