Amber was trying to hide less of herself around Seven. They were…Jesus Christ, what even were they? Amber didn’t know but she liked Seven and she wanted to try and show that, even if she wasn’t good at saying it, and to show parts of yourself you wouldn’t show others was part of that…right? So Amber was trying to make it a habit to ditch the hoodies around Seven, at least now that it was warmer. She always wore long sleeves, even in the summer even if she rolled them up to her elbows to offer some relief from the heat, she was mostly trying to hide the upper half of her arms and the cigarette burns that littered them but she was baring them more and more around the hacker.
Amber had a lot of scars, if scars were story then Amber was undoubtedly a saga. She was littered with them, from all sorts of sources, but the ones she found the hardest to show were also the hardest to hide. The burns on her arms, little circular burns, came from her parents…her Mother specifically. Her parents had never wanted her, from the moment she had been born, the fact that she was a mutant hadn’t even been known at first instead it was the fact that she was alive that was such a nuisance to them. She wasn’t wanted, she was a mistake, but her parents found uses for her…and the burns on her arms showed that. The memories behind the scars were what made her the most ashamed of them and yet she was trying to show them more around Seven. She was trying to be honest with what she was, the baggage she held, she was trying to show Seven her true self.
She had never really known how Seven would react to her scars, even just the ones on her arms even if they were only the start of the mess her skin was but the hacker had taken in her story with nothing but sympathy. Neither of them had had it easy, neither of them were baggage free, but with how open Seven had been to the hurt Amber had faced in her life the mutant had hoped she wouldn’t be turned away by the ugliness of her skin. Tolerance…that was all she asked for, all she could hope for, she hadn’t expected that Seven might want to touch her.
The first touch had Amber’s breath hitching in her throat. She had just been minding her own business, they had been playing Mario Kart, but in between races the hacker had reached over to brush her fingers between the pockmarked scars on her flesh as if playing connect the dots with them. The touch was so soft though, so gentle, it had Amber’s heart stuttering in her chest as her head turned to look at the woman next to her.
“What..” the way she hesitated showed that she wasn’t calm, wasn’t composed. Her feelings were a mess. She was scared about her scars being touched, the thought of the feeling of them disgusting the other woman, and yet paused over something so ugly being touched so gently. She didn’t know what to think “Seven?”
It was just clear how Seven was into Amber. For all the things she said before for all her attempts in getting closer to Amber in more than a friendly way. She wished for Amber to see her more than just a friend and luckily, for once in Seven’s life, something seemed to go on the right path. Maybe part of Seven never mentioned anything or popped the question about the other being her girlfriend because she was scared of being too much for Amber.
As long as she wasn’t being turned down by the other it would be okay to the hacker that would be more than happy to take baby steps until Amber would feel comfortable around her. And slowly it was working, any and all the attempts of being closer to her were noticed by Seven. How she would stop wearing those hoodies, how she didn’t hesitate to be around her as much. Although sometimes the kisses still seemed to surprise Amber, for the hacker it was cute.
Playing video games were a way to bond for them, both liked it and it has turned into one of their favorite things to do together. Between one game or another Seven would get closer and closer to the other until she was close enough to almost lean into her. Her hand moved to her scars and slowly her finger dragged over the skin in a very superficial way not intending to scare the woman away. The scars weren’t ugly for Seven, all of them were parts of Amber and she loved every single piece. Maybe the hacker wasn’t good in expressing emotions either but she hoped the simple things would do, just like they did for them. When the other seemed to get agitated by her touches although she stopped moving her fingers she didn’t move away. Amber needed to know she wasn’t going to back off. “Yes? Can’t I touch the girl I like hm?” She said playfully and moved closer to Amber to peck on her lips. “I was connecting dots! Who would think I could also play with you?” Again the playful tone as she moved her fingers again very softly. “Is it a problem if I touch them?”