Cinder - school of magic

Aftermath

My first real fight was over. I felt absolutely exhausted, both physically and mentally. Is this what soldiers feel like after a battle?
I finally started to understand how my powers work. The further in time I look, the fewer options I can see at the same time. However, if I only look about 15 seconds to the future, I can see hundreds of possibilities. It was thanks to this that I was able to win the fight against Vivian and her 'friends'. In many of those other timelines, I failed. I don't want to know what would happen if I was to fail. I hated looking into the future unless I really had to.

As I was lying there in a pile of trash bags, Lyn approached me with a concerned look.

Lyn: "A-Are you alright? Y-You're bleeding! H-Here, l-let me help you."

She helped me get back up on my feet. Even though I won the battle, I still took quite some damage. My leg hurt and I couldn't walk properly, not to mention a massive headache caused by Jessica's banshee scream. The blood dripping from my face was just a bonus. I didn't understand. Once again Vir-Vir left without any explaining. What exactly did I achieve, except saving Lyn?

Lyn helped me to get back home. She didn't say a single word during the trip. It was only a few meters, but thanks to me slowly limping, it felt like miles. I didn't know what to say. Vir-Vir usually helped with this kind of stuff, but he wasn't around. The prolonged silence was very awkward.
We finally reached my apartment. I was so glad to be able to sit in my couch again. Even though the trash was kinda soft, it wasn't all that comfortable, so a proper furniture was a sight for sore eyes. Lyn sat beside me an opened her bag. It was pretty big, considering she was only coming over for a short while. She pulled out a small med-kit. That was pretty surprising. Was she carrying it with her on purpose, or just in case something happened? Was she expecting me to get in the fight? More and more questions started to appear in my head.
Lyn offered me a band-aid to stop the bleeding, some painkillers for a headache and with the words "Where do you have ice?", she disappeared into my kitchen. It was nice to finally hear her speak. Why was she so quiet? Was she angry with me?

Virion: "A situation like this brings people closer."

Vir-Vir's voice came out of nowhere. It nearly scared me enough to make a high pitched sound, but I managed to stay quiet. I wouldn't want Lyn to think that I'm even weirder than she already thinks I am. I looked at Vir-Vir with an angry/confused expression.

Virion: "If you were to win without a single scratch, it would make Lyn put you on a metaphorical pedestal. She'd think that you're really great and feel smaller and more useless in your presence. My original plan was counting with that. However, you winning and getting hurt in the process, gave her an opportunity to repay you by helping you back. This is truly the perfect outcome. Like this, she should consider herself as your equal."

Once again, Vir-Vir was right. I always felt like his solutions made sense and were really simple but I never figured them out myself.

Lyn came back and handed me the bag of ice for my leg. She sat down next to me with an expression that contained a mix of shyness and concern. I took a quick glance at Vir-Vir, hoping that he'd tell me what to do in such a situation. All he gave me was a shrug before he disappeared again. I collected my courage and finally broke the long-lasting silence.

Tabitha: "Is something wrong?"

Lyn's expression got even more strange. Perhaps I shouldn't have asked. After a few seconds, she finally managed to open up a bit.

Lyn: "T-Thanks... F-For saving me... I-I really appreciate it..."

Her voice was very quiet. Was she so shy that saying a thank you was a difficult task for her? I really wished I had Vir-Vir's thinking at that moment. It would certainly make things a lot easier.

Tabitha: "No problem! I mean, you helped me right now too, didn't you? So I guess we're even now, don't you think?"

She looked at me with a certain shine in her eyes. Did I manage to calm her down a bit?

Lyn: "Yeah... Y-You're right. S-So... w-what did you want us to do? I-I haven't been in somebody's home f-for a long time."

Until now, I didn't really pay attention to my original objective. Vir-Vir wanted me to invite her to my apartment, but what then? What was I supposed to do? My eyes quickly glanced over to the magazine with the big video game announcement.

Tabitha: "Oh! That's right! I heard you like video games. Would you mind joining me in this tournament if I managed to assemble a team?"

I picked up the magazine, found page 27 and handed it over to Lyn. I could see her eyes moving along the lines as she was reading the text. From the looks of it, she could read very quickly. The more she read, the wider her eyes were getting, as If she just received some great news. After a few seconds, she put down the magazine and with a very enthusiastic voice, that didn't really sound like her at all, she answered my question.

Lyn: "Count me in!"