Aphelion ⎯⎯⎯⎯ Stiles Stilinski

3.) I Get Into A Battle Of Wills With My Morning Coffee

Once they were together in her room, the two spent the morning listening to music and getting ready for the day. This included doing each other's hair, helping with makeup, and thinking up cute outfits they could make with clothes they'd bought on their last shopping trip. The jacket hung in her closet threatened to fill Xan's mind, so she forced it away, turning her attention to the vanity in front of her, looking at Lydia's face reflected above hers. Her stomach grew heavy with a twist of envy, which was followed by a wave of guilt.

It could be hard sometimes, hanging out with Lydia and her other mortal friends. Sure, they all had their own problems too, but what Xan wouldn't give to have those, instead of the demigod ones she had gotten stuck with. This thought had become more and more common in the past few months. Ever since September, when she was sent on a mission with Clarisse, to scout out New York City. They were preparing to defend Olympus from an invasion by the Titan Army, if it ever came to that. It was one of the many campaigns that Chiron hoped to run over the next year, and it had turned out great; her and Clarisse worked surprisingly well together.

The problem came when Xan was cornered by a Sphinx on Seventy-second Street, one that she should have known about. Tyson had told her just the summer before about the 'big bully', that trapped her in a quiz show, before refusing to end the trivia until she got one wrong. Xan managed to escape, but not before the she-lion raked a wicked claw across her cheek.

It was this scratch, now a thick, pale, scar, that held her attention. Her eyes flashed between it, and Lydia's perfect, smooth skin. Maybe sometimes scars were cool, and had it not been so big, she might've felt better about it. But no matter how many times people told her that she was still pretty, she couldn't get it out of her head. It made her feel like she wasn't herself anymore.

The skin and muscles around it were stiffer than before, the left side of her smile didn't stretch as far as it did on her right, and when she laughed, her left eye refused to crinkle the same way. She felt lopsided, like it was all that people could see. Lifting a hand to her hair, she pulled it free from her left ear, trying in vain to arrange it so that the worst of the scar was hidden.

"Don't touch, I'm not finished yet, you'll mess it up," the redhead scolded.

"Sorry," Xan said absently, "Hey, do you think that I should get bangs? I know we already talked about this, but I think that maybe just something on the side... it could really help hide this ugly thing,"

"What, do you have a pimple?"

"No, this nasty scar, obviously."

Lydia seemed to have had enough with her whining about this, as she instantly squared away her shoulders for a lecture. "Look, I know that the scar is new, and that you were really traumatized in that car wreck, and that it can be hard to reconcile your previous self perception, with your new self perception, but I think that you should just give yourself more time."

She set down the curling iron on the vanity, and rested her hands on Xan's shoulders, green eyes staring into brown through the mirror, "You're the same person with the scar that you were without it. And you look good, it defines your cheekbone. If you're going to change anything to make yourself look better, I'd say that you should try and just accept that you are a stone cold fox. And no amount of scars could change that, it's just in your nature."

"Aw, Lydia, you're going to make me cry," Xan sniffled, "Sorry to harp on the issue, I just--"

"Forgot that you were a badass bitch?"

"That too. I don't know, I just haven't felt right since I got it," the brunette said, wiping at her under eye before any tears could fall.

"I know, but you'll feel better soon, you just need time," Lydia said, before giving her friend a kiss on the top of the head. "And I'm done with your hair, it's a masterpiece. As always."