[ Cisco wonders if, to a lesser degree, his own plants don't serve a similar function. Maybe it would be a good idea to be more deliberate in his care of them, like Genji. To think about them in the way that he's describing, rather than simply telling people he likes having plants around the house.

He keeps staring down into his rice bowl as Genji speaks, saying he understands. Cisco swallows, not saying anything. He might be skeptical, if it were someone else. But all things considered, it's not hard to imagine Genji having plenty of reason to be afraid of himself. To feel profoundly helpless, and not in control. ]

...Everybody else was going through a lot of stuff of their own when- I started having problems, and I didn't want to lay anything else on them. You know. Be... a burden, or whatever.

[ For Cisco, there had been less lashing out, and more lying. He'd lied to everyone - even himself - right from when his powers had started. He'd tried to hide them, to hide what he was going through, from everybody, insisting that he was fine, cracking twice as many jokes just so there could be no mistake. But it hadn't solved anything. And things had only gotten worse, had festered. ]

Eddie's helped. Like, a lot. But he can't be there all the time, you know? And if the two of us are ever in danger, I wanna be able to fight alongside him, not be a liability to him.

[ He manages to lift his gaze, when Genji says it's not possible to eliminate his fear entirely. Cisco's mouth twists into the ghost of a rueful smile - just a tiny curl at the corner of his lips. ]

Yeah. I get that. I just- I don't know how.