"Thank you," she says quietly, still making no move to withdraw. "I- what now?"

"...I see if I can figure out where to find a pay phone without stopping hugging you?"

Oh, she actually knows the answer to that.

"There's one on the corner of the street," she says quietly. "About five minutes from here?"

She beams at her. "Thanks, that'll save me some time. Are you up to getting up and walking or should I get my sister to come over here and call?"

"I- I can move," she says - not entirely certain of that fact, but she's already somehow interrupted one person's day, it wouldn't be good to do that to another person. She'll manage.

She takes one look at her face and says, "I'll get my sister, it's fine."

She flinches and goes tense again. "No, I can, you don't need to-" (she's such an inconvenience), "please, I can."

"It's fine," she says soothingly. "You're pregnant, you shouldn't move if you don't feel like you should, what if something happens to the baby?"

She stops arguing there, one hand resting on her stomach again. There's a bolt of panic at the idea of harming her baby, and she shakes her head slightly. "You- I- I don't want to harm them," she sounds surer about that than she has about anything else. (She's still unsettled about someone else being inconvenienced, but her concern for her child wins out.) "Thank you."

"It's fine. This is what we do." (She pings Emily and summarizes the situation. Emily excuses herself and starts heading over.)

She breathes out slowly, and takes a moment before drawing another breath in. (It helped her stay calm sometimes.)

"I- can I- know your name?" she makes herself ask. "I- you don't. S'fine if you don't."

"I'm Edie. What's yours?"

"I- Blaze," when they bothered to call her anything other than 'girl'. (She liked it as well.)

"Oh, that's pretty."

She ducks her head a little - more shy than scared - her skin colouring slightly. No-one's ever said anything like that before. "Thank you," she murmurs.

"You're welcome."

She falls silent, hand still resting on her stomach, fingers tracing gentle circles. She doesn't really have any idea what else to say - it's not like she's ever really had much reason to try and hold a conversation.

After a little while Edie says, "I can feel the baby, if you want me to show you."

"-you can?" she sounds almost excited (like she's trying to hide her excitement). "I would...like that? Please?" she says, almost eager. Then she bites her lip, realises... "If it's...not too much trouble?"

"It's not the slightest bit of trouble," she says, and--shows her.

It's a sense completely different from the ones she already has, and there is a vague impression of her own mind, grown and complex, alongside the tiny, simple, loving spark that is the baby's largely unformed mind.

It's a little disorienting at first, but then there's a look of complete awe on her face, she's hadn't even...

It's incredible, feeling that. Feeling her baby's mind. (She already loved them, but now it feels more.) She'd been right, her baby was a person, and that's enough to make her smile, just a little bit.

"Thank you," she says, again, Edie is giving her so much (she'll worry about the price of this later, right now she's too focused on what she's being shown).

"You're very, very welcome."

Blaze stays where she is, feeling at the very least content, maybe a little happy, and almost safe. Which is strange, to not feel like she's on the verge of doing something wrong, of the inevitable punishments. She lets her eyes close, she's so tired. Maybe Edie won't mind if she just sleeps for a little while?

Edie will definitely not mind if she sleeps for a little while.

Then she will sleep, a little restlessly. With how exhausted she is, she'll probably sleep until something wakes her up.