The alley she has to go through is notorious. Prostitutes use it for quick tricks, knowing that it's close enough to other people that the chances of things going horrendously badly are slim.

There's a young girl in it, soaked through from the rain, and in clothes that are far too thin for the weather anyway. She's kneeling, trying to shelter against the wall, shoulders shaking slightly with sobs. Her lip has been split at some point, and is only just starting to scab over, and her cheek looks like it might bruise.

(At the other end of the alley, there's someone's back, disappearing rapidly.)

She was halfway expecting to get propositioned.  This is... not that.

She rolls a little closer and stops just out of arm's reach.  "Hey- hey, are you-"  'okay' is stupid, she's clearly not okay- "are you hurt?"

The girl glances up, her entire body flinching away. "I-I'm f-fine," she doesn't sound it. "I, um. I'm sorry. I-" She scrambles to her feet, unsteady. The movement shows just how painfully thin she is, although she's also just starting to show as pregnant.

Cassie scoots backward a foot or two, realizing too late she probably shouldn't move suddenly.  "It's all right, you- you don't need to be sorry."  She wipes some rain out of her eyes, which is promptly replaced.  "Do you, uh- d'you have someplace- do you wanna come in out of the rain?"

The girl bites at her lip, looks over at Cassie from under her eyelashes. "I- you- um. What do you- want me to- do?"

"I, uh-  nothing, I don't-"  Shouldn't push her but she can't just leave her here.  "You don't have to if you don't want to, I just- my place is literally around the corner, 's not much but I've got a roof and cocoa, or if you're not comfortable going someplace with a stranger there's an overhang over the loading dock, 'd be at least a little drier?"

The girl is silent for a moment. "I. Um." Pause, obviously confused, obviously not used to people acting like this. After a moment, voice completely lost: "Whatever you think best, ma'am?"

"Okay.  Okay, um."  Cassie chews on her lip for a moment.  "Why don't you come in, at least, and I can loan you a towel or I might have an umbrella somewhere-"  one that was due to become part of an illegal satellite hookup, but broken umbrellas are easy to come by-  "and you can see from there?"

She nods, a little wary, a little hesitant, but also almost relieved in a way? "Yes, ma'am," she agrees.

"Um.  Okay.  'S just this way."  She starts down the alley, keeping an eye out for broken glass (it's usually pretty clear, but not always, and tire punctures are a pain) and glances back over her shoulder.  "My name's Cassie, what's yours?"

The girl follows her, just out of arm's reach. "I, um, Blaze? Ma'am?"

"Nice t' meet you-" she says it almost automatically, pulling out a set of keys as she rolls up to a metal door just around the corner of the building.  "Here we are."

Inside is one large concrete-floored space, dimly lit by a set of skylights in the high ceiling.  Near the door there's a handful of mismatched tables covered in what looks like half the contents of a junkyard and a thrift shop- stained coffeepots, televisions with holes in the screen, one rickety card table covered in jam jars filled with screws and bolts and washers.  Farther away the objects get larger- a doorless fridge, most of the engine block of a truck- and in the opposite corner of the room is a forklift wrapped in caution tape.

Immediately next to the door, there is something that is not a wheelchair, because instead of wheels it has eight gleaming brass legs.  Cassie transfers into it with a quiet sigh and swings around a battered plasterboard partition.  "Be just a sec!"

Blaze stays exactly where she was left, winding her fingers together awkwardly.

Cassie returns with a clicking noise and two towels, one of which she hands to Blaze.  It's got an assortment of greyish stains on it, but looks like it's been washed since it acquired them.  "Here you go.  It'll take me a bit to find the umbrella but I promised cocoa, do you have any allergies or stuff?"

There's a moment before she takes the towel, and even then, she doesn't quite seem to know what she's supposed to do.

She shakes her head at the question. "I- at least- I don't- think so?"

Cassie doesn't immediately notice this, because as soon as Blaze takes it she buries her face in her own, rubbing vigorously at her hair.  "Mmkay, that's good- I don't have guests over usually, I've just got the kind with marshmallows and the kind without marshmallows and I think some kind of weird tea somewhere."  She emerges from the towel and glances at Blaze cautiously.

With Cassie's 'example', she's started towelling off herself, although little can be done for the fact her clothes are soaked through.

"I, uh, whatever's easiest?" Flinch. "Y-you don't- have to?"

"Hey, hey, s'okay."  She remembers to keep her tone gentle this time.  "I've got plenty, an' it's no trouble to make twice as much.  Let's get you settled and then I'll find you that umbrella, is that all right?"

"I- as you say, ma'am?" she agrees tiredly.

This is slightly concerning- okay, more than slightly- but Cassie's best plan right now is to just take this one step at a time.  She gestures for Blaze to follow her around the partition: the other side was evidently the warehouse office before something took out most of the front wall.  Currently it's set up as a fairly cozy living space:  mattress up on cinderblocks with a tangle of pink bedding, mustard-colored sofa, wide expanse of countertop with only a few random bits of scrap metal and a fridge with an actual door.

"Here, you can wrap up in this," she yanks a fleece blanket off the bed and offers it to Blaze, "and I'll get the milk started heating up."  She tugs a little end table around in front of the sofa (wire-mesh trash can with an irregular slate top, trailing an extension cord).

She's hesitant to take it again, but does, and after a moment where she's still, wraps it around her shoulders. "Th-thank you, ma'am," she murmurs.

"No problem."  She looks like she wants to say something more, or reach out, but after a moment she just clicks off toward the fridge instead.

There's definitely something going on with the chair- the legs telescope out to let her get mugs off a high shelf, crouch as she pulls a saucepan off a low one, scuttle backwards away from the opening fridge door, all without her hands being anywhere near the few visible controls.

She watches out of the corner of her eyes, she's curious underneath her wariness, but that's well hidden.

The end table starts radiating a gentle warmth.

Cassie sets the saucepan of milk on a hot plate and heads over to one of the farther tables, where she pulls a collapsible umbrella out of a box and does something to it that involves tape and wire.  (She doesn't actually seem to have any trouble finding it.)

"Here we go," she says, coming back over to Blaze,  "I'll leave this over here so you'll have it if you wanna leave whenever, okay?"

"I-um. You don't- I don't need--I mean, thank you, ma'am, but-"

"It's bucketing out, if you wanna stay till you don't need it that's fine with me, but I'd rather you take it if you need to go before the rain lets up.  Honestly you don't even need to bring it back if you don't live around here, I paid like three cents for it."

"I. Um. Yes, ma'am. Th-thank you."

Cassie nods as a chirping sound comes from the direction of the hot plate.  "You're welcome- I'll just, uh.  Get that."

She quickly empties a pair of instant cocoa packets into the two mugs and sets them in the sink to pour the milk in, then brings them over and sets them on the end table.  She pulls another blanket off the bed and arranges it on one end of the sofa before sinking onto it, using the sofa arm to balance the two steps it takes.  (The chair tucks all its legs in neatly once she's out of it.)

"You can, uh, sit down- a little damp won't hurt it, should've said that sooner."

"I- thank you."

She perches herself on the end of the sofa. (She may in fact be steaming very gently? Although that might be a mirage.)

Cassie wraps the corners of her blanket around her shoulders and picks up one of the cocoas, just holding it and breathing in the steam for a minute.

The table has now settled into a pleasant heat, although there's a bit of a draft from somewhere off in the room.

It takes Blaze a moment but-

She reaches out hesitantly, sneaking glances at Cassie, watching for a trap, looking to make sure this is okay, and picks up the other mug, wrapping her hands around the mug immediately.

Cassie doesn't react as though this is any way a problem.

She does blow on her own cocoa for a bit and take a tentative sip.

Blaze mimics her, but her sip is a little less tentative - almost like she doesn't have any experience with hot drinks burning her.

Quiet companionable cocoa.

For about five minutes, and then Cassie jumps a little bit and hisses under her breath.  She puts her mug back on the end table, licking the spilled cocoa off her other hand before it can get on the blanket.

"Sorry, I gotta go get the van inside before someone steals the hubcaps, be just a minute."

Blaze flinches when Cassie moves, but nods a little jerkily in response to her words.

Cassie shifts back into her spider-chair, then heads around the corner and wheels past in the normal one a moment later.  Muttering and muffled clanging sounds come from the other side of the opposite wall, followed by the purr of a car engine and some more clanging.

...Blaze is tired, and as warm as she ever remembers being.

She doesn't mean to fall asleep, but she can't keep her eyes open, and drifts off.

...aww.

Cassie carefully drapes the other blanket over her feet and then goes to disassemble a couple of TVs.  Unloading the lathes can wait until it won't wake anyone up.

She looks like she's going to be asleep for a while.

Cassie definitely meant to check on her after an hour or so and put the leftover cocoa away.  But one of the TVs turned out to have exactly the capacitor she needed to bring the experimental inertial tracker off the back-burner, and then that needed some counter space so she had to move the flash-freezer but packing it up she realized what the problem had been, and eventually she noticed it was quarter to midnight and she hadn't eaten dinner but it was so close to working...

About half one in the morning, Blaze jerks awake, scrambling to her feet, getting caught in the blankets, but managing to stop her fall-

And that makes her stop, looking around, lost, confused, and the panic is back, but it's different and-

Cassie's elbow-deep in the back of the doorless fridge but the movement catches her eye and she blinks, coming up slowly.  "What- sorry, I- right, were you-"

Blaze ducks her head, shoulders closing in on herself, arms wrapped protectively around her stomach. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't- mean to? To fall asleep. I-"

Cassie shakes her head a couple of times and scrubs her hands on a bandanna.  "Right, sorry, I- forgot-"  She comes over to the edge of the former office.  "You looked like you needed it, I didn't wanna wake you, and then I, uh.  Got distracted..."  She waves a hand vaguely behind her.

Blaze doesn't quite relax at that but-

"I- I wasn't- I haven't disturbed you? I didn't mean to- I- I'll just-"

"God, no, I worked through an actual earthquake one time."  She bites her lip.  "Do you- need a ride somewhere, have I made you late to anything?  It's not- the safest time of night, we're about to hit the bar-closing crowd."

-And Blaze looks completely lost, like she's only just realised that she has nowhere to go.

(She does.)

(Except she can't. They'll hurt her baby.)

Aww no, she knows that look.  "Or you could- stick around?  Could put sheets on the sofa, so you can sleep without getting a crick in your neck?"

"I- I wouldn't want to be in the way, ma'am-"

"No, it's fine, I like having people around."  And she'd worry if Blaze went off alone, but let's not lay on a guilt trip right now.  "Besides, 's not like I'm short on space."  

This is true- a good two-thirds of the warehouse is either empty or at a density around one random object per ten square meters.  Not that blank concrete floor is exactly the limiting factor at the moment.

"I- if-if you're sure, ma'am? I-I can- pay you back? Earn my keep?"

"You don't-"  but god, she remembers when useful felt like safe-

"...well.  Um.  You don't need to, I'm not gonna kick you out in the rain either way, but- how would you like to be a- a quality assurance checker?"

"-I don't know what that is, ma'am?"

"Okay, so: I build things-" she gives a redundant wave toward the piles of scrap appliances- "sometimes just for me but usually for other people.  An' I don't always catch when how to use something is obvious to me 'cause I know how it works on the inside but isn't obvious if you're just picking it up, like how it's easier to proofread someone else's writing?  So if you wanted, what you'd be doing is when I have a usable prototype, I'd bring it to you and you'd try it out and tell me if anything was confusing."

"Oh- I- Yes? I-If you think I can?"

"Mmhmm, I bet you could.  And if it turns out you don't like it then you don't have to.  But- tomorrow, yeah?"

"I- okay. Yes, ma'am. I- Thank you!"

"You're gonna be fine."  Cassie nods, a little more decisively than she's feeling.  "Want something to eat before we get the couch set up?  I know I missed dinner..."  She clicks over to the fridge as she's talking, moving sideways rather than twist around to talk over her shoulder.  "I've got leftover pizza, or... toast with- various things to go on it- I kind of don't have a microwave right now..."

"I, um- I'll be- fine, ma'am. I-" (It's not that she's not hungry, it's that she doesn't want to be burden.)

Cassie pokes her head out from behind the fridge door and frowns a bit.  "You're sure?  Toaster's big enough for two, and I don't think you snuck out for Chinese while I was in the zone."

She cracks half a smile, and doesn't say, And you look like you've missed too many meals already.

"I- um. I can- if you want-?" she gestures vaguely at the toaster, not sure what she's intending to say.

...how do you even act like a safe person to express preferences to.

"Okay, um, I'll go ahead and make extra toast, and if you don't want it right now I'll leave it in the toaster so you can have it in case you get hungry in the night."  She suits action to words- the toaster oven is in fact large enough to reheat two pieces of pizza at once, if you squashed them in and overlapped them a little bit.

"I- Um. Th-thank you."

She draws a little closer, still staying out of arm's reach.

Small smile.  Plates, knife, jar.  "Peanut butter all right?"

"-yes? I- whatever is fine, thank you."

Cassie slides a plate of peanut butter toast down the counter to within Blaze's reach and starts on a second one.  "Bathroom's that way, if you wake up before I do or after I'm gone you can help yourself to breakfast, I've got a client meeting at ten- well, potential client.  Hopefully client."

-She hesitates, and then hunger wins out and she pulls the plate closer, and takes a bite of one of the slices. It vanishes pretty quickly after the first bite.

"I- um, yes, ma'am," she agrees with a nod.

Cassie glances her way with a small smile and quietly puts more bread in the toaster, munching on her own.

Blaze hovers, unsure what to do.

Cassie leaves the second batch of bread toasting while she goes to dig sheets and a spare toothbrush out from the boxes under her bed and gets the couch set up.

Blaze opens her mouth a couple of times, to say she can do it, to try to help in some way but...something keeps her from actually saying anything other than 'thank you' again.

"No problem."  Cassie doesn't have a spare pillow, but she can stuff a couple of folded sweaters into a pillowcase.  "This'll probably fit you?"  She offers Blaze a gray nightgown with a picture of a cow on the front.  "Want first turn in the bathroom?  I ought to unload the van so I don't forget tomorrow."

"I- um, as you- if that's- alright with you, ma'am?" She reaches out hesitantly to take the nightgown.

"Wouldn't offer if it wasn't."  She collects what looks like the mutant offspring of a two-wheel dolly and a scissor lift and heads off to the empty patch of floor where the van is parked.

Blaze in the meanwhile, uses the bathroom, a quick shower, brushes her teeth, and changes. She folds her clothes neatly, and braids her hair back from her face before making her way back out into the main room.

Cassie scoops her own pajamas off the bed and gives Blaze a quick smile as they pass.  (There's a brief muffled squawk from the bathroom after the water turns on, but she doesn't come out immediately.)

She flinches a little at the squawk, but stays where she's settled herself, perched on the couch, feet tucked up underneath her.

Cassie emerges eventually, showered and pajamaed.  She shifts from chair to bed and asks "All set?" as the overhead lights start turning off at the far end of the room.

"Yes, ma'am," she nods, hesitates. "Um. Sleep well?"

"You too."  Cassie wraps up in the remaining blanket and tucks herself in the corner where the bed meets the wall.

(And if she leaves her chair between the bed and the sofa, well, that's a sensible place to get out of it.)

Blaze is still wary of sleeping, but she curls up a little smaller on the couch, and does eventually drift off.

The rain tapers off in the wee hours of the morning, and soft dawn light begins to filter through the skylights.  Cassie doesn't wake up.

She does wake up when cheery synth-pop starts blaring from the other side of the kitchen about four hours later.

Blaze jerks awake at the sound, shooting to her feet (managing to avoid tangling with the blanket this time), and looks around wildly, certain she's overslept-

Except this isn't the church. This is-

But she still overslept, didn't she?

Well, on the one hand, it's fairly bright out.

On the other hand, the blanket cocoon slowly metamorphosing into a human seems to think it's an entirely unreasonable hour to be up, if the grumbling is anything to go by.

-Blaze doesn't exactly want to poke around the kitchen area, but she expects coffee will be appreciated. So she goes to see if a kettle and coffee fixings are obvious.

There's a coffeemaker in the corner by the fridge, and filters and coffee grounds can be located if she opens a few cupboards (along with a sack of whole beans, but no easily findable grinder).

The music turns off and there's a clicking noise from the corner as Cassie gets up and settles into her chair.

Well. She sets about setting the machine to brew, as quietly as possible.

"G'morning," Cassie mumbles as she heads toward the bathroom. 

She bobs slightly in something that is almost a curtsey. "Morning, ma'am."

She emerges a few minutes later in a gray pencil skirt and a peach cardigan, looking a bit more awake.  "Did you make coffee?  Thank you so much, you're an angel."

She glances away, obviously surprised by the gratitude. "I, um, you're- welcome?"

Cassie stifles a yawn behind a hand as she gets mugs and sugar out of the cupboard.  "So, what d'you want for breakfast- we've got more toast, poptarts, there should still be some eggs but I dunno if they're still good-"  She seems to be ramping back up to full speed even before coffee.

"I- um, you don't- I'm fine-"

"You should probably eat something... I've got milk and grape juice, if you're not feeling up to solid food?"  She takes last night's spare toast out of the toaster and sets it on a plate midway between them, replacing it with a pair of poptarts.

"I- um. If- you're- sure? I don't- You don't- want anything?"

"I'm having poptarts, don't think I quite have time for eggs- I'm taking the bus halfway so I don't have to park in the city center- you're welcome to them if you want them and they haven't gone bad though."

Sugar: in mug.  (Kind of a lot of sugar.)  Coffee:  done?

Coffee, done, and Blaze is lifting the pot to pour into the mug Cassie just put the sugar in.

"I, um, o-okay," she says after a moment. She returns the pot to under the machine, and takes one of the pieces of toast from last night, nibbling at it.

"Oh- thank you."  She gives Blaze a brief smile and stirs her coffee thoughtfully.  "Okay, so while I'm gone- I should be back by noon, maybe one if I run some errands after, but you don't need to worry about what to do if I'm not back in time, I arranged that with a friend already.  I can loan you some clothes, I think we're about the same size, or I've got a washer-dryer if you want to wash yours- uh, the white one over there's the one that's hooked up, not the silver one, I took the guts out of the silver one months ago."

She nods. "I- yes, ma'am."

"You, um- you know you don't have to call me ma'am, right?  I won't be mad."

"Oh- I- um. As you say?"

This is probably not better, but they are saved from the awkward moment by the toaster going off.  Cassie scoots the poptarts onto a plate and glances at Blaze.  "I could put another pack in for you, if you want?  Or actually hot toast?"

"I- this is- fine? Ma- Um. This is fine? Thank you?" (There's a sense that she doesn't want there to be more waste.)

"Mmkay."  Cassie chews on her lip a moment, then takes a breath and digs a keychain out of a pocket.  "If you need to leave and come back while I'm gone-"  she detaches one and holds it out- "this'll get you in and out the people door.  Just in case."

Blaze stares at it, completely lost, she's never been given a key to anywhere before in her life, is far more used to being locked in places than anything else.

After a minute, Cassie slides the key under the coffeemaker so it's just reachable but won't get accidentally knocked on the floor.  "Right, uh, it'll be right here if you need it, okay?"  She pokes at her poptarts; evidently they're cool enough to eat since half of one disappears in short order.

"O-Okay," she agrees quietly.

"Okay, then."

Cassie drinks her coffee quietly for a bit, then squeaks and skitters off to collect various items from the Parts Hoard, swinging back briefly to collect her remaining poptart and tie a length of string to the key. 

Once she's out of the warehouse, though, she stops the van on the corner to send a quick text to a friend.

hey

I maybe obtained a ward and/or employee

how do I figure out what paperwork I need to do

how do I get her healthcare

she's barely eating and I think maybe she's pregnant but I can't ASK because then it's employment discrimination

what do i DO

Blaze, meanwhile, looks for cleaning supplies, and will clean the kitchen area and the bathroom. She leaves anything she doesn't recognise alone.

Cleaning supplies are findable:  there's some normal ones in the cupboard under the sink and some industrial-strength ones of uncertain vintage piled up in one of the bathroom stalls that didn't get converted to a shower.  There's relatively few random contraptions in the kitchen, although a socket wrench somehow ended up in the silverware drawer and the clock radio has been opened up at the back and added on to.

 Cassie comes back about half past noon, heralded by the rumble of the loading dock door opening.  "Guess what!  I got the job I got the job I got the job!"  She clicks down out of the back door of the van, already in the spider chair, and does a little capering victory dance.  "Gonna put in a titanium order as soon as the advance comes in but I got us a celebration feast right now anyway."

Blaze is startled at first by Cassie's exuberance, not entirely sure what-

-and then the words process and she gives a small smile, unpracticed, and definitely seeming larger than it is, but there.

"I- that's really good, ma'am."

"Thank you!  It's gonna be so much fun I can't wait-"  she heads around to the passenger door and unbuckles a large paper bag- "except I really should 'cause they haven't actually paid me yet and I've still got the shop stuff to go over.  I got Indian, I wasn't sure how much you like spicy food but most of it is only a little spicy and some isn't spicy at all."

Cassie's enthusiasm is infectious, and Blaze feels strangely...safe? In the face of it.

"I- whatever is fine," she assures the other woman, hurrying into the kitchen area to find plates and cutlery.

Cassie follows, pausing as she comes around the corner.  "Oh gosh, that explains what you did while I was out.  Thanks for cleaning all the things, I hope you weren't too bored."  She sets the bag on the counter and skitters backward, still talking a mile a minute.  "I'm gonna just grab a bigger table, this won't really all fit on the space heater..."

(There's a tiny pleased blush when Cassie thanks her.)

"I- um, do you- need a hand? I can-"

"I can move it on my own fine but if you wanna scoot the little one out of the way that'd be great."  She shifts a tangle of wire and what looks like an oversized eggbeater off a card table into an open footlocker.  "Uh, aaaactually if you could find something to wipe it off with also?  It hasn't got any engine grease or anything on it I don't think but it's probably more dusty than we wanna eat off right now."

Blaze has pushed the smaller table out of the way. And as luck would have it, courtesy of her prior cleaning exploits, Blaze knows exactly where to lay her hands on a cloth, and also a spray to clean the table with.

Cassie doesn't bother folding the card table up- instead she grabs it by the tops of two legs once she's gotten it clear, and telescopes her chair upward so she can let it hang at an angle in front of her without dragging on the ground.  It gives her an odd tiptoey gait, like a cat trying not to get its paws wet, but the table makes it over to the sofa without incident.

"Huh, I should find you a chair at some point, shouldn't I.  Like, a chair chair, so you can sit places that aren't the sofa if you want."

"I, uh, the sofa's fine?" she says as she wipes the table down.

"Well, you couldn't drag it over to the counter if you wanted to sit there- I guess you could, it's not super heavy and I'm not making a rule against it or anything?  But you probably wouldn't want to."

She scoops the bag off said counter and starts unloading- there's something in an orange sauce and something in a green sauce and something in a slightly redder orange sauce, little triangular dumplings, flat bread and round puffy bread and crispy crackery bread, a big tub of rice and a little tub of dough balls in sticky syrup.

"I, uh, suppose not," she agrees, staring at the sheer quantity of food, and not entirely certain where to start - except to go back to the kitchen to grab more spoons for serving it out.

Cassie narrates as she takes the lids off the tubs:  "So this one's chicken and this one's spinach and cheese and this one's cauliflower- that's the spiciest, I think- and the samosas have potatoes and peas in them."

She nods as Cassie narrates, and perches herself on the couch at one end of the table. She seems to be waiting for something - permission maybe?

"You can, um, help yourself..."  She fidgets with the spoon in the cauliflower for a moment.  "If you want something that's not spicy at all I got extra rice, or the bread should be fine.  The chicken is my favorite if you're okay with a little bit spicy, though."

She's a little hesitant, but after a moment, manages to help herself to a little of the rice and the chicken dish - not nearly enough, really, for a full meal.

Cassie watches her concernedly but doesn't say anything, and loads up on rice and chicken and cauliflower and a couple of the dumplings once it's clear Blaze is done (making sure to leave enough chicken for seconds).

"Mm, I forgot, these ones have kind of a lot of pepper actually."  She waves at the crackery things.  "I'll put the microwave back together first thing after lunch, I think, then we can reheat some of this for dinner."

She nods, more because that seems to require a response than anything else. The food is borderline too spicy, but she does appear to be enjoying it.

Cassie takes a rather large bite of cauliflower and then makes a 'hm' noise, like she's just remembered something.  "Iiii forgot to get a glass of milk, would you like one while I'm up?"  She's already put her fork down and started moving.

"I- um. Yes? If-if it's not too much trouble?"

"No, no trouble at all!"  She grabs the two biggest mugs and the milk jug out of the fridge.

"Thank you," Blaze says quietly when Cassie returns.

"No problem!"  She scoots a mug over toward Blaze; it has a cheery cartoon puffin on it.  "So uh... we should maybe talk plans, if you're up for that?"

"I. Yes. Of course?"

"Mmkay.  Uh- if something makes you uncomfortable, you can tell me and we'll change the subject."  She breaks bits of crust off one of her samosas.  "First of all, I guess, do you have any stuff somewhere that you'd like to go get?  I've got the van if it's big or far away."

She shakes her head slowly. "I-no. Just. Just what I- had on me." (She'd run with nothing but the clothes on her back, and even that felt like stealing something.)

Cassie nods.  "Different question- there's not really a not awkward way to ask this, I'm sorry-  is anyone looking for you?  Either that you want to tell how to find you or that you don't want to be found?"

She shakes her head rapidly, eyes wide and almost-panicked. "I- no. Please- I-"

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay, I'm not gonna tell anyone if you don't want me to."  Cassie makes vague patting motions at the air.  "D'you wanna stop talking about this an' come back to it some other time?"

She looks down, shrugs a little. "I- whatever you- think best?"

"Okay.  Okay, um."  Cassie runs her hands through her hair, messing up what had been a carefully professional-but-not-trying-too-hard updo.  "Look.  You're-  I'm gonna protect you if you need protecting, unless you tell me you don't want me to, but it'd be- simpler if I know what I'm protecting you from."

"I- I don't- You shouldn't-" She rocks. "I- I can't- they-" She wraps her arms around her stomach, more protective than anything else.

Made it worse should've asked sooner should've waited help

"God, I- I'm sorry, we'll stop talking about it, okay?  Do you wa- would you like a hug?"

"-I- I'm sorry. I- don't know?" she sounds lost, and looks like a hug would probably do her some good.

"I.  Um."  She chews on a knuckle for a moment, then gets up, leans on the table, and wobbles over to sit next to Blaze, leaving about a foot of space between them and plenty of room for her to get out around the other side of the table if she needs to.  "You can- lean on me a bit, see if that's better or worse?"

Blaze doesn't seem entirely sure what to do with that. She moves slightly closer, and does lean towards Cassie, but can't quite bring herself to lean on Cassie.

Cassie pulls a folded blanket off the back of the couch and tucks it around Blaze's shoulders with a hesitant little pat.

She twitches slightly away before leaning a tiny bit into Cassie's touch.

Cassie scoots a little bit closer and leans in herself, leaving her hand on Blaze's shoulder and not really making eye contact.

That's fairly easy given that Blaze's eyes are staring at a spot somewhere underneath the table, but she's not pulling away either, isn't quite leaning into Cassie. She's trembling slightly.

This is... not exactly permission.  Even if Cassie could kind of use a hug herself right about now.  Food, blanket, hug, what else can she even do...

She puts her hand back in her lap and starts softly humming a lullaby.

Blaze makes a tiny, involuntary sound of loss when Cassie moves her hand, but she still doesn't try to make further contact.

Cassie peeks over at Blaze, trying to read her expression.

"...Maman is below, she's mixing up dough, for cookies I know..."

Lost, and tired, and perhaps a little intrigued by the singing, but mostly just lost.

"...for little Pierrot.  Fais do-do, Pierrot mon p'tit frere..."

She cautiously puts an arm back on Blaze's shoulders.

She goes still, and then...shudders slightly, does that not-quite-leaning-into thing again.

Cassie is twisting the hem of her sweater into knots with the other hand, but leaves her arm where it is for now.

 "...fais do-do, mon p'tit Pierrot."

Blaze leans a little further into her, and gives a quiet sob.

"Go to sleep, Pierrot little brother..."

Cassie wraps her arm a little more firmly around Blaze and pats her gently on the shoulder.

Blaze sobs a few more times, head somehow coming to rest on Cassie's shoulder.

Well, this is... not good that she's sad, but maybe she needed to get a good cry out?

Cassie shifts closer so she can properly support Blaze's weight and puts her other arm around her, still quietly singing.

One of Blaze's hands, very hesitantly, grasps Cassie's top.

After a little while, her sobs cease, and she's still for a moment. Then, barely audible: "I- M'sorry."

"Hey, shhhh, you don't need to be sorry."  Pat pat.  "I kept pushing when I knew you were getting upset, 's my fault if it's anybody's."

"I- a-as you say?" Blaze agrees tiredly.

Continuing hug.  So much hug.

The hug is...good. But Blaze starts getting twitchy, concerned she's holding Cassie back from something, and not used to being idle.

Cassie lets go when Blaze starts to fidget, but doesn't immediately go back to her chair.  "D'you think you could drink some more milk?"

Blaze thinks for a moment, and then nods a little.

"Mmkay, that's good."  She leans forward enough to tug the dish of samosas closer to them, and takes one to munch on.  "Sorry I interrupted lunch."

"I- it-it's fine. I- shouldn't have- you were...happy and I-"

Cassie puts the samosa down and puts both hands over her face.  After a minute, she asks without moving, "Would it make sense if I said I was thinking the exact same thing?"

"I- yes- No- I- don't know? Yes?"

"Okay.  Okay, um."  She runs her hands through her hair, darts a quick sideways glance at Blaze, and starts breaking bits off the samosa.  "It's important to me that you get as much to eat as you want, and/or need, and I feel like I made that harder."  Maybe let's just deal with the feelings separately.

"I- what- no? You-" Pauses, looks at the food, takes a careful breath and looks at her hands, folded neatly in her lap. "I- don't need, that much, ma'am. I- haven't had- this much to eat- at one time- in a while?" (Ever.)

Cassie nods hurriedly.  "Definitely don't eat more than you're comfortable with, I just- I wasn't sure what you liked, and I wanted to make sure we had plenty?"

"Oh- I- you did? Ma'am? I'm- grateful? I- I'll eat- anything?"

"No worries- if you do find something you don't like, I won't be mad if you change your mind."  You don't need to be grateful is maybe not a helpful thing to say right now.

"So, uh... after lunch, how would you like to learn how to put the emitter back in a microwave?"

"Oh, I- I wouldn't want- to be in the way, ma'am."

"It's fine, there's actually a ton of room in there, they don't need to miniaturize anything.... You could just watch, though, if you're nervous, or if you'd rather you could do something else?"

"I- uh, whatever you- think best, ma'am?"

"Uh."  How does Mercy do it.  "Well- we don't have to decide now, d'you think you could drink the rest of your milk and have at least a little more rice?"

She takes a little bit more rice, to reassure Cassie more than she's hungry. But it won't do her any harm to eat a little more.

Cassie has meanwhile taken her samosa detritus back to the other side of the table and is hurriedly finishing up her own rice and cauliflower.

Blaze finishes the rice, and then sips at the glass of milk.

Oh good, calories are going into child.

Once it looks like Blaze isn't going to eat any more, Cassie starts putting lids back on the tubs, spiciest first.  "Could- if you'd like to help get these back in the fridge, that'd be cool?  I've actually still got all the original pieces of the microwave, I took it apart because I thought the wave guide might work in my flash-freezer, but it didn't, and I just haven't gotten around to putting it back together yet."

Having something to do seems to be reassure Blaze some, and she helps move the tubs to the fridge, head tilted just so, so that's it's obvious she's still listening to Cassie.

Cassie leaves the last couple of tubs to Blaze and heads over to collect the microwave parts that have gone astray.  "So this is the magnetron, that's what actually generates the microwaves..."

Blaze drifts towards Cassie when she starts speaking, definitely paying attention.

"Oh, actually, I'm setting a bad example- the first step, whenever you're working on anything, is to make sure it's turned off and unplugged."  She holds up the end of the power cord as a demonstration.  "You'll see me skip it sometimes, but that's because I haven't been working around people in a while, and I can cheat."  She taps her temple with two fingers, glancing up at Blaze with a lopsided smile.

That gets a the tiniest of smiles out of Blaze, and a slight nod.

"So the magnetron connects up to the transformer like so- you also wanna discharge the capacitor if you're working on a microwave specifically, I'll show you how next time I open one up, I put the clips on there so I'd know I did it.  And then the antenna on the magnetron lines up in the waveguide liiiike- so."

-the words mean nothing to Blaze. She still pays attention, but she doesn't really understand what's going on.

Cassie glances up, sees Blaze's expression, and tries to backpedal a bit.  "So the microwaves come out here, that's the antenna, and they travel along here- that's why it's called a waveguide, it guides the waves- then they bounce around in the actual oven bit and cook the food?"

That does make more sense, but-

"I- you- shouldn't- I'm- I'm not- I won't-"

"Aww, hey, I'm sorry."  Cassie straightens up fully and takes a step away from the microwave.  "I get caught up in things sometimes, forget to talk so people can understand me.  'S not your fault."

She shakes her head, not in disagreement exactly. "I- I'm- I'm not smart enough. Ma'am. I- I should- shouldn't have let you...think. I was."

"Oh.  Um."  Cassie starts twisting at the hem of her cardigan again.  "Look, I- don't know you that well but I think you're plenty smart enough, I was just starting from way too far in.  I had a teacher used to say if you can't explain it to a five-year-old you don't understand it."  She bites her lip and glances up.  "But if you don't- if you're not interested we don't have to."

"I- no- if you- if you wan't to- it's- we can- I can try to- understand. I-"

"I- no, this is just for fun, okay?  I mean, and also so we'll have a working microwave.  But if it's hard work or it's upsetting you it's not important enough to keep going over that?"

She twists her hands together, tries to explain. "I- you seemed- happy? I-"

"I mean... I do really like this stuff, that's not even a technopath thing, that's mostly a me thing.  But it's okay if you don't?  I have friends that really like music and, and food, and they- don't get mad that I don't care so much?"

Blaze looks at the floor, twists her fingers together. "I- don't know how to do- this. I- never had to. Before."

"And that's just fine, you're never actually gonna need this, most people don't fix their own microwaves.  Cars maybe, once you're- uh-" she skitters a few steps to one side and back again- "I mostly just- thought you might be bored?"

She shrugs a little. "I- used to. It? Sort of. I- good at. Keeping myself distracted."

"Well, that's- good, I guess- tell you what, I'll get this finished up an' then I'll set you up with a guest account on my laptop, then you can do whatever.  All right?"

She nods slowly. "I- yes, okay?"

"Okay."  She produces a screwdriver from a compartment under her seat, fastens the magnetron in place, and puts the back cover back on.  "Let's just get this over to the counter, then-"  She edges up close to the table and tips the microwave onto her lap with a grunt.

"Um, I could- help?" Blaze offers, although she isn't entirely sure how she would go about helping.

"Nah, you sh- I've got a built-in cart."  She pats the arm of her chair.  "You could doublecheck there's nothing in the way, I guess?  It goes next to the fridge."  She heads in that direction, a bit slower than usual.

Yes! Blaze can do that! Even if it is pretty much clear.

Cassie telescopes up so her knees are level with the counter and carefully scoots the microwave onto it.  "There!  Now you can have hot food whenever an' you don't need to wash a pan."  She flashes Blaze a smile and clatters off toward the van.

That gets a shy, perplexed smile, and Blaze hovers a little uncertainly.

Cassie returns shortly, pulling a laptop out of a Definitely Grown-Up Business Briefcase.  "Mmkay, guest account, guest account..."  She balances it on her knees and types a bit, frowns briefly and chews on a fingernail before typing something else, and finally turns it around and offers it to Blaze.  "There you go, guest account.  I don't have any headphones, so uh... if you watch a video I'll hear it, but also I don't expect I'd mind."

She takes it cautiously, and very, very carefully. "Thank you?"

"You're not gonna break it by accident, I reinforced the lid- oh hey, I think there was a Bill Nye about electromagnetism?  Want me to see if I can find that?  He's got, like, a whole job an' production values behind explaining things to people, probably do a better job at it."

"-Oh. Yes! That would be- good."

(And it meant she didn't have to tell Cassie that she wasn't entirely sure how to use a computer yet. Or that she couldn't read.)

Cassie retrieves the laptop and sets it on the counter to pull up the video.  "So, uh- I'm probably not gonna get too sucked in, but just so you know in case, if something happens and I don't come out of it don't shake me?  If yelling doesn't work you have my permission to throw things."

She nods, a little wide-eyed. "I- understood."

"Aaaaaand I should change before I work on something with moving parts."  She brushes some dust off her skirt.  "You all set?"

She nods. "I- yes, ma'am. Thank you."

Cassie collects some more durable clothes and takes them to the bathroom, then settles in among the spoils of the high school machine shop.  Three broken lathes become two working lathes and a neat pile of spare parts; a hydraulic press just needed a good cleaning and new fluid.

Blaze meanwhile curls up with the laptop and becomes thoroughly enthralled by Bill Nye.

After a couple of hours, Cassie looks up from the guts of a bandsaw and calls across the room, "Hey, you oughta plug that in soon!"

Her immediate thought is 'What did I do? What did I not do?!' and she goes still for a moment before-

-before actually processing the tone. And it wasn't angry, it wasn't demanding anything.

She looks around. "Um, with what?" she calls back, voice probably only just audible to Cassie.

"Oh- gosh, sorry!"  She grabs a rag and wipes her hands on it as she comes closer.  "Left it in my bag, no wonder."

"I can get it," Blaze says, getting to her feet. "I just-"

"Sure- net pocket inside the top.  Sorry I startled you."

She smiles back a little shyly. "I- no, it's fine. I was just..." Startled, yes, but it hadn't been a bad thing, in the end.

"Okay- uh, doing all right still?"

She nods as she fetches the charge cable for the bag, and plugs it in to the laptop. "Yes, thank you. Um, did you- need anything?"

"Nope, I just noticed it was dragging, an' I thought you might've been into it enough you didn't see the alert."

"Oh- I. Yes. I was. Um. You could tell? From-" she gestures.

"Yeah- most computer bits are too finicky for me to really get a handle on, but the battery's the- loudest, I guess?  And since I've had it for a while I kind of notice it more?"

"I- that's- that's pretty amazing, ma'am."

"Aww, thank you."  She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, practically glowing.  "It's great, I got really lucky."

Blaze looks down, smiles. "I- that's- that's good."

Cassie miiight be blushing.  "Anyway.  I can let you get back to Bill Nye, yeah?"

"I- yes, of course, I- yes?"

"Like, unless there's something else you'd rather?  Or we can talk more if you want, I'm not in any rush."

"Oh- I- I don't- want to distract you? I'm fine, it's- nice. Interesting?"

"I just- um.  Yeah.  Science communication.  Is important."  She twists a lock of hair around her fingers, looking off at an angle.

"I've never... Had anything like this before."

"Your school didn't use the electronic babysitter when a teacher was out?"

She looks down. "I, um, never- went. To school. My guardians-" (Had always said she was too stupid, had always said it wasn't worth wasting anyone's time with.)

"Oh.  And if you're homeschooled you don't just get a new teacher next year if you wind up with one that doesn't like math, huh.  That must suck."

She just shakes her head mutely, not sure how to explain where Cassie has made the error.

"Well.  Uh.  We don't have to talk about it if you're not comfortable with it.  An' you've got plenty of time if you do want to try out the public school experience, although if it's anything like where I grew up I can't exactly recommend it."

"I just- I've never-"

"Aww, hey, d'you- would you like another hug?"

She thinks for a moment, and then gives a slow nod.

Cassie entallens her chair, slips out of it as it rises, and leans back against the seat, opening her arms.

She's hesitant, but she still moves closer, into the space between Cassie's arms.

Cassie wraps her arms around Blaze and pats her gently on the shoulder. 

"Hey," she murmurs,  "you've got time.  You've got time."

She leans into the hug, hestiantly wrapping her arms around Cassie in turn.

Such hug. 

After a few minutes, Cassie tries to stealthily shift her weight while still hugging.

Blaze draws back a little. "Oh- I. You need to-"

"Nah, you're good, I just, um.  I'm more tired than I thought I was."

"Oh- I. Yes. You should-" (Blaze knows how exhausting dealing with people can be, and that's without doing...whatever it was Cassie had the meeting for.)

"We could move this hug to the couch?"

"I- if you- don't have to- don't want to go...elsewhere?"

"Nope, got nowhere to be an' the bandsaw'll keep.  Couch it is?"  She pushes back up into the chair and offers Blaze her arm like a fancy gentleman escorting a lady in to dinner.

-Blaze is startled into an almost-laugh, and she hesitantly hooks her arm through Cassie's.

"We're off to see the sofa..."  Cassie leads Blaze the few steps to the couch and then lets go of her arm to shift into it.

Yeah, more giggling, and Blaze sits down fairly near to Cassie - close enough that the hug could resume.

And resume it shall.  Cassie wraps an arm around Blaze's shoulders and pulls her in, a little less tentatively this time but still gentle enough she could break out if she wanted to.

She leans into Cassie, not-quite-snuggling into her side, resting her head on her shoulder with only a little hesitance.

Cassie leans her own head on Blaze's and brings her other arm up around her.

After a couple of moments, Blaze shifts a little, eyes darting back towards the laptop.

Cassie tenses a bit and starts to let go, but then relaxes.  "Wanna keep going with Bill Nye?"  She attempts to reach the laptop without moving enough that Blaze would have to stop leaning on her, but her arms aren't quite long enough.

"Yes please?" Blaze says, and shifts to accomodate reaching for the laptop.

Then Cassie can retrieve the laptop from the far end of the couch and rest it on her knees, and they can settle in to learn about air pressure.

Blaze very quickly goes back to being enthralled, almost-relaxed against Cassie's side.

Cassie admittedly isn't quite as enthralled, but she has a mini rubik's cube in her pocket that she can juuuust about get out without moving her other arm, and that can take up the rest of her energy.

If Blaze notices the movement, she doesn't show it.

Bill Nye explains the sense of smell next, and then the states of matter, and the light from the skylights gets dimmer while the ceiling lights get brighter, and the space heater kicks back on, and Cassie's head starts to rest on Blaze's more heavily.

It takes her a moment to realise what's happening, but when she does, Blaze holds herself very carefully still so as not to disturb Cassie. (She's still very focused on Bill Nye, but she's a little focused on this as well.)

Cassie sleeps through all of friction and half of the water cycle before her head tips forward and she jerks upright.  "Hah- mrrgh.  Nrrf?"  She blinks at Blaze for a moment.

Blaze blinks back. "I- um, are you- okay?"

"Yeah- yeah, I just- weird dream.  Uh."  She rubs her eyes and blinks at the screen instead.  " 'Time's it?"

She stares at the clock, trying to remember what little she knew about how to read numbers.

Cassie solves this problem by leaning forward and tugging the computer a little closer.  "Nearly eight, huh.  You hungry?"

She thinks about that. "I- I could eat?" she admits quietly, like she's worried that's the wrong answer.

"Yeah, me too."  She stretches and cricks her neck.  "Long's you don't mind pausing Bill for a bit.  Leftovers, toast, something else?"

She shrugs a little. "I- whatever's easiest is fine?

"Right.  Let's go with leftovers, then, get some use out of that microwave."

"I can- do that?" she offers.

"Sure- pick out what you'd like.  You know where the plates are, right?"  She closes the laptop a bit reluctantly and sets it on the end of the couch.

"Yeah," she confirms, getting to her feet. (And if she's a little reluctant to pull away, it's hard to tell.) "What would you like, ma'am?"

"Oh- uh, you don't- I can-"  she's found the rubik's cube again and starts clicking it back and forth without looking.  "Um- if you're toasting anything and there's room, you could put a couple of extra samosas in?  But you don't need to, I can get dinner on my own."

"It's fine," Blaze assures her, and goes and sets about reheating them food. It takes a little bit of working out, but she eventually returns with food for both of them.

Cassie scoots most of the way to her chair before deciding to just let Blaze do this, and perches on the edge of the couch spinning the rubik's cube on its keychain until she comes back over.

"Thank you- um, I appreciate it."

She smiles shyly at her. "You're welcome."

She seems a little... settled? Somehow, for having done this.

Cassie sticks the rubik's cube back in her pocket and accepts a plate of food.  "We can keep watching over dinner if you want?"

She pauses for a moment looking down. "If you don't mind?"

"Nah, not at all, I do stuff with one hand an' eat with the other all the time."  She starts setting the computer up on the table.

Blaze smiles a little, and curls back onto the couch.

Bill Nye continues explaining condensation!

Hugging while eating is unfortunately much harder than watching TV while eating, but Cassie could sit close enough that their knees are touching?  How does Blaze feel about this?

Positively if the way she shuffles close enough to facilitate it is anything to go by.

Oh good.

Leftover Indian food and the water cycle can continue apace, then.

She watches contently, eating a little slower than she had previously. When they're done, she takes the dishes to go wash them.

Cassie lets her handle the dishes, although she doesn't look any more comfortable about it than she did before dinner.  When Blaze gets back, she's pulled the blankets off the bed and arranged them on the back of the sofa, ready to be pulled down into a two-person nest.

Blaze hesitates for a moment, and then settles down next to Cassie again, knees nudging together.

"Thanks for taking care of the dishes."  Cassie goes to tuck the blankets around Blaze, then hesitates.  "Anything you need?  You okay to just keep watching?"

(There's a sense she's a little bewildered by the thanks.)

"I-no, I'm okay, thank you."

"Mmkay."  Cassie hits play on the laptop and continues tucking the blankets around both of them, ending up with one arm around Blaze along the back of the couch (inside the blankets).

Blaze cuddles a little into Cassie's side.

Cassie cuddles back, very gently, and Bill Nye uses a stadium to illustrate how small the nucleus of an atom is.

There is quite a lot of Bill Nye available, so the limiting factor is probably going to be when Blaze starts getting tired.

Blaze has slept a fair bit, and better than she ever really remembers, that's going to be a little while.

Cassie will probably fall asleep first, then.  Her head tips back against the wall this time so it's a little harder to notice immediately, but she'll probably be out for a while.

-Well, Blaze will eventually fall asleep on Cassie in turn, her head leaning on the other girl's shoulder.

Bill Nye continues on, unaware that he's lost his audience. 

Sometime well after dawn, Cassie wakes up and tries to scoot her arm out from under Blaze without waking her.

Blaze wakes, with a slight start and-

"I didn't mean to oversleep!" It's a reflexive response, automatic, she couldn't have stopped the words if she'd tried.

"Buh- s'okay, you don' have a bedtime."  This is perhaps not quite what Cassie meant to say.

-That gets a confused blink, because she's not sure it makes sense. "O-okay?"

Cassie pats Blaze's shoulder.  "Or- no, I mean- not bedtime.  Other thing.  Wake-up time?"

"-Oh." She looks down, twists her fingers together. "I- sorry .That's- I'm used to-"

"Yeah, s'okay."  She extricates herself the rest of the way from the blankets and scoots over to her chair.  "We can talk about it in a bit if you want, but I gotta run to the bathroom first, okay?"

"I- okay. Yes'm."

"Okay."  Another gentle pat, and Cassie transfers into her chair and clicks off at a rapid pace.

-She isn't entirely sure why she takes so much comfort from those pats, but she does. She folds the blankets while she's waiting for Cassie to return.

Cassie's back in about five minutes.  "Okay, so, um... d'you want to talk about- things?  It's okay if you don't."

"I- I'm not sure I know--how to?"

"Well- like, it doesn't have to be a big huge Talk, we could just take one thing at a time- like, if you'd rather have more of a regular schedule, we could..." she glances around at the warehouse and its notable lack of interior walls, "...figure something out?"

"I- no- it's- it's- okay? I'm just- I used to- always used to- have to be up?"

"I- okay.  You, uh- as far as I'm concerned, you can sleep in whenever you feel like it?"  She reaches out, but hesitates just before completing the contact.  "Let's- get some breakfast, yeah?"

Blaze half goes to finish the contact, but can't quite make herself do so. She nods. "I- yes. I- It's just- I'll be fine. I just... need to. Get used to it."

After a moment, Cassie notices and puts an arm tentatively around her shoulders.  "Yeah.  You can- let me know if there's something you're not comfortable with... if you're comfortable doing that?"

She leans into the contact. "I- I'll try?" she promises.

Gentle squeeze.  "Okay.  Thank you."

She still isn't particularly used to being thanked. Hesitates for a moment, before: "I- you said, breakfast?"

"Right, yeah."  She leaves her arm where it is; how to fix breakfast while hugging is a problem for Future Cassie.  "Could do poptarts, or toast, or eggs if they're still good- Schrodinger's eggs?"

"...Schrodinger's eggs?"

"Oh, uh, it's this... thought experiment, from quantum mechanics?  Lemme see if I can remember it- so, when you get down small enough- you saw the atoms episode, yeah?  That small- things start acting different when you observe them, because you can't observe them without interfering with them?  So the idea is there's a cat in a box, not a real cat, just a thought experiment cat, and you don't know whether the cat is alive or dead until you open it."  She glances at Blaze to see how well she's following.

She's frowning a little, but seems to have actually followed that, at least in theory. "So- we don't know if the eggs are alright until we look at them? Or- probably crack them open. You can't really tell if an egg is off with the shell still on..."

"Yep- I mean, I was joking, 'cause the eggs are definitely either bad or not bad.  But you're right, that's what I meant."

"Only one way to find out if they're one way or the other though, right?"

"Right.  So we should probably get off the couch, huh."  Can they do that while still halfway hugging?  She tries scooting forward while leaving her arm around Blaze, but only gets halfway to her chair.

Blaze moves with her, doing her best to try and offer some support.

Then Cassie will be able to settle in without taking the arm more than halfway off of Blaze.  It does mean her chair has to do the tiptoeing-cat tall walk if they're going to get to the kitchen like this, but that's not exactly a hardship.

Blaze gives a small frown, and makes a half gesture, that seems to indicate stepping away. "I can- if that's easier?"

"Only if you want.  I bet we could do breakfast as a three-legged race- at least toast and poptarts, eggs might be harder."

Blaze considers the kitchen setup. Then, in a surprisingly brave move: "I think we can manage it?"

Cassie flashes her a sideways grin.  "Yeah, let's try.  Worst that happens is we get egg on something an' have to wipe it up."

Well then, slightly awkward cooking! Although it's pretty clear that Blaze has some experience cooking with some handicap (more likely injuries than something this pleasant).

Blaze is contributing most of the cooking skill to this two-headed chef, but Cassie can bring enthusiasm and knowing where the utensils are.  She starts giggling about halfway through.  (And the eggs do turn out to still be good.)

Blaze finds herself smiling happily as they do this, she always liked cooking, and there's something about this that's enjoyable.

And then Cassie tries to go the wrong way and Blaze's foot is where her chair tries to step.  She pulls back as soon as she makes contact, before she puts any weight on it, but in the process overbalances in the other direction and has to grab onto Blaze and the counter, dropping the forks she was getting out.  "Sorry!  Sorry sorry you okay?"

Blaze responds, trying to help Cassie right herself. "Uh- yes? I- what?"

"Didn't mean to yank you over, sorry."  She gets her legs better distributed and takes her weight back off Blaze and the counter.  "Guess that's one way to test the edge cases?"  She raises and lowers the chair by a foot or so and makes a couple of minor adjustments to foot positioning.

"I- It's fine? Better than- Better than you falling over?"

"Mm, 's fair, I just- didn't wanna startle you and then I go and almost knock you down."  She rubs at the back of her neck absently.

"Oh- I- thank you? But It's- okay. Better than you falling?"

"...well.  Guess we can call this your first official QA assignment, even if it wasn't on purpose."  She starts gathering up the forks she dropped.  "Unit test:  gait patterns during three-legged race cooking.  Result:  adjust for added stability under sudden torque."

Blaze might not understand all the words, but the tone has her giggling quietly as she gets back to the cooking.

Cassie does not fall over again!  Eggs can be produced in relatively short order.

Eggs! Toast! Pop tarts! (That Blaze is squinting at like they might be the devil.)

"D'you wanna try one?  They're basically like, sugar in a pastry wrapper with more sugar on."

"They sound very...sweet." (She hasn't had much sweet before.)

"Yeah, they're basically dessert for breakfast."  She scoots one onto a plate.  "Good for quick energy an' not a lot else but sometimes you're just like, that's what I want this morning, y'know?"

"-Makes sense," Blaze agrees. "Would you like some eggs with your sugar?"

"Yeah, definitely.  Peanut butter for your toast?"

"Um-yes, okay. Please."