On the plus side, she's very hot, no longer needs to take most of the meds she'd been taking, and even if her power ends up being useless, she has a variety of fun career paths open to her, including fucking other hot espers. Chin up!

She finishes her drink. It's a bit stronger than she'd been expecting, but really it's tasty. She grabs a second one to sip, and heads off to mingle.

Here's a woman who looks like she's in her thirties (or maybe her forties - hard to tell with espers), with short red-brown hair, striking green eyes, and a pierced lower lip. (...and nice tits. If Cara is looking.) 

She's smiling, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes.

Riiiiiiiight, yes, Espers are hot,

Ah, baby espers. Not used to how hot we all are yet, are you?

She raises an eyebrow. "At least check me for compatibility first, dear," and now her smile definitely reaches her eyes.

WHOOPS

She laughs gently. "Is this your first mixer? I can't say I was any better, at mine. Everyone is so hot. It's legitimately very distracting." 

Handshake?

Yeah she can get over her embarrassment and - oh wOW THAT FEELS GOOD???

Oh. oh wow. She doesn't let go of this girl's hand, and also doesn't bite her lip. "Ah. I'm Willowbark. And who might you be, dear?"

Yeah she's not letting go either, not until someone makes her. "I'm Cara - no fancy name yet, I just finished awakening. A pleasure to meet you, Willowbark."

She swallows, because it's suddenly a bit harder to focus when she's talking to an older hot woman who certainly hasn't been dismissive, but she needs to. Focus. And try and get a 1-on-1 conversation. "So, uh, would you be interested in chatting in a side room? Get to know each other a little better?" 

...not her smoothest work... 

(Oh, that's certainly proactive of her.) 

Willowbark takes Cara's right hand in both of hers and brings it up to her lips for a soft kiss. "Why, I'd be delighted. Lead the way?"

hhhhhhfhkdjfdsjkfh

 "Well, ma'am, if you'd just follow me," she replies. She turns away far too late to hide her flushed face, and heads towards one of the empty side rooms, her hand still in Willowbark's(!feels good!).

Willowbark lazily closes the door as they enter the room and kicks off her heels by the couch, relaxing. "Just finished awakening, you said? You don't look it." 

She plops onto the couch, and tugs gently on Cara's arm, encouraging the girl to follow her.

Yeah she can sure do that and mmmmm now they have lots of skin contact where there arms are touching, huh, imagine that...

"Yeah, I awakened really late. Just started grad school this year..." wait this is an insane thing to say to someone who has been an esper for like. at least ten years. Maybe longer. Probably longer? Say something else. "...so, what brings you up to Toronto?"

"What makes you think I'm not native to the area?", Willowbark asks in her distinctive Cleveland accent.

Cara giggles. "Well. The way you say 'not' is noticeably un-Canadian, among other things. From the accent, I'd guess... somewhere in the midwest? Ohio, maybe?"

...oh, wow, that's. Kinda hot? (...the attention it implies, this girl noticing things about the way she says words...)

She laughs and leans towards Cara, entwining their arms. "Gosh! Guilty as charged, yes; I'm from Cleveland. I was travelling for work already, and I saw there was going to be a mixer here, so I thought I'd stop by. So are you studying linguistics? Or..." 

Oh that feels niiiiiceeee. "International Relations! I wanted to do..." she looks at Willowbark and "...boring political stuff, I suppose. I didn't learn to spot accents in a class, I just talk to people a lot and have a good ear for it." 

Cara turns in to make eye contact, grinning with a slight blush. "And I'm nosy enough that when when I hear an accent I always try and find out where it's from, and" (she squeezes her shoulders inwards) "engaging enough that I can usually get away with it." 

Those sure are very nice looking esper tits. (...and also that's body language of a young woman not used to having any cleavage without putting some effort in...)

"You should make you're eating enough carbs," she says, looking over the girl thoughtfully. "It's useful to lots of extra energy for the body changes to work with, after hell week. ...and you're going to need some new bras, too." 

Cara's face turns red. (Adorable!) "I had to redo my entire wardrobe, really. I'd just gotten used to the idea that I'd be nothing special, beautywise, and, well." She grins. "One of the many perks of being an esper." 

Okay yeah that's enough to leave her speechless and make her squirm a bit.

(Willowbark is really hot, is the thing. Cara would not have previously described herself as that into older women, and some part of her brain is tracking that she seems older than Cara's initial guess (...espers age gracefully, right), but. Well. How much does that matter to her, exactly? Maybe not that much!)

"Do you think you'll keep studying?"

Oh okay! A question. Nice! Easy! (Just like Cara,)

"Probably not, honestly? I guess if my power is totally useless and I can't find anyone I like to do guide work for, I'd rather continue what I was doing than drive or work security, but..." she shrugs. "I know a lot of powers aren't especially employable on their own, and not everyone is suited for dungeon work, but I'd do it if I can, and expect I'd happy with the professional guide lifestyle, given what I know of it." She makes a valiant effort to reduce how much she's blushing.

(maybe she should not have had that second drink...)

Smirk. "Despite what popular culture will tell you, the majority of professional guides are, in fact, entirely chaste about it."

And then she looks at Cara thoughtfully. "You haven't poked at your power at all, since awakening? Very responsible of you."

She shrugs easily. "It's hard to have the kind of career I wanted to have, if you aren't good at identifying situations where it's a bad idea to fuck around even a bit. I'd read the horror stories about high-backlash powers; I was down to wait until I have someone to guide me." She leans into Willowbark.

"Well." She twists a bit, letting Cara more into her space, touching her more. (The guiding is delightful, even just via skin contact. She hasn't felt like this since -) "I certainly won't stop you."

Cara turns too, her face now nice and close to Willowbark's. "Maybe later. Right how I'm more interested in getting to know someone new." Her voice is a bit breathy. 

God. (She can't keep herself from blushing.) 

"Oh?", she replies lamely, leaning a bit forward.

Cara gently puts a finger to Willowbark's lips, and then... pulls back a bit, letting her hand fall as she does.

"So, what do you do for work?" She has a codename and stopped while traveling at a mixer in a big city, so she's looking for a partner... she doesn't seem like a combat esper, especially not an older one, Cara's met several at this point and they have - some very distinctive mannerisms this women seems like she's lacking... "I'm usually better at guessing stuff like this, but all I've got for you is 'some kind of industry power use', which isn't anything to write home about." Her grin is mischievous. 

"You tease." That grin is infectious, though - she's smiling at she leans back into the couch. "Does it help if I tell you that willowbark can be brewed into a tea with antiinflammatory properties?" 

Oooooh. "Medical esper?"

"Anesthesiologist, really. I can touch someone and make them stop feeling pain in whatever part of their body I want." Her grin widens, and she holds out her free hand. "Give me your hand, if you want to see."

Yeah sure she's game.

Willowbark pushes two of her fingernails into Cara's palm. Then, after she hears the girl's sharp intake of breath, she wipes the pain away, blocked like it was never there. (She leaves her fingernails there, for a moment or two longer.) "Like that."

A-ah. 

Golly. She talks Willowbark's other hand in hers, pulling herself closer again. "So, Doctor, I had a question, if you aren't too busy..." 

She feels the tiny speck of backlash drain away through Cara's hands, and relaxes. "For a pretty girl like you? I'm sure I can find the time." (Now it's her voice that's breathy. She doesn't think she's being teased, this time.)

Cara leans in further, her mouth an inch away from Willowbark's. "Do you want to make out?", she asks, much more shyly than she'd intended.

Willowbark leans into Cara, closing her eyes and opening her mouth.

Oh. Oh wow. Oh fuck.

Cara moans, experiencing fluid exchange guiding for the first time and utterly losing herself in the sensation. It's so much.

(Oh god.) Willowbark puts her hand on the back of Cara's head, pulling the two of them closer together. 

Her tongue enters the girl's mouth; when Cara moans again, Willowbark can't help but shiver.

Cara slides her free arm behind Willowbark, trying to pull the woman closer to her. She's never felt anything like this, and she wants more, more, more -

Well. If Cara insists.

Panting slightly, Willowbark breaks the kiss off for long enough to push the eager young esper into a more convenient position, her back against the couch.

Then she swings her leg over and now Willowbark is straddling Cara, watching hungrily as the girl's eyes widen before she leans in for another deep kiss, pressing their bodies together.

Cara was already quite hard, a fact which possibly could have escaped Willowbark's notice earlier but sure isn't going to anymore, what with how their crotches are now pressed together.

Fuck. Fuck. She wraps her arms around Willowbark's waist, pulling her closer, chest heaving, the tongue and saliva in her mouth robbing her mind of everything but burning desire.

Willowbark certainly has more practice staying at least vaguely lucid during fluid exchange guiding, but it's such a rush that she doesn't want to. What she wants to do is grind against Cara and keep the taste of her fresh in her mouth.

(Perhaps she also wants to let the straps of her dress fall down her shoulders. A terrible tragedy, that the right wrong kinds of movements let that happen. Certainly she doesn't have the time to fix that now, though. She's very busy, with her tongue and hips and hands.)

Cara is distracted enough that it takes her a bit to notice, and a bit longer to gather the courage to do something about it, but she will eventually work up the attentional capacity and bravery to bring a hand up and cup one Willowbark's breasts, thumb caressing her (quite hard) nipple.

Willowbark takes those fingers in hers, guiding them into a different position. She wants Cara to be pinching her nipple, not just rubbing it.

When the girl complies, she's rewarded with more intense grinding, and perhaps a moan or two in her mouth. As a treat.

This works very well, assuming what Willowbark wants is a hyperaroused pliant esper twitching in pleasure under her. 

...eventually, she has to pull her mouth away for a moment, because she should really say that she's "getting" pant "pretty close" pant -

Oh, she really missed this part. (It's been almost a decade since she got to fuck a compatible esper with a dick, and she hungers.)

She slides down the girl's body, flips up her skirt, and pulls aside her underwear. Then she busies herself with the task of making sure Cara finishes inside her mouth.

Yeah that's not going to take very long!!!

She cums, hard. (It's all she can do to at least try and keep her moans quiet, espers have good hearing and they're At A Mixer.) 

They do a tiny bit of power testing there, and make out to ensure Cara doesn't get any backlash. (The girl has a momentum redirection power, apparently, which could be a very good dungeon power indeed...)

 Tia (she figures it's only fair to give her real name, after being given that) invites Cara back to her hotel room with her, where they can do more some more power testing (she says with her mouth) and also fuck each other senseless (she says with her eyes, and a rub of her finger).

Sure! Yeah! That works for her!

(hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhrmgthrnmrn)

A beautiful thing about self-driving cars is that you can make out and even get a little handsy in them all you want and nobody will stop you or be scandalized by this.

They get one or two Looks in the hotel lobby, which Cara actually finds pretty unpleasant, but then they're in the elevator and it's fine again.

Good, because Tia wants Cara inside her ASAP and she is not going to be shy about this, not after earlier.

O-oh! Um. Well!! (She might have prefered they talk a bit more, first? Sure, she's having a lot of fun and she's a Known Slut, but -)

...but it's not at all hard to get Cara to remove her shirt and make out with the hot cougar Tia, in her Very Nice cozy hotel bed, and then...

"Oh Cara... yes, yes, fuck, just like that, don't stop don't stop don't stop -" 

She gasps, arching her back as she cums again, the ecstacy ripping through her body so intensely she can't help but moan. 

(She isn't used to being this needy, but - she hasn't had a partner this compatible in decades, not since-)

Cara, as requested, doesn't stop, her breasts bouncing up and down quite delightfully with the motion. Tia manages to work up the muscle coordination to pull her down into another long, deep kiss, and the bedframe creaks rhythmically as the young woman continues fucking her senseless. 

Cara is finding it intoxicating to be wanted, to be needed like this, to have this much impact on Tia, to see and feel the woman's body shake and convulse in pleasure as Cara keeps fucking her, to hear her gasp and moan. Even moreso because... she can tell this isn't how this usually goes for Tia, that she's surprised at how much she needs Cara inside her. (It's quite an overwhelming thing to be noticing, in a hot woman you're currently having sex with, the type of thing that makes it easy to set aside any doubts and second thoughts a girl like her might have. They can talk later.)

It takes longer for her to finish, this time, which they both appreciate. But eventually, she can't hold it in any longer, and she's pushing Tia's shoulders into the bed as she thrusts into her again and again and again until finally she shudders and collapses on top of her, like a puppet whose master who suddenly got bored and let go of the controls. 

"So what kind of range does this sense of yours have?" she asks. They've been snuggling naked on the hotel bed - Cara likes being the little spoon, apparently, which is adorable - while she does a bit of testing of her powers, Tia tossing around small objects while Cara grabs them.

(Cara's explained her backlash. She loses her ability to notice that she wants or needs things, apparently, and also won't lie to people if they ask her personal questions. It sounds a bit complicated to manage, sure, but... also relaxing, if she's being honest with herself.)

...she's thirsty. She pulls away, reluctantly, and smiles at the little confused noise Cara makes. "Just going to grab some water, dear, I'll be right back."

"Huh. By default it's pretty short range? But... maybe I can push it. Let me try..."

She's at the center of the world. She's stationary.

(She probes at the concept of the world)

She's at the center of [the world|a 1-meter sphere]. She's stationary.

(She pushes outwards.)

She's at the center of [the world|a 2-meter sphere]. She's stationary.

(She pushes... more.)

She's at the center of [the world|a 4-meter sphere]. She's stationary.

(more.)

She's at the center of [the world|a 8-meter sphere]. She's stationary.

(more.)

She's at the center of [the world|a 16-meter sphere]. She's stationary.

(more!)

She's at the center of [the world|a 32-meter sphere]. She's stationary.

(more!!)

She's at the center of [the world|a 64-meter sphere]. She's stationary.

She can feel - 

- the elevators (two moving down, one up),

- many people moving about their rooms in the hotel all around her,

- a couple having rather lethargic sex two floors above them,

- a room service cart a floor above that,

- a woman on a bike on the street three floors below, straining against the slope,

"Well? What's the range?"

She returns to the bedside, taking a sip of water. "Cara?"

...Cara is just. Lying there.

"Cara! Cara, stop -"

(The glass of water falls to the floor and shatters. Nobody in the room really notices.)