(...he means it, but he's an altruistic guy. ...and in practical terms she's an incredible source of guiding for him even if she never gets over herself enough to make out with him, so.)

Cara smiles. "Likewise! Lucky you found me." Lots of ways that could have gone worse, really. 

Awww. "Seems like it!" 

She has some practical questions - she would like contact info for Traceless and his agent, if that's possible, and wants to know more about their current agent situation.

Yup, here's Paula's info, here's Traceless's work number, Flywheel is sharing Paula till she has her own lined up.

Cara's actually got a meeting with a prospective agent after this, though she's not yet sure if it's a good fit.

"So maybe that'll be sewn up sooner than later but it's not an emergency if not."

Yep! (Look at how well she's handling things! Aren't we all impressed!)

Cara will wrap up the conversation without letting anyone feel hurried in the process, and then warmly say goodbye to Aunt Rachel, who hangs up first.

She lets herself sag a bit once it's just her and Traceless. "Thanks for being up for that."

"Hey, no problem."

"I - she's the only family I have that I'm still in touch with," Cara admits quietly. "I always got along with her better than I did with my parents, even before I stopped talking to them."

 They were closer a year ago, but that's true of everyone in her life, isn't it. 

"I did... wonder, but it seemed out of bounds to ask."

Slight shrug. "It's fine to ask me stuff like that when I'm not backlashed; I don't mind fielding questions about my life." She won't always answer them, obviously, but she doesn't need to say that.

"Good to know." He pets Cricket. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." She waves and ends the call with a little smile.

And then closes her eyes and clenches her jaw, her arms trembling. (pathetic.)

She gets over it. She has stuff to do. 

On the train to the Maple offices, she finishes composing the requested doc and sends it to Phoebe Gallagher. 

She gets there at about 1:20 pm and lets the receptionist know why she's there.

Iiiiiiiiit's a....! office. It has nice carpet, red-and-orange maple leaf patterns on cream, and a fishtank and cushy chairs and a view of the city. There's a hallway with doors bearing agent names, all closed, and a receptionist who will take her information and let her know that Phoebe is running on time and will be available in ten.

Flywheel grew up in a developed area in the 2020s and is really quite capable of killing ten minutes on her phone. 

(Skybreaker is in Volcanic Range... wow.)

Phoebe sticks her head out of her office. "Flywheel?"

She tucks her phone away. "Hi! That's me, yes."

"Right this way."

Phoebe's office betrays a love of watercolors and her outfit suggests that she or someone in her life is really intense about crochet. She shuts the door behind them and flicks on a white noise machine.

Flywheel looks at the watercolors appreciatively and then sits down, smiling. "Thanks for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice."

"You're perfectly welcome. I've had a bit of a skim of your writeup; your power's a real doozy, isn't it?"

"I'm quite pleased with it, yes." wow, what a nothing thing to say it's reasonable smalltalk fuck off.

"Seems like it had a pretty high practice ceiling, do you think you're still squeezing more out of it at this point?"