Small smile.

Bzzt bzzt.  Messages on Overcoat's phone want to know if she's ready to start shielding people?

"Ah. Work calls. Are you able to provide on site guiding or do you have more cars to deal with?"

"I just wrapped up the last of the ones in San Diego.  I'm free to guide you, if you need it?"

"I nearly always have onsite guiding. That way I can last a lot longer without a break and the squads don't have to wait around for me. With a whole city to cover..."

Also she's vastly less likely to attempt to do something drastic if something sets off a spiral if she's being actively guided at the time.

Okay, now for the awkward bit.  "I'm assuming you're just doing skin contact?"  What with the husband and all.  Also, what's up with all the beautiful milves lately?

"I have done...platonic makeouts but that was with professional partners that I'd worked with on more than one occasion." She refuses to blush about this. She also refuses to elide it as 'higher bandwidth guiding' not least because everyone will then just assume it involved genitalia.

Carol can't refuse to blush, but she can refuse to acknowledge the fact that her cheeks are warming up.  "I'm comfortable doing that if you are.  I'll let you start, if it comes to that?"

"I am...not good at taking initiative at high backlash levels." Which is part of the reason she's usually only done that sort of thing with people she had some experience working with.

So can I make a move on you or not, lady?  "Maybe it's best to leave it at skin for a bit?  I mean - " no wait she said platonic fuck abort " - it definitely wouldn't bother me, but.  I hate having high backlash, myself, and I wouldn't want to keep you higher than you need to be."  Heh.  I 'hate' it.  Truer than she could possibly know.

"I also hate it. My backlash is the reason working as an esper full time risks ruining my mental health." Backlash thought patterns don't stick but hers is an unpleasant enough headspace that being in it regularly for too long at a stretch leaves her with way too many bad memories and not enough good things to balance it out. "If I'm panicking or crying too much to talk you have permission to initiate makeouts, though I don't expect it to come up."

Still there's always the odd chance that something could manage to trigger her particularly badly.

She nods.  "Okay."  If Carol raises her arms a bit and takes a half-step forward, does Overcoat look like she's going to shy away?

Nope.

Then Overcoat will be incredibly hugged.  Under the cover of hug Sinkhole admits, "Somedays I feel the same way."  Esper volume, of course.

Hugs. Esper-quiet whisper "I wish I just had a pain backlash or something, would even work with my power." She'd still have wanted to die during hell week probably but she wouldn't have also hated herself and been convinced dying would be doing everyone a favour.

"Yeah.  Same.  I can't help but be jealous of almost every other backlash.  Even the ones that try and  kill you."

"Mine almost killed me anyway, so I'd take heart problems or bleeding or something."

Aaaand that was maybe saying a little more than she should have.

“Sorry.”  She squeezes more.  There really aren’t words.  Or if there are, Carol doesn’t know them.

"You didn't know." Yeah there really aren't a lot of words. Backlash is a fuck but she's not going to say that, standards of professionalism are different and in a lot of ways laxer among espers than at a legal firm but she still doesn't really want to get in the habit of swearing on the job.

“Yeah.  But still.”  Fucking backlash.  “I’ll go change into my shorts and meet you…wherever?” Between her and Pinion, this is way too much touchy-feely shit.  Do I have a thing for older women and just never realized?

"I've got the location." She gives it. "I'll see you in ten minutes."

She's a little late.  Probably related to the fact that her hair's wet and she's wearing deep navy shorts and a slightly skimpier light blue top.  She's looking around to see where Overcoat is lurking - she's pretty, but 'pretty and brown hair' isn't exactly easy to pick out in a room full of espers.

She's actually got an area cordoned off in a corner for a little bit of quiet. There's a sign. She's currently standing just outside the cordon.. She's removed her outer layers and is wearing a white tank top with a maple leaf on it and grey shorts.

She scans the area twice before realizing that oh, of course the woman with the psych backlash would want some space.  Makes sense.  "Hey.  Ready to guide when you are!"  She pulls off an incredibly sloppy salute, a mischievous smirk playing about the edges of her mouth.

"Excellent. They'll be sending the first squad in as soon as we've had a few minutes to settle in."

She leads the way into the cordoned area and pulls shut the curtain over the entrance. There's a standard much abused guiding couch and cot inside, and a shelf with water bottles, sports drinks, a couple of energy drinks and snacks.

"They can get coffee or black tea if you'd like. Nothing fancy though we have sugar and creamer."