"That's okay. I don't mind the quiet."

"Mkay.  Thanks."

She might wind up treadmilling in silence for a little while.

Watershed, true to her word, doesn't mind.

It's nice.

Guiding is also nice.  Which, like, obviously.  She lets out a quiet little sigh at one point without meaning to, and then blushes a little.

That is also okay.

"Sorry," she is going to say anyway.  "My first time doing this."

"Guiding, you mean? It's okay."

"Yeah.  'S the first time I've been backlashed since hellweek."

"...hellweek with your backlash must've been, um..."

Snort.  "No kidding."

"...my folks were mad at me, after."

"Oh. That makes sense, but I'm sorry to hear it."

"...yeah?"

"It just seems like an unhelpful reaction for them to have. My Aunt Gail wasn't mad at me, when I awakened, but she was... also unhelpful."

 - oh.  That wasn't actually very much like what Parry expected her to say.

"What'd she do?" she asks, more softly.  "If you feel like tellin' me."

"Hmm..."

She's quiet for a few moments, considering how to explain.

"...She... didn't exactly tell me that I would be finishing school before I started work as an esper, she just - assumed that of course I would, and that of course it was her decision, because she wants what's best for me and I seem to her to be no good at knowing what's best for me or at making it happen when I'm told. ...I went along with it, for a while, because I wasn't used to doing anything else. But eventually... it occurred to me that I didn't have to listen to her anymore, so I stopped."

She laughs, a little.  It's - recognition.

"Good on ya."  She clicks her tongue.  "You think everybody's folks are like that or do you and me just have shit luck?"

"I think it varies. There are people whose folks are much bigger problems than Aunt Gail, and people who call their parents every week on purpose because they like them and want to keep in touch."

"Whoof.  Hard to imagine."

"...me and my kid brother ran away, uh, today.  So.  We'll see what happens."

"Good luck!"

"Thanks," she says.

"...how'd you pick your agent?"

"I asked my partner to recommend someone from the same agency as hers, just because it seemed simple that way. I'm not sure that's the best thing to do, but it's what I did."

"Did you take out one of those esper loans?"

She shakes her head. "I probably got a bit of a slower start than I would've if I'd taken one, but I didn't want to go to the trouble, and I wasn't sure what I'd need to spend money on to make using my power more profitable until after I'd done it a few times."