She's definitely learning, yeah. 

She thinks. This all seems pretty survivable, which is definitely an improvement from the baseball bat situation. She doesn't have any idea what will happen when the week ends, but that's a problem for future Cara (and future Vera). 

...Oh, actually, there might be problems before that. Prof Meadows will start looking for her, probably by Sunday, if she doesn't hear back.

"Actually - do you have commitments? Classes? Work? People who'll notice you're gone?"

She hadn't thought about that. Too focused on the immediate problem of keeping Cara alive and contained. But of course she has a life. Had a life. Whatever.

"We need to handle that. Can't have people looking for you."

Her fingers tighten slightly in Cara's hair, not quite pulling but close.

"I have classes, and I TA for Prof Meadows, though she might assume I'm in the hospital. I had some plans for this weekend."

This could get complicated. 

"Text her. Tell her you're awakening and you've found someone to help you through it. That you'll be out for the week."

She doesn't let go of Cara's hair, but she shifts slightly to dig her phone out of her pocket with her free hand. Her own phone. Cara's is still... somewhere in pieces.

"Use mine. I'll delete the messages after." She unlocks it and holds it where Cara can see. "Make it sound normal. Like you would normally text."

A pause.

"And cancel your weekend plans. Same excuse."

Well. Prof Meadows won't respond to a text message. Might not even see it.

She could volunteer that info. Maybe she will later.

For now, she takes the phone from Vera, goes onto the school website to look up Prof Meadows' cell number, and then starts typing out "Hey, this is Cara! I'm really sorry about not getting back to you sooner, but I broke my phone! I'm actually having an esper awakening right now and will not be able to make it to class or to my shifts this week; I'm staying with a friend of mine who's helping me through it."

She watches Cara type, reading over her shoulder. The message is... fine. Normal enough. Though the exclamation points feel somehow mocking given the circumstances.

"Good enough." She doesn't take the phone back yet. "Now your weekend plans."

She shifts slightly, her fingers pressing into the nerve clusters at the base of the back of her neck. The casual touch keeps her grounded.

"And if anyone asks follow-up questions, you tell them you're fine but need to focus on not dying. People understand awakening is serious."

Oh wow. She tries not to widen her eyes. 

Okay. Well. First, she texts Aunt Rachel. She has a phone call with her planned tomorrow, after all.

"Hey, Aunt Rachel! This is Cara, texting from a friends' phone. I can't make our phone call tomorrow, sorry, I'm awakening as an esper! I'll tell you all about it next weekend, okay?"

(She glances at Vera before she sends it.)

She watches Cara type, reading over her shoulder. The message looks normal enough. Apologetic but not overly so. Nothing that would raise suspicion.

"Good. Send it." She pauses, thinking. "Who are your weekend plans with? How many people need to know?"

She's already calculating the risk. Every person who needs to be told is another potential problem, another chance for someone to ask questions or want to check in.

She closes her eyes and focuses, counting things off on her fingers. "Um.... Tonight I have dinner plans with Jen, and then after that we were going to Kaz's party together. Tomorrow I have brunch with Sara, my IR413 study group, a movie night I host for some scattered EU online friends, the call to Aunt Rachel I just cancelled, and then... oh, Ryan's birthday, right. Sunday... I don't actually remember for sure? I know I wanted to do something with Reve and go to karaoke with Stella, but without my calendar I don't know for sure what all I have."

She stares at Cara. That's... so many people. So many fucking people who will notice she's gone.

"Jesus Christ. Do you just never sleep?"

She pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to think through the logistics. Every single one of those people is a potential problem.

"Okay. Group text. Tell them all at once - awakening, can't make anything this week, you'll catch up with them later. Keep it simple."

She pauses, considering.

"And then you're going to delete all their numbers from my phone after. I don't want them trying to check in."

"I sleep, but sometimes not a lot", she says quietly.

And, hmm, obvious problem there. "I don't know most of their phone numbers, though I could look up... Ryan's and Sara's? But the others I chat with online."

"Fuck." She runs her free hand through her hair, frustrated. "Of course you don't. Nobody memorizes numbers anymore."

She thinks for a moment, then sighs.

"Fine. Look up the ones you can. Text them individually if you have to. Same message - awakening, can't make it, you'll be in touch later."

She pauses, considering the online friends.

"The online people... they don't know where you live, right? They can wait. They'll assume you're busy or your internet's down or whatever."

Her fingers tighten slightly.

"After you send these, you're done with the phone. No more contact with anyone until this is over."

"-Jen, Kaz, and Stella are local - Jen and Reve and Stella all know where I live. We usually use discord to talk, and I can't think of a way to get their numbers."

She looks up Ryan and Sara's numbers from the registry (the two of them are TAing, so their contact info is public to students), and texts them both at once "Hey, this is Cara on a friends' phone! Sorry, I have to cancel our plans this weekend, I'm awakening as an esper. But don't worry! I'm being taken good care of 💙. I'll tell you all about it next weekend! Happy early birthday, Ryan."

She watches Cara add the heart emoji and fights the urge to delete it before sending. Too cheerful. Too... normal. Like this is just any other weekend plan cancellation.

"The local ones are a problem." She drums her fingers against Cara's neck, thinking. "They might come looking if they're worried."

She takes the phone back, scrolling through the sent messages to make sure they're acceptable.

"You'll have to risk it with them. If they show up here..." She trails off. Too many possibilities. Too many ways that could go wrong.

"If anyone knocks, you don't answer. You stay quiet. You stay still. Understood?"

The phone buzzes. In the SMS conversation that has is the message with Aunt Rachel, there's a reply:

Oh my god! Carbar are you okay?

Oh look, there's another.

 Who are you staying with? Is it someone I know?

And another.

Do you need anything? 

buzz.

Do they need anything? 

buzz buzz.

Should I fly home early? Skip the conference?

She nods her understanding, and then looks at the phone when it starts buzzing.

She looks at the messages pouring in, her jaw tightening with each buzz.

"Fuck. Of course she's..." She trails off, reading through them. Caring aunt. Worried. Ready to drop everything and come back.

She shoves the phone at Cara.

"Tell her you're fine. You're with a friend from school - someone she doesn't know. You don't need anything. She should absolutely not come back early." She pauses, thinking. "Make it convincing. She needs to believe you're actually okay."

Her fingers drum against Cara's neck, agitated.

"And tell her you need to focus on managing the backlash so you'll be out of contact for a few days."

Okay, Cara, time to make a choice, are you cooperating or defecting here.

(She reaches her hand out for the phone, on autopilot, and starts typing the beginning of a message that will work either way.)  

Well okay. What does defecting even look like?

Vera's instructions are, not good, because there is not a way to make Aunt Rachel reassured when the facts on the ground are "I am in a medically dangerous state, staying with someone you don't know, and I won't be in contact for days." She'll get too worried, and want to be nearby.

Defecting looks like... angling for that, and also for her other friends getting conflicting useless information, which leads to - confused concern, possibly a manhunt, the people she loves doing their best to find an unstable esper who has her captive.

Okay! Cool. Cool cool cool. Cooperation it is.

She finishes typing out

"omg Aunt Rachel it's okay! (Take a deep breath? 💙) I've got a new friend looking after me - I'll tell you about her later, but she's been really great at helping me through this, she noticed something was wrong before anyone else and explained to me what was going on. We're both fine, you super don't need to come back early, please enjoy the conference and take those notes for me, okay?")

but before sending it, she says "...I can't do everything you asked. If I tell her I'm not going to be able to talk to her at all for a few days, she's going to have a lot more questions, and if she doesn't get answers to them she's going to worry, maybe enough to come back here. I can definitely make sure she doesn't, but not without being able to message her at least a bit more over the week."

She reads the draft over Cara's shoulder, then looks at her face. Trying to gauge if this is manipulation or just... truth.

The message is better than what she would have written. More natural. The kind of thing that might actually reassure someone.

"Fine," she says after a long moment. "But I read everything before you send it. And if she asks anything specific about me, you keep it vague. She doesn't get my name, doesn't get details."

She shifts her grip, fingers pressing harder against Cara's neck. Not quite painful, but present.

"Send that one. We'll deal with follow-ups as they come."

Okay. She can do that. She nods and presses send.

"If she asks for things you don't want shared, I'll make something plausible up and you can veto it and substitute?" 

(She tries not to shudder at the feeling of the fingers on her neck. She knows that contact is the only thing keeping her here.)

"That works." She watches the message send, then takes the phone back, setting it on the nightstand where she can see it but Cara can't easily reach.

She loosens her grip slightly, letting her hand rest more naturally against Cara's neck. The immediate crisis handled, she feels the exhaustion creeping back in.

"We still need to get you actual food. And..." She gestures vaguely at Cara's state of undress. "Something to wear that actually fits. But not now. Now we wait and see if your aunt buys it."

She leans back against the headboard, pulling Cara with her into a position that's almost comfortable. Almost normal, if you ignore everything about how they got here.

She follows easily, doing her best to keep skin contact amounts high without being noticeable about it. Vera has a lot of backlash, and while Cara doesn't really understand what her backlash it, she's kind of scared of it. (She feels like she's missing something, here, but whatever.)

Cooperate. "...I have a few suggestions on ways to minimize confusion/suspicion with people who aren't Aunt Rachel. If that's ok?"

She closes her eyes, leaning back against the wall, rubbery layered paint sticking to her damp skin.

"Fine. What."

The word comes out flat, tired. She's too exhausted to even be properly irritated about Cara having opinions. At least she's asking permission this time instead of just... being a person with thoughts and feelings and judgment.

Her hand stays on Cara's neck, thumb tracing idle circles. The contact helps, but not enough.