“Leo! I’m almost certainly not okay. I’m probably awakening. Either that or I’ve been drugged. Anyway, whatever it is it’s making me talk extendedly and truthfully about anything I think of and Sable —that’s the probably a compatible esper but likely the kidnapper in the weird situation in which I have been drugged— thought I should call someone I trust to decide things for me. And that’s been you.”

It takes Leo a second or two longer than usual to reply, for obvious reasons (Eliel is never this talkative).

“I- uh- thanks, I'm glad you trust me for this,” he's not entirely caught off guard by the knowledge but he never expected to hear it outright. That's not the main concern now and typical Eliel will probably want him to forget he's said it. “Back to the other parts: if someone had kidnapped you I really doubt they'd let you call me. So, either someone else drugged you for an unknown reason, in which case Sable doesn't have a reason to lie about being an esper, or you're awakening. I think the second one's more likely. Although you should still ask Sable if I can check her identity with her agent or something.”

“That makes a lot of sense but everything is just so weird –well, mainly my brain– that I think I'm allowed some doubts. I'll ask her that once we're done with the call and message you about it.”

He nods despite the call not having video, “Alright. What else do you need me to decide for you?”

“What I should do about social media.”

“About social media? Oh, is awakening making you want to go confess your secrets there? Yeah, definitely avoid it. Otherwise you'll feel absolutely terrible when hell week is over.”

“Are you staying with Sable for it? Do you need me to bring you anything?”

“I don't think so, thanks. I'm not sure what the plans are, I'll ask her about that too. And call you again if needed.”

Am I also your emergency contact? now's not the time to ask him, he'll be forced to answer even though Leo would just be teasing and he'll later be embarrassed regardless of what the answer is.

“Got it, you know my phone's always on.”

He'll then wait a second in case Eliel wants to say anything else but otherwise hang up before he starts sharing stuff he doesn't want to. 

And Eliel manages to stay silent for that second so the call is soon over.

After taking another moment to breathe deeply, he'll take off the headphones and touch Sable's shoulder to get her attention.

She pops an earbud out with a curious smile. "Call's done?"

“I probably forgot to ask or mention something important but yes. Leo wants to confirm your identity with your agent or in whatever other way you think will work.”

"Hm. I haven't registered or gotten an agent yet — wanted to have a better handle on my capabilities first," Sable replies sheepishly.

"Maybe Leo could come over and meet me, though?"

“I’ll text him. He’ll almost certainly come. He likes meeting new people even when there’s no reason for it so now that there is plenty reason he would be at the door before he’s done answering if he could.”

(He sends the message, it gets a thumbs up almost immediately and an ‘on my way’ just after.)

"Looking forward to meeting him," she replies with a smile. "Have you known him long?"

“Not really. It’s been less than two years. We met on our first year in college, we had to do a project together and then he just wouldn’t stop talking to me. He reminded me a bit of my older brother.”

"Awww, that's kinda cute. I've mostly fallen out of touch with my high school friends. What're you studying in college?"

“Botany,” he answers with a small smile. “Although I guess I’ll probably abandon that to focus on esper-ing unless my power is pretty useless.”

"I haven't looked much into the field, but it always seemed interesting. I kind of lucked out, I was already taking a break this semester to sort myself out and make some decisions when I awakened just a couple weeks ago. Don't have additional paperwork if I wind up not going back. to focus on my powers. Was studying computer science before."

He nods. “I’ll have to check what paperwork I need to fill after this week. It should be decently documented since a lot of espers abandon their studies, right? Or maybe I’ll have a power I really don’t like and will go back to class.”

"Yeah, it's a common problem, they should have easy paperwork for it. I hope you wind up liking your power. Or if not, that it's at least easy to avoid using."

“A power that I don’t like and is easy to use on accident would be terrible. I’d rather only be backlashed under controlled circumstances from now on. And I’m very glad I didn’t begin to awaken in the middle of this afternoon’s party.”

Sable winces and nods. "That sounds like it would suck so hard for you. I'm glad we figured it out quick enough to keep you from posting on social media or going to a party or anything. Probably that's something you should be looking for in an agent, someone who can help with social media lockouts and restricting your comms to a shortlist when you're backlashed."

“That’s all definitely important. On that topic, here”, he hands her his phone. “I’m currently more likely to open any social media than delete them but you can remove all of them except the basic messaging one —does that count as social media? Anyway, I’m pretty sure they don’t have any exclusively local data.”