Handholding! Yay!

"Powers are so individualized. I can't really do big  impressive things. And I can't hold things in place. I push them, and they move. If I want to hold something up it's more juggling than holding. And expensive."

"So it is more like throwing things? You can add telekinetic force to a throw. Or add it to something that is not already moving." 

Sara has been standing all evening. Would Wendy care to move to one of the nearby tables? Sara will tug gently towards one of those, rather than interrupting the conversation to ask. 

"Yeah, you could conceptualize it as throwing pretty easy. I can push other things, or push myself - I can moonjump or break my fall - if I'm paying attention. Uh, and I can psychic shield a lil bit. I'm completely new but I'm gonna go to, like, a gun range, and see if I can be my own sci-fi railgun."

Table is fine by her.

"That is very cool," she nudges a couple chairs closer together with her foot, then sits in one. "Em, I manifested a little under two years ago. I tried dungeon...ing..." She shrugs the word off, "At first. I was not very suited to it. I use my stonesense most, now. Companies hire me to survey for valuable materials." 

Sue takes a neighboring seat. "Oh, that's cool! There's only like three places where they mine some stuff that's in everything, like cobalt. Or neodymium. I'd have to look it up."

"There are a lot of things mined in Québec! Some rare earth minerals, in fact, em... Dysprosium, I think? And of course there are less rare things, like diamonds and gold." 

"Hehehe. Less rare things, like gold. I mean, I know it's true, just funny."

She covers a smile, "There is a lot of gold in Québec, but also yes. Gold is a silly metal, I think. We put so much value on it, just because it shines." 

"Historically at least, yes. There are some industrial uses... But um. ...You don't do dungeons anymore, huh? I'm not sure if I'm going to. The government people said I'd probably be okay at it, but... Dangerous. And, er, maybe I'll explain the other thing later. I was thinking I could do construction stuff, maybe. Haven't really investigated the possibilities..."

She nods firmly, "If you are not sure, you should take time to decide. Get training," she suggests, "Hand-to-hand and firearms, combat training. What to do in dangerous situations. Power training. Then you will be ready to make an informed decision, and be more prepared."

She pauses, then shrugs, "I wouldn't want to start doing dungeons just now, anyway. The Confluence will be soon." 

"The- Oh. Oh." Frown. "...Mmh. Hrm. Does seem bad. But also when combat espers are most needed? And doing, like, two dungeons during the confluence is more than zero, save someone. I mean, I know it's kind of stupid but I'd feel guilty not even trying."

Sara squeezes her hand, "I understand. I expect to be called in for some, if there are victims, or a core underground. Speaking of," she lifts her purse onto the table, digging into it one-handed and coming up with a pen and card.  

"We should trade phone numbers," she scratches down her number on the back of the card, since it only has her agent's number by default. "Do you live here? My home is Québec City." 

"Yeah. I live in the suburbs, but close enough to call it 'Chicago' for most purposes."

Number: Exchanged.

"I don't have an agent or an agency yet. I'm not sure how much to, like... Trust? Them? They only want a healthy, happy esper in as much as that produces money. I'm - uh - the system hasn't been great to me."

She nods! "I know what you mean. But, most agencies aren't stupid enough to treat their espers badly. It still helps to have someone with legal knowledge look over any contracts. I could give you my lawyer's phone number? He specializes in Esper matters. Though," she notes, "He is Canadian." 

"...Maybe yeah. At least they'd know an American lawyer to ask, maybe... Gosh, guiding feels really nice. Sorry, I'm pretty distracted by it."

"It does! This is the best compatibility I have had, it feels so nice, even at zero," which she hit a little while ago, now.

"Should I stonesense, a little? I think you still have some backlash. Oh, or I could show you how my carving works?" She reaches into her bag again, this time retrieving a stone the size of her palm. 

"I'm preeeetty close to zero too? If you want to, it'd be neat! I can practice my pen balancing a bit more so we both zero at the same time."

"Um, do you want to - like - have whole arm contact?" It feels different to offer that when it feels THIS GOOD. Wendy is keenly aware that she is Slightly Bent(tm).

"Sure," she pushes the sleeve of her sweater (dark red, tight knit) up, fastening it in place with a convenient button just above her elbow. 

The extended skin contact feels equally nice, just in more places now. Sara leans her weight into Wendy, a little, as the fingers of her free hand sink slowly into the stone on the table. 

Yay leaning! And skin contact that feels Magically Nice! It's really neat!

She peers closely at the stone.

"...Can you, mm, do stuff with crystal structures? Turn broken gems into pretty ones?"

"Yes," she picks the stone up, now, turning it over to reveal some flecks of dark blue. "There is sapphire in this. Not very much, or very quality. It was scrap stone, not worth prying the gems out." 

She picks one of the flecks out, carefully prying it up with a nail. Its mottled surface glints in the light at certain angles as she turns it.

"Fixing broken gems is hard, though. Not for my power, but... Getting it perfect is difficult." 

"Cooool." She grips Sara's hand a bit tighter for a moment. "I was starting to get used to it, like, yeah espers exist, yeah backlash sucks, but once in a while I just get... Wow, that these sorts of things are possible is just amazing... I wanna find some industry where pushing on something you can't normally touch is vitally important for some reason. I'm sure there's something..."

"Definitely." She squeezes back, as her other hand carefully rolls the fleck of gemstone between her fingers, slowly forming it into a bead.

"I think- uranium, maybe? Or other hazardous materials. Or, something too delicate to touch. Can you push things through glass or plastic?" 

"I can push anything I - define? Even if I can't actually see it. I tried working through cameras and it was, like, I could miss, doing perspectives like that was weird and difficult, but it feels, um, amenable to practice. And yes, I can push things I can see behind glass and plastic. Hazmat seems plausible. Bit complicated by how I can only push things away from me. But like, fingertip to fingertip if my arms are outstretched so I can juggle stuff if I'm careful. I don't get any sensory feedback except backlash going up, unless I'm resisting psychic stuff."

"Perhaps you could work with animals? If you can push living things? The ability to ward off a dangerous creature without a weapon would be valuable there." 

A pinch and a roll gives the bead a slight point. A moment of effort (Wendy will notice her backlash accumulating faster then) sees a hole form through its sides. 

Sara pulls a string of more multi-coloured beads out of her purse, and strings this new one onto it, before examining her rock for the next piece of corundum.