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Chapter Text

The Second Head of Psychonauts, Hollis Forsythe, was a very busy woman. Her time was extremely valuable. That's why she was currently sitting behind her desk, with her head in her hands, absolutely devastated.

"Helmut, please, tell me why you have decided that dragging half of the agency into this unscheduled and very unauthorized event was a good idea."

The absolute mountain of a man erupted with jovial laughter. "Because it is!" He twirled around with more grace than anyone his age, especially after staying frozen for decades, should have. "Our agents are hard-working people! They deserve some time to loosen up and get to know each other!"

"This is a high-profile spy agency, not a summer camp!" Hollis stood up, her palms firmly on the desk in front of her. "We already have a bowling alley and a cocktail bar. Enough of indulgences!"

"Stern as always eh?" He shook his head disapprovingly. "I know you're more of a solo player, but surely you understand what I'm getting at here?" Helmut smiled gently as spoke, his voice reverberating softly as if he was trying to approach a wild horse without spooking it. "Agents always work better in teams, be it a pair or a whole band. Bonding with your coworkers would-"

"You won't rope me into this."

"Ah, well, you don't have to participate." His smile grew. "It would be great if you came though, what's a talent show without jurors?"

"I assume you've talked to Truman already?"

"He insisted I take it up with you." There was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

"Of course he did." She sat down, exasperated. "Fine. Do your little talent show. You get one afternoon."

"That's all we need." The little sparks in his eyes were almost mischievous. 

All of this socializing was just a waste of time.

The ragtag group of agents of all statuses sat around a crooked table in a decrepit diner in the Questionable Area.

"Remind me, why are we here again?" Norma was pretty irritated already. She had many better things to do. Well, maybe not better but definitely more productive.

"Because The Helmut Fulbear of the Psychic Six asked us to help him with the very first Motherlobe Talent Show!" Raz almost yelled from the other end of the table. His eyes were sparkling, full of energy and enthusiasm.

"That doesn't answer the question tho?" Gisu smirked. "Why is Norma here? I thought her only talent was being a bitch."

"Hey now," Lizzie slammed her fist on the table. "That's my thing! Norma! Stop stealing my thing!"

"I hate both of you."

"Guuys, can we focus please?" Raz whined, his voice cracking slightly. "It's been a while since we've had the chance to just hang out anyway. Don't you think that might end up being fun?" He looked at Norma with a pleading expression.

"I don't have the time to hang out I'm-"

"The youngest person to ever become a Senior Agent in the Psychonauts history." Lizzie monotoned. "Yeah we know, Forsythe Jr. can you stop being a hardass for literally one day?"

Norma huffed, steam blowing from her nose as if she were a cartoon bull. "I'm not a-" She inhaled slowly, steadying herself. "It's called being responsible, Field Agent Natividad, not sure if you've heard of it?"

"Alright, that's enough." Adam finally spoke up. "We're doing this thing, you can go practice verbal fencing after." He turned, looking directly at Raz. "What's the game plan, little dude?" Adam was one of the very few people in the agency who could still call Raz that. Thanks to the Aquato genes, at the age of sixteen, he was already almost as tall as his father.

"We need to split the work. The show starts tomorrow at six pm." He started to pace around the diner, energy buzzing inside of him like a swarm of bees. "Gisu, Sam, do you think you can set up the stage? I'll get Lili to help."

"I can bring Dogen too, oh and my little helpers can make themselves useful as well." Sam clapped her hands in delight.

"Sounds like a workable crew." Gisu nodded, her brain already rendering the construction plans.

"What about me Pooter? I want an important job too" Lizzie whined.

"I didn't forget about you guys. Lizzie and Adam, you're already a great field team, get out there and tell everyone about the talent show! I asked our newest group of interns to make fliers and posters. They should be ready soon."

"Let's go. Time to bully some pencil pushers into socializing." She grinned. "Speaking of..."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Her sister bristled.

"Does it mean you and Norma are the main organizers?" Adam finished the thought.

"Well, yeah, she's the only fiscally responsible person I know." Raz shrugged.

"Boo, I thought you'll assign her something she'll hate, like going out and talking to people." Lizzie sighed theatrically.

"I don't hate talking to people. I talk to people every day!" She was getting fed up with all that. "Why is he the main organizer anyway? He's just a junior agent. We all outrank him."

"It's just, that Agent Fulbear asked me to-"

"Oh that's low,"  Lizzie chuckled, interrupting his flustered explanation. "Is your ego really that fragile, Senior Agent?"

The sudden temperature swings in the room made everyone flinch. Gisu dropped the pen she was using to scribble down calculations on an old napkin. A wall of steam split the room where the subzero temperature clashed with a heatwave.

The doors to the diner opened with enough force to fully break one of the rusty hinges off. Frazie barged into the room with a smile bright enough to put the sun to shame. She carried an extremely tall stack of flyers and had a bunch of rolled-up posters sticking out from under her arms.

"Hey, Pooter I've got all of those posters you wanted for your clown show!" She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the tension and the unreasonable amount of steam in the air. "Oooh, a sibling squabble!" Without any regard for her safety, she marched up to the table and unceremoniously dropped everything she'd been carrying onto it. "Exciting! What's a psychic equivalent of putting your brother in a headlock?" She turned to Raz.

"Uh, Frazie?" Raz looked at her, frantically glancing between her and the arguing duo. "This is more of a throwing knives than a headlock kind of an argument."

"Ah."

"We need to break it up before they blow this whole building up." Adam looked more tired than worried, as Lizzie's partner, he must have seen a fair share of dangerous psychic shenanigans.

"I think I have an idea." Frazie flicked her wrist and an old fire blanket found itself in her hand, accompanied by a sound of breaking glass. "I'll take care of the Firecracker over here and you deal with your partner, yeah?"

Meanwhile, Lizzie and Norma were in the middle of a very thermodynamically intense and insult-filled argument.

"Look at you, fucking square, suit-wearing, hair-gel-abusing stuck-up bitch." Lizzie hissed, the air around her stilling with frost.

"Shut your mouth, you juvenile drama queen." Smoke started to rise to the ceiling, the floor burning under Norma's feet. "I've seen your records, I know why Adam has to babysit you 24/7"

"Oh so you freeze some guy's blood one time and suddenly you're a total wildcard and a danger to the agency's integrity."

"It's called murder and yes!"

Just as she was about to respond, a psitanium yo-yo wrapped around her, tying her to her chair.

"Thanks for the briefing, see you later!" Adam pulled on the string and dragged an absolutely stunned Lizzie out of the diner, chair included.

Almost exactly at the same time, lights went out for Norma. The surprise factor of getting swaddled in a large asbestos sheet sat her back down on the slightly charred chair. After what felt like an hour of basically getting suffocated, the blanket lifted and she was met with a grinning Frazie.

"Hi!"

"Huh, uh?" The fogged-up glasses and low blood oxygen level weren't doing her any favors.  Being vaguely aware of someone holding her down and speaking to her was all her brain could handle right now.

"Oh damn, you found her off-switch." Gisu peeked from behind a counter she'd vaulted over for cover. "I didn't know she had one. That would have been useful way back when..." She trailed off when she noticed something that made her squint. "Wait a second, how did you know this?"

"Hm?" Frazie finished unwrapping Norma and now the Senior Agent sat there clutching the thick sheet of fireproof material like a shock blanket. "Oh, well, she-"

"You are a pest," Norma finally mumbled out, a fiery blush blooming under her skin. "and a menace."

"Welcome back!"

"I was here all this time so would you kindly stop talking about me like I'm not?" She huffed out some residue steam from her lungs, her voice sounded strained, almost timid. "Let's just move on from this disaster. We've got work to do." She threw the fire blanket on the floor and tried to dust herself off, only to get her hands covered in black residue from her suit. She scowled at her palms with distaste. She had to change.

"Ooh. That's why you started wearing all black." Gisu suddenly appeared next to her, poking her ribs. "I thought you were just going through your edgy phase really late."

"Very funny."

"I feel like we're getting off track again." Raz cleared his throat in a desperate bid for attention. "Since Lizzie and Adam left, uh, in a hurry, how about someone else taking care of the advertisement campaign?"

"I would do it but I don't trust Barney with the flyers." Sam rolled out from under one of the tables and gestured at the mountain goat which was currently attempting to eat the fire blanket from the floor. "He doesn't have thumbs. He'd lose them all for sure."

"How about Frazie and Norma?" Gisu proposed with a mischievous smirk.

"Nerumen," Norma was glaring at her with burning intensity. "I swear to-"

"Hey, I already ran an errand for you today Pooter."  Frazie crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Yeah, no, there was no way they were doing this, absolutely not.

She could not believe they were doing this. Frazie walked alongside her, waving to everyone and handing out the flyers with the ease of someone who worked with the public a lot. After a grueling hour of pretended friendliness, Norma nearly collapsed onto a bench.

"I am officially done." She reached into an inner pocket of her suit and fished out a blackened pipe and a fireproof tobacco holder.

"You look like a tired accountant in her fifties." Frazie snorted.

"I am two of those things." She sparked the pipe with her fingers and absentmindedly blew a smoke circle into the air. "Why are you still here? Don't you have any intern busywork to do?"

"Eh." She sat on the backrest, leaning backward until she could look Norma in the eyes. "Don't feel like doing any of it."

"Why are you still in the program Aquato?" She turned her head slightly to meet her eyes. "You could have been doing actual work for years now."

Frazie just shrugged, a shadow of emotion eclipsed her usual smile briefly, like a single cloud on a clear sky. It was gone as quickly as it appeared. "I don't care. No one even tries to make me finish it anymore too."

"You don't have a-"

"Nope!" She popped the P almost cheerfully. "Still no Mentor! News travels fast, also-" She turned around standing directly over Norma, her hands placed next to her shoulders, surrounding her. "You quit on me too, you know why nobody even bothers." 

Her body temperature spiked sharply and her heart was beating so hard she felt it bruise her ribs from the inside. She dropped her pipe, halfway burned tobacco spilling out of it on the ground. This toxic combo of shame, guilt, and anxiety she was used to dealing with was now burning harder, fully set aflame. It wasn't like that, she wanted to protest, but her voice was stuck deep in her throat. It would just ring hollow in the end, wouldn't it? She could feel herself shrinking under her gaze, her back curling into the bench in a pathetic effort to put some distance between their faces.

"Ah, sorry. That was needlessly harsh huh?" Something clicked in Frazie's head and she almost jumped away from Norma.

"It's fine." Clouds of steam mixed with pipe smoke rolled with each word she was trying to vocalize with at least a little bit of volume. "You're fine."

Frazie didn't seem convinced. She sat cross-legged on the other end of the bench and fiddled with her braid as she spoke. "Am I though? The truth is, I don't really know what I want." She chuckled but it sounded forced. "Pooter always wanted this, heck, even Quepie knows he's going to stay in our family business already! I'm the only one who's dragging her feet."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Dunno. I sort of envy you. I guess?"

"..." Norma sat up and straightened the crumpled front of her suit, getting even more soot on her hands. There was nothing to envy about her. "That's dumb."

"Thanks." She rolled her eyes but a small smirk formed on her face.

The silence between felt earned, a calm moment of understanding. The conversation wasn't over, not even close, but it was a comfortable stopping point for now. Emotional baggage dragged out in the open and ready to be unpacked—the first step of many.

"Man, what the fuck." Lizzie grumbled, still grumpy, even two hours after the argument at the diner. "I thought at least you would have my back."

"I do." Adam taped a sign-up list on the agency's bulletin board. "I'd just rather not get buried alive under the rubble."

She scoffed but didn't say anything else. A thin layer of hoarfrost bloomed on every inch of her exposed skin like thorny roses.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about really." Lizzie sighed. "She's just been a huge pain in the ass to deal with ever since that damn promotion."

He nodded. It was true, Norma definitely started to self-isolate a lot after becoming a Senior Agent. It took them all by surprise. She used to be one of the nosiest busybodies in the Motherlobe. Sure, that whole mole fiasco made her a bit more conscious of her behavior but no one expected it to escalate that much. They were all too busy to notice the moment she slipped into this pattern of avoidance.

"The worst part is," She bit her lip, there was hurt in her eyes and Adam could have sworn he saw her tear up a little. "She's doing this to me too. I'm running out of things to say to our parents whenever she ditches us during holidays."

"I'm sorry." He extended his hand but stopped midway through. Lizzie tended to grow spikes whenever she was upset and this was no exception. "I get where you're coming from, but picking fights won't fix it."

"Right, you're right." She straightened her back, shrugging off the layer of ice covering her skin. "I guess we'll actually have to talk it out huh?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Let's bounce. Time to see if we can make Nein sign up."

"Ambitious target." He grinned. "Let's go. I bet you won't be able to without asking Vodello for help."

"Oh, it's on Hatboy." 

Chapter Text

The sound of water flowing in a physics-defying way would be pretty calming under most circumstances. It was a decent spot to sit down and read a book or unwind after work. Having an Aquato around flipped the atmosphere upside down though, filling the air with restless anticipation.

"What are we doing here?" Norma looked at the "waterfall?", one eyebrow quirked up slightly.

"Well, you said I get to pick the next training spot, so I picked something fun for a change." Frazie smiled.

"I did say that, yes." She was already regretting it. Giving this hyperactive maniac any form of free choice always meant trouble.

"Oh come on," The acrobat grabbed her mentor by the wrist and pulled her along to the bottom of the structure. "It's going to be fineee."

"Very reassuring." She didn't resist the pull. In the end, the Aquatos all had that almost infectious energy. The type that attracted attention, made you want to see what will happen next.

When Frazie finally let go of her hand, they were close enough to the waterfall to feel the wet breeze on their faces.

"Watch this!" Without any sort of warning, Frazie backflipped into the river. There was no splash as if the water just opened up and swallowed her whole.

"What the-" Norma rushed to the riverside, palms on the wet grass, looking into the depths, searching for the familiar shape.

"Taadaah!" She burst out of the water in a cascade, flipping back onto the shore in a practiced circus manner. "What do you think? Pretty impressive right?"

"R-right." She was basically lying on her back, one hand clutching her sweater over her heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Ugh, Pooter said the same thing. What's up with you people?" Frazie bent over and extended her, completely dry, hand to Norma.

"This was some pretty advanced hydrokinesis. Who taught you that?" Norma accepted the offered hand and pulled up as if she weighed nothing at all. She tried not to think about it too hard, or about how pleasantly cool and slender Frazie's hand was. She definitely wasn't thinking about it at all.

"That's all me!"

"What?" It was hard not to balk at that. It's not that Frazie wasn't a talented psychic, but it took a lot to master any type of elemental kinesis. "When?"

"So I was climbing trees yesterday-"

"Of course." She rolled her eyes theatrically.

"-and I've noticed the way even very light things make ripples when they fall into the water." She levitated a nearby pinecone and launched it into the river. "The waves spread on the surface pretty evenly, I wanted to see if I could sort of, force them to stay put?" She threw another pinecone, this time it dented the water's surface as if it was elastic. "Sort of like, if you were holding a spring in your hand. If that makes sense?" She released the hold and the surface tension shot the pinecone up into the air. She was phrasing those statements as if they were questions, but it was clear she knew what she was talking about.

"I see." Norma was baffled, to say the least. "Say, how familiar are you with physics? Chemistry? You never went to school right?"

"We never stayed in one place for long." She shrugged. "Our parents taught us how to read and write and how to do math. Why'd you ask?"

So her assumptions were correct, Frazie was astoundingly brilliant. Just as pyrokinesis requires a focused mind, hydrokinesis requires a perceptive one. Who knows what she might be capable of when she gets access to proper resources? She had half a mind to drag her to the library right here and then. It probably wouldn't have worked though, she seemed like a hands-on learner. For better or for worse.

"Our powers are an additional way of interacting with the world around us." Norma pushed her glasses up. "Psychics can distort the laws of physics, manipulate energy, matter, and time."

"Huh." Frazie tilted her head to the side slightly. "So you're saying we can just mess with how the world works? Is there a limit to it at all?"

"In theory? No." She held her hand up to stop any follow-up questions and continued. "In practice, everyone has their own. There's only so much power a single brain can output safely. There's also the issue of natural affinities. For me and Lizzie, we ended up on the opposite ends of the heat spectrum. For you, it's hydrokinesis."

"Wait, so there are things I just can't learn no matter what?" She frowned as if she disliked that idea very much.

"Not exactly." Norma reached out and a few droplets of water rose from the river. Then immediately hit the boiling point and evaporated. She sighed. "Without natural affinity, some psychic powers are just not worth developing. It's a lot like singing, everyone can practice but some won't be able to carry a tune." There was something almost forlorn about the way she said it.

"What about Pooter? Is he some sort of a freak prodigy or something?"

"You can ask him yourself." The words came out sounding harsher than she intended. It was probably beneath her, to still hold onto this childish bitterness. She shook her head. "He's very talented but it's all basic proficiency. He can explain it better than me."

"Okay," Frazie said cautiously. "I will."

Norma shifted uncomfortably, her temper ruined the mood just like every other time. Way to go, snapping at her mentee for no reason at all. The persistent thought that Hollis put her up to it only to torment her, returned. She started to fidget with the hem of her sweater, trying to push bad against the Bad Mood overtaking her mind.

"Hey."

Frazie's voice made her look up quickly enough to make her glasses shift on her face.

"There's something else here I wanted to show you."

The water flew upwards at a steady pace. Large logs gave into the psychic influence of the localized anomaly as well, floating upwards, defying gravity.

"Come on. I promise it's worth it." She smiled gently before offering her hand again.

"It better be." Norma accepted the invitation. It was increasingly hard to say no to anything when it came to Frazie anymore.

She decided to worry about it later.

Their voices were partially muted by the sound of traveling water, which turned their shouts into whispers.

"Hold on."

Slippery rocks under their feet weren't making things easy. Frazie's strong hands kept her on her feet and she couldn't tell if the noise surrounding her was just the waterfall or her blood rushing to her face. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she could feel herself grin. It reminded her of sneaking out of the house to the backyard just to steal apples from the neighbor. It was such an insignificant thing, but still inappropriate enough to give you a rush. When she looked up, she caught a glimpse of Frazie's face. She was grinning too.

The acrobat pulled them both up into the cave, drenched and cold. When Norma collapsed onto her back, without paying any mind to the small crystals covering the floor, she followed suit, laying down next to her. They must have looked really silly, their hair wet and sticking to their faces, but Norma couldn't care less. What she did care about was the pleasant sensation of warmth traveling up her arm from where their hands still touched.

The cave was beautiful. Its darkness was illuminated by unrefined psitanium crystals of various sizes that grew out of the solid stone. The pale, purple glow wasn't strong enough to cast shadows but it was enough to make everything seem ethereal. Frazie stared at the ceiling and those gleeful sparks in her eyes never looked more alive.

"So, what do you think?" She turned slightly, to face Norma and caught her staring straight at her.

"It's…"

They locked eyes.

"It's awful. Cold and wet."

"I'm glad you like it."

She swallowed down the quippy response sitting on the tip of her tongue. What's the point of pretending?

When she got into her dorm room that evening, there was still steam rising off of her. Her hair fluffed up in every direction and her shirt was damp under her sweater.

"Wow, what happened to you?" Lizzie looked up from her magazine, one eyebrow raised high on her forehead.

"Frazie."

"Damn," she paused, a grin slowly crept onto her face.

"Don't." Norma snapped with a frown already set firmly on her face.

"How come she got you all wet like that." Lizzie wiggled her eyebrows. "If I knew that's what 'mentoring' meant I would have volunteered."

"I can, and will, melt all of your pins together just to bash you in the head with them."

"That's homophobic."

"Die."

Her menace of a sister burst out laughing.

"You're down bad. It's funny." She rubbed her eyes to dry the laughter-induced tears and smudged her messy make-up even more in the process. "You should ask her out."

"What in the world are you talking about?" Norma flinched.

"Oh man, how hard are you repressing this?" Lizzie frowned. "You're doing that thing again, I can tell."

"I'm not doing anything." She was getting tired of this conversation. At least the irritation helped her dry off faster.

"I knew it. You are doing the thing. See?" She gestured vaguely at her.

"I'm going to bed." Norma turned to her dresser and grabbed her favorite oversized t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. "We're doing a routine field check tomorrow, remember? Don't stay up too late."

"Nice dodge."

She left that with no response, locking herself in the bathroom. She pressed her back against the door and slid down onto the floor with a heavy sigh. She had to deal with this, the sooner the better.

Chapter Text

The stage was as impressive as something set up in half a day on a pocket money budget could have possibly been. The welding was sloppy and the wooden panels clearly had been scavenged from somewhere with how mismatched the colors were. In the end, the only thing that mattered was usability. Gisu swore on her honor everything would hold and with a bit of luck no one would get a stage light dropped on their head.

"Are we sure that using animals as the stage crew is a good idea?" Norma massaged her temples, it's been a long day and she was trying her best to keep it together.

"We don't have much choice," Gisu shrugged. "Finding people willing to participate was hard enough, we had even less luck finding anyone to do backstage work."

"Well, me and my crew should be good enough!" Sam gestured towards a group of various creatures, including but not limited to a very neurotic squirrel, a rather stressed mountain goat, and a bluebird with a nervous tick in its eye.

"Is it too late to withdraw from the show?" Norma couldn't help but sound defeated.

"I think so? You can just not show up if you really don't want to be here." The engineer kicked a rock with enough force to send it flying into the tree line. "If I dropped out, Dion wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

"Can he even perform with you? I thought this was a closed event." Norma lit up her pipe, she didn't smoke much but this day was decisively kicking her ass.

"He's a special case." Gisu rolled her eyes. "When Raz said he's doing a dance routine with Lily, Agent Nein, and Agent Vodello, Dion dragged me over to do this with them."

"I'm guessing you aren't thrilled."

"I'm not much of a dancer."

"Yes, I do recall."

"Oh shush." That got a laugh out of her. "What happened? You're somehow less abrasive than usual."

"This is, in essence, a paid day of messing around instead of working" She blew a smoke circle, flicking a small gust of hot air after it, giving it spiral momentum. "I figured I should at least try to loosen up a little"

"I'm not buying it, something's up." Gisu rubbed her chin. "Did Hollis make you take a day off? Did you lose a bet? No, definitely not that." She paced around the clearing, mumbling half to herself and half at Norma.

"I'm here because Razputin asked me for help." She said plainly. "There's nothing more to it."

"What about Frazie?" She stopped suddenly, pointing at her in an accusatory manner. "Why does she call you a firecracker?"

"How about we stop talking for a while." Her stone-faced expression didn't crack, but all of the tobacco in her pipe spontaneously incinerated in a short burst of flames.

"Alright, alright. Don't think you're off the hook though." She lifted her hands in surrender. She must have gotten the memo that there was no point in trying to force that conversation. "What I'm trying to say is…" She turned to her fully, a small smile on her face. "I forgot how fun it is. To just hang out, all of us."

"Hm," Norma shook the ash out of her pipe. She'll require a new one very soon if she keeps setting it on fire all the time. "It's different now though. We're different."

"A bit," she nodded. "But you have to admit, some things never change."

A few feet away, Sam was patiently explaining how to operate a stage light to a very distracted squirrel. Again. And again.

"You might be onto something here," Norma admitted.

"Yup."

Raz popped into space just above the floor landing with a soft thump. He huffed, dissatisfied.

"Still not precise enough for you?" Lily asked without even turning around as she rummaged through her wardrobe. That damn dress had to be in there somewhere, she was sure of it.

"Those few inches are key."

"I think it's an acceptable margin of error. What is it even? Like 2%?" She continued to throw her clothes around.

"Agent Cruller has it down to a molecule." He grumbled.

"He's also as old as dirt and had a lot of time to practice." She couldn't help but sigh. "Can you help me look for that dress I told you about? The purple one."

"Oh, sure."

"How's everything going? Have you seen the stage? I think we did a pretty good job." She pulled out a drawer before slamming it back into place.

"It's…" He hesitated. "It's going better than I expected, and also way worse somehow? The stage is great, by the way, looks almost like something we’d put together with Dad."

"Encouraging."

Raz got to work, they were due to practice their choreography soon, and they needed their matching outfits.

"I know this show going well is important to you, but it's supposed to be a fun event for everyone. Even for the organizers." She kicked a pile of stuff dragged out of her wardrobe and began looking through it again.

"Everyone is counting on me-"

She turned to him, with arms folded and an incredulous look on her face.

"-us, everyone is counting on us to make it a success."

Lily just rolled her eyes at him.

"Let's just keep looking for that dress," he grumbled under his breath. It wasn't a good time to have That Conversation Again. Fortunately, it didn't take long enough to allow the awkwardness to sink in fully.

"Found it!" She exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"Alright!" He grabbed her and threw her up in the air, catching her and the dress she was holding into his arms."Ready?"

"Go! Go! Go!"

Just like that, with the sound of space closing around an object that's no longer there, the room became quiet.

Agent Vodello spun and her beautiful dress followed her movement. Smoothly, she transitioned into a basic set of steps with salsa music playing in the background. The old boombox was barely able to keep up with the tempo of the track, static cracking every now and then.

"See, it's easy!" She smiled brilliantly and gestured for Lily and Gisu to come forward.

"I'm not sure about this, Camilla," Gisu mumbled. She kept fidgeting with her dress, clearly uncomfortable. "This, and the heels… I don't think I can pull it off."

"Nonsense, darling, you've got this."

"This is kinda fun!" Lily spun around and did a little two-step, letting her heel hit the floorboards with a loud click.

"Do not worry, Agent Nerumen, while I also feel apprehensive, you must admit…" Sasha Nein looked down at her through his thick glasses. "The energy is quite infectious."

"This is way more comfortable than our show outfits!" Raz cartwheeled onto the stage before landing on his feet. "May I have this dance?" He did an exaggerated bow and extended his hand toward Lily who took it with a wide smile.

"Dork."

"You know it!" They began rehearsing the basic steps while Raz counted under his breath.

"C'mon Gisu, it's going to go great." Dion extended his hand to her with his trademark cocky grin. He looked sharp in the glittering suit and a crooked bowtie.

"I don't know. This doesn't suit me at all. I feel stupid." She hesitantly took his hand and tried to follow the steps, but her knees felt like jelly. She had never felt this way before, not even during her most risky skateboarding stunts.

"What's wrong dear?" Camilla and Sasha gracefully approached them as they finished off the last bit of the choreography.

"I'm just, I don't know." She let go of Dion's hand and looked down at the frilly dress and high heels. "I'm feeling totally out of my depth here."

"I have an idea." Dion undid his bowtie and passed it to his girlfriend with a wink. "Let's get you a better fit."

Chapter Text

The rest of the day was spent on individual preparations. The event wasn't even a real competition. The jurors weren't anything more than special guests with the elevated seats but all of the agents performing wanted to do their best.

A sweater vest and a plain white shirt. A pair of slacks and a hairband holding her curls in place.

With a violin case in a death grip, Norma braced herself to leave her room. Memories of the recitals she'd played in school flooded her mind and made her heart skip a beat. She used to perform well under pressure, but now her hand left a sweaty mark on the door handle.

She had to step into the spotlight again.

She used to love being the center of attention, for sure that still had to be true even now… hopefully.

Surprisingly, a big chunk of the whole agency decided to show up. About fifty agents from various departments of the Psychinauts organization gathered around the janky stage. Right in front of it stood a table with three chairs, one for Helmut, one for Hollis, and one for Truman.

Norma circled to the back of the stage, and with shock realized that it wouldn't be only her and her friends performing that evening.

"Look, look!" Raz popped into space right beside her, landing on the ground with a slight stumble. "We had some last-minute entries! Isn't it great?"

"Wow, I'm honestly not sure what I expected." She hugged her violin case. "Maybe I don't have to play anymore."

"Whaaaaa… no way!" He looked at her with his huge eyes. "You should go out there and show everyone your talent!"

"Razputin, I only signed up to fill up the list just in case we won't find anyone else."

"Aw, man. Frazie is going to be so disappointed. She didn't want to be the only music act of the evening." He sighed heavily and shrugged. "Oh well, I guess I'll have to tell her you bailed out last minute."

"Wait, that's foul play!" She nearly dropped her violin. Her sweaty palms began to steam a little as her body temperature spiked.

"Okay then, see you on stage!" He shot her a cheeky smile before teleporting away.

"That little…" She hissed through gritted teeth and focused on calming down. There was no point in getting embarrassed anymore. It was nearly showtime.

She watched Adam put on his mixology performance.

It was impressive how well-coordinated he was, juggling shakers and bottles without any telekinesis involved.

He talked through it too, easily carrying on with a casual conversation about his favorite cocktails to make and other people's preferences.

By the end of it, he had three cocktails prepared, one for each VIP guest.

"Delightful! What a show and what a result!" Helmut gushed over his rainbow-layered drink as if it was the best thing he's ever seen.

"I must admit it's a great opener." Truman took a sip of his Cosmopolitan with a smirk.

"Good thing this is an off-the-clock event." Hollis eyed the Blue Lady placed in front of her with some caution before lifting the glass with a sigh.

"Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all night." Adam grinned before bowing and swiftly gathering up his things and levitating the table off the stage.

"I'll hold you to it, boy, I want one of these too!" Cruller chuckled before focusing on the audience again. "I have no clue what you kids listen to these days. Anyone here into classical music?"

"But of course," Helmut spoke up.

"Great! So, next up Norma!"

An unsure whisper went through the crowd as the stage lights went off just to flicker back on again, now focused on a single spot on an empty stage. It stayed empty for a solid five seconds.

A single cough ripped through the silence.

She walked out into the spotlight. Her heart was beating fast but with each step she'd taken the rhythm evened out, her breathing returned to normal and her thoughts untangled from the jumbled mess of anxiety she'd gotten herself into.

There was no point in looking at the audience, it's not like she was playing for them anyway.

She rested her chin on her instrument and began her performance.

Music wasn't always something she enjoyed. Her parents signed her up for as many extracurriculars as they could to get her out of the house. At first, the violin was her enemy, something she had to endure even though it made her fingertips bleed. She could clearly recall the moment it finally clicked for her, all those years ago, at her first recital. That painfully rehearsed routine of motions brought something out of her parents she'd never seen before, awe and pride. More importantly though, as she played, her inner fire grew stronger. Her competitive spirit burned brightly as her proficiency outshined every other kid to play before or after her. Music channeled her ambition and focus. With a perfectly clear mind, not a single note had ever fallen out of place.

Before she knew it, it was over.

She opened her eyes and saw a rare, bright smile on Agent Forsythe's face.

Her performer's reflex kicked in and she bowed before walking off of the stage, her legs feeling unsteady.

Maybe in the end she was still the exact same kid. Too easily intimidated to stay for long enough to hear what people had to say about her.

"You should play more often," a familiar voice tore her away from her musings.

"Maybe." She put the instrument away into its case before turning toward Frazie.

"That's not a no."

"It's not a yes."

"I'll take it." Her eyes had that mischievous spark to them that never failed to make Norma nervous. That look on her face was equally as pretty as it was dangerous.

"So, uh, when's your turn?" Norma tugged on her collar, feeling hot all of a sudden.

"After the dance crew." She glanced at the stage where Agen Cruller tried to entertain the audience with some dry grandpa jokes in between the acts.

"I see…" She wanted to say something else but the words died in her throat.

She really was a coward.

"All right folks, that's enough of me, I think." Ford scratched his head as if considering what he just said. "That being said, the next performance!"

The boombox popped onto the stage with a clatter and immediately began playing a lively salsa.

Vodello confidently led Nein into their choreography and was joined by Raz and Lilly from the other side of the stage.

The boombox suddenly stuttered and cut off but just as soon as it happened, Gisu rolled up to it on her teleboard with Dion standing on her shoulders. He was wearing a flashy shirt that hugged his torso and arms tightly but flowed loosely from the waist down like a short skirt.

He backflipped onto the stage with a rose in between his teeth and struck an overdramatic pose.

"Time to kick it!" She announced with a grin. Her bedazzled suit sparkled as electricity bounced in between the small crystals.

Then she actually kicked the boombox.

It snapped back into life with extra power and the music began to play again. The energy was infectious, people in the crowd began to clap to the rhythm as well.

They finished off their performance to enthusiastic applause.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Helmut gave them a standing ovation. "The theatrics, the energy, ooh it was just what this show needed!"

"Even I feel energized." Truman straightened up in his chair and sent a warm smile toward Lilly and Raz.

"That sure was a good show!" Agent Cruller nodded before turning to the gathered crowd "Allrighty folks, time for a quick break. We'll be back at it in fifteen."

Gisu walked off the stage hand in hand with Dion.

Raz and Lilly vanished right after their performance, both muttering something about having to change, while Sasha and Milla excused themselves to grab a drink from Adam's improvised bar.

"See, it went great. You're a natural performer." Her boyfriend grinned. "With some practice, I bet you'd fit in great into the Aquato routine during a show."

"Ha, in your dreams." She wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her free hand. All that static work, chunched over the workbench with Otto really impacted her stamina. "I might be a little too old to get into circus acts now loverboy."

"Naah, you're a natural, a real daredevil spirit." He gave her hand a squeeze and she squeezed back.

"Was that a real invitation? I have some overdue vacation days I could take."

"Wait, are you serious? Because um, yes? Dad would be so thrilled too!" Dion stopped and pulled her closer to look into her eyes. "I'm so sick of only seeing you like twice a year. I miss you all the time, mom even told me off for acting like a fool and wasn't happy when I said I'm just my father's son, hah."

"I hope I won't get into constant fights with your mother, I get enough shit from my own." She let go of his hand to wrap her arms around his waist and rest her forehead on his chest.

"She's gotten a lot better about this whole psychic business. She's still herself but I know she's trying, she cares." He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and hugged her back with a sigh. "I'm so happy. We should do a big family trip someday, all of us."

"I hope your caravan can handle three more people." She pulled away to shoot him an amused look.

"For sure, wait, three?" He glanced down at her, quickly running a headcount in his mind. "No way, does Frazie have someone, and didn't tell her dearest older brother?" He gasped in mock offense.

"Well, I'm just saying, I have my suspicions."

"You won't spill huh?" He began to rub gentle circles into her back as his voice dipped into the rumbling, lower register.

"Stop trying to be smooth you dork. No, I'm not selling them out yet." Gisu laughed but allowed herself to relax into his hands.

"Aw, well, I will find out anyway. Lil sis can't hide her secrets from me forever."

"Try to not be an obnoxious asshole about it, please? I don't want to get on the bad side of either of them." She dug her fingers into the fabric of his shirt as he worked out a pretty bad knot in her shoulders.

"No promises."

"Goddamnit Dion."

"Welcome back, now settle down, settle down!" Ford was clearly enjoying himself in this role, letting his more carefree side out again. "Next up, Frazie!"

She stepped right into the spotlight with the unwavering confidence of a seasoned performer. The warm, yellow stage lights accentuated her features causing the natural hyperpigmentation around her eyes to look like eyeshadow.

"Hello everyone!" She shouted with a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. "Let's get this show on the road. Pooter!" She snapped her fingers and Raz blinked on the stage behind her with a clatter and thud of old drums he dragged in with him.

He cleared his throat before sitting down behind it and tapped the drumsticks together.

"This song is just something I've heard once, but it won't leave my head so now you get to hear it too!" She flashed everyone a smile before adjusting her grip on the acoustic guitar hanging from her shoulder and began playing.

Norma wasn't sure what the song was about, in hindsight, she probably should have actually listened to it.

Her attempts to even comprehend the lyrics were set aflame and reduced to ashes the moment she caught Frazie looking her way with a microphone close to her lips and a playful glint in her eyes.

The song ended in what felt like a second. Loud clapping erupted from the modest audience including a standing ovation from Helmut and brazen whistling from Lizzie.

Frazie smiled and bowed before walking off the stage with a light skip to her step.

"So, what do you think?" She stopped right in front of Norma with an almost smug smirk.

"I think Razputin is going to get his head stuck in the kick drum." Norma leaned to the side, her face still burning hot right under the skin, and watched as the boy struggled with gathering up the rackety drum set.

"Smooth," Frazie said teasingly before setting her guitar aside and grabbing her hand just to drag her further behind the stage.

"Hey! She managed to choke out before getting trapped in between a wall and the other woman with a strong arm blocking her escape routes on each side.

"Hey yourself."

"Why- what are you doing," Norma stammered, fully compromised by this turn of events.

"Pushing your buttons." Her face was so close Norma could count all of the freckles dusting her cheeks. Frazie was still breathing hard, probably amped up after her performance, and a single bead of sweat glistened on her temple just to roll down the length of her slender neck.

Norma scrambled for a response, the sheer proximity annihilating any cognizant thought that might have formed in her superheated brain.

"Right now you're very close to hitting the panic one." She slipped under her right and backed away to be just out of reach. Her chest felt as if Cassie released a swarm of bees inside of it, very angry bees.

"I kind of hate how stubborn you are." Frazie huffed and folded her arms in front of her chest.

"I could say the same about you."

The silence between them was so loud it eclipsed the echoes of Terryl's awkward stand-up routine.

"Yooo! There you are!" Lizzie sauntered up to them with an inebriated smirk on her face. "I was looking all over for you two."

"Why?" Norma pulled out her pipe to occupy her trembling hands.

"Everyone else joined the audience after their performance." She shrugged. "Adam started to take bets once we noticed you were gone."

"Bets?" Frazie stilled like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Yeah, y'know, because you clearly have something going on." Lizzie chuckled and slung her arm over her sister's shoulders, slightly unsteady on her feet.

"You're drunk." Norma held her up, letting the weight settle on her frame.

"Only a little bit, don't be a killjoy sis."

"We should just join in on the fun!" Frazie shook off the odd stillness and smiled. "Is Adam still playing a bartender?"

"You know it, girl." Lizzie laughed and leveraged her weight to pull Norma towards the crowd. "C'mon, you could use a drink too."

"Doubtful."

"I don't think I've ever had alcohol before." Frazie cartwheeled ahead of them before bouncing to her feet. "Dad said drinking and acrobatics aren't a good combo."

"I can't argue with that, but this one you really want to see when she's fucked up." She flicked Norma in the ear, causing her to push her off.

Lizzie stumbled, laughing obnoxiously before regaining her balance with a stupid grin on her face.

"Grow up!" Norma barked before huffing out a cloud of steam. "You're insufferable."

"Love ya too, sis."

They approached one of the dinner tables that had been dragged out into the clearing. Adam was stationed behind it, flipping bottles and shakers with flare.

"Your shows over Hatboy put the bells and whistles away." Lizzie snatched a red solo cup from the table and took a swig before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Says you, Morris missed my gig and I can't leave my main man hanging."

"Morris is here? Hell yeah!" She finished off her drink in a few long gulps and leaned heavily against the table. "Now we can get this party started."

"Damn, Natividad you're hammered." Morris levitated up to them with a cheeky grin and lifted his hand, promptly collecting high-fives from everyone. Even Norma gave in after rolling her eyes.

"Don't encourage her." She warned before picking one of the cups for herself and taking a cautious sip.

"Bold of you to assume that force of nature can be controlled." Adam split the contents of one of his shakers between two cups and passed one to Frazie.

"Oh, thanks. What's in it?" The acrobat sniffed the contents and made a face, prompting a burst of laughter.

"Just some tequila, grenadine, and OJ. Nothing fancy." Their impromptu bartender smiled, with excited sparks dancing in his eyes. "Nice performance, by the way, I had no idea you sing."

"I really don't. I'm pretty sure I got some lyrics wrong too."

"Take the compliment Aquato. Modesty isn't a good look on you." He winked before loading up another shaker with some ice provided by Lizzie.

"You should totally let me record some of your stuff for K-Lobe." Morris added. "I'm going to be back for a while so it's high time I broadcast some good ol 'pirate radio again."

"Oh joy," Norma murmured before taking another sip of her highball.

The rest of the evening passed by as smoothly as it could for a group of increasingly drunk psychics. The performances wrapped up around midnight with a heartfelt speech from Helmut and a surprisingly enthusiastic endorsement from Truman and Forsythe who even hinted at the possibility of holding another one next year.

Without much discussion, everyone agreed to leave the cleanup for tomorrow and began to walk their separate ways.

Adam and Morris declared they had some "catching up to do", whatever that entailed.

Gisu and Raz decided to stay over with the Aquatos since the family was due to depart soon.

Norma sighed and adjusted her hold on Lizzies barely conscious form before dragging her toward the sleeping quarters. Her head buzzed slightly from the meager amount of alcohol she had ingested.

"Do you uh, need a hand?" Frazie approached her hesitantly. Her face was flustered and she had to be at least a little bit tipsy.

"You know what, sure." She relented easily, too worn out by this whole day to argue.

"I was wondering, why not just levitate her?" Frazie stepped to Lizzie's other side and hoisted her up on her shoulder, taking the majority of the weight off of Norma.

"Bad idea. I tried it once and she threw up everywhere."

"Ew."

"Yeah."

They walked in silence, both on slightly unsteady feet, until they reached the door to Lizzie's room. Norma let herself in using her copy of the key and unceremoniously dumped her sister onto the bed.

"Ow," Lizzie whined before adjusting her position on the mattress and bending down to attempt to unzip her absurd leather shoes. "You could've been more gentle with your poor sis y'know?"

"Yeah, yeah. Get some sleep." Norma waved her away and turned to leave, passing Frazie in the door.

"Are you going to be okay?" The acrobat asked, but Lizzie only smirked at her.

"Yeeah, I'll deal. Go get your Firecracker." She said, slightly slurring her words.

"I don't know anymore," Frazie whispered and turned slightly to watch Norma walk away. "I think I messed up already."

"Don't be a pussy. If she wasn't into you you'd know for sure." The drunk psychic kicked off her demonias and sprawled out on the bed. "Her tells are very obvious."

"Easy for you to say, you've known her your whole life." Bitterness leaked into her voice as she forced the words out through gritted teeth.

"Just go. Ask her, maybe make out a little bit. Who knows?" Lizzie yawned before swiping her hand in the air and shutting the door right in Frazies face.

"Great. Thanks."

She stood in front of the door for a second that felt entirely too long before murmuring a quiet "Fuck it," to herself and quickly following Norma.

-~-

Her heart was still pounding in her chest as she lingered in front of the door to her room. The events of the day flashed through her mind like a clipshow and she almost staggered from exhaustion. One day, just one, but it felt like a week. There was a time when she'd thrive in the chaos and social chatter. Not anymore.

The sound of light footsteps echoed in the corridor, snapping her out of the foggy mind state she found herself in.

Frazie approached her with an unreadable expression, her lips set in a line, eyes focused.

"Got a minute?" She asked with an unconvincing approximation of her usual smile.

"Sixty seconds on the dot, I'm tired." Norma pulled up her sleeve and glanced at her wristwatch just to have something to look at. A space that wasn't occupied by the person that's been wreaking havoc on her mental well-being.

"Are you for real?" Frazie huffed.

"Fifty-five seconds."

"I keep forgetting how annoying you can be." It was a very matter-of-fact statement. "I can't believe I like you this much anyway."

"What?" Norma snapped her eyes away from the entrancing movement of the second hand on the face of her watch so suddenly it made her head spin. She leaned harder on the doorframe, her hand trembling slightly as she gripped the worn wood for support.

"I like you. I wasn't subtle about it either but it's fine, you have other things going on." The acrobat shrugged and if Norma was slightly more drunk she would have mistaken her demeanor for nonchalance. Frazie's fists were clenched so hard her knuckles turned white, her breathing seemed halfway stuck in her chest, and her eyes… oh, her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Norma whispered, unable to break the line of sight. "I didn't, I would have, I-"

"It's okay."

There was no way in hell any of this was even remotely okay. Not with the tears welling up in Frazie's eyes.

"No. It's not." She opened the door to her room and gestured for the other psychic to come in. "If we have to talk about this right now, let's not do it in the corridor."

Her living quarters were, as always, perfectly in order. Out of every single benefit that came with her promotion, getting to live on her own was the biggest one by a mile. She sat down on her office chair and leaned back into it with a sigh. Peace and quiet were still out of reach, or so it seemed.

Frazie closed the door after herself and stopped. Her eyes darted around the room, briefly stopping at some points of interest like Norma's bookcase and her desk, before she finally took a seat on the floor with her back against the side of the bed.

"So, good taste skipped your generation?" Norma chanced a dry joke before popping the top button on her shirt's collar. She was boiling on the inside and despite her reasonably good self-control, her pyro instincts were in full fight or flight again.

"Very funny," Frazie grumbled, but her posture relaxed slightly nonetheless.

"You know, when Forsythe told me that a freshly minted agent like me was getting a mentee assigned, I nearly exploded right here and then." She tapped her fingers on the armrests as she spoke. "It was like a dream come true, my intellect and skill acknowledged right off the bat."

"Aaaand then you found out it was me, the problem child." She laughed but it was almost like a record scratch, like chalk breaking on the board, a painful, bitter sound.

"I found out and I panicked because I knew Razputin and I wasn't sure if there was anything of value I could teach you at all." Her hands stilled, gripping the armrests like her life depended on it. "I was right too, you were much better off being taught by Lucretia or literally anyone else. I was out of my depth in more ways than one."

"What? No way, I'm not even close to being half as good as Pooter!"

"That's just how it started, from my insecurity and self-doubt. Then I actually got to spend time with you and…" They caught each other's eyes briefly before Norma turned her head to the side, incessant blush burning hot under her skin again. "I got to know you and I realized I can't be your mentor, not because you're lacking in any way." She reflexively lifted her hand to stop her from interjecting, like she used to when teaching her psychic theory. "I always wanted to be the perfect psychonaut, the best of the best, how could I mentor you and stay within what was considered professional when I realized I developed an embarrassing crush?" She sighed again and slumped into her chair pathetically. "I just wanted to stay professional."

"You got to be fucking kidding me."

"What?" Hearing Frazie swear like that snapped her out of the pity party she was throwing for herself.

"You're telling me you ditched me because you lost the game of gay chicken with yourself?" She scoffed and folded her arms in front of her chest.

"I, uh, wouldn't have phrased it like that." Norma fiddled with her collar again and popped another button. The heat was really getting to her.

"So, I like you, you used to like me. What now?" Frazie sounded almost petulant. It was almost endearing, almost.

"Well, you should finish your internship." It was getting hard to talk with all of the steam slowly boiling out of her lungs. It was making her lightheaded. Either that or the way Frazie looked with that pout on her face.

"Right, once I'm an agent, will you go out with me?" She looked up at her with an odd mix of bravado and cautiousness that made her run even hotter than before.

"I need to issue a correction," Norma mumbled under her breath. "I still like you, and yes, if you want us to."

"I'm literally the one asking you, I think I'm the less flaky one out of the two of us."

"Shut up."

"Make me Natividad." She got up from the floor with that dangerous glint in her eyes that all of the Aquatos shared whenever they were up to no good.

"We aren't teenagers anymore Aquato don't be juvenile." Despite it all, she peeled herself off from her chair and matched her gaze.

"Killjoy."

"Brat."

Frazie grabbed the front of Norma's vest and pulled her in, pressing their bodies hard against each other.

"Up for a round of gay chicken?" She murmured.

"I'm terrible at this game." They were close, too close. She was sure Frazie could feel the abnormal temperature of her body.

"I'll go easy on you." Frazie relaxed her hold on the tightly knit fabric slightly, just to run her hand along the line of her spine and rest her hand on the back of her neck.

Norma could feel her hands tremble when she lifted them and hesitantly allowed herself to put them on Frazie's hips.

She had no idea what to do with herself now. They were wrapped up in each other, almost close enough to…

Frazie leaned in slightly.

The touch was feather-light. Just a brush of their lips against each other. It was almost nothing, a phantom sensation. It was almost enough to make her set herself on fire.

Norma swallowed a whimper before burying her face in Frazies neck and exhaling all of the steam that's been slowly building up in her airways.

"Wanna save the good part for our first date?" Cool, gentle fingers began to play with the short hair at the back of her neck while another arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her even closer. Thermal equilibrium settled comfortably between them.

"Finish this idiotic internship."

"Yes ma'am."

Agen Forsythe was a very busy woman. Her time was extremely valuable. Despite that, she felt a gentle smile tug at the corners of her mouth as she slowly finished the last of her cocktail.

Truman whiffed another shot and the bowling ball slowly rolled away, every single pin still standing in his lane while Ford landed his 6th consecutive strike.

"You have to watch your stance, boy." The elderly psychic chuckled at the disgruntled expression on the other man's face. "Your footwork is all out of wack."

"Who taught you to talk like that?" Truman sighed and picked another ball up, weighing it in his hands.

"I've been hanging with the youngsters don't you know?"

"Looks like it." He adjusted his feet and threw the ball, knocking out 6 pins.

"So, the talent show was a resounding success, yes?" Helmut approached them, hand in hand with his husband.

"Indeed, next year though, we should pre-approve a modest budget for it. Maybe then you'd get a stage crew with thumbs." Foresythe set her glass down and realized that everyone's eyes were suddenly on her.

"I knew you had it with you!" Helmut clapped excitedly with the widest, most jubilant smile.

Maybe some of her time could be spared for socializing after all.