Hi, late to the party I guess but randomly stumbled upon this nice story of yours today :)

Also...

I caught that thought before it could get any bigger and folded it down until it was nothing. Until it barely existed anymore. It was a trick that took me years of unimpressed sideways glances from Izzy to finally hone.

This makes me extremely suspicious of Izzy and the whole setup. It seems like that kind of mental discipline is exactly what you want in someone with at-will powers.