Noctisardor Bypass always on my mind

Sequoia truly did seem like an ally in her cause. It was nice to have another woman nearby who knew what scum men were. Usually they would protect men or lick their heels. At least Sequoia was her own woman, much like Laurel herself. Or... What she'd been, anyway, before... Me, dearest? Now, whenever she met a man, Laurel instinctively found herself doing what she thought he want her to do. It made her feel so dirty, but the fear took control in those moments. Already, Laurel feared what her heat this year might be like. With Xan, she felt she had someone she could trust... But without him, she was afraid. Of the men... And of her own fear's desires to appease them.

She grinned when Sequoia said that Xan could go suck a goat. Yeah, that's right! she said with a confident smile, a pale mirage of her past self. So what about the men in Rivenwood? They alright, besides Mahler? They'd discussed him, but not the other men yet. Laurel sounded casual, but really she needed her inner demons appeased. She needed to make that she was safe here.