Noctisardor Bypass Fading

The heat was annoying in Laurel's current state of pregnancy, and she found herself lounging a lot of the time. Her heart was restless and she kept mostly to herself. Her heart had hardened in lack of anyone to nurture it, now. It was easy enough to take the role of unloveable, snarky Laurel that stuck to herself and that nobody truly knew. It was the role that she had played for so long, after all. The mask that she hated the most, and yet it came to find her time and time again when the world taught her that nobody would ever love her for who she was.

Laurel stopped walking when she heard a sniffle. She stiffened and turned her head to see a young woman not too far off. Wasn't this Mahler's daughter..? Laurel did not know her all too well, but she knew that she was a part of the pack. Laurel did not know how to respond to her, not right away, and considered just moving on.

She wasn't too sure why she ended up heading towards the girl, who stood by what seemed to be a cache of some sort. Hi, she said, a little sheepishly. She didn't think that anyone would be better off by her asking are you alright. Clearly the answer was no. Diversion was often the best way to get rid of tears and feelings of woe, in Laurel's experience. Not that she was very good at it, she thought glumly.