[centre][h1][color=7ea7d8]Lauren Jones[/color][/h1]
[@MsMorningstar][@wolverbells][@HecateProxy][/centre]

[color=silver][color=7ea7d8]"And the thing about-"[/color] She had been talking for some time, mostly at rather than to Elsie but the floodgates had opened; no dam was strong enough to stem the anxiety being purged from her in the form of excessive chatter. In the dim recesses of her mind, Lauren was scolding herself for indulging in her bad habit of talking to cover her nervousness, or any negative feeling she was not ready to deal with, but so far away was that voice of reason and restraint that it barely registered in in her subconscious.

[color=D25167]“Lauren!”[/color] The familiar voice was what interrupted her and she pulled up short, cocking her head to one side as if that might help her hear the sound that had already passed. She was sure she had heard an old friend's voice and scanned the recruits around them, trying to pick out the dark-haired girl. [color=D25167]“Lauren I can’t believe you’re here!” [/color] She heard the voice, much closer, and spotted Jade just as the girl launched herself into a hug-tackle. Unable to help herself, she grinned, returning the enthusiastic embrace. It had been over a year since she had last seen the other girl, owing to pressures at Pa's clinic and her own preparations for enlisting. With a pang of guilt she realised that, had she kept better contact with Jade, she would have known that the girl would also be enlisting. The last time they had spoke she had seemed resigned to continuing the family business in the bookstore. As they parted, Lauren wondered what had changed but decided now was not the time to ask. They would have plenty of time to reconnect after all and she was enjoying the soothing balm an old friend had on her anxiety, reducing her natural reflex to chatter away like a hummingbird.

[color=7ea7d8]"I'm a bit surprised you're here as well, Jade! I thought - it can wait!"[/color] She stopped short, spotting that another cadet had joined them in Jade's wake. A similar height to herself and with matching eyes but a much brighter flame to her red hair, the new entrant took up a casual pose, exuding a confidence Lauren felt envious of. Lauren turned her attention back to Jade who had noticed Elsie's presence and was apologising, her gaze fixed on her feet. [i]That[/i] part of her hadn't changed, it seemed, and for that she was glad; a little bit of home would be good to keep Lauren centred.

The redhead spoke, dragging Lauren's attention back up at which point she noticed the scar extended over the girl's left eye. Her interest piqued instantly and she had to force herself to listen to the words she was speaking. [Color=A0522D]"Ah, so you're Lauren. Jade's spoken highly of you. I'm Mora by the way. And who might you be?"[/color] This, directed at Elsie, tore Lauren's attention in multiple directions and she had to pull herself back in, that voice of sense and societal decency so strangled by anxiety now booming loud enough to drown out the others clamouring to be heard.

[color=7ea7d8]"Ah, nice to meet you! This is Elsie - we're apparently running partners now. She owes me half a roll of bread, not that we're keeping tabs at all."[/color] Her quick and easy grin flashed at Elsie and she gestured to Jade who had gone beet red in the face from her interrupting of their - rather Lauren's one-sided - conversation. [color=7ea7d8]"Elsie, this is Jade. An old friend of mine from Quinta. Her family ran this great bookstore and she used to keep all the medicinal books to one side for me."[/color] She sighed, thinking of all those tomes stacked up in the corner of her bedroom at home. It hadn't been feasible to bring them, even her notes in shorthand had proved too bulky and not permissible under the guidelines she'd received from the recruiter, and there was so much in those books she felt she had to learn still. At least Pa would be able to make use of them, she reasoned. If he could find someone to read them to him, at least - his decaying eyesight had proved too insurmountable a barrier to reading in recent years that he had had to have Lauren relay anything written down to him.

With a jolt, she realised she had drifted off into her own thoughts again. She flushed pink and not just from the exertions of her run anymore. She shuffled her feet idly and glanced quickly at the others' faces to see if they had noticed but it appeared her momentary lapse had not been terribly long. To cover her attention deficit, she pointed towards the cabins assigned to the women, clear by the congregation of that sex in that direction. [color=7ea7d8]"Maybe we should head thataways? The food's not ready yet so we should at least find where we're meant to be sleeping tonight."[/color] She grabbed Jade's hand and started pulling her exuberantly towards the cabins. [color=7ea7d8]"We need to catch up - neither of us was thinking of this last time we spoke!"[/color] She paused, glancing back to the other two to check that they were following and hurried them on with a wave. There was no telling what was coming for them the next few days, months and even years and her gut instinct told her that, between her and Jade, they had managed to find at least two people who would lessen their strenuous lives as new cadets.

[color=7ea7d8]"Come on, might as well go as a group!"[/color] She paused, her professional passion taking the reins as her gaze fell on Mora. [color=7ea7d8]"Sorry, weird question to ask since we've just met Mora but... could you tell me about that sometime? The needlework's really close and it looks like your eye works fine which is unusual for that kind of injury and -"[/color] She pulled up short as her words tumbled out at an ever-increasing speed. Wrestling control back from the single-minded aspiring physician in her mind, she shook her head and banished the childhood pursuit back to its appropriate place. [color=7ea7d8]"Sorry, ignore me. Only if you want to say - I know sometimes these things aren't nice or easy to talk about. Now come on, both of you!"[/color][/color]