[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/NISMglX.png[/img][/center][center][h2][color=#b9dde9]Laurey Karlin[/color][/h2][/center]“Hi littler lady,” Laurey said, throwing Narvia a sloppy salute. It took conscious effort to keep her arm slack and fingers loose. “Long enough.” And then the girl’s attention was elsewhere. An odd one, her mouth was linked directly to her brain, no filter in between. Far too innocent. Apparently the war hadn’t robbed them of every scrap of semblance to children. Or maybe it was simply a coping mechanism.

And then Abaddon. More data indeed! Abaddon’s appearance should have been shocking or funny. Come on, a seven foot Kai rebel in an apron, talk about juxtaposition. But it wasn’t; it was far, far from it. It was a sucker punch, the sort that drove the air right out of you, sent your ears ringing, and made you taste the copper pang of blood, except here the taste of blood was replaced by bitter nostalgia. Then it was over, processed and dealt with without any reaction transmitted to her features.

She hoped. 

The lemon bars were vanishing, the sugar and ketone cravings driven by her brain urged Laurey to grab them, but she hung back. One almost literally vanished, flying across the room to a girl and their eyes met, blue meeting green. The crystal chiming that was ringing a sustained note in Laurey’s mind grew slightly louder. 

There. That’s what Laurey expected from child soldiers. That haunted look. Except not directed at her. Sometimes she forgot. She drew her hood up, pulled the strings tight.

Maybe Laurey would have approached the girl then, maybe she could have said something, but another child turned into a cat. Laurey blinked. It should have been all out of her system now. That meant this was really happening. She pinched herself to check. The pain registered. 

Damned magic. 

When she looked back to the red-head, Laurey noticed the girl's concerted effort not to look in her direction.

[i]Noted.[/i]

With the cat and the arrival of Amy proving a suitable distraction, Laurey shoved off the wall and patted Abaddon on the back.

“Jeez Abbie, aren’t you just full of surprises, I didn’t know you baked. Mind if I take some?” She scooped up a handful of the bars without waiting for a response and shoved one into her mouth. Sweet, tangy, delicious. “Oh,” Laurey said through a mouthful, “These are real good.” She made an “ok” sign with her hands and kissed it. 

She perched back against the wall and chucked a bar to Trajan. 

“Take a good, long look, T, these are the rest of our new crew,” It was a show of social incompetence and hormones, a mesh of fucked up teens and those with chips on their shoulders. She held out her hand for the bottle as she finished off another lemon bar, “You may even have a few interested in some pointers you could give. Hard to tell how many I can offer something to,” as she said this the filterless girl began to cry. Laurey turned to Trajan with an arched eye-brow, “Feel ready?”