#layla:thread

“no don’t touch that -“ layla’d reached over to smack the hand of the person entering her little corner of the museum, her other hand currently holding up doomzlers to her lips - little strings of fake cherry flavored licorice, some called them twizzlers, others red vines - but here they had a different name. anyway - she eyed the newly arrived person and offered a quick smile as she drew her smacking hand back. “i’ve been...er... told” she hesitated as she listened to tarawet’s warnings about the artifact she’d found not ‘feeling’ right and paused, “that it’s rare - so it’s delicate, is there anything i can do for you?”

but she saw the chaos was being handled and decided to do what she could as a citizen - “hey, hey!” she shouted as a crowd of scared latverions panicked, “get in, the museum is safe! come on!” she continued to yell before spotting someone she vaguely recognized. “you! you were assigned to this mess were you? if not, come help me help these people!”

“so... you’re fighting today on this... ‘doomsday’?“ she asked, eyeing him suspiciously - an attempt to hide her feelings behind a trained expression that resembled a half-smirk. she didn’t understand fully why he actively was throwing himself into the fights, but then again - she didn’t understand him at all, did she? “hell of a name - ‘doomsday’ especially after the worlds apparently ended, he’s not very creative is he?” she was rhetoric in her criticism of doom, but it sparked a truth underneath the lightness of the conversation. “tawaret’s warned me about him, says you and the bird should be careful.” she paused, “marc, i agree with her, please be careful.”

layla had decided to take some time to recover from... everything that had gone on recently around latverion. whether it was caused by doom or not - it was chaotic and dangerous and something she wholly condemned. too many people had been thrust into danger unwillingly and she was angry about it. sniffing, layla wiped at her face as she pulled her shawl closer around her - the view from the lighthouse in arcadia was spectacular - and though she wasn’t alone - she had largely kept to herself. that was until someone came up beside her. “sorry, i must look a mess - it’s... a beautiful view, isn’t it?” she asked, pushing a smile through as she turned to face her welcome companion. “do you come here often?”

she’d gotten to know the wayward girl over the course of her first appearing in timely. slightly before the invasion of cowboy zombies. there was an interest there from amy over what layla did - which was something between - smuggler and preservationist. which mostly meant she’d been doing the same thing as she always had - just more in the open. pulling amy into her office, layla smiled at her as she handed over a small but weighty sculpture of what looked to be the grecian god zeus. “alright, we’ve been working on this for awhile - but i’m going to test you a bit, okay?” she asked, raising her brow as she turned her back to look through her shelves of items. “what is it? is it real? and how much is it worth?” she paused and whipped her head around to regard her. “no cheating.”

“you’re home,“ layla spoke up, not turning to greet him - knowing it was marc. “i have something to show you,” she raised a brow, slowly uncovering the cloth covered artifact she’d found way out on the outer edges of the valley of doom. it was certainly egyptian - though it felt strange and instinct (aside from taweret’s guidance) told her it was from an alternative universe. slowly she held it up, still keeping the layer of cloth between her hands and the stone - and turned to face her husband. “i can feel its power, but i don’t believe it belongs to our earth. what do you think?”

“mmm, it’s for my husband, actually.“ layla noted, turning to answer the unasked question as she recently handed over a list of sweets she hoped the local baker could make. “or sort of, it’s for steven - he’s nicer and deserves more kindness than marc at the moment.” she shrugged as if that explained much of anything. a small smile spread upon her lips as she turned to anna marie, ”how did you get your start in baking? was it a learned thing or just a passion?” curiosity got the better of her, normally layla wouldn’t be that direct - but this entire situation being here on latverion had changed her entire perspective. plus, better to get to know the folks who she lived with and around.