Augustin of the Midnight » Places

         Zoe flinched as Laysie's hand touched her shoulder lightly. She took a deep breath and then turned her head to look up at Laysie.

"Be careful," she murmured. "But know this: not everyone here wants a part of this fight." She turned her head and looked over in the direction of Annemarie. " You can trust Annemarie - and me. She seems to have taken a liking to you, and I understand why you're nervous. But once you become used to the feel of things here, you'll be fine." There must have been something funny in the words because Laysie smiled slightly as she finished her sentence, although Zoe couldn't really understand why.

Before she could figure it out and give a response, Laysie had walked past her and was getting ready go leave. "Go to your dorm. If you need anything, just call." She paused before starting down the stairs, murmuring something soft in a mischievous voice that made Zoe shiver. Maybe there was a dark side to her new acquaintance after all.

As she watched Laysie walk away, Zoe's mind started to spin - what could she do? Laysie had advised her to go to her dorms, but - at the moment - Zoe wasn't even quite sure where they were, and even if she had known, her sense of direction was not the greatest. One of the only people that she thought she could trust had just abandoned her in the middle of a crowd of rushing people who didn't seem to care in the least where she went or who she was, beyond the fact that she wasn't one of them.

What am I going to do? Zoe thought, starting to panic. She couldn't just stand here - there was irritation that she was blocking the aisle already beginning, and she knew that crowds were not the most kind of people. She took a step down hesitantly and then another one, although she wasn't quite sure -

Something touched her shoulder.

She whirled so fast that she almost ran into a couple of weres. They murmured something unpleasant and glared at her. One opened her mouth, clearly about to say something that Zoe could hear - but then she stopped, looking behind Zoe at the young man who had just tapped her on the shoulder. Her face twisted, went white and then red. Her throat worked, but she said nothing, instead turning around and continuing her walk at a faster rate.

Zoe turned her attention back to the young man who had tapped her on the shoulder. He was introducing himself now, and, though she was not quite sure, she had suspicions that he was a human - especially by the way he said 'your company', as if it was something almost shameful.

Leon Robespierre. It was an important sounding name, and Zoe wondered just who exactly he was and why he was trying to help her. If he was human, was he maybe trying to recruit her back to 'their side'? It must have looked like she was siding with the weres, given on where she'd been sitting. Was she going to be ostracized from both sides now?

Just before it got out of control, Zoe forced the panic back down and looked back at Leon. He was smiling kindly at her, one hand extended. She carefully took it and shook it, murmuring, "I'm Zoe. Zoe Voltaire." She looked down and then back up. "I'd - I'd appreciate it. A tour, I mean. I -" She broke off blushing.