Chapter Text
Each time the shadows of the moon shift, Lauma finds herself meditating under its moonlight or lack there of. Tonight is a new moon and a night of reflection and she finds each strategic thought or plan is diverted into thoughts of a certain information broker.
Her knees feel cold against the hard slab of the altar. Her body aches with soreness and pain but she ignores it. All she needs to do is tough it out for a little before she can snuggle into her bed and sleep until dawn.
Under regular circumstances, Lauma spends her hour or so of meditation and reflection on a myriad of topics. Her head is usually filled with worries- mostly problems occurring in the Scions, some of the Fatui, and just a small handful of afterthoughts about her own personal struggles.
She started this ritual as a healthy way to cleanse herself and detox after a long day. It was intended to be relaxing and Lauma does try to relax during reflections. She truly tries to but under the moons presence, even as the sky seems devoid of it, her duties almost instinctively bubble right back as the main center of attention in her train of thought.
But, as of late, notions of her duties have been replaced by thoughts of Nefer.
Lauma doesn’t quite recall when she started to think of Nefer so often. Perhaps it all started when the kuuvahki abnormalities and the Wild Hunt surges started to become more frequent.
Nefer is a powerful denizen of Nod Krai and she’s proved that she’s worthwhile to earn as an ally. It makes perfect sense that, during a time where Nod Krai is in need of aid, she thinks of Nefer. If her deduction is correct then the thoughts will soon subside and Lauma will be back focusing on the Frostmoon Scions.
Lauma feels a wave of relief lightly flow through her at the revelation. She doesn’t exactly understand why but she feels lighter.
Her and Nefer’s relationship has always been a bit… tumultuous. Although, when asked, Nefer does offer some sort of aide to Lauma.
It offered some stability to their shaky base of their relationship but despite Nefer’s aide and help- she still treats Lauma as a sort of non-official business acquaintance. Although they have grown closer, Nefer still distances herself from Lauma in some aspects of their friendship. Nefer’s curtness both interest and bother Lauma.
When they first met, a younger Lauma was filled with intrigue for the Sumerian information broker. She seemed so mysterious and level-headed and it enthralled Lauma. At first, she tried all she could think of to become quick friends with the mysterious Nefer.
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take very well. As Nefer so kindly put it, “You revealed your hand too early” or some form of metaphoric jargon that essentially translated to “if you don’t have any official business with me and aren’t pretending to, I’m not going to deal with you.”
And of course, the younger and very well meaning Lauma did not take that to heart whatsoever.
She planned a verryyyy long plan detailing how she would befriend Nefer- step one was to ‘study’ her. Thinking back on it now, Lauma isn’t sure ‘study’ would be the right word for what she did.
To put it plainly, she stalked Nefer. It was lighthearted and arguably well meant but it was stalking all the same. Whenever she had the opportunity Lauma would slip away from the Frostmoon Scions and follow Nefer around while documenting her little tendencies, likes and dislikes.
She learned Nefer liked almost any type of food but she had a slight preference towards nuts and some candies. From time to time, she was known to visit the markets in search of tea leaves but she generally imports them from Liyue and, on rare occasions, Sumeru.
Nefer was also a frequent visitor at The Flagship which is where Lauma decided to shoot her shot at being friends with Nefer.
Thinking back on it now, it seems very regrettable what occurred but Lauma still doesn’t feel much regret towards her actions that fateful night.
She feels her lips curl into a small smile before she catches herself again. She drifted off from her duties again. She looks back at the moon, she’s spent almost all of her time thinking about Nefer.
She shakes her head, all these thoughts of Nefer were effecting her ability to complete her duties. Just the other day, Varvara was talking to her about the health of her only child and Lauma’s train of thought carried her right back to the subject of Nefer. She felt very lucky that Varvara didn’t notice her inattention but, nevertheless, Lauma hoped that her attention on Nefer would fade.
She glances back at the moon once more before she rises from her kneeling position. She sighs and dusts herself off. Her knees, now pink and a little scraped from the hard floor, pulsed with short lived relief.
Her nightly ritual has been completed. It was not too successful or ground breaking but it was completed. Plus, Lauma has bigger things to worry about- she always does.
…
Later in the night, Lauma finds herself unable to fall asleep. Her body feels too restless for sleep. Around twenty minutes of tossing and turning, Lauma admits her defeat and withdraws from her warm bed.
Her bare feet feel cold against the tile, with each step an icy shock runs up her feet. She tip toes over to the kitchen in an attempt to not disturb the others.
She plans to make a midnight snack for herself- a cup of tea should suffice. She sneaks around the kitchen to the cupboards as she searches for tea leaves.
She feels around the back of the cupboard before her fingers grazed a familiar object. She pulls out a Sumerian-style embroidered box of tea leaves. Nefer had ‘gifted’ her the box a little while ago. She claimed it was too bland for her customers but not bad enough to simply throw away.
Lauma shakes her head, she was thinking about Nefer again… Lauma found a kettle and a colorful cup (courtesy of Aino and Ineffa).
She stoked up a fire which succeeded in illuminating her small kitchen as well as spreading warmth through it.
She started the tea making process without a thought in the world. Lauma felt a bit calmer and more at peace with no complicated thoughts about Nefer or the Frostmoon Scions.
Her eyes began to flutter shut but she tried to hold onto her conscious. She quickly drank her tea. The delicious Sumerian tea, despite what Nefer had said, was absolutely delicious. It sufficiently warmed her up, pleased her and, in turn, relaxed her even further.
Within five minutes, Lauma successfully climbed back into bed and sleep accepted her without issue.