Fantasy Guardians{Part 2}(Leopard&Svenny)

[svenny]

When Annabel was sure that Larkin was getting up, she turned back to the small mirror she had on her desk and checked to make sure that everything was in place. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to decide what to do with it. Finally she just decided to leave it down. "I'm not a morning person, I'm just looking forward to the first day of university. I mean, how can you not be excited. It's my first time in hum-" she stopped herself before continuing, glancing hastily towards Larkin before resuming, "It's my first time away from my village." Annabel realized she had almost just spilled one of her deepest secrets, that she was utterly and totally not human. That, would have been a huge mistake. Larkin would probably freak out and call the police, which would lead to the government getting involved again. Annabel attending this university was a huge risk, as it put her back on the map. In her little village of Masters, they were not on the maps. Here, with humans, she was noticeable. She needed to make sure that never happened. "Come on! Lets go. What's your first class?" she asked as she scooped Arren into her pocket and headed towards the door.

 

[Galaxxies]

Larkin laughed. How could she not be excited? This was very far from her first day of college. Very far. She shook her head and followed the girl out of the room. "I have a math class at nine am. Why I've allowed you to drag me out of bed so early, is far beyond me." The vampire yawed wide, her fangs elongating slightly and gleaming in the half-light of the dorm hallway. "But I assume it's for this roommate breakfast you informed me I am obligated to attend now." Larkin offered a smirk to show she was only picking at the human. She knew that sometimes her humor could be a little dry for the mortals. However, in her travels, she had come across other humans who have just as dry of humor and vampires who were too dense to understand. So, maybe it was the company and not necessarily the species. Though she thought that maybe Annabel would understand her. She seemed like a bright person. Smart enough to have her wits about her. Although, someone who would willingly put up with Larkin? Maybe they weren't the brightest after all.

 

[svenny]

Annabel shot her roommate a crooked grin, followed quickly by a laugh. "My parents have always told me I'm very persuasive." she wiggled her eyebrows at her suggestively. Countless times she had been able to make Ryder and Adysin do things with her that if it had been anyone else, they would never have done it. Perhaps it was a parents love for their child, perhaps it was actually Annabel. Whatever it was, she was not objecting. "Every good day starts with breakfast!" she declared as they headed down the hallway, towards the dining hall. "Math? What kind of math are you taking? I've always loved math." Annabel pulled her phone from her pocket and found her schedule, seeing that her first class of the day was a history class at nine am. Math, she could do. History? So boring! Most of the time at least. It was always about humans, and she wasn't even a human, why would she want to learn about the people who wanted her people dead? Shaking her head softly, she kept walking alongside Larkin, "Mine is history, wanna trade places?"

 

[Galaxxies]

As they neared the dining hall, Larkin reached to take her card out of her wallet so that it was ready. "It's College Algebra. And yes I will trade you. History is a strong suit of mine." Larkin chuckled a bit. She was pretty great at history. Mostly because she lived through most of what was taught in school. She laughed again. "Sometimes teachers say it's like I lived in the times." She knew it was true, but she figured that Annabel would take it as a joke as most mortals did. "it's just always come naturally to me." Larkin made her way into the line at the dining hall. When it was her turn to give her ID to be scanned, she smiled wide at the woman. "Good morning!" Her usually broody and soft voice changed to a chipper note as she greeted the woman cheerfully. She walked past the woman and spoke to Annabel. "I'll meet you at a table." With that, Larkin stalked off and tried to find something either greasy or salty. Larkin sighed at the thought of having to eat human food pretty regularly again. She had done it many times over the years. Food was a common ground for humans. If she wanted to fit in and blend, she had to participate. So she figured out what she could stomach and what she couldn't. Anything with strong flavors was usually her go to. Salty was one of her favorites. She ended up settling on a bacon sandwich loaded down with plenty of bacon and a little bit of cheese. She took her sandwich and made her way over to a tall table against the wall. There were two seats at the table and Larkin would be able to see the entire dining hall from there.

 

[svenny]

Living through the times? Master's had a longer lifespan than humans because their magic that ran through their bones kept them alive longer, but being able to live through the times would be impossible. Perhaps two hundred years if they were lucky. In their line of work, most Master's died prematurely. At least, they had during the battles. The thought of that made her heart contract and she quickly pushed those memories down, "Oh, you're such an oldie!" she laughed from behind Larkin as they stood in line, "But it's a deal, I'll help you with math and you do all my history papers!" she was only half joking, Annabel would help Larkin with math. When they parted in the crowd, Annabel looked around the area to look if she could find Tobias. She couldn't find him, so she turned her attention to the food. In the corner there was a waffle machine, with not as many people she'd expect in front of a waffle machine! Annabel grabbed everything once it was finished and joined Larkin at the table she had found. "I'm starving!"

 

[Galaxxies]

Larkin smiled a bit when her roommate sat down. She hadn't touched her sandwich, not wanting to when not forced. Human food did nothing for her. At times it made her sick. Though, that was only when she ate too much of it and not enough blood. Then she thought about it. If Annabel knew, Ryder would be able to sneak blood. It would be nothing for her to sneak into the health center on campus and con her way into bags of blood. Then she could hide them in the room! She wouldn't have to hunt every night. Which she hated doing. Not killing the human, and being able to erase all of their memory of the event meant she never got even half of a decent meal. So, that meant she had to hunt every night. If she could supplement in a supply of bagged blood, she wouldn't only have to hunt a few times a week. It also meant that she'd have more blood and be able to work on her power more and more. Therefore she would be able to train herself to erase more and more memory! The thought made her giddy. But she knew it was something that could never be done. So, sadly, she took a bite of her sandwich.

 

[svenny]

Annabel ate her waffle quickly, as though she hadn't eaten in days. Master's depended solely on food, nothing else. After finishing the waffle, she pushed it aside and leaned against the table. Staring at Larkin, she spoke, "Not a huge fan of food?" Observation told her that it was a true, as she only nibbled the meal she had picked. "People say it's because I starved for a point in my life, but who knows." she joked, giving her a grin. "I like to call myself a pig anyway." she laughed then, shrugging slightly. Although she had experienced what hunger was, she didn't think it was because of that. There wasn't much she could do about her past, but she loved food. What was the crime in that?

 

[Galaxxies]

Larkin laughed. "Yeah... never been much of a fan." Her laugh was slightly off, but she didn't know what else to say. 'Yeah, ya know, I much prefer blood to human food. Never sits quite right with me.' Larkin huffed at herself before turning back to Annabel. "Starved? What happened?" Larkin had met both of the girl's parents. Adysin and Ryder seemed like decent people. Even for humans. Surely they wouldn't do such a thing to Annabel on purpose. Larkin then took the plastic knife from her set of cutlery and cut off the peice of the sandwhich she had bitten off of. Stuff the small bite into her mouth, she shoved the rest of the sandwhich over to Annabel, offering her a smile

 

[svenny]

Annabel studied Larkin across the table from her as she dug into her food. She had questioned her about her past, a past that only few people knew besides her parents. Yet, it had slipped out so naturally, that Annabel had hardly had time to process the fact that she had spoken about it. Looking down at her food, she contemplated whether or not she should really tell her. Her past wasn't the bright, peachy kind. Suddenly it dawned on her that a huge part of the story was the fact that they were Masters, not humans. How did she explain her life to a human? "Well, there's a lot to the story." she began, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand, "It gets complicated. The three of us traveled a lot from town to town, no money, through the woods..." It really made no sense, because she was leaving out such a big part of it. The last thing she wanted was for Larkin to think that she was refusing to build this friendship, but it was impossible. "I know it doesn't make much sense, it's just really complicated."

 

[Galaxxies]

Larkin picked up on the unease in the bits of story that Annabel was offering up. "What? I'm not a high enough level of friendship to unlock your tragic backstory?" Larkin laughed and shook her head. "I'm kidding. I get it. There are just some things that you can't tell everyone. Some things you have to keep hidden from everyone. Or risk a lot in the process." Larkin gave a small sigh and picked up her phone. She clicked the button on the side to make it light up. No notifications. Larkin wasn't much of social butterfly, therefore she wasn't one to have friends. There was this one vampire that she could call a friend, but they rarely spoke. Usually only when one needed the other. With Larkin refusing to be a dark, brooding, undead creature of nightmares, she was usually overlooked in the vampire community. Many claimed she held too tightly to her humanity and just needed to give it all up. She couldn't. Her brother had been the same way. Though, he was a bit more inclined to be more of a normal vampire. Had it not been for Larkin' influence, he would have easily been just like all the others. But Larkin couldn't handle that. She couldn't bring herself to be a monster. She wanted to be normal. Well, as normal as she could be.

 

[svenny]

Annabel gave an uneasy laugh at her joke, running her hand through her long blonde hair that matched her mothers exactly. The last thing she wanted was Larkin to think that she was pushing her away. Annabel wasn't like that, not really. She opened up, she trusted, she cared for people... if given time to get there. For whatever reason, Annabel felt as though she could open up to and trust this human. Just, not about everything. Not about the thing that separated her from the rest of humanity, the fact that she truly was not human. "Is this the part where you tell me you're not human, that you're a werewolf and about to turn me?" Annabel joked, grinning at her. It was ironic, because she was the one that was not human, not her completely ordinary roommate. "I'm just kidding, I know you're just human. There are no such things as werewolves, right?" she laughed again, still a bit uneasy. "There are truly things you don't tell anyone, though. No matter what." Of course, she would talk about those things with other Master's, but with humans like Larkin she would never. Annabel felt a desire to tell her roommate, but knew she could not. She wouldn't be able to explain her mysterious behavior, wouldn't be able to tell her why she did certain things. Annabel knew because of just that, that there would be a rift between her and everyone else at the University. But she was going to do her absolute best to keep up a normal profile, avoiding suspicion, even though it was hard with a mini Guardian traveling in her clothes at all times.

 

[Galaxxies]

Larkin felt her eyes go wide at her roommate's words. But she relaxed when she saw the joke. However, it still left Larkin uneasy, and it took her just a few moments too long to reply. "Oh, yeah. Totally. I wolf out every full moon. Been alive for so long." Larkin then leaned in close to Annabel and whispered to her. "If you hear any stories of people's pets going missing... Tell them I'm sorry. Can't help what I do when I'm a wolf. You may wanna keep some silver around." Larkin sat back up and giggled a bit. Though she was still nervous. She'd have to be more careful about how she worded things. What if Annabel grew suspicious? Then Larkin would have to come up with some excuse to leave school. She couldn't have her secret getting out. Not again. The last time was bad enough. She was the reason another university many states away was plagued with stories about demons in the night. Some other vampires had learned of the stories and moved there to use them as a cover. No one actually believed them. But there was enough speculation that it had made Larkin leave the area and never return. She didn't want that to happen while she was here. She liked this school. And her overly peppy roommate. If she had to move... Well, that would just add to the list of places she could never return to ever. She tried to keep at least half a decade between her appearances in a place, she usually waited longer than that. But that was manageable. Never being able to return to an area was what really got to her.

 

[svenny]

Annabel laughed as Larkin continued with the joke, the smile on her face crinkling the corners of her blue eyes. "I'll make sure to watch out for silver and keep it around," giggled Annabel. There was so much lore about werewolves around the world. Stories swirled around people's brains of the big bad wolf, the scary blood thirsty vampires hunting you down, and witches about to enchant you. These stories were all just silliness to humans, but Annabel knew they were real. She knew that these stories were true. There were such things as werewolves, vampires, and witches. Yet, there were no whispers of Master's floating around people's ears. Not unless they had personally encountered a Master before. Even though there were little to no rumors, the government was after them. Apparently they were a safety threat. How were vampires not? How were werewolves not a threat? Just because they had Guardians? It had always bothered Annabel, living away from rest of humanity for bullshit reasons. Of course the others had to hide away too, but it was a lot harder for Master's to fit in. They always had a Guardian with them, and not everyone was capable of shrinking them like Annabel. It took a moment for her to realize that she had gone off in a tangent, forcing her mind back to the conversation she was having with her roommate. "Can I be honest with you?" she asked then, changing the subject.

 

[Galaxxies]

Larkin enjoyed this. She liked being able to laugh and joke with Annabel. Maybe they could be friends. At least on a very superficial level. Larkin refused to let them get any closer than they were now. This kind of easy friendship was often forgotten about easily. It would be easy to leave Annabel when the time came so long as Larkin didn't let this go any further than this. She could even handle the little bits of light flirting they did. It was easy and fun and plus, the girl had a boyfriend. She was straight. She was human. That was all there was to that. But what if Annabel ever called her out on it? How could she explain her reasoning for not wanting to get close to anyone? She couldn't exactly tell her that it only hurt to have human grow old and die on her. It hurt to lose every friend she made. She couldn't handle it any longer. Maybe she should just go and blend in with her own kind. At least then she'd have friends and could possibly find someone to spend her life with. While it was a long shot... It wasn't impossible. Then Annabel spoke again, pulling Larkin from her own thoughts. "Yeah, of course, buttercup." Larkin wondered where this would go and how much trouble it could land her in.

 

[svenny]

A small smile played on her lips when Larkin's attention was back on her, not lost somewhere in her mind. Resting on her arms, she leaned closer to her roomie. "You know how I have a boyfriend?" she paused for a moment, glancing around to make sure no one was listening in, even though she didn't really care. "Well, I've been thinking. We've been together for two years now. I love him, I truly do. I just don't know if I'm in love with him. I think I'm going to break up with him, I just feel like there's so much waiting for me here. Who knows, maybe I'll even find a woman instead of a man." Annabel winked playfully at Larkin. She had been thinking about breaking up with her boyfriend before coming to University, but had never in her life thought she'd actually do it or even be open to the possibility of being with a woman. Yet, from the moment Annabel jokingly kissed Larkin, there was this part of her that was curious. She wanted to explore it more, wanted to see what it was like. Annabel wanted to have fun, not be bound by a man she had left behind at home who constantly texted her and called her. "I'm a bit curious to see what it's like to be with a woman."

 

[Galaxxies]

Larkin felt her breath catch in her throat. "Oh... That's a little unexpected." She laughed once, then just decided to go with it. A little harmless flirting couldn't hurt, right? "Maybe I could help you out with that?" Larkin returned the wink and then stood from the table. She grabbed both of their trays and started towards the area to put them away. She walked with a certain swing in her step that she knew would cause Annabel to look at her butt. She grinned to herself. Maybe she could break all of her rules. Just this once? Annabel was beautiful. She was easy to talk to. She was easy to get along with. She was apparently bi-curious? Larkin didn't know what to think. But she did know that she remembered that one kiss they shared. It may have just been for show, but it still made Larkin feel something she hadn't felt in a while. She didn't know what she wanted to come from this though. Maybe she could just go with what felt right in the moment? Deal with the repercussions and her guilt later? As she turned and headed back towards the table, Larkin shook her head slightly. Nope, she couldn't do that. She couldn't handle getting so close to Annabel and having to watch her walk out of her life. She was through with that.

 

[svenny]

A blush came to her cheeks rather unexpectedly and she squirmed in her seat, feeling heat flush through her body. Just as she was about to reply, Larkin rose to her feet and sashayed away from her. The action got the reaction she had wanted, her eyes traveled down and fixated on her ass. Without thinking about it, Annabel bit her lip, something she did absentmindedly. Taking a deep breath, she rose from her seat and followed her roommate, trying to remain calm and collected. “What are you suggesting?” A playful grin came over her face. She knew they had to get ready and get to class. They would see each other later again, she knew that much, but she didn’t want to leave. She wanted to keep talking to Larkin.

 

[Galaxxies]

By the time Annabel asked what she had been playing at, Larkin had talked herself down from whatever had made her think that the flirting was okay. "I... I don't know. Nothing." Her words were rushed and it was clear to Larkin that they were full of nerves. She couldn't do this. She couldn't flirt and possibly start something with Annabel. It wasn't fair to either of them. She couldn't ask Annabel to put up with her being an undead creature of the night. Larkin couldn't ask herself to deal with heartbreak like losing a partner to death again. It simply wasn't fair. So she walked out of the cafeteria, though she didn't walk away from Annabel. She felt that an easy, simple, friendship could work. When they exited the building, Larkin turned to Annabel. "I'll see you back at the dorm. I gotta get to class." Larkin sighed and stalked off in the direction of her class. At least it was just the first day. All she had to do was be present in the classroom. She wouldn't be expected to take notes or listen to a lecture today. Maybe her few classes could let out early and she could sneak away for a large meal in the next city over. She'd found that while one meal a night was enough to keep her going, even with her limited ability in memory erasing, if she could manage many small meals in one night, it was like a full feeding. While it still wasn't a full on, draining a single human meal, it was still better than a snack. Larkin refused to kill for her meals. At one point, she'd been so adamant about it that she had tried to survive on animals. She couldn't handle the taste. It wasn't the same as human blood, no matter how full she could get.

 

[svenny]

The playful smile that had been plastered on her face faded when Larkin's mood suddenly changed. Had she done anything to upset the girl? Annabel couldn't tell if she had set her off or not. A frown took place of the smile and she followed the broody girl outside. It was hard for Annabel to keep track of all the moods this girl went through within just an hour. One minute she was joking around with Annabel, another she seemed mad that they were even talking. "Bye..." Annabel called after Larkin, turning and heading off in the direction of her first class. It was history, 18th century history, to be exact. She wasn't looking forward to it. Annabel headed to the building and found her classroom, settling in a seat closer to the front. It was only a few minutes before someone slid into the seat next to her, tapping her shoulder to get her attention. When she turned, she found a girl with brown hair smiling at her. "Hi, I'm Clémence," a hint of a French accent in her voice. "I hope you don't mind me sitting next to you." Annabel shook her head and smiled at her, "Not at all. I'm Annabel, it's nice to meet you."

 

[Galaxxies]

Larkin's classes, unfortunately, did not let out early. Every one of them ran the entire time set for the class. She walked back to her room in a bit of a fit. She had earbuds shoved deep into both ears and music blasting through them. She hadn't been able to get over the way she had acted around Annabel. The girl just made her happy and made her want to be happy. Larkin hated clinging to this mad outward show around humans. But it was the best way to keep them away from her. All it took was a little bit of resting bitch face and the body language to back it up and no one bothered her. It was part of the reason she was walking with both earbuds in, but not all of it. She wanted to block out everything and stay in her own thoughts for a while. She had to figure out her feelings when it came to Annabel. How was she gonna play this? Friendly, but not friends, roommates? Friends, but not the kind of friends who do things outside of when they are forced to see each other? Either option was good and would make it easy for Larkin to walk away from the friendship when the time came. She heaved a sigh as she walked into the dorm building. One elevator ride later brought her to her floor. Shortly after that, she was standing in front of her room, unlocking the door. Once inside the room, Larkin shut the door and locked it back. She flung down her backpack and ripped off her shoes. Once both were haphazardly strewn across her side of the room, Larkin flopped on her bed, her music still blasting in her headphones. She closed her eyes and tried to lose herself in the song she was listening to.

 

[svenny]

As it turned out, Clémence was a pretty interesting woman. She had traveled all the way from France to attend this University because of their outstanding Psychology program. Allegedly it was one of the best in the country. Annabel wouldn't know, because Psychology didn't interest her at all. She already knew most people were crazy, why bother spending so many years of your life studying, only to come to the same conclusion? She had grown up in a small village outside of Paris, the daughter of a vintner and an American. Annabel listened to her the whole time, thankful for the distraction from Larkin. But the moment the class ended, she felt it crashing down on her again. What had she done? All she wanted was to be friends with her, why wouldn't Larkin let her? What had happened to her in the past to make her so jaded? She knew from experience that it was a coping mechanism. It had been her mothers, and it was Larkin's. The day dragged on, and when her last class finally finished, she practically ran to her room. She'd have some peace and quiet, just what she needed to brew over this dilemma she was facing. But when she opened the door, she found Larkin sprawled out on her bed, headphones in her ears. "Great. You're here." she muttered, rubbing her face tiredly. She just wanted to get along with her, wanted it to be constant. She didn't want to dread coming to her room every day, because she didn't know in what mood Larkin would be in that day. Annabel walked towards her and leaned over her, pulling an earbud out of her ear. "Did I do something to upset you?" Annabel asked, "Because I'm getting the sense that you don't really like me, even though I've done nothing but be nice to you. You're normal one moment, and then a total bitch the next. I don't get it."

 

[Galaxxies]

Larkin snarled at having an earbud removed from her but quickly stopped it once she realized it was Annabel. Larkin sighed and sat up in her bed. She took her time to remove her earbuds and pause her music. Once she did, she turned a gaze up towards Annabel. It was full of every emotion she was feeling at that moment. A mix of anger, of jealousy, resentment, longing, attraction, all swam in her eyes and Larkin didn't know how to stop any of them. What could she do? The truth was not an option. But maybe part of the truth could help Annabel understand her a little more. Larkin adjusted herself so she was sat cross-legged against the headboard of her bed. She motioned to the foot of the bed for Annabel to sit down as well. "You haven't done anything wrong, Annabel. Well, except for seeing right through me." Larkin let out a weak chuckle. "I shove people away because it's the easiest thing for me to do. There have been..." She trailed off for a few moments, not knowing how to word it so a human would understand. "There have been some life-changing events happen to me. Like worse than turn your world upside down, life-changing. It's left me unable to properly connect with people, because of what I know will happen. What's happened time and time again. It's always the exact same story. Sure, the timeline and dialogue are different each time, but the ending is always the same. It always will be." She took a deep breath. "I can't run away from it. I can't change it. And it's not something I'm willing to share completely right now, maybe not ever. But I feel like you deserve to know at least a little bit. You've been so nice. And I'd love an easy friendship. Something that I don't have to ever worry about. I'm just not sure that's possible though. I've tried it time and time again, and I always end up with the ass end of things. I'm tired of it. So, I tried blocking you out. You kept pulling me closer. I'd fall for it for a bit, then reality would slap me in the face and bring me back, and I'd block you out again. And I know it's not fair to you." Larkin closed her eyes then suddenly was very interested in her hands that were fidgeting together in her lap. "I'm sorry."

 

[svenny]

A frown formed on Annabel's face as she listened to the human launch into an explanation. "If you're so afraid the whole time and never let anyone in, how do you know it will happen again? You might be surprise, I'm not easily phased by anything." Annabel looked away from Larkin and to the little statue of her dragon on the table. She had put him on the table when she walked in, unnoticed. Annabel understood where Larkin was coming from. There were secrets and past experiences that she'd never be able to tell her, but that didn't mean they couldn't be friends. "I'm not asking you to marry me, Larkin. I'm just asking you to be my friend. I have secrets of my own and things from my past that no one can know. We can have a friendship of secrets. I just want to be your friend." She didn't quite understand why she wanted to be her friend so badly, but she did. She wanted to be able to go to someone for help if she needed it, especially when it came to school. Someone to always be there. Who better than the person that was always in the room with you?

 

[Galaxxies]

Larkin looked up at Annabel as she spoke. The side of her lip quirked up in a small smile as she joked a bit. Larkin didn't know what to say. What if she couldn't handle a friendship of secrets? Her eyes found her hands in her lap again. "What if I just up and leave, and you never hear from me again. It's bound to happen. It's the only way I can protect myself if need be. I can't... I can't get too close to someone, Annabel. Even just a friend. It hurts when you have to leave friends, too." There was no way Annabel had any secrets that were close to what Larkin had. Larkin had nearly 300 years of secrets to keep away from people. Well, from humans. Other immortals could know those secrets. Hell, that was the only reason she enjoyed speaking with other vampires. She could talk about the way things used to be and how much easier it used to be to hide away from the mortals. Larkin looked back up at Annabel's blue eyes and found herself wanting to get lost in them. She wanted to fall into Annabel, and let that be that, consequences be damned. However, there was a rational side to Larkin that always won when pit against her hopeless romantic side. This rational side smacked Larkin in the head and simply reminded her of Riley. That was all it took to shut down her romantic side and make it submit completely. She wouldn't hurt like that again. Never.

 

[svenny]

The prospect of Larkin just up and leaving hurt just thinking about it now, and they weren't even close yet. Even though the thought hurt, she pushed it back and shook her head stubbornly, "so what? So it happens. I'll know it because of something you cannot tell me, I'll respect that." At this point she felt as though she was basically begging her to be her friend. Annabel sighed and sat down on Larkin's bed, making sure the two didn't touch in any way. It was her way of being careful, separating each other. "Just.. don't isolate yourself. No matter what happened, no matter what you're hiding, you can't be alone the whole time. Everyone needs someone, Larkin." Annabel reached her hand out and placed her hand over hers, an act of comfort. It was brief, only a momentary touch. She retracted her hand and stood up, walking towards the desk and picked up her Guardian. With her back facing Larkin, she stroked the tiny statue with a finger. She wanted nothing more than to ride on him right now, feel the wind blow over her skin. It was her safe place. "I couldn't imagine my life without someone to lean on, without someone to talk to." Annabel slipped him into her pocket before turning around to turn to face Larkin once more.