Name: Natalie Laurent
Occupation: Medical secretary at a hospital
Actual Age/Apparent Age: 28
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Hetero
Race/Species: human

Appearance: Natalie strikes the image of homely, with soft curves to her features and a quiet demeanor. Her mouse brown hair frames her face in soft waves that she often wears down to help hide her eyes. Her head is often tipped down as well, as she is aware that her mismatched eyes can be disturbing. Which is a shame, given that they are nicely rounded, the blue of one and hazel of the other complimenting each other nicely, even if no one seems to see it as such.

She stands at an average height with a slim frame, though it does not make her appear drawn or fragile, but also not well defined. That frame is mostly hidden behind clothing that doesn’t really accentuate her features, as if she is hiding them from something or lacks the confidence in her looks to bother. For the most part, she appears to carry a weight on her shoulders, though rarely does she slouch. She often has a smile for anyone that looks her way, but it never quite touches her eyes, as if she has seen far too much in the world already, though she will pause and talk with anyone that needs a kind listening ear.

Long fingers are often curled around a book, one well used and much loved, and the same description could be used for her clothing. Natalie doesn’t go out shopping much and rarely spoils herself, instead taking care of what she has with a wardrobe of a few pieces that can all be worn together in soft neutral colors like she’s afraid to draw attention to herself. She is fairly soft spoken, but with a clear voice that comes across as the upper alto range, if she were a singer. When nervous or scared, it tends to rise and quiet even more, sometimes leading to a squeak of words instead of those spoken.


Personality: While mostly presenting as a soft spoken bookworm, Natalie is quick with a warm, friendly smile, and usually comes across as if she isn’t quite sure why someone would choose her to speak to. Even so, she is the type to pause on a roadside to help a small animal stuck on the curb, or to pause her day to listen should someone need it. She is the type of person everyone is fairly sure could have been a teddy bear in another life, soft and caring, and quietly supportive.

She chose a job that let her hide in her office, sorting files and transcribing dictation for physicians at the hospital so that others wouldn’t have to look at or be disturbed by her eyes and she could go on with her day as she saw fit. She is the type to do her job and go home, and will often make excuses for why she can’t go hang out with coworkers. She startles easily, and rarely sleeps the night through. Darkness scares her for a few different reasons, and she can often be found daydreaming, but it never seems to be about anything happy.

Natalie can often be found lost in a book, and should she walk by someone playing a piano, she will pause, watching them longingly as if it were the key to some past she once had, but no longer has the freedom to indulge in. She has an air about her that speaks of trying to escape something, but when asked about it, she will brush it off as just being tired from a long day.

That said, she has the patience of a saint, choosing to allow others to vent and rail rather than confront them in any way. It is less that she lets others take advantage of her, and more that she offers before they have the chance to ask. It adds more to her plate, and many wonder why she would be more willing to stay at work than go home, but she offers with such a soft smile and takes the workload on before they have a chance to say no.

Once upon a time, Natalie enjoyed playing piano as a hobby, and still prefers to listen to it especially when the day has been rough. It has a way of soothing the rough edges and calming her, grounding her fears and anxiety into something much more tolerable. The effect is strengthened whenever she can actually play, but the years have made it difficult to actually find a piano.

Only when alone will all the soft quiet demeanor slip away, careful as she is to mask her true feelings. Only when she knows for certain she will not be disturbed will all the anguish and trapped feelings come out, leaving her a crying heap on the floor of the shower when it all gets to be too much.

Likes: Piano music, reading, dancing in a rainstorm, the freedom nature allows

Dislikes: People or animals hurting, darkness, small spaces

Abilities/Skills: Natalie is very detail oriented. It makes her excellent at filing, letting her see the differences quickly and make sure everything is in its proper place, and even helps when transcribing doctor’s notes.

Some might call her empathic, but really it comes from the fact that she is hypervigilant. Too many times spent reading the slightest cue that indicated anger, too many times that she had to read the smallest hint towards a mood as a matter of safety has led to her ability to read cues in people very clearly.

Natalie can put almost anyone at ease, as she is able to read what they need through that hypervigilance. She can be a listening ear, patiently wait while someone rails and vents, offer advice if she has it, and gives excellent hugs.

She will never admit it, but if she had the confidence to try for one, Natalie could have easily achieved a scholarship for her piano playing. Even now the ability seems to come naturally, drawn out from her desire to find that calm center that so often eludes her any other time she tries.

Personal Goals/Secrets: She hopes Alex will never find out about the self defense classes she has been taking while he is out of town, and guards when she goes to them almost as well as the Queens Jewels are guarded, holding that information close to her chest, and often using work as an excuse if asked.

History: Growing up, Natalie was the bookworm, quiet for the most part, but a happy child that found peace in many things, from reading to school. When her mother put her in piano lessons, Natalie absolutely fell in love with the way she could express herself through music, and how varied and layered that expression could be. While mostly happy growing up, Natalie was often teased in school for her eye color. The fact that hers did not match caused kids to call her many names, most of which intensely hurtful. She often stuck to herself because of this, seeing it as a weakness, and coming to be ashamed of her own looks, never quite seeing herself as beautiful.

Her junior year of high school, she met a boy that didn’t seem to care about all that. He gave her the attention she craved, seeming to want nothing more than to have her attention. He treated her well then, listening to her worries and venting, and even got the other kids to stop teasing her about her eyes. She came to trust him, to see him as on her side and even fall in love with him. Though, ever so slowly it all changed.

She moved in with him after high school, and got an internship as a medical secretary at a small clinic, making enough to support them. He complained until he realized that she made enough to support them both, freeing his time up for other pursuits. He expected a lot from her, from working full time to also keeping up the house, meals on the table, and not really having any time for herself. She often found herself at the receiving end of a guilt trip, when he claimed that she was nothing without him, that she would still be that mouse of a girl constantly teased if it wasn’t for his stepping in.

She began to believe what he told her, having heard it often enough, that she wasn’t worth friends and that was why she didn’t really have any, that her eyes scared others away, that she was cursed to be alone, and it was only his kindness that kept her from being so completely. She didn’t even realize that those she worked with invited her out not to tease her, but because they truly liked the woman.

The clinic she worked at closed when the doctor retired, causing her to need to find another job. She searched, and finally found one working in the filing department at the hospital. It allowed her to remain in the records room going about her day as necessary. Her life would be lonely if she were ever able to slow down enough to notice, often moving from home to work and back, never stopping really until she went to bed at night only to wake up and start all over again.

Alex found fault in nearly everything she did by this point, only staying with her because it allowed him the freedom to come and go as he pleased, and a place to expend his pent up frustration. Natalie still saw the man she had fallen in love with back in high school in him, disillusioned as she was, and saw his anger as her fault due to her failing, which only caused her to work harder, to make a meal that much quicker, that much better.

Natalie wasn’t even sure where he went when Alex disappeared for days on end. She just found herself worried that he would never return, worried about what mood he would be in when he did. She never once stopped to think that it would give her the perfect chance to get out and relearn who she was. Or even just to leave the whole mess behind.

Not until that night.

Alex returned, rain pouring down, angry that some deal didn’t go right and blamed her even though she had nothing to do with it. He took out on her, terrifying the poor woman and left bruised fingerprints on her neck. From that point on, she never went to work without a scarf, mostly wearing long sleeve shirts as well, just in case. All because friends from work took her out for dinner for her birthday. And after that night, Natalie attended a self defense class daily those nights he was gone.