Laomi Nass/Saliri's Links
#GRANDMASQUAD
Johanna has been Laomi's only not-dying friend since Aruza went to sleep; they met sometime after it happened as they both visited the tree. Brought together by Aruza, the two of them visit each other semi-frequently and bond over activities like cooking.
Laomi doesn't tell Johanna everything, but she trusts her with a lot more things than she does a regular mortal friend, and Johanna trusts her with things she wouldn't tell Aruza or Yve. They may not click perfectly, but they genuinely care for one another and that's enough for the spiritually-lonely Laomi.
She wishes they could spend more time together than periodic visits, but with Laomi moving around and living a variety of distances away she sort of just accepts it as it is. Sometimes she wonders if she should just move back down to Cypress and live next to Johanna more permanently, but this has never happened.
She's also secretly jealous of Johanna's family; she's never had any children, biological or otherwise, partly due to being afraid of them dying, and her one lover has been in a tree most of the time. If she could have something like Johanna has, that may be nice...
-screams into the void relentlessly-
Aruza is Laomi's second romantic love, and the last once she's had; it's uncertain as to if she still considers them in a relationship or not in present day. Xe is the source of her immortality and the one person that everything in her life seems to come back to.
There isn't much Laomi can say to why she first talked to Aruza other than the simple fact of xyr appearance. Xe stood out in the crowd, with xyr abnormally tall height and intriguing appearance. So mysterious and intriguing, and not one to give off uncomfortable vibes to her. Her social nature took ahold of her.
Though she figured at first that xe was weirded out by her presence and just wanted her to go away, she continued talking to xem anyhow and got xem to look around with her. She didn't learn much besides xyr name that day, but she at least felt like she had made a bit of a friend.
What became more apparent to her as they spent more time together was that xe came to feel like someone she could trust. Xe was understanding and xyr reserved nature gradually opened up to her, and she needed all the allies she could get. Even more so, xe complimented and assured her of her good qualities in a way that helped her to believe in herself more and let go of self-hating emotions. That was all something she wanted and felt she needed in her life.
When Aruza asked her to enter a relationship, she gladly accepted, as she had been feeling the same way towards xem. And to her delight it was working; she had a relationship that felt healthy to her, and Aruza turned out to be quite the loving partner.
Eventually, Aruza confessed to her about who xe really was, and Laomi was both surprised and not surprised to this. In some ways, it explained why xe felt so strange and mysterious at first, and still kind of did in some ways. Guess she was appealing enough to please a god, who knew.
Laomi still continued the relationship; god or not, she wanted Aruza there. But it all came to a new meaning when xe told her xe could truly make them stay together forever. It took a long time of thinking, but she decided she could bear immortality if she had Aruza there beside her. And beside her xe was, for a long time; xe was there to help her through hardships, there to be xyr dorky self, xe was there, even when the rest of the world wasn't.
And yet even Aruza wasn't there forever. All of that trust Laomi put into something that wouldn't leave her felt betrayed; she felt devastated, put back to nothing, left alone in a world she had learned to be unforgiving towards her.
...She always thought that if something had happened to their relationship, it would have been her, not xem.
From that point on, Laomi's feelings for Aruza have been a complicated mess of uncertainty and feelings. Laomi doesn't know what to think, Laomi doesn't know what is the right decision to make. Should she break off with xem before xe comes back and messes up again? Should she be happy to reunite with xem and have someone again? Has she grown past the need for xem entirely?
She doesn't know. Centuries of thinking over this question have never changed that. And now that she knows Aruza's about to come back for her, she'll have to find her answer in the moment.
Where are you?! Are you still here?! Oh god, oh god, I'm so sorry, Laomi, you're my one and everything, I'll find you, I swear I'll find you...
Laomi is Aruza's first and only romantic love, the one person xe made the choice to connect with for all of eternity. Xe had known mortals before, even perhaps made a few significant friendships, but none of them had turned out like they did with Laomi.
It wouldn't have ever happened in the first place, had Aruza not decided to travel the world in order to get out into it again. But after xyr initial standoffish behavior when they first interacted, xe was intrigued as to why she had chosen to talk to xem, and ending up enjoying their time together. Through the friendship that followed, xe quickly realized that Laomi was something unique and different; she was simply wonderful to be around and experience, something that xe had never encountered before. And xe loved it, and grew to care about her a lot. After xe made a dork of xemself and asked her out, xyr care for her only continued to grow. Xe wanted to protect her from that which might harm her, xe wanted to be there for her whenever she needed it. After revealing xyr secret of being a legend to her and her taking it surprisingly well, and their relationship continuing beyond that, Aruza eventually became convinced she was the one person xe wanted to spend the rest of xyr life with, the one exception to xyr rule about not making people immortal. To xem, she was the one person who deserved it the most.
And after she accepted, they were happy. Even when the world fell down around them, they still had each other. They had their differences and their things to participate in couple-bickering about, but they loved each other through all that came and went.
All until it fell down.
Now Aruza is in a panic over Laomi. Xe is afraid for where she might be, if she's even still alive, and about what she's going to say to xem. Xe knows that the emotional impact of finding out what happened to her may be emotionally devastating one way or the other, and in xyr mind, xe is desperately hoping to avoid that. Xe made xyr choice for many reasons, and doesn't want it to hit xem back in the face because of xyr own anger-induced mistake.
In summary, Aruza cares very deeply and genuinely for Laomi. She's a wonder in xyr eyes and brings structure and control to xyr free and independent nature, of which is also a source of their differences becoming apparent or conflicting. Xe knows that xyr belief in her was one of the things to better herself and her life, and xe aims to continue to help her in whatever way xe can. Now that that goal has been thrown into shambles, xe is mad at xemself for it, and in xyr desperation hopes that xe will be able to come back to her and never let her go again.
A Small Friend of hers, whom she is one day destined to become the grandmother of (I want to believe....)
Irving and Laomi met when she called in to have her dishwasher repaired and this Small Green Child showed up; dismissing the strangeness of it (as well as his tendency to swear whenever surprised), Laomi gladly invited him in and held a conversation with him as he repaired the dishwasher, making morbid jokes and discussing work and even growing sprouts together on the side of a mug that she had served him tea in. It was a memorable and unique experience for her, but she unexpectedly found him again at a farmer's market event, and wanting to make conversation with someone she recognized, went to socialize.
Though she initially thought he didn't want to talk, the two ended up exploring through the market event together and chatting it up all the way, until their little adventure took a serious turn when Irving indirectly admitted to her that his parents were deceased, prompting Laomi to confess the same with hers. After a little heart-to-heart about the nature of letting go, they both decided to leave, with Irving offering to walk her home.
Though Laomi enjoys talking to and making jokes with the child, (who she is unaware is eighteen and therefore legally an adult) and empathizes deeply with the problems of being left without parents to fend for yourself, she has also taken notice of his apparent behavior problems and the signs that he doesn't keep secrets well, which, while with what she knows of his situation she can't blame him for having the former, it also intimidates her on some level because those types tend to sting people. Still, he's but a troubled child in her eyes, so she hopes she can be a good influence on him through their little relationship.