Laney smiled in as friendly matter as she could muster in the fear and chaos. The crimson haired girl was a little shorter than her and if you looked beyond the obvious layers of clothes, just as lean. And really quite pretty. The bright shocking hair might put a few people off at first, but Laney thought it was quite appealing; artistic. She parted her full lips to tell the cherry haired girl there was no need to apologize, when the smaller woman quite suddenly started giving her commands.<br/><br/>It had been drilled in her since she was young to follow orders, and to not question authority, and her companion sounded quite authoritative at the moment. Even if Laney was the rebellious type, she was completely out of her element, and any guidance was appreciated, especially as a large woman with a round butt swung around and pushed her with her hip. Laney almost fell into the girl, but the two of them next to each other proved to be more stable than she was on her own.<br/><br/>She nodded quickly, and immediately slipped her arm around the shorter girl’s waist. She followed the rest of the directions as best she could, bending her arms and keeping her knees flexible to absorb the impact of the crowd. She gripped the side of the girl’s pea coat, trying to ensure they would not be jostled about by the writhing throng of people.<br/><br/>“Single file! Only two bags!”<br/><br/>Laney had two bags, her purse tucked into one of them, and didn’t need to worry about meeting that criteria. Single file worried her, she was afraid the injured girl might get pulled from her. The girl seemed to have her facilities about her, but it was impossible to tell if it was only her hand that was bleeding, or if underneath the coat and clothing hid more serious injury.<br/><br/>She’d hoped that despite the order they might be able to stay side by side, given their slender frames. But as the line narrowed, people were forced into a single line, including mother’s having to place any child larger than a toddler down to walk in front of them. Laney let her hand slip from the girl’s coat, and grabbed her non injured hand tightly. Positioning her body in front of the girl, she let her arm swing behind her, not letting go.<br/>