NEW Story: Softmaxxing
Ayn
Ayn Lai-Lebedev is a longtime associate of Baron and a maternal figure to Tzipora. She commands an affectionate and stable presence, intelligent and emotionally secure in her work and home life.
She was once engaged to Baron’s friend and comrade George Angelopoulos, who perished in the Haiti Intervention. She has remained unmarried and lives a social, if solitary life with a circle of close friends. Upon Tzipora’s arrival in Vekllei, she reconnects with Baron.
Factsheet
Appearance
Ayn was born to Russian and Hong Konger parents, and shares their hybridised surnames. She has the height of her Russian mother and the East Asian features of her father. She has good taste and carries herself well, which Tzipora finds both aspirational and intimidating.
She keeps her hair short and looks younger than she is. She smokes and drinks only socially, and otherwise keeps a tidy and modest lifestyle.
Personality
Ayn is well put together. Independent, secure, intelligent and a respected source of good advice and wisdom, it strikes people as unusual that she has never married. Other than being old friends, there is not much reason for Ayn to give as much time as she does to Baron and Tzipora, but an affection for the girl and a desire to reconnect with Baron has added a new dimension to her life.
Ayn, Baron and Tzipora all have a sense of grief in their lives, and none of them have much family of their own. It is perhaps this aspect that makes their bonds as strong as they are, navigating social and platonic bonds rather than ones of blood or romance. Ayn is well-read and an adept conversationalist, and shares with Tzipora long conversations about news and politics. She also has a penchant for interesting earrings and Bossanova music.
