Laura Drake (The Folly of Men)
In one universe Laura Drake lived in 1960s London, along with Jenny Cornelius with whom she had an ongoing relationship. She was not unaware of the more eccentric aspects of her world, having encountered them both through Jenny Cornelius and her work with the Intelligence Taskforce.
Biography
“Miss Laura Drake” worked in the public relations office of the Intelligence Taskforce. Jenny often went through her when trying to get in touch with the Taskforce, often causing Laura unlikely headaches such as how to hide a submarine in the West India Docks. Jenny managed to talk Laura into going on actual dates with her on multiple occasions, although, owing to the time period, they had to be discreet about it. (PROSE: The Folly of Men)
A phone call at work
On one occasion, Jenny phoned Laura ahead of time to warn her that something extremely outrageous was about to happen and the Taskforce had better stand ready to “deny any involvement”. The two then agreed to meet up the next Friday at the Piccadilly Circus tube station and walk for a while until they found a restaurant that tickled their fancy. (PROSE: The Folly of Men)
A visitor at work
One day at work she had a mysterious visitor, "a teenager who should probably still be in school, with dark skin and strikingly blue eyes, her hair hidden by an unconvincing wig." The girl dropped in on her unannounced and wanted to talk about Jenny Cornelius.
When asked how she and Cornelius had met, Laura couldn't exactly recall, explaining that they “must have run into each other at something, early on” and had subsequently “[seen] each other off and on for a while”. Eventually, around 1958, she suggested they go somewhere together out of the blue. After Laura declined “a marathon ride on the Tube”, driving through the countryside in Jenny's Mini, or travelling to “far-away, fantastical lands, wondrous imaginary places only found in the wildest fantasies? Neverland! Tir na Nog! Oz! France!”, Cornelius settled on an idea without telling her what it was, and drove her at insane speeds to Liverpool to see the Quarrymen play, the significance of which was lost on Laura until later. (PROSE: How Jenny First Met…)
A visitor from America
Jenny and Laura had another date in Soho on Epiphany. It was interrupted by the appearance of another version of Jenny. Despite her confusion at the situation, and their vagueness about how they were related, her good manners got the better of her and she asked the other Jenny if she'd like to join their outing. (PROSE: Watch the Skies)
Going to Slough
Laura's superiors later sent her to Slough to investigate the cultists worshipping the Tenth Lord Grell, based on a notion that a young woman would be “inconspicuous”, which Laura found rather patronising. The day before, she got a phone call from Jenny Cornelius, who had received a tip-off from alternative means, and unsuccessfully tried to convince Jenny to stay out of Slough. After finding the right building, Laura was, however, captured and tied up in a storeroom. Jenny defeated Lord Grallyx, though not before he set the building on fire, and used her powers to unlock the door, finding Laura halfway through getting out of her bindings by herself. Because Jenny didn't want Laura's bosses to know about her shifting abilities, she took care to make up a plausible cover story before she used them in Laura's vicinity, claiming to Laura that she was actually using hypnotism to make her forget the means by which they escaped their dire circumstances - rather than them having genuinely teleported to the safety of Jenny's home in the blink of an eye. Laura was personally unconvinced but agreed to write as much in her report, though promising to spend the night with Jenny as soon as she was done. (PROSE: Birds and Snakes)
Domesticity
As time went on, she eventually became comfortable enough to make breakfast in Jenny's kitchen after spending the night at her place. In the morning, she told Jenny that it was “nicer to stay over here than in [her] bedsit”, citing advantages both in the quieter physical space and the absence of nosy housemates. The waking Jenny woke to find that Laura was already fixing breakfast, making eggs instead of Jenny's usual Bovril-covered toast. After they ate together, Jenny unveiled her plan for the following night's date: eating out at the Top of the Tower restaurant which had recently opened on the top floor of the newly-constructed Post Office Tower. Though she had work knowledge of aliens in the basement, Laura agreed, and Jenny went off to take a shower while Laura washed the dishes. She was interrupted by a phone call from aliens known as the Misterions who began to threaten her with some kind of evil scheme, but after she deadpanly informed them that Jenny couldn't come to the phone right now, they agreed to call again later. (PROSE: A Morning In)
At some point, she authored an essay in the Intelligence Taskforce employee handbook. (PROSE: Employee Training)
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