Morning, various places, various people, various times [closed]
Amarie woke up and stretched and turned over, grinning to see her new dress hng on the back of the door. Tonight was a dual party - her 18th and Vinnie's 33rd birthdays.
That was why she was sleeping at home - sure to be.
But it was early yet. No need to get up - oh for AGES yet.
~
Andy was awake, sipping tea as she watched the sun rise. She hadn't slept well - for some reason - but she couldn't remember why. She just felt tired, and angry, so angry! She couldn't remember the reson for that either.
~
Deacon and Charlie had been up in the grey and dressed and breakfasted and ready to go. Today, they had been told, they would be able to go back to the Manor and see how everyone was.
And so they had gone and halfway there had wondered why they were rushing and what all the fuss was about so once in their apartment they had gone back to bed for an hour or two before Charlie slipped out to go to work, leaving an affectionate note on the pillow for Deacon to find when he awoke. ~
Del slept uneasily - with good reason. And even after the sun rose he still twitched and moaned in his sleep.
~
Leo hammered away at the keyboard. He was on the home stretch now. Just a few last all important pages where he tied up the final, most important loose end that made sense of everything that had happened before.
Just - a few - pages more!
Behind him the light grew at the endges of the window and suddenly he stopped. "What?" he said. "What - what was I going to type? What next? What - oh Christ no. I can't remember!"
He stared at the screen where one hundred and twenty five thousand words of novel sat unresolved and without closure and felt like crying.
~
Nick had dozed off in the tool room, his head at an uncomfortable angle, his snores somewhat strangled. That he was sharing the space with the shrouded body of Andras's mummy didn't disturb him one bit. The imps didn't like it any more than Andras did.
~
Vincenzo's arm was sufficiently painful to prevent him from sleeping. Just past midnight he and Frank had done some rather drastic first aid on it that involved disinfectant and hot water and a poultice made from bread that had left Vincenzo gasping and drenched with sweat. But the ugly yellow lines in the cuts had gone and the swelling was already beginning to reduce.
Frank had set him down on the chair in Frank's living room and he watched Kenny sleeping on the couch and hoped that Emily was resting peacefully.
When dawn came he fell asleep without even realising it.
~
"Move right along there," Palug said. He was sitting, tail twitching, watching the procession of imps and greater demons ooze back through the crack in the stairwell wall. Some hissed and chittered at him as they went and one big one made a grab for him, but it was half hearted at best. "Run along now, party's over," Palug purred, grinning broadly then he looked around ears flattening.
"Cat," Jon greeted and Palug gave him a careful nod before sauntering towards the stairs. At the edge he turned and arched and hissed then fled in a skitter of paws.
Jon laughed - defiance was all right with him in the right people - and continued to chuckle as he closed the way. "Maybe next year," he assured his minions. "Or, if you're very good, maybe even sooner."