Morningstar Manor

The weather as cooling off quickly and many of the Manor tenants were stopping in the Mocha in the evenings for coffee not only for the ritual of it but for the warmth as well. Tonight for instance it seemed rather busy.

JJ was flipping through a magazine Deacon had let him borrow.

Jack was looking through some proofs of his latest batch of head shots.

Gabe was preparing the spa's next supply order and had decided that doing it in the Mocha - with coffee - was far better than doing it in the spa itself.

Max - dressed for once in jeans and a form fitting t-shirt instead of a suit - sat in one of the over stuffed chairs with an iPad in his lap as he sipped his coffee. But he wasn't doing work. He was playing Angry Birds.

Loki had another overstuffed chair, his coffee, and another old and battered book. Not Poe this time. No this one was the works of de Sade. And it was autographed.

Kara had worked two long shifts and was - thank GOD - done for a solid twenty four hours. She could get coffee at the Lamb of course but she had been craving a Mocha Latte all day and now she waited in line to get one.

Rhiannon stood in line in the Mocha in a pale yellow sun dress, smiling down at Harvey who refused to answer any questions about the necklace constructed of blue and green yarn woven together, with a big, orange construction paper heart hanging against his chest. Arms crossed, he scowled when Rhiannon prodded him gently.
"Is she pretty?" She asked.
"I hate girls!" Harvey announced, cheeks pink.

***

Smith was on his way into the lobby, still shaking his head about the day at work he'd had. He was a security person - not a nanny. People were so goddamn ridiculous sometimes.

***

Niles sat out in the garden with his guitar laying beside him forgotten as he frowned at some paper work in his lap. It seemed as though his father was in some financial trouble. Why anyone expected him to care was beyond him, though he didn't throw the notice away immediately. Fuck.

***

Declan was up in the hot tub, blatantly hogging most of it as he yawned and attempted to relax. It had been a long, long day.

***

Sterrin was in the mail room, taking her time in sorting her mail from her brother's and Jack's. She really needed to get her own place soon.

Urquhart was trying to find the hidden cameras.

There had to be hidden cameras. For a few times since he started to leisurely slouch about the pool house and the roof, he'd had this distinct feeling of alarm that meant somebody was watching you from behind.

And if there really was nobody there, then the feeling usually meant hidden CCTV cameras.

As a professional, Urquhart never disregarded that kind of feeling. And he knew how to find them. But here, he just couldn't.

These people were good.

It was obvious why his employer had told him to take his time, and was willing to shell out a lot of money for him to do it right.

But that feeling of being watched made him very jumpy right now.

Monday morning. Kids were back in school, people back to work, and at this time the major morning rush had already come and gone leaving the Mocha relatively quiet.

Deacon had dropped Nia off at the daycare and was enjoying a coffee and muffin. He'd texted Charlie as he walked across the lobby. Bfast in Mocha?

***

Seth was in the Mocha too and he'd waved to Deacon when he spotted him but didn't go to join him. He was sketching away in his book, sipping coffee, and bopping about in his seat as he listened to this music coming through his headphones.

***

Gabe was stretched out on one of the couches, coffee in one hand and phone pressed to his ear in the other. "Darling I know I wasn't there but honestly - what where you thinking? It was the Emmy's! You could have at least gone to Angels. I mean I might not be there but my people are good. Cuz honey - your hair..."

***

Demitri was up early. He didn't have a class until later this afternoon. And though he no longer ran the Mocha he liked to see that it was doing well. He sat by the window, looking out at the street and the people going by and thinking on the things that had happened in the past few months. And smiled softly.

***

Max and Micah sat at another table, both drinking coffee and looking through the paper.

Anastasia was the first one in the Mocha that morning. She hadn't slept well last night, and now she was slowly nursing her second cup of coffee, attempting to wake herself up. Fir the first time ever, she was strongly considering getting a hobby that didn't involve art in some way, shape or form.

Isabella was sitting in the lobby in a gray dress, reading over the newspaper as she waited for the car that her client was sending to pick her up to arrive. It wasn't anything new. In fact, it'd become sort of customary on these initial meetings that her client attempt to subconsciously show off the sort of money they had to throw around. Despite all that, she was starting to despise these initial meetings more and more, simply because she didn't really know the people she was going to meet. 

Olivia had been sitting in the Mocha, but when her cell phone rang and she saw her father's number, she'd decided to move herself out into the gardens where there was less opportunity for eavesdroppers. Billy had gotten in trouble in rehab again, because establishments like that tended to look down on their patients being in possession of a few eight balls of cocaine and a prescription bottle of Oxycontin that wasn't theirs. Her father seemed to bounce back and forth between being pig-headedly hard on Billy and giving him everything he wanted. Right then he was in a 'give him everything' mood and spent fifteen minutes rationalizing why Billy was stealing other people's pain pills. Olivia sat down on the bench after she hung up and ran a hand over her face and strongly considered taking up smoking.

Sterrin was laying on her stomach on a large beach towel in the garden a good ways away from the usual garden activities. She was wearing a blue and white bikini, and beside her on the ground was a bottle of water and a pair of big silver sunglasses. Life right now was extra boring since she'd gotten Micah as a babysitter any time she left the Manor and when she'd managed to elude him, Declan had been right there waiting. She got the worry, she really did. She' just didn't like feeling - caged.

Kate was in the library standing on a stool and fighting off the shivers that kept shooting up and down her spine. It was a wonderful library. So many interesting books! However it was mostly empty. When a second shiver shot up her spine and she turned around to see who was watching her and found no one there, she had to wonder if that feeling might be the reason why.

Gabe was finally feeling more human and not like death had warmed over and so had gotten dressed in jeans and a soft blue t-shirt and headed down to the Mocha. He was now curled in one of the armchairs, sipping a huge sugary coffee and checking email on his phone, only the occassional sniff any sign that the cold still hadn't left completely.

***

Jason sat at his usual table - where he could see all - and took the time to enjoy his coffee and bagel before he had to head to the front desk.


***

There was a shipment coming in this morning and Kara needed to be at the Lamb to receive it but she had a bit of time for coffee and one of the Mocha's huge chocolate chip muffins first and was enjoying that at a table near the window.

***

Max had a meeting at ten - which meant there was time for coffee first. He sat at a table looking through the paper while Micah stood in line to get their drinks.

***

Just outside the Mocha, in the gardens, Loki prowled - annoyed. Dressed in tight black jeans, combat boots, and a black singlet his pale skin seemed to glow against the dark ink of his various Nordic tattoos and the sunlight made his hair look like angry fire - matching his mood.

Sterrin had woke up yesterday feeling positively sick to her stomach and worried... About Declan. Who hadn't been anywhere around since he'd left early that morning to go to a meeting somewhere in Portland.
What the hell?
So this morning, him walking through the door had brought her out of a dead sleep and she'd put on a robe and darted into the living room to look at him and make sure he was okay. It was the strangest feeling, the weirdest urge...
When she saw him, she was curiously relieved that he wasn't waif skinny, which was also bizarre.
"Hey," he said, sounding tired. He'd woken up yesterday feeling like he'd run a marathon.
Sterrin, overcome by the sight of her brother healthy and okay, moved to wrap her arms around his neck in a big, sisterly hug. "I want you to stop smoking," she said in a strangely watery voice.
He huffed a laugh and patted her back. "Riiiiiiggghhhtt."
Sterrin leaned back and her expression was unlike anything he'd ever seen on her face. Did she know somehow about the horrible dream he'd had Saturday night? "I'm serious, Dec. Stop."
He looked at her for a long moment. She wasn't joking. In fact, she looked like she'd just seen a ghost. "Okay. I'll try."
She nodded and arms crossed, walked back to her bedroom.
Fucking strange.

Tired. He was so fucking tired anymore, and he knew it wasn't a good sign.
A look in the mirror beside his bed showed a man with missing hair. Sunken cheeks. Sallow skin and shadowed eyes. His bones looked sharp enough to break out of his skin with an especially sharp breath. He looked like death, and that was fitting.

One thing Declan McNamara knew for sure was this: He was dying.

( Read more... )

Sterrin  had gone out and bought a new dress for tonight. She didn't have much, the extra money she had from dancing went to her brother, but she couldn't go out to dinner with a guy like Max looking pathetic. So, she put on the blue dress and a pair of heels and waited outside of her apartment building for him to pick her up.

This was certainly going to be interesting.

"Always with the fucking feathers," Sterrin grumbled as she was handed a set of large, pink feather fans that were a few shades lighter than the feather-adorned pink g-string she was wearing.

"They love you and those fans," Dick shot back as he headed out of the dressing room, completely oblivious to all the naked women and breasts around him. "And you like money, doncha, doll?"

Sterrin flipped him off behind the fans and went back to applying her lipgloss in the make up mirror attatched to her vanity. She hated all these fucking feathers. They made her eyes itch.

"It could be worse," Rebecca said as she took her seat at the vanity next to Sterrin's and plucked the tiny blue and white sailor cap that matched her barely there blue and white sailor outfit from her hair. "We could be swinging on poles and jiggling our asses to hip hop. "

Sterrin rolled her eyes. "Like that's any less honest than what we do here."

"And anyway, at least you got to be in the advertisements for this place. That should make you some extra money," Rebecca continued to argue.

Sterrin was all about earning some money, not that she thought those ads would do anything. It was just those fucking fans with her eyes peeking out behind them. Nothing interesting.

"Always with the fucking feathers," she grumbled again under her breath and  stood to slide her feet into the nearly six inch high heels. Strut, pout, smoulder, rinse and repeat. It was the same formula every night, and it hadn't failed to make her money thus far.

Sighing, she took to the stage to do just that.

Sterrin had gone home to pick up some things before heading back to Max's for the weekend, and had almost ran into Callan, who was drunk and stumbling, as Declan lead him by the arm out the door.

"I told you, Jack is fucking asleep," Declan hissed and Callan swatted his hand away.

"Don't give a fuck," Callan murmured, then turned and shot a dark glare at Sterrin before Declan led him to the elevator and got on behind him, presumably to lead him out of the Manor.

Sterrin shook her head and went inside, then directly to her room where she started throwing the things she would need in a tote bag. She was almost done when there was a light rap on the door.

"Come in," she said, knowing it could only be Declan. Jack never knocked on her door.

Declan came in, head down and looking sheepish. "What was that all about?" Sterrin said as she glanced up at him.

"I fucked up," Declan said on a sigh. "I saw Erin in the Mocha with someone, and he - saw it. I didn't tell him, but he saw what I was thinking about."

Sterrin sighed and pinched the area between her eyes. "He's not going down there, is he?"

"No. He left."

Sterrin nodded, then shooed him out the door before picking up her cell phone and calling Erin. Friend rules required that she give her a heads up.

As promised Max had left the club just before dinner time and stopped to pick up some Thai food from one of their favorite places and was back at the Manor by six thirty. Sterrin had been waiting for him and they'd enjoyed a nice dinner and were now relaxing on the couch with wine.

"Hmm, coming home at a normal hour and having dinner," he said, toying with a strand of her hair. "So this is what a normal job would be like."

The Mocha was hoping as it usually was in the mornings.

Max sat at his usual table, dressed in black slacks and a crisp white shirt, and went through his appointments for the rest of the week. He'd been a busy man and it was nice to be able to sit for a bit and enjoy a coffee.

***

Jack had a horrible hangover. He'd celebrated Cinco de Mayo in a big way and was now paying the price for it. Huddled in a corner of the Mocha he sat with sunglasses over his eyes and drank from a large mug of the strongest coffee they had.

***

Jason was taking a small break for another cup of coffee and leaned against the wall in the Mocha where he could see everyone. The workers on the roof were keeping him busy. The had contractors they always used of course but this job required more than the normal men and outsiders always made Jason twitchy.

***

Loki was bored. Bored bored bored. Which was never good for anyone involved. He was draped over his usual armchair but instead of reading from his usual book he was simply staring into the fireplace, the flames reflecting in his eyes.

The Lamb was never exactly quiet but Wednesday was one of its slightly less busy nights and there were a few free tables and the dartboard was free.

Charlie came in and looked around, waved to Molly and headed for the bar. "Hello sweetheart," he said. "Happy thhhhhhinko da mayo. Guiness please. Ah - and one for my friend here. What're you having?"

It had been a wonderful day, and Urquhart was sitting outside on Vine Square, watching the sun set over the the rooftops, and between the twigs and branches of the trees. The sunset today was a lovely, bloody orange, and the wine in his glass was a lovely dark red.

And there was more of it in a bottle beside the low wall he was sitting on. There might even have been another glass to share with a friendly passer-by.

A medium sized package wrapped tastefully in obviously expensive paper and ribbon that featured the NOIR emblem from the designer boutique in the City.

Inside, there is a dark blue corset with demi cups, classic and simple and classy and satin, with the NOIR label inside, in precisely Sterrin's size.

And a note: I saw this being waved around in a shop-window, and thought of you! Urquahrt

Erin had spent the first couple days back from Greece only coming home to get clothes. It was quite nice to go to work, go to Callan's and be leaving from there to go to work again. The only downfall was, well the load of mail in her mailbox. She was sorting through a stack of enveloped on the table when somebody had paused beside her and she looked up.

"Hey sexy." She greeted Sterrin with a grin. "How was your birthday party?"

Sterrin was tired of being bored, and she was about to MAKE some fun for herself.

Armed with an extra large pizza, a case of beer and a box of wings, she knocked on Trevor's apartment door with her foot.

Declan sat in the Mocha still dressed in his suit from work except his collar was open and his tie was untied and draped around his neck. He was also contemplating hiring another assistant, if he could find someone qualified enough. That would mean less time at work, more time where he wanted to be, and less drama. Couldn't go wrong with that.

Bea sat outside the Manor in the gardens with Pippa on a leash reading through the mail she'd just picked up. She had on a rather awesome if not gaudy Super Mario Brothers corset that she'd ordered from this awesome little shop online, and to quantify awesomeness, she'd been invited to a HUGE convention. She decided right then and there to schedule herself heavily for the promotion of her second comic, due out at the first of May. It'd keep her busy.

Anastasia was in her studio behind the Gallery with the door propped open, letting the cheesey hip hop music she was listening to float out into the alley. She wasn't working really, but looking instead at the newest painting that she didn't remember doing. It was worse than the others, and just looking at it made her sick to her stomach with nervousness.

Sterrin walked through the Foundry market in a coral pink tank top dress that clung to her figure, completely and utterly bored as she had been all weekend. There had to be something interesting around here somewhere, but damned if she knew what.

Rhiannon was in her shop, laughing hysterically as Lee tried on a dress from her new summer line. Miri had given him the make-up treatment again, and the boy really was too pretty for his own good. He strutted through her store, making a few of the customers laugh too while Miri trotted along behind snapping pictures. 

Niles was out in the garage inspecting Piglet. He'd finally gotten her back after a complete body make over and more money than a sane person would spend on fixing a car. He could've bought another one just like her for cheaper, but it was the principal of the matter. This was Piglet, she was his, and he was going to keep her.