Halcyon Halls

Who: Sydni and Davia
When: Around 9
Where: The Restaurant inside the Luxe
What: Dinner

This was perhaps a strange setting for two girls to be meeting. It was a little more romantic than Davia had actually pictured it being. But that was fine. The food smelled delicious and there was really no point in trying to find somewhere else to go once Sydni got here. They already had reservations for this place, which would probably be impossible to come by elsewhere, and she didn't want to go somewhere that wasn't quite as fancy considering she had gotten all dressed up for the evening. Why she had bothered to ensure that she looked so nice in order to meet up with Sydni was perhaps a mystery, but if she gave it much thought, maybe she could come up with an answer. And maybe she really didn't want to.

Davia was the first to arrive at the restaurant, so she was seated and the hostess had assured her that her companion would be escorted to the table as soon as she arrived. She fidgeted with the straw in her glass of water upon the table as she waited, her mind reeling with thoughts, thoughts about Halcyon, about LA, about Charlie, and then about Sydni as well. She wondered if they ever really would be able to repair the rift between them. She knew it was important to Charlie, that she and Sydni both were important to him, but knowing that made it even harder to actually take that step forward. It brought to the forefront all the insecurities that she was trying very hard to push to the back of her mind. It was very difficult to want to be around someone that made her feel that way. But here she was, making an effort, though why it was for her and not for him, as Charlie had suggested, she wasn't really sure.

"Can I get a bottle of red wine?" She asked, catching the waitress as she passed. "House wine. Whatever that is." She clarified, then folded her hands in her lap and leaned back a bit in the chair. An awkward smile was cast in the direction of a man that seemed to have a bit of an eye for her. She wasn't feeling the same cool confidence that she had felt the last time she and Sydni had met. She was a little bit scared. Moving to LA was a big step and one that she wasn't entirely sure of, one that she hadn't really had the chance to give much thought to. It seemed like the right thing to do, but the city was big and scary and had the ability to potentially eat her alive. Hopefully that wasn't going to happen, she just had an innate fear of losing herself while trying to find herself. She was putting a lot of trust in Charlie, and in his family, none of whom she had known all that long, to keep her grounded.

Who: Charlie and Davia (aka Shaye)
When: Monday evening
Where: Charlie's dad's place

Charlie had slept in this morning and lounged around the house much of the day. He'd not had a chance to get over the jet lag the night before, they'd gone straight from LAX over to Lewis' house. Maggie got to stay up late so she could spend a bit more time with her Uncle Charlie, but soon enough her eyelids were getting heavy, and Charlie read her a bedtime story. She lasted just two pages before passing out.

It was great being with his family again, and Charlie was glad he'd brought Davia along as well. His family, while slightly nervous still about the vampire stuff, was extremely welcoming to the stranger. Well, not so much of a stranger to Lewis, as Charlie told his brother everything about his time so far at school. Lewis was a good listener, and he was probably most happy to hear that Charlie had given up the drugs and cut back on the drinking. Sex was another story, but Lewis understood his brother's addiction to that vice would never fade.

Stretching his feet out across the couch, he looked over to Davia. "So what do you make of your first 24 hours in L.A.?" He was more interested in what she thought of his family, but it seemed like a strange question to ask. Charlie thought he had the greatest family on earth.

And, as if on cue, William walked over and handed his son a beer, offering the other to Davia, "Not sure what sort of beer ya like, Shaye... but I've been a Bud man for years, so it's all I've got. Hope ya like it." William smiled at the beautiful young woman, and Charlie nodded to his father in thanks.

"Dad, I figure here in a bit, we could either head over to Lewis' place, or see if they want to come over here. Looked like Maggie was feeling good enough to want to come play at grandpa's. And Lewis should be getting home from the shop in a few minutes."

Who:  Sydni and Shaye (Davia)
What:  Trying to reconnect, still
When:  Friday evening
Where:  Ice cream shoppe

Sydni was again nervous.  Maybe she and Davia - Shaye, she corrected herself - would be able to get together someday and she wouldn't feel anxious about it.  Their last conversation had gone well.  She was glad they were going for ice cream.  It made her think about their sleepover.  Maybe the similarity to a happy memory would be a good thing.  She could always hope.

After classes, she did a bit of homework since she had work this weekend, and a 'date' to take Serghei out on the water.  But she stopped with time to get ready to go out.  Even though she knew Shaye, and knew that how she looked wouldn't make much of a difference, she was a firm believer that presentation made a big difference in how others saw you.  So, she got a bit dressed up with a cute scoop neck violet top, and form-fitting board shorts style jeans.  Jeweled black flip-flops finished off the outfit.  She even put on a bit of make up.  Dressing up simply made Sydni feel more comfortable, more confident.  If she were too nervous, she'd do something stupid.  Like when she'd been talking about going back to that - Sydni cut off her thoughts there.  She'd told Shaye she wouldn't say bad things about her father.  She still loved him - he was the only father she'd known for all those years.  In any case, she'd felt so helpless, she had said things that had only upset her.  Didn't want the same thing happening today.

When it was about time to meet Shaye, she took a cab down to town.  She was early, she she walked around a bit, checking out the stores that were still open.  She wasn't really shopping, but she was often content to simply window shop.  She had the control to look and look and not spend a dime.  Finally, she headed to the ice cream shoppe.  Shaye still wasn't there, so she grabbed a table as she waited.  She grabbed a seat facing the doorway so she could see her friend arrive.  Soon as she saw her, she stood and walked over to her.  "Hey, glad you could make it," Sydni greeted her with a gentle smile.

Who: Blake and Davia
What: Tomfoolery
Where: Heaven and Hell
When: 10 o'clock and thereafter

In an odd twist of things, given history, Blake was starting to worry just a bit about Nell. When she popped into their room her twin was yet again not there, which was turning into a more common occurrence. Normally Nell was always somewhere that Blake could find her, she was used to that and had been for years. But now Nell was slipping off, probably with their catburglar too. Not that Blake was worried about that, Nell could take care of herself, but it was still just an odd thing to think about. One of those things that made you want to test the temperature in Hell.

Though she doubted the hell she was going to would have anything wrong with its temperature. This island was not exactly the biggest place when it came to operations, so there were going to be a ton of people there. That combined with summer heat outside, well, there was not going to any chance of hypothermia there. Sliding into a pair of old jeans and favored teeshirt, she stole a belt out of Nell's things and headed out, slipping a wallet into a pocket as she locked up the room. Still had to work on those booby traps to catch the next attempts of Nell's manfriend.

Heading out to her destination, she looked down at her watch. Eh, she had plenty of time to get there. Not like she had really spent much time with this Davia girl, but hey, Blake was always up for some fun. The girl seemed nice enough, and Blake would be lying if she did not think this school was boring as hell. Sure they had their club and their little things going on, but there was no life like New York City, and this place was a pale substitute. Still, you were probably less likely to be running into someone non human in New York. Seemed like there wasn't anyone here that was just human after all.

Pulling out a cigarette, she lit up as she got closer to her destination. Meeting up outside definitely had the perks of actually finding the person. But meant that she actually had to be looking to. Scanning the people outside the joint, she took a drag as she tried to pick the other girl out, if she was even here yet that was. Looking back at her watch, she was only a few minutes late.

Who: Davia and Jane
What: Fireworks
Where: Starting at the front of the school
When: Nightfall

Tracking down something to drink was far too easy for a girl under the age of 21 to do around these parts. Everyone looked younger than they actually were so most of the time nobody got carded for anything. Davia had decided after her conversation with Sydni that she wanted to be drunk tonight. And what better night for it seeing as how this was the fourth of July and all. Wasn't that how most people celebrated?

She had actually just gotten back from town having picked up a bottle of vodka when she had posted asking if anyone wanted to watch the fireworks with her. The responses she had gotten had not necessarily been the ones that she was aiming for but whatever. It worked. It was never a bad idea to make new friends in spite of what some of her current friends thought about that. Of course that was probably more who she chose to befriend than it was the fact that she was working on making some new ones.

Opting against going for the whole sexy and cute and fashionable thing tonight, Davia went for simplicity. She pulled on one of the few pairs of jeans that she owned, tugged her hair up into a ponytail, applied a small amount of gloss to her lips, donned one of her more summery, bohemian style tops, and slid her feet into a pair of flip flops.

Grabbing a bag that had the bottle of vodka, a few cups, some orange juice to mix it with, and a couple of random snack items she had decided to bring just in case, she saw herself out of her dorm and down to the front of the school to look for the girl that would be accompanying her this evening.

Who: Davia and Ezra
What: Davs has been a bad, bad girl and needs to be punished.
When: Evening, after all of her classes are done

Today had been nothing short of the longest day of her entire life so far. She had had one of those nights, one of those down swings, and she had spent pretty much all of it sitting in front of her computer, staring at nothing in particular. That alternated with crying, and some frantic writing, or typing rather, that had resulted in a couple of emails that she would never send. In spite of Kissy's advice of trying to look cute when you put yourself in view of boys that you might like, she had gone to class looking like hell and that haggard appearance had done nothing but increase as the hours of the day crept by.

She probably would have been incredibly nervous about this meeting had she had the energy to be that way. Instead, she was just mildly worried. Any form of punishment that had come in her life prior to being here was in the way of physical punishment, and it was always quite harsh. She wondered if they believed in that here, if he was going to take a strap to her back side, or worse. At least she was numb enough that she might not even feel it.

Hands moved up to her face to rub at her tired eyes before one dropped down to her side and the other moved to knock lightly upon the door. The knob was turned to allow herself entrance once she was urged to do so, the door closed securely behind her after. "Hello, Professor Rishi." She spoke in a voice that was decidedly both tired and timid.

Who:  Sydni and Davia
Where:  Lunch Hall
What:  Dhampir v. Werewolf, courtesy of the gossip rag

Sydni's whole body hurt when she woke up Saturday afternoon.  It had been like that every time, with the aches and pains not just in her muscles, but in her bones.  She figured part of it was because running around all night like that used muscles she never used.  Correction, muscles she didn't normally have.  Sort of, anyway.  Vaguely, she tried to remember if she had gotten a hold of any rabbits.  Why Miklos was more concerned about bunnies than any other critter she could have snacked on, she didn't know.  She also couldn't remember clearly.  She could remember hearing the screams of some animal, and she suddenly felt like she could taste the blood, causing her to shudder and gag.  She needed a shower, stat.

The shower felt great on her aching body, and she turned it up as hot as she could stand it.  Of course, that meant the air was heavy when she stepped out, so the cool of the hallway was welcome when she passed through it on the way to her room.  Quickly she dried her hair, simply for the fact that she hated how wet hair soaked her shirt, and pulled on a pair of slightly ragged jean shorts and an old college shirt.  She slipped her feet into a pair of flip flops and grabbed her phone and keys on the way out the door.  She didn't even turn on her laptop.

Walking down the hallway she sent a text to Charlie, as he'd asked.  It was sweet that he was worrying about her.  It also made her worry a little less about him.  If he was worrying about someone else, his problems weren't consuming him nearly as much as they had been earlier that week.  At least, that's what she thought.

She figured once she grabbed some serious chow, she'd head back to her room and do some homework, and a bit of research for her independent study.  Figure out exactly what she wanted to explore.  Then, maybe she'd take another crack at that book she'd borrowed from Miklos.  It was tough to understand because it was literary criticism of books she'd never read, not to mention the philosophical overtones drawn from a culture with which she was totally unfamiliar.  She thought maybe she'd Google the books, too - just get the Wikipedia summary so the criticism could maybe be a bit clearer.

Finally reaching the caf, she loaded up on food.  Everything looked awesome she was so hungry.  She managed to keep it rather healthy - salad was looking super awesome, and she made a wrap with hommus and more veggies.  And cheese!  If there was one high-fat food she could not do without, it was cheese.  And chocolate.  But, there was no chocolate here today.  She also grabbed a slice of pizza.  She could eat pizza every meal, seriously.    Figuring that was enough to start, she went to go grab a seat.

When: Night
Where: Streets of the city
Who: Cassius and open

Cassius had contemplated more then once leaving the island. Break was something needed for more then just the students, Cassius could use one himself. But he knew that in leaving the island there were risks. He knew that running away from his problems was not going to solve them…not that staying truly was solving them either. He was stuck in the middle of two extremes. Two lives that did not blend well together. To say that he had ignored them both this entire time would be a lie….but there was no denying that Cassius had been seeking time by himself. Away from the school, students, the world as much as he possibly could. It was no real ease, no real break, but it was the best he could manage right now.

Would it be best to bring them all together, to try to talk it out? Maybe…but Cassius was uncertain how that would really go and in a way he was too frustrated by all of it to even seek that situation out. Not yet. Perhaps that made him selfish, if it did then it did. Cassius never had sought to deny such a statement or belief. He was not one to call himself a good man or even fair. He was who he was, both bad and good and everything else that seemed to lie between.

For right now he was a man that wanted little to do with anyone.

Cassius had taken up residence in his home outside of the city ever since break had begun. There he had called out more magic users, seeing to the wards and means of protection the home had. It was a double edged sword for him however, as the weight of such confines did eat at him at times. A near claustrophobic tug at the mind that more then once, drove him out of the house. But when he could stand it, when he could calm himself down enough to be alright within it, it did its job well to keep out all outside influences. Not quiet a silence no, but it dulled everything else down to a barely audible buzz.

Tonight, it was turning out, was not a night that he could stand the feel of the wards. He sat to his room, book in hand, and yet read the same line over and over again. A line that he could scarcely even remember as the book sharply closed and was tossed unceremoniously to the table behind him with a dull thud. For a man that had once traveled and constantly enjoyed being on the move this…stagnant nature that he’d decided for himself did not always sit well.

He couldn’t deny that there was much about his life before that he missed. It seemed like an entirely different world in a way; with so little care, so little responsibility. Such stark contrast to now in so many ways. There was no denying that there was much about this life that he loved as well. Likely they both knew that, knowing and understanding were two vastly different things however.

With a heavy sigh Cassius pushed himself to his feet. He didn’t know where he was going except that it would be outside of the house. Shoes were pulled on, the look different then that of his typical suit attire. Nothing more then jeans and a dark button up top. After grabbing his keys, wallet and phone Cassius was out of the house; taking his car into the city.

He could have just driven for hours…burning the night with such aimless movements. But in some effort to instead burn away energy he parked and began to walk. Passing familiar bars, restaurants, even familiar people. But he didn’t stop to speak with any or even go inside. He just let his shoes continue to beat against the pavement. One step after the other…

Who: Sydni and Davia
Where: On a boat, where else?
What: An evening outing

Sydni was in a truly dark mood this evening. All the rage and despair she'd been trying to keep locked away was bubbling up at the most recent obstacle in her attempt to continue her research. As if it weren't bad enough that some animal had mauled her, she'd now lost not only her livelihood, but also her passion. She was restless and plain agitated.

Trying to keep her anger at bay, Sydni had sought to satisfy herself by buying some snorkeling gear. Despite her irrational purchase, Sydni was level-headed enough not to be completely foolish. As rebellious as she could be when she became this stormy, she wouldn't put herself in needless danger. Diving at night was foolish, especially alone. And especially when she was supposed to be manning the boat. In all, though, the purchase had only made her more determined to do some diving when it was light; she was more antsy after than before.

Sydni had arrived at the surf shop early, so she could get the boat ready to go underway. Anyone watching would have thought that she had an unusually hot temper. She wasn't being particularly gentle with the equipment, and she her movements were a bit haphazard. Partially, this was a conscious effort of hers to work out some of her frustration. But mostly, it was her emotions getting the best of her.

As things became a bit more settled, including her temper, Sydni stowed away the tequila she had brought. She'd decided not to bring her drink of choice, as she knew her emotions were unpredictable enough without the influence of alcohol. And, to be honest, she wasn't sure she'd stop drinking if she started. She needed to navigate back to shore.

Once everything was in place, Sydni settled onto the deck. Closing her eyes, she tried to put her mind in a settled state. She'd already made the attempt several times today, but each time she'd found herself too antsy to finish. Maybe the lull of the waves would help this time.

Who: Charlie and Davia
When: Saturday night
Where: Heaven/Hell

By the time Saturday arrived, Charlie was mostly feeling better. Well, he was feeling better about himself and his own problems. But new problems were coming to light. He was worried about the mysterious 'gift' given to Jaida. Such an expensive looking bracelet wasn't the sort of thing some random boy with a secret crush gave to a woman. Charlie felt something more was going on, and it worried him that Jaida had no fear or suspicions at all. For someone who had grown up under such difficult conditions, her survival instincts seemed to be lacking. She needed to be nervous about this and a lot of other things, but she shrugged them off. Seemed Charlie and Vivian would have to be the ones to look out for her, since she was clearly not thinking about herself.

But, he tried to put his worries aside for a few hours. Jaida wasn't in any immediate danger, at least he didn't think so. It was just a situation that would need to be monitored, and he could continue to do that while still enjoying himself by going out clubbing for the night. He could also keep the company of another woman. Probably wasn't good for him to be spending most of his time split between his dog and two women who were fucking each other.

Things had been so very interesting with Davia the other evening. She'd had the unique opportunity to experience the lessor seen side of Charlie before the more obvious one. Normally, time spent alone on a beach with a beautiful woman would have resulted in something more physical, less conversational. It was strange to have connected with her without actually 'connecting' with her. He was hoping to show her his less serious side tonight, because she'd really seen a rather sullen version of Charlie the other evening.

Hoping to start things off on the right note, he'd made sure to dress a hell of a lot better for their date. A casual black suit with a charcoal grey shirt underneath showed some sophistacation. Davia seemed to be a classy woman in an otherworldly sort of way. He didn't know what she'd be wearing, but no doubt there'd be an elegance to it, so he kept the lines and colors of his appearance clean and subdued. Still, there were little notes of typical Charlie style. He wrapped a deep red scarf around his neck, and plopped a fedora hat on his head, tilting it in the mirror as he wore a cocky smile. He could have been a modern day gangster.

When the time finally arrived for him to meet his date, Charlie pocketed his keys and phone and hit the door. They'd agreed to meet outside near the stables where he kept his bike. Charlie arrived about a minute early, giving him enough time to pull the blanket off his motorcycle and check that it was as clean and perfect as he'd left it.

Who: Davia and Charlie
When: Early Night
Where: Somewhere on the beach

It was a little known fact that Davia came here just about every night. Ever since the conversation with Starbuck and the party that had followed, she had found herself craving the beach, the ocean, the serenity of it all. Even though it made her melancholy to be in a place that held so many memories of her mother, she also found comfort in it, in a way, and it made her feel closer to the woman that her mother was before her father, David, had murdered her. She had to imagine that her mother had been a very different person before then, happier. And a part of her had grown to resent her father for what he had done to her, what he had done to Davia as well.

With shoes held in her hand, she walked up to the shoreline to dig her toes into the cold, wet sand, the waves washing up and lapping over her feet. She stared out at the seemingly endless horizon and imagined what it must be like to sail out there, to be lost in the vast of blue that seemed to have no beginning and no end. She envied the people that could do that, that could take off like that and so thoroughly lose themselves and had no need to ever come back to shore. She wished that she could be like them. But alas, her life would not allow it, not that she had many attachments, hardly any, but she had the need for things that one could not so easily find out on the open water.

With a glance at her watch, she decided it was about time to head back. If she took the scenic route, she would be there probably an hour or so before curfew which would give her enough time to look over notes for tomorrow's classes. There was a beach entrance about a mile up that would take her onto the main strip where there was a really nice coffee shop that she could go to. Feet still bare, she headed in that direction, walking a pretty good ways before she noticed someone else there on the sand looking just as lost in thought as she had been.

Who: Davia and Easton
When: Wednesday Evening after Sunset
Where: In town

A small frown pursed her lips as she looked at the shelves of hair coloring products in the store where she stood. It was too bad that she didn't have glamour also because then she could avoid this all together. What exactly constituted Strawberry Blond and how did one streak their hair exactly? Davia picked up a box for a closer look, looking at the things written on the back, her brow furrowing in frustration. With a roll of her eyes, she sat the box down and shook her head at herself. Just because someone made the suggestion didn't mean she had to do it. She was fine the way she was, right?

A short walk down the aisle took her to the other hair care items. There were brushes, barrettes, headbands, and hand-held mirrors, one of which she caught a glance of herself in and then paused, taking a better look. She was pretty the way that she was, but maybe she could try something a little bit different. She grabbed a few packs of barrettes, some headbands, hair ties and clasps, and tossed them into the basket that she held on her arm. After getting a few more things, shampoo and conditioner that was supposed to make blond hair shine, and some new body spray, gummy bear scented, she headed out of the Health and Beauty Aids section and continued to browse through the store.

Clothes. Her wardrobe could use an update, consisting of mostly dresses, as that was what her father preferred her to wear, and a few sweaters. She lost herself in the women's clothing, finding a few shirts, some jeans (something she had never worn before in her life), and a new swimsuit, a two piece, in case she decided to take a swim one night, with a matching wrap. And then she came to the lingerie section.

Davia was a modest girl. She had never dressed in anything too provocative unless her father requested it and that was just for practical purposes. Most of the underclothes that she owned were simple, white cotton save for a pair of silk stockings with a seam up the back that she wore sometimes when they went hunting. By now, her basket was full, and it was about to get fuller as she decided to indulge herself and find some pretty things to wear, not that anyone would see them, but maybe it would help her to feel more pretty for a change.

With her basket overflowing, and a few things draped over her shoulder, she made her way to the checkout at the front of the store. Thankful that her father had left her a bank account with quite a bit of money in it, she made a small dent in that and found herself laden with bags as she made her way back out onto the street.

Oh how she wished she had a car and knew how to drive, because as she made her way back towards the school, she found the bags much heavier than she had initially expected. And then she dropped one, and of course it had to be the bag full of the more provocative clothing she had bought, lace panties and bras in various cuts and colors. Her face was flushed with embarrassment as she rushed to pick them all up and shove them back into her bag. How embarrassing!

Who: Kissy and Davia
Where: Library
When: some magical time called AFTER CLASSES
What: Davia learns something about the predator becoming the prey when Kissy needs a victim friendly person to stave off boredom.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Faerie Princess
and
The Quiet Huntress
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

School was absolute, unabashed torture. Kissy was determined enough to tell herself she was determined enough to study and pass all her classes. It wasn't impossible, just painful. Thankfully, she wasn't as dumb as she acted, it just made it a lot easier when she didn't try to do well when people didn't expect her to do well.

But her mother and father promised she could take a lighter load and what she wanted the next semester if she passed all her classes. As time went on they were lightening up, probably because they saw that she had gone and, despite some crying fits of homesickness, was going to stick around. Her mother wasn't even crying until they hung up when she called now!

Although they were planning on coming to visit and she didn't know how that was going to go. Her room was a mess and literally did not have space to put everything. Ugh! Now she was thinking about cleaning while she was supposed to be studying. She peeked over her shoulder to see what the girl behind her was doing. Had to be easier than what she was. And maybe she could finally explain to her what a 'mole' was. This was chemistry, not animology or, like, something!

"Hey! Do you know anything about science?" Kissy asked, pushing her chair back and leaning in it until the wood back touched the edge of the table. She looked straight into her eyes and smiled, giving her scent a good uptake. You couldn't hate a girl that smelled this good! "Ooo, cute doodles. Is that Brad Pitt?" A distraction! Thank you faerie gods for blessing your daughter!

Who: Open to all
Where: The East Pool and connected commons room
When: Saturday Evening into Night
What: Spring Fling

Leaving the Main Hall, one can turn left or right, either way, their path is through yet more sand. To the left they will find themselves shortly in the pool room decorated similarly to the main hall. Lawn chairs, tiki torches, palm trees, and again a room lit less by florescent, more by flame and “starlight”.

This particular pool is of course, the perfect choice for this type of party. The shallow end being only inches deep and the deepening so gradual as to give the appearance of a beach leading out to sea. Sand was packed all around and completely molded into the shallowest parts, so heavily that the bits being washed away only leave even more sand beneath. Clean up, they already know, is going to be hell.

Life guards will be on duty tonight to accommodate those less aquatically-inclined, but please do be aware of the water depth, the lack of lighting, and most especially, the amount of alcohol in that drink they called a Sex on The Beach.

When you're looking to relax away from the hustle and bustle of the party, you might want to curl up on a couch in the common room. Laid back and relaxing as always, the room has now been transformed into an island cabana, but a cabana with a large screen TV playing beach movies all night long.