Halcyon Halls

Who: Nat, and Rhett
Where: House of Fire common room briefly, then to dinner, etc...
When: Thursday at 7pm
What: A date, finally!

A cigarette... he really needed one right then. Why had he given up again? Oh yeah, he'd been supportive, trying to convince Ada that any addiction was able to kick. He honestly believed that, but he'd been smoking since he was sixteen, or there about. And with the full moon the following night, he was on edge, and that nicotine fix would do just the trick right now. Going on a date, smelling like smoke wasn't something he wanted to do. So, he was doing all he could to push the urge to the back of his mind. The last thing he wanted was for the smell of smoke to clash with the cologne he had put on for the night. No smoke, but he was without a doubt, having a drink, or two at dinner. That would help him relax, because really, he still didn't have this whole control thing down yet. Not that he would for some time.

Rhett sat on the arm rest of one of the chairs occupying the common room, his foot, which was slightly raised from the floor, given his way of sitting, swished back, and forth. A very twitchy motion, that seemed to be matched by the drumming of his fingers against the chair back. He almost had the urge to tear off his own skin, anything that would kill anxiousness. It was obvious to him, that the bear was raging to come out. One more night, then it would be over. Yup, a first date, so close to the full moon had not been the brightest idea. Though, he had no doubt that things would go well. Why wouldn't they? He, and Nat got along so well, they enjoyed flirting, and there was obvious interest on both ends. He was completely hopeful that the two would have a wonderful night together. He'd decided to dress casually for the most part, a bit dressy, as it was a date after all.

Amazingly, it wasn't her footsteps that first caught his attention, but rather her scent. He'd found that everyone had their own distinct scent, and the more he happened to be around someone, the more acutely he was able to recognize them, simple by that. Pretty much everyone in inner beast control he could smell coming. It had been really odd getting used to, but it was a part of who he was now, right? Might as well take advantage of this gift. Standing upright, he ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stand up a bit more messily, before he slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. As Nat entered the common room, he grinned. "Well well, fancy seeing you here." He moved across the distance between them, before leaning down to place a kiss against the corner of her mouth. "You look beautiful, darlin'." She always did, he couldn't imagine her having an off day. Didn't seem at all possible. There had been a part of him that feared she wouldn't show. Given how rocky a start they had previously had. Seemed life had been working against them for a while there.

Now, it seemed things were finally falling into place. And, if they could handle a date before the full moon, he was sure they could handle just about anything. "Ready to head off? I thought we might go grab a bite, have a few drinks." See where the night took them after that... yeah, he was going to blame that thought on his restlessness. "I don't know about you, but very rare meat, sounds amazing right now."

Who: Ada, Rhett, NPC band members
Where: Nashville, TN; The Ryman Auditorium
What: A concert
When: Friday evening

The band had played a show in Oklahoma City the night before, and as usual, Ada hadn't been able to sleep until well into the morning. They were rolling on the tour bus toward Nashville for the "big one." The show at the Ryman. It had taken a LOT of coercing from Rhett and the guys to get some sleep so she wouldn't be completely wired for the performance. She also had a sneaking suspicion they were tired of her spazzing and asking them about the set list for the five-hundredth time.

Finally, she curled up on her bunk with her headphones in, an album by The Great Divide playing on her iPod, and her basset hound puppy Emmylou curled up next to her.

She slept all the way from Little Rock to just outside Nashville. The sun was getting lower when she sat up and looked out the window. Her watch said it was 6:00.

"Shit, y'all!" she said, gathering up Emmylou and hopping down off her bunk. "We're almost there." She set the puppy down on the floor of the bus, and the clumsy basset nearly tripped over its own ears on the way over to where Rhett was sitting. She plopped down next to him and pulled her guitar from the stand it was sitting on across from them. "I don't think I've been this nervous ever." She did have a bit of stage fright sometimes, but these butterflies were ENORMOUS. She tuned up the acoustic guitar and played a few chords. "I still don't know what song we should start with."

Who: ANYONE AND EVERYONE
Where: Heaven
When: Friday Night
What: Charity Date Auction


Eva was something beyond excited. It fluttered about her with nervous energy. If she were out in the open water no doubt there would have been small eddies forming around her in response to the energy she gave off with each and every breath as she hurried about Heaven getting all the last finishing touches done on her crowning achievement. Eva had done her fair share of party planning over the years at Halcyon, she loved being in the mix helping set a mood. And let's face it the girl loved a party... especially a theme party.

But this was something more. It was something that had been entirely her idea. Born of... who the hell knew where but it did put together all her favorite things. Flirting, dating, runway shows, Heaven... the list really could go on. Even in her egotistical glory Eva knew that she couldn't have completed this event without the girls that had volunteered to help out. Taylor, Sam and Frankie had been fantastic, picking up on all the things that Eva was horrible at... you know like the practical aspects of the whole event.

The night had a beach theme as was befitting the charity chosen for the evening and Eva couldn't have been happier. Heaven had been decked out, Vale's assistant proved to be more than helpful at helping her organize the decorations and getting the staff to help out. A runway had been constructed with a podium at the back where Eva planned to do her auctioning from. Tropical plants lined the runway for the dates to strut their stuff along. Eva was almost jealous that she wasn't doing any strutting herself and with the outfit she'd donned for the night... she felt like she could. Perhaps not traditionally beach themed but it was a swimming suit... of sorts and as the auctioneer she thought she needed to glam it up and set herself a part a little.

But when didn't Eva think she needed to set herself a part from the crowd.

Eva exchanged a few last words with the bartenders for the night, making sure that mai tais and other tropical drinks were the order for the night. She wove her way through the tables that had been set up a bit aside from the runway, brightly colored umbrellas over them to add to the theme. She ensured that there was plenty of food ready for people attending and finally she made sure that man at the door was ready to take the $10 dollar cover charge. It was for a charity after all!

Now all she had to do was make sure that the meat er... the dates were ready for their big night!

( ooc posting information )

Who: Ada, Rhett, and Wes
What: Getting inked
Where: Gun Smoke Tattoo Parlor (begins in the dorms)
When: Around 7:00

Oh, it had been a hell of a weekend. Ada was almost glad it was Monday and time to start class again. Almost, but not quite. She did, however, manage to drag her ass to creative writing. A little help from Rhett was required in the form of banging on her door until she came, disheveled and grumpy looking. She'd been up till just a few hours before then, and class was the last thing on her mind. Still, she got dressed, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and insisted on a LOT of coffee before they went to the classroom. It wasn't what her body was craving, but it was something.

The entire time she was around Rhett, it was a constant struggle to make sure that he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. She would catch her foot tapping, have to stop from biting her fingernails, from chewing on her bottom lip, from drumming her fingertips on the desk. She tried to keep herself occupied instead by writing, putting words on paper as fast as she could. By the end of class, she wasn't sure if she'd written anything that made sense. But she had written plenty, pages of words, lyrics with meter and some just lyric ideas.

The rest of the day was long as well, and as soon as class let out she headed to town. She was running low and she needed to pick up some more before she hit empty. It didn't take long, and she was back in her room, playing her guitar low through time for dinner, singing a little as well. It was almost seven when she set the instrument down and stood up, changing clothes quickly as an idea struck her. She wanted a new tattoo. That art teacher was offering discounts or some shit, or he had been last week. If he wasn't still, she figured she could afford it. Wasn't like she was broke. Besides, if all else failed she could just screw the guy like she had fucked Charlie to "score some free blow," right? She laughed a little thinking about that. Even though she was still pissed as hell at that vampire douchebag, his arrogance was pretty damn hilarious.

Now it was her turn to bang on Rhett's door. Dressed in low-cut denim, beat-up brown cowboy boots, and a blue western style button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up past her elbows, she hurried up the stairs to his room and knocked incessantly on the door. "Hey old man!" she yelled, "let's go out!"

Who: Natalia and Rhett
When: Right after Inner Beast Control
Where: Hallway and then?


Natalia couldn’t remember the last time she had woken up so sore or out of sorts. It felt like she had been tossed off her board and then beaten with it a few dozen times. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant feeling. Hell, the last time she had overindulged in tequila she hadn’t woken up in this much pain! Who knew the whole shifting thing could totally kick one’s ass like that? Jeez. Thankfully she wasn’t expected to be in any of her classes so she was able to sleep off some of the discomfort.

When she woke up again sometime around lunch, she still felt like crap but fortunately it was a little better. After a nice long, hot shower and a little food, it was decided that she was feeling okay enough to attend her last class of the day. She didn’t want to be a complete slacker after all and Inner Beast Control was definitely an important class to attend. Besides, she wanted to hear what the instructor had to say about the day after the full moon. That and she had a few questions about the night before. So she got dressed in the one outfit that didn’t take any brain power to pull together and made her way to class.

Unfortunately her attention wasn’t one hundred percent and she found her mind wandering more than it was focusing on what was being taught. Even though she did remember to ask a couple of the things she had wanted, she found herself counting down the seconds until class was over. So maybe next time she would just sleep in since she was essentially useless.

As soon as their time was up, Natalia was out of her seat and headed for the door. There was only one thing on her mind as she headed out into the hall and that was the Jacuzzi. Nothing better to sooth away some aches and pains like some hot bubbling water! All she had to do was swing by her room for a quick change and the soak her cares away. Though there was one little problem and that was the lack of her notebook. Crap. In her rush out the door she had totally forgotten it at her desk. She didn’t realize that it had been left behind until she heard someone calling after her and turned to see it in her classmate’s hand. “My hero,” she smirked. “Gracias.”

Who: Starbuck and Rhett
When: Monday morning
Where: random hallway

Water Use had been fairly dull this morning, and that had forced Starbuck's mind to wander several times. Good thing he had something else to occupy it. His eyes nearly always found their way to Kat. She sat right next to him (in the front of the room), so he didn't need to look far to gaze upon her. Though, being so close to her, he usually got two rolling eyes in return when she caught him staring. Oh well. Small price to pay for the privilege. Besides, he was pretty much immune to her rolling eyes. The woman was likely to have them fall back into her scull, that was how often she made the look.

When class was finally over, he hit the hall, walking beside her. Starbuck made regular attempts to hold her hand as they walked, but he was shot down each and every time... at least when there were others around. Still, it didn't stop him from trying. He was just letting her know that it was what he wanted. People liked to feel they were needed, even if they didn't cave in and reciprocate. Today, he once again reached for her hand, only to be rejected like always. Didn't phase him though. He'd try again tomorrow.

As they walked, he made small conversation about the class, and in softer voices they talked a bit about Vegas and how she was doing. It was because their voices were so low that he easily heard someone calling his name from behind him. Starbuck brought a halt to his footsteps and the conversation, looking back to see who the voice belonged to. Spotting Ada's friend Rhett... a man Starbuck had yet to really talk to... Starbuck turned back to Kat and leaned in to kiss her cheek before she could object, "I'll find you later."

With that, he turned to walk back in the direction he'd come from, meeting up with Rhett. "Hey... what's up?"

Who: Ada and Rhett
Where: The Garage Tavern
When: Tuesday Night

Tuesday nights at the Garage Tavern had become somewhat of a routine in Ada's life on the island. She came on a weekly basis and it was her usual night to headline. Sometimes she played on weekends, and she usually played multiple other nights as well, but she could always count on tuesdays as being nice, laid back, and hers. Now that Rhett was there, she could actually have a little fun with someone she knew backstage. It was going to be a blast.

Dressed in a pair of her normal distressed (AKA torn to hell) jeans, black boots, and a black wifebeater with a logo for Robert Earl Keen's "The Road Goes On Forever" on it. Their opening band, an alt rock group (thankfully not emo or screamo) was sitting around the green room with them. The session player Ada had hired as a drummer was, as usual, not talking, drumming in the corner like the genius he was.

"Guy's kinda crazy," Ada whispered to Rhett as she played a few chords. "But damn, can he play. I mean, serious skills." The other band was chugging cheap beer, Ada was sipping a Dos Equis and quietly wishing she had something else that she could never ever tell Rhett about, as she tried to get the set list in order.

One of the guys in the other band threw a guitar pick at her head and she laughed before she threw it back at him. "Cut it out, David," she yelled. "Trying to kill me with your picks won't get you the opening spot!"