Morningstar Manor

Erin was bored and procrastinating. It didn't go well together, but she wanted to do something fun, not something she should be doing. Like laundry or tidying up around her apartment. She was wandering around instead.

~*~
Logan was out in the garden, pulling up all the plants that had died off because of the cold.

Chad sat on a bench in the sunlight, glasses over his eyes as he watched people pass by.

*~*
Travis was in the library, hunched over a table and doing some online shopping. Memphis's birthday was coming up and he needed to find something good after what he'd done.

~*~
In the garage, Memphis was cleaning out Lucy's interior. He hadn't noticed the scratch across the back bumper, but since it was getting cooler out he wasn't washing her as much.

*~*
Tristan was, as per usual on Thursday, dressed in his suit and winding his way through the lobby to head out to work. He hadn't buttoned his shirt fully, nor had he shaven since last Friday. It felt good to look a little less kept. Smiling to himself he decided a treat wouldn't be a bad idea and detoured into the Mocha.

*~*
Roxy had turned the treadmill on and set a distance for ten miles. Maybe by the time she was done with that some of her thoughts would be clearer.

~*~
Eli was sitting in the Mocha, pile of mail on the table in front of him. He sipped at his coffee as he read a rather long letter that contained a couple different style of handwriting on it. Family letters were always unpredictable and his brother had atrocious hand writing. He smiled still at the news of hometown football games and the fights that broke out as a result, then flipped the page over.

Memphis was in the mail room, collecting a bunch of mail and sorting out the junk. Demon sniffed at the recycle bin, leash dragging along the floor since Memphis had dropped it. The dog listened well unless squirrels were involved and those weren't anywhere inside the building.

Roxy was sitting in the Mocha, playing with her new phone and loving the fact that it was a worldwide capable phone. That meant that the next time she and Spencer went on an extended trip... Well she wouldn't really be wanting to take her phone then either.

~_~
Travis was sporting a Save second base tee shirt he'd picked up from the mail room, and had another with him as he walked down the hall to apartment L-E. He hadn't seen Amarie in a few days, so he was taking a guess that she'd be home.

_~_
Eli was downstairs, in the gym. He had on a pair of Army sweat pants and a black tank top. Lifting weights helped him think about things that were going on and he was thinking about Bea a lot.

~*~
Memphis was in the lobby, juggling around the couple bags of groceries with Demon's leash. "Hold on dog, we'll get there and then I'll feed you." He grumbled lightly.

*~*
Chad was trying to take his Sunday easily, having been swamped at work with the recent activities at Rutherford. His phone buzzed and he opened it up, opening up the video message that'd been sent. Listening to it he wondered just what was going on with cops now.

^-^
Logan was outside in the garden, tossing a ball around with Lily and waiting for her to bring it back.

-^-
Erin was in the laundry room with a load of coloreds in one machine and a load of whites in another. Now the only thing to do was find something to occupy her time until they needed to be swapped to the dryer.

--
Tristan had moseyed his way upstairs, to the pool, and currently sat in the hot tub. It was a nice warm welcome to the contrasting temperatures soon to come, and he didn't really want to get out any time soon.

The last several weeks had been strange for Jane, partly because she had gone to work on the Sunday after the wedding to find Avery had been removed from her worksheet, and a very down at heart colleague was preparing to take him on. The general reshuffle of clients had in fact left most of hers intact, only giving her an extra in a Mr O'Connor on a Friday afternoon, and still having Monday off, although there was a note about switching that back to a Sunday.... She'd sighed, rolled her eyes and got on with the laundry and then the days had seemed to roll into each other, and she drifted by, hiding in the staff elevator, ducking round corners, even crouching behind her trolley to not be seen by the tenants. In short, she went back to being invisible, frightened of her own shadow, and desperately worried about everything.

She'd also spent a lot more time with Memphis and Travis, often taking up home-cooked meals and sharing them, and then on the weekends, having to have help with carrying all her dishes back down! It had been easy to spend time with them, they were safe, untainted by the violence that had erupted at the wedding, even though she knew Memphis at least was probably capable of it. The truth was, she didn't want to acknowledge that, didn't want to be scared of him, or Travis for that matter. Tonight found her outside their door with a roasted rack of lamb, potatoes, and all the trimmings for a really nice dinner, including an apple pie made with some very nice Apple Brandy she'd found in a little liquor store near the Foundry. She knew Travis was out, something he'd said about tonight the other day having lodged in her head, and she'd even bought a bottle of wine up with her, just a basic red, she really didn't know that much about it, and only hoped Memphis hadn't taken this opportunity to go out and do something else instead of staying in. She tapped on the door with one elbow, both hands being busy holding dishes and bags, and hoped he was home.

( Knock Knock! Anybody home? )

Erin was curled up on a couch in the Mocha, sipping on hot chocolate and contemplating the past couple days with Niles. She hadn't seen ghosts around here at all, even when others next to her swore there as one standing in front of her. Maybe she was the crazy one but then again she wondered if they existed to only those people believing in their existence.

*~*
Logan was siting in the Mocha as well, looking out into the garden. He didn't have anything productive to do today and that just made it seem longer of a day overall. He needed to find something to do before boredom took away his brain.

~*~
Chad was downstairs, working in the gym. He had the treadmill set at steady six miles per hour and was jogging along steadily.

*~*
Memphis was in the library, checking on some books about cooking. He wanted to find a recipe that was new and not one Jane had given him to try out next weekend.

~*~
Roxy was downstairs in the laundry room, tossing clothes into two of the machines. There had been a laundry facility at one of the hotels on their adventure, but it had been the one in the middle. Just meant they'd brought home a large amount of laundry, which she was doing now.

*~*
Travis was sitting in the lobby, notebook in hand jotting down random fact about the people who walked by. He was grinning, because this was actually homework he didn't mind doing.

~*~
Tristan had gone down to the Gallery 290, where Emma worked, to see if he could find something new he liked. Having gone with Anastasia last night, he picked up a piece but it was staying in his office. It didn't fit with the black and white prints already on his walls that seemed to be missing something. Maybe he could find it here.

*~*
Eli was up at the pool. His jello stain marks had come off now so he was willing to be out where people could see him. Wandering over to the edge he looked out on the City. This place sure had a good view, that was certain.

It was almost Friday and Logan couldn't be happier. He was tucked into a back corner of the Mocha, chemistry book propped up on the table and scribbling in a notebook as his cup of cocoa got cold.

~~~
Chad was walking through the lobby in his uniform, trying to figure out why Logan hadn't answered his phone call.

***
Memphis was outside playing fetch with Demon, since Travis had holed himself up in his room claiming he had "homework" to do. The boy, however, was in the garage trying to find Lucy's hidden spare key.

~~~
Tristan was climbing out of the pool, not looking forward to tonight at work and wondering if there would be any more fist fights like the one last night.

***
Eli was collecting yet more forwarded mail. Where it all came from he had not a single clue, but somehow every advertisement distributor knew his mail had been piling up and sent everything under the sun to clog the mail box.

~~~
Erin was down in the laundry room, sorting dark from lights and leaving her "delicates" in the basket at her feet.

After the events of last night, Memphis had kept a lid on his temper. It had taken a huge effort, but leaving the party early wit Jane helped. Then going home and bashing the crap out of some virtual cars on the demolition derby game helped more.

Now he was in the gym, beating the sand around in the punching bag as he pictured Avery, not being able to slink away into a dark corner like he had last night.

The ballroom was decorated in the colour scheme Roxy had chosen, and the gardens between it and the gazebo had been divided off from it by rope tied with ribbons in the same colour scheme, and flowers were bound into the ribbons. The gazebo itself was festooned with ribbons and flowers, so much so that the wooden structure itself was barely visible, and the scent of freesias and gardenias filled the garden. Spencer found himself fixated on one set of ribbons, desperately ignoring the jibing of his brother, busy teasing Jazz about being on the wrong side of the party, and now she had to dance with the bridesmaids. He was conscious of his father, conversing gently with his mother, and of Erika holding John's youngest and playing rock paper scissors. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and again wondered why collars had to be so tight when you had a tie on. He turned to ask his mother if everything was all right, and stopped, stunned, because there she was, Roxy, walking down the path towards the gazebo, towards him, and she was, she was perfect. It was the only word that worked, perfect.

It was time. She'd seen Mrs. Sullivan walk ahead of them all, then Lexi just ahead of her, but Roxy was waiting like she'd been told to. It was tradition and she wasn't going to go against tradition. As the music changed and the people stood, she walked down the aisle to Spencer. Roxy wanted to run. She just wanted to be there with him and not have every eye on her. The fear of tripping came back briefly, until she looked up and saw Spencer. Her jitters subsided and she smiled brightly as everybody but the celebrant and Spencer started to fade from her mind. At the altar, she handed her bouquet to Lexi and joined hands with Spencer as directed. It seemed like a fairy tale to her, but it wasn't. They were actually here, getting married, and it wasn't a dream.

( Read more... )

Travis was lounging around poolside. The last time he'd been here, it had turned into something eventful. Good scenery and a good website that he'd poked about a couple times over the week. Maybe he'd see her again, maybe not.

~*~
Memphis was downstairs in the Mocha, flipping through an auto tuner magazine. Keeping up on the latest trends going was something of the mind boggling type. He just didn't understand why some kid would pay for an import car, then sink the money in to the performance aspect just to wind up with a car keeping up with the domestics. He chuckled reasoning that the kid could've saved money by buying a Mustang instead.

*~*
Chad was out in the gardens, tending to Logan's patch of peppers and tomatoes.

~*~
Logan wasn't far away though, having decided that he'd play with Lily today.

*~*
Also in the garden, Erin had taken up her sunbathing spot from last summer. With her blanket spread out on the grass and earbuds tucked into her ears, she laid on her back to even out the tan over her boobs with the lack of tan on her stomach.

~*~
In the mail room, Tristan was retrieving his mail out of his mailbox. He'd already set the magazines on he table, then stacked envelopes on top, putting the light purple one on the bottom. He already knew what that meant. His mother was requesting a visit or at the least, information.

*~*
Somewhere between the Spa in the basement and the eighth floor, Roxy and Lexi were going over the brochure and discussing the different options offered.

[[OOC: Probably slow-timed due to unexpected injury, Mum's recovery, and complaints of nothing accomplished due to online time... If only housework did itself!]]

Why it had taken her so long to come to the realization that she had during her 'chat' with Avery, Jazz couldn't say, but now that she had things felt...better. Like a weight had disappeared....

Granted, things as a whole still sucked, but now she had an impression that if she just took a breath and took them one at a time she might not drown after all. And on that note, as she returned home from a day's work and saw a car pulling into the Manor garage it reminded her of something she still had yet to take care of.

Continuing inside, she drifted into the Mocha and pulled out her cell phone, scrolling for Memphis' number.

Jane had worked hard all day, put up with Avery's sniping, spent a couple of hours dealing with laundry and other odd jobs, then cleaned up the Gonzalez apartment, which was only slightly more of a job with Jazz's sister there, and Cleo had even helped her with some things when Jazz wasn't there.

At lunch she'd had a thought, and popped home to pull a large lasagne out of the freezer along with a couple of baguettes of home made garlic bread. She even realised she had the ingredients for a green salad, which was great news, so when she got home after work she quickly pulled everything together for the salad, wrapped the now defrosted bread in tin foil for baking and then packed everything into a cool bag and carried it up to Memphis' apartment. Surprising him and Travis (if he was in) with dinner was risky, but then, she couldn't think of a better way to break the news that her car was dead and somewhere else to boot.

She knocked on the door, and grinned, "Dinner delivery, anyone home?"

Memphis was at the shop today, as arranged with Luke, to check out the boy's car. He'd left Demon at home with Travis and opened a garage door after unlocking the front door.

Bea had gotten up this morning with a mission: Go buy a puppy. 
She'd wanted a puppy for years now, but she'd never really had a stable environment or the income on her own to care for one properly. With her first royalty check and this move to the Manor, that all changed. She opted to go to the pound to find a puppy instead of buying one, and ended up finding an adorable bundle of fur that the woman running the place had said looked like it  was wearing eye make up that matched Bea's.
Bea didn't care about any of that --- She fell in love with the big, floppy, blue eyed thing at first sight. So, she adopted the puppy, named her Pippa, and promptly went to the nearest pet store to buy everything she needed. 
Now she was back at the Manor, sitting Indian-style in the grass of the gardens watching Pippa bound around in the grass and chase anything that moved. She was dressed ultra casually, in a pair of black flip flops, dark blue low rise skinny jeans, and a tiny, faded white t-shirt that bared a few inches midriff and ironically enough, had the Pound Puppies logo on it.

In the afternoon before going to work Emily stood alone in the gardens with a coffee cup in her hands and looked up at the Manor, the building towering before her. It was definitely the nicest place she had ever lived in, including her childhood home in Los Angeles, and at the same time it was weirdest and scariest place. It would be difficult to leave it behind and move away from this little community of people.

*

Avery sat in the Mocha with the preliminary menu of Mr Michaels' wedding that Emily had given to him and was marking down suggestions for wines beside every dish, and having a cup of coffee at the same time.

*

When the chef and the sommelier were preparing to go to work in La Fee Verte, Lucas was coming home. He parked his car in the garage - it was a black 1979 Dodge Dart, but as classic and fancy as that sounded, it was neither. It was old and rusty and almost weekly Lucas found a new fault in it. The latest was that one of the back lights did not work and you needed to know a specific trick to open and close the trunk. At least the radio worked. Lucas knew that he could easily get money from Thomas or his mother to fix it or get a new car, but he really did not want to ask for their help. And besides, on principle, an old Dodge Dart was a pretty sweet thing to own.

Roxy was sitting in the Mocha, sipping her coffee as she looked over her task list. Today had been a short day since her afternoon client had canceled on her. What was left on the list? She asked herself then sighed and shook her head. What wasn't left on the list? She still had to get hold of Andras, check with Abrams and the TA about her sister staying in her old apartment, and find a dress. Picking up her pen, she wrote Call Andras at the top of her list and drew a box around it.

~*~
Chad was sitting in the Mocha as well, just in an opposing corner so he could watch out the window. is knee had been doing better, and the physical therapist he'd been seeing said there was a substantial showing of progress. He should be able to go back to work in another couple weeks. The crutches had found their home in the closet, but he still needed a little help from time to time.

*~*
Which was why Logan wasn't far away. He was out in the gardens, but if he looked up from the little patch of dirt he could see his father through the window. He smiled and waved, holding up a couple of red tomatoes.

~*~
Travis was lounging about at the pool. He hadn't heard anything about a job yet, and Memphis had gone off on him about the car being dirty, so to the pool he went in hopes for finding some pretty girl to watch.

*~*
Memphis had decided to close up the shop for lunch and took Demon out to Riverwalk Park. It had been a while since he'd taken the dog for a good quality fetch session, and it was a way for him to blow off some of the steam he had towards his brother. He just hoped Demon didn't decide to go chasing squirrels again...

~*~
Erin had today off, and decided to go shopping around Vine Square. Her foot had healed nicely, despite having to be stuck in boots during work. She'd kept it covered though, and now it was in flip flops again. Not necessarily to draw attention, but so it could get air and finish the healing process.

*~*
Tristan had decided he needed to do laundry again. His suits had been sent to the dry cleaner's, but he still had jeans, tee shirts, boxers, socks, sheets and towels to chuck in the machines. Once everything was in the washer, he decided to go play a game of pool or two.

Memphis was out in the garage, next to Lucy. There was a bucket of soapy water to one side and a hose drawn out over the concrete. Travis had taken the car, who knows where, and gotten mud all over the bottom of her. Memphis scrubbed at the back quarter, muttering to himself.

Travis had decided to go lounge around the pool today. As he kicked back in a lounge chair, he wondered briefly if Memphis was out on another date with that little redhead maid. Maybe if the dates continued, Travis would get told to not come home one night. Then maybe Memphis wouldn't be so crabby.

~*~
Crabby or not, laundry still had to be done. Which was where Memphis was, fishing the laundry out of the washing machine and chucking it into the dryers. His fingers closed over something not made of cloth and his expression turned confused. Picking the object out of the machine, he'd pulled out a condom.

*~*
Erin was in the mail room, sorting the junk from her Cosmo magazine, her cell bill and a letter from her Grams.

~*~
Roxy was in the lobby, trying to figure out what she'd been thinking, upping the wedding by a whole year. Then trying to fit a vacation in the middle of that? She still needed to talk to Andras too. Scribbling on a paper in Spencer's project planner she made that a top priority.

*~*
Logan and Chad were both outside in the gardens. Logan was tending to a small patch of garden as Chad watched, unable to do much more. He was frustrated and despising this whole meniscus thing in it's entirety.

~*~
Tristan needed coffee. His day had started out a disaster, after having a shrieking Anabella Winters on the phone for nearly three hours. Somehow, she'd found out about that tattoo of his and decided she needed to voice her opinion. At seven a-m, which was when Tristan had been peacefully dreaming of screwing a hot brunette.

Travis had not wanted to get up at all this morning. Instead of going to the shop with Memphis, he now sat up at the pool, tempted to fall asleep on one of the loungers.

~*~
Memphis hadn't gone directly into work, since when he got to the garage Lucy wouldn't start. Grumbling about little gremlins messing with her wiring, he had his head stuck under the lifted hood trying to find the problem.

*~*
Erin had work tonight, which meant being lazy through the day and spending the night at the station. She was in the lobby, settled into her favorite comfy chair and reading.

~*~
Chad was still on crutches though now he had the hang of them again. A huge black brace covered his knee and it itched like mad. He tried to ignore the itch as he sorted through mail, wondering just how he was going to carry the mail back up.

*~*
Logan was officially out of school and outside playing with Lily. Somehow, it seemed less of a chore and more fun without threat of final exams over his head.

~*~
Roxy had a cancellation, which had brought her home early. She'd made some calls and poked about a few pondery things for the wedding planning, but was easily bored with that. At least she thought the color scheme was picked out and that was one less thing to worry about.

*~*
Tristan was down in the Mocha, picking up coffee for both him and Anastasia, since they were supposed to be going off to Skin Deep today. Last week they'd both contemplated a couple things, this week was the decision day.

Memphis knew Jane had Mondays off. He'd been a bit busy with work recently, and hadn't seen her around. So after work on Monday, he decided to stop by her apartment. His hand that knocked on the door had been washed before leaving the shop, but it seemed to have permanent grease marks on his knuckles.

Memphis was out of clean shirts. He'd decided to do something nice and rounded up Travis's laundry too. Now he sat in the laundry room, sorting out the pile of clothes and tossing the wash into three machines. One whites, one colored, one jeans.