Morningstar Manor

Eve was sitting in the Mocha, idly stirring a cup of peppermint coffee as she watched people come and go. On her table sat the daily paper, some random magazines, and her planner. She had to go in to work tonight, and if she happened to see Granger, she wanted to know when her next day off was.

Saturdays, in general, were somewhat lazy days. The day of the week most Manorites were bustling about, getting done what was pushed off during the week. In that nature, there were quite a few residents milling around.

Memphis had taken his basket down to the laundry, dumped his clothes in the washer and fled off to the game room where he set up the pool table.

Travis was sitting in the Mocha, attempting to study a video lesson for his ASL class.

Also in the Mocha, turning the pages in a book, sat Chad. He looked like he was reading. Honestly, he was thinking about several things.

Logan and Appa were playing outside, taking advantage of the piles of leaves.

Just down the hall, Erin was in the process of collecting her mail.

Roxy had taken off to the roof, to lounge about in the hot tub and have a bit of a lazy afternoon.

In the garage, Eli was scrambling to get everything out of the trunk. He'd gone out and gotten groceries, to include dog food, which was a pain in the butt to juggle.

Between the elevators and a truck, Tristan was commanding a moving crew, overseeing the process of merging his and Rhiannon's apartments. Some things were going to storage Rhiannon had set up, other things were being moved to a storage room at his club. He made a mental note to follow up with the TA within the next week.

"Oh 'scuse me." Eve said to one of the movers as she slipped past with a messenger bag strapped across her shoulder. Figuring she should probably stay out of the boss's way, she went off to the back corner of the lobby to open her laptop and check her calendar for DeRossi appointments.

Ashlynn was humming softly to herself as she ran on the treadmill. The gym was not a place she'd ventured to often the last time she lived here, but it was pretty nice and quite convenient now.

Ang was settled in the pool, drifting and lapping alternately, an exercise that Alec had agreed to, and which she was making the most of having left Gavin with his father for a bath and bedtime routine they mostly had down pat. Her mind was racing though, through the essay due next week that she had almost finished, but was indefinably unhappy with. She'd missed something, something, "Conditioning!" She suddenly sat up in the water, unaware that someone else was in the pool house, "I forgot about the damn conditioning!"

----

Emma was in the Gym, the phys ed component of her year was not going well, and she was doing her best to improve that with a few miles on the treadmill, and some light weights, but, really, could she have known less about what she was doing? Just then, she was sat on a mat, supposedly stretching, but in reality, mostly in a dream about opening an exhibition in a gallery, her exhibition, a brilliant success...... strangely enough she was smiling, despite the hunched posture and oddly extended leg that she was bent over.

----

Icene had finished emptying her apartment. The last of her belongings had gone, either to Adams, or the local good will. She'd advised her parents of the apartment number change, but only her father knew what was going on. He'd confessed her mother was slipping still further, and Icene was now worrying over a black coffee, that thankfully remained such, whilst shredding a muffin into crumbs.... should she go home? Could she do anything? Would she just make it worse? And if her mother was as far gone as her father said, would she even realise who Icene was? She sat, without realising she was crying, as a single solitary tear drifted down her face, slowly freezing until a small bead of ice fell from her chin into the mess of crumbs on the plate.

----

Gregori was cheerfully stuffing mailroom boxes with small samples of chocolates, he'd left a box that first time for Ashlynn, and that had given him the idea, now he dropped half a dozen chocs, in bags, into each box in the apartment, complete with a business card, and a small copy of the 'menu'. He was humming a Christmas Carol, because there were no good halloween songs.

----

Cleo browsed the library shelves, wondering, not for the first time, why she'd picked the courses she had. All this studying was not helping her find a date, and with halloween coming up, surely a costume for the rumoured ball was far more important than an essay. She found the book she was looking for, and turned, only to drop the book as someone else was right there, "Oh madre de dios! You made me jump!"

----

Spencer had been in meetings, and was feeling tired and drained. But there were chores to be done, so tonight he was staring blankly at the washing machine as it revolved rhythmically before him, the towels tumbling in and out of the soapy water, his mind seeking only rest and respite from worry and stress. Christmas was coming, the store was gearing up, and yet, he just couldn't find any enthusiasm for any of it. It worried him.

----

Jane was quietly clearing up the daycare centre, slowly cleaning up the spilled paint, the ground in clays, and setting things to rights. Alongside her were a couple of the last remaining children, who's parents hadn't yet arrived to collect them, even though officially the daycare part of their work was over. She was happy though, because the children were helping, and it was all good, however imperfectly they did it, they really were helping! "That's it, one more brush into the pan, and yes! You've got it! Well done," she smiled at the young boy, "Now, can you get it to the bin without spilling it?"

She looked up to see another parent arriving, "Evening! We've had a lovely day, everything all right?"

With a sigh Icene joined the queue at the Mocha counter yet again. That black coffee she'd been drinking, seemed to have somehow become hot chocolate, and six she was not! Muttering grumpily under her breath she waited impatiently for the line to get through being served. It was just one more problem to be dealt with, along with boxes that moved, switched contents, and generally messed themselves up as she was packing up her apartment. In fact, that was the reason she was here, since her coffee maker had gone somewhere and she couldn't find it!

"I swear, it was in the box with the green sticker, so how come it's not there now, and where did the breadmaker come from? I've never owned one of those...." She shook her head, not really paying much attention to anything other than her mental packing list, and lucky that when she did bump into someone, she didn't spill black coffee (hopefully) all over them!

Niles' hand hurt. He may or may not have gotten stoned with Sarah and played Guitar Hero for six hours the other night, but that was entirely up for debate. But for now he was sitting in the lobby, mostly because he felt like it, and he was tired of sitting in his apartment. He could go pester Elspeth, but he'd just left her place this morning and he figured at least a small break was in order.
He supposed like any good kid he should just plot to take over the world. What else was there to do on a fucking Thursday?

Anastasia sat at a table by herself in the Mocha with a folder thick with student proposal papers shoved to one side of the table and one open in front of her. With her head tilted and wide, shocked eyes, she read Tyler Field's explanation as to why the human penis was the perfect centerpiece for his final project, roughly titled "Deez Nuts." It was funny in a horrifying way and she was definitely going to have to shut him down before he turned in a bunch of embellished paintings of his own genitalia, no matter her reputation for being one of the more liberal professors. That was just gross.
But for right now when she was by herself, she couldn't help but laugh at his gumption.

Bundled up against the early morning chill, Ang was in the gardens with Faith, and an equally well wrapped up Gavin. She'd woken early, and unable to get back to sleep had snuck out of bed and gone about her morning routine. Luckily this pregnancy was seeming to be easier, less nausea for one, so she was doing much better so far.

Faith had done her business, and was now busy letting Gavin chase her about the lawns, entertaining both of them while Ang wandered more slowly around the paths, contemplating life and the essay she had to finish for tomorrow, lunch and how happy Alec had been last night when the Yankees swept the Minnesota Twins to get a place in the next stage of the so called World Series. She snorted a little with laughter, drawing Faith's attention, again amused by the fact that with only American teams in the competition they called it the "World Series". As Faith drew closer, Gavin in hot pursuit, Ang fished a tennis ball from her pocket and lobbed it out onto the lawn, sending Faith barrelling after it. But it wasn't Faith who got to it first....


(OOC: Sal, moved this for you, hadn't noticed it was in the wrong place. Sorry hun!)

Kelsey had expressed a deep and terrible need for box files. Preferably multicoloured ones to speed up filing. Ben considered this to be a frivolous but reasonable request. He would have preferred sensible black ones, but since Kelsey did the filing, and did it so well and so cheerfully, and nobody would be seeing them anyway, he was walking back across the Square with a rainbow's worth in two huge plastic bags.

Plastic bags were anathema to Ben - especially cheap tin ones that stretched and split and, as now, spilled their cargo onto the pavement.

"Oh f ...." There was a toddler nearby in a stroller so Ben bit that word off and said, "Drat," instead. It didn't have nearly the same cathartic effect.

Sunday afternoon, and with no household chores to be done, and Alec on edge over the baseball, Ang had taken the chance to slip away with an assignment to the library. That had taken a while, but with that done, she'd headed for the Mocha, intending to just have a cup of tea. Of course, then she'd seen the cookies and muffins, decided she was hungry and succumbed to the temptation of not only a sandwich, but a plate of treats too. Now though, she was settled with her tray and her tea, and a textbook, on one of the couches, to study and relax at the same time. She looked up often though, smiling at people and generally feeling very relaxed, despite how busy things were just now.

She'd just set the book down when something drew her attention, and she looked up to see someone heading her way....

Taking care of normal groceries - food, cat food, coffee, hair spray and so on - something occurred to Emily's mind that made her stop and stare towards the liquor and wine department. She bit her lip thoughtfully for a while, but then she grabbed her shopping basket with determination and made her way to the wines.

Soon she was standing in front of the shelf with all the sparkling wines, and she was looking at the Champagnes especially, hesitantly lifting her eyes from the bottom shelf to the more expensive ones too.

Gregori had been working flat out for over a week, ever since the Chocolaterie was declared fit to be opened. He’d interviewed over two dozen people who wanted to work in the shop, and six for the kitchens, that had been disappointing, but, he’d found a prize! One of the young men who’d tried out for a shift had natural talent when it came to chocolate, and didn’t lick his fingers either, so he’d been hired on a trial basis to help Gregori get the stock ready for opening. Also, he’d hired two teens to work in the shop at the front, and he’d been training them when they were available. The girls grumbled about hair nets and gloves, but he was insistent, and both would have to get hygiene certificates in addition to the level ones they’d both shown him at interview. That test could be done online for heaven’s sakes, it was very basic and not really up to Gregori’s standards.

( A start this early could only mean....  )Chocolaterie Rushenko was officially open.

Emma thought she was doing really well, not only did the constantly being watched feeling not freak her out, but she was actually feeling remarkably comfortable with it. Unlike Ang, who'd been down earlier while Alec was out with Faith and Gavin, she hadn't wanted to be alone was her reasoning for visiting, but then she'd confessed to the pregnancy and Emma understood more. After their visit, Ang had headed home for dinner, and Emma had walked Lily then left her back in the apartment to come down to the Mocha and web browse on her netbook in company. She wasn't looking for much, just ideas, and the odd fact about various painting movements and fashion trends, and if she could find it, something nice for Halloween.... She'd just given up on one site, nothing but nothing would have her going anywhere dressed as a pumpkin when something made her look over her shoulder...

There had been shopping earlier, and Alec was confident it had gone well.

Gavin was currently racing - as fast his chubby little legs would carry him - around and around the lawn, chasing Faith and laughing uproariously in time to the little ghost stuffie he clenched tightly in one little hand. Every time the wee tyke squeezed a might too hard the cheerily grinning ghost lit up and shook and shimmied to the "Monster Mash."

Ang would probably kill him later, and make sure the toy disappeared the instant Gavin went to bed, but right now, his son's face made it totally worth it.

Cleo was feeling very relaxed, she'd spent the day making the most of the sunshine, lounging around the gardens in a bikini skirt and top, throwing on a cover up in a ridiculously hot pink floral design to fetch herself drinks and food from the Mocha, and reading up on a text for college. Yes, even on her fun days Cleo managed to get some work in somewhere! Now though, she'd finished the book, even made notes, and was enjoying a long cold soda with a sandwich before she needed to head back up to the apartment. Not that she expected Jazz to be there, she'd been kind of absent again just lately, probably involved with Tom upstairs. Cleo sighed, please god she never wound up so wrapped up in a man as that.

Of course, with so many good looking men around here, even Cleo had to admit she was spoilt for candy to look at. Probably just as well most of it came attached to a partner, but, hey, she could still look right?

Alec was upstairs with Gavin, but Ang had been down to the laundry with a full week's laundry to do. For now, while the machines worked their magic, she sat in the Mocha, a pot of tea and the contents of two mailboxes on the table in front of her. Mostly it was for her, but there were two bags beside her, one for Emma, and one for Alec, into which she put the occasional piece. A far larger bag contained junk mail that she would simply dump into the recycling on her way back up.

Pulling another envelope from the top of the pile she put a hand out, but not fast enough to stop several pieces of paper from sliding off onto the floor. "Drat," she muttered, both hands now busy holding the pile stable, "not quite what I expected to happen. But I suppose I should have planned for it too, something usually manages to go wrong just lately." She'd have to pick up the others in a second.

Jane was, for a change, in the library. All right, no so much of a change, as just in a different part of the library to her usual favourite reading corner. Today she'd had the afternoon off and was firmly tucked into a table, writing notes and reading through a number of text books she'd found on interior design. Well, she figured she was going to need all the help she could get, what with college starting up in a week or so, and evening classes were going to be hard work on top of the crèche job, but, she was determined to make something of herself. Somehow. It was just going to be very very hard for a bit.

Maybe too hard? She wibbled, and her confidence wavered, enough to make her bury her head in her hands, but after a few moments she lifted her head back up and muttered something firmly, if under her breath...

Icene was on edge, many of the people in the department figured the butcher had finished, but, there was a part of Icene's mind that said that was not the case. So instead of letting them get to her at work, she came home and punched the bag, lifted weights, ran and rowed, and generally worked herself into exhaustion before going back to either hers or Adam's apartments to shower before dinner. Tonight was no different really, she just, wasn't feeling it quite so much, and even though the workout had been intense, and she was now stretching out, she still couldn't put her finger on what was wrong. But something was, something very bad was very wrong.

The door opened behind her and she rolled, twisting as she did so to come up facing the door, nobody was going to sneak up behind her today!

He'd bought coffee, argued with the builder who was finishing off the store inside, and then had a blinding moment of sheer frustration. He'd forgotten to organise the signage for the front! Having cleaned up the office (again for the third time this morning), he'd given up and headed to the Auberge, but was now sat on the angel statue's base staring at his shop and wondering, how best to sell it to the passers by... the chocolates inside that was, not the actual shop.

On his knees a very new looking pad of blank paper, and some squiggles that might have been ideas for lettering, if you squinted and turned the page a bit upside down or something. No, Gregori couldn't draw, but he made up for that with the beautiful chocolate creations, photos of which were already being blown up into posters and oh ye gods, he'd need letterheads and everything! He groaned and downed half of the new coffee he had bought, then bit into the large sub roll he'd bought from the Auberge... something that fitted in with the location, but was uniquely Rushenko. That was the rub, he'd been so good at being universal and background, but now he needed to stand out, to be noticeable instead. He needed help, and fast.

Emma was idly stirring the cup of tea, half asleep, with Lily laying on her feet and a half eaten muffin on the plate by her elbow. Upstairs she knew Ang would be doing something seriously like dinner, while unpacking and doing the laundry and cleaning the apartment she shared with Alec and Gavin, but Emma was not Ang. She'd dumped her case on the floor near her bed, and collected Lily and Faith from Charlie, then taken Faith to Alec and headed straight for the Mocha. Laundry could wait, so could dusting, and to be honest, she was knackered. Ang and Alec might have dozed on the plane, but Gavin had been one wide awake toddler and Emma had been keeping him amused with games and toys and walking up and down the plane with him when he wouldn't sit still. Thank god they'd flown club class, the extra room had been very welcome.

Every now and then she added something to the short but growing list of things she had to do, laundry, shopping, unpack, walk Lily, sleep for a week, eat muffin.... she put the pen down and broke a piece off, looking round a bit with tired eyes, it was still good to be home. She swallowed the piece and then yawned, hiding her mouth behind her hand, maybe she should have gotten coffee....