Morningstar Manor

Travis was in the library. He had four or five books open on the table, his laptop up and a word processor document going, so he could type up his final research paper for BIO. However, his head was down and he was sound asleep.

~*~
Tristan was dressed for work and a little early, so he stopped to get his mail. Taking the lot out of the box, he sorted the bills from the magazines and the junk. Still no sign of any envelopes, purple or otherwise, from his mother.

*~*
Memphis was out in the garage, bucket and sponges in hand as he bathed Lucy. From a little portable radio, Guns-N-Roses filled the air and he might or might not have been singing along.

Drew stood in line in the Mocha, fresh from work but not in his operating scrubs. Instead he wore jeans and a comfortable white t-shirt, and he was fairly certain he looked as tired as he felt. His day off started right now, but he knew he wouldn't be able to get to sleep right away.

Anastasia moved through the lobby of the Manor fresh from her studio, her hands and dress covered in paint, her stride slower and just entirely different than usual. Later, she wouldn't remember this. She wouldn't remember the people that she talked to or the things she did, because in that moment, Anastasia was someone else entirely. She turned to smile at someone, all teeth, her eyes cold, and the man she smiled at looked away. She laughed and it wasn't her laugh at all. How lovely.

Declan sat just outside of the Mocha on a bench in the garden, smoking and looking up at the sky.  One hand rested in his lap and was clenched in anger, but he was attempting to work through it. One of his partners had quit today to go work for Playboy because "it was a good, honest magazine that didn't pander to queers." Good riddance if he felt like that. Declan was just pissed that he hadn't had the chance to fire him first.

Bea had decided to take Pippa for a walk in the park since it was such a lovely day, and right in that moment she was sitting on a bench watching as Pippa tried to coerce a gaggle of geese into playing with her. Ther was a series of loud squawks and Pippa came running back to Bea with her head down and her ears flat. "No such luck, huh girl?" Bea said with a laugh as she leaned down to pet her dog. She felt almost weird, like she was being watched, but that was likely just leftover nerves from the creep at the signing. Right?

Kate was walking home from the labs, enjoying the sunshine despite the fact that it was a long walk. Her car was in the shop and it was such a nice day that she hadn't bothered with a cab. Across the street there were a group of boys on skateboards and one shouted at her, then made an obscene gesture involving his crotch. Her brow furrowed. That didn't seem like the way to attract a woman to her, but men, especially young ones, were such curious creatures.

Rhiannon stood in the window of NOIR as she outfitted a mannequin in leopard-print lingerie that she'd just gotten in this morning. She was taking a stab at a line of lingerie, and she needed to pimp it out big time if she wanted it to do good. 
"I'm telling you, girl," Lee said from the cash register at the front. "Let me model that shit. I can stand in the window and look good all day."

"Hard to find a pair of panties that would do an ass like yours proper justice, Lee," she replied absently, but with an amused smile. Best way to get Lee off of a silly idea was to stroke his already pulsating ego.

Lee, quite predictably, preened. "You know, you might be right."

Even though he was going to Rhiannon's for dinner, Tristan had arranged a delivery for Anastasia. Nothing huge, just flowers and a box she could share, should she choose to. On the flowers was a note. Happy Easter. How about planning a bestie day soon?

~*~
There was a delivery going to another apartment as well, again because he couldn't organize it himself Eli had left the arrangements to his sister. Hopefully Bea didn't mind lots of candy and a lightly coloredbouquet. The note in her flowers said He'll be home soon, just remember he loves you and I'm here if you need anything else. ♥ Liz

Harvey had gotten Rhiannon up nice and early this morning, shouting in glee at the Star Wars Storm Trooper helmet and gun that he'd gotten in his Easter basket. He'd spent the whole morning tucking and rolling around her living room, talking in a robot voice thanks to the helmet and pretending to shoot Auggie, who alternated between chasing him and yipping happily to running as fast as he could to hide. Lestat had taken to hiding behind the TV stand and refused to come out. Her boys were cute, if not wild as hell.

Now she stood in her kitchen putting the finishing touches on her Easter dinner, dressed casually in a tank top and a pair of jeans and waiting for Tristan to arrive.

I've got a surprise. Come and see?

xoxoxoxo
Summary: Rhiannon invites Tristan over to meet her new puppy Auggie, and they watch movies, eat pizza, and discuss life.

Anastasia was having trouble deciding between two dresses for Emily's party tonight. The black one made her look curvier, but the silver fringe dress was entirely more fun. She thought about asking Gavin, but he was lost in his writing and she hated to disturb him for something so petty. There was really only one thing left to do - consult her bestie.

Hooking both dresses over her arm, she went upstairs to Tristan's apartment and knocked on the door, hoping he was not busy.

Tristan had called Niles in tonight. Not because he needed something done. Nope. Tristan had gone and hosted a Mardi Gras themed night last night where all proceeds were designated for Katrina victims. It seemed fitting for him to do since Mardi Gras was a New Orleans tradition and women took off their clothes for far less there than they did here. Plus, the Saints had won the Super Bowl this year so things had to start looking up for the people of New Orleans soon, right?

With minimal preparations needing to be done for tonight's ball, Tristan whistled contently as he dropped off presents at the front desk for both Anastasia Rhiannon and Harvey. His phone in hand he also arranged flower deliveries for Anastasia and apartment 117.

~*~
From were he sat, fully clad in uniform on the edge of his cot, Eli hoped his package was being delivered to Bea. Sure, they'd celebrated earlier, but Jerry had promised to deliver Bea's last Valentines present on time.

Not to override her brother, Liz had put in a call for flowers, two dozen of them since one dozen didn't seem like enough.

~*~
Erin, not entirely in the mood to celebrate but still going to get ready for the ball, stopped by Joe's apartment and hung a small gift bag on his door knob. Inside was a present and a note saying You should always have a little luck within reach.

As for the other men she'd thought about for this particular holiday, well, she'd see how tonight went.

Rhiannon stood in her kitchen in a tan plaid dress and a ruffly white apron that made her look like a housewife from the 1940's. It was all in good fun though, she decided as she stirred the chicken and beef around in seperate pans. There were ingredients all around the kitchen to make 'Super Burritos' as Harvey liked to call them, and it was what she was making for Tristan.

Harvey was more or less supervising at the table with a line of his Army guys and  quietly humming "Hey Jude" to himself. That made her smile. Her kiddo was a little nervous too.

Anastasia had been out painting all day. She didn't know what it was and most of it she couldn't remember. But one of the paintings she'd finished had been of Tristan, and she wanted to show him.
With the painting tucked against her arm and her sweater and slip dress still covered in paint, she knocked.

Tristan had done as he said and lived up to taking the day off from work for her. He went out shopping in the morning for supplies to make lasagna, put most of it together and turned to the football game he'd recorded. He was a true fan of the Saints, and had grabbed his hoodie to tug on as he heard a knock on the door.

Rhiannon paced in her living room in a black dress and a pair of knee-high black boots, entirely determined to not look at herself or change her outfit another time. She felt comfortable in this and that's what Tristan said to wear. She also still had his jacket from when he walked her home on Monday, and it was draped over the back of her chair, safe from Lestat's hair and claws.

"You look pretty, Aunt Rhi," Harvey said from the floor where he was playing with Lestat.

She paused and smiled, feeling a little better. Kids were brutally honest so she was probably ok. "Thanks, kiddo."

He'd been thinking about her since the benefit. He hadn't explained anything to her about Rhiannon and he hadn't even gone to talk to her. Picking up his phone off his desk he thumbed his way through a message to her.

Sorry about the other night. Didn't mean to ignore you, just got a lil distracted.

Rhiannon had gotten down to the laundry room a little early, but she supposed it didn't matter as she had loads of laundry to do. She'd learned that the main cause of that particular problem was Harvey, who seemed to think that the only way to get something done correctly was by getting dirty in the process.
She looked to where he sat on the floor, quietly talking to his green army men and smiled as she dumped pair after pair of tiny little man pants into her laundry, then glanced down at her low rise jeans, lipstick red shoes and white gauze tank top again, hoping she didn't look too sloppy for Tristan.

The bags were loaded, the furniture was in, and Rhiannon Mackenzie had a hungry little nephew that insisted on asking a million questions. Sighing, she headed into the lobby to see if she could find that coffee shop she thought she'd seen on the way in. They had to have a cookie or a muffin that she could stuff into his mouth and tide him over until she found a place to order some carry out. She was SO not cooking tonight.

Now, wearing a pair of shiny black leggings, knee high Doc Martins, a long olive green v-necked t-shirt with two black pistols crossed on the front of it and a black cardigan rolled up to show the bottom part of her tattoo sleeve, Rhiannon was in startling contrast to her polished little nephew with neat brown hair and blue plaid.

"Aunt Rhi, why does he look so grumpy?" Harvey said and Rhiannon sighed.

"I don't know. He works security. He probably has to put up with a bunch of grumpy people."

"Aunt Rhi, are noodles a fruit or a vegetable?"

"Neither."

"Then why do I eat them?"

"Do you not like noodles?"

"No, I love noodles."

Rhiannon sighed. "Then don't worry about it."

Sterrin was standing in line in the Mocha sleepily shifting through her purse to find her cell phone that was suddenly ringing off the hook. "Hello?" she said in a sleep husky voice, and then her eyes shot wide open. "He did WHAT?!" She was quiet as she listened to the frantic voice of Declan's publicist and after she hung up, she burst out laughing loud enough to turn everyone's head.

Isabella sat at a corner table pouring over her date book. The lack of Sterrin was creating a bit of an issue with some of her clients, but Isabella was almost thankful she was gone. There was something just not - right about that girl. Sighing, she rubbed at the bridge of her nose and contemplated hiring more help.

Anastasia was sitting sideways on one of the couches with several fat packs of pictures in front of her. She'd printed out all the pictures on her many memory cards and was now shifting through them. It was a good distraction from everything else.

Tristan was seriously late getting in from work tonight. It was two thirty and he didn't have any excuse to give Anastasia. He had an apology, but without calling her before hand he could understand if she was mad at him.

The apartment was quiet and dark, and when he went to his bedroom there was an Anastasia sized cocoon in the blankets. He undressed and slid into bed beside her, wanting to hold her but worried he was too cold to.

Tristan had proposed the idea of a guy's night out and Niles had agreed. It was silly, that they never saw each other outside of work really. They lived in the same apartment for cripes sake. He'd had Stanley drop them off at Sanctuary, since Niles had driven last time. With a simple nod he'd managed to get them in easier than last time as well. Now they were winding through the dance floor.

"Booze or babes, Niles?" Tristan asked briefly, already leaning toward going to the bar himself.

Sterrin stood against the wall wearing a black dress  and a pair of black leather above the knee stiletto boots. She was letting the scantily-clad blonde in front of her lean into her as she spoke. That was always important, to let them come to her. It was the way she preferred, really.
She stroked fingers down the blondes arm, seeing the nursing program she was dancing to put herself through, her eagerness for money and her rudimentary bicuriousity towards Sterrin. How adorable. 
She'd be perfect for Isabella, Sterrin decided. This girl, unlike some of the others working here, seemed entirely natural and pretty and not in a trashy sort of way. Isabella offered bonuses to any of her employees that brought her another quality employee, but had been very specific about not poaching from other businesses. Sterrin, of course, didn't give a shit about anything like that.
"Listen, sweetie," she said, pressing in and letting her hands creep down over the girl's waist. "I think De Rossi would be just the place for you. I could take you under my wing, show you the ropes, get you the really good paying clients." She smiled and slipped her hand into her bag and produced a card that she handed the girl, then pressed her lips close to her ear. "Call me."

Niles had woken up this morning to the sounds of his cat joyfully batting bulbs around his Christmas tree. Being of the mindset that it was the documentarian's job to simply observe, he grabbed his point and shoot camera and started snapping pictures as Lola darted in and out of the tree. After he got one that he felt was particularly awesome, he put it onto his computer and made a personalized card for each of his friends that he was delivering gifts to today, and the ones that he'd gifted already. After sticking the coordinating card with each gift, he happily carried them down to be delivered. Had he gone overboard? Yes. Were his gifts bordering on extravagent? Some were. But it wasn't like he didn't have the money and he adored having people to actually buy for. Whistling, he headed back up to his apartment.