Morningstar Manor

"Hey, Vinnie just told me you had an accident. What happened? Ring me back, huh? Or - or text me if you can't talk. Or - oh, shoot I hope you didn't break both thumbs. That would be TOO harsh. Get back to me, 'kay?"

It seemed reasonable that Emma would get lunch at some point so Amarie waited until sure that Leena was there before diving in through the door and saying, "Hi - got half an hour to spare. I need some advice."

Amarie watched Emily's neighbour, Mr Avilar, heading for the lifts. She appraised his back view thoughtfully, blushed and grinned when he caught her at it and gave him a cheeky little wave. then she tapped on Emily's door and gave Vincenzo's pass key, borrowed from his dresser, a thoughtful jingle.

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.

First thing in the morning, Charlie paused on his way to open the gallery and looked at the sky. There was something in the air - just a little chill - that warned him to make the most of the good weather. Then he walked on, resolving to get the winter woollies out of storage that very weekend.

#

Around eleven Andy crossed the Square with her shopping list, Erik's suit, neatly bagged, over her arm and she too paused. But she was smiling as she watched a pigeon land on the head of the bronze angel. "Go on," she said. "Poop. You know you want to."

#

At noon Nick was at the other end of the Square, just coming out of a tatty little plumbing supplies shop that was nevertheless the only place within walking distance that stock a particular type of European metric dimension washer. Trendy French style bathrooms might look chic but they were a bugger to repair.

#

Lunchtime at the Auberge was part of the routine for Leo on working days and he sat and sipped his coffee while he waited for Paula to bring his salad. He was at a table outside, feeling he might as well make the most of what remained of the summer.

#

"May I?" Fin had asked as the tweedy Englishman had left the table and had got both somewhere to sit and that days local paper. He read it with as much relish as he ate his red onion quiche.

#

Vincenzo waited near the dance studio trying not to feel self concious about the bunch of pink rosebuds he was carrying. He glanced at his watch, then along the road hoping to see Emily but no, he was still a bit early.

#

Amarie romped through the Square on her way home from work. She had new shoes and had picked up pizza for dinner and all was right with the world, yeah, man. She paused at the lights, thumb busy as she sent a text to a friend, but took a moment to wonder at the scraps of mildewed ribbon tied to the upright by the crossing.

#

Del waited near the entrance of the Flamingo Lounge. He was carefully dressed, had a pale yellow rosebud in his lapel and was carrying a London Times. Sometimes customers liked a little intrigue and there was no way he'd say they couldn't have it.

They were late.

#

Jimmy had a bone to pick but the guy had fled. Much good it would do him. He OWED Max and Jimmy would collect. He'd give him one more chance and if he didn't pay up then Jimmy was happy to take payment in body parts.

Meanwhile he ambled along the sidewalk, killing time until he had to get to work.

#

Close to midnight and a horrible shriek disturbed the peace in the alley at the back of the gallery. Two bodies tumbled on the filthy paving, kicking and gouging, spitting curses, until one broke free and fled leaving quantities of ginger fur and a very pleased Palug. He rubbed a paw over a bloodied ear licked it and grinned. Just because he was off his usual patch didn't mean he wasn't still top cat.

Saturday at 11 am, and the Mocha was really busy. Among them were:

• Andras, who had visitors. One of them was his brother Lajos, in the City again for lawyerly business, even though he no longer kept a flat here; the other was a bloke he brought along to sleep on the sofa, some researcher from Cambridge whose cousin apparently was Ilona's best and most high-strung graphics designer, here to briefly consult something arcane that was kept at Rutherford. Andras had no hope of even understanding what it was, except that it was Historical; so the bloke was most likely a historian, right? Funnily, though, he was from the same area of Old Blighty originally where Charlie had that farm Andras visited once; so there was something to talk about, at least.
• Charlotte James, who had just been to an early morning visit to the new spa, and was discussing the relative merits of that versus the Michael's Brothers spa with Maude Temminck (whose character had much improved, Charlotte thought, since she was widowed, dried out, and had a grandkid) while her son Manny was sitting peacefully by, as if the chatter of women was no more meaningful than the waves of the ocean, and just as calming. On his lap, little Morgan Temminck was fast asleep. Theoretically, he was waiting for his wife, but Charlotte got the impression that he was content to just sit there.
• Cindy was sitting a few tables on (having said hello to Charlotte and her lot, but still uneasy about the Temmincks, so she hadn't joined them), talking to the Indian woman, Chandika, and her adorable kid whose dog Hanu was most likely the illegitimate son of Axminster, but nobody minded any more, not even the owner of the mother, because Hanu was such a great dog, and while not pedigree, still an indubitable lurcher. They were talking about spas as well -- in particular, the one where Chandika worked. Cindy was very cautiously trying to work out whether it would be all right for her to go there, and Chandika was doing her best to gently reassure her that of course it was. The dogs were both under the table in classic Axminster pose, fast asleep.
  
• Ricky had his earbuds in, surfing MySpace on his netbook; he was sharing his table with some tall stranger with lanky hair and a large nose who was also working away at his notebook -- a rather larger and posher one. They were both drinking chai latte, and any attentive observer might have realised that they were each drinking distractedly from both cups and totally not noticing. Unless one of them had the swine flu, it probably didn't matter.
• By the door to the conservatory, two ghosts were lurking, mostly unseen by the rest of the Mocha. "Just listen to them!" Marek was saying. "They're totally superficial! All they ever talk about are spas." Manny shrugged. "I've spent my life talking about business; spas are a nice break. And I don't like women for their conversation, you know. More for their curves." Marek laughed.

[[OOC: Brief visit of Lajos Toth and Edgar Cobham to justify the icon and make sure that all twelve are really there!]]

Ricky was sitting on the base of the Vine Square Angel, drinking beer from a can.

A few yards away, his lovely teal Harley was shimmering in the evening sun.

Life was good.

Amarie didn't have to be in work until after lunch today and had intended just to stooge around but Vincenzo had come off his shift in 'mood' and had told her something that had made her stare.

"So," he had finished, "you are to avoid that man, and I think you might be well advised to stay away from Emma as well."

"Oh what!" Amarie howled. "For a start 'that man' wouldn't look at me even if I was wearing a funny hat. And if Emma did get him, so what? Good for her."

And that was when she got grounded.

But there was nothing in the rules to say that she couldn't take her Wyrm to the Mocha and get a drink and the dirt from Joy. Even better she got to listen in to Joy talking to Evans, who was the one who had been monitoring the cameras and so had broken the news.

"How many's that then?" Joy was asking.

"Sheesh, we lost count," Evans chuckled. "But she has to be the youngest."

Joy sniffed and told Amarie to be careful unless she wanted to end up like Emma.

Amarie nodded and took her chocolate to the conservatory and sat on a bench and giggled and giggled.

The taxi pulled up at the Manor, and Emma was still miffed. "I say we go find some more fun somewhere else, what do you think Amarie? I mean, it's still way early, we could probably find another club that would let us in?"

Amarie closed the door of the cab with a polite click. It hadn't been the cab driver's fault but Del Avilar would be drawing a sharp breath soon if she had her way. "I dunno," she said. "Somehow all the fun has gone out of it."

"Or we could just go up to my place and watch DVD's and if we stop off in the Mocha first we can clean them out of muffins and cookies and take some big hot chocolates upstairs too?" Emma grinned, that had the makings of a plan about it, that idea did.

Amarie grinned too. "Hell yes," she said. "I've got some DVDs that aren't strictly out yet. D'you mind being a pirate for the night? I could fetch them while you get the goodies. Here," she thrust some money into Emma's hand, "that's for the food."

Emma opened her mouth to refuse the money, but Amarie was already moving, so Emma shrugged and stuffed the cash into her pocket, she'd give it back later, and headed into the Mocha to get the supplies required for a sleepover.

( Read more... )

Emma had been down in the lobby on time, dressed to impress in a micro mini skirt, decorated all over with black sequins and about two inches of fringing that meant it looked decent if she stood still. With that was a nice spaghetti strapped vest top in silver and black, and an overshirt of sheer black fabric shot through with silver, that was knotted at her waist, the tails dangling to just below the low riding waist (or should that be hip?) band of the skirt. Heels and her hair up made her look older, as well as taller, and her make up was bold but not over done. Now all she needed was Amarie, and a taxi!

"Whoa don't you look nice!" Amarie said. She did her best to ignore Frank's speculative gaze, knowing that her jeans and hoodie looked perfectly decent. "So you're going on somewhere after the movie? Cool! Come on, let's hurry. I don't want to miss the previews."

She grabbed Emma by the arm and hustled her towards the door hissing, "Gonna change in the cab. Frank would've told Vinnie."

( Read more... )

Emma had been busy painting, but now, the telly couldn't hold her interest, so she started thinking about the weekend.... and that meant planning. So she grabbed her phone and sent a text to Amarie.

Amarie? You wanna go clubbing this weekend? I'm up for some fun! Emma

Ricky had brought up his bike from the garage, and wheeled it through to a secluded spot in the back of the garden.

There, he lovingly polished every shiny part of his lovely, lovely Harley. Only in real sunlight could you see if you were doing it right at all.

And he was going about it almost meditatively, humming to himself as he rubbed.

Wenz ur br.day? i no its soon. lets party.

Amarie tapped on her Wyrm with one hand and chatted on the phone to Sadie while her chocolate cooled down.

"Yeah," she said. "I think I might. Want to meet me there? What? Oh shit no way. Why you gotta do that? Well I don't care what he says. You're not gonna let that jerk tell you what to do are you?"

Her jaw dropped. "I don't care what his dad owns! Well okay then, same to you. Bye - yeah - bye!"

She finished the call and tossed her phone onto the table with a scowl.

Stooopid Vinnie was planning on going on holiday and had, in Amarie's opinion, nothing to wear. Of course he was happy with khaki chinos and navy polo shirts, but Amarie had decided she could do better than that for him and had detoured on her way home from work to get him some bits and pieces to gladden Emily's heart.

And while she was at it a few bits and pieces to gladden hers would be nice. More shoes? A girl could never have too many shoes.

The Landlocked City Rollers were back home and ready to fight. Inside Rollerama IV, bleachers were set up and a decent sized and excited crowd filled them. The derby girls were already in their skates and team uniforms, rolling around and greeting their friends.

( The crappy exposition written at 3am continues! )

((OOC - Party post rules can apply if you want to talk amongst yourselves in the crowd! Otherwise, Lara can be caught at anytime pre, post, or halfway through the game!))

It had taken some working out but luckily Amarie had had the invaluable help of her Wyrm's search engine. It was one of the fancy ones where you could actually ask it questions, and had given her a very full answer with full instructions when she had typed "What's the best way to give someone 5 percent of the interest of 45 million without anyone else finding out?" and she had followed them carefully.

So she wrote the note carefully, double checked the details and trotted down to pop it in his mailbox - the name of the bank in Zurich, the number of the account and the password for the internet access all underlined in sparkly pink gel pen.

"The first payment is already in there," she wrote. "Don't you spend it all at once!!"

Could there be anything better than a beer, loud music, and lots of people that were into it? Well, there could be a joint as well, but Ricky was going easy on them, since the incident with that guy Cam.

He was manning the Moray Records stall, selling CDs and t-shirts. The t-shirts for Claws And Swords were brand new. The band had been so gleeful at seeing them!

Maybe Ricky didn't look as jaded as some other stall-manners, but he couldn't really pretend not to enjoy this.

Heyoh, all yous guiyz in Me2land? it's bin work work work work work and i'm BORED.

Anyone know any parties this weekend coming? I wanna let my hair down an dance.


[ooc: *Me2Me2 has been going long enough for this post to be open to just about anyone who might have an interest in social networking sites.]

Travis was bored. Sitting in Memphis's office proved to be less boring since he had access to the computer in there, but he was tired of waiting around for the phone to ring or a delivery to show up. Picking up the phone on the desk, he dialed Amarie's number. Maybe she wasn't babysitting and could come keep him company...