Morningstar Manor

Kris had almost a full day of hair styling scheduled, but he also had laundry to do, having had a bit of a mishap with a mug of coffee and the trailing edge of his comforter. So into the laundry and he began to stuff the machine, the skin of his back crawling as it had been all morning.

He glanced round.

Nobody there.

It crawled again so he glanced round.

Still nobody there.

###

Guy hadn't heard anything back from the Manor - but then it was only a couple of days and his application had been speculative. He still had his fingers crossed though and he opened the window and took a breath of air untainted by disinfectant. At least the cab no longer stank of vomit. He was heartily sick of picking up drunks.

Even though he was a little preoccupied he still spotted the raised hand of a prospective fare and pulled over with a grin.

###

Ben ticked another item off on his list and smiled at Kelsey as she passed with a tray of mugs of coffee from the Auberge. He had found the shop fitters worked harder and more willingly if they were supervised and if the coffee kept coming. It would be his turn to go in an hour.

"Is one of those mine?" he asked Kelsey and she grinned and nodded to a mug on it's own in a corner.

Tea.

But somehow significant, Ben thought as he took it, of certain aspects of his life. Yes, the mug alone in the corner fitted.

It was a quiet one. Guy had been able to park his cab quite close, which was just as well, and he pushed the door open to the waiting room with one hand while holding his fare's blanket closed with the other.

The corpulent middle-aged man was sweating and pale and he clutched Guy's forearm with an urgent hand. "You won't go, will you? You'll wait."

"Meter's running," Guy remeinded him, "and it's been a while already."

"Money's no object," the man insisted.

"Well, okay then," Guy agreed and went to get some assistance.

Vincenzo was having a break in the conservatory, which was just as well as he was trying to deal with a call from his mother. "I know," he said. "Well, we have been telling her to look for a better job. It's not her fault it's in Chicago. No ... no, I won't tell her she can't go. Good luck to her. And it's not as though she'll be leaving before the wedding. She has insisted on being free for that. Yes, if necessary I'll take her there myself. AND check out her accommodation. Sure Mom, yes I will. Yes, bye, Mom."

He put down the phone and gave a deep sigh. Between his sister exulting because she had landed a good job in Chicago and his mother complaining because ditto life was getting overly complicated.

###

Guy had been summoned to pick up one of the tenants - Mrs Phillips, a real looker who tipped well, so he could put up with her leading comments about the length of his shifts and what he did in his spare time - but today he was a little early so he leaned against the hood of his cab and texted Sean, grinning as he got a reply.

###

Kris had laundry. Rosa had offered to do it for him but today he was in the mood for some tedious drudgery - while Gabe accepted and stowed a load of Spa supplies. Naughty, yes, but oh so satisfying.

He grinned as he ambled across the lobby on his way to wash his Egyptian cotton sheets, as yet unshared, but surely only a matter of time.

###

Nick yawned as the elevator opened into the lobby. Mrs Eddings chuckled and waved him out.

"I hope that means you've been having a good time," she said in her cracked and wheezy old lady voice.

"Oh you betcha," he lied and she went on her way happy.

Nick yawned again and headed for the basement to fetch another lock and set of keys. Second time this month Mr Paris had got locked out but why did he always have to break the door down?

Show off.

###

Charlie had dropped Nia off at day care and was now drawing in the Mocha. Vincenzo looked troubled, Guy looked cheerful, Kris looked like he was planning something and Nick - Nick looked exhausted.

Angling his pencil Charlie sketched them all into the drawing he was constructing, but tilted the page coyly whenever someone walked behind him. Gay vampire pirate cartoons weren't to everyone's taste.

Sometimes the Mocha was just as busy at night as in the morning. Tonight, for example, there were several familiar faces.

Jason - still in uniform but officially off work - was sitting alone at a corner table. To say he'd been busy after the accident in the pool house was an understatement. It had left him tired and cranky and, strangely, depressed. Watching all the people fuss over their loved ones had only reminded him that he didn't have one. No one really. Elspeth was busy with Niles - who Jason still said wasn't good enough for her. And since Lilith had left and - Adrian - well that left Jason with no one once again. Normally that didn't bother him. Tonight it was.

Maybe he'd go for a drink later. It had been a while since he'd been out.

***

Gabe had finished his last appointment for the day and decided a coffee was in order. One with lots of sugary goodness in it and more calories than any man should have in a single day, let alone a single sitting. Kris was likely off with Demitri doing things illegal in several states (at least he hoped Kris was) so that left him with a bit of nothing to do.

He flopped down into a chair and began checking his text messages.

***

Loki was back. Had he been gone? Sometimes he didn't even know. But he was here tonight taking up most of one of the couches as usual. Dressed in the typical all black with combat boots he flipped through the pages of a battered book. He'd missed the disaster at the pool. Which really just sucked. It had to have been spectacular.

***

Dressed in scrubs and with his bag on his shoulder Rhys got in line for the counter. He had plenty of time before his shift started to get a coffee and chill out a bit.


[ooc: my schedule this month is insane so apologies if I'm not around or drop threads. I'll try to keep up.]

Leo always checked the weather forecast before leaving for work in the morning. What he saw today made him grimace and get his furry Russian hat out of the wardrobe again and book a cab.

Standing in the lobby, he peered at the snowflakes beginning to filter from the dull sky and gave a sigh of discontent.

###

Fin had decided not to go out. Instead he sat in the Mocha with his laptop warming his knees and tapped away at an article on recipes designed to reduce cholesterol levels. They all sounded pretty dire to him but at least the paycheck was palatable.

###

Guy had just picked up a fare to deliver to the Manor, which was good because he was due to collect Mr Beck. He turned on his windscreen wipers to sweep the snow away and said, "I thought it was spring, didn't you?"

The Mocha was jumping today and many Manor regulars were out and about.

Deacon sat at a table reading over an email Seth had sent to him. It spoke of collars and other alternatives to them and had gotten Deacon thinking. But when Nia insisted on climbing into his lap he closed the email and instead opened up the video player to one of her Winnie the Pooh shows. He'd have to take her to daycare soon so that he could go to the dojo but until then they had a bit of time. So she sat happily in his lap, munching on a cookie and watching Pooh Bear and Deacon sipped his coffee and smiled down at her curly head.

****

Erik had been on the phone when he'd first arrived in the Mocha - speaking to his estate agent and working out everything that would need to be done before he and Angela returned home. Moving everything from their flat here back to Norfolk was a daunting task and so when that call ended - and he'd gotten his tea and found a table - he took a moment to simply sit. He'd had a bit of time before the next call needed to be made.

****

Micah sat in one of the chairs near the Mocha door, sipping his coffee and staring at nothing in particular. He was still furious with Robert Rossi's assumption that he could be bought off like that and hadn't yet said anything to Isabella about it. He'd need to though and likely soon. He'd also need to tell Max about the baby. That was a conversation he wasn't looking forward to.

****

Across the room at at a table Max was reading a paper and enjoying coffee and a bagel before it was time to head to work. Something was up with Micah, he knew, and he'd give it a bit more time before pressing the issue. Then there was the matter of Sterrin and her ex. Granted Max hadn't seen anymore of the man he'd sent to the ER but the fight had obviously caused a riff between Sterrin and her brother - something Max wasn't pleased with.

He sighed and turned a page in the newspaper. Relationships could be such a bother.

****

Rhys was back in the Mocha as well, dressed for work in slacks, a button up and a tie that hung a bit loose around his neck. A duffle bag with a change of clothes and his scrubs sat at his feet and he munched on his bagel and drank his coffee and mentally prepared for his shift.

Rhys had actually managed to get some sleep today. He was headed into the hospital later but had a bit of time to himself and so had gone down to the gym and was now in the Mocha for some coffee and general relaxation. Normally that was done at home, alone, but he was determined to try and actually meet some of his neighbors for a change.

He was feeling much better thanks the massive amounts of sleep and medicine he'd had. Good enough that the Dean had cleared him to come back to work tomorrow. Thank God. Rhys didn't know what to do with himself when he wasn't working.

Today though he was feeling good and had time to himself and sitting in his apartment was just not an option. So off he went to the Mocha for some coffee and, hopefully, some company.

The start of a new week and the Mocha was hopping.

Deacon had dropped Nia off at the daycare already as he and Charlie both had things that needed to get done. Charlie of course had the gallery. Deacon needed to take the cars to get their new inspection stickers and do some general shopping. But first - coffee. Charlie was still getting ready and had had to take a phone call and Deacon would likely be gone before he got down there so Deacon just got himself a coffee and found a place to sit and enjoy it before going on the first of his errands.

****

Eris was in the Mocha as well, once again at a table and looking through brochures on warm sunny beaches.

****

Seth entered the Mocha just after Deacon had left, passing in the doorway and exchanging a few words. Now, coffee in hand, he sat at a table and sipped his drink as he happily sketched the passers by.

****

Gabe was in the Mocha as well, sprawled on a couch and sipping his coffee and idly flipping through a fashion magazine.

****

There was one customer not quite at the Mocha yet but oh he was ready for it. Rhys had just gotten off a forty eight hour shift and was slouched in the back of a cab headed for the Manor. He was exhausted and looking forward to his bed but his stomach was rumbling and he didn't have the energy to make something so he'd stop in the Mocha first, get something to eat and some decaf coffee and then sleep for a day. Maybe two.

He coughed, and that cough turned into a bit of a coughing fit and when he could breath again he murmured an apology to the cab driver. Looks like his boss had been right. Rhys was sick. And a sick doctor was not what you wanted in the ER of a hospital. Maybe that forced time off wouldn't be so bad after all.