Morningstar Manor

Devon stumbled downstairs, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, green hoodie swamping his frame. He ordered the largest cup of black coffee money could buy, then ensconced himself on a comfy chair in the corner of the Mocha with his phone.

****

Xander was hunched over a laptop in the opposite corner of the Mocha, cup of hot chocolate at his elbow, tousled hair looking positively electrified from the number of times he'd run his fingers through it. He frowned at the screen, hoping if he stared long enough, the numbers wouldn't look so depressing.

He knew he shouldn't have chosen a contractor out of the classifieds...

Xander looked at his phone, debating whether to call Zack or not. He did need help moving in, but he wasn't sure if it was too soon to call.

Oh, well. If it was, it was. He pressed 'call', pacing his hotel room as he listened to it ring.

After a full morning's work upstairs at the gallery, framing, packing and getting picture ready for delivery - Sean would do the driving on Monday afternoon and evening - Charlie had settled down at home to do some paperwork.

After a certain amount of shifting money from account to account in order to pay off a pile of bills, he felt like a little recreation but Deacon was out somewhere, probably with the Car, and Andy was in work and Seth was with Nick and - well nobody seemed available.

So he took his laptop and a DVD down to the Mocha, bought coffee and cookies and opened a bag of popcorn, and began to watch that old BBC cult classic 'Edge of Darkness'.

It didn't take long for him to decide that he would really like to give Joanne Whalley-Kilmer one. Come to that Bob Peck looked pretty good too.

So I did some exploring, and I found this thing's blog software.

Information superhighway, here I come!

Mostly, I'm here pimping my new store. Those of you who have been living in the City for a while may remember a little comic book store in Vine Square called 'Fantasy Bazaar'.

Well, that was my store. And now it, and I, are back - bigger and better than ever! The store's now called 'The Zeppo' - 20% off your first purchase if you can name that reference - and it'll be having its grand opening on the 24th of March!

So, charge your lightsabers, rewire your compression coils, and beware of space monkeys.

Alexander Thornton, Proprietor, The Zeppo

To say he'd been nervous all day was an understatement. Zack had gone into work, had gotten some paperwork done and had spent the rest of the day fidgeting. Until he'd sat down at his drawing table and begun to lay out the campaign he'd come up with for Xander's shop. That had gone well and he had a mock up flier ready by the end of the day.

Then he'd rushed home to shower and stare into his closet trying to decide what to wear. A newer pair of blue jeans, a soft blue button up - left untucked and collar opened to show the couple of necklaces he wore, 'dressy/casual' brown shoes, slightly scuffed at the toes but oh so comfy, and the new jacket he'd gotten a few months ago - sinfully soft brown leather, fitted slightly in the waist and hitting him at upper thigh. A dash of cologne and a thin line of black around his eyes and after checking several times to make sure he had his wallet, keys, and other essentials Zack grabbed his scarf and headed for the lobby.

He arrived just before the appointed time and tried not to chew on his nails while he waited.

Xander couldn't stop thinking about Zack, and what Seth had said the other day. He'd been distracted, the contractors he'd employed to help get his store ready rolling their eyes as he changed his mind again and again. At this rate, the store would never be ready.

Sighing, he locked up the store, getting ready to walk back to his hotel. He pulled out his cellphone, looking at it for a long moment. Zack had said he was staying in Seth's old apartment, and he still had the number...

Taking a deep breath, he dialled.

Xander had creeped himself out watching horror films the previous night; much as he loved horror, George Romero's films scared the shit out of him. As a result, he was looking rather drawn today.

Of course, he probably wouldn't have slept even without films about the z-word; seeing Zack again had seen to that. Holding Zack again had seen to that. And God, it just made him want more. But he knew that could never happen.

Sighing, he went back to his painting, carefully finishing the sunlight glinting off Serenity's nose.

Hello ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls -- this is your friendly neighborhood Schnozzle with an announcement:

We've been hard at work and can now give you group chat. If you collaborate in teams of more than one, it's so unnerving to tell everything twice. So, you don't have to, any more.

I know, it sounds like we were re-inventing the wheel, but believe me, we felt we needed it.

Also, no hedgehogs have been spotted lately. Life is good.-

His encounter with Xander yesterday had thrown him for a loop. When he'd gotten home he'd been unable to focus on anything and eventually ended up on the couch watching Torchwood and drowning his confusion in beer. Which meant he'd woken up with a killer headache this morning.

Work had been pointless but that was ok since he'd finished up his latest project. The majority of the day was spent staring out his office window towards the Square. He'd called Seth around noon and had to smile at his friend's desire to go to the comic book store and beat Xander with various paintbrushes. Or send Nick. In the end he'd been invited over if he felt he needed some company.

And he probably would go over later but right now Zack found himself in the conservatory, sitting on a bench and strumming his bass.

He'd worked hard that morning to meet a deadline but it had gone well and so Zack had taken off a few hours early and run home. He needed to go by the great little music shop in the Square and get his bass restrung. Naturally he'd gotten a bit enthusiastic at the last practice and broken a string and, of course, was out of them at home. He found it funny that his attire made him fit more into the musician role than the ad exec role. Worn dark blue jeans, Converse sneakers, an old AC/DC shirt and an ancient hoody.

The weather today was cool but pleasant and so Zack had left the scarf at home but his hands were still covered by fingerless gloves and he was absently fiddling with a loose thread as he walked back through the Square when something caught his eye. He slowed, grip tightening on his guitar case.

A new shop was going in, a comic store from the looks of it. They always made his stomach do a little flip flop now a days. But it was more the image in the window that made him forget to breath for a minute. A painting of River, from Firely, in a style he knew as well as he knew Seth's or Charlie's. Cautiously he approached and peered inside. The store wasn't ready yet obviously but on a far back wall he could clearly make out the huge painting of Serenity.

Quickly he walked past the window until he could press his back to the stone work next to it and suck in a few quick breaths. Not possible, had to be a mistake. Just someone who's style was similar that was all. Right? Zack chewed nervously on a nail, the chipped black polish demolished even more now, and tried to decide what to do. He could go home. Ignore it and just keep walking. But it would nag at him, drive him nuts until he knew for sure. Besides if it wasn't who he thought it was then they might be looking for some advertising...

Taking a deep breath Zack pushed away from the wall and stepped up to the door, testing it. It was open and slowly he let himself in.

Blinking sleepily, because he STILL reckoned going East was worse than going West, Charlie sat in his office and tried to catch up on his paperwork while Andy brought him up to date with recent events.

As she talked she made coffee and kept an ear open for the front of house staff. Sadie was working today and still hadn't grasped that it was polite to look up from her magazine when someone entered the gallery when she wasn't being observed by one of the managers. With Andy, Charlie or Leena in attendance she was a little ray of sunshine.

"The building is going well," she said. "Oh and Amesh tried to get in touch with you last week but I didn't give him your mobile number so he said he'd write instead."

Charlie looked at the pile of mail and nodded. "The Clinton Agency repayments should be coming through about now. I must admit that I've been counting on it." He grinned as she passed him his coffee and grabbed her hand. "But that doesn't mean I can't treat the people who are nice to me," he said and took a box from his pocket and placed it in her palm.

"Oh," Andy said with a smile - Mimi had told her she had seen Charlie buying Koa wood pendants. Then she opened it and blinked.

"Oh," she said again, feeling horribly guilty. "I - um - oh, Charlie, it's lovely."

"So are you," Charlie said and bent his head to his work as Andy heard the bell above the door jingle.