Playing House

Who: Rupert, Camber, Chris and Daphne
When: Ten minutes past eight
Where: The ball room!

Rupert had taken one Valium before getting dressed, and one after. And he was still a bit shaky. These social gatherings made him nervous; in fact, if the whole affair didn't sound a little bit mandatory, Rupert wouldn't even go. He had thought about not going, but then thought better of that, seeing as the whole reason he was here was to socialize and learn to survive events like this with his dignity intact.

He had dressed in a formal black suit and white button-down shirt, and then he had tried a tie, a bowtie, and nothing at the collar. Thinking anything else might be a bit much, Rupert had gone without anything at the collar, and even unbuttoned it. He felt slightly naked, but at least he looked relaxed...Right?

Arriving at the ballroom precisely at 8pm, Rupert heard the bells chime and then the doors open, and then he decided to hang around and not actually walk into the ballroom before anyone else was there. In fact, he stood a good ten minutes nearby before he made his way inside, and even then there were very few people already there, none of which he knew. As he looked around, Rupert found a table-assignment sheet, which meant he wasn't going to be able to just sit alone in a corner and pretend he didn't exist. As he looked at where his name was, he swallowed hard. He had been assigned to sit with Daphne, the gorgeous and freckled avid reader; Chris, the confident mocker and Camber, who seemed to have been causing a fuss in the journals. Rupert made his way over to his table, and sat there alone for a little while. "Brilliant. I-I am l-l-like the o-ov-o-overeager b-b-ball date." He rolled his eyes. Forgetting he had taken two already, he took another Valium, chasing it down with a glass of water.

Who: Trix and Chris with a dash of Delaney later on
Where: The sitting room
When: Mid-afternoon

Trix loved this house. It was a surprisingly welcome change from the hustle and bustle of her London life and she found herself relaxing more and more, feeling perfectly content with just ambling about the house. Today's activity, she had decided, would be listening to some music - yes, her life had become so easy and simple that simply blessing the ears with some pleasant tunes was a goal - and so eventually she ambled down to the sitting room, iPod and weed in hand, because listening to music without some form of psycho active substance was pointless.

Once she reached the room, she settled upon the largest sofa she could find, perching on it while she lit her spliff before swinging her legs over the arm and lying down. After a bit of fidgeting with her clothes, making sure that she wasn't flashing anyone too badly, she popped in her earbuds and sighed, letting her body sink into the soft cushioning of the couch. Yeah, Trix could definitely get used to this. She began to play a couple tracks (something soothing and ballady because she and her drugs were in that kind of mood) and closed her eyes, letting her senses be consumed. She sighed happily. Yep. This place was fucking fantastic.

Who: Spencer and Chris
When: Mid afternoon
Where: Library

The library in this place was fucking ridiculous. Sure, Spencer liked big fancyass rooms as much as the next guy but this was seriously taking the piss. On the cameras, the room hadn't looked like much but, as the lawyer first made his way in and realised the sheer size of it, his face screwed up in disbelief. Really? A house should not have a library like this. A museum or some sort of high brow academy, perhaps, but certainly not a building holding a relatively small group of people.

Nevertheless, Spencer thought it a waste to not give the room a decent look through, so he meandered through the bookcases, a beer from lunch in hand, stopping whenever he saw something which looked vaguely interesting. He thought he might as well pick up any books which might keep him entertained. He had a whole year to spend here after all. He stumbled across the law section and bent down to give it a look. Their selection was pretty pitiful, but then again Spencer was used to having entire law libraries. He nonetheless sneered at it. Disappointing for a library of this scale, to be quite frank, he thought, not realising the outlandish and unrealistic nature of his expectations. He scanned the shelves, wondering if he could find a section on state law to determine their current location. After all, a bit of casual sleuthing couldn't hurt, right?

Who: Chris and Audrey
Where: The gym
When: Morning, around 8:30


The day of the merge, Audrey was up bright and early - even for her. She'd gotten up and dressed, fully intending to hit the gym first - but she wanted to explore a bit, first. So throwing a towel, her handwraps, and her training gloves into a bag, she headed downstairs. She didn't do much more than a cursory exploration of the lower floors; she already knew more or less what they looked like, and it was so early that there wasn't really anyone up and awake for her to talk to. Not yet, anyway, though she recalled there were several early risers amongst the downstairs folk.

Deciding she might as well introduce herself, she made a quick stop back upstairs to post a public entry, then pulled her hair back in a high ponytail and headed down to the basement, gym bag in hand. Grabbing a couple water bottles from the fridge on her way through, she added them to her bag, dropping it in a corner near a treadmill. She bent to check the laces on her shoes, before straightening and pulling one foot up behind her to stretch her quad.

Now that she was here, she wasn't sure if she wanted company or not - on one hand, she could never start playing too early. But on the other hand, she was sorely starved for a good workout. She just wanted to run, and then she wanted to hit something.

Who: Lily and Chris
When: Early afternoon
Where: Game Room A

Lily missed singing. She hadn't done so since the week between Christmas and New Year's - apart from humming to songs as she did things, which to her didn't really count. The past few days had actually been spent (amongst other things) gaining the courage to creep into the 'modern games room', as she called it, and make use of one of the consoles and one of the many singing games they had for them. She would have gone for the piano in the foyer, if that particular instrument didn't remind her of endless jam sessions between her and Drew. He'd play and she'd sing and feel the happiest she'd ever been. No. She wasn't going to sit in front of that piano and allow all those memories to come flooding back into her brain when she was trying to do something she loved. So, a more modern version of karaoke it had to be.

Finally, today, after she had some lunch, Lily crept into the room with the consoles. She found the one she was most familiar with - a PS3, which her roommate owned - and the game they used to play when they had friends over, or even when they didn't. Immediately Lily jumped to her favorite song of the lot, 'Son of a Preacher Man' by Dusty Springfield.

She didn't need to look at the lyrics, knowing them by heart already, and so Lily relaxed into it, not really taking into account that someone might just walk in and spoil her fun. Lily didn't really want an audience, especially not from people she didn't even know.

Who: Delaney and Chris
Where: Movie Theater
When:Six PM

( Every time I see your face, I think of things unpure, unchaste )

Who: Chris, open to reactions from Delaney
Where: Delaney's door
When: Early morning

( I'm bigger and better than the Titanic, because only 200 women went down on it. )

Who: Chris and Miles
When: Early evening
Where: Game room B

( It didn't take long for Miles to note he had a room directly across from the library (a wonderful coincidence), but he didn't linger there long, compelled to map out his bearings. )

Who: Delaney and Chris
When: mid-morning
Where: the pool

( meeting new people was one of the best things ever )

Who: Chris and OPEN
Where: Ground Floor Living Room
When: Noon

( No shoes, no shirt... )

Who: Everyone and anyone! Mini-threads + spinoff scenes welcome.
Where: Billiard room
When: 7 and on

If one didn’t peer out the windows into the vast white nothing, it was entirely possible to feel like you were in an actual bar. Jai felt quite comfortable in the billiard room, actually. It looked, felt, and even smelled like a bar he’d frequented back home.

He’d showed up a little early, setting out snacks and familiarizing himself with the inventory behind the bar. Okay, technically he wasn’t supposed to mix alcohol with his meds, but he’d found that a beer here and there didn’t upset his system too badly. He was still proudly Irish, after all. He’d set himself a low limit, and could happily make drinks for other people and still have fun. He’d never been one of those guys who had to get drunk to enjoy himself, anyway.

By the time seven o’clock crept up, the room was prepared for a party. Granted, if the entire house turned up he knew they wouldn’t all fit, but he didn’t think that was a problem they were going to have to face. If they did, they’d just take things elsewhere. While he waited for people to begin trickling in, he got himself a beer and headed over to the jukebox. He’d always wanted one of these things in his place.

Who: Chris and Mack
When: Late afternoon
Where: Kitchen


( In which Mack may be driven to throw things. )

Who: Georgie & Open to anyone
Where: 2nd floor; The library
When: Day 1, morning

( Time to explore )