Playing House

Who: Lark and open
When: Evening
Where: Second floor all outside Lark's room

While Lark knew the majority of her housemates were hurting from one withdrawal or another, it really wasn't as bad for Lark as it could have been. Sure, she missed caffeine and sugar, but she wasn't as dependent upon either of them as most seemed to be. It was a bummer, sure, but she'd never really been able to afford a lot of junk food, and she'd never really had much coffee until she'd started living at the homeless shelter. She did find it slightly amusing that the homeless shelter had offered free coffee, but they couldn't get it here.

She had decided it was a good day to keep her head down and stay out of peoples way, just in case. She had spent the majority of the day in the library, at first trying to find some sort of remedy for a caffeine headache. She'd gotten distracted by other things, and eventually had ended her day finding a diabetic cookbook. She'd actually managed to make something edible for dinner, and when she headed up to her room after eating she felt kind of triumphant. Until she saw that her door was open.

Lark slowly pushed her door the rest of the way open, her jaw falling open at the sight that awaited her. She felt a little bit like she'd just been kicked in the stomach. "Are you kidding me?"

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: Rupert and Daphne
Where: The library
When: Morning

Today's awakening had been a bittersweet one. While Rupert had woken up dry, not sweaty and not scorching at all - which felt amazing - what he read in his computer left him extremely unsettled. There were more people, a whole floor of them in the house, and they had been there all along. He supposed he'd have to live with it - and ten more people - it was just the fact that they had been hidden up there all along that bothered him. Why had there been ten people separate from the rest of them for a week, with nothing to do but talk to each other or remain locked up? Was this another experiment of some sort?

All these thoughts busied his mind during his shower, which he found actually refreshed him now. As it was his specialty, Rupert fixed himself some breakfast in record time and then scurried off to the library. There. He was in a public place, but he hadn't gone searching for people, and that was a good enough compromise for him. He settled into a chair, setting his tea and plate of toast on a table next to it, and picked up a book somebody had left nearby called 'My Sister's Skin'. It did not seem familiar, which was a good thing. Furrowing his brow, Rupert sipped on his tea as he prepared to read the first page.

Who: Rupert and Mick
Where: the kitchen because Mick lives there now
When: noonish

( If you've got a problem, I don't care what it is... If you need a hand, I can assure you this I can help )

Who: Rupert and Delaney
Where: Outside on the snowy grounds surrounding the compound.
When: Late morning

He had taken two ice cold showers, rubbed himself with and eaten ice and prayed to all deities he could think of. He had also almost emptied the aspirin bottle Lark had given him. And his breakfast had been ice-cream.

Nothing could cool Rupert off; in fact, he seemed to be actually burning once in a while, and about to burst into flames the rest of the time. It took him another trip downstairs to the kitchen for some more ice-cream for Rupert to look outside at the vast plains of snow. It had to be freezing out there. Positively arctic. He had changed out of two pajamas - once when he finally gave up on sleep and went for a shower instead and the second time when he went into the shower wearing the first pajamas - what was one more? If what he was wearing could be called pajamas, which his mother wouldn't; loose striped boxer-shorts and a t-shirt weren't things a 'proper boy' should wear to bed, in her opinion. But his mother could stuff it right now, this was much better than the winter ones he'd been wearing before. Or even the summer ones he'd brought in case the weather got better.

Opening the door in the kitchen that gave access outdoors, Rupert ran across the snow barefoot until he fell forward and decided to remain lying there on his stomach until his temperature went back to normal. Or until he died. He didn't much care which at this point.

Who: Rupert and Open
Where: The hallway/open area outside his room, third floor
When: At around 11am

( I'm gonna take my clothes off )

Who: Delaney and Rupert
Where: The library, where else?
When: Early evening

There was a book that, surprisingly, Rupert had always wanted to read but had never gotten round to, at least not with the required attention. After spending most of his day in his room - much like all his days before and likely after today - Rupert had ventured into the library, perusing the many shelves. The copy of One Thousand and One Nights jumped at him immediately, and he figured that he might as well get to reading it now. His mood improved by the place he was in, Rupert settled on an armchair with the book in hand, his mind immediately flowing to imagining the most impossibly beautiful princess Scheherazade he could.

All of the reviews he had read of this ages old book were right; somehow, the stories and their descriptions seemed to set his imagination much more alight than any other tale he had read before, and Rupert decided to blame that on the fact that this was as far from English literature as could be. They were Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales after all, and Rupert would be lying if he said he was familiarized with that particular literature.

He was so immersed into the stories Scheherazade unfolded as he was in awe of what a smart woman she was. And deep inside Rupert felt happy, because he was in his favorite place, accompanied by his favorite thing: A good book.

Who: Delaney and Rupert
When: 11:30 a.m.
Where: Rupert's room to start

Delaney had been highly irritated that she'd felt so unwell the day before, because she was here to meet people, and who'd want to meet someone who was as pale as death, barely able to keep her eyes open and fighting dry heaves on and off? No one she'd want to meet, because that would mean they had some kind of illness fetish. Plus, she didn't believe in meeting new people when she didn't look her best, and she simply hadn't felt well enough to shower and do her hair. It was disappointing, but there hadn't been much she could do about it. So she'd spent the day sleeping, drinking water and nibbling at pretzels from the little packet she'd gotten on one of her airline flights.

If it had been a bug or just overtiredness, she wasn't sure, but she'd felt better by the time she'd awakened at about ten o'clock on January 2nd. Curiosity had driven her to her door, which seemed to be locked from the outside. That was odd, and as she'd been trying to figure out what she should do, she'd seen the light on her computer flashing. She took care of making a journal post, which would unlock the door. Strange, but it was easy enough to shrug off. After spending about twenty minutes commenting on other journals, she'd flung herself into the shower, singing as she washed her hair and scrubbed her body. Nothing like Adele songs to bolster her for the day. That girl had some serious pipes!

Delaney couldn't wait to get out and about, because a whole house of new people to meet sounded like heaven to her, so she made quick work of drying her hair, putting on light makeup and dressing in a loose, colorful v-necked sweater that continually fell off one shoulder, which called for a tank top underneath, and her favorite jeans with embroidery on the back pockets. Everyone was wearing those, probably because they drew attention to the posterior region. She wasn't Kim Kardashian exactly, but she had a nice enough ass, she thought. Key in her pocket, one last check in the dresser mirror and a cheeky smile at her reflection and she left her room.

The door to her right was a sitting room, she saw when she peered inside. To her left was the door of another occupant, and that seemed a good enough place to start. She rapped on the door and bounced lightly on her toes as she waited for it to be answered.

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

( Time to explore )