Re: lakeside mansion: Hugh C./Audrey C.
At the time, he'd known he was depressed and melancholy. He knew he drank and smoked more when he was struggling. He'd recognized the loneliness as well, but he didn't think he'd quite realized just how bad a place he'd been in. And maybe hadn't quite realized how much the solitude was feeding that. Ultimately, it had led to additional choices that he could wish that he hadn't made exactly as he had. But perhaps those things had turned out alright. He and Hannah were still friends, after all, and she was no longer his only one. And he could feel the shift that had somehow happened over the summer and into the fall. He'd needed to get back on stage, and he'd needed additional friends. Things felt better, healthier, not perfect, but so much better.
"I never expected it here. I'm a city boy, or I always was before Repose," he laughed. "I actually keep thinking about renting a studio over in the Capital for when I've got rehearsals going on. It's enough of a drive back and forth that sometimes I just want to not have to come back every single night. But, no it's... strange, but definitely a thing. And the people here - For a while I'd begun to despair that I'd find anyone I had anything in common with, but it seems maybe I just needed to keep trying."
He took a sip of the coffee with a spoon, and grinned. "There are two. Espresso, who is - he has been with me for forever, he's a tuxedo darling, fluffy and full of attitude, and he's been largely hiding upstairs. We might have to go on a hunt for him. Cinnamon is my Tortoiseshell. I found her out by the lake a year or so ago, and nobody knew anything about her so she stayed. I'm a little surprised you haven't seen her yet - she usually shows up for food about this time. Maybe when you're done eating we can go hunting."