September 2 2007

i can rit Corwins nam he sent me a litr wif his cat and i red his nam. He is a gud frend and helpt me fel alrit wif miself. I em so sad his frend past awa evin if he gav him his hous and it mens Corwin wil not lev Market. I no his frendship is gud for me becuz i takt to a pritty blind grl aftr takin to him. yes I I I takt to a pritty blind grl! ha ha She mad me rember dad. I thot adout dad a lot toda frum my gitar to seein the blind grl. I havnt thot of him in a long time but i miss him and think he wood like Market. it is sad he cannot see me and i cannot see him.

Who: Dexter
Where: The Lamplighter Motel
When: early dusk

As the sun was just starting it's descent, coloring the blue of the clear sky with splashes of orange at the base of the horizon and offering an early hint of the coming night's moon, a new arrival was rolling into town. He didn't make any flashy entrance; no fanfare accompanied the battered old hatchback that carried him into the parking lot of the Lamplighter, but he still liked to think that something in this town could notice.

Who: Olivia and Herbert
Where: Streets of Marquette
When: 7:00pmish

Having the night off from Babylon left Olivia in a pretty good mood. It was a beautiful evening outside, she didn't have to work, and she was feeling much better after spending a bit of money at the festival at the college. With a few bags, she entered the apartment, immediately seeking out Herbert - if he was even home. She wanted to do something, and while she had the desire to go to Judiel's, she hadn't talked to Herbert in awhile, and after the news of that high school's girl, mixed with what had happened with his missing friends before, she thought maybe it was better to spend a couple hours with her roommate. "Herbert?" Olivia kicked the door shut behind her with her heel. "Are you home?"

Herbert was in his room, with his brand new, artistic-looking little lamp he'd gotten at the NMU thing, finishing up a little homework that he'd put off since he'd spent all day yesterday job-hunting and all day today socializing. His head popped up the sound of her opening the door, and then popped out of the bedroom door at the sound of her voice. "Hallo, Olivia! Yes, I'm home."

She jumped a tiny bit when he opened his door, but it wasn't like she hadn't been expecting him, so she shot him a small smile and wandered toward her room to set her stuff down. "What are you doing? I mean, are you busy? I kind of wanted to pop over to the carnival one more time before it shut down. Did you want to go?"

Who: Abae and OPEN
Where: Babylon
When:Evening

Abae was a shrewd businessman, and so it hadn't taken him very long to discover that his biggest competition as the centre of nightlife in Marquette wasn't in fact the only other nightclub in town. Which was why he walked straight past it as the evening started to draw in when he was exploring the town. Instead, he'd decided to pay a visit to the one place in town that had appealed to his sense of curiosity. The one place in town that might just prove to be competition.

Who: Chance and Kaysen
Where: Carnival
When: Late Afternoon

Who: Mya
When: 10:30pm
Where: Mya’s Diner

Everything was cleaned, stocked and put away. The deposit was done and all the tips doled out for the night. The place was empty. All the closers were waiting in the parking lot for Mya to leave and lock up. Bless them, they were patient. She stood at the counter adding the last piece of tape to the corner of the paper that lay atop the metal surface. This is a good idea. She didn’t find herself very convincing at this very moment.

Who: Domino and Olivia
When: 9:30pm
Where: via text

Olivia-

Oh god what a night! Sorry I didn't text you earlier, slept till work, didn't get off till close was too late to call.

I really don't think I'll be fired now.

-Dom

Who: Brian and Domino
Where: Brian's place
When: 10:45PM

All things considered, it'd been a pretty nice night, despite the way things'd started. The day could've used some improvement, but the night hadn't been too shabby. Now Brian was sprawled on his couch, a little buzzed from a few beers after his trip down to the carnival's last day that afternoon. And the last of the wine coolers, actually. One of these days he needed to stop getting even a little drunk before bed; it was starting to become a habit, and that was never a good thing when it came to alcohol.

Who: Herbert, Stacey, and Sammy
Where: NMU
When: Late morning

After finally finding a time the both of them could actually set aside and not be working on something or another, Herbert sat on some steps outside of the university, waiting for Stacey. He'd locked his bike up, given the place a quick and curious sniff-around, and found it very much to his liking before settling down. The little festival thing for Back to School for the college students-- many of whom were closer in age and size to Herbert than his fellow high-schoolers-- seemed quite interesting, with lots of things to look at and maybe buy, maybe even for the apartment.

The whole place smelled nice, too. He wasn't sure why, but he liked it. It was like just sitting and waiting on the steps made him feel... good. Better than he had in a while, what with the whole "missing people" thing and "returned people but unhappy people, too" thing and then the thing with Lullaby. Which was definitely not a joke, like he'd vaguely hoped for the day before, before it had settled in, in his brain and he'd decided that people just didn't joke about things like that.

But sitting there, even that felt like... it would be okay. Sort of. As "okay" as death could ever be. At least now he could imagine her maybe being out in the spirit-world, happy now and not worried about anything anymore.

Who: Brian and Jocelyn
Where: The carnival
When: Late afternoon

Once Brian realized that today was the last day for the carnival, that was it. He had to go. There wouldn't be much better of a distraction from Domino's damned note than carnival games, music, and bad food. And, as he wandered through the last-minute crowd and devoured a hot dog, he had to say that he did feel better. Surrounded by people, all having a good time, and the cheesy but still fun sights and sounds of a traveling faire all conspired to put him in a much better mood.

Hot dog finished, and not quite ready to go grab himself some cotton candy or something yet, Brian paused at one of the many "toss something over this something else and win a prize!" games. He was trying to decide how much he really wanted to play versus how much he really wanted to win. The prizes all looked pretty silly, unless you had someone to win them for-- and Domino most certainly didn't count-- but it would be child's play to win one of he wanted to.

Who: Peyton and Sammy
Where: Outside the carnival
When: 1:30 pm

The sun beat down hot on Sammy's head as he sat outside the front entrance of the carnival, legs stretched out in front of him but not far enough that he could possibly trip anyone entering or exiting the carnival. He could have been inside - his parents were, after all, and had invited him (and expected him) to accompany them - but he'd decided just as he was about to follow after them that he didn't exceptionally feel like being one of the pressing, pushing, crowding (ha) crowd. So now he was sitting with his back against the tree and a notepad against his knees as he watched the crowd just inside the entrance with quick eyes.

Peyton was out walking, wanting to get out of the house and get some fresh air. David had effectively sucked any remaining optimism or hope from her, even if maybe he hadn't really meant too. But the crying she'd done had exhausted her and she'd fallen asleep, waking up a little past noon alone and disoriented. She hadn't wanted to stay inside, so after a quick shower, she headed out to NMU's festival. It was the last day of the weekend before school started up again and she'd gotten the email from one of her friends about the memorial for Lullaby being put together by Chrissy, as well as the time for the funeral Monday after school. It was all a lot to take in, so she'd started walking, wanting to keep her mind occupied all over again, though she felt low enough that she wasn't doing much thinking at all.

Who: Buttahfly and Geo
Where: The College!
When: Midday

Geo prowled down the sidewalk of the university, licking frosting off of his fingers as he did. He was in a much better mood than he had been lately - his conversations with Peyton and Sammy last night + free cake today = instant win. Or something very close to it. If he'd been a younger boy he might have been skipping - as it was, there was more spring in his step, and more interest in his eyes and -

Oh hey! Posters! He had been planning to go the opposite direction, but posters are posters and where posters are odds are there will be music related posters. He veered off course, icing-free hands now shoved into his pockets as he headed for the table. Maybe they'd be handing out more free stuff. Free = good, yeah? Mercenary, perhaps, but still awesome.

Buttahfly had decided -- once she woke up from a deep and satisfying sleep after reading the news that the Barton brothers had apparently met their untimely demise -- that she would hit up the festival thing going on at the campus. Socko was off someplace, probably hustling, and she was just meandering around and browsing the goods. She was garnering quite a few looks that she was ignoring, in skin-tight dark capri jeans, an equally tight jersey-looking t-shirt that said 'I <3 New York' on it and showed off a good band of coffee-colored midriff, and a red cap cocked to one side on her head. Huge gold hoop earrings brushed the twin braids that lay over the front of her shoulders. It was brazen for Marquette, and she knew it. It was done purposefully.

Who: Anton and Harper
When: Afternoon
Where: Nevermore Books

Who: Thom and Ashbelle
Where: Their house
When: Evening

Thom had spent the rest of the day alone, avoiding contact with everyone. He felt numb at first, then progressed throguh to anger, pain and feeling the weight of his own stupidity. His rage was all directed at himself for ever putting himself in this position, for doing what he never did and naively believing that it would all turn out right in the end. For being a fool and an idiot.

The anger passed eventually, leaving behind it something else, a determination, a knowledge of where he would go from here. It was cool and calm and collected and so, so clear. It made so much sense and he knew what he had to do now. He walked upstairs, out of the basement when it was the right time. It was Sunday, 6 o'clock - dinner with his mother. Come hell or high water - the only thing that had stopped him being there was the inbetween. His mother was already sitting at the table when he walked into the dining room and he placed the knife she'd given him in the middle of the table. "I want to learn how to use it properly," he said, quietly.

Who: Derek and Manhattan
When: 11:45am
Where: Landmark Inn

Manhattan turned the truck off the street and into the parking lot of the downtown hotel, and though she hadn't a clue as to the make of the car he'd be driving, the hunter was able to find him simply by giving a glance into each car she passed in her slow circle around the lot.

who: caleb and leija
where: leija's house
when: evening/night

By the time evening was beginning to roll around, Leija was sitting outside her window, on the short sloping roof to the front porch, knees pulled up against her chest. She'd put on shorts to accompany the tank top for it, just in case anyone happened to pass by, but had foregone the blanket. With the breeze, it was a little chilly, but she wanted that. To be cold. The entire day -- hell, an entire run of days -- had a very surreal feel, which contrasted oddly with the heavy weight of what had really happened. She'd broken up with Thom. Sweet, wonderful Thom. He wasn't with her anymore, by her own doing, and chances were incredibly good that he hated her. She'd hurt him, after all, and badly. She wasn't stupid, she knew that. Leija had cried over it for a while eventually, after he'd left, but she had swung back into feeling empty and hollow. Her thoughts drifted along at a sluggish pace as she looked out at the dimming sky over the tree and rooftops of her neighborhood.

Caleb hadn't bothered trying to call today. He didn't figure she'd be any more apt to answer him than she was yesterday, and therefore he was going there. It was easier, and he could bypass that whole being avoided shit. As he walked up the street, his eyes on her house. He was sort of vaguely aware that he had no idea what he was going to say when he got there. He had no actual plan, per se. Concerned, he was concerned. Which meant he was going by to check on her, to see if she was okay, be fully aware that she wasn't, and maybe attempt to help. Not that he figured he'd be much. It wasn't like he had answers. He didn't. In fact, half the time it felt like he had less than answers. He had questions. Which were spectacularly unhelpful.

Who: Alejandro and Jovie
Where: Phone
When: Late morning

Days off, while not actually earning any money, were still good things. Especially when the days on completely made up for the days off. Alejandro spent most of the morning sleeping, just because he could, but once he'd gotten up, showered, and wolfed down some breakfast, he had a whole day ahead of him with... hmmm, nothing really to do. Jezebelle wasn't even in. It was a gorgeous day-- bah-- but the thought of going out in all that sunlight made his head hurt, so he dropped the curtain again after his peek out and retreated to the couch.

That was about when he remembered he had someone to call. A certain telepath-- whose skills surely couldn't reach all the way across town to his house, right?-- who had given him her card, her name, and her number. He'd put the card... where. Somewhere around here. He'd have to find it.

Ten minutes later, after sorting through a stack of papers by the door, another stack on the kitchen table, and the smallest stack on coffee table by the couch, Alejandro'd come up with the card. He needed to watch where he tossed things at the end of the day, seriously. So he settled back onto the couch, punched in her number, and waited for the pick-up.

Who: Regan and Kurt
Where: Trowbridge Park
When: Night

Regan was in a foul mood. She had been since the night before, what without being able to feed properly. With having to deal with an arrogant, cocky bastard in the process. Once the sunset, she'd dressed for the evening and set out with a purpose. If she bit into another horrible tasting neck, she was just going to have to make sure to puncture every vein she could. Generally she wasn't overly violent. Her kill toll she could count on one hand. But damned if she wasn't ready to snap if one more thing pissed her off in this town. She found herself walking briskly through Trowbridge Park, her gaze sweeping over everyone who wandered by, trying her hardest not to be too particular in her choice for sustenance. It was difficult, given the choices within her line of sight. She couldn't bring herself to bite into someone who she didn't deem worthy of the pleasure of her bite, no matter how hungry she was. If she got desperate, however, anyone was fair game.

Kurt was out. It felt pretty good to do so; his talk with Doc had sort of re-dedicated him to what it was he was supposed to be doing here. Which was watching, keeping his eyes open. Always accustomed to spending most of his time alone anyway, he didn't mind the long night strolls. Enjoyed them, honestly. He walked along the edge of Trowbridge Park, cigarette dangling from his lips, just letting his mind chew back over everything as his body moved him along. He'd said he had no regrets. Not for the decision he'd made to take this 'job' -- because it felt more like a lifestyle than an occupation, to him. But he had others. Definitely others. Only they were sixty years in the past, and there was no way to make amends for them now. He could only move forward, and he was trying. But some ghosts were restless, and they'd been cropping up more and more in his sleep since the In Between.

Who: Aiden and Manhattan
When: 11:15am
Where: Outside of Mya's Diner

The truck caught his eye the moment he pulled his car into a spot in front of Mya's. Aiden's hunger was momentarily forgotten as he got out of his car and wandered over. It was definitely Manhattan's truck, but she wasn't inside. Two dogs, however, were, and they were alerted to his presence the minute he got within a distance far too comfortable for them. It'd been awhile since he'd seen her - the last being in the bar the night she warned him off of Eury. Grinning, he lit a cigarette and decided to wait for her outside rather than going in to look for her. No doubt if her dogs barked loud enough at him, she'd probably hear and come out anyway. With a lazy gesture, he leaned against the side of her truck, hat pulled down, cigarette between his lips as he waited.

While one hand pushed the opened the door of Mya's, the other held the to go cup of coffee from which Manhattan took a sip as she exited the diner. She'd hadn't expected any other run ins with anyone she knew. She'd just been planning on starting her long drive from Marquette after talking with Brian. But that thought was quickly discarded the instant her eyes hit upon her truck. A little wicked style grin formed as the blonde hunter took those few short steps away from the diner and over to the parked black truck. "Thought you'd high tailed it out of town." She said with the little lingering wicked type grin as she reached the truck Aiden was presently leaning himself against, and though the two dogs inside the vehicle didn't make much in the way of noise, they did keep an intense watch on the guy leaning against the truck with the most unfriendliest of looks that could be offered by creatures of their nature. And she had started to think just that as she hadn't seen hide nor hair of the other hunter since there last encounter. Which had to be, what? A week or more back.

"Had a few reasons to stay," Aiden replied, pulling the cigarette from his mouth and grinning at her. He always had liked those sly, wicked sort of grins she'd throw at him. Usually they turned him on. But he couldn't think about that right now. "How ya been, love? Been awhile since I've seen you, considering we're both residing in the same town at the moment."

Who: Manhattan and Brian
When: Morning - 11am
Where: Mya's Diner

"Give me a large coffee to go, with a couple creams and sugar on the side." Manhattan relayed to the server stationed behind the counter, the blonde planting payment for the drink down on the counter in front of her after the order had been given.

Who: Domino and Brian
Where: Mya's Diner
When: late afternoon - Shift Change
NSFW

Who: Peyton and Dessicant
When: Early morning
Where: Lakeshore

Peyton was quickly realizing that the best way to get away from the weirdness was to immerse herself into things that would effectively distract her. She found if she stayed home, she ended up thinking way too much. And thinking brought worry, and worry stress and stress...well, she wasn't a big fan of it. The little things helped. Talking to people about anything insignificant. Everything insignificant. Playing her music on the piano. Playing music in her bedroom, singing along in her head. Anything to keep her mind occupied. Distractions kept her from wanting to cry, or panic. It kept her from wanting to call Isaac just to hear his voice, which may not have been a bad thing if she knew for sure he would appreciate it. He needed distraction and help much more than she did and she knew he didn't need her to be bugging him all day long. Of course, that didn't stop her from missing him, or worrying about him. That was part of the problem. And so, she left the house early to go for a run, music playing loudly in her ears. She focused on the melody, the lyrics, rather than allowing her mind to wander. Every time she felt herself starting to think about the things that made her stomach hurt, she picked up the pace, trying to stay focused on her breathing. By the time she hit the third mile on the lakeshore, she was sweaty and felt the muscles in her legs aching. Slowing down, she bent over, hands on her knees to inhale deeply.

Dessicant was actually dozing in the sun that morning-- human form, luckily for him, and actually clothed. He'd had that much sense before he gave in to the urge to sleep, out in the open, in the sun. Because he was "safe" in that way, he didn't even stir at Peyton's approach, stretched out on his back in the sand, bare feet crossed at the ankles and hands tucked behind his head. It was a bright, sunny day: might as well take advantage of that, right?

who: kaysen, isaac and OPEN!
where: the festival
when: 10:45amish!

Kaysen, after getting her gifts from Chance, was in a weird mood. Weird, probably because it was a good one, especially with all the badness going on. But...she'd gotten flowers and ice cream, and that was sweet. She'd already had a little of the ice cream, but was saving it for later too. She was kind of half waiting for her brother on the front step, debating when to call Chance back to talk to him. But...she was going to the festival with her brother, and those two didn't exactly mix. Therefore, she was waiting til later. Their grounding was lifted, and she was glad about that too. So, she was humming to herself slightly as she waited, foot tapping as she bounced her leg restlessly.

Isaac had slept hard, and that was okay. Good, even. Peyton had rubbed his back and hung out for a little while, and then gone home, and not long after that, he was down for the count. The parents had lifted their grounding that morning, and he'd decided -- sort of to try and make up for the day before -- that he was going to take Kaysen to the festival thingie and maybe like ... buy her a poster and a hot dog or something. It was a nice day out, at least, as he stepped out of the house and shut the door behind him. He flipped the keys over into his palm and made a head motion toward the driveway. "Ready?" he asked.

Who: Brian and Olivia
Where: The diner
When: Late morning

This time, Brian had planned a little better than the day before. He wasn't working until ten, and by then he'd been awake long enough, and guzzled enough water and devoured enough breakfast, that his hangover had dulled a bit and he was just left with the impression that he'd had a good time, once they'd gotten past the serious and depressing start of the night, and was justly paying for it. He could put up with a little paying for it; he was going to be in a good mood, dammit. Or, well, he was going to try.

He came into the diner with a smile, at least, and a wave for the servers, including Olivia, and a clap on the back for the current cook before heading for his apron. The morning before the front had been short-staffed, so he couldn't drag her back into the kitchen with him, but the morning he was definitely asking her help. He wanted someone to chat with and someone to share the load, at least until he felt a bit more human.

Who: Thom and Leija
When: around noon
Where: her room

Leija was where she'd spent the majority of the day previous, and that was in bed. She was mostly upright, at least, and that was something, wasn't it? She sat with her back against the headboard, covers pulled up over her knees like she was cold, arms wrapped around them, with her forehead down on them. Her thoughts were slow and sluggish and muddled and just of the general Not Good variety. Lullaby was dead, one of the nicest people she'd met here, even if Leija didn't know her well. But the girl was her age at the very most, and she was dead. It was different than with Josh and Mary. She'd known Lullaby. Gotten a stuffed bee from her. And now she was gone. What did Leija's problems matter in the face of that? She was confused and everything ached; it was all in shambles, all of it. There was no way out that wouldn't hurt someone.

She didn't want to get out of bed to face anything. She just wanted to sleep. And disappear at some point, quietly and without fuss, and leave everyone else where they were. Better off.

Who: Chance
Where: St. James's House
When: Early morning

It had taken awhile, but by the time Chance stopped his jeep in front of Kaysen's house, he was pretty satisfied with the morning. He knew she was probably still grounded, so he wasn't really expecting to see her. Especially not this early. In fact, being that it was Sunday, Kaysen was probably still sleeping. Opening the door, he slid out of the jeep and grabbed the bag and flowers. He knew it was cheesy. And Kaysen had never really come across as a 'girly' kind of girl, but he was kinda hoping she'd like the gesture.

So, I'm organizing this memorial for Lullaby. I've been at school, supervising a couple of people who were enlisted to help. For once it's something I'm taking care of and not Em, so I know I can't screw it up. We've got photos (thanks to the yearbook office), music, and all that stuff. Word is getting around. We called some people on Saturday, emailed a few. The school is small enough that no doubt it'll be around and people will be aware and ready for it by Monday.

who: syn and open
where: NMU's festival thingy
when: noonish

Synnove wandered around the area, camera bag over her shoulder with her new class schedule in it. Perusing the little booths and buying trinkets here and there and a ton of cheap incense, she was in a generally decent mood. Her mind was kind of a million miles away as she wasn't paying overly much attention to her surroundings. She had a vague sense of her brother somewhere around, though wasn't going to go track him down quite yet.

Who: Joshua
When: early early morning
Where: the apartment

With a strangled gasp, Joshua sat bolt upright in bed. There was a second or two in which he teetered on the edge of falling off of the bed, but his white-knuckled grip on the sheets ended up saving him that. His heart trip-shuddered in his chest, sweat keeping the back of his t-shirt stuck to his back. There'd been a dream, but it was slipping away quickly. That scream mixed in with her skin cracking open all over to bleed and --