Malia shook her head. “Mm-mm, yer father sounds tough. And did ya say king?” Her eyes widened a little, and she put her hands on her hips. “Well, that’s interestin’ to say da least.”

She opened a door on the other side of the room, revealing a smaller room with hundreds of bolts of fabric. “Never heard of her,” she said over her shoulder. “Well, I suppose we’ll start out with somethin’ simple.” With a laugh, she vanished into the room after turning the light on. “Black, white?” She called out loudly from somewhere within the maze of fabric. "I'm not sure what will compliment yer skin tone, hon!"

"White it is," Malia said, reemering with a bolt of white, cotton fabric. “This will take a few hours, so make yourself comfortable.” She sat down at a table near the window with the sewing machine and went straight to work.

Malia looked up from the fabric she was cutting. "Oh, dat's da TV, mon," she said with a short laugh. "Have ya never seen one before? Ya turn it on with dat button on da front, dere. Ya will see what it does." She pointed at the on button from where she sat.

Malia’s jaw dropped. “My TV! Ya broke my TV, mon!” She leapt to her feet and then sat back down. “I can’t afford a new TV! Ya had better be gettin’ me a new one!” Blood boiling, she slammed her fists down on the table.

“Now listen here, mon… ya don’t need be touchin’ anytin’ else. I can’t have ya breakin’ anytin’ more in my apartment. Do ya understand, mon?” She had stopped yelling, but her voice was tipped with anger, still. She might strangle Gin for this.

"Gin! Ya best be openin' yer door, mon!" She pounded on her neighbor's door. "Gin!" She pratically shrieked. A click told her that Gin was opening the door, and she lowered her raised fist.

"What is it?" She asked tiredly, tuggin at her tanktop's strap, which twisted up in her sleep.

Pointing a finger down the hall, she said heatedly, "Yer spider friend be destroyin' my dings! He shoved his tail into my TV!"

"What?"

"He destroyed my TV, Gin. And den he ran away."

"Oh..." She yawned. "Oh!" Suddenly aware of what was being said, Gin shoved past her to go look at the TV.

"Wow, he really did break it," Gin said, staring at the shattered glass on the floor and the black hole in the TV.

Hands on hips, Malia nodded. "No kiddin', mon."

"Well, I'm pretty sure he'll get you a new one just like he said he would," she said slowly. "In the mean time, why don't I help you clean this up?" She was already halfway to the kitchen.

"No, no. No worries," she cut in, "Ya be needin' some sleep, still, mon." With a gentle hand on Gin's back, she led her to the door. "I can take care of this myself."

"Sure?" Brows wrinkling a little in concern, she turned her head before opening the door to check her friend's expression. "You look like this has been a bit much. I feel like I should apologize for springing this on you."

Malia shook her head. "I be doin' fine after I clean this up 'n have a drink."

Gin decided to visit Mark instead of trying to sleep again. It seemed like every time she tried to catch up on rest, something woke her up. Besides, she had enough to keep her going for a little while. So as Malia's door shut behind her, she walked across the hall and pounded on Mark's door.

"Just a second!" Muffled, his voice barely reached her ears.

Waiting patiently for her friend to answer the door, she rocked back and forth on her heels and wondered where Seige had run off to. She had no doubt he would pop up again. At least, she hoped he would. She found him fascinating and very sweet. She would hate to lose a friend so quickly.

"Yes?"

Mark's sudden appearance surprised her, and she flinched. "Oh, I was just hoping I could stop by for a little while. I've been trying to sleep, but I keep getting woken up."

"Yeah, sure... come in," he said, opening the door wider for her to pass through. As soon as she shut the door, he was upon her with questions. "So, what happened to your friend? Seige?"

"Oh... I guess Malia scared him off," she said with a shrug. "She ran over to my place and said he broke her TV."

Gin had fallen asleep on Mark's sofa while telling him about the day's events. He listened while he alphabetized his bookshelf, which stretched across an entire wall. When her voice had trailed off and her eyes closed, he had snatched the knitted blanket from where it lay crumpled on a chair in the corner and covered her gently.

OOC: Time lapse???

Gin woke up as the sun set and was surprised to find herself in Mark's apartment. She did not realize she had fallen asleep there. For a few moments, she stared at the coffee table, trying to remember everything that happened the day and night before. Once she regained her bearings, she sat and then stood up.

"Mark?"

"Here!" He called from the bedroom. He peeked out and grinned. "Ah, so you're finally awake."

"Mm-hm."

"I was about to go to sleep," he said with a laugh. "I'm glad I caught you before I did, though."

"Sleep?"

"I've been up for 24 hours, now."

"Wow," she blinked, "I didn't know that. Goodnight, then."

He smiled warmly. "Goodnight neighbor." With a yawn, he turned and shut his bedroom door, leaving Gin to do as she wished.



Sade had taken over the coffee shop after his poor, underpaid employee left. He had been asleep most of the day, trying to get over the hangover. When Seige burst into his coffee shop, he didn't turn around, expecting it to be Gin. Her cup of coffee was already in his hand when something green and scaly brushed against him... and talked.

"Damn it!" He said, as he flinched and some hot coffee sloshed onto his hand. His gaze immediately fell on Seige, and he frowned. "You're back... and you brought... a thing." He looked at the strange talking creature tiredly. For some reason, seeing something like this bothered him less than when he had seen the Cinsaid. "What the hell is this?"

Sade massaged his forehead for a second with one hand and set the coffee down on the counter with the other. "Go ahead and drink up, I guess," he said before turning to prepare another cup for Gin. His head was spinning again. He would retire early at this rate.

"Another one?" His voice rose a little as Seige reentered. "I... but... this one... I..." A sound close to a growl rumbled up from his throat.

"Eh..." Sade's response was not adequate to describe the feelings eating away at his innards. He watched the Scottish thing drink the coffee with one eye half closed. "I... I think I'm fine." This really won't be good for business. He looked up suddenly, thoughtful. "Oh, Gin should be by soon. I imagine she'll want to say hi. She seems to like you well enough." He didn't know why he was encouraging it, but it seemed like the thing to do.

"Um, actually I was hoping I might run into you," Gin said, her timing impeccable as she entered the coffee shop. "You gave Malia quite a scare, but I'm sure she won't hold it against you very long."

Gin took her gently. "Aw, you're cute... and you talk really, really fast." She looked up at Seige curiously. "Thank you... and where'd you find her?"

Sade shook his head as he made up another cup of coffee for Gin. The thing drinking the first cup seemed to be enjoying it. He came down to eye level with it and asked suspiciously, "Why should I keep you around?"

"Don't think you'll be getting too much of that," Sade warned. "I'm not made of the stuff." Actually, he had more than enough coffee.

"I think her and I will be great friends," she said, scratching Zipper's head. "You are awesome!" She grinned at Seige. "You really make life interesting..."

"Indeed," the coffee house owner grumbled. "Your coffee is ready, Gin."