Acsenia tried to pull a pot down from the cabinet and succedeed in pulling down half the shelf of pots and pans making a huge clashing noise as the metal hit the tile floor. "Damn. I'm such a clutz." She sighed and started to pick the pots back up. "Maybe I should have just stuck with a sandwich"

"Ah, so you play piano then?" Ash was a bit suprised, but made no other comment. Nothing to be suprised about really... he thought.as he nodded. "Yeah. I'd like to maybe do something together." He gave another smile, then frowned slightly to himself. Could you sound anymore stupid? he wondered irratably to himself.

Sulis opened the letter.
'Dear Sue,
I'm happy to tell you Donna and myself have decided to come home, and so, Hazle will be able to come home. We'll be back in about 4 days (from the 2nd), and we'll come straight to you.
Hope your feeling well, and tell Hazel we said hello, and break the good news to her.
All the best,
Eddy.'
She was unaware that she had stopped walking and was now stood, mouth agog. She couldn't come to terms with the way in which the news was bought to her. "Much good is it?" Said the voice beside her. "
"Oh, no, not much." She abruptly folded it up and slipped it into a pocket.

Presantly some small change fell out of another pocket, and as she bet down to pick it up, was hit in the face by Jack's cross.
"Ow. Oh...i forgot to give it back." She stood. "Come on. I've got somebody to find."

Jack who was still in the sitting room had turned in the chair and laid with his legs over the armrest, his head leaning against the other one across as he slept soundlessly. He looked so peaceful, so calm.
If you didn't look at his chest rising and falling in the rhythm of his breathing he looked dead.

Compared to the light intensity outside, the inside of the mansion had a nice tonned down brightness about it. Light's were not on in the halls, but the windows dotted along it let in enough light.
There was a strip of heavy carpet in the main hallway, on which Sulis and Hazel now stood. A large chandelier was strung high above on the ornatly decorated ceiling.
Differein from the common fairytale depiction of two, there were three staircases, one either side of the hall and one steeper on in the middle, that all met on the next floor. The kitches were beyond here, in a room one would come to if they walked past the stairs along either of two corridors. The dinning hall was adjacent to this. These two alone covered a vast amount of the ground floor. She knew there was a small libary come painting room, where many paintings were hung on the walls. And of course the music rooms.
The main libary, reading and drawing rooms were upstairs, along with the sittingroom and a host of other smaller functional rooms.
The second floor house bathrooms and bedrooms, as well as some other rooms she knew nothing about.

"I'm going to the kitchen okay?"
"Alright then, i'll see you in a while." Sulis watched her go, before taking to the stairs. Harp in hand, she chose the middle case, as she always tended to do. Skipping up them she turned along a corridor the the left and padded along it. Not sure where Jack might be she looked through every open door she came across, and peeped into those that were shut.
She was not having much look. Her heeled boots made a soft clacking as she walked along on the uncarpeted floors. She hoped nobody would be distured.

The sound of high heels through the halls woke him up. Yawning he stretched out and rubbed his eyes. Then he fixed his shirt and got to the door opening it and peeking around the corner. "Some one there?" he asked in a half yawn.

"There. That looks really cool. It really helps decorate the wall!" Gwen said add she hung up her painting that see did earlier that day. Gwen walked out of her room, she just relized that she had not eaten all day. She walked down the hall and into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat.

[Sorry this post was a mess up]

She stopped all of a sudden, as she herd the voice. Almost jarring her legs as she did so. Stepping back a little she looked through an open doorway once again. Jack was there, sprawled about the chair.
She could have swone he hadn't been there just.
"Oh, i'm sorry, did i wake you up?" She came into the doorway. "I forgot before to give this back." She took of the necklace and padded across the fluffy carpet with an outstreched arm. "Thanks for letting me wear it."

Jack who had gotten up tiredly shook his head. "No you did not wake me." he lied. He didn't mind that he was waken. He took the necklace and pushed it into her hand. "Keep it." he said with a wink. "It only has bad memories for me." he smiled and gently smiled at her. "You leaving the mansion?" he asked her softly.

For a third time today she had been genuinly surprised. "I guess i can only say thank you. And of course, if you ever need anything from me in return, don't hesitate to ask." She flicked hair out of her face. "Oh, no, i'm not leaving...my neice might be though." She stared not just past, but through him, to the window behind. She could make out nothing on the section of the road visable, in the distance. She refocused on him.

"What a shame. It's so nice and peaceful here." he said and looked at her. He had noticed her stare at the window.
The slender male gently took her hand and turned her around. "Come on. You should get to your niece. " he smiled at her.

"Hmmm yeah." She held no resistance to being turned. "It's odd. I was never much of a kiddie person before she came here. I guess she's grown on me more than i realised." She took in a big breath. "Thats what they say isn't it...You don't know what you've got till its gone?"

Jack walked with her. "That's true...But then again, there always new things to learn, to see and to do." he said and looked at her with a friendly and gentle smile.

"Yeah, i surppose your right. It must be better for a child to be with it's parents." They walked on down the corridor. "So, how did you come to be here then?" She asked.
She was being rather bold today she felt. Compleatly unlike herself.

"Well.... I just wanted a nice place to relax and I found this." he said. "I hardly ever speak to my family, they are all consumed by money and very big wealth." he said and looked at her. "How about you?"

"Well i came here to recover. I was in ill health for a while. I ended up staying here. I have family...a mother, her husband and my farther. And my brother...Hazel. I could happily stay here forever though." She took on a longing tone of voice.

Jack smiled some. "Well...I am going to stay here until I die....It's much more healthier than in the big city." he whispered.
Then his hand accidentally touched hers. A deep red blush crept up his cheeks and he looked away.

Gwen wasn't all that hungry so she just grabed a little snack. She went up to eat, she sat down on her bed and silently ate her food. A small tear went down her cheek. Gwen thought about all of the people who had friends and family, at that point she was crying so hard that she couldn't even see. She couldn't eat the rest of her food, so she just layed on her bed and fell asleep.

Originally Posted by Kaderin Triste

"Ah, so you play piano then?" Ash was a bit suprised, but made no other comment. Nothing to be suprised about really... he thought.as he nodded. "Yeah. I'd like to maybe do something together." He gave another smile, then frowned slightly to himself. Could you sound anymore stupid? he wondered irratably to himself.

Delilah nodded shortly and smiled. "I do," she replied. She turned her eyes away from him. Once they reached the music room, she opened the door and allowed him to enter the room first. It seemed that they were not going to be alone.

"Oh, hey Dee," Reed glanced over his shoulder. He went back to his work, but then did a double-take. "Who's your friend?" he asked, gazing upon Ash. It was unnusual for Delilah to be walking around with someone; at least, he knew Delilah was not exactly the kind of person to walk with someone she did not know as mush as a family member.

"Ash," Delilah said. She made a bee-line for the piano. She paused before sitting down to try and figure out what Reed was doing here. "What're you creating now?" she asked him.

Reed shrugged and stuffed the papers in a folder. "Just a new piece," he answered and stuffed the folder in a desk. "A new idea popped into my head this morning." Delilah nodded and opened to a page in the booklet of music Reed handed her. "So, Ash," he looked over to the guy after taking a seat next to the piano. "Come to listen to Dee play? She's really good, y'know."

Delilah blushed. "I'm not that great," she mumbled and then uncovered the piano keys. She fingered a couple of the keys, pressing a few of them down to see if they were in tune. "Your pieces are too simple, is all," she added with a glance to Reed.

Ash nodded at Reed. "Yeah well when I found out she played, I just couldn't resist coming to listen." He grinned playfully at Delilah. "Don't sell yourself short Dee I bet you're really good." He shot her a quick wink and settled down in a chair by the window.




Kaderin finally finished drawing only to notice that everyone had left. She gave a small sigh and got up and stretched. It had been a long time since she had last had time to draw and as she glanced down at the detailed picture, she could see aeveral mistakes. Let it go. she told herself irritably It's fine. No one else would probably see the mistakes even
Bored now, she picked up her sketchbook and headed down the hallway, going nowhere in particular.

Delilah was turned to where she could see Ash. She smiled shyly when he grinned. At what he said and the wink he gave, she turned right around to hide her blushing face. Reed sat up and then got comfortable in his chair again after turning it around and placing his hands on the wooden arch. Delilah glanced at him and then put her hands on the keys.

It was easy to concentrate when only Reed was there, but now there was someone else. There was another guy - not to forget a cute guy - in the room as well. At first she played Reed's piece quietly, a bit of anxiety washing over her, but then as the sound of the piano continued, she loosened up and got lost in the music. At the moment, as she played, the only thing she concentrated on was what keys to play next and to play Reed's piece as best as she could. The pianoforte, like a few othe rinstruments, felt like a person to her; something living adn breathing just as she and the others were. She treated it as if pressing down too hard on each key would hurt it and ruin everything.

Delilah stole a glance from Reed and then to Ash. Looking at the latter, a note was played out of place. She went back to concentrating on where her fingers were and quickly continued; it was only one note, but someone who was really into music might have noticed it. Delilahstopped playing when she reached a part she was trying to figure out. "How exactly is this supposed to be played?" she said and pointed to a measure of notes.

Reed sat up and grabbed the book. "Oh," he sighed, "I kind of messed up on that part a bit. Just play it as best as you can for now." He placed the book back. Delilah started playing, but struggled a bit with the timing and a few of the notes seemed out of place. Great. she thought, Now I'm making myself look stupid.

Ash was really impressed with Delilah. He hadn't heard anyone who could play half as good as she did. "Amazing." he whispered to himself. He smiled and tried not to watch her. It seemed to make her nervous.

"Hey, I'm gonna go now," Reed said as he stood up. He walked over to the door, but turned around to look from Ash to Delilah for a minute. "I'll fix dinner tonight, so don't worry about it."

"Just don't burn anything like last time," Delilah griined and waved a hand over her shoulder to Reed, still playing with the other hand. She stopped playing after hearing the door close. A sigh was let out and she grabbed the book of music sitting before her. "I don't get how he does this," she thought aloud.

She looked over to Ash, and then back down at the music with a smile. "Do you play?" After flipping to a particular piece, she set the book back down. She did not begin playing because she brought her attention to Ash.

"I agree. It's a picture of heaven." She felt the collision of their hands, and she too blushed. "Oh, i'm sorry." She said, waving about her troublesome hand.