Crystal paused in her typing, stretching her back and lifting her arms above her head. She'd been bent over the keyboard for hours now, trying to figure out how the coding on her website had been corrupted. So far, she'd been able to save the contents of her geeky/gothy/cutesy webcomic and convention loving website, shoving images into files to be replaced at some other time. That this had even happened led her to believe that either a) someone had done this on purpose or b) her original files had somehow decided to reorganize themselves. Which sucked, because she had no proof of either one at this time. And that meant that she'd wasted the last three hours only to have nothing to show for it.

"Coffee time. Most def." Glancing down at her clothing choice of what had once been a Nightmare Before Christmas shirt and a pair of sleeping pants, she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I guess I should shower first. Stupid impressions to make." Closing the lid of her laptop she pushed away from the make-shift desk she'd made for herself from the dinette table in her hotel room and a very uncomfortable chair. After rummaging through the drawers of the dresser for something to wear, she sighed at the fact that she really needed to go shopping and do laundry. All she had clean was an outfit she'd rather not drink coffee in, it having been shipped from Japan and costing her mucho dinero. Plus, it was completely lolita and to pull it off she'd have to do her hair and.. oh well. Why not? Not like she had anything else to do.

After a five minute shower and thirty minutes of primping, she was finally ready to go get some coffee. Staring at her reflection she barely recognized herself in the black and white frilly knee-length dress covered in a rose motif. Plus, the little top hat that she'd placed atop carefully styled sausage curls was a bit.. dramatic. But, she did have to admit that the look suited her colouring.

Grabbing up her wallet and phone, she tucked them into a discreet pocket and walked out into the hall of the hotel and made her way outside. She glanced up at the sky, enjoying the sight of the sunset colours that splashed across the horizon. It was so pretty when it was still daylight on one side of the city and dusk on the other. Putting one chunky black mary jane shoe in front of the other, she made her way down the familiar path towards the Espresso Pump. Maybe she'd even get tea to complete the picture she made. Tea and maybe little cakes?

Lindsey stretched, slowly opening his eyes. He grinned, sliding his arms around the brunette in bed beside him.

"Evening," he purred, kissing her slowly.

"So far," Phaedra replied, kissing him back. Smiling softly, Lindsey kissed her forehead, pulling her close.

"So, what are we gonna do tonight, darlin'?"

****

He walked into the kitchen, seeing Phaedra glaring at the light.

"The bulb has gone out. Can you grab me one from the cellar?"

Lindsey looked away, nervous. "There should be some in the hall closet, darlin'."

"I checked, I think there are some downstairs." Hands on her hips, Phaedra continued to glare at the light.

"Well uh, ain't we goin' out now?" Lindsey looked around, wanting an excuse, anything to keep him away from the door.

Phaedra walked over to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I need it now, vest'acha." She insisted.

"All right," he sighed, looking towards the basement door. "I'll be right back." He put his hand on the doorknob, hesitated, looking back at her. Phaedra nodded encouragingly, staring back at him as he opened the door and headed down into the cellar.


[ooc: Shamelessly adapted from S5 Angel. Sorry 'bout that.

Open to any mystic types that might 'see' this, but not rescue just yet. ;) But feel free to react or interact with Lindsey. ;) Boy done gone got hisself in trouble. *grin*]

Bathing suits, beach sand, and carefree smiles relishing the sunlight -- Those were the components Florida was supposed to be filled with. They were a drastic difference to the pensive expression she both arrived and left the state with. Sunnydale was a little less 'sunny' than Florida and, in her thoughtful opinion, somehow degrees less captivating in comparison to the Californian town that held far more mystery and enigma than the impression it gave you upon first look.

The high, luscious life that was brimming in the southeast hadn't ensnared her as it would have anyone else. Rather, it was calming, a dose of pacification to smooth over the predicaments she'd overcome in the last weeks and months. The constant sensation of paranoia, dreading something she couldn't put her finger on, had been something she was growing grossly familiar to. It had attached itself to her. And like anything that attached, it only increased. That wasn't living, nor was it right. The mass of tangles that were her thoughts had been worsening, and not one of those said tangles looked like it would unravel any time soon.

And thus started her escape. Her route away, steering clear of vampires and mythical creatures and everything that identified with certain people who crowded her mind, Renee entering the picture as she threw clothes and a toothbrush into a bag. She had qualms with leaving. Was she running away? Hypothetically, it was exactly that. In her mind, Bella preferred to label it as being able to breathe. To think. She needed time.

She'd spent the majority of her time being introspective, encompassed by the serenity of a house she didn't know too well and the easily excitable nature of her mother. Renee was full of distractions and opinions she didn't have time to explain. She remembered clearly the concern under Renee's abnormal observance. "You have something on your mind." The sentence hadn't held a question mark, ringing in her ears. "You can't escape things for long. Karma bites back." Haunting words. A message she had already known.

A tattered bag, partially unpacked while half of the contents scattered, lay carelessly across her bedroom carpet. Hair, damp from a recent shower, was being pulled through with her fingers. She hadn't come back with a sun burn or tan lines, but a lighter load almost, a soaring determination.

Crystal sighed and scratched at an arm as she waited for the bus, head tilted back against the orange bench covered in ink pen graffiti. If there was one thing she hated, it was waiting for the bus. And it seemed that she would continue to wait for the bus so long as she didn't have a car. But the money that would go into a car would drop her level of living further than it already was. She really needed to find an apartment instead of living out of a hotel room. While it was nice to not have to clean up after herself all the time, it was annoying to hear the carts being pushed down the hall outside of her door at five in the morning. Plus, whenever Connie wanted to come in a clean she'd always pitch her voice in such an annoying tone when she proclaimed "House keeping!" in that too-cheerful falsetto.

Yeah, it was time to find a place to live that just had upstairs neighbors that liked doing jumping jacks at two in the morning. And then maybe a car.. oh the glee. Hearing the bus turn the corner, she stood and grabbed up her "camping" stuff. Of course, the only thing in the bag was a sleeping bag and a change of clothes. Anything else would be of little purpose when you planned on lurking in a state park for a couple of days, hunting down deer and rabbits for your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pulling out her ticket, she made sure her sunglasses were still on top of her head and then she stepped up to the bus and handed it over to the driver. Her nose wrinkled at the mixture of smells that assaulted her nose as she made her way down the aisle of the bus. Body odor, various food smells and unwashed clothes mixed in a very unpleasant way.

She took a seat at the back of the bus and tossed her bag under the seat, knowing that it wouldn't roll around too much, being stuffed to the point that it was. She propped her knees up and prepared to take a two hour nap, since it was going to take forever to get to the state park.

---Two Hours Later---

She hopped from the last step of the bus and slung her bag over a shoulder before heading in the direction of the park. Since the bus didn't have an actual stop for the place, she'd have to hike it the last leg of the journey. Yeah, getting a car was really high on her list of wants for the moment. Taking a deep breath, she held it for a minute before exhaling. There was nothing quite like the clean air that was in the middle of no where. It didn't matter if you were in the woods of Georgia or in California, the air still had that same clean quality. She glanced up at the sky, tracking down the white shadow of the moon. Come sunset, she was gonna get real acquainted with that moon. 

Sometimes, usually right before her monthly shift into her leopard form, she would remember what life was like before she really paid attention to the lunar cycle. How she would always forget that the full moon came with such regularity. Now, she'd be lucky if she didn't have her skin split in half while she was surrounded by people on that day. Since the second time, she'd made sure to be away from people that week. She'd either get sick or would go out of town, it ididn't matter what plans she had to break. Not that she usually had plans.. well, not since Jack. But even he had gotten sick of her constant ditching of him once a month. He attributed it to her "monthly grossness" and she didn't disagree. 

The gate and little guard house let her know that she had made her way faster than expected. Well, whenever you wanted to get somewhere, your body usually took over. Taking a deep breath, she made her way to the park ranger to get her camping permit. 

"You planning on staying for a few days?" He asked as he got the required paper work out for her to sign. "Just so you know, we've marked off several trails to be off-limits. There've been a few mudslides and the like, so watch out." Making sure each paper was in order, he nodded to her and passed her a map of the site. "Have a good time, miss." Waving back at him, she consulted the map to see where most of the campers would be staying. "Yeah... gotta avoid that area," she said. 

Now, to find a nice isolated cave or something to put her stuff...

“Hey, Donnelly, get a hold of this.” A middle aged white man with a once athletic but now sagging build turned in his swivel chair to face his partner as he hung up the phone. Donnelly, a prematurely bald Navy retiree, looked up from the stack of paperwork on his desk.

“You know the Sutherland Park attack earlier tonight, with the blonde girl? Just got a call from some schmuck saying he witnessed the altercation while he was walking his dog. Older fellow, little bit of a Mexican accent. But get this, he says he seen two blonde women fighting, and that the older woman’s the one who knocked the other girl out.”

Donnelly perked up a bit as he reached for his coffee cup. “Didn’t the report say a blonde woman called in the ambulance for the victim? You thinking it’s the same female, or what?”

“Some kinda domestic dispute maybe. They could be in a relationship of some sort,” he added with raised eyebrows. “They get into it, she gets mad and almost kills the victim. Feels bad about it and calls 911. Definitely plausible.”

“Well why wouldn’t the girl say anything then? I mean, she just got beat down and you think she’s not going to say anything about it to all those white coats asking questions?”

“Classic marker of an abusive relationship old boy. Victim is abused but still protects her partner because she thinks they’ll change, or that they deserve the abuse.” He shuffled around some papers until he found the report from the incident. “Says they left together, what do you make of that?” Donnelly shrugged as he reached out for the papers.

“Well, call up the victim, see what’s good. Use some finesse though for fuck’s sake Thompson, we can’t make an arrest until we have some evidence. Your witness leave a name, contact info? He might be our only lead.”

“Nah, he was real shaken up. Had a guilty conscience about not stepping in. He wants to remain anonymous. We can’t force him to give up the information.” Donnelly nodded, knowing this was true. “Well, I’ll contact the victim, you want to try and track down this...Kate Lockley?”

Lindsey stretched, slowly opening his eyes. He grinned, sliding his arms around the brunette in bed beside him.

"Evening," he purred, kissing her slowly.

"So far," Phaedra replied, kissing him back. Smiling softly, Lindsey kissed her forehead, pulling her close.

"So, what are we gonna do tonight, darlin'?"

****

He walked into the kitchen, seeing Phaedra glaring at the light.

"The bulb has gone out. Can you grab me one from the cellar?"

Lindsey looked away, nervous. "There should be some in the hall closet, darlin'."

"I checked, I think there are some downstairs." Hands on her hips, Phaedra continued to glare at the light.

"Well uh, ain't we goin' out now?" Lindsey looked around, wanting an excuse, anything to keep him away from the door.

Phaedra walked over to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I need it now, vest'acha." She insisted.

"All right," he sighed, looking towards the basement door. "I'll be right back." He put his hand on the doorknob, hesitated, looking back at her. Phaedra nodded encouragingly, staring back at him as he opened the door and headed down into the cellar.


[ooc: Shamelessly adapted from S5 Angel. Sorry 'bout that.]

Eric had left Dietre at home with a promise that he would take Sancho with him if he went anywhere. He was hoping the responsibility would make D more cautious with himself and his strength, but realistically he was just hoping Sancho would come get him in the idiot kid got into trouble.

The plan was to catch a quick, decent dinner and then do some food shopping. Between Sancho and D, the fridge just never stayed fully stocked. Eric felt like he was single-handedly supporting the local beef industry, not to mention the dairy industry, the poultry industry and the diet soda industry. He managed not to buy too much alcohol for the house and kept what he did buy for himself separate - the kid had no taste or respect for fine liquor, just for occasionally getting plastered, so he could buy his own crap alcohol.

A vague memory of a jazz bar and restaurant poked around the edges of Eric's mind as he walked. He breathed in the California night air, glad to be here instead of the jungle. Yes, even with all the crazy antics that Sunnydale was so famous for. He had lived here before, he could do it again. Besides, it was the job.

Eric had spent a long time speaking to his supervisors about the recent events, up to and including a vague description of his meeting with Riley Finn. He had gotten the go-ahead to fill him in on the mission and task him with night ops if needed. It was good to have trustworthy back-up. The kid was trustworthy but untrained, Riley he knew would respond to orders in a certain way. D - unpredictable.

Turning down River Road, he heard the unmistakable sounds of saxophone and bass. He had found the place. Eric was glad that in the harsh world of restaurants, this place had survived his years away.

He pushed open the doors and walked into the smoky bar, looking for a table.

[Yeah so I'm in 3 threads. I CANT BE CONTAINED.]

Life only continued to get more complicated. A mix of poor choices, bad luck, and pessimistic thinking. Street fights, attempted murder and gunshots. How did everything get more dangerous after he gave up being a hitman? And who would have thought that life as a paid killer would feel easier than this? And the pack...Now that was a mess. A constant sensation of being ripped in two whenever he was with them. The wolf within longing for connections, the human desperate to protect himself from future pain. All around him there was nothing that felt secure, nothing permanent, nothing he could cling to without the fear that it could, and would, crumble and leave him to fall.

These heavy, dreary thoughts made him restless, peace continued to be elusive, and the mounting frustration was bound to lead him to even more trouble, he was absolutely certain of it. He walked briskly, hoping to escape the feeling of being trapped that followed him everywhere, and eventually the streets became familiar, though the houses and signs of humanity grew sparse. He could lie to himself the whole way, but he knew perfectly well where he was going. As much as he ran away from close attachments, he was desperate for understanding, an ear for his troubles, something sincere.

There was a hope in him that David could be these things, that he was. He felt, somehow, that David was safe territory, completely separate from the rest of his life. He had told no one about the vampire. He was sure that none of his acquaintances knew anything about David, let alone was aware of their tentative friendship. David was something all his own. Met and accepted on Dietre's own terms, based on common ground, where there was no suspicions of being pitied or kept around out of morals and duty.

His wandering brought him before the grand house that he had had a hand in choosing for the vampire. Its size would have been imposing if the boy hadn't found it so beautiful. He lingered about the street for some time, and then, almost in a rush lest he lose his courage, he sprang up the steps and banged the door knocker (something told him that David would prefer the sound over the electric chime of a doorbell).

It was the night after her near-fatal vamp attack, and Bufy was dressing again for the patrol. Simple black jeans and a blue and white striped tank top, a light zip-up jacket with comfy sneakers. The bites on her neck were hardly noticeable now, and she decided against trying to awkwardly cover them with a scarf.

Still though, she felt a little nervous about going out solo again, foolishly, maybe. Getting hurt was in her job description, she shouldn't be making such a big deal.

She padded downstairs and into the kitchen where she grabbed a string cheese out of the fridge. She was delaying her departure for slayage a little longer than usual, but she had a good reason. Buffy was hoping Willow would get home soon, and that they could talk. Maybe she could even get her friend to come along with. She'd already called Xander earlier in a bout of anxiety to tell him about the attack. After the expected concern and worry, he'd promised to stop by later.

She now waited for her other friend, to see if the redhead would appear to save the day. Willow had been gone all day and Buffy desperately wanted to see her. She was sure Xander was caught up with something, maybe an Anya-type thing, and would be over soon. But where was Willow. She peeled the cheese slowly, glancing up at the clock.