Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Damn that girl. Damn her to each of nine levels of Hell." Back in the music room, Alyekzander practically growled at the harp. His concentration was entirely shot and the moment was gone. Damn her, damn her, damn her! He hoped she fell on her fool head. But that would be entirely too easy. God favored the idiots, after all, as they were always better for a laugh.

Alyekzander sighed and let his shoulders droop slightly. He could not really sustain his anger despite the girl being truly antagonizing. What good did it do him? She was surely cackling with glee and destroying something priceless this very moment; the only one subject to his foul mood was the innocent and inanimate harp. He stroked a few chords lovingly, but even his newfound resigned calm was not enough for him to create music. "Ah, damn her." Alyekzander repeated once more, but softly and with no real heat left to it.

Quickly returning to his room, Alyekzander donned socks and shoes, buttoned his shirt and tucked it into his waistband. He did not know where he planned to go, but he thought he might go mad if he stayed in this house. He grimaced and decided the back door was his best chance to slip past the headphone bedecked harpy. Alyekzander possessed his own computer, but v-logs and such were of no interest to him; he could not even remember which of the girls he had encountered, let alone what her hobbies were. And so, blithely unaware that Madeline was no where near the foyer, Alyekzander crept by toward the back exit. Sneaking out of his own home! The whole situation was mad!

Madeline decided to wander a bit more. She went back to her room, and put her guitar down. She went back to the foyer, cupped her hands around her mouth, and practically screamed, "I'M BORED!"
The sound echoed back at her, reminding her that finding someone to have a decent conversation with was one in a million chance. Okay, tick off the choices.
Mom. No. She wouldn't understand.
Daddy Dearest. HELL NO. Just... wrong.
Adrienne. Maybe. She knew exactly what she was going through. That was the problem, she knew it TOO well.
Alyekzander. Yeah right. She'd like his point of view, but after earlier? Nuh-uh.
Maybe one of the other Gerasimov boys. She sat on the stairs, and leaned back. She lay her right arm over her forehead, and her left over her stomach. She closed her eyes, and her lips parted slightly. It was the perfect damsel position.
What could cure her boredom? She wondered.
Two words.
Skate. Boarding.
She sprang up.
Perfect! But where would she get one? Sports goods store obviously... Where would she get the money? Daddy Dearest. But... asking her step-dad for money. Nuh-uh. No way. She was NOT going to do that.
Then it clicked.
The library.
This big house had one... right?
She'd ask. West wing? Most probably. She'd look there first. She walked into the west wing, wearing shoes this time, and began to wander around.

Max opened his door just enough to peek out, then pulled it open a bit more. He glanced up and down the silent hallway, then frowned, irritated. Why was he skulking around? He lived there! He stepped out of his room, wearing artistically sloppy clothes and carrying an obviously quality skateboard under his arm. There was no way that he was staying in the house a second longer; the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.

He took maybe two steps before he froze, dismay flashing across his face before his expression turned stony. He glared at the cheerful-looking girl, he couldn't tell which one, for another second, then proceeded to walk past her like she had abruptly faded into the wallpaper.

Madeline looked at the skateboard, and took off her shoes. Something inside her nagged not to do this. She ignored it, and began to skid. She took a running start, then abruptly stopped. The floor slid under her feet, a grin upon her face. She turned her head, then suddenly turned.
"The Library~!" She sang mentally, and walked into the library.

Emily’s jaw tightened slightly as the boy, her new stepbrother, held open the door for her and gave a curt, dismissive nod, but that was all. She would have to remember to be proud of herself for that monumental feat of self control later, but at that moment she was afraid that if she thought about anything but continuing to put one foot in front of the other she would run back and dump one of the watering cans over his frostily polite head. Even now she could feel his eyes on her retreating form, and her back stiffened involuntarily at the eerie feeling. The next moment, she stepped through an enormous set of glass double doors and into the cool interior of the house.

By the time she slid into the seat of her old silver Honda, she was almost back to her normal level of calm, and was regretting her previous ire. It wasn’t that he hadn’t deserved it, she thought, though with no real heat; it was that she ought to be above that sort of pettiness. She turned the key in the ignition and checked her mirrors, simultaneously putting the whole incident out of her mind as best she could, and pulled out of the enormous driveway with her thoughts set firmly on work.

As such, she didn’t remember that her beloved copy of Pride and Prejudice was still on the greenhouse floor until she was pulling into the employee parking lot.

Alyekzander finally entered the hothouse, closing the door behind him and taking a deep breath. He slowly exhaled, forcing tension away from him. He had come to escape his frustrations, not kindle them anew. Briefly he considered that girl may have come to do the same and he felt his suspicions somewhat confirmed when he found her abandoned book. He lifted the book and examined the cover, running his fingers over the rough damage of age. This was not one of their books; it was in too poor a condition. The book did not seem ill treated, so Alyekzander began to wonder if it was simply old or very often read. Either way, he would have to return it, wouldn't he? He supposed he could just leave it here where the girl could find it... here in the warm, damp and not particularly book friendly hothouse. Ah, damnit, he would have to return it himself. But it would wait a while longer. Alyekzander carried the book over to where his cooking herbs grew and breathed in a lung full of their scent. Then he sat by them and cracked open the book. He liked to read only occasionally, but the book had been unintentionally provided by the icy retreat of its owner. It seemed a shame not to take advantage of good fortune.

{(Thanks. smile The revolving code thing I got from Tektek.org, but the pictures are from several people.)}

Max walked confidently through the winding hallways toward his father's study, intending to leave a note detailing where he was going should anyone want to contact him. He wasn't taking his cellphone, just to make things a bit more difficult, and wouldn't have left a note at all if he'd thought he could get away with it; his father demanded a certain professionalism from his sons, and that included informing people when you were leaving. He turned a corner and skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding bumping into one of the girls.

He was too surprised to attempt an Alyk inspired cold shoulder, plus, she looked beyond furious. Just looking at her expression made him nervous; he'd seen that look on girls' faces before, and it never boded well. "Er..." Run away! his brain screamed, but his traitorous body continued to stand stock still.