Welcome to Gaia! ::

Fallon darted a sharp gaze at Elzo when he took a cup of coffee without asking, but she smoothed it down, quickly portioning out the last few cups and topping them with cream. She lifted her own glass to her lips, leaning against the counter, when Marlo burst on to the scene. The boy climbed higher on her list of preferences. Not only did he save her from having to snap at Elzo, but he told him to get off of Audrey too. Too bad it didn't seem like the blunette was having any of that.

"It's probably good if you head out," she said, eyes flashing to Audrey. She read the look, had read it before. "Hillworth has a curfew, doesn't it? It's a big day for us tomorrow too -- right, Jada? -- and we don't need any uninvited distractions." A smile crossed her lips, but it wasn't particularly warm. Fallon didn't like party crashers, and she really didn't care for guests who pushed their company. It was Jada's house and Jada's call, but either way, Fallon would be sleeping alone (and soon too). There were plenty of empty rooms in the cavernous Chamberlyn Manor.

Elzo continued to be crass. Fallon disliked crass. Cockblocking, copping a feel, sleepovers -- it was easy to see how he got his reputation. Quietly, Fallon decided that he was all wrong for Audrey. Her friend deserved better, and she would make it her mission to find that better post-haste.

Cool magenta eyes dropped to the trays of food that Jada slid out. She started to move to help, but the dark-haired girl was too quick. She relaxed back against the counter, drinking in slow, drawn-out sips. Fallon had made the decision not to have much fun once they'd crashed the party, and it appeared she was sticking to it.

"If you'd brought a camera, you'd be dealing with the cops, not us." Jada's smile wasn't a nice one. She was disconcerted, thrown off-balance, and she didn't like it. She took another bite of her mousse, listening to the two talk about their father. Wow, he sounded... like someone her mother would probably like. Most unfortunate. Jada was careful as she ate, not looking at Elzo and his grip on her friend, nor Marlo, whose eyes had finally turned to her. Not even Fallon, anymore, innocent in the catastrophe the night had turned to. "As for if your father is, or was, planning on attending my debut, I don't know. And the auction was planned with my consent." she stood up. "It's common at charities to have auctions and many of them sell dates. If I can make a little extra money for my charity, what is one night of my life?" she wasn't sure how she felt about being told that it was s**t. The mousse cup was lifted in one hand, the coffee cup in the other.

Maybe she was being over-sensitive. Maybe she was still in shock over the events of the evening, most especially by Marlo's almost-confession.

The young woman didn't comment on what they'd told her and her companions of their father. He sounded like a real 'winner'. Though frankly, she thought uncharitably, it explained a little bit about his sons. Jada didn't look at anyone as she started for the door, but at the entrance to the kitchen she turned, looking them all over. "I'm going to go get the pool water out of my hair. Fallon is right, gentlemen. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I hope that I shall be seeing you both at the ball tomorrow evening?" Elzo got a smile, and then she bit her lip, staring at Marlo for only a moment, the smile he received weak and faint. "I'll see you girls upstairs when I'm done, alright?" it was more a rhetorical question than anything else.

She felt like such a fool!

Both boys would be gone before she'd find her way out of her bedroom again.

Jada left. Fallon left. Audrey was left alone with the twin-like brothers, one of whom couldn't seem to keep his hands out of her hair or move his arm from around her waist where it had tightened and pulled her closer. Most of the conversation that had so upset Jada went over her head, but she assumed that it had something to do with Marlo and Elzo's father and a date with Jada. A date that wouldn't go well, and gold eyes narrowed in contemplation. Confusion struck when Fallon went off in search of a guest room.

What had happened to their sleepover? Fingers knit together on the marble counter top, nails digging into her palms subtly. Nobody liked a crier. She hadn't cried yet, Audrey wasn't about to cry now, but she was so ******** helpless. With this leg, without her crutches, all she could do was lean her head against Elzo's shoulder and let out a long, frustrated sigh. "I am going to chalk this up to bad timing and stress, I'm not entirely sure that was something you should have done. I understand why you did it, but you shouldn't have done it like that. There's a phone. You know how to use it." The words were supposed to be angry, but they came out only tired and a wry smile brushed across the bluenette's face.

Being a captain had given Audrey patience she hadn't previously possessed. Also, she had a ridiculous crush. It helped. Marlo, of course, immediately started to blame Elzo for haring off. It was almost entirely plausible, she hadn't hidden the fact that she was sleeping over at the Chamberlyn mansion before the ball. In the end, it took her sliding off the stool and gasping as pain shot up her leg to get them to stop and look at her again. Immediately, the older Xanis swept her up and looked concerned. "I'm okay, you just wouldn't stop." Unapologetic, a slim finger pointed out of the kitchen and back towards the way they'd originally come. "I need to sleep, tomorrow is going to be ridiculous. I'm tired, and I think Fallon has run away. Jada is probably hiding in her bathroom until you are gone. Take me back please?" With that, she settled back and was content to be carried as she had not originally been, and was deposited on the bed.

Of course, Elzo had to try yet one more time to crawl in with her, cajole her to let him stay. But she'd made that mistake once already, and wasn't entirely sure that her two female friends wouldn't smother her in her sleep if a single Xanis was found on the premises. "Out. Out out out! If you don't leave right now I am never ever going to speak to you again. Jada won't either, Marlo. Get out!" Her voice snapped on the end, face resembling the expression of the well-known Gunn Kiillingworth.

That did the trick. Though Elzo was being hauled out by his younger brother, the boys left, and Audrey was alone. She could still hear splashing in the bathroom, and was assuming that somewhere nearby Fallon was going through her nighttime rituals. Probably involved putting her own sheets on the bed at forty degree angles six times and then playing white noise through noise-cancelling headphones. Arms wrapped around the owl, and in the back of her mind before she lost consciousness, Audrey wished desperately for her penguin.