Back to the Grind stone.

[Madeline Cauthon]

Once Maddie got settled into her old room, and freshened up. She pulled out her bar's maid dress, and pulled long dark hair into a pony tail. Which showed the crescent moon tattoo on her forehead she had recieved on being made a full priestess on Avalon.

Maddie headed down to the bar. Thankfully the bar was empty and she had time to make sure it was fully stocked, and clean. She wiped the tables and bar off while she waited for customers.

[Natalie]

The rain had finally started. It looked like it was going to rain all day, and Natalie had been waiting for it. There was something she wanted to write that she felt would be best to write in the rain. She carried an umbrella with her but not because she didn't want to be wet. She did want to get wet, she just wanted to protect the pages of her journal from getting wet. Her journal was one of her most prized possessions, and she guarded it with her life.

Her strawberry blonde hair in a tight braid and she was dressed in a black dress, black stockings and black shoes. She wasn't trying to be gloomy or morbid. She just figured it was going to be muddy outside and black wouldn't get ruined by mud. DJ had asked her why she just didn't go out in pants, but the dress was important for this too. But she wouldn't tell him why, or what she was going out to do exactly. And it was rare for Natalie to keep a secret from him. She told herself it wasn't a secret though. Did not saying some things count as having a secret?

There was one more thing she had to do. She needed food. Specific food that she thought would be good to have with her for the mood she needed to be in. So after she ran down the stairs she made a beeline for the bar. Putting her journal - which had a little lock on it that was locked - and her umbrella on the stool next to her. "Hi," she said half out of breath to Maddie. "It's okay that I order food, right? Do you have a basket? I think the food would be best in a basket. With a lid, because it's raining out."

The young girl positively beamed at Maddie. She was very excited about the adventure she was going to have, and couldn't wait to get started.

[DJ]

Yeah.

Natalie was up to something without him, said she was going off to do something that he didn't need to be involved in. Wasn't her exact words, but it could be translated into something like that. Girls did all sorts of weird changing and all that - that's what his friend at school said. He said that one day his sister turned into a totally new and different person. Was never the same.

DJ wasn't to concerned about Natalie turning into a whole new person, they understood each other.

So let her go do her thing without him. It was. She didn't know that he was going to spy on her with the modifications to his hand held, at least he'd know where she was. While they were discussing what she should wear he slipped a black tracking sticker on to her shoes. Maybe she wouldn't notice it. Had to look out for his sister, she was really all he had for years.

He waited a while before he left that room and headed down to the bar - the radar in his game told her that's where she was. Down the steps, turn to the right, and he saw his sister sitting at the bar along with...

"Madeline?" Mostly said to himself, even caused him to stop 'playing' his game a moment. When did she get back? He didn't know she was going to be at the bar, even though it was her job. . . The young boy brushed back his hair and straightened his green and white stripped polo before he tried to look casual and headed to the bar.

DJ came up besides his sister and sat in the stool. "Changed your mind and are waiting for me?" Hey, it was a hope anyway. Well, while she was here no need to have the game running. Besides, he might die and have to start the level again. So he paused it and set it on the bar, leaning in and giving Madeline one of his smiles that were full of boyish charm.

"Can I have some milk, please." It was always good to be polite. Surly he'd get points for that. "I know I don't look like much now, but I'm drinking milk." Yeah, that was smooth. Smooth like those boys in Junior High.

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie smiled at Natalie, and DJ. She had always been fond of the twins, and at that moment had a flashback to when she was a child, asking there mother the same thing. Maddie grinned .

"Of course you can. Would you guys likes some cookies also?"

[Natalie]

If and when Natalie found out about that sticker bug on the bottom of her shoe boy was she going to be sooo mad at him! But she hadn't noticed yet. And with how muddy and wet it was outside she probably wouldn't notice even if she did look at the bottom of her shoe for some reason.

But she did give her brother a perplexed look about something else. "Waiting? Here? I didn't know you were coming down here..." Natalie was going to say more, she was going to ask him why he had come down here, but then he said what he did to Madeline and her jaw dropped. "Ohmigosh DJ!!!"

She turned so that her back was mostly to Madeline so she could whisper urgently to her brother, "What are you doing?" She'd heard that line before. Because she and DJ had been watching that show together where one of the TV characters had used that very same line. Most of her horror was because she knew what had come next, at least on the show! She didn't think her brother thought like that, that was...well, different. Every day lately he was a little bit different. That wasn't bad, it was just...different! And shocking too. And a teeny bit unknown. She wasn't used to anything that had to do with DJ being unknown, she was used to knowing everything about him there was to know.

After giving DJ a pointed look Natalie cleared her throat and turned to Madeline. She folded her hands very daintily on the counter. "I don't think cookies will be right for my..." she peeked out of the corner of her eye at her brother, "...experiment. I think cucumber sandwiches would be better. And plum pudding. And mince pies, whatever mince pies are. And tea and crumpets. But I'll need the tea in something to keep it hot. I won't be drinking it right away."

Madeline hadn't answered her question about a basket, but that was okay. Natalie had grown up surrounded by adults who were distracted with their adult business, or their vampire business, or the worst of all their adult vampire business. So she was used to having to repeat herself. A tiny pause as she had to think about how to do so politely. "And do you have a basket, Madeline, with a lid? That's very important."

A basket with a lid, and such a strange menu of requests...what could Natalie possibly be planning?

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie had indeed heard Natalie's request. She ducked down behind the bar and when she came back up, she had a small white wicker basket, filled with cookies, chips and peanutbutter and jelly sandwhiches. She then wlked from behind the bar and handed the basket to Natalie.

"Here you go Natalie. I hope this will be enough."

[DJ]

What was she giving him that look for? There was nothing wrong with experimenting and trying new things and Madeline was what some of his friends would have called a 'hot babe' so why shouldn't he use a line like that? Who knows, maybe it would have worked to his sisters advantage? Madeline could have been distracted by DJ's boyish wit and charm that she could have given Natalie the world. That's how it went in those shows - even that show they had watched together. The guy in the show they had been watching gave that exact line and then the girl did all this crazy stuff.

"I was thirsty," was the only reply he could give to his sister that was honest enough to be true and not look like some cover-story. He was at the bar. Why else would he be there if it wasn't for a drink or food? They really needed to stock the mini-fridge in their room with things.

DJ didn't do the line for the craziness that came after. He did it to see if it actually worked. Maybe he had done something wrong. Natalie had got a basket filled with something but he didn't get his milk. Maybe it was in a portable cup in the basket.

DJ nudged his sister on the shoulder and attempted to open the baskets flap to look inside. "Madeline didn't give me my milk. I guess she put it in the basket with your things because she knows I'm coming along."

He was kidding - partially - about the last bit and the wink at the end of his words was the sealant. He really just wanted his milk. There was no need for him to go out with her as long as he could track her.

[Natalie]

Natalie didn't believe DJ for a second! "Thirsty," she repeated with a lofty almost queenly scoff. Sometimes the girl liked to believe she was very, very, very sophisticated for her years. Which was true in many ways. And they did live in a castle. So it made sense that she thought of herself as a princess sort. "Maybe you should order a whole bunch of milk and put it in the fridge." Did she read DJ's mind? Nah. It was a twin coincidence. They had them all the time.

When DJ went to open the flap, Natalie was actually good and held out the basket a bit to make it easier for him. But even after the wink she still couldn't help saying, "But you can't come DJ I told you. It's not how it's supposed to go. Besides you'd get bored." She said that with absolute confidence. She knew him. And she knew what she was doing. So she knew he'd be bored. "And you'd do your huffing and puffing and I'd have to dump your milk on your head if there was still any - "

Her sentence was cut short because she looked down and saw what was in the basket. Chips. "Oh...." She sounded confused. And she looked confused, too, as she lifted the basket enough to set it on an empty stool. She lifted the lid all the way back to look at what was inside. Chips? Cookies? And what was on the sandwiches didn't look like cucumbers.

"Oh, Madeline?" she sounded sorry she had to bring this up to the older girl's attention but she just had to. There was a reason she was ordering these particular foods, they were tied to a time period in a book she had been reading. "I think this is someone else's lunch in here. I ordered cucumber sandwiches and plum pudding and crumpets and tea in a thermos." And mince pies but she left them off the list this time. "This can't ours, mommie would be sooo mad if we had chips and cookies in the same lunch." True that! With the twins soda was a rare treat and junk food was a perk not a daily occurrence.

But...did Natalie just say 'ours'? Like it was DJ's lunch too? Did that mean she was letting him come? Or did she just misspeak?

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie had poured DJ a large glass of milk, and was about to give it to him when Natalie started talking to him. She also realized that she had in fact given Natalie the wrong basket. She got Natalie's basket, and DJ's glass of milk, and handed them the kids.

"Here you go DJ. Sorry about the basket mix up Natalie. I guess it's taking a little bit to get back into the swing of things. You know like going back to school, after a long summer break."

[DJ]

The idea of having milk poured on his head wasn't to appealing. True that it was raining outside so her little trick of getting him messy that way would just wash off, but still, if his mom saw him walking through the Inn drenched like he had decided to jump in a lake with his clothes on, she might not be too happy. He didn't know for sure but didn't think that this particular instance was important enough to give it a shot.

He looked away from his sister and mumbled, "only bored until you fall in the mud," before he took up the milk that Madeline had given him and drank half the glass down before coming up for air. Natalie would surely wish he was around if she got herself into some sort of scrape out there in the rain.

The milk was good, maybe he should get a bunch to take up to their room. "Thank you Madeline. Do you think I can have a case of milk delivered up to my room." This 'my' included Natalie's as well since they were sharing a room here.

Wait, he just said delivered..."I mean, you could set the case here and I can carry it." Yeah, he had some muscle to boast of. That would also give him something to do so maybe his sister wouldn't be suspicious about him following her. If he was busy carrying milk cartons how would he be able to follow her?

[Madeline Cauthon]

Madeline smiled sweetly at DJ. "Sure DJ what ever you you want."

Maddie stepped back into the kitchen for a moment and came back with the case of Milk. It was a little heavy, but DJ said he could handle it.

"DJ I can carryy to your room if you'd like, I don't mind."

[Natalie]

"Our summer break's just started," Natalie said that with a very big smile. Boy was she happy to get a break from that school, and those nuns. She was growing up to be a very inquisitive young lady, and something she learned by asking all her questions was that the nuns could only stand so many before they got angry with her. "Were you on summer break too Madeline?" See, a question! A hasty, "Thank you," quickly followed as Natalie gave back the one basket and took the other which had what she ordered in it.

As Natalie opened the new basket she looked at her brother and nearly stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm not going to fall in the mud," she told him with a matter-of-fact little grumble. She slipped her journal carefully into the basket and shut the lid. "It's not like I'm going to be tree climbing or anything. Which is why you'd be bored." Yes, she was reminding him how bored he would be if he went with her!

And good. DJ was now worried about milk instead. Which meant Natalie could pick up her basket and pick up her umbrella and give them both a big smile as she said, "Tell Mommie I'll be back in a couple hours." A pause. "And not to worry." Said with an earnest nod at her brother. The last thing she wanted to do was cause her mother to worry, this trip into the rain wasn't about that at all.

With that, the girl sang, "Bye!" on her way over to the door. This trip was going to be perfect. She could feel it!

[Madeline Cauthon]

"I guess you could say I was in summer school.. sort of. "

Maddie waved to Maddie as she was leaving. She then turned her attention back to DJ.

"You want some more milk DJ, or something to eat?"

[DJ]

Whoa. Ah, yeah. When he said that he was going to take a whole case of milk up to their room he didn't really realize that a whole case of milk would be, well, a whole case of milk. Okay, he wasn't thinking at all and now Madeline had given him what he asked for and he couldn't just say no. Worst yet she was even saying that she would take it up to the room for him and he couldn't let her do that now could he? What would the other guys think of him if he were to let a female carry something heavy like this up to the third floor? He let his sister carry her stuff, but that was not the same as this.

He saw how she lifted it, looked a bit heavy. Hmm. He could do this, there were ways. Good thing he had that tracking device on Natalie, this could take a bit. "I got it Madeline." DJ said confidently as he stuffed his gaming device into his back pocket. Rubbing his hands together he went for the case and took hold, bending at the knees. "I've been working out."

Sure. If his sister was still here she probably would have laughed. With a heave the boy lifted the cases and got them into a cradle position in his arms. He was leaning back with the effort and his legs were stiff in effort to keep standing. He can do it, just had to get moving. "See, I --whoa!" DJ took one step forward, wobbled and fell back against the bar and dropped the case. Good thing the milks didn't pop open and spill.

He looked up at her with a sheepish grin. "On second thought, do you have a wagon, and long rope?" There was an easier way to go about this and it was called ingenuity.

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie laughed. But then started thinking about it. "You know DJ, there might be one in the stables. Why don't you go look and come back."

[Madeline Cauthon]

While Maddie was standing there talking to DJ, she all of a sudden spaced out and flashed again a funeral set in the lounge. There were people wearing all black and crying. She saw her close friends Venis, and Cassandra weeping in each others arms. She saw her sisters De’Ryanna and Epiphany holding on to on Airtia, who was visibly shaken. It was then she saw Tasha standing in front of a casket screaming. “Why did you have to do it. Why didn’t anyone see it happening.”

Madeline made her way to the casket, and was shocked to see her father laying in the casket battered and bruised. Madeline looked at Tasha. “Tasha what happened. To my father.”

It was then Tasha looked at Madeline with a very cold glare. “How dare you show your face around here after all this time! YOU could have stopped this. YOU should have seen this. He’s YOUR FATHER Madeline. You told me you saw Garreth going mad. WHY IN THE WORLD DIDN”T YOU SEE THIS!”

Madeline didn’t know to say. Why didn’t she see this. Madeline had always had the sight, maybe she hadn’t seen it. That’s what she wanted to believe, but the truth was she had seen it , but choose not to do anything about it. Ever since she had found out Gawain was her real father, she had a hard time coming to terms with it, and she honestly didn’t think there was anything to do to help. “I’m sorry Tasha, I don’t know what to say. If I could have stopped it I would have I promise.”

Madeline then snapped out back to reality, confused. Why was she having visions of what she saw in the ter'angreal? She wondered if this was just a visoin of a flashback. She wondered if Airtia or De'Ryanna had talked to Gawain, but she was definitely going to find out.

[DJ]

Did she say that he could go to the stables? He was sure that there was a wagon in there, but not the type he was looking for or meant. He was thinking more along the lines of a small red toy wagon. Or even a wooden one. Besides, if he went out to the stables now he might run into Natalie and then she would probably accuse him of not paying attention and inviting himself on her outing eventhough she said he'd be bored and wouldn't be interested.

No, he didn't want to go out to the stable. Best to avoid that situation all together. Just as DJ was about to open his mouth and say something about the mild misunderstanding when Madeline got this far-off look to her face. The type of look people adopted when they were suddenly remembering something or were being summoned by some all powerful mystic source like he saw in those movies.

He leaned in on the bar. "Ah.. Madeline? Hey. Madeline?" He even waved his hand in front of her face and whistled. "Rhy'din to Madeline. Come in Madeline."

Took a bit but she came through. "Ah okay. Right. You know...." he took his game and got off the bar stool. "Yeah I think I'll just have one of Aunt Venis' employees come down and get the milk."

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie blushed a bit. She didn't want DJ worrying. "OH sorry DJ, I guess I was daydreaming abit. Sorry hun."

She then got a grin to her face. "You're right DJ, there wouldn't be a red wagon in the stables would there. I think you have the right idea though. Have one of Aunt Venis's employees come get it for you."

Maybe she'll get lucky and see Andrew again!

[DJ]

Maybe Madeline could read minds? He wouldn't be surprised if she could as word had it that Madeline was special in some type of way. He remembered those many months ago when he and his sister were shoved off to be with Uncle Manny while some hubbub was going on outside the Inn. He never did get the full scoop of what had gone on but heard a rumor that Madeline had died. He had thought that she came back to life, though maybe she came back as a Vampire and was one of those who are not deathly pale. After having recently spent the last few years of his life around Vampires who could read minds that was the first thing that came to mind when Madeline commented on something he didn't actually say. She had died, was now 'alive' and could read minds, all of that could mean vampire. What else could it be?

A partial turn towards the steps he flicked the button on his game and it lit up, the nice little dot on the games map doing its job of letting him know where his sister was so he wasn't concerned. He was really quite pleased that it was still working as he didn't have a chance to test if the tracer was waterproof or not. "I'll send one if I see one. If not I'll just come back for it later." Flicking up a peace sign with his right hand he turned and started towards the steps.

"Later."

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie smiled at DJ. "OK Sweetie, see you later."

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