Cockroach Mansion -- Downstairs

The heavy, dark opulence to this mansion known as Dominion is perfectly exemplified by the room vistors first enter, this front hall. Dark-stained wood serves as paneling on the walls, gleams with high gloss in the hardwood floor, and supports a semi-circular balcony in carved pillars. The heavy double doors, made of oak, open into the hall from the south, opposite the huge, hourglass-shaped staircase composed of red and black gneiss which soars up to the balcony; both are fenced in with a wooden railing of simple spiraled posts. Several doorways can be made out on the second floor, nearly blending in discreetly with the back wall. The wall to the left of the front doors is composed entirely of windows which run from the forty-foot-tall domed dark wood ceiling to the floor; if drawn, the heavy velvet drapes of deep red would completely mask them from view, but when parted, as they often are, one has a marvelous view of the grounds outside.

A doorway to the right of the front doors leads to a parlor, and towards the back are the kitchens, the large dining room, and Salem's office.

Contents:
Anthony

Obvious exits:
Tower Stairway Elder's Office Front Doors

Anthony is in the parlor, a picture of modern comfort: sprawled out on the sofa, a bag of chips in his lap and a can of soda in one hand, with two empty ones sitting on the coffee table he's got his feet propped up on. He's watching a movie, something with a lot of explosions.

Natalie comes down the hall from the kitchen, a half-empty beer bottle in one hand. She pauses at the doorway, leaning against the frame, and watches for a minute. "...Whatcha watching?"

"I dunno, I'm just channel surfing," Tony replies, then looks back at who's asking the question; he sits up straight, removes his feet from the table and puts the chips aside, unconsciously cleaning up a bit.

Natalie rolls her eyes. "For the love of Pete, I'm not gonna bark at ya." She slides off the door and comes over to the couch, settling herself beside him. Yup, she's still in glabro. Yup, she still looks like she was attacked by a weedwhacker. "You mind company?"

"No, not really." Tony turns down the volume a couple notches and puts the remote on the table before leaning back again, folding his arms.

Natalie takes a swig out of her beer, eying Tony's chips. They're evidentally safe for now, for she says instead, "What d'you think of Leala being Elder?" Completely nonchalantly, completely out of the blue.

Anthony's attention wanders back to the movie. "I dunno," he answers matter-of-factly. "She seems all right, I guess."

"Feh," Nat says, and slides down into the couch. "Y'know, I had it all planned out? I figured I'd ask her what she was going to do as Elder, wait for her to come up with reasonable answers, and then hand the damn office over to her, since she wants it so much. That'd free me up to deal with other stuff, like Havoc and headcase." More beer suffers swiggage.

"Oh. That's too bad." Anthony doesn't seem very interested, though whether or not it's because of the television is up for debate.

Natalie looks over suspiciously. "What's too bad?"

"That, eh, your plans got all, kinda, you know," Anthony replies, waving his hands around a little in an attempt to make his vague statement a little less so.

Natalie can't manage Salem's one-eyebrow-raised thing, much as she might try. It's both or none for the Galliard. "...Uh-huh." She eyes the Ragabash, then the TV before asking ever so casually, "What would you do with the Tribe Tony?" She manages to deliver it with an even tone, but there's an evil smirk on her face.

Anthony loses his staring contest with the television, looking over to Natalie. "What would I do with it?" he echoes.

Natalie says, "Mmm-hmm."

Anthony considers the question, returning to watching the movie, but apparently considering the question doesn't entail answering it.

Natalie reaches out to poke at his shoulder. "Oy. I'm serious, Tony."

"I don't know," Tony finally answers at the shoulder poking.

Natalie ffts and stands, taking her beer with her. "Fine. I'm gonna go turn in early, see if I can heal enough that I can get some work tomorrow. Enjoy your..." A hand flaps toward the television. "Whatever that is."

Anthony reaches forwards for the remote control, turning off the TV. "Sorry," he apologizes, sinking back into the sofa.

Natalie chews on the inside of one cheek for a minute, then nods and settles back down. "So what've you been up to, besides the plumbing? You got the cash for that, I'm assuming?" Time to try topic B.

"Nothing really. Lots of walks, mostly." Tony puts his legs back up on the table. "Yeah, I got the money for it; got my uncle to lend me some extra."

"Sweet. Hand me a couple chips?" Nat tugs the neckline of her sweatshirt away from the healing wound with a grimace. "Ow. Damn him. ...You met that Stargazer yet? Flash, I think his name is?"

Anthony passes the rest of the bag over, taking a couple more chips for himself in the process. "Eh, I don't think so ... maybe."

Natalie plops the bag down between them, easily available for munching. "Thanks. So? Whatcha think of him?" No, she's not about to let this topic sink as quickly as the last did.

"I don't know, I'm kinda blanking out on who that is," Tony admits. "What's he look like?"

Natalie considers, ostensibly watching the television where Mike Ditka throws a football through a tire. Freud would love this. "Huh. Tallish. Taller'n me. Gangly. Dresses like a pimp exploded on him. Or a circus, maybe. He had a red vinyl raincoat the other day, at the zoo."

"Oh," Anthony replies, scowling momentarily. "Yeah, I ran into him. He was yelling at that one cub, what's her name, Joey. I said something about it, he started yelling even more, she got scared and ran off, he chased after her. I got in the way, and Josh comes out of nowhere and tackles me."

Natalie huhs and turns back to him. "You think he would've hurt her? Flash, I mean, not the headcase?"

"I think he bit her, she said." Tony scratches his head thoughtfully.

Natalie says, "Ignore what she said, for a minute. D'you think Flash really meant to hurt her? I mean, there's chasing, and then there's chasing. I dunno what really happened, and I dunno if you do, either - I mean, getting tackled by the headcase would tend to distract a guy. I'm just..." She resorts to hand-flapping again. "I dunno. I'm trying to get a different point of view on him. Flash, I mean."

"I couldn't tell. I kind of walked in on the middle of it, and I couldn't even get a name out of him, though if headcase hadn't showed up and started yelling too ... eh, I don't know. I was around him for all of maybe a few minutes."

Natalie shrugs and lets the matter drop, diving after another handful of chips. "No problem. He - he was there last night, after... I woke up in the infirmary. I think it was Alicia? Anyway. He was there, helped me down the stairs." Said chips suddenly require a great deal of concentration.

"Well, uh. I guess next time I see him..." Tony trails off, looking up at the ceiling.

Natalie looks over, brushing her hand off on a thigh. "What?"

Anthony shrugs. "Nothing. Just thinking out loud."

Natalie says, "...Like we were doing earlier? You think we've got a chance at it? Headcase and a silver 9mm?"

"A chance at... yeah. I think so." Anthony nods, finishing off his drink and putting the empty can alongside the other three.

Natalie finishes off her own drink with a final slug. "Damn. Part of me's aghast we're even thinking it, and the rest is jumping up and down, hooting with glee." And if that isn't a mental image to make strong men weep... "Eh, we'll see. I really am gonna head to bed this time. You want me to leave the chips, or take 'em with me?"

"Go ahead, if you want them. I'm done with 'em." Anthony leaves the morality debate untouched.

Wimp. Of course, so is Natalie. She's a wimp too. "All right. You enjoy your... your exploding starships, or whatever that was. I'll see you in the... oh! You'll tell me when the plumbing's done, right?"

"I'll leave a message," Anthony assures Natalie. The TV gets turned back on, and he resumes channel surfing.

The bag rattles, and suddenly a chip goes flying past Tony's head. "Or you could, I dunno, talk to me. Goober," she fondly accuses. "G'night."

[End of log]