(2018-11-27) Sisterly Trouble
Sarah isn't acting like herself, but at least she's home?
Players:
sarah..katherine..julian..anthony..nicholas..

Sarah's been home all weekend. Mostly in her room and only shuffling out for food at what must be odd hours. She leaves an uncharacteristic mess of items not returned and dishes on counters but she really does seem to be avoiding people. In the same vein of strange Sarah happenings is her luggage. She came home in an taxi with only one bag but yesterday and today, packages of her other belongings have been arriving. And not making it upstairs. They just seem to linger in the great room, which is where Sarah is now. She sits on the sectional, bundled up with a mug of something and seems to be staring at the boxes. Staring like they are a problem to be solved. She frowning and her brows knit and she sighs.

She's not looking great either. This was a girl who cared about how she looked once upon a time. Now she's all sweats, t-shirts and her curly hair bound up in a messy and greasy bun.

Katherine comes up from the basement, a bundle of warm clothes in her arms. She spots the boxes that were there this morning and sighs. She sets down the warm clothes and approaches the packages, gazing at them with curiousity until she sees the name on them. "Hmm." She murmurs, turning to walk toward the kitchen. She spots Sarah then, and is startled, blinking at her sister. "Where did you come from?" She asks, glancing out toward the stairs and back again. "Sarah.." She gestures to the boxes, eyes widening a little. "What are these about?"

Sarah looks to the boxes piled about the great room and then to Katherine slowly. "It's all my stuff from school." She says, as if this should be obvious. Sarah is sitting on the sectional with a mug of tea. Sarah Stone. One of the little sisters is supposed to be grown but she looks so small in her nest of blankets and comfy clothes. Between that and her greasy curls piled on top of her head, this isn't quite the girl most would recall. She looks so tired, so drained. But she's been in her room for days. She takes a sip from her tea, still staring at Katherine. "I just haven't moved them yet. That's all." She looks back to the boxes and sighs deeply.

"If you'd like, there are plenty of nice gentlemen in the B&B right now.." Katherine begins, frowning as she eyes the boxes. She won't tell her sister that she had to rent out her own room, she might feel bad. Though she doesn't look like herself. "..I can ask if they can take this stuff up to your room, if you want?" She makes an attempt to hide the worry in her gaze, a slight smile curving her lips. "I brought home cupcakes from Totally Baked, do you want one? I brought hazelnut, you used to /love/ hazelnut." She glances toward the cupcake box on the dining room table. "What's going on, Sarah? You've barely come out of your room since you got home. People have been calling you. Are you okay?"

Tall, strapping Julian Walker makes his appearance amid a lot of shuffling and kicking his boots at the placement mat - a trademark Julian thing to do because he's probably the only frequent visitor that actually /needs/ to make sure his work boots are as clean as possible. Still in uniform, the man's steps foreshadow his approach as those heavy boots of his thud not unlike the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. Where's a glass of water when you need one? The wide brimmed hat is removed from his head as he steps through the foyer into the great room. "Just make sure you clear the grid in that area before you turn in your coms. Check in one more time." After he slips his phone back in his pocket, the ranger spots Sarah and Katherine and with the familiarity of a man who has been in the Stone girl's lives for the entirety of it, he shuffles over and ruffles the shoulders of both ladies. "Welcome home, peanut. I see you've discovered the wonders of the world outside of your room." He sneaks an amused wink in Katherine's direction.

Julian gets a smile out of Sarah. "Hey, stranger. Or…shit, you should be saying that to me, huh?" She chuckles a little. "Julian…can you take these boxes up to my old room, please?" There are about six but two are small enough to stack on the larger ones. "I'm a weakling. All that studying, yeah?" She says with a little grin. She then looks to Katherine. "I still love hazelnut. Bring me one please?"

Oh. People had questions, didn't they? They get no answers.

Katherine gets enough of this treatment from Lynn to let it pass, but for now she's not going to push. Instead she aims a look at Julian, walks over to the table, flips open the box and pulls out a cupcake. When she moves over to the couch to hand it to Sarah she smiles tightly, her voice quiet. "Good job diverting Julian. I'm not so easy." She takes a seat on the couch, pulling the remote away from Sarah to put on the news. "You know, used to be that you talked to me. I'm not going to bite your head off or anything, you're nineteen now." She leans over to steal a fingertip of hazelnut, an eyebrow quirked. "You're gonna tell me what is going on eventually though."

The familiar sound of the front door of the Stone House being opened was immediately proceeded by the figure of Anthony as he stepped into the great room. The long black wool overcoat that raped over the shoulders of his grey tweed suit hung to his upper calf and his hands were plunged deep into the hip pockets, the clicks of the solid heels of his immaculate leather wingtips practically echoed with every step before freezing at the edge of the room, "Jesus fuckin' christ, Kate, do you eva' not have a bajillion people's in ya' house?" he commented, the voice of a smooth bassline if it weren't so butchered by the way he delivered it. Pale green eyes glancing toward Julian, and then toward Sarah, "Obviously poster boy 'ere is a badge, but who's 'is? Anotha' guest? You'se know ya' runnin' outta' rooms, we gonna' have ta' set up a tent'a somethin…"

"We can say it to each other, I think, since we both technically left." Julian concedes with an easy (if exhausted smile - though only the more observant would notice that). He lets out an easy chortle and shakes his head, not at all surprised as his eyes shift to the boxes as if sizing them up. "No problemo, but if they're full of books, I'm charging you by the step." He takes a deep breath, turning briefly toward Katherine, sharing a quick, wordless look with her. "Where's the hellion at?" Even as he's starting to heft up one of the boxes. He's passing Anthony as he starts for the stairwell up to the second floor, eyebrow immediately going up. "You do realize this is a B&B, right? That's kind of the point." There's a twinge of uneasiness there, a level of skepticism as the ranger studies the unknown face. He briefly spares a glance backward toward Katherine, a questioning look - but seems to leave it at that and then he's trudging up the stairs, some of the boxes in hand.

Sarah looks at Kate and shakes her head. "Not if there is nothing to tell." She has a mouth full of cupcake when Anthony steps in. We know this because her jaw literally drops. "Mm—Oh!" She has to chew and swallow first. "I'm Sarah. Kate's sister. I was away at school. Now I'm back." She is staring. After a moment to remember herself, she says to Julian. "No books. Just a lot of clothes and blu-rays…a sewing machine. I-I-I…thank you." And back to Anthony stare. "You look like you can afford to buy a place all to yourself if you wanted. Sound it too. New York but…not the city. Upstate?" She pauses a moment and smiles. "I have an ear for accents. Useless talent. Unless I'm right. Then less useless." Sarah looks every bit the young girl as she languidly eats her cupcake. She is probably aiming for sexy but languid's the better word.

Katherine narrows her eyes at her sister, mouth open to respond when Anthony walks in. She sits up straighter and shrugs toward the dark haired man, smiling. "This is all family. The man who just walked past you is a badge, but he's also kinda like our big brother. His name is Julian Walker." She blinks at Sarah when she speaks, watches her and then glances back and forth from Sarah to Tony. She won't embarrass her sister here, in front of the guest, so she gets up to get her own cupcake from the box. "Julian!" She calls out, walking toward the steps. "Excuse me a moment." She mutters, taking the steps to at a time until she finds Julian on them. Their quiet words won't be heard by others, but it's clear that they're talking to one another.

(quiet conversation on the stairs)

Katherine looks a bit wild-eyed as she grabs Julian by the arm. "Sarah is down there flirting with that forty year old mobster person!" She squeaks out, looking panicked. "She also won't tell me what is going on. Is she /going/ or is she /staying/!" She looks on the verge of a panic attack. "I can't handle this."

Julian is walking out of Sarah's room, hands free now when he is rushed by Katherine. He holds his hands up in an attempt to slow her down. "Whoah, Kitty. What?" He glances over her shoulder and down the stairwell, eyebrows lowering and a thoughtful look crossing his expression. "Look," He begins, murmering quietly so that his words don't travel down to the first floor, "As much as I already don't like that guy, I doubt Sarah is going to jump his bones. At least not right now." The last part is followed by an amused smile in that infuriating way he can be when he's not taking Katherine too seriously. It's usually followed up with a 'You've really got to relax a little, Kitty.' In some form.

Katherine simply stares at Julian, anger flashing in her eyes. "Are you /serious/ Julian? She just appeared out of nowhere, she clearly doesn't plan to leave. If she turns up pregnant too, I'm gonna shoot you with your own gun." She huffs and turns to walk back down the stairs, rubbing her hands over her eyes hard.

(quiet conversation over!)

The turn toward Julian of Anthony's pale green eyes was almost one of being taken aback - that is, before he flashed a large white-toothed smile that was cockeyed with amusement, "I mean, I should fuckin' hope so. I rent out the garage" he replied with a soft chuff of laughter at the back end of his words and with the words of Katherine, he turned that very same smile back toward Sarah, though he managed to constrain it to one of a more sincere warmth, "Dios Mio" he rambled off in a rich Italian, pressing his hands together in a motion of prayer, "You're Sarah, of course! Kate mentioned somethin' about havin' sista's an' whatnot, but /marrone/" he trailed, feigning a look of shock and covering his mouth with one hand, "S'cuse me, where a' my manna's, yes, yes, you'se absolutely right, I don' t'ink that's a useless talent at all cause you'se dead on'a money. I spen' a good bit'a time in Ithica…" he trailed and took a few steps closer, extending a meaty hand outward toward Sarah, "Ciao Bella, Ant'ny Malone, but please, jus' call me Tony - only my Motha' an' my priest call me Ant'ny - and yeah, I probably could, I'm waitin' ta look at some houses wit' an agent" he then managed to bring back a bit of those pearly whites, "Welcome back, you mus' be t'rilled, t'is is a wonderful lil' town you'se got 'ere"

Julian comes back down the stairs empty handed, presumably next to a strained Katherine Stone, whom he is smiling easily at and even in the process of tapping her lightly in the shoulder with a fist. It's easy to hear him coming from across the building on wooden floor with the heavy thud his boots makes, introducing his presence long before he returns. "Tony, you said?" The ranger picks that up from conversation as he's re-entering the great room. "You're a long way from home, Tony." There's a degree of cautiousness there, but that is probably the badge talking. Because a moment later, he's all easy smiles as he flops down unceremoniously in a chair near the fire. "Mind if I crash here tonight? We're canvasing the south face of the canyon in the morning and it'd help if I didn't have to drive up and down the mountain after a twenty-four hour shift."

Sarah sits up straight, puts down her cupcake and shakes Anthony's hand. She's a soft, dainty grip. "It's nice to meet you, Tony. Welcome to Calaveras. It's not much but it's home." She suddenly cares about her appearance. She pulls the blanket around her. No one wants to see her food stains. And she makes a quick effort to smooth her fizzy, greasy mess of a bun. "I-I…I was attended Penn State so, I gu-guess I'm a bit jet lagged? It's why I'm such a mess. I'm usually more put together. So, Tony, what brought you out here?" Julian's reentrance gets a brief look of scorn but since he isn't blocking, she keeps laying on the charm. "A good Catholic boy out of Ithaca is a long way from home. You can't be here for the rodeos and scenic views."

Katherine glowers at Julian, walking away from him to peel her cupcake from its wrapper. "Julian.." She looks strained, a frown forming on her face. "If you don't mind taking part of the couch, sure. But all the rooms are full up right now." She quirks a brow at Sarah's tone, aiming a hard look at Julian. "Sarah, why don't you go make sure that Jules didn't break anything in your boxes for a moment." She suggests, taking a bite of her cupcake. She smiles at Anthony, gesturing to the cupcake box. "Would you like a cupcake, Tony?"

In contrast, Anthony's hand was meaty and strong, with a palm of callouses not belonging to a man who wore suits to his desk job. "Tony Malone" Anthony confirmed at the query from Julian, flashing an even smile toward him and a nod of his head in a polite form of respect, though he listened to what Sarah had to say easily enough, seeming not to notice her blatant attempts to compose herself, or rather, choosing not to acknowledge them. At both of them mentioning him being far from home, he nodded somberly, "It's true. I am. But ya'know, soon, t'is will be my new home, an' I won' have ta' worry about bein' so far from it no more" that devil-wears-raybans smile flashed back and he arched an eyebrow as Sarah mentioned Penn state, "Penn State, eh? So you'se a lil' lion girl then, huh?" he chuckled, "You'se must be very sma't" he articulated by raising a hand to tap at his temple, "S'mat enough ta' double check t'at move job by mista Julian over 'ere if you'se value ya' stuff" he grinned, his pale eyes finding Katherine withn air of confirmation, whatever sort it may be. "No t'anks, Kate. Not really big onn'a sweets"

Julian catches the look from Sarah and his eyebrow goes up. "You're welcome?" He quips, turning that same look toward Katherine, his expression slightly bewildered. "I think I'm going to scrounge something up in the kitchen." He remarks, more to himself than anyone else. With death cultists and suicide bombers and blown up ranger stations, it's safe to say that it's been a pretty long week for Calaveras' Warden. With an achey groan, the man pulls himself back up to his feet. "Thanks, Kitty. Don't worry about me, I'll find some corner to crash in." He tips a hand from his forehead in Anthony's direction, which more or less just gives him the reason he needs to size the man up once more and finally, with a subtle shrug to himself, he turns and heads into the back Kitchen area.

Down the stairs with purposeful movements comes Nicholas, dressed in a snappy, fitted emerald green blazer overtop a black button-up, black slacks to finish it off. He comes rounding into the great room and stops short at the crowd, his lips curving into an amused smile. "Good evening, everyone. Are you throwing a party just for moi?" he says in his thick British accent, pointing a hand to himself before he waves it through the air with a bit of a laugh.

The look Sarah gives her sister could melt the Rockies. And it lingers. "I'm more than a little lion." She purrs. "I like those hands. A man's hands." She winks. She gets up then, slowly, deliberately and heads for the stairs in the same manner, as if she is watching her steps. Halfway there, she remembers her half-eaten cupcake and spins around to grab it. She wobbles and nearly falls, losing her balance. Only the arm of the sectional saves her. "Whoopsies!" She tries to blow it off by snatching her cupcake and making a quick exit up the stairs, passing Nicholas. "A brit too? Damn.." She mutters, giving him an eye as well. But it's not the look Anthony got.

Katherine watches Sarah move to the steps, eyebrows raised as she wobbles and nearly falls down. She presses her lips together, simmering quietly by the dining room table as she eats her cupcake. "Fucking fantastic." She finally mutters, her eyes watching Julian as he tries to escape from the line of fire. Coward. She takes another bite of her cupcake, already considering how to handle this before Nicholas comes down the stairs. "Not a party, no. If you two want dinner, it's in the kitchen. I made chicken fried steak this evening." She shifts her gaze to Sarah, who is retreating, and sighs. "I can bring you up dinner if you want, Sarah, and we can talk." She raises a brow, waiting to see her response.

Anthony mirrored Julian's tip of the fingers from his forehead with a smile and if he had a response for Sarah's purring antics, it went unspoken. The all-to unfortunately familiar British tongue that forcibly invaded Tony's ears however definitely warranted one. The suited man pivoted from his standing position toward the stairwell, glancing after Sarah in her almost-tripping antics and then back up the stairs to which he shook his head, "Alas, Nicky-boy, t'at would suggest 'at you'se done anythin' of note to warrant the slightest inklin' of adoration or even toleration of your very existence" he delivered all behind the veil of a tight lipped smile. "How very…green" he commented afterward and just as soon as he'd acknowledged him, he dismissed the concept and turned his attention toward Katherine, "Nah, I'm good Kate, t'anks for askin' " he arched a single coal-black eyebrow, "Hell'ova day, huh?"

"Bring the dinner! Leave the talking!" Sarah hisses from the top of stairs. Last you hear is her door slamming shut. Teenagers gonna teen.

Nicholas tilts his head towards Sarah as she trips and then passes him by, slender brows raised in pure amusement at it all. "A little bit tipsy there? Watch your step," he remarks to Sarah, before he steps further into the room. Anthony is regarded with a quick glance, his grin widening at the comment. "You remain extraordinarily delightful, Anthony," he says with a quiet laugh, as he passes by into the kitchen. "How precisely do you chicken fry a steak?" he wonders aloud as he goes, promptly finding a place to sit. And wait for dinner.

Katherine gazes from the stairs, to the kitchen, and then finally to Anthony. She is obviously struggling, trying to find the polite way to say what is obviously on her mind. The words won't come right away though, so after a few moments she just quietly states. "She is ..nineteen years old, Anthony." She leaves it at that, turning to walk into the kitchen, her voice lilting to a more pleasant tone. "You'll have to taste it and the gravy to see if you can figure it out. Mashed potatoes okay, Nicholas?" She asks sweetly, moving to fix him a plate.

A single hand inclined itself from Anthony's side to which he then extended a single index finger and thumb toward Nicholas - that's right - a finger gun, and he dropped his thumb down against the base of his finger with a click of his tongue against the roof of his mouth, "You bet'cha" he replied to the notion that he was still extraordinarily delightful. With his eyes turning back to Katherine, her frustration was nearly palpable and he smiled at her, "I'm notta' one you gotta' worry about, Kate. Like you'se said - she's nineteen." he nearly laughed, "My sneakin' aroun' days are long over" he added and smiled as she made her way toward the Kitchen to serve Nicholas. "I'll see you'se later" he announced as he headed toward his room, "Just needed ta' grab somethin' from my room" - and with the raising of one of his hands in a motionless wave, he was gone.

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