Celeste took a back seat to the minor mayhem within their kitchen. Her eyes glazed over as she took in the mess around her and spared a brief glance to<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(32, 178, 170)">Nadia</span>.<i>Always a mess.</i>The words echoed into Nadia's head (another nifty trick Celeste liked to use). Celeste took one of the beignets and took a bite, smiling around it. Small tendrils of black curled around her, though it would only be visible to those who were used to seeing them. They weren't bad and often showed up during any mood. It was like...little friends. Like Snow White and her stupid fucking birds...except cooler.<i>Fine, you're forgiven. These are too good. </i>Celeste winked to the women and giggled (a creepy thing to hear when it was coming from Celeste, master of the shadows - or so she liked to believe).<br/><br/>When<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(235, 107, 86)">Christopher</span>decided to join them, Celeste was pleased. Her brow rose as she witnessed the interaction and just grinned. Her bright smile was almost painfully bright against her shadowy friends, and it didn't take long before the tendrils started to creep toward the two men. They weren't cold or offending - truly nothing to be scared of, unless she wished it - but they snuck up Christopher's legs like the tender touch of a cat brushing against its owner's leg.<br/><br/>"Christopher, darling..." She smiled brightly and moved smoothly over to him, her stilettos clicking against the hard, slightly dirty floor. "It's so nice to see you coming to say hi so quickly..." With another smile, her fingers lightly trailed over his arm, the tendrils shrinking away as her attention became focused in on the two men together.<br/><br/>"<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(204, 102, 255)">Rivers</span>, Christopher...we do have a shortage of rooms here. And I am a true believer in roommates for the new mates." She giggled a bit at her own little quip and looked at Christopher...then Rivers...and then back to Christopher. "You two are going to be sharing a room. Christopher, normally this would have happened as soon as you got here, but you were the only man of the house for a while. Now that we have Rivers here, you two are shacking up." She snickered but looked serious.<br/><br/>"It will be your responsibilities to keep tabs on the other. Make sure you two are staying safe...doing your chores and doing your lessons," she cast a small disapproving look to Christopher. "Speaking of which...you and I have a date with the books and practice field. Go get Rivers settled in and I will meet you outside."<br/><br/>~~~<br/><br/>Further away, the city was bright with the mid morning sun. It was a relatively calm day. Lovers wandered down the street, hand in hand, as they took in the sights of the old buildings and the jazz music. There was a warmth to the colors that could only come from the lazy morning sky. Nearing the end of the month it began to get cooler, with dew settled on the blades of grass that hid in the shadows.<br/><br/>Music drifted through the streets and kids ran past the cafe doors with gleeful laugher. It was infectious and some of the locals around them were taken in by the carefree joy. From where<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(247, 218, 100)">Rhen</span>sat, this is what could be seen: a young woman and her daughter at a table by the window. She watched as her daughter colored the paper in front of her while she sipped on a latte. At the opposite window, a retired man sat on alone and content, his cane hanging from the table as he read the newspaper. A waitress passed by her coworker as he left Rhen's table and she smiles at him. It's flirtatious and there's a blush on her cheeks.<i>New love.</i><br/><br/>It was the regular bustle of any regular day. Repeating each day so that no one noticed. Life was life and things were good. Not a disturbance in sight, until the mother noticed a ripple along the surface of her glass of water,  though she soon noticed it in her daughter's milk as well. She set her latte down and looked at the glass curiously, her head tilting to the side, confused by what she was seeing.<br/><br/>The color of the sky shifted. The warm yellows turned orange, clouds curling across the cerulean sky in a matter of seconds. The playful laughter shifted to screams. All at once the air had changed. The senior man lowered his paper to see what was going on, just as the window shattered. Pieces of glass scattered into the cafe as the window was forced out from the wall. Cracks formed and the structure shook and crumbled. A bang sounded and the waitress fell to the floor, ears ringing. She looked around for the waiter but didn't see him.<br/><br/>Car alarms were going off, but the screaming had since stopped. As the dust settled, things became clearer. The older man was on the ground, blood trailing from his nose, his body free of movement. The woman and her daughter were hiding behind an upturned table, covered in dirt and debris, blood stuck to the little girl's forehead but both were alive.<br/><br/>"Charlie?" The waitress cried out, her voice riddled with shock and fear. She stood up shakily, her arm broken and hanging loosely, but her eyes were scanning the ruins of the building for her coworker. "Charlie!" Her voice cracked, tears dripping down her face and creating tracks through the layer of dirt on her cheeks. The disorientation was too much and she just stumbled toward the door. Her eyes scanned the street in front of her...or what remained of it.<br/><br/>The air was heavy with dust that was still settling. A car down to her left had one flashing light as the alarm continued to blare. Her ears were still ringing but when the dust began to settle, her eyes widened. In front of her, the road in front of her was split wide open. From her left to the right a crack three blocks long ran about a mile deep.