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Tasha grumbled to herself as Murphy climbed the stairs, drumming her fingers hard on his back to annoy him. Might not be as much as he was annoying her right then but at least it was something. Murphy didn't care, in fact it didn't bother him at all. Had it been his sister he was carrying like a sack of potatoes she would have fought the entire way to the room and probably broken a few ribs in the process. In fact he knew she would have, she had before. The fact Tasha was just trying to be annoying made him smirk.

Tasha on the other hand was not finding the situation funny at all. She hated to be carried anywhere. Granted that was except by Dominic it seemed. She hadn't minded him carrying her on his back out of the opening in the mine. She chalked that up to just being scared senseless. Thing was though when he picked her up and carried her out of the mine proper she hadn't minded; in fact she had found herself enjoying the fact that she was in his arms. What was with that? she wondered to herself.

Once they were in the room Murphy set her down a bit less gently than he could have and chuckled when she smacked him on the leg. "Damn it, be careful!" she snapped as she rubbed her rear end.

"Aww poor thing got a booboo?" he teased and had to dodge a book that was fling squarely at his head in retort. When Cera came in he smiled over to her and plopped down in a chair. "Yeah, what happened at the mine?" he asked curious to how things went.

Taking the ice Tasha placed it on her knee and hissed in pain lightly. "Thanks," she said in a pained voice but it was clear she was grateful for the gesture and help. She was thankful for Murphy's help as well but after the protesting she had done and the teasing he had poked at her she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"Oh that. Well Dom and I had to go down this hole in the mine," she began before she got to the nitty gritty of what had gone down. Thing was the way she spoke about it she made it seem like she had done nothing more than patch the kid up and that it was Dom who was the real hero in the situation.

"He was amazing. I don't know how he stays so calm in a situation like that. He must have ice running through his veins. If it hadn't been for him I wouldn't have been able to do a damn thing, probably still be down there," she said quietly.

"Yeah, sounds like it," Murphy said with a cheeky grin on his lips. "Well maybe you should do something to thank him lass," he said standing back up.

"I think you might actually be right. Holy shit, is that possible?" she asked with a cool smirk. Murphy just shrugged.

"Well you get some rest. I'll see about them bringing you dinner tonight up here," he said. Tasha nodding as she sat there. "Looks like you're not going out tonight. So Cera, want to hitch a ride with me on me new bike to the bar tonight? Marcus seems to have a good idea for some fun," he asked her as he rubbed the back of his neck. "And maybe you could suggest to Dom to bring Tasha her dinner?" he whispered against Ceras ear as he leaned in close and brushed her hair back.

"What was that Murphy?"

"Oh nothing, you coming Cera?" he asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and quickly ushered her out of the room, closing the door behind them before he started chuckling.

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Location: Courtyard, Best Exotic Hotel
Interacting with: Himself, Marc, Anya.

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Alcander let the goat go, speaking to it quietly as he set it down gently for Anya. "Eísai entáxei o fílos mou" he whispered, and laughed lightly at the situation he was in. He suddenly didn't feel so out of place at the moment, which was quite nice. He was never one for small talk, but getting things done was a specialty of his. The young man began to brush the stray goat fur off of him, patting his bare chest and stomach.

“You are coming out tonight, right? CANDER! ANYA! You guys too, right? We all need to go out!” he heard Marc exclaim. "Hmmm?" Al let out reflexively as he looked up once more, and paused as he thought about it. He slipped his hand up to move some hair out of his eyes and thought for a moment. Might as well, he told himself. He'd love to stay in, like always. But every once in awhile he was known to go out back home and he'd not done it here much. "Yeah, sure." he said nonchalantly to Marc before he lost the endearing guy in another fit of laughter. "You guys hit me up before it's time to head out. I'll head back to my room for a bit and study some more." he told them.

He gave them a nod, and headed back toward the entrance past the others. Al made his way up the stairs, reciting the Hindi he'd just memorized one more time. "Namaste aap kaise hain," and "Achchha aap kaise hain." he said softly, over and over. Once he opened his book again, he smiled when he realized it was correct. Delving further into the book, he'd do his best to know as much as he could before his birthday.

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Murphy had arrived to join the fun not too long ago - oddly without Owen (last she was aware, they'd gone out together - maybe Owen was back in his hammock?) and had proceded to pull Tas ove his shoulder and cause some more mayhem. Speaking of Tas, the poor doctor looked like she'd been through hell and was glad that sweet Cera was helping her out. If Anya didn't have a goat tied up in her dupatta - the one thin defense they had against the rampaging Mr. Clops - she would have tried helping out the doctor to her room.

“You are coming out tonight, right? CANDER! ANYA! You guys too, right? We all need to go out!” Anya was already halfway out of the door when she heard Marc's call. Anya stiffened, turning to look at the hotel resident with a quizzical expression on her face. Did he really want her to come out to hang with him and the rest of the residents? Behind her, it looked like Alc had accepted the offer, and the girl knew it would've been rude to decline without a valid reason.

"Ah o-okay. I g-go to find Mister Desh and give him bakara now, but I see you later." Anya nodded, giving Marc an appreciative smile before ducking out of the room to look for the mad hotel owner.

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Smiling at her, Cera handed the ice and towels over letting Tas take care of herself as she was more than capable considering she was a doctor. Her gratitude was nice, Cera knew Tas wasn’t as cold as she seemed on the surface. “No problem, glad t’help out.” Shifting to lean against the wall on her right shoulder, Cera listened to Tas’s tale of spelunking and heroism. It left her mouth hanging slightly agape as she stared in wonder at the woman before her. Cera definitely had a newfound respect for Tas and for Dom after hearing that tale.

“Wow… Tha’ is both terrifyin’ and amazin’. Ye really went above and beyond, both of ye did.” Smiling wide, Cera looked between the two as they began their usual banter and she chuckled quietly to herself in her usual manner. It was a shame that Tas couldn’t go out with everyone tonight, it would have been nice to see her outside of the hotel in a social setting some more but there was no way she could handle walking on that leg for long.

Cera started when Murphy asked if she wanted to hitch a ride with him. Had she heard him correctly? Her eyes widened like a deer in headlights and she gaped at him for a second, unsure if she could even remember how to talk. What the hell was wrong with her?! She gave herself a mental kick in the backside and coughed, clearing her throat as best she could. It probably would’ve worked if he hadn’t then leaned in close to her ear to whisper to her.

Her body physically shivered and her neck crinkled in on itself as she felt his fingers brushing her hair back. That definitely tickled. She felt like it took forever for her body to stop being frozen in shock but it really wasn’t any time at all. Blinking rapidly, Cera quickly licked her lips, swallowed the lump in her throat and gave a light nod until she could get the words out. “Y-yeah, that’d be swell!” Her eyes widened even more and she had to stop herself from cursing aloud. Who ‘eh hell even says swell anymore?! Fuck sake, Cera, get a fuckin’ grip woman!

No sooner had she gained her senses back, Murphy had thrown his arm around her shoulder and swiftly guided her out of the room. Cera threw out a quick “Bye Tas! Feel better soon!” before Murphy closed the door behind them as he started to chuckle. She shook her head incredulously and chuckled a little with him. Her eyes lingered on his face a moment too long before she found her words once more. “So ye playin’ match maker then? Also when did ye get a bike? I thought Owen was the only one tha’ had one in ‘eh hotel?” Cera folded her arms across her chest and grinned at Murphy before she began to make her way downstairs, Murphy walking along beside her.

As they reached the ground floor and stood outside Cera’s now broken front door she groaned. “Gonna have t’get Desh t’fix this… Bloody Marc, I swear t’fuckin’ god.” She opened the door and looked at the havoc within. That damn goat was the biggest headache she’d dealt with since she’d moved here. Her day had just gotten worse and worse so far, hopefully tonight would be better. She turned to Murphy and gave a warm, albeit bashful, smile. “Right, I’m gonna get this place cleaned up ‘nd then I’ll pop in next door t’get Dom to bring Tas her dinner. Can ye get Marc to come by when he’s done gettin’ every man ‘nd their dog to come out tonight please? I’ll see ye at dinner later before we all go out.” She patted his shoulder lightly as way of farewell and made her way into her room. Well that wasn’t awkward at all, Cera, well done. Ye jus’ patted a cute guy on ‘eh shoulder instead of doin’ somethin’ slightly seductive like lightly brushing his hand or arm or somethin’. Ye god damn mess, woman!

Heading into her room, Cera closed the door and started to gently bang her head on the wall. Kicking herself for not taking the perfect opportunity to flirt with Murphy. It was when some dust started raining down from above her that she stopped and then quickly popped her head out from her door and called out to Murphy one last time. “And if ye see Desh can ye send him my way please?! Thaaaanks!” She let her gratitude ring out like a song before she ducked back inside her room and got to tidying up the mess that Mr. Clops had left in his wake. She’d buy Marc a drink for getting the goat out her room but he’d also ruined her door so, it was pretty evens right now. She’d curse him out once he was done organising tonight.

Once her room was sorted, Cera went into her fridge and found that there were two whole lemon slices left in her Tupperware box. That was fortunate. Transferring them into a smaller tub, Cera made her way out of her room and walked to Dom’s door. She lightly tapped her knuckles against the wood of the door and waited for his answer, the box with the lemon slices in her other hand.

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Marc was ecstatic that everyone seemed to be in the mood to go out tonight. He still had to ask a few people but he hadn’t interacted with Owen much and he didn’t know where he was right now. He hadn’t spoken to Dom much, Cera’s neighbour, so he didn’t feel right asking him. Then there was Tas, he’d saw Murphy man handling her so she might not be the most approachable right now, he’d just ask Murphy to invite her along because Marc really wasn’t in any mood to get growled at. He was too happy to deal with that kind of thing right now.

He nodded at Alcander as he left to go upstairs, that guy was odd. Marc wasn’t sure what to make of him. Ananya’s reaction had seemed a little off to Marc too but hey, they both agreed to come out so that was something! At least his little fireball buddy Areum was excited for tonight. He could always count on her to be in the mood to party, just like Murphy. Except minus the alcohol. When Areum mentioned planning the night he grinned. “Right you are! But wait, there’s something on your face!” Marc ducked down to eye level with her and leaned in really close before kissing her right cheek and scooping her up in a friendly hug.

He spun her around lightly once before placing her back down on her feet gently. His face was glowing with a mischievous smile. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist! You’re just too adorable.” He started to laugh again before his eyes wandered to the entrance of the courtyard and his face split into a happy grin as he waved energetically. “Hey Murph! How’s Tas? ” He might feel like she didn’t like him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t concerned that she’d just been knocked flying by Mr. Clops. He could be concerned and piss himself laughing at the ridiculousness of it after all.

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"Maybe,"Murphy said as he smirked a bit to himself. "Tas ain't so bad once ye get to know her. Big heart, big wall. Thinking maybe a mountain climber is needed to get the other side."

"Just bought it. Owen was with me but think he decided to up and take off, haven't seen him. Ended up taking a few for a ride, found one I liked." Walking down the stairs he peeked his head in and looked around, the goat had surely did a lot of damage. Granted maybe the damage wouldn't be so bad if Desh had this place in better order. Oh well nothing to do about it now other than try to get it fixed. "It's a date then, see ya in a bit Lass," he said with a smile as he brushed his bangs out of his face and strolled on down the stairs. As he heard Cera yell he gave a wave. "I'll find him and let him know."

Jaunting over to the courtyard he shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. This place was a mess. Nodding towards Marc he stepped over a few over turned and broken lawn chairs to get to him and Aerum. "Hey man, roasted goat curry on the menu tonight?" he laughed. "Yeah, she's okay. She got a little banged up in the cave rescuing that kid with the Mountain Mute. Then a little bit more by the new house guest. She'll be okay but she won't be joining us tonight. I doubt the girl could hobble down from her room to even get to the dining hall much less to a bar at this point."

"Oh my poor hotel, it has been raped by the hooven clops of that hairy beard toting beast! What will I do! This could ruin me!" Desh shouted as he came out of his office and pulled at his hair. Murphy just rolled his eyes, most of the damage was on the surface, the real damage was just because the place was old.

"Desh, get that big mouth of yours up to Cera's room! Or I'll be tossing you there!" he yelled out.

"Yes, yes, right away." Desh didn't move he just kept staring at the mess.

Picking up a piece of broken chair Murphy flung it to where it caught Desh at his ankles and sent the man toppling comically towards the ground like some cartoon character before he caught himself. "Now Desh!" he yelled and the hotel manager darted off, nearly running into the wall because he kept watching to make sure Murphy wasn't going to send another projectile in his directions.

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Location: Courtyard, Best Exotic Hotel
Interacting with: Himself, Anyone else he bumps into.

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"I agree. 'Where is the bathroom' would be a good thing to learn." he said to himself as he thumbed through his book. It was a helpful feature that there was an entire section of the dictionary written for common Hindi phrases. He lay on the area of the wall where a window would be in the western world. One foot was propped up along where his rump, back, and head rested comfortable. His left foot hanging within the building. It was a thick wall and there was a ledge to catch himself on, worst comes to worst.

After he memorized that phrase, he could compartmentalize that and put it up with the 5 or 6 he now knew for sure. "It's not so hard." he whispered to himself, and lay his head back once more. The warm breeze wafted into his room and he relaxed for a bit. Even thinking about the party tonight had him a little on edge. Not that he wouldn't go and not that it was a huge deal. It was always just something he had to end up dealing with and not something he recalled with a lot of fondness. Even if he got to interact with people, it wouldn't be about anything interesting probably.

"You gotta start thinking more positively." he chided to himself, eyes still closed as he rested. "I realize it's not going to be fun but hey..." He suddenly pulled himself up, groaning lightly from the effort. He was sleepier than he thought. "...it could lead to something that would be fun later, so stop complaining...to yourself." He gave one more sigh, giving one last whisper. "Yeah..." He looked outside from his room, and enjoyed the breeze for a moment longer before making himself leave his room and head downstairs. He didn't know if he'd bump into anyone, but every brain needed some relaxing at some point, and if he stayed in his room he'd just study some more. Maybe he'd need to catch more goats?

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Giving a warm, friendly smile as she always did, Cera laughed at Dom’s choice of words. “Hardly a goddess, mostly just bored.” She grinned as she walked in and set the Tupperware on the nearest clear surface that she could find. She tapped the top of the box with her fingers lightly before turning to Dom. She’d have to break the news gently to him. “I’ve got some bad news... I don’t have any doughnuts for you today. Instead, there is are two whole lemon slices. I did have more but then Mr. Clops decided to have a feast on my bed.”

She folded her hands together in front of her, her arms stretching downwards as she looked to the tub of baked goodness before looking back to Dom. “So I was thinkin’… Since ye’re goin’ t’have to get some dinner from ‘eh kitchens, why don’t ye take some up for Tas ‘nd give her one of m’slices for me as dessert? Just to try make ‘er feel better. She got knocked flat by ‘eh goat earlier ‘nd considerin’ her leg injury, she’s gonna be laid up in bed for a bit. I was gonna ask ye if ye wanted to come out with us all tonight but I know that’s not really yer scene anyway, so this will give ye an excuse t’say no when Marc comes a-knockin’.” She chewed on her lower lip a little as she waited for his response. She’d just spewed a whole lot out to the guy but she’d hoped she was maybe subtle enough to not make it obvious as fuck that she was doing Murphy’s bidding.

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Ananya had disappeared down the ruined hallway with the goat in her possession. Her first plan was to look for Desh, to try and see what they could do with the poor animal without the need to kill the creature. If Desh decided to kill Mr. Clops, Ananya knew she would 'accidentally' let the goat escape out of the hotel.

No one was going to have Mr. Clops as a spicy goat curry.

Not with Ananya as their chef.

However, there were no sign of the hotel owner anywhere. She'd gone into the kitchen, searched the main room and even gone outside to stand by the gate for a few minutes but found no luck with Desh. Part of her wondered whether Desh was already upstairs, since she hadn't bothered checking since she was there at the beginning. Tightening her grip on her dupatta, Ananya avoided the gaze of people walking by the hotel entrance. Some looked at her oddly for holding the goat, some noticed she was without her dupatta (shameful!), and some noticed she was holding said goat with said dupatta.

She returned inside, looking around one more time before heading up the stairs slowly.

First floor, other than Cera knocking and entering Dom's room? Nothing.

Second floor, nothing.

Third floor, nothing.

Desh was truly the best luka chuppi player, ever.

The goat bleated beside her, almost startling Ananya in shock as she crashed against the wall. "Arey yaar, tu ne toh poora jhaga ko barbaad kardiya, iss floor koh chordo." Ananya scolded the goat, who simply looked at her and bleated again.

Looking around, Ananya noticed she was standing opposite to Natasha's room. It was enough of a trigger to remind the young med student that her friend had returned from her outing with Dom bruised and hurt, not to mention being run over with a crazy goat would've been painful to even the not already injured body.

Ananya stepped forward, reaching out with her free hand to knock gently against the door. "Tas?" She called out, hoping that her friend was inside - she hadn't seen Tas anywhere during her hunt for Desh so she could only guess that she was in her room right now. "Can I come in?"

Another bleat.

Ananya looked at the goat with narrowed eyes, "Nahi, tum andar jah raheho Tas seh maafi puuchne ke liye, teek hai? Tum uske kamare to barbaad nahi kar sakthe." She warned the goat before looking back up at the door, slowly reaching for the handle to let herself in.

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Tasha just gave the two a slight wave as they left the room and rolled her eyes a bit. She was really too tired to throw something at Murphy right then, she could do it later. As the door to her room closed she looked down at her knee and groaned inwardly. It was going to bruise as was the area around the gash on her leg. Grabbing her pack she pulled out a few things and wrapped both wounds up as best she could; granted her poor rear end couldn't be taken care of, there was really nothing she could do with a bruised butt other than suck it up. There really wasn't much else that she could do other than rest and hope that it wouldn't hinder her too much in a few days when her time off work was over. The last thing she wanted was to deal with a tender knee and thigh in the ER. She was always getting shoved up against things when she was working due to the overcrowding, which was bad enough, having an injury was going to make it a lot worse.

Flopping back on her pillow she stared up at the ceiling and thought to herself. The day had not been anything she expected; she was glad it was drawing to a close even if that meant she was stuck in her room the rest of the evening. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad? Least the goat wasn't up there. Thinking about how Dom had helped her out she smiled slightly to herself and found her face warm as she remembered him lifting her up and carrying her out of the mine. Biting her bottom lip she decided that she needed to do something to thank him. Rolling over onto her belly she pulled her laptop over and breathed a bit of a sigh of relief as she noted that the internet was actually working.

"Well that's a surprise," she muttered to herself as she started searching the web. She had an idea to what she could do but it would take a bit of work. Why the hell not? It would be worth it and she felt she owed it to Dom. Granted something tickled at the back of her mind that perhaps she was going to be doing this more than just to say thank you but she pushed the thought away. This was just showing gratitude right? A little time, entering in a credit card number here and there and a quick phone call to a shop in town and it was all set up. She's had to keep her mouth shut over the next couple of days while she waited for a few deliveries but if you wanted to do something, might as well go all out.

Hearing a knock at her door she perked a brow and closed her laptop as she rolled back over and sat up in bed. Hearing Anya at the other side as she called out and asked to enter she called out. "Yeah, come on in, the doors unlocked."

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Cera smiled happily when Dom agreed and gave her a hug, asking her to keep safe. It was nice that she felt like she was making some more friends here. Sometimes she felt like she just bugged people and that they wanted her out of the way, so this was a really comforting change of pace for her. Waving and saying goodbye to Dom as she left his room, Cera put her hands on her hips and debated what she was going to do.

Her room was still in quite a riotous mess so perhaps that was the best thing to do right now. Cera wandered into her room and began clearing up the mess, her door on its hinges from Marc’s kick earlier. Kneeling on the floor, picking up all the splinters and crumbs, Cera looked positively tiny. A knock on her broken door caught her attention and she looked up in surprise only to see Desh standing there with two handymen.

Desh ushered the two handymen forward, one dragging a brand new door with him. The pair of men got underway with their work and Cera knelt there, on the floor, gawking at Desh as he spoke. “My dear resident, Cera! I am hoping that you will forgive this humble hotel owner for taking his time to answer to your call for aide! I had a mission to save the fair damsel in distress but I knew that I must gather those that could handle the problem quickly! It is just bad fortune that my quest to find the correct people for this very important job caused you such a delay in comfort at my illustrious hotel!” Desh bowed so low that it looked like his nose was going to brush the carpet of her room before he disappeared away and left her alone with the handymen.

Cera rose an eyebrow as she realised that this sounded like the introduction to a bad porno. Her eyes widened and she quickly jumped over to her window and made sure that she could hear the others in the courtyard. That way, if anything funny happened, they’d hear her. As she sat, letting the sun soak into her skin, Cera’s phone began to ring. Not her work phone, her emergency phone.

Her heart dropped and she couldn’t breathe. This… This could only be her family. She hoped that the worst that could happen wasn’t happening but she wouldn’t know until she answered the call. Hesitantly, Cera grabbed her phone and held it to her ear before hitting the answer button. “Hello? Mum? … No…” Cera’s eyes began to brim with tears as she listened to her mother. These were not happy tears falling down her cheeks and dripping onto her thighs. A gagging hiccup left Cera then as she tried to speak through the pain that was tearing through her chest. The voice on the phone called out to her but she couldn’t respond, her hand went limp and her phone dropped out of her hand and out of the window as she curled into a ball on the ledge, crying into her knees. The handymen continued with their work, oblivious to what was happening with Cera.

Marc had been listening to Murphy and Areum, getting ready to organise tonight when he heard a weird noise coming from Cera’s room window. He noticed it was opened and then he spotted her silhouette through the sheer curtains that were billowing out with the warm breeze. “Glad to hear Murph, sorry guys, I’ll just be a second…” His voice trailed off and he wandered over to Cera’s window and ducked down under her open window only to be hit by a falling phone. Grunting Marc rubbed his head and Cera didn’t even notice or hear him.

“Cera?” He shuffled forward and held her phone in his right hand while he carefully pressed his left hand against her arm. Cera jumped, startled by the touch on her arm from the window and she looked up with red, puffy eyes with tears streaming down her face. “What?! What do ye want?!” Her voice was shrill and scratchy as she yelled a Marc. Flinching, Marc swallowed the worry in his throat and kept his hand on her arm, squeezing it lightly. “What’s happened? Are you okay?”

Cera crumpled into her ball again, the sobs causing her shoulders to bounce up and down with each breath she struggled to take. Marc knew something seriously bad had happened and he looked at the phone in his hand. Looking through the recent calls list, he spotted ‘Home’ at the top of the list with a call from not long ago. Moving closer, Marc enveloped Cera in a tight hug. The ledge may be digging into his crotch right now, but it didn’t matter because his friend needed him.

With a loud sniff, Cera wiped her nose on the bottom of her shirt before looking up to Marc with nothing but despair on her face. “Marc… My brother he…” She crumpled into Marc’s shirt then, gripping onto the fabric as she clung onto him as if her life depended on it. Marc was startled, his arms still around her. He rose his left hand and stroked her hair down, trying to calm her as best as he could as she sobbed into his chest.

Her voice was muffled as she continued to speak. “H-he’s si-si-sick, has b-been m-most o’ h-his days but… but it came ba-back. H-he had leukaemia, as a kid. He’s dyin’ Marc…” Her words were all broken and each one was a challenge to come out, Marc just stood there holding her as tightly as he could as he listened to her news. He closed his eyes and chewed on his tongue, thinking about what he could do to help.

“I n-need to get home, Marc. B-b-but I’ve n—no money for a ticket…” She burst into a fit of tears now, unable to go on. Marc continued what he could to comfort her and then eventually it dawned on him. He could buy her ticket! “Cera. Look, I know we haven’t known each other very long but what about if I pay for you to go home? I have the money to spare so you don’t need to worry about that.” Gulping down air like it was going out of fashion Cera looked up to Marc, her hands rising up to wipe her tear streaked face. “A-are you serious? M-Marc that… You’re wonderful!” She slung her arms around his neck and gave him the biggest hug she has given anyone in her life.

Marc smiled, hugging her back before leaning away from her. “C’mon, let’s get you packed up, shall we? I’ll get on the computer and book a ticket for you.” Cera slipped off the ledge, letting Marc climb into her room before she began darting around gathering all her stuff together. She’d only brought a couple suitcases worth of stuff, sure that she’d buy a lot more stuff when she was here but she never did. As she was packing, a thought crossed her mind and she walked over to Marc who was hunched over her computer at her desk. “Marc, do ye think tha’, maybe, ye could come with me? It’d be nice t’have a friend by m’side.”

She looked positively sheepish as she asked him to go with her. Marc rose an eyebrow and then considered how close he had been getting with Cera over his few weeks living here. He gave a small but reassuring smile before nodding. “Absolutely. I’ll go with you and help you through this. That’s what friends are for.” Cera could feel the relief washing over her as he agreed to come with her. Ducking down and giving him a quick peck on the cheek, Cera continued to pack her life in Jaipur up for her travels back home. If only it had been for a happier reason… Her stomach felt hollow but with Marc by her side, she’d be able to handle whatever pain came her way.

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"Sure thing brah," Murphy said over to Marc as he wandered off. Looking over towards Areum he gave her a sweet smile and leaned over flipping one of the chair over and patting it so she could take a seat. "Alright girl," he said clapping his hands together and rubbing them slightly as he flopped down in another seat close to her. "Whatcha think we could be doing tonight? I know this place in the city. Not as rowdy as me normal hangs out but you don't exactly looking like the brawling type to me," he said with a chuckle. Leaning back in his seat he rubbed his chin slightly, scratching at his facial hair.

"They have music, mostly bollywood stuff but be kind of fun to see if we could get some of them up there to sing some karaoke. Might even be fun to get you up there. What you say?" he asked her as he caught Alc out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey Alc, wanna come with us tonight? Bunch of us gonna go out and have a little hotel party. Get out of the mess around here while the crew cleans things up and relax a bit. You know, without worrying if anymore live stock is gonna knock another one of us on our collective rear ends," he laughed remembering the look on Tasha's face when he had picked her up after her little encounter with Mr. Clops.

"Mr. Murphy if you all would be willing to let a humble hotel owner tag along, I promise that everything will be made right. After that bearded monstrosity ripped through my immaculate hotel I too could use a night a frivolity." Desh had walked through from coming back from Cera's room and overhead the conversation. Standing there he clasped his hands in front of him and bowed his head slightly. Murphy smirked and looked over towards Areum and Alc.

"Well, not just up to me, up to them too," he chuckled as he motioned towards the two.

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Location: Courtyard, Best Exotic Hotel
Interacting with: Murphey, Areum

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Alcander leaped down the last 4 steps and his the ground with a resounding thud. He had some energy to let out, he realized. He'd felt pretty slow and mellow earlier, but somehow with the sun still shining and the promise of the rest of the day, he found he needed to do something. He walked a straight path through the hotel, hands in his pockets and eyes scanning around. His gait was smooth and loose. He stopped in his tracks when he saw something.

A broomstick without the broom. He gazed at it for a moment, and then looked both ways down the hallway to see if anyone was around. No? Good. Alcander reached for it and hefted it, twirling it in his hands expertly before doing a few practice thrusts. He'd not fenced in awhile, he realized. He stepped forward and back, footwork a bit rusty but getting better as the seconds went by. He did a parry followed by a quick riposte. "HA!....yeah..." He looked around again. "I should really put this down."

He did, and acted as if that never happened. He decided to check around the hotel some more. He was just passing through another hallway when he heard Murph call to him. Alcander stopped in his tracks and slipped into the room, giving Areum a smile, before nodding. "Yeah sure, dude." he laughed. "I'm feeling weird. Might as well go out. Tackling goats isn't my idea of a good time."

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"Aces mates! We can get our groove on tonight," Murphy said happily as he clapped his hands together and rubbed them a bit. Looking over towards Desh he smirked a bit. "Seems like you are tagging along."

Desh's eye lit up and he jumped around a bit, pumping his fists in the air as he got excited to have a night out with his guests. Sure he was the hotel manager but some of these people he looked at as friends more recently. Sure it wasn't a typical friendship but it was the closest thing he really had. He had been beyond stressed these last few days as more and more went wrong at the hotel and the goat wasn't making things any better. Mr. Clops darted through the courtyard and tore off through the front entrance, causing Desh to spin around to watch for a moment and finally stop his little dance. Looking back over towards the three he gave a cheeky nervous grin.

"Oh thank you, thank you my most esteemed guests! I promise, we will have the most marvelous time and I cannot wait to enjoy the frivolity with you three. We will tear up this town like there is no tomorrow and bring back tales of glory. I will be right back, let me change. I must remove these clothes of the humble hotel owner and replace them with ones fitting of a man going out for a night on the town," he exclaimed before darting off to his private quarters behind his office. Murphy just sat there looking at the man and trying not to laugh before looking back over towards the other two.

"I don't think that man has ever had a night out," he laughed falling back into his chair holding his gut. It took him a bit but he finally was able to calm down enough and wipe the tears of laughter from his eyes. "Oh... as much as I hate to admit it, the man had a good idea. How about you two go get ready. I'll go change and we will meet back here shortly and wait for anyone else that wants to join up. If not, their loss," he grinned before standing up. "See you two in a bit and look out for the goat, I think he may come back," Murphy warned before heading to his room so he could change for the night.

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When no one answered from the other side Tasha rolled her eyes and groaned as she stood up and hobbled over to the door, swinging it open quickly and about to snap someone's head off with one of her classic blow ups. That was until she saw Ananya standing there. She smiled slightly but that smile quickly faded as she heard a clop against the hardwood floor. Her eyes trailing downwards until they fell on the goat. The goat that knocked her on her rear-end earlier.

"Oh hell no," she said but it was too late. Mr. Clops darted from Ananya, the rope coming loose and Tasha was hit right in her mid section and went flying back across the room; landing on her bed, toppling and rolling over until she hit the floor to finally come to a stop. Mr. Clops tore through the place and then darted back out and down the stairs quickly. Ananya couldn't do anything but stare before darting off after the animal that Tasha wanted to turn into the next meal for the residents of the hotel.

"Keep that beast away from me or I swear to god I will use him as a cadaver for my residents to practice on!" Tasha screamed as she crawled over to her door and slammed it shut. Leaning back against the wall next to the door she grumbled to herself and hissed as she tried to stand back up. This day was getting to be a bit too much and she really just wanted to get some rest. Looking down at her tummy as it growled she huffed. "Oh shut up, there is no way I am getting down to the dining room tonight," she said to her stomach.

With everything prepared, Dominic headed onwards with his latest adventure, narrowly avoiding Mr Clops he arrived outside the door just in time for it to be shut in his face. "Tas? It's Dom, everyone's going out tonight. Assumed with everything today you weren't, so I brought cold American beer, Cera's lemon slices and Emilio Estevez" What was he doing? Why was he doing this? Fucking Murphy and Cera planting idea's in his head. Dom looked at the door and wondered what thoughts were going on behind it. What could Tas be thinking? It was obvious. Of course she would just ignore him or even worse she would yell at him. The Ice Queen had a temper like an avalanche, that shit was impossible to stop and you just had to go with it. Dominic had been very lucky to avoid it so far during his stay at the Best Exotic but the night was still young.

Tasha perked a brow when she heard Dominics voice and swallowed a bit. What was he doing here? Looking down at herself she groaned. She was still a mess, hadn't had a chance to clean up and now she was sporting two more injuries thanks to Mr. Clops. A bruised ass and stomach. Reaching up she figured it was for the best to at least answer. She did owe him, big time. Slowly the door opened to Tasha's room, her hand still clinging to the knob before she let go and looked up at him from the floor of her apartment. She was still sitting there, leaning against the wall a bit. She forced a half hearted smile to him. "Do you think you could help me up? That fucking monster knocked me on my ass.... AGAIN," she grumbled as she pointed over to her bed. The mattress had been knocked off to the side of her box springs.

"Come on, lady. Let's get you up" Placing everything he had brought with him onto the floor, Dominic took Tasha's soft hand and picked her up again. This was becoming a habit. He then proceeded to fix her bed as well. "Didn't want you to spend the night alone after everything today, so I thought I'd stay in with you. I've got The Might Ducks Trilogy, Breakfast Club, cake and beer. If that doesn't convince you to hang out with me tonight, I honestly have no idea what will" Charm wasn't Dominic's forte, he was a man who portrayed everything with just a look; he didn't do words good.

Tasha sat down on the edge of the bed as Dom helped her over and took a look at what all he had brought up to her. She couldn't believe he had taken the time to do all this for her, she found it rather endearing. She couldn't help but smile, a soft grateful smile as she looked back over to him. "Hun, carrying a woman out of a mine shaft is reason enough to spend the evening with you," she said with a smirk. "But seriously, how can I say no now? I mean really! You've got me cornered, injured, afraid to leave my room because of a goat, and are waiving Estevez in my face. Now, hand me a beer and let's get our triple deke ready." she said holding her hand out and giving him a bit of a wink. Tasha had calmed down at least from the goat attack and she was showing the side of her others rarely saw; the relaxed and happy Tasha.

"So the rules of Emilio are very simple. Every time the Estevez appears on the screen, you shout EMILIO! and take a drink" Dom laughed as he sat down next to her and offered her a beer. Taking it she twisted the cap off and tossed it into the trash across the room. "Two points! Score!" she laughed before taking a drink and sliding back on the bed, relaxing down a bit. He reached over and placed the first disk into the dvd player before cracking his cold one open and taking a sip. "I must warn you, you will be fully loaded before you even see Goldberg." It was nice to be chilling with someone else for a change, Dom was so used to being by himself he had forgotten how good company could be and his adventure with Tas earlier that day in the ancient mine reminded him of that fact.

"So Mr. Mason I shouldn't hold anything against you if you say or pull something tonight?" she said in a sultry voice as she looked over to him, her fingers trailing along her thigh. She could only hold the look so long before she burst out laughing as her head tossed back and her hand covered her mouth. She had never been the girl who could turn on the sex appeal in her own mind and the very thought of how she might have looked right then cracked her up. "Sorry, sorry, couldn't resist," she giggled as she waved her hand in front of her face. Sitting up she scooted over next to Dom and clinked to the mouth of her beer to his. "To ducks."

Dom burst out in laughter, an unusual thing for mountain man. "I'm sorry that was the most unsexy thing I've ever seen in my life, woman what is wrong with you?" He smiled and watched her for a few moments. "Hey I can get a lot more unsexy, just you wait," she laughed. Of course Tas was sexy, just look at her! But damn she could not act it for shit! There was a goofball hiding behind those icy eyes and it made Dom grin to think he might be one of the few people in the world to actually see it. "To the ducks, may they always fly together" Dominic leaned back as the film began, this certainly wasn't how he saw his evening turning out, not that he was complaining, god was he not complaining.

Tasha smiled over to him as the movie began and got comfortable. Thing was with Tasha, if you watched a movie with her you got a bit of a show. God help anyone that watched a movie she had seen and they hadn't. She sat there saying a lot of the lines from the movie along with it. And it seemed like she had seen this one a lot more than she would probably admit to anyone. As Goldburg was at the goal and the pucks were flying at him she looked over to Dom, as she came up to sit on her knees; one hand with a piece of cake in it, the other her beer; her arms out as she acted along with good old Emilio. "Goldberg, you're the goalie. It's supposed to hit you!"

"I AM GOLDBERG, THE GOALIE!" Dom joined in with Tasha's running commentary of the movie as he too was often guilty of this fact. She was more like him than he had realised. Pulling out his cell phone, Dominic quickly snapped a picture of Tas in her goalie position and chuckled. "I'm totally putting this on snapchat by the way" The yeti burst out in laughter once again at his companions continued and increasingly drunken antics. "It's nice to see you smile"

Tasha's eyes widened as he said he was going to put it on snap chat. She shoved the remaining bit of cake in her mouth and reached over him, snatching the phone out of his hand. "How do I delete this?" she laughed as she tried to get rid of it but it was no use. Tasha wasn't the best when it came to gadgets outside the ER. She ended up mistakenly taking a picture of herself and Dom, her face covered with powder sugar and posting it to snapchat. "Fuck I made it worse," she said tossing his phone into his lap and wiping the sugar away from her cheeks. Looking over to him she couldn't help but laugh. "I'll get you for this, " she teased before taking another drink of her beer.

As he told her it was nice to see her smile she lowered her drink and gave him a shy smile. It wasn't often she heard a compliment about her smile, granted she didn't smile a lot. "You to, who knew you had all those teeth," she said playfully as she poked his cheek with her finger. "Not many people, my sister JD once hit me in the face with our dad's golf club and knocked two of my teeth out" Dom chuckled before bowing his head. Tasha smirked and pointed to the back of her jaw. "Junior hockey league, knocked my molar clean out with a slap shot."

She leaned back on her elbow and chuckled. She was having a lot of fun right then, who knew getting injured could lead to such an endearing night. Maybe she should get hurt more often? "Oh, movies over, toss in Breakfast Club would you? You know poor me, can't get out of bed," she said pointing to her leg and pouting. "I'll put it in now my dear" Quickly switching the discs over, Dom leaned back and cracked open another bottle, handing it to Tasha before getting one of his own. Tasha took the drink and have him a nod as she held it up.

"HEY HEY HEY HEY, OOOOOOO-OHHHHHHH" Why Dominic was singing the theme to Breakfast Club already he had no idea, maybe he just really was in a good mood. Tasha just joined in with him as he sung. Why let him do it all alone. It was one of her favorite songs to cool down to after a run. Unknowingly he had moved as close as possible to Tasha by this point, their arms and legs touching as they watched the tv.

Tasha felt him getting closer and found herself biting her bottom lip slightly. Normally if a man got close to her like Dom was she would have moved over but she didn't want to. She was enjoying his company. There was a lot about him she hadn't known until today but she was very grateful she knew it now. She found her eyes wandering over to him from time to time as they watched the movie before she had to force herself to look away. "Oh, hey, I can do that, I can do that," she exclaimed as she sat up and reached across Dom to her nightstand and grabbed her lip gloss. "Watch this and prepare to be amazed!" She looked as if she was about to perform a magic trick.

Pulling the top off her lip gloss she wedged it down into her bra and giggled, she couldn't believe she was doing this in front of him. Lowering her head for a moment before tossing it back and smiling over to him. She had applied it without using her hands like the princess in the movie. "See, kissable lips, no hands."

Dom's laughter was succeeded by a quite moment of reflection. As a man he had two options right now and he was conflicted, he had no idea which path to take. For once in his life, the mountain would not plan ahead and allow impulse to take over. Tasha looked at Dom oddly as he inched closer to her, what was he doing? He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Tasha's now painted ones. Resting his hand on her cheek he wasn't sure if what he was doing was right or not. She felt his lips against hers and her face warm under his touch as his hand cupped her cheek. Her eyes drifted close as she leaned closer to him, her lips pulsing against his.

Did it classify as taking advantage? Shit what was he doing? Why wasn't she decking him and tossing him out on his rear-end right then? She couldn't think, all she could do was feel his kiss. Dominic you idiot. He pulled away slowly and sighed. As his lips pealed away from hers she let out a trembling breath, her eyes slowly lifting to him as she bit her bottom lip nervously. She could still feel the blush on her cheeks. "Sorry" He was apologizing, Tasha wondered why. Say something woman! her mind told her. "No..." she choked out before clearing her throat. "It's okay, it... it was nice," she admitted before looking away nervously and taking another drink of her beer. Yeah, it was nice, really damn nice.

Dom necked the rest of his beer and placed it down into the empty box they had been using as a trash can. What had he done? Dominic you fucking fool. You have probably just ruined what semblance of a friendship you had. Now what should he do? As a thousand thoughts raced through his beer addled mind at once, he kept coming back to staying or leaving. He had no idea what the best course of action was, for once in his life he hadn't planned an escape route. He did it when he went up mountains and into caves all the time, he checked everything in advance, prepared for every eventuality. Fuck Dominic! "Maybe I should go"

Tasha put the cap back on the lip gloss and sat there fiddling with it as silence seemed to come over the both of them. As he spoke up her eyes shot to his and her face sank. She didn't want him to go. Did he want to leave because she hadn't minded the kiss? Taking a deep breath she looked around a bit, biting down on her bottom lip nervously. "If you want," she muttered half-heartedly as she gave a bit of a shrug with her shoulders. Looking down she picked at the fuzz on her comforter. "But um, if you leave who's going to help me cheer on new ducks and old ducks as they take on Iceland?" she said with a nervous chuckle as she looked back over to him.

Dom's hazel eyes glanced over at Tas as she talked of the Mighty Ducks. Of course he wanted to stay, it was all that was on his mind. Leaning back against the wall, he picked his beer back up. What happened next was up to her. It could go any way and his nerves had suddenly picked up. What happened next would define the rest of their relationship. Mountain man Mason took a swig from the cold Budweiser bottle and turned to look at Tas once more.

Tasha didn't know exactly what to do about the silence. Sure he was quiet but not usually around her. Was he only staying because he was being polite? If he didn't want to stay she didn't want him to feel like he should. Sighing slightly she looked down before reaching into the small fridge she kept by her bed and pulled out a couple of bottles of water. Righting herself she took the beer from him and set it down on the nightstand, replacing it with one of the bottles of water. Scooting over next to him and Tasha rested back against the wall, blowing her hair out of her face as she fidgetted with her own water bottle. What was she supposed to do now? Did he regret kissing her? A thousand questions ran through her head and Tasha finally did what she normally did, she blurted out the first thing that popped into her head. God help her.

"If you want to go, don't stay just to be polite. If you thought it was a mistake, no harm. Just you know, let me know. I'm a big girl, but I want you to stay. I liked the kiss. Hell, I wouldn't mind if you did it again. I like you. You're.. different but hey I'm a bitch. I won't hold it against you if you want to hightail it out of here," she blurted out and then cringed inwardly. Maybe that was a little too blunt.

"I'm staying because I want to, Tas I really really like you. I have for a while and today...well it kind of just made it everything come out at once" Dom had seen Tas the day he moved in and was smitten from the get go, how could he not be? Had you seen her? The woman was dazzling. Then as time passed and he got to know her, his feelings only exasperated and grew. Taking Tasha's hand into his own large wall climbers. "It's..." Dominic let out a small sigh as he worked up everything he could speak, the usually quiet mountain man struggling to find his words "....it's not easy for me to.....talk about what's going on in my head...or my heart. Words and talking to people aren't my strongest suits but around you, all that just vanishes and I feel something I don't often feel around anyone, I feel comfortable"

Tasha looked down; lacing her fingers with his as he spoke. Her icy eyes trailing up to look into his. For once the doctor was rendered speechless for a bit. She hadn't ever thought that he had a thing for her, not in the slightest. He just always seemed to be nice to her but he was nice to everyone even if he wasn't very vocal about it. She nodded in understanding, she knew how he felt in that regard; talking about her feelings unless it was in anger usually wasn't something that Tasha did. Tick her off and the words came out like the Hoover Dam had broke. Anything else and she clammed up. She had had a bit of a crush on him for a while now but had built up one heck of wall thanks to her ex. One it seemed that the mountain man climbed right over.

She bit her bottom lip nervously, feeling the butterflies flittering away in the pit of her stomach. "I would have never known you were the strong silent type," she said as the corner of mouth curled to a cheshire grin as she tried to break the tension. Keeping her hand in his her other reached up; fingers running through his yeti beard. "So, this means I can kiss you anytime I want right?" Leaning close, she didn't wait for an answer, brushing her lips gently against his; a soft lingering kiss. If she had bothered to pay attention to the movie she might have burst out laughing as on the TV Emilio pulled Ally close for their one screen kiss.

Dom leaned in, shocked but not by Tas's kiss. He placed his free hand on her cheek and deepened their emotional embrace. This certainly wasn't his intention with their little movie night tonight but he definitely wasn't going to complain about it. Breaking their kiss for only a second, Dominic looked into her eyes and smiled "You can kiss me whenever the hell you want, Dr Brinne" He chuckled before resuming the kiss with her. Everything had suddenly flew out of the window as the Yeti became consumed by the moment with Tasha and her soft, tender, beer and lemon tasting lips. It didn't matter that they had Breakfast Club in the background, it didn't matter that they were both drunk or that they had spent the day inside a damn mine shaft, all that mattered was that in that moment, they truly understood one another, maybe even for the first time.

Tasha could feel herself quiver as the moment deepened, her mind was swimming as they grew closer. For once she was not fighting to push someone away, to keep them out. She wasn't worried and even though there was some fear, just like when they were in the mine, he seemed to be able to make everything alight. His strength was all she needed right then as she pulled herself closer. Despite the alcohol swimming through her veins everything about him was clear as crystal; the way he felt, the way he tasted, the way he made her heart race. She couldn't help but smile into the kiss, her skin tingling under his touch, his beard tickling her senses. The day may have started out with a grave emergency but it ended in the profound manner; the realization that there was someone right there before them, they just needed to take the leap to find out they could fly together.