[Diamond18]

Diamond’s house was now very clean, in fact, if she had been there to actually see it, she would have deemed it spotless. As it was, she mentally turned off her vacuum cleaner and rolled it into the closet, all through blind memory. She hadn’t noticed that she’d vacuumed up one of the cats, but those bags are breathable, so I wouldn’t worry about the little bugger too much.

Diamond opened her eyes and glanced around the room. Heren Istarion was still sleeping comfortably on the couch. Squatter and Mattius were passed out at the bar, drooling upon the polished mahogany. Mithadan was preoccupied with procuring party provisions aplenty, and Lush was chatting up a pair of flies.

“Hmmm,” she mused, “I wonder, did I just imagine it, or did the melodious strains of a paper-and-comb serenade invade my self-induced hypnosis?” She thought she’d recognized the voice of the Saucepan Man singing, too, but when she looked around she didn’t see him.

She stood up and stretched leisurely. Well, her friends seemed to be busy or unconscious… So she decided to get something to eat from the magically unending buffet table. Or at least, she thought of it as magical, forgetting too soon all the hard work Mithadan went through to keep the party running smoothly, the white screen of death at bay, and the food table well stocked.

On her way to the combustible comestibles, Diamond caught sight of Eruwen and waved to the Elf. Then, glancing over at the dance floor, she arched her eyebrows at the antics of the Phantom. “My, my, my,” she murmured. “If I didn’t know that after hours upon hours of telekinetic vacuuming, I’ve sobered up, I’d swear I was hallucinating.”

She made a mental note to meander past the manic dancer and look lonely, after she’d eaten.