a gent of good intent who's content to be ( OPEN )

[checkingin]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The initial arrival rooms, the main lobby, all over the place.
When: March 3rd
What: Welcome, newbies.

ARRIVAL.

you wake up when you hit the floor in a dark room, and the air is knocked out of your lungs. the carpet is threadbare, worn with use, kind of dusty. and you're not the first person to endure this crash landing. nor will you be the last.

once your vision rights itself, you can see the well-lit hallway through the doorjam straight ahead of you. not to say there’s monsters in the shadows, but something propels you towards that door and out into the bright hallway beyond.

and once outside your room, you can hear it: the steady thrum of rain outside.

MAIN LOBBY.

there's a staircase at the end of the lengthy hallway you tumble out of. grab your suitcase and follow the dull green exit signs on the ceiling until you reach the disappointingly bland stairs that lead you down to the ornate old fashion hotel lobby.

to your left is a warmly crackling fireplace, to your right is a lobby desk. straight ahead are three large sets of doors, though only one of them is open to the public. and outside the few (curtained, permanently dark) windows is the continually steady hiss of rain. once you leave the hallway you wake up in, you won't be able to return.

welcome to the hotel.

FRONT DESK.

though there is a bell and a plaque designating the desk to be the main desk, the customer service desk, there are currently no staff members behind it. none shall answer your calls, either.

terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

SCREENING ROOM.

on a long pull-down screen, a silent version of the phantom carriage will be playing on loop. at the back of the room, between the neat rows of fold out chairs, mounted on a wobbly table is the old-timey projector, and mounted on the walls are some rather old speakers that warble out "terrifying" old music.

along the curtained windows is another long table, with a large bowl of popcorn and a large hot drink dispenser full of hot water, but without any tea or hot chocolate packets around.

OTHER.

the ballroom is currently closed, and the grand doors locked.

there is no main door leading to the outside, good luck trying to find one.

the doors to the courtyard and breakfast hall are unlocked, but looks like you've missed the morning meal. sucks for you.

ROOMS.

you've a room key with your assigned room number on it. all the new guest residences will be located on floors three and four. while there is an open elevator in the main lobby, and the buttons light up inside, the doors will not close. all in all, you'll be better off taking the stairs.

while they're the same stairs you undoubtedly came down to get to the lobby, the door to the endless hall everyone woke up in will not reappear between the main floor and the subsequent residential halls.

there are twenty rooms per floor. feel free to get to know your surroundings; or your neighbors as they trickle in around you.

EXISTING GUESTS.

it's late when the newcomers arrive, there's a good chance you'd been about to go to sleep (or just waking up, who knows, your mom's not here to tell you when to go to bed or get up). but if you're paying attention, you might hear the hustle and bustle in the lobby below; or maybe you're just drawn there because your gut told you to go join the commotion. whatever the case may be, go mingle!

Comments

[comminatory]

[ When she starts turning over the bed, Bellamy's already abandoned his room, crossing the hallway to peer in rooms and get a careful idea of who else is here. He hates this: bare-handed, walking into something he doesn't understand. His hands itch for a weapon, for the security blanket of his rifle, but it's not here. A useless magazine clip was stashed in his suitcase like an extra slap in the face, but it won't do any good on its own—maybe if Raven got to it. Not just him.

So when he hears loud noises coming from one of the rooms, he leans up against the wall beside it, quietly opening the door and peering around the corner. Through the crack, he can only see the wall that leads into the room, and his mouth forms the necessary shapes to swear, but no air passes his vocal cords.

Unarmed or not—better try it.

He pushes the door open the rest of the way and begins to creep inside—of course, there's not much room to hide in a hotel room, and he's immediately visible. But so is she. A young girl, Octavia's age, has never seemed harmless to him. Less, now that he's met the Commander. His eyes fall onto the overturned mattress before her, though, and he does some quick math.

Tension leaves his shoulders and he realizes aloud, ] They got you too.

[usedtoit]

[ She very nearly avoids screeching when he speaks. She'd been throwing too many things around, shifting too much furniture to hear him come in, and she'd been far too preoccupied with trying to shift the bed frame to actually see him come in. Had this been a test or an exercise, she would've failed completely. Malcolm would've laid the fuck into her. She would've gotten her ass handed to her.

She doesn't scream, but her eyes are wide like he's startled her. She stares for a moment, and wants to say something about how rude it is to come into someone's room without knocking, a girl's room at that. But his words have her biting her tongue, hesitating. He's in the same exact boat she is, it seems.

But that doesn't necessarily means she should trust him, and while she can do some damage with just her hands, she's much better suited for some sort of weapon. She feels naked without one. She looks at him, hands dropping away from where they'd been gripping the bed frame. After a moment, she nods. ] Yeah.

[comminatory]

[ Once it occurs to him that she's not an enemy (or at least not immediately one), it strikes him too how pedestrian the situation is. He's been on the ground for so long that he'd forgotten what it's like not to be at war. A beat too late, he holds up a hand, leaning his weight on his back foot. ]

Sorry. [ He adds, though the glance up and around a moment later makes it apparent that he's not so sorry as to excuse himself. ] I thought you were someone else. [ His words draw his gaze back to her. He thought she was one of the people who'd brought him here. Now he sees how blindly optimistic that had been. ]

[usedtoit]

[ She just shrugs, shaking her head. Maybe it would've been a bigger deal if she were in some sort of compromising position. But she's only been destroying her room, and him walking in seems like the least of her worries. ]

It's fine. [ She, too, glances around her room, at the mess she's created just trying to find something to use for protection. She bites her lip, looking back up at him. ] Sorry I'm not who you thought I was.

[comminatory]

Don't be.

[ He holds up a hand to stay her apology. After all, charging in unarmed wasn't likely to end well for him if he had been right. ]

They're probably long gone by now.

[ If they were smart, at least, and Bellamy had to guess that in order to pull something like this off, they were. As for what they wanted … well, that remained up in the air. ]

[usedtoit]

[ She nods, and after a second, starts picking her way across the room, her movements light and careful in a way that's practiced. She stops once she's on the other side of the bed, closer to him, but not close enough to be deemed threatening as far as she's concerned. Her hands slide into the back pockets of her jeans. ]

Did you just show up here, too?

[comminatory]

Yeah. [ A gruff nod over his shoulder accompanies the affirmation. ] Woke up in some hallway. Found a suitcase that isn't mine full of clothes and supplies.

[usedtoit]

Me too. [ She gestures towards the things strewn over the floor, mostly clothes, but there's a few books there, too. ] Of course, there wasn't anything useful in the suitcase, like a sword or a bow or a heavy blunt object.

[comminatory]

[ That draws a laugh—too short and dry to be mirthful—out of him, and he glances down at the tornado zone she's already made of her room. A nod comes next. She's a survivor—not like some of the others. He can appreciate that. ]

They took what I had on me, too. Must be storing them somewhere. [ Not that they'd do anyone much good for the time being: weapons may make a difference against an army, but this is a cage. ]

[usedtoit]

[ Surviving, no matter what it takes, is what she's been taught. She practices it as far as her moral compass will allow. A smile spreads on her face a little and her hands tuck behind her back. ]

If they're storing them then there's a chance we can find them. [ That's assuming they're actually storing them and haven't ditched them or destroyed them. ] In the meantime, I hope you're good at hand-to-hand.

[comminatory]

[ He raises an eyebrow at the way she puts him on the ropes—there's a challenging element of doubt to the way she suggests that hope. Lifting his gaze to level on her, he can't help but ask, ] Are you?

[usedtoit]

[ She almost wishes he wouldn't have asked, because now she has to fess up. She holds his gaze steadily, but she's still smiling despite her admission. ] Not as good as I could be. [ She's fast and decently strong, she just doesn't have the strategy or knowledge to make her good at it. ]

[comminatory]

No one's as good as they could be.

[ He nods his approval, tacit and serious. ]

That's good. It means you'll keep working.

[usedtoit]

You never answered my question. [ She's fessed up. Now it's his turn. ] Are you any good?

[comminatory]

[ Chuckling, he nods. ]

I can hold my own when I have to.

[ Where he's from, that's not a question. You have to be good, or you die. ]

[usedtoit]

Good. [ She's not sure why she's pleased by this, but she is. Something about knowing there's other fighters out there makes her feel better about their chances of getting out of this. ] I'm Thea.

[comminatory]

[ His own smile is more reserved, but he's still obviously satisfied with the determination. ]

Bellamy.

[usedtoit]

[ She looks away from him, at the destruction she's made of her room, pursing her lips. ]

I'd apologize for the mess, but-- [ She gives a little smile again, obviously unbothered. ] You did barge in on me.

[comminatory]

[ He smirks, raising one pacifying hand. ]

Don't clean up on my account. [ Nodding back towards the door, he steps back to excuse himself. ] I'll leave you to it. I get the feeling there's more you wanna get out.

[usedtoit]

[ She hadn't planned on it, anyway. But she folds her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels a bit. ]

I'll try to be more hospitable next time.