I USED TO DREAM THAT I WOULD MEET A PRINCE

[checkingin]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The initial arrival rooms, the main lobby, all over the place.
When: May 7th
What: Feed me, Seymour

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 an richly crackling, rather excessively smoking fireplace, to your right is a lobby desk. straight ahead are three large sets of doors, all three of them thrown wide open and welcoming. 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. there is, however, a pad of paper and a pen neatly aligned with the desk edge. you know. for notes.

terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

SCREENING ROOM.

on a long pull-down screen, a silent version of alice in wonderland 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 chipotle cheese popcorn corn and a large hot drink dispenser full of hot water, with a few cups and some old looking packages of apple cider mix.

DINING HALL.

is tragically, painfully empty.

OTHER.

the ballroom is currently open, and the grand doors unlocked.

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

the doors to the courtyard are unlocked.

ROOMS.

you've a room key with your assigned room number on it. all the new guest residences will be located on floors one and two. 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.

are you dreaming of omlettes and regretting complaining about the constant pancakes and weak ass coffee yet?

Comments

[starspangled]

[Steve takes the jar and smiles at her, fond and admiring at the same time.]

You know I'm going to lead the 'thank you' letter writing campaign, don't you?

[ourlastbesthope]

He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "No, it's fine," he assured her. "And yeah, guessing is...well, I'm learning to live with it for now." He eventually stretched his feet out and stood up. "I...should go back," he confessed. He wasn't feeling good anymore and he was already starting to fall asleep.

[una_persson]

She nodded. "All right. Rest well. I suppose I'll continue to explore. Thanks for—all the information. It's helpful."

[cgrades]

A mission? Right, sent to some creepy hotel to fulfill a mission? I doubt that.

[ Not even Kingsman would be so daft, but the man looks like he's being truthful enough.

Charlie is about to step back, about to turn his back on this mad man, when he appeals to his pride. Of course -- Eggsy was here, which meant that any attempt at making a reputation for himself even in this place would be difficult with Unwin around. There's not a chance he'd let anyone try and stand over him, looking down at him, of all people. ]

And how do you propose doing that? [ Instead of backing down, he smirks and absently raises his chin, a sort of aristocratic air about him now, all confidence and ease. ] Colour me interested.

[cgrades]

I wouldn't bother offering if I didn't want to share it, trust me. I'd be happy keeping it to myself, if you object. It will spoil soon enough anyway, better to eat it while it lasts.

[ Charlie shrugs, rolling his eyes at her hesitancy before he shoves the package into her hand. ]

Oh will you eat some already? I do not approve of drooling on the carpets.

[64th]

Nice save, Trip. She recognizes America, of course, but doesn't ask after it. West or East coast doesn't make a difference to her but she's picked up bits here and there that she can compare it to what she knows of Panem.

She smiles back, but glances away when she thinks of home. Cashmere looks back as she answers. "It's small. We don't have states, we have Districts and they're isolated from one another. People don't travel unless it's on government business. The districts produce goods for our Capitol, and they take the best of everything and leave the scraps to their favorites. My district's always been loyal so things were better than most." And also children fought each other to the death, but she thinks she'll skip that detail for now. "We're all still paying the Capitol back for trying to overthrow them 75 years ago."

[triplett]

Her answer didn't help him figure out where she was from. He listened and lost his smile as she explained life there. The government in Panem sounded like a pretty shitty dictatorship. At least she had it better than most. "Damn," he uttered with empathy. Trip had no idea what to follow up with after that. He almost wished Cash would ask him a question.

"I've been to places with similar governments. Definitely not what I'm used to. You mind me asking how the districts are decided?" He found himself looking at her with different eyes. She hadn't appeared initially like someone who'd been deprived from more than food thanks to whatever was going on with the strange hotel. Cashmere was beautiful and quick on her feet based on what he'd seen.

[pajarita]

[Yes, she will eat it. She will nibble on the corner of one slice, and give him a look. Like, okay, dude that was rude but also this is food and I'm not stupid.]

Thanks. Raven.

[ukase]

The mission doesn't stop just because the environment changes, kid.

[For someone with apparent military bearing, the guy couldn't have seen much action if that was attitude. War was shitty, miserable and trying and nothing about it was the same from one day to the next. There was always changes, and that's what he liked about it most of all. Never boring that way.

He turned a little before lazily stopping that action at the all too classic 'British' stance. He wondered how much of it was an act.] By making life uncomfortable while benefiting from it. Think you'd like that?

[deadlystar]

"Then let us hope we can leave soon." Gamora will head back to her room to clean up unless there was more he wished to speak of.

[vdova]

Sounds exciting. [ Said in a tone that clearly means she doesn't think it's exciting at all, as she follows. ]

[vdova]

For what? [ She's genuinely confused, here. ]

[deadlystar]

"It always rains?" Well that's odd. It's a lot of water to be dropping on them all the time if that's the case, and the rain water must run off to somewhere.

"If they are experiments, I don't see why we would be experimented on." It serves no purpose that she can tell.

[starspangled]

For being the best.

[Is he biased, maybe. Fight him.]

[vdova]

[ And she's surprised, visibly so, for a brief second. It lapses into a small smile. ] I'm really not.

[cgrades]

[ He reaches to take a piece for himself -- already it smells foul, but that may well be his upbringing getting in the way. He certainly wasn't used to low-quality food. But it's food, and it's better than nothing, isn't it? ]

Charlie. How long have you been here, then? Certainly doesn't seem like your first go around.

[ Play nice, he tells himself, she'll have information. And he did just share his food, so. ]

[lifewithoutrest]

Even as she's freeing the suitcase from his loose grasp, she's taking note of his more obvious symptoms. Already, she's trying to form a diagnosis, considering possible causes of his illness. At the same time, she's trying to determine just how sick he is, and whether he's likely to actually die in the near future. He certainly looks like he's dying.

"It's Helen, actually." And no, she doesn't seem at all phased by the fact he's apparently mistaken her for someone else, and someone else he doesn't seem to have much of a fondness for at that. "Come on," that gentle note is back in her voice as she lightly rests her free hand at his elbow, meant to encourage him toward the chair she'd suggested moments earlier.

whoops so guess who started bingewatching sanctuary and it's all ur fault

[unpurify]

Woah, okay. This is all - seriously weird, and Sam's incredibly dizzy, and she doesn't sound like Naomi because the accent's all wrong, and she's actually just kind of rolling with it so you know, he's gonna roll with it too. At least until the room decides to sit still again. It's rolling and pitching in a very disorienting, chaotic way, and it's sincerely messing with his center of balance so whenever it all decides to calm down is just fine with him.

Sam doesn't have the wherewithal to throw any resistance into what's happening, so he trails after and the light guidance is all he needs to drop into the proffered chair.

"Helen," he repeats almost breathlessly, as if he's just hiked up some overly steep incline and not taken twenty steps across a room. He frowns intensely at the ground and wills his brain to focus. "That's - that's weird. You look - exactly like someone I know. She was an angel, she - "

Sam loses his train of thought.

[thatimpossiblegirl]

[He's charming, isn't he? She crosses her arms, but doesn't really seem too bothered.]

I think that about covers it. Better than it was.

[There do seem to be small improvements with each new group of arrivals. Who knows, maybe if they wait around long enough an actual exit will turn up. She has her doubts though.]

You get used to it.

[Kind of.]

yayyayyay i cheerfully accept the blame

[lifewithoutrest]

Helen is very accustomed to weird. In fact, she'd say normal is rather disappointing. But she doesn't find it especially strange that he might recognize her as someone else. For a start, he likely has a high enough fever to be delusional. For two, she's arrived at the conclusion there are people in this hotel from any number of different times and places. Who's to say he hasn't encountered some other version of her? Besides, they do say everyone has a doppelgänger.

Once he's seated, she crouches down in front of him to be closer to eye level. There's no need to tower over him; the man looks upset enough.

"That's right." She waits patiently for him to pull his thoughts together, come up with something more than her name, and she certainly isn't disappointed. Interesting, though, that he'd clearly been alarmed to think she was this...Naomi, and now is claiming she's an angel. She can only assume, then, that he means it literally. Still, she had been under the impression most look upon angels favorably, be they real or imagined.

"I'm sorry. I don't know who she is, but I assure you I'm not her." And just to make that absolutely clear, "My name is Helen Magnus. I'm a doctor."

[unpurify]

Helen Magnus. Doctor. That doesn't sound like Naomi, and angels aren't particularly big on subterfuge, and oh my god why is he trying to ascribe logic to any of this. He shakes his head, trying to reassert some level of concentration in a maneuver that isn't really successful in doing any such thing.

"You're - you're not, aren't you?" He peers at her for a minute, unfocused and evaluative. "That's weird. I guess not the weirdest. I dunno. I've seen weirder." Pause. "Probably."

He flexes one of his hands experimentally, testing the distance between himself and reality, himself and his distal appendages, himself and his nervous system. There's too much of a sensation of detachment, which Sam's interpreting as a bad sign.

"I, uh, don't know how much help a doctor'll be with this," he admits in a tone attempting for flippancy.

[avengeme]

This month's favorite is starvation. See how long the subjects can survive on water and old rations.

[avengeme]

"Always. It always looks like Silent Hill out there too." He shrugs as she mentions the experiments. "I've met a lot of scientists who've experimented on people for less." Or some twisted reason that doesn't bear talking about.

[deadlystar]

"Silent Hill?" She supposes he is comparing this to a place on Earth.

There's a wry smile at the last part. "As have I." One cannot find logic in a twisted mind.

[avengeme]

"Oh. It's a game reference," he adds awkwardly. Probably not the best reference to toss at an alien. "The environment's always misty, like this place." he waves at the door again, indicating the mist and rain outside. "So, uh, what race are you?"