open

[missingbuttons]

Who: Coraline and You!
What: DISTRACTIONS.
Where: Most public areas around the lobby.
When: 5/21-5/28
Warnings: None, will change if necessary.

[As soon as the dreams started showing up on the network, Coraline stopped looking at the network. She'd already seen a couple, and she feels very strongly that she probably shouldn't have, despite her curiosity. So to keep herself from watching more, whether accidentally or on purpose, she's just... not checking the network anymore.

Instead, she's keeping herself occupied and distracted in the best ways a sixteen-year-old knows. She's exploring every nook and cranny yet again, until she knows the whole place like the back of her hand, and she can also be found doing things around the rest of the public areas:

The Fireplace: She's hanging out by the fire, with some stolen paper and a pen from the front desk, and she's trying to draw. She's not that good at it, but it's something to do. Sometimes she's copying the pictures from the encyclopedias that are there, sometimes drawing the fire, sometimes drawing things in the lobby.

When she gets bored of that, she's reading the encyclopedias.

When she's bored of that, she starts using the volumes to build a tower. No respect for literature.

The Screening Room: She's not paying attention to the movie. She's watched it enough already, she can probably recite it. In fact, she does, sometimes, sitting upside down in the chair with her head hanging down so her hair brushes the floor.

The Front Desk: She sits behind it, folding paper airplanes and tossing them through the lobby. She's also writing notes and drawing stupid cartoons that don't really mean anything, just whatever pops into her head.

The Ballroom: Cartwheels. That's all.

If someone stops and talks to her, she'll talk back. She's friendly, after all, and SO FREAKIN' BORED.]

Comments

[unpurify]

Dictionary, yeah. Or just words. In general.

[Much coherent very word. He huffs bitterly and scrubs a hand over his face, like that'll make him seem any less half-dead to the world.]

Just trying not to sleep, y'know.

[Which, granted, bad idea. Especially when you're already sick. But he doesn't see a lot of other options if he wants to avoid digging up more old crap.]

[missingbuttons]

[She frowns and leans some of the books against each other.]

It's the encyclopedia, not dictionaries, but whatever.

[Coraline steals another look at him.]

I mean, not that I blame you, because, well, obvious, but it's not doing you any favors.

[unpurify]

No, I know. [He leans forward tiredly and has to push the hair out of his eyes because he's just gotten progressively more unkempt since he got here. He's pretty sure he's going to have to start taking steps so as not to be mistaken for Cousin It in the near future.]

Just better to deal with this than whatever might get - [he wiggles an equivocal hand. Broadcast. Sent out. Whatever.] - you know. [He pauses, jaw jutting out as he frowns.] Is that why you're here?

[missingbuttons]

If by here you mean definitely not looking at my tablet ever again or at least until this blows over then yeah, that's why I'm here. My dream's already out there, so it's not like it can get any worse for me unless I go poking around in other people's.

Which. Is kind of an invasion of privacy. And I don't really trust myself not to look, because. You know. Curiosity killed the cat.

[She finishes the level and looks at the books she's got left. Four. Perfect.]

[unpurify]

Yeah. I just kinda hid mine after a while.

[Which means she probably didn't see Lucifer. Which is good. 'Seeing Lucifer' is not a thing that should happen to kids. And who knows if it'll try broadcasting again? Ugh. God. He doesn't want to know.

So instead he looks at the tower. Book towers are more palatable than nightmares, as a general rule.]

What's that for, jenga?

[missingbuttons]

[She snorts.]

Does it look like jenga?

[Because no, no it does not. It looks a little like she tried to take the concept of sugar packet towers and something like this and... well it's kind of amazing it's standing, honestly.]

[unpurify]

[He tilts his head almost a full ninety-degrees, like that'll make it seem any more like a game of wordsy jenga.

He supposes she's got a point.]

Well, it's very architecturally sound.

[Maybe not so much on the 'very' but it is a nice tower. Very...sprawling. It has character. And why a hotel needs encyclopedias, who knows, but whatever, it's entertainment, sorta. Anything's better than sitting in his room and staunchly trying to ignore the tablet notifications.]

[missingbuttons]

[She balances the last few books on top and steps back, hopping down from the table to get a good look at it.]

Well it's standing, anyway.

[unpurify]

[He's way too young to feel creaky when he stands (and wobbles and straightens and wobbles a bit more and finally evens out), but to be fair a mystical malaise will really do a number on your physical coordination. He folds his arms and looks at the completed tower appraisingly.]

Impressively enough, yeah. [He steps forward to run a finger lightly along one of the book spines. He's kinda missed research nights, he won't lie.] Wonder how long it'll last.

[missingbuttons]

Until I get bored and knock it down, probably.

[Which is in... 5... 4... 3... 2... aaand she kicks at the bottom and the whole thing collapses. She laughs, delighted.]

That's the best part, honestly.

[unpurify]

[He didn't expect that oh god oh geez help. Existing in a fog of sleeplessness has made his reaction time impressively low, but that doesn't mean Sam isn't going to leap back in a belated, moosely flail.

He stares at the heaped books and, ridiculously, kind of wants to laugh with her. Everything has gone to absolute shit and people are dead but there's also something inanely hilarious about the pile of books on the floor of a crap hotel lobby.]

Liar. [He manages a faint smile.] That was totally for jenga.

[missingbuttons]

Nuh-uh!

[She's still laughing too much to be properly offended.]

Jenga is all about balance and trying to not make it fall.

[unpurify]

Yeah, if you play it wrong.

[What do you mean it's not about playing dominos with the jenga blocks what do you mean.

It feels really damn good to laugh, or try to. He gives into it.]

What, you prefer bowling?

[missingbuttons]

The balls are too heavy.

[She starts picking up the books, piling them neatly so she can start building another tower.]

I like exploring better.

[unpurify]

[Automatically he stoops to help, scooping up several of the things to add them to a neat rectangular stack.

Conversation is nice. It's normal. It's good. He could use some of those things right about now.]

Not a bad pastime. Ever find anything interesting?

[missingbuttons]

Sometimes. I mean, it depends on what you find interesting, I guess.

[The volumes are stacked, and she picks up a couple and starts leaning them against each other.]

[unpurify]

[He concedes with a tilt of the head, crouching to mimic what he's assuming is a tower-starter with a couple books of his own. It's mechanical and mindless, the sort of busy work that makes him feel like he's got a goal. He's missed it.] That's true.

[He stops to cast a weary look around the dated decor, a shade vindictively. Dumb freakin' hotel.]

Ever find anything here?

[missingbuttons]

[She snorts.]

Not really. Anything interesting I find is usually a part of some creepy awful plot, and I'm not the only one who finds it.

[unpurify]

[That's a frank assessment. He huffs again, ducking his head, morbidly amused. It's funny because it's true.]

Yeah, I hear that. Been looking for a way out but, uh. [He spreads a hand to indicate the gloomy interior, drops it again to resume assembling the books in their complicated upward stack.] Place doesn't seem to wanna give us one.

[missingbuttons]

Nope.

[She leans books against his and starts moving up to the next level.]

It'd be nice if it wasn't raining all the time, too.

[unpurify]

It's like we're caught in the same day. Same weather cycle.

[Onward to level two. He's starting to get the hang of this. Then he stops, briefly disturbed when a thought occurs to him.]

God - you don't think we've been Groundhog-Day'd, do you?

[missingbuttons]

Nah, if that was the case, nothing would change, right? And stuff changes. And people show up.

[unpurify]

Right, right, yeah. [And he'd know, duh. He's been Groundhog-Day'd before. Thanks, Gabriel.] But aside from that, it's all kinda the same, right? Except for whatever terrifying thing the place decides to throw at us next.

[missingbuttons]

Yeah, that's true. [She sighs.] So maybe like. Half Groundhog Day or something.

[unpurify]

Great. That's fantastic.

[So many happy, wonderful times to look forward to, he's sure. He finishes off the second level a little sourly.] So, what, been here for long?