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

[notafraidofyou]

Now that the heat was back on in the hotel, being outside in the rain didn't bother Tim as much. Plus, the creepy playground did offer some (not many, but some) places to get a bit of a workout on his acrobatics. No way was Tim going to let himself get rusty here. Not that he expected to need all the fancy tricks Dick had taught him, but that didn't mean he should let himself get out of practice.

He'd never hear the end of it when he got home.

But generally speaking, the rainy creepy courtyard wasn't exactly the most popular location, so he couldn't help noticing when someone--a new someone, judging by the suitcase and the fact that Tim had never seen him before--stepped outside into the rain. He watched him from his position upside down on top of the jungle gym for a few moments before finally dismounting.

"Hey. You know you're getting rained on, right?"

[ourlastbesthope]

It took Capa a moment to notice that someone else was speaking. He looked up, frowning at the sight. it had been so long since he had seen anyone besides the people on his ship that he stared, quite openly, for longer than he should have.

"Yeah. I...isn't it great?" He brushed his hair from his face and tied it back. "I haven't been cold or...felt the rain...in a long time. I didn't know the rain even existed anymore."

[notafraidofyou]

"You should have been here last week if you missed the cold." He shook some of the water out of his hair. Just because he didn't mind being wet, didn't mean he liked it. "They forgot to turn on the heat for, like, most of the month. That was fun."

[ourlastbesthope]

Capa was slowly starting to come back to his senses. He blinked away the rain and brushed water from his face so that he could actually see. He moved towards the kid, but he wasn't daring enough to climb Up.

"They?" We'll it seemed a good a time as any to get through to the real subject. "What is this place?"

[notafraidofyou]

Tim shrugged. "Not actually sure who 'they' are. Someone suggested maybe an interdimensional Injustice League or something. The people here are from pretty much all over the place--dimensionally speaking." He paused. "...And we're not really sure what this place is either, other than the hotel at the end of the multiverse. There hasn't been a whole lot of explanation. Mostly just a lot of theories flying around."

[ourlastbesthope]

Capa took it all in. He heard more than what was said, though. They didn't know what this place was. They were stuck. But the word interdimensional piqued his interest. He put a hand on the jungle gym, straining to get closer. "So where are you from?"

[notafraidofyou]

Okay, well, having a conversation from the top of the jungle gym was kind of rude. He jumped the rest of the way down so that he was at eye... well, chest level with the guy. His growth spurt could kick in any time, as far as he was concerned.

"Gotham. Have you heard of it?"

There was always the hope, but a lot of people hadn't.

[ourlastbesthope]

Capa stepped back in surprise, shaking his head. "No. Sorry. Is it a city?" He had to assume so, but he was starting to believe that assumptions weren't going to get him anywhere. He rubbed the back of his neck a little awkwardly, actually starting to feel the chill in the air.

The novelty of the rain was wearing off, but he was still left with a lot of questions. He just wasn't really going to ask this kid too many, as it seemed like everyone had the same questions. It just didn't make sense to him. Things like this didn't happen. This was the stuff of science fiction novels or short stories, something that Capa didn't dabble in.

[notafraidofyou]

He bit back the urge to sigh. It had been a pretty slim hope anyway, and even if the guy had heard of it, he wasn't anyone Tim knew. The world--any world--was a big place, and just being from the same one didn't guarantee... well, anything at all.

"Yeah, it's a city. Like New York or Chicago, if you've heard of either of those. Just with more crime and more crazy people. What about you? Where are you from?"

[ourlastbesthope]

Well, those cities seemed familiar. Capa fought the urge to feel triumphant about it, considering the circumstances. He was still on unstable ground and getting excited about hearing familiar names was going to give him false hope.

"Everywhere. I didn't have a home, really. Moved around too much.. I was born in a small town in the middle of nowhere, though." He trailed off. "America."

[notafraidofyou]

Tim grinned a little. "I'm from America too, so that's something!" Hey, after hearing about future space stations and some crazy country called "Panem," he was going to take what familiarity he could get. "Though Gotham born and bred, so--city kid. We moved around some, but we never left the city."

[ourlastbesthope]

Capa nodded and, once again, pushed wet hair from his face. "I went where the research was," he muttered. "Um...I'm Capa, by the way." He tried to wipe his rain-dampened hands on his pants, but they were just as soaked.

[notafraidofyou]

Tim's family had mostly gone... from place to place, whenever they'd been kicked out for not paying the rent. It didn't make for a lot of world travel.

"I'm Tim. Nice to meet you. ...Why don't we go inside where it's not totally soaking wet?"

[ourlastbesthope]

Capa looked longingly up at the sky, but he nodded in agreement. "Yeah." Turning, he picked up his suitcase and dragged it back inside. He remembered his keys in the process, though, and pulled them out.

"Are these for real? If I go up there, will there actually be a room?"

[notafraidofyou]

"Oh, yeah, they're totally real. There's a room for you. It's not, like, five star or anything, but it's not a rat trap either. I'm in room 304. Everyone's got their own."

[ourlastbesthope]

Capa grunted a little. "Haven't been in a hotel in a long time, either." He offered Tim a quick smile. "There's a lot of firsts for me. Um...thanks for the introduction, though. I should go and figure this out. I'm sure I'll see you later, though." He didn't want to leave the kid waiting while he got ready, and Capa really needed to sit and think for a while.

Sitting was a good idea.

[notafraidofyou]

"No problem." He gave him a quick little grin in return. "Since there aren't any outside doors, and the windows don't break or open, it's not like any of us are going anywhere. I'll definitely see you around." He nodded to the suitcase. "Good luck with that. There are these tablet things that let us keep in touch with each other. You'll have one somewhere. Let me know if you need anything."

[ourlastbesthope]

"I'll remember that." He would have a lot to get used to, but at least he had one potential ally. Someone he knew absolutely nothing about, but that wasn't as big of a detriment as it might be otherwise.

[notafraidofyou]

"Sure." He needed to get up to his room for a hot shower and to dry out anyway. It was nice to have another person to put on the "basically friendly" list, though. "Catch you later."