sit yourself down, and meet the best inn keeper in town ( O P E N )

[checkingin]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The initial arrival rooms, the main lobby, all over the place.
When: February 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.

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 tall pull-down screen, a silent version of nosferatu 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 timey music.

along the curtained windows is another long table, with a large bowl that looked like it once would have held popcorn. but is now unfortunately empty. same for the large hot drink dispensers labeled "hot chocolate" and "coffee".

OTHER.

the ballroom and breakfast hall are currently closed, grand doors locked.

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

the door to the courtyard is locked.

ROOMS.

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

Comments

[64th]

[ it's not the best of Annie's jokes, but Cashmere smiles all the same. you really only have to bear witness to one of Cashmere's tantrums to find good reason to avoid them for the rest of forever. her anger has a way of getting the best of her. she knows that. ]

Yeah. [ and... apparently the tablet is going to be her best option for writing this down. great. the tablet is under her clothes, so she tosses pants and a shirt towards Annie. ] You're going to look very One. It's a dream come true, I know.

[ she picks up the tablet, examining it for the first time since she realized it had a camera. it's different than what she's used to in the Capitol, but similar enough that she at least doesn't feel stupid. ] So what was in your suitcase?

[kirking]

[That gets his attention, makes him stand up straighter and narrow his eyes at him.]

What do you mean, in processing? What is that?

[engender]

California. It's in the United States. That doesn't ring a bell, does it?

[kirking]

[Kirk is a genius and a nerd but he has no idea what vibranium is. But he just goes with it because he's... Kirk and she's pretty and he's not one to question other cultures too much. Maybe she wasn't born on earth and that's what they call steel for all he knows.]

You believe anything he said?

[64th]

[ she shakes her head. ] There's nothing outside Panem. Not anymore. What's it like?

[kirking]

No shit?

[Starfleet doesn't require their cadets to read it. But Kirk's read it all the same because he's a dork in secret. Two years ago maybe he would totally discount time travel but now? Not so weird. Not even a little bit.]

So wait I'm sorry, what year is it where you're from?

Re: [A. Because why not.]

[notafraidofyou]

[Cissie, you just invited Tim to be his most obnoxious.]

Ugh. Tell me about it. [He folds his arms across his chest, looking annoyed.] It's like people think you can't do anything if you're still a teenager. I mean, there's more to me than junk food and video games! I have opinions on things!

[hacker]

[ It feels a lot less Twilight Zone, she wants to point out, when you've lived it. But that's not productive, and he's right. Begrudgingly, she must admit that working with the enemy towards a common goal beats rotting away in the creepy Hotel California. ]

Okay, okay. No Monsters on Maple. I get it. We'll share info and sing Kumbaya until we've got good reason to doubt.

[hacker]

Not in my realm.

[ Or in Asgard, even if the humans had believed Asgardian tech to be magic. She's splitting hairs at this point, though, because she has no problem entertaining the notion of magic, she's just trying to convey that she's never encountered it. So she drops it. ]

Who are the wizards? I mean, you know, other than ... the obvious. Users of magic, right? Could they get us out of here?

[kirking]

Huh?

[Nooope not going to start chatting about his dead mother. Not going to happen. Not with her strange doppleganger. So he forces a smile and goes back to struggling with the window.]

Yeah. I'm fine. I just want to get the hell out of here.

[hacker]

I believe he wanted to tell me more than he could.

[ With both feet back on the carpet, she turns to look at him, hands on her hips. Her shoulders shrug, hunching up around her neck, and she shakes her head, admitting her own uncertainty in a single gesture. She's fairly at ease with it, though—it'll play out. They'll work with it. ]

It seemed like something was … I don't know. Limiting him. Either watching him with a gun to his head, or something else. I gave him a signal, and he confirmed. [ She blows air out through pursed lips. ] No idea who it is, though.

[engender]

California as a whole is - liberal in a lot of places. Three major cities, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. There's a big Hispanic population. The terrain is diverse. It sits along the Pacific Ocean. Beacon Hills is in the North.

[starspangled]

I know you didn't. We argued like cats and dogs about it, more than once.

[It frustrated him at the time, but Steve can't help but think back on it fondly know. He knows Bucky's reasons, what he was trying to do. If only he'd been half as good at protecting him.]

I kinda hope those days are behind us. Think they could be?

[The question makes him feel nervous, oddly vulnerable, because he's afraid of the answer. But no matter what it is, Steve's not giving up on him.]

[64th]

[ that's a lot of words she's never heard before, but she's curious so she's just going to roll with it. ] Is it big? Do you like it? What's the industry? Fishing? [ what's anything like outside of Panem?]

[pronged]

I've never heard of Mirkwood Forest.

[What an impasse they seem to be at. It's entirely possible that she's just from a part of the wizarding world that he's not familiar with. He admittedly hasn't been outside of England in years and didn't see that changing until he woke up here.]

Can you do magic then?

[engender]

There are several industries. Hundreds. All different kinds of all different sizes. California is big, Beacon Hills, the town I grew up in isn't. It will always be home.

[pronged]

[That is kind of what he's doing. He's no Death Eater, he isn't going to attack her first but he wouldn't hesitate to poke her in the eye with his wand if she really tried to gut him. Since he can't do any magic, that seems like the best way to go, right?

James makes a little relieved noise when she gets off him.]

I admit, I don't really fancy being tackled by Pete and some mental chick after taking an accidental portkey to some run down inn where I can't do any magic. But it could be worse.

You could be a Death Eater.

[Which he's going to guess she's not since she doesn't seem to recognize his name and let's be real, he's kind of a big deal. Fighting against the Dark Lord and all no big.]

[pronged]

[Shit, James hasn't even tried to do that yet but he's going to hazard a guess that he can't either. If Peter can't, and his wand doesn't work here, there's a good chance no one will be running into Prongs in the near future.

This has to be seriously dark magic, to completely cut them off like this. He can't think of anything else it would be.]

I don't know. [His voice is quiet and small and for a moment he looks just as lost. And then he pushes that aside.]

But it's going to be alright. Promise.

[64th]

[ now it's her turn to take a moment to process all this. he has a very captive audience. ] Hundreds? What do the other districts do? What do you do?

[carjacked]

[ Despite how awkward and tense things seemed to be between them, it hadn't actually been his intention to shift Killian into third-wheel status. This conversation, this- whatever this was, it wasn't like... that. It wasn't about wedging one another out of Emma's graces, or getting the upper hand on each other, or... whatever. As weird as things had been in Neverland, they seemed to have stabilized once all of them got out. Especially considering the last moment they'd had together before Neal bit the dust.

So he licks his lips as Killian retreats, hesitates, and then calls out: ]

Hook.

[ There's an awkward sort of pause wherein he's not really all that sure what to say. Finally, he shrugs a shoulder. ]

Thanks.

[ For, you know. Looking. Implying they'll actually bring him back with them. Letting him have a moment with Emma to talk about his son. Being a good guy, whether Neal likes it or not. There's a little more in his expression, but no other words come out before Killian makes his escape.

His attention turns back to Emma again, weary and frayed around the edges already. His head ducks, and he scratches the back of his neck with something not unlike guilt tugging at his shoulders. He knows it's stupid to feel guilty for dying, but it was his own stupid mistakes that lead to his early end anyways. His own stupid decisions that lead to Henry being fatherless, lead to Emma suffering through him abandoning her yet again. Lead to broken promises and empty potential. ]

Yeah, about that... He's a good guy. I think he's good for Henry, too.

[ Neal settles on, finally. It's not exactly what he wants to say, because it's not like there's any permission that's his to give, but... if he had to pick someone for Emma, someone that would be good to her, someone that could be involved in raising his son right... Well, the guy who raised him has some pretty good merrits. Neal might not be able to teach Henry the things he knows, but since he learned most of it from Killian in the first place...

Because he doesn't think he's coming back from this, no matter how confident Emma is. Magic can't bring back the dead. ]

[engender]

I - [ Well. ] I went to school. I studied history. [ These questions... ] There are other states. They have districts, neighborhoods, towns, cities. If you can think it up, someone probably does it. Or, they're about to.

[carjacked]

[ Hey, check it out, she gets the reference. Looks a little young for it, too, so he's impressed. Lips twitch up into a tired smile. ]

I think we better skip the singing. Judging from the way some of these people talk, I'm not so sure they could carry a tune if they had a bucket, but- yeah. The rest of it's good, prob'ly the best thing we can do right now.

[technologist]

Wh— [ What the hell are you doing here. That's what he's going for, anyway, but it's interrupted by the way Skye launches herself onto him; he's startled, but quick enough on the uptake, more tentatively settling his arms around her.

He meets her eyes the second she pulls away, brow furrowed, expression bemused. ]

We were looking for you.

[ Which is clearly an outdated game plan. He's well aware that the landscape's changed, but he's apparently thinking out loud. After a beat, tone cautious: ]

You haven't seen anyone else?

[sheriffing]

Killian.

[Well that's...convenient. She was thinking the four of them were probably split up on purpose, but having Killian in the next room simplifies things. By her count, there are twenty rooms on this floor and at least forty other captives in the hotel. It's hard to get accurate numbers when everything they don't want them to see is "under construction". Too many things are locked away around here, and if she assumes the worst (just because she can), that means they'll only be unlocked with more arrivals. Whatever this trap is, they caught it in it's early stages. No matter how fast and loose their captors play it with the housing situation, none of this bodes well for them.

If she was with Neal, or Regina, Emma would put on a brave face. Neal needs someone to believe that they're all going to get out of here together. He's afraid to hope for that possibility, but she isn't. It's not the first time she's thought he was gone and found out otherwise, so maybe this makes it less final for her than it still is for him. Hang around with her parents enough and you start to buy into the idea of happiness, even if it's always just out of reach. She wants that for Neal and Henry and she intends to fight like hell to get it. She wants it for Regina too, although she's noticed that Henry's other mother is lacking her usual confidence.

Not having magic here is harder on Regina than it is on Emma. It's a struggle for Regina to lose it, and a struggle for Emma to have it. It'd come in handy here, but she's willing to bet that's why they took it away. No advantages allowed. For someone who doesn't have years of experience in using it, the loss isn't horrible. She can tell herself that it's temporary, that magic just doesn't work here, and that satisfies the nagging feeling that she's already lost a part of herself to this. She can live without it, so she'll deal. Regina hasn't really had to do that since the curse was broken, and twenty-eight years of peace and quiet on her own terms had to have been a lot more tolerable than being trapped and vulnerable.

It just turns out that even with the better end of the deal, Emma is struggling with all of this.]

No, - at least nothing aside from us being trapped here.

[She takes a breath and shoves her hands into her pockets, searching his eyes to try to get a read on him. Seeing Neal again couldn't have been easy, but she just keeps telling herself his death is something they can fix. They have to, it's what they do, isn't it?]

Can I come in?

[A quick peek behind him reveals he's as unnerved by this place as she is, but Emma hasn't used her room as the testing ground. There are plenty of other places in the hotel to take apart, she wasn't going to start with the place where she's expected to stay for the foreseeable future.]

sorry for the delay!

[technologist]

[ Fitz takes half a step back as she picks up the bowl, careful to keep plenty of space between them. His gaze is cautious as he studies her, too, like he's not entirely convinced she isn't the one who's brought him here.

Which, to be completely fair, is kind of how he looks at everyone lately. ]

No.

[ That expansive answer's given after a too lengthy pause, tone guarded. But Fitz seems to realize it's hardly adequate, adding a moment later: ] I mean— yes. Sort of. Particularly when I've been kidnapped and locked in a creepy hotel with a bunch of strangers.