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

so late w/much starbucks

[tectus]

[ she knows full well that if she doesn't get raven out of there fast then something will go down that they'll all later regret. this was so much easier back home, when the reality of things were that there wasn't enough time for an extended fight, but showing up somewhere entirely new, and having to deal with those stresses on top of everything else are making for a nasty combination.

she doesn't really let go until they're a good few feet away from clarke and lexa, and even then she just reverts to one hand gripped strong, solid on raven's shoulder, the other clasping her hand firmly. it's not quite a restraint, but it could be if it needs to - and as it turns out it does, almost. not because raven is going back for more, but because it seems to have finally sunk in what clarke has done, and octavia is quick to adjust her hold and keep the other girl up as best as she can. ]

Raven. Hey, Raven, [ octavia murmurs her words softly, an arm slipping around her waist, and there's no brute force being used any more when she pulls the other girl into a tight hug. this isn't about holding her back any more, it's about holding onto her, supporting her, because it hurts like hell to see someone this strong falling apart, and god only knows what else she can be doing in this situation. ] c'mere.

[ it's all she's got, all she can do really to just hold onto her while she shakes and hope to all hell that raven comes through the other side of this. she has faith, if nothing else. this isn't earth, there isn't the same pressure to move on right now that they had their, but she can do it. octavia is sure of that much at least. ]

you're making me go back to emotional hell two weeks later

[pajarita]

[she's ready to just let go, sink into that hug and not recover, because how can she recover now? he's dead, or he's going to die, and nothing she ever does will stop him, in fact the knife that does it is apparently hers. she's left with nobody, no family, no friend who's seen her at her highs and lows, who has held her through her mother's floating and her studying for the zero-g test, nobody who's heard her laugh until her stomach ached.

a part of her is missing, vacuumed straight out.

death makes people selfish, it's always about them, she's heard it. and it must be true, because she takes one ragged breath against octavia's shoulder and shakes her head violently.] Not here.

[not here means not where clarke, where lexa, can see her breaking down. not where anyone could. she pats her pocket and fishes out the room key, shoving it into octavia's hand before drawing away. her eyes dry, but for how long?] Not here.

[gloriouscurse]

[Something uncomfortable sits with her when it comes to Neal Baelfire. Because she threw dirt on his coffin, and after Henry regained his memories, comforted her son. She nods a little though, looking up at Hook.]

So, there's something else we can add to the list of things this place can do with magic, somehow: Bring back the dead.

[Which she knows from painful, heartbreaking experience is impossible. Even when it goes right it goes horrifyingly wrong.]

[gloriouscurse]

[Regina lowers her voice a little after looking around, trying to afford them both some kind of privacy. For Emma, mainly, because she's not sure how emotional the woman still is about Neal.]

This place should be impossible. The things it's doing, or can do. Not to bring up the obvious, but Neal is dead. and he remembers it. No magic, not Rumple's, Blue's, hell, not even Zelena's can do that. Nothing can bring back the dead. Not...correctly.

[She says it with absolute certainty.]

Neal being here is enough of a clue. This won't be easy. Whoever or...whatever is doing this, is powerful.

[starspangled]

[Now there's some names that stop him in his tracks.]

0-8-4?

[Steve repeats the numbers with a frown, thinking back before he shakes his head.]

Doesn't ring any bells. You say Peggy and the Commandos were involved with it?

[hacker]

That's funny. No one told me there was gonna be a pop quiz.

[ It's a little defensive, bristling. But she loves her team enough that she could wax about them all day tbh, so here she goes anyway. ]

I could tell you about all the times they risked their lives to keep alien tech out of HYDRA's hands, or the agents who died because they refused to flip when HYDRA stepped into the light. But that's the job.

Their real strength is their compassion. Coulson was ready to throw everything away for a chance at saving me.

Fitz never gave up on trying to save his friend from HYDRA, hoping it was just a trick, hoping he was being controlled. And when he was wrong, and he had the chance—when he could have gotten revenge? He let the guy live.

This is the same Fitz who knew a student at the academy was ready to sell super-weapons to some evil arms dealer and you know what he did? He realized that kid just needed a friend. [ A kid that Skye went on to kill because he was brainwashed. That doesn't set well with her, not remotely, but she swallows her own moral decay down. ]

SHIELD—the real SHIELD? It's about people.

[hacker]

According to the files, yeah. Agent Carter's authorization was on all of them. [ A simple shrug comes next. ] Obviously, we couldn't exactly go ask. [ Which seems morbid to mention, b u t it's out there now and there's no unsaying it. ]

[villainously]

[ he can't imagine what kind of magic could restore the dead. knowing the efforts required to go through time, death would be just as dramatic or worse. is there a price to bringing Baelfire back from the dead?

and if so, who would be left to pay it?

he shakes his head, not knowing what to say. he'd never dreamed it possible, and yet they were all living it. he just hoped it would turn out for the best, with Henry getting his father back. ]

If I find anything I'll let you know.

[ uncomfortable a team as they were, Regina was on Emma's side, which meant they were unwitting teammates. he'd do what he could to help Regina as well. ]

[unbreachable]

Creepy.

[ Smoothing a hand over his face before he leans down to check out the little tag on his suitcase. ]

Guess that's my room number. Maybe I ought to check it out.

[villainously]

[ well, she doesn't need to know the answer, because he doesn't really know his question anyway. just a very base answer that he's all right might have to be enough. Killian can't imagine how Baelfire feels at the moment, and he doesn't think it's his place to get involved. things are strained between them and they might always be, that doesn't mean he doesn't care. it's quite fair that the boy (still, even though Neal has gone a bit gray, he thinks of him as the boy) be overwhelmed, but dealing is better than not. he's been given a gift, they just need to figure out how to make sure it's not a temporary one.

Hook just can't help but thinking that there is surely a price for his revival, and he doesn't want Emma to be left paying for it. they need more information, they're agreed on that, yet maybe the Charming mindset is starting to infect him. there must be an answer, and well, if Emma needs him to carry Neal through a portal then he'll bloody do it.

hopefully it won't come to that, though. he has to think that Baelfire wants to see his boy again, that he wants to live. they're going to give him that, somehow.

he nods idly at the answer and doesn't press more. they're of like minds but talking to Emma about Neal was uncomfortable, likely for both of them. he closes the door behind her, only realizing how badly the disarray of his room looks to an offhand observer. ] Just seeing if there was anything suspect, there wasn't anything I could find. [ not much of an excuse.

she doesn't need to worry about finding him. he knows she will when she needs him; she's got more than enough to worry about, he won't be one of those things if he can manage it. her subject change, therefore, is a bit unexpected, and exactly what he hoped to avoid. his expression colors a bit with regret — she shouldn't have to carry this. the savior always takes on everyones ills and nobody is to blame for his situation but himself.

her touch wraps around the hand that he is constantly questioning, and even now he looks down like he expects it to hurt her somehow, completely beyond his control. it doesn't, just lingers in her grip. he wants to twine their fingers together, does that qualify as evil? he looks back at her as she presses, battling with himself on what he should tell her. he'd managed to shade the truth a bit before, but now? he's not sure he could manage. when Emma suspects he's hiding something, he never manages to get away with it. she reads him better than a book.

and really, she should know the truth. that he could be dangerous, whether he wants to be or not. he doesn't want her to take his woes on, he'll have to figure it out on his own. he still has to tell her. after everything that happened with Zelena, after betraying her trust already? he needs to tell her the truth, he owes it to her. ]

No, he doesn't, but... it still came with a price. [ he can't quite look at her as he tells her, though. ] It's cursed. My hand. [ that revelation is enough for him to pull his hand back, like he's certain that saying it out loud will cause it to lash out and he doesn't want her to be the one suffering for it.] I didn't believe it, at first, I thought he was playing a trick... it isn't, it's the truth.

[withbread]

[ seriously, at this point in his life he has been covered in so much worse. snot is nothing.

yeah, well...did she really expect anything else. he'd as much as told her this in the arena. besides that, effie had aided him (whether she'd known it or not) in keeping katniss alive by giving her that locket. he gave her a sad look at her words. ]

Katniss, I told you. If you died, I didn't have anything else to live for. No one back home needs me.

[ he can't even imagine a world in which katniss didn't live. it would be a world he doesn't want to live in.]

[technologist]

Huh.

[ Thoughtful, like they're discussing an interesting math problem instead of Neal's glorious return from the beyond. His gaze doesn't wander, though, fixed on Neal in a way that's possibly annoying or a little uncomfortable — but still, thoughtful. Not exactly intense. ]

I've seen... there's tech. And treatments, they can bring people back, but— it's sort of involved. The process, I mean.

[ Which is the opposite of his secret agent training, but guess what, creepy murder hotel. The rules are changing. He offers it up in an attempt explain his reaction; he's aware it isn't the usual. ]

You don't remember it? Coming back.

[sheriffing]

[ A price. There's always a price. She's already started to wonder if there's any escaping that here. Magic seems to be in short supply, and the thing she thought was a part of her has already faded into nothing. If she can't get it to work, that means whoever brought them here gets to deal with the cost of all of this, even bringing Neal back. Or maybe there isn't one in this world, and that's why the person in power is being so careless with who gets dragged along for the ride. Emma would like to believe that it's more than that; maybe it wasn't his time, maybe this isn't a full-on resurrection as much as it is righting a wrong.They'll find out eventually, whether they like it or not.

But with that too-obvious subject change comes the truth, and it's not exactly what Emma was expecting. She looks skeptical before she says anything, eyes lowering to his hand as he pulls it away, one eyebrow raised to the explanation itself. Cursed? How could it be cursed? It's a hand, it's not like it can function on it's own.]

How do you know it's true?

[He gets the question instead of the denial she immediately wants to offer up. What happened at the restaurant felt a lot more like his temper getting the better of him than a curse. It wasn't just his hand that reacted, it was a response that the rest of him was totally on board with. And if there's anything Emma does understand, it's being pissed at how rudely they were interrupted. Killian wasn't the only one who nearly gave in that time.]

Because I have to tell you, a cursed hand doesn't sound likely. [And before he can remind her of his previously cursed lips, she takes his hand back into hers, just to be stubborn. To call his bluff and see if there is a chance that this could be real.] Especially not here. I can't get my magic to work, and neither can Regina. If your hand was cursed, don't you think whatever dark magic was used on it would stop working with everyone else's?

[And that's if his hand is cursed, which is already a tough sell. Emma threads her fingers with his, grip tightening around him just enough to prove that he'd push back against this if his hand was as cursed as he says it is. Whatever they have, it's good. If his hand has been cursed, that's dark magic. If it was at work here, there would be some kind of a reaction.]

I think he played you; he put the thought in your head knowing you'd obsess over it. There's nothing wrong with you, Killian. You're just overthinking this.

[sheriffing]

208. I figured a change of clothes would help me get through the place quicker. When all hell breaks loose, I'm usually dressed for the occasion.

[Boots, jeans, layers. This is what her life has become. Expecting it is part of getting through it, and this time, they caught her unprepared.]

I'm guessing we're neighbors?

[64th]

[ she shakes her head. ] No. Why - have you? [ maybe that's why he looks so jumpy. which would be a bad sign. there's a lot of confusion and minor hysteria going around the hotel right now. she'd rather not find out that this place deserves all that panicking, but it would be good to have one person who knows what is going on. ]

[64th]

[ she nods. ] That happened to all of us. So far we can't find anyone who seems to be in charge. But there's some bizarre movie in the other room if you're into that. [ Cashmere is not. ]

[cisskabob]

...Seventeen. [Okay, technically that's a lie. She is eighteen, but telling him that seems like it might be encouraging this. It doesn't hurt to be underestimated, anyway.

Plus she does want to know what he'll say and how old he is.]

[dislocked]

[ Bucky listens silently, watching the emotions on her face, in her eyes, the pain that should be almost impossible to replicate. She carries too much too early, and there's something inside him that stirs, something he'd thought was long gone, wiped out so many times before.

He knows kindness when he sees it; this strange, alien thing that he's only beginning to understand again. However, more than that: ]

And you? What are you?

[oceanborne]

No, we're not underground. [ It's definitely a statement from Annie, and a relieved one at that. She edges cautiously towards the window as well, peering out. For all the rain and fog, it's still the closest thing to daylight that she's seen in at least a month or more.

But for as thrilling as the gloomy not-light outside the window is, her attention snaps back at the mention of "the war." ] What war?

[hacker]

[ We finally get to find out what we become. Raina had sounded so excited (the crazy-eyes kind of excited, sure, but excited nonetheless) when she'd spoken of it in the temple. Then the mists released from the crystals, and they all—

What was it? What had they become? What was Skye becoming?

It's a bad time to be asking. There's no faking the uneasy look in her eyes, full to the brim with fear, doubt and uncertainty that she tries hard to repress. ]

I don't know.

[ She admits finally. Not alien, Raina had said. For all that Raina knew, of course, which was just stories about blue angels and fairytales. Angels, Skye was certain, didn't create weird metal death relics that turned people to stone, relics that HYDRA could try to weaponize. Whatever they are, it's not something good. ]

[technologist]

Whoa— hey. [ Quiet, an instinctive response to the frantic edge to that explanation. When he puts his hand on her shoulder as a gesture of comfort, it's a bit stiff and awkward. He's still shaken enough to be off-balance, himself; the update isn't doing much to improve on it. ]

He's better at this than we are, yeah? He'll be fine. And we'll— [ There's a quick glance towards the door, uncertain. ] We'll find him. And everyone else.

[ When he pauses this time, it's to rally his own conviction. ] We've been through worse.

[technologist]

No. [ Kind of defensive, that time, like he's vaguely offended by the idea of being here before. ] I just... it doesn't make any sense. That we'd all turn up here at the same time, without anyone familiar.

[technologist]

[ Right, dumb question. He smiles slightly, weak and chagrined, then offers the kit back. Which is also dumb, frankly, handing it right back after he's more or less yanked it out of her hands hardly seconds ago.

Better being embarrassed about that than dropping it on the floor or mucking up the wires, though. Probably. ]

I'm still a bit— [ Shaken?? In shock?? Something. When he leaves the sentence hanging, it's more in the vague hope that she'll infer than difficulty settling on the right word. ]

[hacker]

[ The floor beneath them trembles as his hand touches her shoulder, and the lights flicker. A rattling sound come from the night table—the drawer, shaking on its tracks. While Fitz's gaze darts for the door, Skye glances around, eyes wide. Well, that's spooky. Haunted comes last on the list of things she wants to add to this hotel to make it feel homier. ]

We need to keep looking. [ Drawing herself to action has always been her preferred way of dealing with (read: not dealing with) strong, heart-wringing emotions. Her fear for Trip, for Coulson, her uncertainty about herself and Raina. It'll all get buried down in favor of dealing with the one thing she can do: look for the rest of the team. ] We need to find them.

[ Her nods are earnest and hurried, accompanied by a watery tone of voice and eyes that are mistier still. She's choked up, but doesn't want to admit it. She just wanted to make things right. She just wanted to stop this from going wrong, but it was the wrong call. Going down there, it was wrong. And now—

She breaks away from him, taking a series of deliberate steps backward before turning for the door. ]

[pajarita]

[she shrugs a little, her smile not unkind.] I get it. [she recovers her kit from his hands and steps into the elevator, locating the control box -- or trying to -- ew, old tech, gross.

there it is.]

So what's your name?