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

[withbread]

[ yeah, he thinks he has a right to be crazy after everything he's gone through. he actually mumbles a sort of apology but he's so firmly stuck in his panic and one-tracked-minded that he doesn't actually focus on Lydia until she says hey the second time. ] I can't I'm fine. I have to find my--[ he stops because Lydia doesn't look like she's from Panem, but he has no idea what's going on here. For all he knows, this is another one of Snow's tricks. ] my wife. I'm looking for my wife.

[amplified]

( lydia, for all she doesn't know him and is pretty sure he's a.) stronger than her and b.) dangerously unstable, takes the liberty of shaking his shoulders once, firmly and with a decent amount of force. he needs to snap out of it for a second. ) Stop -- stop! ( she kind of snaps at him at that last, then she closes her eyes for a second and composes herself. )

What's her name? What does she look like? Just slow down for a second. Maybe I can help you.

[withbread]

[ she's right on both assumptions. however, shaking him a little and snapping isn't a bad way to approach it. she doesn't seem to be a threat to him so he doesn't feel the need to defend himself in the face of being shaken and snapped at. he doesn't know what the hell is going on here, but it's playing by rules he's uncertain of. he doesn't think he can trust the redhead in front of him by any means, but she hasn't tried to kill him yet. ] Katniss She's about my height, pretty, brown hair in a braid. She's probably got a bow and arrow with her.

[ the idea of making allies isn't something peeta is opposed to and if this girl can help him and Katniss, he'll take that help. ]

[amplified]

( he seems so unstable that lydia's almost afraid to leave him on his own. she takes a calmer tone once he seems to settle down himself. she nods, trying to be reassuring. ) Okay. We'll look for her, alright? If she's here, we'll find her. But you can't spend the entire time panicking. That's not going to help anybody. First things first. ( she tries to smile at him in a way that might make him settle further, but she mostly feels bad for him, so it's kind of a pathetic attempt. ) I'm Lydia.

( then she drops one hand, and the other becomes more gentle, just resting on his arm. she's trying to be reassuring. ) Katniss is a very distinctive name, not one I've ever heard used for a person. So we'll start by asking around, seeing if anyone's run into her. We can go from there. Okay?

[withbread]

[ she's not wrong about him being unstable. however, he's not likely to kill anyone as long as they don't get in the way of him getting to katniss. ] Nice to meet you, Lydia. [ he says it in an off hand sort of way, a little absent. He doesn't give his name because this is an arena and panem. she knows who he is, doesn't she. thought when she says she doesn't know katniss, she gets an odd sort of look. ]

You don't know who she is? Katniss Everdeen. The girl on fire....

[amplified]

Mm, you too --? ( she's polite and cordial, but really, lydia has no idea who he is and the expectant question in her eyes and the way her voice turns upward gives that a way. truly though, she just feels badly for him. he seems to believe she should recognize this girl's name. like she's famous or a celebrity or something. ) I'm sorry. I've never even heard of her, not once. I -- um. Am I supposed to?

[withbread]

[ So. Clearly. Confused. Of course, she ought to know who Katniss is. ]

She's a victor in the Hunger Games. [ he's at a loss for how to explain how Lydia wouldn't know Katniss. ]

[amplified]

( though she's not entirely sure what that means, she's guessing it's some sort of eating competition that makes people famous where he's from. regardless, she's never heard of the girl. or this particular competition. )

What is that? An eating contest or something?

[withbread]

[ She...is so very wrong. ]

No. [ He's giving her the strangest look, almost offended. ]

No. It's an arena. They throw twenty-four kids in and tell them to fight to the death.

[ He's obviously not kidding. ]