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

[villainously]

( had he considered telling Belle? no. not even for a moment. he could make an excuse if he wanted, that she wouldn't believe him. and it's a good excuse, Belle likely wouldn't have believed him. that doesn't really excuse anything, though. he should have told the girl, instead of trying to manipulate a bad situation to his advantage.

he's used the information to get help finding the ice queen the first time. the second was all greed, and perhaps he'd deserved the punishment he received. a hand he couldn't control, and trapped in a situation he should have been able to see from a mile away as the wrong choice. Emma sees progress, well, he just sees that he's not so different from the lying, dangerous man the supposedly evil hand came off of, the one he's supposedly left behind. the one that was quick to take advantage of a situation to get what he wanted, and not think much about what it'd do to the people caught in the crosshairs. perhaps he would have done the right thing, eventually. . . once he'd gotten something out of it. which doesn't much sound like progress, now does it?

he'd have much preferred anger to quiet disappointment, actually. anger he understands, it's easy to be angry. disappointment requires a certain degree of trust and faith, disappointment comes from caring and not seeing what you hoped for. it stings worse than the many times she's beat him over the head, for one reason or another. how many disappointments does one man get before she decides he's not worth the trouble?

chances are already slim, considering the father of her child is back from the dead, the scant margin he had is closing, like a door shutting out the only light he has, and it's not a comfortable sensation. he can't really lose Emma, he never really had her, but he surely can lose the right to a chance. he disappoints her and battles for another shot and she breaks and gives him one and yet they always end up at the same place.

this isn't a time, or a place, for self pity. it's more important to focus on getting out of here, than it is to focus on the fact every time Emma gets a little closer, she finds she doesn't like what she sees. he keeps his eyes set on the carpet, not managing a response to being better than this. ) She'll know the truth when we get back.

( perhaps with his son in the equation the Crocodile will be forced back into line. Baelfire was the only one that ever managed to really curb him; Belle had never been able, even if she thought she was. the truth was officially out, and his chance of getting the dark one to aide him taking his evil hand off had completely stalled out, but there was more than one way to take off a hand. he just wouldn't use magic to do it. his jaw clenches for a moment, but he forces himself to meet her eye. ) Unless there's something more, you should rest. ( it's not exactly a dismissal; it's just easier to push people away before they walk away on their own.

saviors aren't the only one with that defense mechanism. )