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

[hacker]

[ As convenient timing goes, Skye really takes the cake. Just as she finishes exploring her own room (thinking of it like that still jars her because, really, it's the room some kidnapper stuffed her in and left her to), she hears rummaging around in the one next door.

Dipping back out into the hall, she checks both directions for mulling about, then moves towards 115. Her fist reaches out to knock on it, and it swings open the rest of the way, welcoming her in. For a moment, she waffles, then decides none of them actually need privacy anyway.

She steps inside and, glancing down the narrow entryway, spots Fitz.

Attempts at casual get abandoned, and she beelines for him, throwing her arms around him. ]

Thank god. [ She buries her face against the crook of his neck, drawing a breath. It's both fortunate and unfortunate: if he's here, it means the others from inside the temple must be as well. Kidnapped, but all kidnapped together. She tears away from him, quick to get back to business. ] We need to find the others.

[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?

[hacker]

Uh, Captain freaking America.

[ Which absolutely needs to be the first thing she mentions. She gestures towards the door like yeah that happened. Lobby is A+, do recommend. Beautiful things happen there. ]

Who, by the way, is just as smoking hot in real life. [ Realizing that's Not The Point, she clears her throat, dropping her chin a little and scratching the side of her head with a little tilt of it, clearing her throat. ] Which … We'll get back to later, when we aren't freaking out. And have found the rest of the team.

[ Most of the rest of it. Seeing Fitz summons up a wealth of unpleasant emotions, as she realizes that there's one team member who they have no reason to go search out. Trip. A pit grows in her stomach, as she realizes she has to be the one to break the news. The ease drains out of her, replaced by shakiness. Immediately, she recoils from the hug, dropping her hands uselessly to her sides and backing off. ]

Obviously.

[technologist]

[ Captain freaking America earns a completely dead stare, like he's 90% sure she's just screwing with him. Then again, it might just be the icing on the rest of the surreal cake; it isn't unreasonable to take a beat to catch up.

Totally didn't hear the smoking hot comment. Or he's not acknowledging it, anyway. In the pause that follows her words he goes one better than catching up, though, considering the past few minutes — the room, the lobby, the people he's already encountered.

Strangers, most of them. ]

You think they're all here?

[hacker]

I—

[ Fuck. Fuck. fuck fuck fuck. ]

… Fitz, I don't know what happened down there.

[ It comes off her tongue sounding like an attempt to skirt responsibility. Maybe that's what it is. Justifying to herself that whatever happened to Trip, whatever the Diviner had done to him wasn't her fault. ]

Raina was activating the Diviner, and Trip showed up, and then it's just … nothing.

[ She shakes her head. ]

It did something to all of us.

[ Something terrifying, something she doesn't understand, and grappling with that is more than a little intimidating right now. Can we go back to talking about Cap's arms? ]

But Coulson was alive. He shot Whitehall. If we're here, he must be too. And if he is, he's gonna need our help. He was in bad shape when I found him.

[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.

[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. ]

[technologist]

[ Fitz's eyes skip up towards the ceiling as the lights settle, and he's quiet as she speaks, quiet as she lets go and heads for the door. There's one more uncertain glance around the room before he follows, pausing just long enough to retrieve the small toolkit from the bed.

It's just a coincidence, the earthquake back in the caves and the tremor that'd just passed through the hotel; or if they're related, it's because of whatever's brought them here. He'd say it was whatever they were hunting in those ruins, but that doesn't explain everyone else. ]

Have you tried the lifts?

[hacker]

Nah. Didn't want to risk it with the way the lights have been going.

[ She gestures around with a finger at the sconces in the hallway as they dip out of Fitz's room. ]

Took the stairs down, though. Creepy kid at the desk doesn't seem to know anything, and there's some movie on, but Fitz … There aren't any front doors down there.

[technologist]

Well, they don't work, anyway. I tried to fix the wiring. [ Well. ] Someone else did. A girl named Raven.

[ His own gaze trails over the hallway lights as they make their way down the corridor, as if they're somehow responsible for all of this. Except one comment catches his attention, enough so for him to bulldoze past the rest of it. ]

There was someone at the desk?

[ Doors: duly noted. First thing he'd noticed, actually. ]

[hacker]

Yeah, this lanky kid. White, probably 16 or 17.

[ Moving to the stairwell, she pushes the door open before glancing back at him. Her worry is apparent, even if she doesn't give voice to her concerns. He's a rocket scientist, and he can't fix an elevator? Sure, he's been having a rough go of it lately, but still, she ... She didn't realize it was still this bad. After what happened with the bus, she'd hoped ... ]

Thinking he might be brainwashed. It seemed like he was under duress to keep his mouth shut on anything useful.

[technologist]

[ Super descriptive. The brainwashed comment cuts off any sarcastic response, though, earning a quick glance. ]

Brainwashed. As in HYDRA?

[ Like Simmons, nearly. Things he's absolutely not going to think about right now, because he's not entirely sure what to think about it at all. There's been no sign of her, yet, but where they'd been before this wasn't exactly better. ]

[hacker]

Well, he wasn't Mr. Happy-to-Comply like Gill, but it'd fit, right? [ She hunches her shoulders, welcoming supposition. ] They were the only ones in San Juan with us.

[technologist]

Yeah. Maybe. [ It makes sense. More sense than he'd like it to, honestly, but at least it's based on something familiar. Fitz goes quiet as if he's mulling the information over, although a few seconds later— ] Have you eaten anything?

[hacker]

What? No. [ She shrugs, brow furrowing like it didn't occur to her. ] Kind of distracted by the big steaming pile of kidnapping here. [ Because surely they won't be around long enough to have to eat their food ............. ]

[technologist]

[ Which is fair enough, and maybe he's being kind of defeatist by assuming they won't get out of here before they starve. Unfortunately, that's sort of where his head's at. ]

Yeah, but— I mean, it's already been an hour or two, and we haven't heard anything on the network that's any sort of helpful.

[ He gives a shrug, mildly apologetic. ]

[hacker]

[ Usually, Skye isn't so reluctant to admit when Fitz has a point. But then, usually, their friends aren't in total, natural-disaster-levels of danger and injured. Up until this point, it's never occurred to her to stop trying to find them, to stop trying to get back to them for even a minute, but—

But the day she's had is catching up to her, and it's catching up to Fitz too. She presses her tongue between her lips, thoughtful, then turns toward the room labeled for dining. ]

Let's see what's around. [ But when she steps over and pulls, the doors are still locked. ]

[technologist]

[ Well, that's disappointing. After staring at the locked door for a moment: ]

There isn't any popcorn, either. [ In the screening room, he means. He checked. ] I was watching, by the way. The network. To see if anyone turned up, but...

[ Nothing, as she very well knows. ] That's probably our best bet, yeah? I mean, assuming everyone's got free access to it.

[ Which he's hoping is the case. The alternative is that their people are here and don't have access, for some reason, and that isn't a pleasant thought. ]

[hacker]

Fitz ...

[ She softens, giving the impression that she wants to break news of some sort to him, but as she turns towards him, she stumbles on the figurative dismount. Her lips press together, and she rethinks it. ]

... I'm sure they're out there looking for us now. [ And not dead in the bottom of some temple in San Juan thanks to her stupid idea to go down there. Stupid, stupid, stupid. ]

[technologist]

Yeah.

[ The agreement is quick, if not overly enthusiastic. He turns around to give the rest of the lobby a once-over; it's quiet. Still no staff, nobody at the desk. ]

Maybe we should get back to the rooms.

/ wrap

[hacker]

[ It's the silence that does it, makes it obvious that neither of them have complete faith in what they're agreeing on. If they want out of this, they'll have to get themselves out. She reaches out to clap a hand on Fitz's shoulder, nodding her agreement and striking out back up the stairs with him. ]