master of the house, quick to catch your eye (OPEN)

[checkingin]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The initial arrival rooms, the main lobby, all over the place.
When: April 5rd
What: Welcome, newbies + happy Easter eggs.

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 an empty, ashy fireplace, to your right is a lobby desk. straight ahead are three large sets of doors, all three of them thrown wide open and welcoming. and outside the few (curtained, permanently dark) windows is the continually steady hiss of rain. once you leave the hallway you wake up in, you won't be able to return.

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. there is, however, a pad of paper and a pen neatly aligned with the desk edge. you know. for notes.

terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

SCREENING ROOM.

on a long pull-down screen, a silent version of the cabinet of dr. caligari 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 music.

along the curtained windows is another long table, with a large bowl of caramel corn and a large hot drink dispenser full of hot water, with a few cups and some old looking packages of hot chocolate mix.

BALLROOM.

the third set of grand doors have been thrown wide to reveal a brightly lit, festively decorated ball room. all across the polished wood floor, all over the tables and chairs around the edge of the room, under the curtains, in the corners, hiding in the shadows, and behind the doors, characters will find:

easter eggs.

plastic easter eggs filled with jellybeans and chocolates, real eggs dip dyed and rolled in glitter; foil wrapped chocolate eggs, sugar eggs with little diaramas in the middle. there will be novelty plastic easter bunny rings sprinkles about, and general little plastic childrens toys. there will be plastic and paper easter basket grass sprinkled all over, and upbeat ambiance music intended to excite.

by the front door will be basket for people to use in their quest to collect the hundreds of eggs scattered all over the room. a sign on the floor invites them to "take one" in curvy handwritted script.

but there's no sign to warn that — some of these eggs?

are going to explode in your face.

( event details. )

OTHER.

the ballroom is currently open, and the grand doors locked.

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

the doors to the courtyard and breakfast hall are unlocked, food is currently being served. a lot of it is candy.

ROOMS.

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

EGGSISTING GUESTS.

happy easter, kids.

Comments

[facemyenemies]

Of course. Stay as long as you need. It's... [she glanced around, frowning.]

Is this really where we're meant to stay? Like some damned hotel? You can check in but you can never check out?

[ingrantitude]

Bad joke about roach motels.

[He shrugs his shoulders before staring at her pillow and moving to lay down.]

No TV though and it's sometimes haunted.

[facemyenemies]

I used to know the lyrics to Hotel California. [she said with a small shrug in return...]

[Only yo pause, watching him lay down.]

Haunted?

[ingrantitude]

[Ward stares at the ceiling.]

HYDRA never used to try and put together game scenarios on a massive scale. At least to the best of my knowledge.

...Sometimes I have to wonder if that's what this place is. A massive game of battleship. There were ghosts here.

[facemyenemies]

If it's a game, all the more reason to find the door or path out. That's generally the goal of these kind of things, isn't it? Haunted or not.

[She doesn't believe in 'ghosts' as most 'ghosts' are real somewhere or another]

[ingrantitude]

[Ward is staring at the ceiling as he speaks.] They came out of nowhere. I wasn't the only one affected either - ghosts of your past. I saw ...friends and family. People who had died. People who SHIELD took from me and people that HYDRA took too.

[There's a deep sigh] I didn't think it was possible to be that...emotional over what everybody thought was some kind of poisoning.

[facemyenemies]

[this is... sounding more and more concerning. She moved to turn, seated on the edge of the bed, but facing him now, watching him stare. Like he'd seen... well he had.]

[Her head tilted, keeping an eye on him, curious. How did they know so much about Ward to bring him emotions through figures of his past? You're so well adjusted she had said, and still felt it was so.]

How often do they show up for you? [Would she see Whitehall here somewhere? Mocking her failure to keep him alive? She needed to keep Ward alive and well.]

[ingrantitude]

They've stopped coming.

I saw all of them. Constant reminders of the people who I kept safe and cared about. People I killed.

It was bad.

[He frowns] damn it.

[facemyenemies]

[she frowned more at that, reaching out a hand to rest on his arm.]

I got your back now. What ever tricks this place wants to play on you, I'll be here to try and help stop it.

[He's not alone. SHE's not a lone now either. It would be alright.] When's the last time you got real sleep, Ward?

[ingrantitude]

...I think I was 13?

[He smirks, then looks distant again.]

Or did you mean here?

[facemyenemies]

[that brought a small halfhearted smile to her face]

I meant here. But I can see thirteen as well. You need some rest. I'll stick around for a while and guard your back if you try to get some sleep. I can explore for a door later.

[ingrantitude]

[He's about to say no. He should say no, but...]


All right.

[he settles back on the bed, head on the pillow. If she leaves he'll be gone when she gets back.]

[facemyenemies]

[that's the thing. She wont leave. She said she'd have his back, and exploring, though important, can wait for a moment.]

[So she moves from the bed to her suit case, drags it over to the other side of the room, props up against a wall and sits there, pawing through the case at the curious things. She's antsy but knows patience. She can wait.]

[this one book in here is interesting enough anyhow. When he does wake she'll go wandering.]