[EP/GP] Check-In: I Assure You We Are Open

[st_abby]

The damp, cool, chilly morning clouded with fog seemed to fit the mood about the Madonna Inn. Nobody had been quite right since the undead invasion. Definitely not Vax'ildan. But for him, it was less about their sense of day-to-day calm and safety shattered, less about undead specifically. It was a lot more to do with losing Scanlan and Pike, and the new memorials installed in the Temple.

He wondered about it, not for the first time, even as he readied for the fresh arrivals that might be coming today - or not, because they didn't always. What decided who came and went? Was there any sense in how many and when or why? Not so far as he could tell, but he'd never been the brains.

Gathering up the great heap of cloth and rope in his arms, the lean figure summoned the wings of his armor, the black of his silhouette merging with the other dark and shifting shapes skulking about in the first light of dawn. With a crouch and a lunge from the roof, he spread his wings wide and circled through the air right up to the face of the main building, unfurling the massive banner he'd sewn of spare bedsheets and painted with dark dye to tie it up taut:

WELCOME NEWCOMERS
YES, THIS MEANS YOU
NO REALLY WE'RE SURE

Life kept going on around you, no matter how confused or scared or fucked-up you were. And the best thing, the kindest thing, the sanest thing he could think to do in all this was to start up the coffee machine, stack some decorated pumpkin-shaped cookies on a platter in the lobby, and prop open the doors for whoever would join them in being confused and scared and fucked-up today.

Comments

Re: Tyrone & Sunny

[st_igmatized]

Sunny gave a gesture that was somewhere between a shrug and a nod. "It is what it is. The odd advantage of being here is that I don't have to hide from anybody. Actually you find out fairly quickly that it's not easy to hide things here. We give each other all the space we can, but in a small living space with little to do that you don't find for yourself... you wind up watching people. And they watch back." Which wasn't exactly new for any person of color who'd lived in America, only it had a completely different feeling to it.

Re: Tyrone & Sunny

[st_eepedindarkness]

"I'll have to figure out if that's comforting or not," He replied with a sly grin. "But it might be nice not to have to hide for a while... until there's a way home at least."

Re: Tyrone & Sunny

[st_igmatized]

"Truth," Sunny agreed. Even if the idea of going home only got more complicated all the time. Not that she wouldn't leap at the opportunity, but now that she'd made connections and friends here the break would not be as clean. Now it would hurt and bleed. "And hey, maybe you'll be the one to figure it out, we still don't know."

Re: Tyrone & Sunny

[st_eepedindarkness]

"Yeah, maybe." He said.

Tyrone wasn't sure he was capable of something that seemed so hard, but he would definitely try. He thought maybe he could do it if Tandy was around. They seemed to be stronger when they were together.

"I should get going." He said. "I didn't actually take the time to settle into the room. I was kind of hoping this would be temporary, but I know it's not now."

Re: Tyrone & Sunny

[st_igmatized]

Sunny nodded. "I recommend finding a project as soon as you're able. Rooms like ours are meant to be avoided for as much of the day as possible."

Re: Tyrone & Sunny

[st_eepedindarkness]

"A project," He repeated with a nod.

Tyrone wasn't sure what sort of project he could take on. He supposed he could try to recreate the hood his brother had been putting beads on for Mardis Gras. If he could find the materials, Tyrone thought he probably would.

"I guess I'll see you around," He said with a short smile.

He nodded one last time to Sunny and then he walked toward the exit of the library.