[GP/EP] THE FLOOR IS LAVA

[st_ratagem]

It was arrival day, and therefore it was possible that there would be new inmates arriving at any time. Someone else might have delayed this until some other day, but for Loki the prospect of new people was simply a bonus. New arrivals tended to be confused and upset already, any consideration from him was unlikely to change that, so he didn't plan on displaying any. He'd already raided empty rooms and moved much of their furniture into the hallways, that was enough general consideration for one day.

Instead, he took a seat on the front desk (ignoring Darryl, who also ignored him) and wove a spell that would let him be heard by everyone in the Inn. "Good morning, fellow residents. It's been a quiet few weeks, hasn't it?" All the weeks, barring undead invasion, tended to be quiet here. It wasn't exactly maddening, but Loki had spent two months being quiet and exceptionally well-behaved, for him.

"To break the monotony, I give to all of you a rousing game of The Floor Is Lava. For those of you who may not know it, it's a descriptive name. When I call time, the floor will become lava. If you touch it, you will die. Metaphorically, at least, so take this seriously." Those who sincerely wished not to play would have no difficulty; the lava was an illusion, and any 'reality' to it depended on belief or buy-in. For those who sincerely didn't want to play, the floor would simply look odd. This was fun mischief, not viciousness. "Also, because I know some people need encouragement in order to engage with fun, the spell creating the lava has been broken and invested into several individual runes and hidden around the Inn, discoverable only by those playing the game. The lava ends when all of those runes are disrupted - you win - or when no one is left alive to disrupt them and I win." That was only sensible. There was no reason to continue playing a game when no one else was playing it.

"Furniture only, staircase railings are fine. No books, no bags, no cloth, the dead can't speak but if they wish to continue playing they may come back as a lava monster under my dominion." Even in games, there were fates worse than death. "Lava monsters may do as they please, including trying to pull the 'living' into the lava. Should there be a clear non-me winner somehow, I'll owe that person a favor of their choice, at some point in the future."

Did that cover everything? It seemed like it, but he could always make another announcement if he had to. "The floor becomes lava in ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two...." He spaced out the countdown enough to make sure that everyone who wanted to scramble for furniture high ground was easily able to do so.

"...One." Loki released the spell and the floors everywhere in the Inn (for those who believed it or at least bought in to the game) turned to churning hot lava.

Comments

OTA

[st_ayedhidden]

This was one of Annie's favorite games to play in school and this time she knew she could be good at it because she could use her powers. When Loki became to count, Annie scrambled up the closest wall. Giggle, she turned around so her butt was against the wall and she could face out. When the floor seemingly turned to lava, her eyes went wide.

This is so cool.

For Loki

[st_raighttovampire]

Loki was talking but Caroline had tuned him out after "a rousing game" which she wasn't interested in. His speechifying went on for a bit, an annoying drone in her focus on scheduling the rest of the year. She ran out of coffee, which did break her focus, and she stood up, mug in hand to head for the cafe to get more. As she passed the front desk, Loki's voice resolved into words again, "four, three, two..."

Caroline rolled her eyes at him as he said, "one."

Then the floor was lava. Heat poured from the molten rock, and a primal fear of fire - one of the few things left that could permanently kill her - kicked in.

With a hiss and a leap, Caroline dropped her mug and found herself clinging to the elaborately carved beams overhead. The mug sank into the lava.

Re: For Loki

[st_ratagem]

Loki applauded. “Well done! I might have brought a rolling chair from the office, but to each their own.”

Re: For Loki

[st_raighttovampire]

Shit. That had not been a very human reaction. Caroline dropped from the beam onto the front desk next to Loki. Darryl, she noticed, was standing in the lava like nothing was wrong, but then again, Darryl wasn't really a person. "You!"

She scowled and took a deep breath. Deliberately, she caught his gaze, "Do not tell anyone about that. You didn't see anything strange." Her irises flared and narrowed to pinpricks, compulsion carried with the sound of her voice. "Also, you owe me a cup of coffee."

Would that work? She had no idea. But it was better than not doing anything at all.

OTA

[st_hotflashes]

She shouldn't participate. She was too old to participate, right? This was too silly to participate. Except when Loki started to count down, Liz felt panic - it was the silly sort of panic that happened when you were about to participate in some sort of challenge. The moment he reached 'one', Liz somehow scrambled up onto the couch in the lobby.

"Hopefully I don't need to go to the bathroom."

OTA

[st_unaligned]

Bo had actually played the floor was lava wherein the ground was actual lava. This was better than that. The main reason why Bo was even participating was the fact there seemed to be an actual prize - Loki owning you one sounded like a great idea.

She could see where Loki was sitting as she remained on the banister, straddling it like she was a kid who had slid down it.

Oh, she was so going to win.

Re: OTA

[st_ratagem]

Loki waved cheerily at Bo on her banister perch. Of course she'd be one who decided to play, he wasn't surprised at all. What would surprise him was if she'd opted to play just for fun, rather than to help by ending the spell or to win a favor.

Re: OTA

[st_unaligned]

She grinned over the 'lava' at him. "You're so going to owe me something, buddy. Just you wait." Playfulness hinted in her eyes.

For Loki - Dante

[st_recuerdame]

Dante didn't understand what the human voice was saying, but when people started jumping up on furniture in the lobby for no reason that he could see, he decided to do some investigating. While most people saw a Xolo dog hop up on a table in the cafe that conveniently had forgotten food on it, he actually used his little wings to fly up to the table.

He noticed a familiar face through the glass window of the cafe and barked a pleased greeting at Loki. That's why the human voice had sounded familiar, it was.

Re: For Loki - Dante

[st_ratagem]

Aah, the nightmare piñata dog. Loki waved slightly at the creature; why not, Dante had been sensible once he’d stopped trying to nose-fondle Loki’s kitten self. Just in case the dog wanted to come and talk, he sketched Ansuz next to hm on the surface of the desk, then willed power into it, as he had before.

Re: For Loki - Dante

[st_recuerdame]

Dante felt the magical spell work as it had before. The sensation was familiar. It allowed him to communicate with the frost giant that didn't seem to be a giant.

His little wings fluttered and Dante jerkily flew between the table and where he was. He let the humans that might see him fly, assume Loki was making the Xolo dog appear to fly like whatever happened to the floor. Humans were funny like that.

Hello. He said in greeting when he arrived.

OTA

[st_ackeddeck]

Emma liked Loki well enough, given the relatively short amount of time they'd spent together for her to get to know him. But he'd also admitted to being a big liar, and doing things just to see how humans would react... which fit with the trickster god image. So when he decided to 'invite' everyone to join him in a game of The Floor is Lava, her first reaction was to play along, at least until she had a better idea just how real the game was. If nothing else, it could be a good training challenge, right?

By the time his countdown reached one, she had jumped up to sit on an empty stretch of kitchen counter. She also strengthened her mental shields, because who knew how his magic and illusions worked? Lillith's illusions could look and feel very real, even when you knew they were illusions, as long as you went along with it. And Dani could've made the floor seem completely like lava; it wouldn't physically burn, but that didn't mean you wouldn't feel like you were being burned by molten rock if you 'fell' into her projection, with the pain and fear maybe being enough to kill you. Loki's lava was very convincing. She wasn't sure she wanted to find out by how much.

She couldn't stay on the counter all day, though, and the kitchen, and most places in the inn weren't spacious enough for a pegasus to fly around. But there were other cards that involved flight in some way. Maybe one of those could carry her. She pulled today's deck out of the pocket of her apron, and flipped through the cards one at a time until she found... Temperance. She smiled, thinking of Sabine as usual when drawing that card. It was an interesting card to consider, when playing a possibly deadly 'game', with rock turned liquid and flowing, not wanting to stand on land or water.

The color faded from her eyes as she called up the projection to carry her, and then tipped forward under the weight of clockwork wings attached to her own back, barely catching herself before she fell off the counter. She glanced down, seeing vest and corset and knickers instead of the tunic, leggings, and apron she knew she was wearing. In her peripheral vision, she could see red feathers of the wings, and with a thought, they stretched out, then folded down against her back.

Oh. Wow. That was...

She had to try them out. And hope, if she went splat, Loki's game was just a game after all. She stood on the counter, spread the wings and beat them experimentally. She could feel herself wanting to rise as they caught and shifted the air, the testing motions not quite strong and fast enough to provide lift, but enough she felt like she could trust it. And then, she went for it, her feet coming off the counter as she flew on her own for the first time.

No way was she going to stay in the kitchen once she was flying. It wasn't exactly like controlling her pegasus, or even this Temperance when the projection was separate from herself. Her altitude was kind of wobbly, too close to the ceiling as she entered the lobby, almost dipping her feet into the lava when she tried to correct. And then there were the doorways. She hovered at a threshold, wings beating steadily, as she tried to figure out the best way to get through when her wingspan was far too wide.

Re: OTA

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

All things told, Tony had chosen a really good time to play bum-on-the couch. When he went out for a run or returned from a camping trip, all his energy seemed to vanish the moment he entered the lobby doors and the convenient sofa there became his best friend. This particular morning, he opted to brave the chill and be productive with a brisk jog only for the cold to sap every ounce of energy. The moment he returned to the warm shelter and the caffeine crash did its thing, he was out like a like a light.

Upon awakening to the announcement, Tony opted to cover himself with his temperature-controlled armor, roll over, and wait it out like the bundle of fun he was.

Then, a breeze and the sound of wing beats came, and he just couldn't help his curiosity--a little peek. Greeted with the sight of a young woman with steampunk wings awkwardly trying to maneuver in the cramped, pink space, he relented with a yawn. "I can bring my feet in if you, uh, need a place to...roost."

Re: OTA

[st_ackeddeck]

Emma turned at the voice, solid white eyes taking in the person who'd spoken. Tony Stark, who'd only been a name, an occasional face in the news where she was from.

"That makes me sound like a chicken." The wings continued to beat steadily, holding her in position. At least she was getting the hang of hovering? Which was weird, since she felt like that should be the harder part. Unless she'd been using The World, those were usually hovery images.

"Thanks anyway. But I need to get used to these things all over again, now they aren't separate."

ota, would love steve to 'save' him :D and of course Loki mocking, but everyone is awesome

[st_ranger]

Bucky blinked, looking up when he heard Loki's voice. He was alone, in his bedroom on his bed, doing some diagnostic checks to his arm. And, maybe polishing it. Not that he cared about that type of thing, never. His eyes rolled as he listened to Loki. He really was sure that the man loved the sound of his own voice.

While he'd never heard of the game, he couldn't say that he wasn't curious about it. He was tempted to go down with the arm still off, just because Loki had asked never to see that. Instead, Bucky put the arm back on and headed down stairs. His eyes widened when he got to the base of the staircase, staring at the floor of the lobby. Indeed, the floor was gone and there was a river of lava in its wake.

"Loki," he frowned. "What the hell did you do?" He glanced up at the front desk, narrowing his eyes at his friend acquaintance. "Really?" He didn't have any concrete plans to go anywhere, but still he had been curious. Now? Now he was trapped on the staircase.

"How the hell am I supposed to go anywhere?" His eyes narrowed and he remembered that time Steve had saved him from Red Skull, with flames all around him. Bucky shivered, trying not to dwell on it for too long. "What will the lava do to this," he muttered, holding up his metal arm. Did it give him an advantage or would it melt? He didn't know.

Re: ota, would love steve to 'save' him :D and of course Loki mocking, but everyone is awesome

[st_ratagem]

Loki had to laugh at Bucky. Stranded on a staircase! “Were you not listening?” He pointed down at the lava. “The floor is lava! Use furniture to travel.”

Loki/Bucky/Steve

[st_evengrantrogers]

Steve didn't like the sound of the voice that was somehow--magically?--amplified through the hotel. He'd been sitting in the bar when the whole floor turned to lava. Thankfully, he'd been up on a barstool, and hadn't freaked out as much as he probably should have that now the floor was liquid rock.

Steve climbed up onto the bar and grabbed two stools. He'd have to get to the bottom of this--all while playing Loki's game. Of course, he didn't really want to play... but having grown up an only child, he'd always imagined what it would be like to play these kinds of games with a brother or sister. Now he had a chance to try it out.

Steve would set one stool down in front of him, climb onto it, then move the stool from behind to in front of him and repeat the process. It was tedious, but he had a big reach. He was fairly athletic, so it wasn't hard for him to make good time.

"Loki!" He called out once he reached the lobby. He saw the man behind the desk, and saw his silver-armed friend stuck on the stairs. "What have you done??"

OTA

[st_arkintern]

Peter Parker is webcrawling on the ceiling when he catches sight of a familiar figure perched on a piece of furniture, distantly separated from the next in front of them.

"Need a hand?" he calls down.

Ty | Peter

[st_eepedindarkness]

Tyrone wasn't sure why he was playing a childish game. He blamed it on the fact that people around him had suddenly took interest in the game and he felt like the odd one out if he didn't participate. He would have to admit the challenge was pretty cool, though.

"Uh, I guess." He said, looking up. "Are you... crawling on the ceiling?"

Re: Ty | Peter

[st_arkintern]

"Oh, um. Yeah!" Peter looks down to find a set of unfamiliar eyes staring up. He's seen Ty around -- the two of them just hadn't really had a chance to talk.

"I'm Peter Parker," he says. And then he continues with an introduction he never would have given anyone outside of the inn:

"I'm Spider-Man."

Re: OTA

[st_makemeastone]

“I believe I will be fine,” but she smiled her thanks at her friend. Just a flash of a smile before she leapt (form was a little off, not quite a perfect grand mete) from the ottoman she’d selected as a perch when the countdown had begun to a chair.

Then she surveyed her options before looking up to where Peter cling to the wall.

“That looks very useful.”

OTA

[st_illkindalost]

Hurley sits, legs legs folded in a V lengthwise along the couch, watching as more-athletic others move through the foyer.

"Watch out for that chair," he calls out. "It kinda does this bobbing thing when you land." Hurley holds out a hand and teeters it from side to side, as if to demonstrate.

Re: OTA

[st_artliving]

"It is nice of you to warn people!" Xavin wasn't bothering with furniture, not when she could lean on the Invisible Woman's ability to create forcefields and carry herself around a couple of feet off the floor. Currently, she was sitting cross-legged on her invisible disc, and let it hover right near Hurley. "Is the chair broken, do you think?"

OTA

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor has already disrupted two runes.

He's absolutely determined to disrupt more, half to prove to his brother that he was capable of besting him, half to get a favor from his brother.

He's managed to find one of Freya's runes second, and Thor knew instantly that there was likely some significance to it; Loki had always been a mama's boy and Loki had no real attachment to Tyr.

"There's one over there," he says to the other figure close to it, gesturing to to the wall where a rune is inscribed in a difficult-to-reach spot. He could just as easily use Stormbreaker to carry him over there, but this was a group game, and he'd rather aid others when he could than selfishly disrupt all the runes himself.

Because that's what heroes do.

Thor | Annie

[st_ayedhidden]

She looked up to the area that Thor gestured to and giggled.

"I got it!" She said.

She gauged the distance to the wall and leaped. Annie was worried for a minute she wouldn't make the distance, but she felt purchase and stuck to the wall. She beamed proudly as she crawled up to the rune and scratched off a bit of it to disrupt it.