strangetrip | [GP] Check-In Day

The formerly California air had grown crisp with winter moving in, but the sun still shone bright and the sky was clear. At the barn and in the pastures, the horses blew out their breath in playful snorts, shied and sidled playfully, prancing with their tails flagged. Grace, Regina's mare, gave a spirited whinny at her stablemates as Regina sprang up onto her bare back from the mounting block but waited patiently for her mistress, since there would be at least one long gallop in the offing. It didn't matter to Grace that Regina had an agenda for the ride beyond the gallops, as long as she got to run.

Inside the Inn, Kitty tended bar like any ordinary day, and Caroline's baskets had been freshened and set out for any new arrivals. Each one had a magic journal for "texting" and Sam had a stack of fresh ones set out on the same table in case anyone had used theirs up. The Inn had begun decorating itself the day after Thanksgiving, helped, of course, by Caroline, and Thor had brought in a lovely fresh tree that had begun to acquire a patchwork coating of ornaments, traditional popcorn strings, and hideous gleanings from around the Inn.

In short, it was an ordinary Check-In day with a little nip in the air, an extra sprinkling of glitter, and and an abundance of apple-based drinks and a few pies, compliments of Regina's harvest and her stress-baking. What there weren't were any of Emma's fresh pastries or any of her finer dishes, as she seemed to have taken the day off. Which meant that unless Sunny or Mary or one of the others stepped up, everyone was eating dishes with chicken or what they could make for themselves.

[ooc: Feel free to use for any threading purposes anywhere around the Inn. If you want Regina, Kitty, Sam or Lillith, poke me on Slack. Welcome Hook! Don't forget to tag your character's name if you tag the post.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It must be more than just time that works funny. I saw Regina not long before coming here too, but here you both are. I didn't think it was possible to be actually in two places at once." Although he is no expert on magic, despite his time as a Dark One, so he could be wrong on that, but he's pretty sure it's limited to things like illusions.

"I dunno, I'm starting to think anything is possible." Emma gave a gentle shrug of her shoulders. "But we're here together, and that's what matters. Has someone explained this place to you? Do you have your room key?"

"Even not being dead anymore." After that, he'll have a hard time imagining that anything is outside the realm of possibility. "I've heard about this place already, from Regina and someone named Valkyrie. I have a key for a room, although it's not so much a room as a cave."

"Which is a nice change." Emma's hand slips into his, threading their fingers together. "Well, a cave might be better than what I've got." She shudders to remember the state of her room--the room she's been avoiding as much as possible.

"You wanna show me?"

"Especially for me." Though he doesn't regret the events that caused him to end up in the Underworld. He's just glad beyond words that Emma went down to get him back, and that it worked out in the end.

"I doubt it's better than what you've got." She'll know what he means when she sees it. "It's down that hall."

"Oh, you have no idea." Emma gave a little chuckle. Her room was full of longhorn... horns... and wagon wheels. She was thinking about ripping them out and leaving them outside of her room... but she figured they'd just put them back in.

"Let's go." She gave his hand a squeeze, then followed him down the hall.

"It sounds as though all the rooms here are bad." Or just theirs, perhaps, but he doesn't know why that would be true. It makes more sense for the whole place to get the same sort of reaction from everyone.

"Here." He unlocks the door and stands aside so she can enter the room that looks like a cave on Neverland.

"I don't know if they're all bad, but... well, it sounds like yours and mine definitely are." Emma followed him to the door, then waited while he unlocked it and opened it...

And she was looking into a cave. A cave much like the one she saw on Neverland. It took her a moment to realize why he might hate this room so much. Then she put two and two together.

"Oh." She stepped through into the room. It really was a cave. "Well. We can stay in my room instead."

"What does yours look like?" Even though she had described it, he suspects that it's not the same as seeing it in person.

Although maybe with her there too, this one wouldn't be so bad. Maybe.

"Well, there's um..." Emma made a vague gesture with her hand in the air. "And then there's the..." She circled it around a bit at waist height. After a quick pause, she added, "and then there's the..." Another gesture.

She gave a little sigh and her hands fell to her sides. "It's not a cave, so I guess that's a plus?"

"Not a cave. That's a start." He's not saying he'll never set foot in here again, because it is his space, but he's certainly not going to enjoy it at all. "I still don't know what it is, but it's not a cave. Shall we see yours next?"

So he can finally figure out what's wrong with it.

"Mine next." This is one of those situations where everything is strange, so one might as well just go with it. Hook in a cave, Emma in a rodeo, and the whole world upside down.

At least they can drink and keep each other company. Sanity can be so hard to come by in times like these.

Emma takes hold of his elbow to lead him to her room. She can provide him that comfort, anyway.

[GP] Check-In Day

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