strangetrip | Check-In Day: Around the Inn

Entry tags:

Check-In Day: Around the Inn

Finished with self-imposed paperwork and emergency planning for the week, Regina permitted herself a leisurely ride on this absolutely gorgeous spring day. After a good gallop, Grace was content to walk, cropping at dried scrub and new shoots when Regina gave her rein. Regina steered the mare gently toward the west; she could teleport, of course, but she appreciated the quiet of riding toward the beach. She found, in the wake of Henry's Christmas visit, she more often craved the scent of the salt air and ocean breezes. Of course, the Pacific never quite smelled like the Atlantic, always warmer and less bracing somehow, but it soothed the wildness in her just the same.

Back at the Inn, Kitty busied herself with stocking the pool bar and generally setting up for the warmer seasons. The pool had been skimmed of winter detritus and chlorinated by the staff-spectre she rarely if ever saw, and there were fresh towels set out like a proper resort. Since the choice of music was hers, the air around the bar filled with dance beats, Afro-Caribbean today, and Kitty moved right into it. She didn't usually dance at work, but she felt bright today and maybe Lara would come down and work with her and they could goof around Cocktail style.

Sam passed through the Copper Cafe in search of a cup of coffee and a salad, or one of the two gorgeous women he'd somehow wound up involved with. His brow scrunched like a caterpillar hurrying away from a predator while he semi-consciously outpaced thoughts about babies and brothers, and possibly babies and girlfriends. His mild scowl wasn't helped by the pack of spirits trailing him and chatting at him about the lives of his family members. He'd asked them not to gossip about people he wasn't close with, but as a consequence, they talked rapidly and often about River's most recent oddness or his mother and Hathaway acting like...well, like him and Molly and Bo, and no thanks. Ditto on Dean and Jane. For all that he looked a little bothered, there wasn't anything menacing or aggressive about it. If anything, the slight tilt of his head as he strolled through the Inn looked thoughtful, as though he listened to something somewhat distant.

Lillith had come to a bit of a routine for arrival days, and around noon, she sat for tea with River Song. They spoke little, and it was difficult to tell whether the women even liked each other. But for all that, Lillith was content with the ritual. If Curnen sang, she would go out to the lawn next and listen. In fact, on such a sunny day, she would undoubtedly flop on the lawn with a sketchbook and a practice notebook, letting her mind float between image and spellcraft as it would. Out here, she would quickly veil herself at the approach of anyone new, but she often was distracted enough that they might catch her in her true form with her all unaware.

Around them, the Inn hummed and buzzed with the happy energy of winter giving way to spring. The most patient and subtle would undoubtedly note the undercurrents of tension, fear, frustration, and boredom that built up over time. But for day, at least so far as this four were aware, the worst of it had been suspended, in favor of enjoying warm sun and the company of friends.

[OOC: GP. It's a gorgeous day. Come and play! All four of mine can be available. Ping me if you're inspired to tag. <3 Welcome, Carol, Toby, and Number Five!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Two stalls over, Regina was giving Grace a good curry to help shed out her winter coat. An unusual sound, a flicker of the lights, and a surge of something not not magic, but not really magic either, and then she heard rustling in one of the stalls that had been empty when she came in.

Grace's nostrils flared and her tail swished unhappily. The set of her ears told Regina it wasn't coincidental. She gave the mare's shoulder a pat, unclipped the lead from her headstall and slipped out, shutting the stall door behind her.

She had made it nearly to the other stall when she saw a woman speaking to a cat that she seemed to think was a goose. Her gaze narrowed slightly, but there was only a vaguely maternal mirth in her voice when she asked, "Just how hard did you hit your head when you fell?"

Carol didn't jump when she heard Regina speak, but she did look closer. There was no sign of her disappointment there was not a plane, but horses. She wagered that if her system was not working, her universal translator probably was also defunct, in which case she was working with English speakers. It was a start.

"I--don't even remember it." She did her best to recall the last moments before waking up and replaying the scene again, but all she remembered was fading to black and waking up in hay.

The orange and white tabby-looking figure wrapped itself around her boots before it rose and put its front paws on her shins. Carol lifted downward and picked the "cat" upward, examining it against her memory. There was no way this could be the same one.

"...where exactly is this?"

The soft smirk quickly faded into a look of concern. It wasn't normal for people not to remember arriving. She took a step toward the woman, gaze scanning her for any sign of injury. Her pupils weren't uneven, so that was a start.

Lips pressing first into a frown, she wet her lips before speaking. "A pocket dimension, four hours in any direction." If she took that well, or with understanding, Regina would continue, but for the moment, she just watched the woman and what she supposed must have been the cat that came with her.

Carol does not move and allows Regina to scope her over. After fighting off the equivalent of multiple atomic warheads and working out negotiations between warring alien races, it certainly took the edge off of being checked out.

"...a pocket dimension." She repeats before her eyes went down to the cat. "This pocket dimension, does it, uh." She pauses; was it possible that Fury was here? And even if he was, it wasn't like people may know him. "--does it have a phone, by chance? Or anything to like, page someone, maybe?"

"There are phones in the Inn, but none of them reach beyond the dimension." She frowned again, realizing the answer was misleading. "But you won't need it. Everyone living here lives in the Inn."

Sighing, Regina met the woman's eyes and offered her hand. "Let's start at the beginning. I'm Regina Mills. This property is part of the Madonna Inn. The Inn is the only living area in the dimension. At any one time there are between thirty and ninety of us who arrive the same way you did. I know all of them."

The "cat" meowed, as if to agree with Regina's explanation.

"I see." Carol makes note of that, but given her last trip on Earth and how primitive the technology was, she was going to try that for herself.

"I'm Carol Danvers." Her lips purse slightly when she starts to think further about the situation, "So, if everyone who is in this place is here and at the inn, does that mean there are only a certain amount of people chosen to be here? And uh," she pauses for a second before going for it. "There wouldn't happen to be anyone here by the name of Fury, would there?"

When the younger woman didn't take her hand, Regina smoothly retracted it and tucked it into the pocket of her riding jacket. Her weight shifted as she drew herself a little straighter--perhaps no slight had been intended, but Regina didn't give people a second chance to insult her.

She kept her tone pleasant and her body poised without being tensed and sternly reminded herself that the girl had had a shock and manners weren't first on her mind. It meant nothing and there was no cause for unkindness toward her.

"I'm sorry, Carol, there isn't." Just to be sure, though, she made a quick mental inventory of all of the aliased superheroes she was aware of at the Inn. None of them had revealed a codename 'Fury.' "And none of us know how or why we're here. Only that we can't leave."

A pause, a breath, her lips parted then pressed as she rethought what she'd been about to say. "It's a bit of a walk to the Inn. If you're not feeling ill, why don't we head that way and I'll explain what I can." She glanced at the tabby then back up at Carol. "If the cat's yours, it can come along."

Carol had missed it in her daze; but her observation skills were still inherent even if she wasn't.

"Mm, can't say I'm surprised to hear that." But it certainly puts a wrench in things. If Fury had paged her and she was suddenly here, she could only hope that would cause no delay in the normal dimension upon her eventual return. Carol was an optimist, even in spite of the growing evidence that return was still a very large question mark, all things considered.

"I would appreciate that." She offers a warm smile. "Uh, its name is Goose." She pauses, "At least, I'm pretty sure that's who this is."

A small chirpy mew comes from the "cat," as it paws at Carol's face gently before looking back at Regina and cocking its head to the side.

The cat acted more intelligent than most, which made her glad that Aesop had been trained to behave by an Alpha wolf who was also a human. It meant when he came barreling in from outside, still puppyish and playful for all he was a full-grown Icelandic sheepdog now, Aesop immediately came to her side and stood attentively waiting for her command. "Heel," she told him quietly, almost without interrupting the conversation.

"You say 'it'. Is it not a cat?" Regina didn't extend her hand to pet the animal. She'd prefer to know what it was first, but she did meet its gaze briefly, as she'd learned to do long ago with other animals. Dragons, for example.

"Let me just tidy up here quickly so my daughter--that's Snow, when you meet her--doesn't have extra work tonight and we can go."

"He's well-behaved." She points out, admiring the obedience in the dog. "You did a good job training him."

To this, she recounts her memories of her time in the US Air Force and in Starforce. Obedience was a necessary trait. In Carol, though, it was often supplemented with suspicion towards leadership figures.

"Goose is--" she pauses to think. It was possible this woman already thought Carol had issues; heaven knows Fury thought that of her, even though she was telling the truth. "A special sort of cat." Appropriateness was an acquired skill.

"No problem. I understand. Need a hand?"

"It helps to have an in with his Alpha," came Regina reply over her shoulder and with a touch of amusement in it. Aesop, of course, had executed almost a perfect turn on his haunches so he could watch her but didn't otherwise move until she snapped her fingers, then he trotted immediately to her heels.

"There's not much left to do, but I can work and talk if you follow me," she said as she reached into a bucket of warm water for a small sponge, which she squeezed out before applying to the saddle soap.

Glancing over at the blonde, she asked, "When you say special, do you mean 'special needs' special, or special like 'sentient demi-fey' or 'familiar' or 'species that looks like a cat but is actually an alien'--" Like Rocket.

In the background, Goose had spotted a rodent. Her body flattened, her shoulders and body wiggling and raring up to pounce.

"That last one; she's a Flerken. They basically look like cats, but--"

And almost as if on cue, Goose's mouth opened to allow a collection of tentacles to dart out and collect the rodent, and swallowing it whole. It was not unlike a snake.

"...I'd forgotten about that part."

The direction of Carol's gaze alerted Regina in time to see the "Flerken" grab the rat with its tentacles. She blinked and shook her head.

"There's something you don't see every day...unless you're a Flerken or live with Flerkens." Even that concession was big for Regina. Despite knowing she was a storybook character and that all stories originated in her world, and having lived in multiple worlds herself, she still defaulted to ethnocentrism in her mind. It was a work in progress.

So was apprising Carol of what she'd gotten herself into. "That won't be strange at the Inn. People here come from vastly different universes. Even people who look human may not be or may have abilities that are impossible in your universe. Then there are the ones that are from a universe close to yours who may know people in common with you, but they'll turn out not to be identical. Or, they may be from your own universe but a different timeline."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Check-In Day: Around the Inn

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads

Re: Carol - Assigned Threads