[GP/EP] Check-In Day: Pastabilities

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

The last check-in day had come and gone as quietly as most other days, but Tony had made it a point to linger around the lobby every two weeks. It was tradition, after all. You could only be cynical about a pink eldritch prison for so long before you felt the need to inject some decorum, however half-assed.

During a quiet trip to a Wisconsin suburb Otherworlds, Tony had snagged an old Harley-Davidson calendar at a garage sale (why not), unique in that the previous owner had filled every single square with national holidays. Today was National Linguine Day. Truly, the most hallowed of all holidays. To celebrate, he made an order to the kitchen to bless the inn with trays of pasta, inclusive to all diets. No gluten or dairy for him, see how long that lasted.

Despite the swift approach of fall, San Luis Obispo boasted sun and 70 degree weather, so Tony arranged a chair and table outside and fiddled with a little mechanical orb the size of a jawbreaker. He prodded at its insides with a screwdriver while his half-eaten pasta dish sat ignored, his glasses magnifying the orb's internal features.

Comments

Loki and Tony (OTA if you like!)

[st_ratagem]

Loki was currently female-shaped for two reasons. The first, which was mostly a a believable lie to tell anyone, was that he’d wanted to wear something without sleeves because heat was annoying. The second was that he’d lost a bet to his fiancée and his forfeit involved wearing pink and sandals. Female shape was an easy way to perform the letter of the forfeit without giving anyone an opportunity to make fun.

And who knew, perhaps it would be entertaining!

Prodding Stark was always entertaining, so Loki dropped into a chair at his table and gestured at the rapidly-approaching-gloppy pasta. “You should probably eat that before it turns into glue.”

Re: Loki and Tony (OTA if you like!)

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

His brown eyes popped up, staring at the unfamiliar female figure over his glasses.

"Wow. Hi. You're a ninja. I'd offer you some, but there's fresher inside."

Re: Loki and Tony (OTA if you like!)

[st_ratagem]

No recognition at all! But why should there be? There was virtually nothing obviously Loki about this shape. No black, no green, wrong style... this was certainly likely to be fun.

This face had an excellent smile, so Loki smiled brilliantly. “How sweet! But I don’t eat glue. I’ll go inside later, perhaps.” To change the subject, he pointed at the little metal thing. “What’s that?”

Re: Loki and Tony (OTA if you like!)

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

A ninja and an eccentric?

"You don't seem like you spook easily," Tony said, his quick hands piecing the little orb back together. He tapped it to roll and sections of it lit up, eight thin legs unfurling from its belly to prop itself up--a mechanical arachnid.

The metal spider meandered about the table, smartly avoiding the food and giving the stranger's knuckles a little investigatory tap with its front feet.

Re: Loki and Tony (OTA if you like!)

[st_ratagem]

Loki promptly picked it up and stroked the top of its 'abdomen', clearly charmed. "Adorable! Spiders aren't necessarily my favorite creature, mind you, but this little toy seems very fun."

Re: Loki and Tony (OTA if you like!)

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony squinted as the robot flailed its thin legs in the air and clung to the woman's long and elegant finger.

"I've got a few more in the shop that might suit your fancy more, Miss...?"

Re: Loki and Tony (OTA if you like!)

[st_ratagem]

Loki turned and tilted his hand to let the spider thing crawl freely. "You don't recognize me, do you? That's devastating, I may cry."

Steve and Tony~

[st_evengrantrogers]

"The day Tony Stark ceases his constant tinkering with technology would be a very sad and confusing day for the rest of us." Steve broke into a warm smile as he slipped into a chair at the opposite side of the table from his friend. He was carrying two mugs; one with strong coffee, the other with green tea.

"I see you're celebrating National Linguine Day," he added. "I didn't realize there was such a thing. Honestly, so many new and interesting holidays have popped up over the last seventy years. How's a fella supposed to keep up?"

He set the drinks down on the table to offer Tony his choice.

Re: Steve and Tony~

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Someone's got to. And I'd been doing so well with carbs." Tony didn't look up--he didn't need to, even before Steve Rogers opened his mouth. His aura alone was unmistakable to Tony at this point.

He did, however, look at the drinks like they were a test, and immediately claimed the coffee anyway. "None of this for you. You'll stunt your growth."

Steve and Tony~

[st_evengrantrogers]

It was by no means a test; Steve was just offering his friend something to drink. He smirked a little when Tony reached for the coffee, and pulled the tea back to himself to lift it for a sip.

...which came out in a little sputter. He grinned, green tea all over his lips now at the laugh. At least he hadn't been in full sip. That would have been a spit-take.

"What are you working on?" Steve asked, lowering the hot tea once more.

Re: Steve and Tony~

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“Now? Making you a bib, mi Capico.” Tony, heedless of boundaries, took up the cloth napkin and patted Steve’s face. That beard wasn’t gonna dry itself.

“You sure you wanna see what I’m packing? It’s kind of spooky.”

Steve and Tony~

[st_evengrantrogers]

"You can't make jokes like that when I'm mid-sip. It's just not fair." Of course, it was just like Tony to come out with the dry humor pretty much at any time of the day or night. Steve really enjoyed that about his friend.

"Thanks," Steve mumbled, muffled against the napkin dabbing his lips and chin. "Appreciate it."

...what I'm packing?? Was that an innuendo? Steve raised an eyebrow. "Kind of spooky, is it?"

Re: Steve and Tony~

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony was already sealing up the orb as Steve spoke, giving it a little flick when he was done. Eight legs emerged from the metal and lifted up its body perkily. It's abdomen lit up with a red sensor and it began to tap the table with its forelegs before circling the perimeter to investigate.

"Wanna name her?" He smirked as it crawled over Steve's hand to follow the length of his arm over his bicep. "She likes you."

[st_mj]

MJ looked around her as she arrived in what looked like to be a lobby of a hotel. She had just landed after Peter had taken her swinging through the street of Queens and Beck had played that god awful video, blaming Peter for everything that he had done when suddenly she wasn't on the streets of Queens but...

In a hotel?

Spinning around in a circle, she reached into her pocket to grab her phone to call someone or try and use Google Maps to figure out where she was when she spotted someone nearby.

"Ok, where am I?" she asked.

[st_guyinthechair]

Ned wasn't who she was talking to. In fact, she had picked one of the hotel staff and they were not super helpful at all. Ned found most of them creepy. They talked, sure, but it was what he imaged it'd be like if you talked to a living mannequin.

It was when he turned the corner, library book about physics in hand, that he spotted her. His jaw fell open and the book fell from his hand.

"...MJ?"

Holy crap.

[st_mj]

The person she was talking to was very... flat. That was the only way to describe it. While she had managed to get a couple of answers out of them it wasn't a particular quick process. She had opened her mouth, to ask another question when a familiar voice had her spinning around instead.

"Ned?" she blinked at him. "What are you doing here? Peter didn't say anything about you leaving."

[st_guyinthechair]

He blinked a few times. "...what?" He wondered what she meant about Peter leaving, but then realized what day it was and that MJ was new and so whatever she was talking about was from back home. He had to wonder when she was from.

"Oh, uh. Okay, so this is going to sound really weird and like, from a movie or whatever, but this isn't New York or even our like, universe. You're at a hotel in some sort of pocket dimension thing..." He trailed off and wasn't sure how to add to that other than to try to smile reassuringly. His eyes widened a bit suddenly. "Oh! But Peter is here! And -" Thankfully his brain caught up with him. Probably throwing things like 'girlfriend' or 'daughter from another reality' or even the mention of Tony Stark would probably be a lot.

"And yeah."

[st_mj]

"Ok. That sounds really weird," she agreed. "Peter is here though? I saw him just moments ago back home. Did he just get pulled here too?" she asked in a rush. She hoped that he was ok especially with not being there to deal with the fall out of the Mysterio thing.

She knew that Ned was going to say something else but she didn't know what and it was obvious that whatever it was that he didn't want her to know what it was. Which just made her even more curious.

"Right," she said with a nod instead.

[st_guyinthechair]

She had just seen him. Ned felt definitely unqualified to be the one to introduce people the the Madonna Inn. Or maybe just unqualified for people from home. Next check in day he was hibernating in his room.

"Yeah. But it might be a little weird?" He was probably downplaying that part by a lot. "So this place... people come from all sorts of timelines and stuff. Peter's been here for like, a year? And I've been here for a couple of months now. The last thing I remember is I was watching Spider-Man go up into a space ship on TV." Spider-Man because as far as Ned knew, MJ had no idea Spider-Man was Peter.

[st_illfive]

"I'd start with a less layered question, but that's me." Five (Owen, he had to remember to try Owen) sipped his margarita on his way out of the bar, watching the new girl. Sixteen or seventeen, if he had to guess, definitely new, but didn't look inclined to either tears or panic.

Good. He'd have felt very briefly bad about walking around a crying girl. "I personally started with 'what the fuck', but that's just because I didn't expect a good answer."

[st_mj]

MJ snorted in amusement at the young boy in front of her. "I considered starting with that but I figured that I should get some actual answers before I freaked out. I mean considered freaking out but there's no point. It wouldn't get me anywhere. They're not very helpful. What questions did you find the best to ask?" she asked curiously.

[st_illfive]

"Actual answers! Dare to dream, kiddo." Owen took another sip of his margarita. "My questions wouldn't help you much, but I can take a stab at answering yours."

He gestured around. "In one sense, you're in central California, at a place called the Madonna Inn. In another sense, you're in a pocket dimension of varying size that looks exactly like the Madonna Inn in central California. Third option is that you've entered an interdimensional hub and roach motel... that looks exactly like the Madonna Inn. Pick whichever of those three you like, more than one, or come up with your own."

[st_mj]

MJ tilted her head and studied him. "So basically I'm at the Madonna Inn. Well it could be a worse place to be," she shrugged. She'd never actually been there nor had she heard of it but based on the lobby it looked ok. She'd see what she thought of it though once she figured out the question. "And the fact that you're here and not at home means...?" she asked curiously.

[st_illfive]

"Mostly that I haven't figured out how to get home, but the actual answer is interdimensional roach motel. This place grabs people and doesn't let go." He shrugged. "I've been stuck in worse places. At least this one's got food and a roof."

He tilted his head, evaluating her, then continued. "People get yanked here from different universes, different times, or both. If you see someone from where you were, they may not have come from when you were, and they may've been here for a while. I hear it's disorienting."

OTA

[st_randedinwinter]

There was... a lot of pasta. Brad stared at all the pasta as he tried to figure out why someone had made so much. There were a lot of people at the Inn, but he didn't think everyone would eat all of that. He placed his earbuds into his ears, turned his playlist to random, and approached for lunch. As he leaned over for some Parmesan cheese, his phone fell out of his hoodie pocket. The earbud chord ripped out of the phone. The phone continued to play Black Sun. He quietly cursed as he went to put his plate down and pick up his phone.