[GP/EP] We are programmed to receive

[st_alksthroughwalls]

Fifteen days into this particular strange trip, Kitty had redistributed alcohol supplies between the cafe, restaurant, and night club to make it possible to easily tend bar wherever people decided to gather. Today, as most days, she settled into the lobby cafe after chivvying the cook into chicken tenders and french fries (after convincing him it was a single plate meal). It was the closest she could get to "bar food" from him and someone would probably arrive sooner rather than later to make something else.

A few people trickled in after awhile, but none of them demanding. Like her, they drank coffee from the samovar she'd put out. And also like her, most of them had something else to keep them occupied. At the moment, Kitty had a notebook open (from the gift shop; she kept her school notebooks separate in case she made it home during the term) and was sketching plans to upgrade the hotel's computer technology. She needed more raw computing power to work out the energy requirements to do what Illyana did with a thought.

She lifted her head periodically to check for new customers, and had just seated herself at the end of the bar after refilling the samovar when the first new new customer arrived. Immediately, she flipped to a fresh page in the notebook and headed it "Day 15" and made a hash mark for one new arrival. Then she looked up from her notebook and offered one and all her best bartending smile.

Comments

[st_rawberryblonde]

"I did get my room and I even spent a little bit of time getting freshened up there after wandering outside for awhile." She wrinkled her nose just a bit. "It's very, very pink."

Then she nodded, glancing around. "It is a bit creepy, isn't it? That and it adds to my theory that they must have reasons for why we're here. Specific reasons as to why all of us were picked."

[st_abby]

"This place bleeds pink," he agreed, making it sound at once terrible and terribly, madly, almost amusingly absurd. Which it certainly was.

He made a gesture to one of the little tables by the nearest window with two chairs, inviting her to sit if she would. Vax'ildan seated himself with the lazy grace of a cat, not even fussing with his long cloak as he went about it. He himself was in the habit of standing, but he also knew it probably wasn't going to make her feel any better about things to act as if they may have to fight or flee at any moment. Maybe it was true, for all they could tell, but being overly alert was a good way to exhaust yourself in a hurry.

"And it's a lot creepy, but everyone wants to believe there's an order to things. If so, if there is some master plan to all of this, no one here will admit to knowing the shape of it."

[st_rawberryblonde]

"I'm hoping I can sway whoever is in charge to let me redecorate if I'm meant to be here for awhile." Because she wasn't sure how long she could stay in her overly pink room. It was everything from the floor to the bed and even the curtains. Even the bathroom had been pink and not a lovely, pale kind.

She paused as he gestured to the table that he wanted to move to and she nodded before following after him. She found herself envying his gracefulness as he walked but she was no slouch in that department as she moved to claim the chair across from him. Settling into the chair, she crossed her legs while setting her drink on the table.

"Of course not." She pursed her lips slightly as she gave the rest of the room a sideways glance. "Whoever is in charge wouldn't reveal themselves right away. No, I think they will bide their time and watch everyone from a safe place where none of the new arrivals can attack them."

[st_abby]

Privately, Vax wondered if who or whatever was responsible for all of this could be so mundane as to need to hide for their safety. Something of this scope... It would either take a whole team of highly skilled individuals, or a single entity of power beyond what any of them could match. Something god-like.

If it was her will, the Raven Queen would speak with him to give him some direction. But you didn't expect any god to simply appear and provide you with easy answers whenever you had a question about the nature of the world. Not even when it was a different world.

Why should whatever had put them here be more forthcoming than she was?

"If this is a trap, I think you're right about them intending to sit and watch and bide their time," he offered after stewing in the silence for a moment. "Or else they can't communicate with us plainly. Regardless, your guess is as good as anyone else's. And they're all getting us nowhere right now."

[st_rawberryblonde]

Lydia didn't think much about gods and probably never had. If she had one that she was supposed to be following, she didn't know a thing about it or who it would be. Probably someone that she didn't want to acknowledge considering her powers. Other than that, it seemed most things had a tendency to give her some space. That or they were drawn to her and she didn't like that either.

But it seemed that whoever had the power to throw someone around to different universes seemed to like her since this was her second trip.

"Probably because no one knows where to start or what to look for." She had never found anything in Gotham and, after all, it had started not to matter to her anymore. Drawing in a slight breath, she looked around. "How big is this place, do you think? I tried to walk down the road but I couldn't get out. I haven't tried any of the other directions, though."

[st_abby]

"You can go a few hours in any direction," he supplied, having tried escape at length by this time. By wing and by foot, both. "But there's not a lot out there. And you always end up turning back, somehow - not by natural means, either."

[st_rawberryblonde]

"Which is highly annoying but not surprising given the nature of this place." Lydia hummed, pressing her lips together in a look of faint disapproval before she glanced at him again. "But it's smaller, so maybe it's easier to figure out the reason or the source."

[st_abby]

Calm. Direct. Possibly she was in shock, but she didn't have that sort of numb quality most people got when they couldn't handle something. Whatever she was feeling, her mind was still on the ball.

"Have you been through something like this before? I think of myself as someone having seen things, done things..." No, he didn't elaborate on what 'Things' were, and it was beside his point really. "But even I'm having a hard time reminding myself that cursing and breaking furniture won't do us much good. You're not a hair out of place."

[st_rawberryblonde]

"Letting my hair get out of place wouldn't do any good right now. There might be a mild breakdown later on but right now it's better if I try to figure out what's going on." She told him honestly, watching him with a steady gaze. Truthfully, she didn't want to think about the things that she should be upset about. Being brought here without people that she cared about was weighing on her but Lydia had trained herself to hide behind a mask when needed.

No one here needed to know that her heart was aching because she couldn't find her boyfriend or the woman who had pretty much adopted her.

Pressing her lips together, she tasted the hint of lipgloss that she wore as she turned back to the room again. "But I have been through this before. A couple years ago or more, I was taken from my home to a much bigger place than this."

[st_abby]

Vax'ildan gave her a rueful little smile at that first. He couldn't read her heart or mind as others here might, but he could guess at her pain well enough. Most of them likely could, if they stopped to let themselves for a moment. That, more than anything, tied them all together.

His expression slackened into something a touch more surprised as she continued - but only just. "Several of the others here have admitted to having had something very like this happen to them before. A broken city of some kind?"