[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

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_illcounts]

"I'm not sure I'll ever outgrow those traits." Johnny said honestly and not just that he didn't see him to live to an older age. "With my luck trouble would seek me out the minute I think I've outgrown it." He flashed her a quick grin.

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_rigaetsica]

"Some people, trouble will always find." Or maybe that was what Joanna told herself to get through the lifetimes of her girls. "Whether you're hoping for it or not. Case in point," she looked around, "one free vacation in a fancy but strange resort."

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_illcounts]

"Exactly." Johnny nodded, "not what I was expecting but then few things in life are. Sometimes you take what gets thrown at you and work it to your advantage." He needed to lay low and make sure what he did didn't touch Dutch, this would work. For now.

"And exactly how strange is this? Should I be checking closets and under the bed?" Johnny was teasing, mostly.

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_rigaetsica]

"All of us showing up here unexpectedly, not being able to travel more than four hours from the inn, and minimal staff who are decidedly... off isn't strange enough to start?" she countered, mostly teasing back.

"I hate to say it, but I feel like it's going to get a lot stranger as time goes on." Drawing the tarot had suggested that much, although it remained silent on when or how Joanna could get home.

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_illcounts]

"You're saying this is the calm before the storm?" Johnny arched a brow, though he had to admit that would probably be his luck. This would soon go to shit because that was his life. "I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to that or dreading it." And that was the truth, too.

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_rigaetsica]

Definitely like Frederick in that respect. Maybe Wendy too. "I'm saying, we should all keep our eyes open. And that you don't need to go looking for trouble, when it's likely to find you anyway."

She waved her hand in a vague gesture. "But I'm a mom. It's my job to say things like that. Even to people who aren't my kids."

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_illcounts]

"Yeah, trouble does seem to find me and my friend." Johnny admitted, "so it will probably find me here, and you're a mom? How many children do you have?" It was hard enough being without Dutch and D'avin. He wouldn't imagine being here without your kids.

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_rigaetsica]

"Three. The girls, Ingrid and Freya, and Frederick, Freya's twin brother." For so long it had been just the girls, over and over, Joanna still thought of them together with Frederick as the afterthought, when while on Asgard, it had been the twins, and Ingrid separate.

"They're grown now, but there were... difficulties, and we've only recently been reunited with Frederick. To be separated again so soon, well, I've plenty of reason to get home."

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_illcounts]

Johnny couldn't imagine her with grown children, she sure as shit didn't look like she was old enough to be his mother. His expression was sober as he listened to her and then added his own.

"My brother and I were apart for a long time until recently." Despite feeling like Luke had abandoned him, he'd missed his brother. "He can be a royal pain in the ass, but it was really good to be together again. Well, until everything that happened recently."

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_rigaetsica]

"That sounds very familiar. And siblings are supposed to be a royal pain in the ass to each other; that's just life." Wendy could be insufferable sometimes, and Joanna had had reasons for not seeing her as long as they had, but there'd been something missing while they were apart.

"Why don't I get a couple of drinks from the bar. To help wrap your head around winding up here, because that can take a bit. Or if you want to talk about any 'everything that happened recently,' I'm generally a good listener."

Re: Assigned Threads

[st_illcounts]

"I'm good with drinks from the bar." Johnny said with a nod. "Alcohol always helps or dulls the pain, same thing." He shot her a quick lopsided grin.