strangetrip | [GP/EP] Check-In Day

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[GP/EP] Check-In Day

Why Caroline had needed her to help with Check-In Day she hadn't bothered to say. Just, "you said you'd help," and when Regina protested she wasn't good with people, "aren't you a Queen or a Mayor or something?" complete with shooing gestures. While Regina found Caroline more exasperating the terrifying, she did have a point.

So Regina suited up--literally, gathered her files and folders, coffee mug, pens and pocketed the wooden carving of Henry/Roland Robin had made for her, then headed for the cafe. If, polished and politic and patently Busy, she didn't offer newcomers the brightest or warmest smile when they arrived, it was nevertheless confident and quite possibly reassuring.

Caroline did friendly. Regina...did knowledgeable and polite. Dot and Ignis had been asked to provide finger food on catering trays. The still-grieving Miss Pryde had been tasked with samovars of tea and coffee and ice chest of soda and beer. Caroline's welcome baskets sat on the table beside Regina's for easy access. And though she didn't when she was alone in the office, Regina spent the magic to fix her eyesight so she didn't put glasses between her and new arrivals.

Madame Mayor was in.

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Buffy was just on her way back from checking out the boutique - nothing new darn it - when she spotted a man in a cloak with a staff that looked a little confused. Since her only experience with a man in a cloak with a staff besides hottie elf in the movie with Golfbag (or whatever his name was) was Carlos, Buffy assumed this guy was a Wizard Warden from his world.

"Hi." She smiled wide on her approach, "welcome to the hotel. I know it's a little wonky at first and you're not where you were expecting to be but magic can be weird like that. I'm Buffy and this is a hotel that we're not sure where it is except not home." Her nose scrunched, "and yes everything is that pink."

She felt safe mentioning magic what with the cloak and staff, otherwise she would have gone with - no this isn't a dream welcome speech.

"Well, there are much worse colors than pink." Anders made himself smile though it was a bit of a nervous one as he looked around. As much as he would have loved to be somewhere that was magic friendly without the oppression of the Chantry he was a little cautious. Justice was no help. "There's that one yellow brown color. You know the one. Like mustard but worse. I think it has some green in it too."

Under his coat there was a soft mew and a lump moved until the face of a tiny ginger kitten popped up from inside his collar. She meowed a little louder and he reached up to pet her little head. "Uh, this is Madam Fluffy, or Fluffykins if you're feeling formal. I'm Anders. It's good to meet you."

Buffy knew exactly the color that he meant and he was right. It could have been worse. She was about to comment on that when a really cute kitten popped its head out. "Oh she's so cute and it's nice to meet you Anders. Do you know a wizard named Carlos? I only ask because there's a wizard here that has a cloak and a staff, too. Not like yours but kind of so I figured you might be from the same uh.... Wizard's Council."

She thought that was what they were called but she wasn't a hundred percent sure.

"Wizard's Council? I can't say I've heard of that though it sounds intriguing. Sadly I don't know anyone named Carlos, but if he has magic and a position of power I would very much like to meet him." He rubbed his kitten's head and she mewed before turning and trying to crawl over his high collar. "Is magic more tolerated here then? There's no threat of anyone bursting in and carrying away those with magic to some tower somewhere?"

He helped Madam Fluffy onto his shoulder before he continued. "That's what it's like through most of Thedas."

"Yeah, magic is cool here. Um, tolerated." Buffy tried not to throw too much of her vocabulary. Especially since she was suspecting that he wasn't from a world like hers.

"I mean, I'm not going to say that some people here might have a stick up their... um be very rigid about magic and not trust it, but on the whole you can practice openly if you want."

She glanced around the area, "and you really don't have to worry about being tossed anywhere. We don't have towers or dungeons or prisons of any kind." Buffy made a face, "well except for the whole place that we can't leave."

"We can't leave?" He almost said something about her not needing to tone down her language for him but he was struck by the last of it. "I- I suppose that means even with magic means as well, right? That's a little disconcerting."

As nice as the place looked he didn't like the idea of being trapped. Hawke would come for him eventually though. He was sure. She always came to save him. He would focus on that while he looked for his own ways to freedom. "Does that mean if I turned and walked from here I would just end up back here eventually?"

"Yeah." Buffy nodded and glanced around where they were standing and pointed toward the horizon. "I walk this most nights trying to find a weak spot or heck even figure out where people come through but I never see them arrive. I mean just suddenly appear. I've seen magical people try to get out but they can't so I don't know if all magic doesn't work. I say give it a try, if you want, it couldn't hurt."

"Knowing me, I would likely get lost." He genuinely smiled at the idea of him getting lost only a few feet from the Inn. His sense of direction wasn't terrible but his luck was. He reached up and gently scratched his cat under the chin, glad to hear her purr and know that she was still relatively fine despite the trip they apparently took.

He turned his eyes back to her. "So are we here for a reason or has it been decided we all just need some sort of holiday? Though if this is supposed to be a holiday I have to say the pinks aren't exactly soothing."

"I'm pretty sure that you'd be able to see the hotel from anywhere." Buffy teased him with a wrinkle of her nose. "Even space." Okay, it wasn't that bad! She enjoyed watching him with his cat, though it was probably helping him calm as much as helping the cat.

"And yeah, we haven't figured out if there is a reason we're all here. So far, we can't find a common denominator. People have left, but I have no idea if they've gone back home or not." She was sad for a moment and then shrugged it off mentally. Buffy was determined to see her mom again - and Giles and Willow and Xander.... not so much Anya.

"Sounds like it could be magic-related, this place and the way people appear and disappear." Also like something that he could be blamed for if anyone who knew found out about this place and his being there. With his luck all of Thedas would likely know when he got back. If he ever got back. That was a thought he didn't want to entertain. "So, Buffy. What are we supposed to be doing here, aside from admiring the consistency of the decor's theme?"

"Yeah that's about it." Buffy teased, "come on, I'll take you inside where they'll have a room for you. There are all kinds of projects going on by sciencey types." Which clearly Buffy was not one of those.

"But there are a lot of jobs that can be done around the hotel, besides trying to figure out what's going on and how to get out. There's no money here, well besides what you have on you. What I mean is when you volunteer/ work here, you won't get paid but the bonus is you don't have to buy things either."

"That's alright. I'm used to working for free." He nodded and motioned for her to lead him. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to his patients back at the clinic in Darktown. He hoped they were all safe and had moved on even though Kirkwall felt like a lifetime ago now. "I've got a few useful skills, I'm sure I'll find something. If nothing else I can lend the good Madam out as a comfort cat. She's quite good at that."

That brought out a laugh, "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you I promise. I just can't imagine a cat being a comfort cat." The only ones that she knew were kind of not at all accommodating unless they want to be. "The ones I know look at me like I'm crazy if I try to get them to do something."

"I never said she wouldn't do that as well. She's gotten very good at her 'I'm surrounded by crazy humans' look but while she's giving it she will sit on your lap or drape herself across your shoulders. She can be very calming, or if she's in a playful mood she can be a good distraction." He rubbed at Madam's cheek with an amused grin. "But yes, I have completely given up on trying to get her to be obedient. She knows she's in charge."

"Having a good distraction will be helpful here." Buffy had to admit. "It can kind of get same old, same old." Or it could be that she's so used to going against demons and vampires almost every night and she hadn't gone against one at all since her arrival.

She smiled, "and then we get new arrivals like you, which makes for a nice change."

"Well, if there is a way that I can be a bit more entertaining let me know, I'm more than happy to be helpful." He smiled back at her. She seemed nice. Perhaps he was being too trusting of a pretty face with a kind voice but even he got tired of his own paranoia. "Or at least give someone something to laugh at. I'm told my magic tricks are very entertaining."

"Well I do love a good magic trick." Buffy had to admit. "My best friend is a witch. Willow has some good witch-fu moves. What's your specialty." She assumed that wizards had one.

"Witch-fu?" An eyebrow went up at that. "Uh, I'm a healer mostly. Where I come from mages are encouraged to take up healing, they say it makes us useful. They're less likely to take our magic if we're there to heal their gout, I imagine." And it had given him a way to support himself when he was on the run from the templars, at least until he had merged with Justice and left the wardens, he'd stopped asking for payment in return for healing after that.

Buffy had a confused look for a moment, "uh your magic can go away? Really?"

She wasn't sure if Willow's could but it was something that she'd have to ask Giles about when she got back (if she remembered). Plus, bonus if you could she would so take Ethan's away.

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[GP/EP] Check-In Day

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