[GP] Réveillon & New Year's Eve & Check-In

[st_rangepalette]

Emma had said, during Winter's Crest, that she missed a tradition from home called réveillon. She seemed also to miss her cousin, as Lillith missed hers. Since she wished both to learn to cook and to be of comfort to her friend, it had been decided they would make a réveillon dinner for New Year's Eve.

Yet when Emma began to lay out the courses -- oyster soup and potato & leek soup, salad, a gumbo, venison roast, cheeses, and creme brulee, plus several hors d'ouevres not yet decided -- Lillith quailed at the size of the undertaking. Surely she would wish someone to assist who could contribute more than roasted rabbit, wheat or potato flour dumplings, and koláč.

Since Sunny likewise missed her family and would certainly wish a distraction, when she entered the cafe where they were planning, the other two seized upon her almost at once. Sunny could hardly resist their dual entreaty, even had she wished to, and Lillith thought she seemed even more ready for company than previously. Of course Sunny had offerings of her own: jolloff rice, peppered chicken, and fried plantain.

Between they three, the planning and the cooking were very nearly merry, and Lillith kept them liberally supplied with champagne (her personal favorite), too. By late afternoon of the eve of the new year, they had begun lining tables with dishes, and enlisted the help of other friends to make the evening event widely known.

Of course, in addition to the réveillon feast that took over the steakhouse, alcohol flowed freely, lights sparkled brightly, the nightclub had music for dancing. And at some point the Inn or Caroline or Regina hung mistletoe from several of the primary entrances and exits so that unless one wished to or was unaware of the tradition, no one (not even any new arrivals) need greet the new year unkissed.

Comments

For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Thonk thonk thonk thonkthonkthonkthonk An insistent, erratic pressure tapped repeatedly into Moana's breastbone, stopped by the oar she'd fallen asleep mending.

"Ugh, Heihei, stop it." It wasn't hard to guess what the sensation was. Or what lolo chicken had mistaken it for food. Again. She peeled her eyelids open. The light told her that the sun was setting, but not yet entirely gone. Soon the stars would be out and she could find their position on the waves.

...waves.

The boats always moved, even in the stillest seas, but Moana felt nothing. The wood below her was...not wood. Her hand groped along the hard surface, scattering rocks, then passing over a sharp plant of some kind.

Moana sat up abruptly. Heihei tumbled off with a squawk. This was not her boat. This was not the ocean. This was...she didn't know what this was.

The building not more than the length of a whale from her was enormous, bigger than any building that Moana had ever seen. Noise and lights poured out of it - music, she decided after a few seconds of horrified staring.

It was cold.

That decided her. Moana stood, picked up Heihei and set out on bare feet to the building. Maybe someone could tell her the way to the ocean.

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ackeddeck]

Cooking an entire Réveillon feast with Sunny and Lillith's help was a good way not to think about the people she was missing or how they would be responding to her being gone, or to the more present problem of her existence hurting the sweet pyrokinetic Rom who was supposed to be her roommate and how awkward it was potentially sharing a room with a stranger. But when there was a short lull, dishes bubbling, baking, or resting without the need for constant attention, and prep having gone faster with three sets of hands, Emma had gone outside for a breath of fresh air rather than obsess over what needed to be done next, but that couldn't be rushed.

In some ways, the inn was like the castle, and even though there were still far more people here than she'd broken out of her hermiting and actually taken the time to get to know, she recognized the faces of everyone who'd been stuck here. Which was why, when she saw an unfamiliar girl approaching and no one else around, she took the calm from cooking and her experience dealing with the public to overcome her usual shyness. Showing up here was never easy.

"Hey," Emma said as she walked toward the girl. "I know it's confusing, suddenly being somewhere you weren't. Can I help?"

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

The building was overwhelming. A dizzying mix of colors and textures, so very little of it recognizable to Moana. She thought there was a tree in the corner, but not a tree she'd ever seen before. And it had the strangest...fruit? No, those couldn't be real fruit. Nothing was that shiny but metal.

Moana turned and stared at the woman, mouth agape. In her arms, Heihei did the same. Pale skin, hair like flame. A demon? A demi-god? Something else entirely? She looked human, except for her strange coloring.

Remembering herself, Moana shut her mouth and drew her shoulders back. "I am Moana of Motunui. And I must return to my people." Wherever they were. Wherever she was.

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ackeddeck]

A small part of Emma wondered if Motunui was Moana's family, people, or homeland. Or some combination. But that was just a distraction from the stab of shared need to get home. "I'm Emma. And I'm really sorry, Moana, but none of us here know how to get back to where we come from. I wish I could tell you something better."

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Moana looked blankly at the woman, then down at Heihei. Heihei looked back up, made a confused noise, and pulled his head down into his neck.

Moana envied his ability to hide.

She looked back at the woman - Emma, which was a strange name. "Does no one here know how to read the stars? If you can wayfind, you will always know where you are."

Or, at least, if you had some idea where you'd started.

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ackeddeck]

It had been easier, Emma realized, hearing this from Kitty, who while not the Kitty she knew, was someone who's opinion she could trust enough in the moment.

"We know where we are. Mostly." Would California mean anything to Moana? Emma wasn't sure, and it wasn't the most important thing to explain. "The problem is, it's in sort of a bubble. If you go four hours in any direction – and most of that is desert, which can be dangerous to do alone if you aren't used to deserts – you wind up back where you started here.

"I know it sounds crazy. I had to try it myself to see, and I've only been here a month. Some people have been here a year with no way home." She hated giving so much bad news, but something about Moana said she'd rather hear it directly.

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Moana had thought that restoring the heart of Te Fiti was the greatest challenge she would ever face. She'd been excited and happy to lead her people out onto the ocean, to show them what had called her from the time she was small. To guide them all by the stars to a new island, a new home.

She had never imagined she would find herself alone again.

It was not all lost. She had taught Kauri the beginnings of wayfinding and he would at least be capable of taking the boats back to Motunui, if not to find a new land.

But for herself, if what the woman was saying was true, she was in a heap more trouble.

"There is no ocean?"

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ackeddeck]

Emma frowned, thinking about how to answer that. "There is," she said hesitantly. "But not within walking distance. It's..." she turned orienting herself as best she could from inside the sprawling inn, "That way, I think. You can get there on horseback, though." She'd seen it on one of her flights, but she was already throwing enough at at new arrival, adding 'I'm a mutant and can fly on a winged horse I create with my mind' was probably way too much.

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Moana had no idea what a horseback was but she felt bewildered enough for the moment. The information she needed - that there was an ocean and she could reach it - was enough. Instead, she took note of the direction Emma had pointed and nodded. She took a few steps that way, then stopped and looked back. If she didn't ask now, she'd never know.

"Are you a demon? Or a spirit?"

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ackeddeck]

Definitely too much to get into the whole mutant thing, and being a mutant didn't make what Emma did say any less true. "I'm a person. There are some spirits here, but they won't hurt you. And there aren't any demons here, just some people who look more different than others."

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Moana had heard - and encountered - far stranger things in the last couple of months, so she did not argue with Emma. But privately, she thought that anyone who was that pale must be a spirit, or at least very ill.

"Okay. The ocean is that way?" She pointed.

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ackeddeck]

Emma nodded. "If you have a way to travel fast." She wasn't going to tell Moana not to try. Emma had needed to see for herself. But traveling scrublands was very different from the oceans Moana was probably used to, and Emma wasn't sure how to warn her of that.

"It might help to get your room before you go exploring. Everybody who shows up here, just like you did, has a room ready for them."

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Moana was itching to be gone, but if Emma was telling her the truth, it wouldn't do any good. She absently scratched Hei Hei's neck while she considered what to do. Hei Hei responded by going limp.

"How do I get a room?" she asked. If they had a room for her, it would be rude to refuse the hospitality.

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_arkintern]

Peter Parker is racing through the lobby when he spots her: a dark-skinned girl about his age standing in the middle of the lobby. He skids to a stop and turns to look at her, going through his mental shortlist of 'People His Age That Live at the Hotel', and after realizing that she is not one of the three? Or is it four? other people he knows that fall between the ages of 13 and 17 and have established residency at tte Madonna Inn, decides that his previous task (scouting the Boutique, as he did daily, for anything that might be useful) can wait.

"Hey," he calls out at her, with an awkward little wave that he hopes is not threatening (it is not). "You, uh... Are you new here?"

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Moana had gone to the room they had told her was hers, placed Hei Hei inside and told him sternly to behave. Then she had returned to the main building, which she assumed was some kind of center hall where the village could gather for announcements. She didn't recognize anything here, but she did know a party when she saw it. Even if it didn't look anything like the parties they held on Motunui.

Moana turned and looked at the young man, also pale like Emma but without her shocking red hair, who called out to her. "I am new here," she confirmed. "Emma told me that we cannot leave. Is this true?"

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_arkintern]

Ouch. This was going to be an awkward conversation. He remembered how it felt when he first arrived and realized that this place was going to be home, at least for awhile.

"I don't think there's going back home," he admits. "I mean, maybe there is, but we just haven't found it yet." That's a much better way of looking at it than never.

"There's portals to other places that open up sometimes," Peter says, his voice rising with hopefulness. "None of those places have really been like home, but it's definitely a change of scenery."

A much-needed change of scenery that had a lot more than what they had here. Sure, he couldn't really take any of it home, but at least he wouldn't have any problems finding stuff like some nice clothing for a party.

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

That was very much like what Emma had said, and more besides. She knew about doors to other worlds, though these seemed like they were less difficult to reach than Lalotai.

The urge to go back to that room and scream was strong. But Moana refused to let her rising panic take hold. If they were not lying to her, there was nothing she could do. If they were lying, she would find out. Right now...

"Who are you?"

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_arkintern]

"Uh, me?" Unconsciously, Peter gestures to himself, as if there was a possibility that Moana could be talking to anyone else in the room.

"I'm Peter Parker. Peter Parker from Queens."

Peter mentally facepalms at that answer. Half the people here didn't know what Queens was. All that might do is just add to the confusion.

"I've been here for about five months now," he adds, trying to be more helpful.

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Moana smiled, determined to be friendly if she was going to be stuck here for a while. At least until she found a boat. "It's nice to meet you, Peter Parker. I'm Moana of Motunui."

She didn't know where Queens was, and he wouldn't know where Motunui was. But it seemed polite to respond in the same way. "I was sailing with my people. Then I woke up here."

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_arkintern]

Peter's never hear of Motunui, but he hasn't heard of a lot of the places people told him they were from. He's okay with that. It's kind of interesting to learn about the different places people are from. It made for lots of interesting stories.

And Moana's seems like it's pretty interesting.

"Sailing?" Peter asks. "You sail?"

Ugh, of course she sails!

"Where were you sailing to?"

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Moana beamed. "I don't know!" she responded excitedly. "We're voyagers! We use the stars to guide us from where we are and we find new places, new islands. If you know where you are, you're never lost." Her hands sketched out the pattern of wayfinding among the stars, then dipped low to brush into a current that wasn't there. "You can feel it in the waves, which way the next island might be. The ocean guides us."

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_arkintern]

"That's... actually really cool!" Peter says, with considerable enthusiasm. "I was always really big into astronomy, so the whole idea of being able to navigate by just the stars is amazing to me."

Peter shifts his weight from one leg to another. "I mean, I don't know if it really helps, but... this place is a whole different place to explore. And when the portals open, there's even more to explore than just this Inn and the desert around it." He inhales. "I know it's probably better to be doing it with people you know--" No, he definitely knows. "--but this is kind of just one new, big adventure."

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Moana nodded. "That's...all I've wanted, all my life was to explore. To see what's beyond the horizon. But I'm meant to lead my people. I couldn't leave them. So when we finally were able to sail again, to find our way..."

She looked down and scuffed her bare foot against the floor. "I only hope Maui will watch over them until I can get back."

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_arkintern]

Even though Peter doesn't know Maui, he still feels compelled to say something to comfort her.

"I'm sure he's doing that," he says, trying to sound convincing. "I mean, I'm sure my friend Ned is checking in with my Aunt May. The people back home are probably taking care of the things we used to take care of."

Same with Mr. Stark and the rest of the Avengers. Hopefully Queens was doing okay now that the Vulture wasn't around. But still, Peter has questions.

"Are you like," Peter hesitates, "Some kind of princess?"

Re: For meeter and greeter

[st_ellarnavigation]

Moana rolled her eyes, remembering Maui's insistence that she was a princess because her father was the ruler. "No," she said firmly, determined to nip this in the bud. "I'm the daughter of the chief. When he chooses to step aside, I will lead the village. For now, I lead the voyagers."