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

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

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.

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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?"

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.

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."

Edited 2018-01-02 19:45 (UTC)

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.

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.

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?"

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.

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?"

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."

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.

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."

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.

"You give Darryl your name at the front desk," she explained. "I can go with you, if you want. Darryl... I don't think he's a person, but nobody really knows what he is. He'll have tell you what room you're in, give you a key to get in it, and probably offer you towels whether you need them or not. But he's harmless."

Moana had no idea what a front desk was, so she nodded quickly at Emma's offer. "Thank you, that would be helpful."

Emma smiled, glad Moana agreed, then led her through the lobby to the check-in desk, where Darryl was waiting as blandly bland and unmemorable as ever. "This is Moana of Motunui."

"Chief Moana, welcome to the Madonna Inn. Your room is the Captain's Bridge, room 104, in the first building. Enjoy your stay with us." The man behind what Emma had called the front desk, handed Moana a small white piece of paper with something flat and smooth inside, like a highly polished shell or stone.

"Thank you. How do I le..." Moana began but Darryl interrupted.

"If you need anything, you may always call room service. Would you like fresh towels?"

Moana clenched her jaw. "No. Thank you." She looked at Emma. "Where is building one?"

"It's this way." Emma ignored Darryl, something that was much easier than it would've been if he'd felt like a real person, and started the right direction, grabbing a map on the way out of the lobby.

As they walked she explained, pointing things out on the map. "This is the main building, where we are now, with the shops and restaurants – where you can get things to eat and drink, or pick up clothes or other supplies and things maybe, the selection is kind of limited. Then there are three buildings with guest rooms. I'm in building one too, just a few doors down from you."

Moana studied the map closely, looking from it to her surroundings and back over and over to orient among the massive buildings. She was relieved to see that building one was one of the smaller structures. Which didn't mean that it was small. It was huge. She could hardly imagine how long it must have taken to build.

They came up to the door marked as hers. Moana pushed on the door. It did not move. Perhaps it needed a sign. She lifted the thing that Darryl had given her and pressed it against the door. Nothing happened. Moana glanced inquisitively at Emma.

"It's called a key card, or just a key," Emma explained, gesturing before taking the sleeve from Moana and drawing the plastic from it. She made sure Moana was watching, and made her motions deliberate as she oriented the card the right direction and slid it into the slot on the lock, explaining each step along in the process. When the light changed colors, she pushed down on the latch and the door swung open a few inches.

"Do you want to try it yourself first, or go ahead and see your room?"

Moana's eyes widened. "Let me try!" She accepted the key card back, rotated it just as Emma had and put it into the slot on the handle. Just as it had for Emma, the lights changed color and a click sounded. She pushed down the handle to open the door.

"How does it work?" she started to ask but then looked past the door and into the room beyond.

It was enormous. Of course, everything here seemed to be, but this was meant for one person? Impossible. The largest house in the village had not been this large. Maybe she was meant to share? "Is there anyone else living here?" she asked instead.

"I don't know." Darryl hadn't said anything, but he hadn't told Emma about Jag either when she checked in. "I don't think there was anyone here before you, but I don't know if another new arrival is supposed to share. I could find out." She could call the desk and ask.

"I think most people don't share, but my room is bigger, and there are two of us supposed to live there. And a spirit."

"A spirit?" Moana asked, her dark eyes wide. "What kind of spirit?"

"A ghost? She's nice." She didn't remember her name, so it was possible she'd been gone for a long time. It could be hard to tell, Emma knew. But she'd been really sweet to Emma when she was upset, worrying about Pyro and missing home, wondering how much she'd hurt Jag just by being herself.

Ghosts were less worrisome than other spirits may have been. "Did you know her? Is she an ancestor of yours?"

"No." Emma shook her head. "There are a bunch of ghosts here, but they won't hurt you or anything. They're stuck here just as much as we are."

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