[EP/GP] Today is Check-In Day

[st_illunsmeared]

When the fifteenth of the month came and went without any new arrivals, most people logically supposed that there would be no new arrivals that week, or that the pattern they believed they'd found was false after all.

Kitty Pryde, Caroline Forbes, and Phryne Fisher were decidedly not most people.

Between them, they agreed it would be best to keep a watch for a few days following the fifteenth, on the grounds that, often enough, holidays interrupted regular schedules, which would reassert themselves again at the next instance. If "keeping a watch" had required them to do anything out of the ordinary, they might have been somewhat less sanguine about it. Might have, as they were not, after all, most people. Yet since their routines, almost invariably, had them in public places, working and people-watching, it required no special effort on their part to be alert for new arrivals.

So it was that Phryne had taken up a table in the lobby cafe to read and hold court, while Kitty took an extra shift tending bar, and Caroline tidied up and labeled the boxes of decorations from Valentine's day "for next year's residents" on the morning of the sixteenth and again on the seventeenth--and not one of them were surprised when, in early afternoon, newcomers began to arrive.

Comments

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

Even without empathic ability, Molly could tell that she wasn't a danger. "Hey." She calmed her own racing heart and tried to ignore the cacophony of emotions rolling off the other woman. "I know it's confusing but the first thing we have to do is get you something to wear." Just as she completed the sentence, almost before she took her next breath, a hand carrying a large sheet thrust the fabric toward Molly .

"Well there ya go. A toga until we get you something better at the store here." She held out the sheet to the other woman.

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

Her eyes became adjusted to the lights and she could finally see the girl speaking to her. She took the fabric and wrapped it around herself, but as she did she noticed that her body was covered in drawings. Was that normal?

Her eyes flicked quickly over to the other girl and noticed that she had a lot of drawings on her, too. Not as many as she did, but quite a bit, so maybe it was.

"Where am I?"

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

"Yeah that's going to take a minute. I'm Molly by the way." She thought it might be easier to come from her if she knew her name and she might reciprocate. "What do you remember before you came to the hotel? I was in Chicago."

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

She opened her mouth and then promptly shut it again. It was in that moment that she realized that she had absolutely no idea what she'd been doing. No memory of anything except waking up inside the dufflebag.

"I don't know. I don't know my name. I don't know what I was doing. I don't know why I'm here. Everything is a blank. What's happening to me?"

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

Molly could feel the confusion and the panic starting to rise. It didn't really take an empath to see that. "I'm not sure it will make you feel any better but I don't know why I'm here either. None of us do. We were all taken from our lives and brought here. You're the first that I know that your memories of life before here is gone."

She stepped closer, not touching her but offering comfort, hopefully. "It could just be temporary but I won't lie to you, it might be what happened to you before you came. But that doesn't mean it has to define you. We are who we are because of choices. You have a blank page and you can be whoever you are now." There was just a slight hesitation, before she offered. "I can help you if you want, with your memories if they don't come back soon."

Molly had never done anything like that before. She'd made people forget and she'd opened doors that were closed to give them their fears but she'd never tried to give someone their memories back.

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

It actually did make her feel better to know that while she might not have memories, other people had just arrived, too. That was a connection and she latched onto it. Nor did she turn down the offer. She wanted memories back, she wanted to know who she was.

"Thank you. I want my memories back any way I can get them." She didn't care how, but sooner rather than later.

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

"Deal, but before that, let's start with something easy. Taste. Let's see what you like and don't like." Molly would steer clear of known allergies like nuts just to be safe. "But first thing's first. Let's get you something to wear and a room." She nodded over in the direction of the front desk. "As creepy as it sound, they'll have known you were coming and have a room for you. Maybe even a name."

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

She felt hope rise in her chest. It wasn't creepy at all to her. To her, it meant maybe someone knew her, knew what had happened to her. She would settle for a name. The man behind the counter did have a room for her and it seemed that her name was Jane Doe. Her lips curved into a wide smile at that as she turned around to Molly, "I"m Jane."

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

Molly had overheard her name and she didn't have the heart to explain what Jane Doe meant. It was also odd that the creepy guy knew that she wouldn't have memories when she came. The other question was, did he know her true name and just wasn't saying or didn't know it?

"Nice to meet you, Jane." She motioned with her hand, "come on, your room is near mine. We'll stop by the boutique on the way and get you something to wear. I'd loan you some of my clothes but my boobs are bigger than yours so my top wouldn't fit." At least not well.

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

"I guess the first thing I'll learn about me is what I like in clothes." Jane offered when she began to walk beside Molly. Though the truth of it was that she was a little nervous, what if nothing appealed to her. She glanced over at what Molly was wearing and just let herself feel, didn't think just whatever came to her mind first.

She liked the function of the pants. It was a start.

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

"See? Choices can definitely be an adventure and you can start to build who you are, your likes and things you don't like. Just let instinct guide you, don't overthink it." Molly snickered, "but you might want to get advice from someone else, too. I've always gone with my gut and thought about the consequences later. Sometimes it works and sometimes it bites me on the ass."

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

Jane thought that she liked Molly and not just because she was there to help her though that might have something to do with it. She liked the twinkle in her eye as she spoke. "Is that what you did with your tattoos? Just jumped in?"

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

"Partly. First one was a dare and rebellion and then after that, it had meanings." She motioned toward the tattoos that Jane sported, "yours are fresh." She knew her tattoos well but as Molly looked her brow creased in concern. They weren't just fresh, they were all fresh, at least the ones that she could see.

The pain must have been excruciating and why the hell would she get all them done at once?

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

Jane was a little concerned with Molly's expression. "Fresh? Like maybe just before I arrived fresh?" Did that mean something? Would she have done it to herself, would someone have done it to her?

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

"Fresh like about a couple of weeks before and all of them." Molly tried to let her know what she meant. "Normally you get one at a time, and an intricate one a little at a time. Like this snake." She motioned toward the snake on her neck. "This goes mostly down my body and I did this one over two days." Molly then pointed toward Jane, "your whole body is covered and it seemed like it was done all at once."

It was her opinion that no way Jane would have done that to herself.

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

Jane paused mid-stride with shock and a hint of anger. "So you're saying that someone took away my memories and put all these tattoos on my body, then put me in a bag? Why would someone do that?"

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

"Because people are assholes." Molly said with a shrug, "but I'm going to guess that's not the whole reason why you were inked. There's a lot of intricate designs with they were just being dicks they would have been so careful with details."

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

Jane looked down at her arm, the easiest to see of all of her tattoos. To her, they didn't look intricate to her but then again, she wasn't sure if she'd know if they were or weren't.

"So maybe there's a reason in the tattoos." She was mostly just thinking outloud. "A message or something."

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

"Could be." Molly agreed. "For me, my tats mean something even without the details yours have so I'm going to guess they mean something, too. I just don't know if it means something to you or whoever did them."

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

"Maybe if I look at them all, something will make me remember." Jane said half to herself and part to Molly. "Even if they only mean something to whoever did this, there has to be a reason. I was put in a bag wherever I was supposed to be before the hotel. They have to mean something to someone else, right?"

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

"Yeah, I'd say that's a good theory." Molly had to agree with her. "Come on, the boutique is over here and we can get you something to wear. But, before we do that, let's take a really good look at your tattoos in the mirror in the dressing room. It's a three way so you and I should be able to see most of them at once."

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_artingpoint]

Jane wasn't sure what a three way mirror was, but she hoped she'd at least recognize it when she saw it. Not unlike a sheet, towel and other things that had been handed to her.

"Thanks, Molly." Jane said sincerely. "I'm not sure what I would have done without your help with this."

Re: Jane Doe - Assigned Threads

[st_eampunk]

"I have a feeling that you would have found a way to deal." Molly said but reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "But I'm glad I can help. I do know my tats and I'm pretty good with figuring out how assholes thing." She shot her a quick grin. "Both because I've been an asshole and I've kicked their asses."