[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: for Ignis + OTA

[st_eadfast]

Ignis had to laugh. "I've been told it's lucky for me that I've never seen mine. In tones of deepest pity and horror. With just a hint of 'thank the gods it's not mine.'"

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_unning]

"Oh dear," said Alcuin. "That makes me intensely curious. I think I'd like to see it at some point."

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_eadfast]

"Of course, if you like." He'd have to find the lightswitch, and it was always awkward having someone else in his space, but perhaps it would make Alcuin feel better about the red monstrosity he was living in. "I expect room-showing to be a hobby eventually. Similar to tasting something horrible and immediately insisting someone else try it too."

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_unning]

Alcuin nodded. After a moment he asked, "Are you... becoming close to people here?"

When he had a moment to stop and think about it, the idea of being so alone was utterly terrifying to him. He was D'Angeline. They were not built for loneliness.

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_eadfast]

"Ah...." For a moment, Ignis was nonplussed. It seemed like an odd question, but given that Alcuin was new perhaps not. "Not especially, no. I don't expect to, honestly, I've no knack for people."

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_unning]

Alcuin frowned. "I... really? You seem to be doing just fine." He wondered if this meant that Ignis was not actually enjoying talking to him. Typically he was better at reading these things.

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_eadfast]

"At the moment, yes." This was easily the longest conversation he'd had at the Inn, Ignis thought, and if it wasn't that it was at least the one that had managed to begin and so far stay not-dire. "Either I'm relaxing or you're unusually understanding."

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_unning]

"I would not say that I need to be around someone relaxed in order to have a good conversation," Alcuin said after a moment.

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_eadfast]

"Indeed?" Alcuin was a rarity, then. "In my experience, most people find the, ah, stiffness off-putting."

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_unning]

"I do not find you stiff," Alcuin said. "I find you cautious but kind."

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_eadfast]

"I... thank you." Perhaps it was more circumstantial than he'd thought, or perhaps it was just a side-effect of being in a different world. Or, most likely to Ignis's mind, his original thought that Alcuin was just special was correct. "I find I quite enjoy your company as well, thus far."

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_unning]

"Well I dare say I am not at my best at the moment," Alcuin confessed with a weak smile.

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_eadfast]

"I'd be surprised if you were. But fortunately, 'not your best' is still more than good enough." Hopefully that would be taken as a compliment; Ignis meant it as one. Being pleasant, polite, and helpful when not at one's best was not a skill to be sniffed at.

Re: for Ignis + OTA

[st_unning]

"That's very kind," said Alcuin, and his pleasure shone through the words. He was clearly someone who very much liked to please other people.