[GP/EP] You're not clear of story out here

[st_arkcrowblack]

Even before she knew for certain that it was the first of a month, Snow’s body had started bracing for it. She was wary and tense, preparing to cope with yet more people in the space of the hotel. It seemed that no sooner had she adjusted to whoever had showed up the last time, there was someone new again.

She didn’t want anything to do with the lot of it. That was what those busy women on the welcome committee were for. She didn’t think the committee was a stupid thing, not at all. Focusing on settling new people in kept the lot of them busy and away from her, and that was where she wanted them. They terrified her.

Snow White had only come into the main building to forage for food. The original plan was of course to turn right back around and escape before the expected rush (small or large) of new people to flood in.

But that was of course not what happened. When a universe was a pocket, it had less to focus on and fewer people to fuck with, and so Snow was entirely certain it was fucking with her when she was the one in the lobby when a new face came through the door.

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Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_arknaked]

He took a long drink from the glass she offered, and glanced back at the other women. The growl was almost inaudible when he spoke, "Your all so calm for people who are trapped. What is this? What are all of you?" Because some of them smelled human and others smelled, mostly human, and there was something else in there too.

But not fae, none of it smelled like fae.

Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_alksthroughwalls]

Fury could be contagious, Kitty knew, and that was dangerous for her. As it was, his anger grated against her calm. She took a deep breath and shrugged to break the tension in her shoulders. "I've been here two months. At some point, you have to come off red alert." She tipped her head to the stack of notepads toward the end of the bar. "I'm still working on ways to get out of here, but my brain works better when I'm not in a rage."

She lifted her chin then, almost defiant. "We're not whats, we're whos."

Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_arknaked]

He pushed the empty glass across the bar in the universal gesture for more.

He wasn't happy, but he wasn't quite so angry as he had been.

"So, who are you?"

Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_alksthroughwalls]

Since he'd backed off, she mellowed and obligingly poured three fingers of the Glendronach for him and slid it back across the bar. "Katherine Ann Pryde, called Kitty. For all the good that does you, I can name almost everyone else in the Inn, with the exception of you and the other new lady, and the five staff members who don't give their names no matter how you ask."

She shrugged, smiled a little, and asked, "You want to keep shooting in the dark or want me to tell you what we know? Either way, you're going to investigate it for yourself. Everyone does."

Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_arknaked]

He drained the glass again, eyeing her as he did so. Then he pushed the glass over again.

"I'm Dyson, please enlighten me." There was only the hint of sarcasm.

Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_alksthroughwalls]

Lifting one eyebrow just slightly in amusement, Kitty poured him another glass. No judgment, because he had nowhere to go, no car to drive, and she'd seen his eyes flash. Non-humans often had greater tolerance for alcohol anyway.

When she pushed the glass across to him, she said, "This is the Madonna Inn. It used to be in San Luis Obispo, California. Now it's in the middle of a four-hour empty scrub desert. Yes, four hours. Four hours in every direction. It's not the same every time. The distances change with how fast you travel, but it's always four hours. If you push past the four hour point, you end up back at the inn.

"There are five employees in the hotel. They don't seem to have names or interest in telling them to us. No matter who asks or how, they don't know anything more than how to do their jobs and they ave a thing for clean towels. The cook doesn't make anything that doesn't have a chicken component. The other 'guests'" -- She made air quotes around that. "--fill in, cooking--" She gestured herself. "Bartending, taking care of the horses, et cetera.

"No one's been harmed, no one has left, supplies arrive but none of us have been able to figure out when or how. People arrive usually on the first and fifteenth of the month. The Innkeeper knows your name, you'll have a room already, and no luck changing it if you hate it. If you have two beds, you've probably got a ghost for a roommate. Oh, and on Valentine's Day, there was some kind of a lust plague."

She brushed her hands together showily. "I think that covers the basics."

Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_arknaked]

He took a moment to take that in, and this time he sipped his drink.

"Lust plague. Two words you don't often hear together."

Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_alksthroughwalls]

Sensing she'd appeased him a bit, Kitty stepped down from an orange alert to a sunny yellow one. "It was probably more of a kissing bug, if we're wholly truthful. One minute you're minding your own business, the next you've got an overwhelming urge to kiss your guy and then your girl best friend." She laughed a little and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Oddly specific, I know. That was my experience. Other people ended up kissing total strangers."

Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_arknaked]

"I've kissed my fair share of total strangers, but I can't claim to have been under the influence." That had been, in some ways, his introduction to Bo - a kiss.

"You're taking it well at least."

Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_alksthroughwalls]

"The kissing?" Kitty shrugged, amused. "It's turning out well. If you meant being here--" Another shrug. "It's not my first multiverse rodeo and I just lived through a war aimed at the total extinction of my people. This is just a blip on the radar."

Re: Dyson - Assigned Threads

[st_arknaked]

"I'm not a fan of..." he paused, glanced around and then took a swallow of his drink. "Blips."