strangetrip | [GP] OtherWorlds: European Vacation Kick Off Post

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[GP] OtherWorlds: European Vacation Kick Off Post

Room 157, Traveler's Suite, had been changing, becoming something other than the cheerful red and gold room with two beds facing each other. The Inn had spawned new shades, too, like the staff, because they would be needed. It had been working and changing and growing for six days and it was almost done.

In the boutique, contemporary Earth clothes had begun appearing in sizes to fit the smallest and tallest of them. There were backpacks and traveler's kits, walking shoes and sunglasses, dramamine and snacks. For those who paid attention, the Inn was clearly showing signs they were going somewhere like the world(s) so many of them had come from. But no clues as to what they would find when they got there.

Then Saturday afternoon, finally, the locked door to 157 glowed and swung open. It grew wide and then wider and the hinged door was replaced by a sliding glass one that invited passersby to look inside. Those who did would find what looked like a travel agency, for those who would recognize one, or a multi-room complex with individual desks staffed by diverse men and women with ready smiles and even readier fingers.

The people who sat at those desks were prepared to advise, assist, provide. They held passports for every being in the Inn, smartphones each with the numbers of all of the others and the holders already programmed into them, Eurail passes and generous travel allowances. For reasons never to be explained, it seemed the Inn had decided to give its inhabitants a vacation. A European vacation. Or maybe this was the end of the line. They wouldn't know until they knew.

But as they stepped through the sliding doors, a dapper little man, round in body and features, in a bow tie and cummerbund approached with a big smile. "Welcome, welcome! Welcome to Amsterdam Madonna Travel. If you step this way, the next agent will be able to help you plan your trip!"

[ooc: Please use this post for any comings and goings throughout the European vacation, unless you have an ongoing thread/log that includes comings and goings. It will be open until the event closes, so simply put the date and any tagging instructions in your subject line. You don't need to use this post, but it's here for your convenience.

Also, if you're making a second trip through, you don't need to visit the agents again. You can simply walk out the front doors of the travel agency onto the streets of Amsterdam, where the train terminal will be nearby.

Have fun! And don't forget to tag your posts "# otherworlds: european vacation]

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His ready acceptance of the changes at the Inn, and the subsequent access to a different place was a testament to how accustomed he'd become to what he would have previously called the impossible. But his normal pessimism was why he hadn't packed up his guitar and the meager belongings he'd gathered since arriving at the Madonna Inn when he'd ventured through the travel hub his pockets laden with passport, money and a phone, and used the pass and his own wits to make his way home.

He'd had his suit cleaned and pressed so it was a duly starched DS Hathaway that presented himself at the Oxfordshire police station. He didn't recognize the Desk Sergeant which wasn't a good omen, and his mood quickly soured.

"Detective Inspector Lewis has to be here." He argued. The man didn't have a life outside the knick any more than James did himself.

"There's no one here by that name." The Sergeant was starting to repeat himself.

"And The chief pathologist isn't Dr. Laura Hobson. And the Chief is some man named... Schiff. It's ludicrous." Rather than Jean Innocent. The flat of his hand slapped the counter with more force than he'd intended as he protested the fairness of it.

And then he found himself being hustled bodily out onto the street, and though they did say 'and don't come back' the speed at which he was tossed out certainly implied it.

Not quite ready to give up he went to his apartment, which was no longer his apartment and then Lewis' to no avail. Then he went to the pub (at least it hadn't changed) and ordered a bottle of scotch and a pint. In a last ditch effort he even dialed Nell's number only get dead air.

It wasn't until the pub was closing its doors, that he made his unsteady way to Christchurch dropped into a pew and texted Kitty.

Edited 2018-06-24 22:00 (UTC)

Kitty and Yana had just been talking about their two favorite shut-ins, but it was still something of a surprise to get a text from anyone, let alone James. The buzz of her phone had given her a brief spurt of hope that it was one of the mutants they tried to contact, but she wasn't disappointed by it being him, no matter that it was late.

What's up?

There are bells but it's not the same.

Probably he shouldn't be texting in the chapel but it was long past evensong so no one was there to complain.

I'm sorry. How drunk are you?

As they texted, Kitty was talking to Illyana. Planning their assault on Geralt. James was going to be easy, if emotionally delicate.

Drunk enough I lost count but not so drunk I didn't leave the pub under my own steam.

Barely.

He didn't add that part.

Home should be home. Or it shouldn't.. BE. You see?

Tried to go to your own flat, did you?

Poor guy. She conferred with Yana briefly and agreed she'd best go and get him.

I'm in London. Where are you?

Went to the knick first. Now I'm at Chirstchurch.

Because he'd hoped that here at least would feel like home.

Can you stay there long enough for me to come and get you?

They're closed to tours this time of night, but no one has tried to kick me out yet.

Text me if you leave there. Otherwise, see you soon.

As promised, Illyana dropped Kitty outside of Christchurch and then went back to talk to Geralt.

So it was only about a half hour after her last text that, Kitty hefted her backpack on one shoulder and took out her phone to text Hathaway again.

Still at Christchurch?

In the graveyard.

He wasn't sober but he wasn't nearly so morose and drunk as he had been, despite the fact that he was looking for a familiar grave.

But Mrs. Lewis wasn't here anymore than her husband had been where he should be. Nor was Morse.

He turned toward the main gates when he got her text, unsteady, but not too bad.

Kitty elected not to answer the text but instead phased through the fence and started looking for him among the tombstones. She found him quickly enough, since he was both taller than most of the markers and the only person present besides herself.

She sighed at the drawn, sad look on his face and slipped her arms around him for a hug. "What are you doing in the graveyard?" Because if there was anything sadder than looking for the living and not finding them, it had to be looking for the dead.

His arm went round her awkwardly, but he didn't pull away.

"You know the answer to that." And it was sad, but he'd had to see to convince himself. "I've been trying to decide if whoever opened the door here is cruel or just... clueless."

"You dear sweet idiot," Kitty sighed and hugged him tighter. The poor thing didn't have an ounce of self-preservation. "If you're looking for reason in Otherworlds opening, you'll be looking a long time."

"There's always a reason," even if you didn't see it, or understand it. That was how you found a killer, there was always a reason.

"Yes, but finding it..." She shook her head. There was no point to continuing this. "Is a problem for another day. Come with me to Iceland."

"Iceland?" He said after a moment of silence, just a beat, then, "Okay."

He didn't think it would make him feel immensely better, but it was certainly about as far from Oxford that wasn't as he could get at the moment.

Kitty looked up at him and laughed. "Well. That was easier than expected. I'll call Yana and let her know we're ready for transport."

He was too emotionally wrung out to fight her. And Iceland sounded... interesting.

"You want me to argue?"

"No." Kitty shook her head and then released him from the hug to take his hand instead. "I want you to come to Iceland and see things that are beautiful and relax."

[ooc: wrap?]

"Well, that was a bust," Kitty said as she flopped down on Yana's bed. "And I know, I'm stating the obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be said."

In this case, the obvious was that none of the mutants they'd tried to contact on the other side of the travel agency had replied. In fact, they didn't even seem to exist.

"So, now what?"

For all that Kitty was clearly disappointed, Illyana thought that it was just as well that they did not encounter any of the European mutant factions with which they were familiar on this Otherworlds excursion. What would be the value in such a reunion, particularly when the portals between worlds only seemed capable of maintaining that bridge for a relatively short amount of time?

"Now we resign ourselves to a European vacation in a world where mutants are not actively being policed," Illyana proposed as the mattress bounced with Kitty's weight. Illyana even went so far as to smile at Kitty, a rather crafty feline amusement in her cool blue eyes.

This world having no notion of their kind may prove immensely entertaining.

"Well, when you put it that way." Her own eyes matched Illyana's for amusement, although more delighted than crafty. She could be mischievous later, if there was a need. Illyana seemed to have cornered the market at the moment.

"You being you, we don't even have to confine ourselves to Europe. I've always wanted to see Iceland..."

"Mn," Illyana agreed. "Approachable Reykjavik, where the sun never quite sets in summer. The northern lights. Glaciers. Geysers. Waterfalls. Volcanoes making black sand beaches. Geothermal pools that come equipped with strapping Nordic fellows," she added for Kitty's benefit. Perhaps some inherently attachment-free relations would do her some good.

Perhaps it would do both of them some good.

"Perfect," Kitty agreed and then rolled around until she was in a better position to see Yana while they were talking. "Especially that last part." Which she said mostly for Yana's benefit. She sucked at casual and knowing she'd be leaving wasn't going to keep her from forming attachments.

"Maybe we should see if our two favorite shut-ins need help spanking their inner moppets." Wow. She'd been hanging out with Buffy too much.

Although they did share a special bond and were such close friends that they often understood one another beyond what was said in words, Illyana did stop and turn to arch an eyebrow at Kitty.

"I know what each of those words means. But I have no idea what you just said."

Yup. Definitely too much time with the Slayer.

"Translation: should we drag Geralt and Hathaway along because they're too emotionally constipated to know what to do with themselves." She eyed Illyana and smirked slightly, "And because you totally want to climb that man like a tree, and I'm going to need distraction while you do that."

She didn't doubt that if Yana turned her mind to it, it would happen.

Illyana's raised brow eased back down with understanding, but she gave Kitty a highly skeptical look regardless.

"I have absolutely no desire to climb Hathaway," she muttered sardonically. "And Geralt... Is entirely too preoccupied with what he has lost." It was why she hadn't made an attempt to scale him already. "No strapping Nordic fellows?"

Kitty didn't even bother to correct Yana, who knew perfectly well she'd meant Geralt, not Hathaway. "If Geralt proves unwilling to put down his baggage, then we can leave them in a bar and go find strapping Nordic fellows."

Or Yana could. Kitty would wingman her. And maybe meet someone she liked well enough for sex but not well enough to want to keep around.

Kitty's assurances did not do well to fool Illyana. She was aware that even if Kitty was more inclined towards casual sex, she had just gone through that emotional difficulty regarding Lara and that stupid necklace. But it hardly hurt to encourage her a bit.

"As long as you agree that we have the option of ditching them," Yana consented. "Although I did not ask for your services as matchmaker nor chaperone," she pointed out. She tolerated it with the knowledge that Kitty meddled because she cared - with several people at once, in this case.

And because it might actually result in some fun.

"Who's chaperoning? We're doing Hathaway and Geralt the favor of letting them join us on our Icelandic vacation," Kitty replied with a snort.

At just that moment, her new phone chimed with a notification. After a moment's hopeful excitement, she realized it wasn't any of the mutants they'd tried to contact, but Hathaway.

"Speak of the devil." She tipped her phone toward Yana to show it.

Yes. They were. But their motives were hardly pure.

"Tell him," Illyana prompted as she reached for her own phone. "I am going to discuss scheduling with the library staff. And then we can see about the Old Man."

Kitty exchanged a few texts with Hathaway, and then she waited for a break in Yana's conversation to tell her, "Poor James tried to go home only to discover home wasn't home. He's drunk in Christchurch." At this hour.

"I'll have to go get him. Can you drop me there and come back for me us when you've wrangled Geralt?" No, Illyana wasn't a taxicab. But she was Kitty's best friend, and a trip to England and back to anywhere to meet up with Yana was only going to delay their vacation, and who knew how long they'd have.

"I can," Illyana confirmed. "And I will," she specified, seeing the sense in it easily enough. "Pack your bikini, and we'll go."

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[GP] OtherWorlds: European Vacation Kick Off Post

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