st_okedformadden: (wait a minute)
[personal profile] st_okedformadden
Jason was standing in the lobby. At first it might just look like he had paused and was staring at his feet - maybe his shoelace was undone? But if you watched long enough, he didn't move. He didn't bend down to tie or fix anything or to pick anything up. In fact, if you looked closely, his eyes were moving around the pattern on the carpet with extreme concentration. His lips were pressed together and he almost looked like he was constipated.

And so he stood and stared.
st_artliving: (girl smile)
[personal profile] st_artliving
June, Xavin decided, was a puzzling month. It still seemed like spring in some ways, but was very summer already in others. Among the ways that it was summer: less demand for hot drinks. And yes, she could do iced, but that tended to mean hauling ice to her coffee-cart territory and that got old fast.

Since it was arrival day, therefore, she was trying something new. She’d taken over part of the cafe (with a decentish view of the lobby) and set it up with blenders, fruits, and other things. Surely smoothies would be acceptable, and the cafe space meant not having to haul ice.

As a further acknowledgement of probable sun and warmth, Xavin ensured there were obvious stacks of towels near the more usual baskets of things for new arrivals. If there were any newcomers and she’d forgotten something, well... it would probably be all right eventually.
st_accato: (life sucks)
[personal profile] st_accato
I know that the inn does the wonky but um.... I woke up with an arm missing. Well not missing but changed! I think I'm turning into a robot. Can someone turn into a robot. Oh GOD. Maybe the tin man well woman? Wait he was all metal and rusted right? Okay not that unless I'm slowing turning into that.

Any magical people know how to change my arm back?

If not, how am I going to take a shower without rusting? I am not NOT taking a shower or bath!
st_oriedqueen: (the light I chase)
[personal profile] st_oriedqueen
Finished with self-imposed paperwork and emergency planning for the week, Regina permitted herself a leisurely ride on this absolutely gorgeous spring day. After a good gallop, Grace was content to walk, cropping at dried scrub and new shoots when Regina gave her rein. Regina steered the mare gently toward the west; she could teleport, of course, but she appreciated the quiet of riding toward the beach. She found, in the wake of Henry's Christmas visit, she more often craved the scent of the salt air and ocean breezes. Of course, the Pacific never quite smelled like the Atlantic, always warmer and less bracing somehow, but it soothed the wildness in her just the same.

Back at the Inn, Kitty busied herself with stocking the pool bar and generally setting up for the warmer seasons. The pool had been skimmed of winter detritus and chlorinated by the staff-spectre she rarely if ever saw, and there were fresh towels set out like a proper resort. Since the choice of music was hers, the air around the bar filled with dance beats, Afro-Caribbean today, and Kitty moved right into it. She didn't usually dance at work, but she felt bright today and maybe Lara would come down and work with her and they could goof around Cocktail style.

Sam passed through the Copper Cafe in search of a cup of coffee and a salad, or one of the two gorgeous women he'd somehow wound up involved with. His brow scrunched like a caterpillar hurrying away from a predator while he semi-consciously outpaced thoughts about babies and brothers, and possibly babies and girlfriends. His mild scowl wasn't helped by the pack of spirits trailing him and chatting at him about the lives of his family members. He'd asked them not to gossip about people he wasn't close with, but as a consequence, they talked rapidly and often about River's most recent oddness or his mother and Hathaway acting like...well, like him and Molly and Bo, and no thanks. Ditto on Dean and Jane. For all that he looked a little bothered, there wasn't anything menacing or aggressive about it. If anything, the slight tilt of his head as he strolled through the Inn looked thoughtful, as though he listened to something somewhat distant.

Lillith had come to a bit of a routine for arrival days, and around noon, she sat for tea with River Song. They spoke little, and it was difficult to tell whether the women even liked each other. But for all that, Lillith was content with the ritual. If Curnen sang, she would go out to the lawn next and listen. In fact, on such a sunny day, she would undoubtedly flop on the lawn with a sketchbook and a practice notebook, letting her mind float between image and spellcraft as it would. Out here, she would quickly veil herself at the approach of anyone new, but she often was distracted enough that they might catch her in her true form with her all unaware.

Around them, the Inn hummed and buzzed with the happy energy of winter giving way to spring. The most patient and subtle would undoubtedly note the undercurrents of tension, fear, frustration, and boredom that built up over time. But for day, at least so far as this four were aware, the worst of it had been suspended, in favor of enjoying warm sun and the company of friends.

[OOC: GP. It's a gorgeous day. Come and play! All four of mine can be available. Ping me if you're inspired to tag. <3 Welcome, Carol, Toby, and Number Five!]
st_ratagem: (frost giant)
[personal profile] st_ratagem
Thor and Loki got an early start, because there was a lot to do. Almost two weeks to the day since their first small-but-successful experiment with snow, Loki was confident that he'd improved enough for a bigger experiment. Still snow, because Thor wanted it and it did seem like a decent way to try something big-ish without causing Loki unnecessary grief with the other residents. (It was an arrival day, so there would perhaps be some grief with any new arrivals, but that was entirely acceptable.)

It was before dawn when they went out into the grounds. Thor called up clouds and loaded them with water so they hung low and heavy, covering the sky so that the sun, when it rose, wouldn't ruin the event. Loki took his frost giant shape and staff (now very familiar to his hand) and concentrated on dropping the temperature. Just around the Inn and grounds, but that was enough to be serious effort.

When the snow first started, the flakes were big and wet, and melted as soon as they hit the ground, which was still on the warm side. As they melted, they cooled the ground. After an hour or so, the flakes were smaller and more powdery - real snow, not glorified slush - and they were starting to stick to the ground.

By mid-morning, the Inn and grounds were covered with a thick layer of snow, and it continued to fall.

***

Meanwhile, indoors and inspired by the snow, Hurley and Xavin decided to try and make cookies. Cooking together was fun, since neither of them exactly knew what they were doing apart from 'follow the recipe', but since the point was 'try to make cookies' they ended up with a lot of cookies. Sugar cookies, gingerbread, all kinds.

There was no way they'd be able to eat all of them.

Instead, they loaded them onto trays and hauled them to the cafe, then brought out various frostings and candies for decorating. This had been completely intentional. Completely.
st_recuerdame: (Spirit Dante)
[personal profile] st_recuerdame
Miguel, with the help of Mack, Mia, and Carlos, was able to put up decorations and flyers all over the inn telling about Dia De Los Muertos. Carlos had helped make the food for the offrendas that people wanted to put up. There were picado banners strung between the temple door and some tables around it. He had set up his ofrenda outside of the temple and of course with Vax's help got the area inside the temple all cleaned up and special if people wanted to go inside and put little welcoming and celebrations of their friends or family that have left there instead of outside.

He very carefully lit a couple of the candles on his table once the sun went down. Miguel had been able to find some marigolds and with permission, picked a few to put the petals around his area. He had a picture of his family that had arrived in his egg and a picture of Scanlan on his phone. Miguel didn't know how to print it off to use it so he had his phone on his ofrenda, with the picture up. Sure his friend had gone home rather than to the Land of the Dead, but he was gone from the inn so that counted. At least it did in Miguel's mind.

His guitar was tucked in his lap where he sat cross legged by a plate of sugar skulls and began to play what he'd been playing this time last year with his little sister and family. Proud Corazon.

Dante sat next to Miguel, with an eye toward the food. He was tempted, but he didn't. He knew how much this meant to Miguel and the others here. He wondered with the veil so thin, if others would be able to see him as the Spirit Guide he was, or if he would look like a Xolo dog still to them.
st_accato: (centaur buffy)
[personal profile] st_accato
Buffy had seen the box of costumes appear in the inn but she just assumed that it was for the party. Just like with Ethan, her 'Slayer sense' didn't tingle at all. If it had, she so wouldn't have chosen the blow up centaur outfit but she'd thought it was funny. The joke was on her apparently.

~*~*~*~

Out in the area by the stables, a blonde centaur stood, completely confused at being solo without her herd. Her hooves pawed at the ground in nervous energy, before she began to explore the landscape. Maybe she would find her family and friends.





[Note: Buffy looks like this]
st_unaligned: (Worried Confused)
[personal profile] st_unaligned
Dyson had been kind enough to acquiesce to Bo's request to find a wild turkey and bring it back so she could make a Thanksgiving turkey. He had told her he would cook it over a fire, but Bo was determined to make the turkey the proper way with stuffing and whatever. She wanted there to be at least a little bit of home here and channeling her energy into this felt a lot more productive right now than waiting for Regina and Dyson to figure out how to get the arch to actually be magical so it could be used as the first trial.

So when the fire alarm sounded from the kitchen, it was probably a bad sign. So was the smoke that seeped through the cracks of the kitchen door.


Bo coughed as she waved a cloth at the oven and then retrieved a very burned turkey from the oven. Charred might be a better descriptor. She coughed and set the pan on the counter. "I swear I followed the directions to the letter."

Except she had used Celsius instead of Fahrenheit.
st_artingpoint: (fighter)
[personal profile] st_artingpoint
Jane had a lot of restless energy lately. Most of that was due to the attack at the inn as well as all the thoughts about Asgard, Sif, Thor and the Warriors three. The best way that she had of getting rid of that pent up energy was kickboxing. It allowed her to hit something and to think which was a nice combination.

There were so many question especially after talking to Tony and the possibility that the American government working with Asgard or on their own could have taken and changed her memories from Sif. The possibility was real, but with the memories and dreams that she'd had since waking up at the inn, she could also be Jane/Remy/Alice from South Africa and New York. As she told Liz, Jane wasn't sure if she wanted to Sif or Jane, but the truth was, she wanted to know. But, she also didn't want to know. It was nice to think that she had an 'exotic' background of being from Asgard and friends with the god of Thunder. That was a nicer life than a daughter of murdered Apartheid protestors and raised to be a soldier by first the government of South Africa and then by Ellen Briggs or how she was known by the FBI - Shepherd.

At the thought of how she might have been raised, her fists and leg hit the bag with added force. It wasn't long before she needed to take a break and some water. Jane reached for a towel to wipe the sweat and to reach for a bottle of water. Maybe she'd go for a swim after this.


~*~*~*~*~ By the pool~*~*~*~

After a nice workout that helped with the energy, Jane had changed into her bikini and swam a few laps. The laps had been to cool off and clear her thoughts, both of which helped. Now, she felt like a slug so instead of toweling off and going back to her room, she relaxed against the back of the lounge chair and let the sun dry her. One of the benefits of having Molly for a friend was that as soon as she sat on the lounge chair, a bottle of cold beer was delivered to her from the pool bar. She didn't even have to ask for it. It was nice. Now, if someone could just send her over a slice of pizza to go with the beer, she'd be good.
st_illavirgin: (Beach)
[personal profile] st_illavirgin
Carlos hated being back at the hotel. He had begun by trying to access the Nevernever but that had totally failed, then caught up with Buffy to go and visit both London and Edinburgh, for varying reasons, and the rest of the time he had headed to Spain - he may have been well travelled, but rarely got time to be a tourist - but his time relaxing and finding out about Spain had been unceremoniously cut short when he woke up and found himself back at the hotel. For a few moments he lay there, utterly fed up, and just feeling incredibly homesick.

That only lasted a few minutes; after that he was a man on a mission.

He hunted out Caroline, and had a long chat with her. Plans were set. Time to cook up a storm. They'd missed 4th July, this could serve as a belated celebration, as well as a 'things ain't all bad here' event. Posters went up throughout the hotel, giving notice of a cook out. Everyone was encouraged to attend. What could be bad about this?

Grills were set up outside to cook up as much meat as they could hold; non-meat options were there as well for variety; salads prepared... a vast array of food to try and cheer up anyone who needed it. Carlos took his place at the grills, brandishing tools, turning the meat over just at the right point.

All that was needed now was people to attend.

[ooc: Use as a general gathering post - if you want Carlos specifically, tag him in the subject line]
st_accato: (Buffy with Stake)
[personal profile] st_accato
As soon as she'd seen the brochures for Dracula Tours, Buffy wasn't going to pass that up so after a week of touring England and Scotland with Carols, she decided to take a trip to Transylvania. Seriously, who knew that was a real place?

It was hard, really, really hard to bite her tongue when the guide began to talk about the legend of Dracula as they walked through his castle. Her brow knit as she tried to remember where she'd heard the name Tepes before. Maybe it was from one of those cheesy black and white Dracula movies. When the guide began to talk about vampires, she couldn't help herself and made a small pffft sound. "That is so not true." She muttered under her breath.
st_illsinging: (O Really?)
[personal profile] st_illsinging
Scanlan was bored. Even when he had 'settled' in Ank'Harel, there had been things to do and ways to keep busy. Here, there were no thugs or skeletons or even, gods forbid, dragons. For a while Scanlan had been happy about it, but now he realized there was something to be said about being home where shit hit the fan more often than not.

He was set up outside, since it was a fantastic day, by the pool in a chair. There was a sign that read 'Free Personalized Songs' and he currently had his lute in his lap. His shawm was on a small table beside him. He was currently strumming softly.
st_arlord: (Smug)
[personal profile] st_arlord
It had been a few days stuck in an Inn that Quill thought was pretty fantastic except for the fact he was stuck there. It was a place he would bring Gamora, but first he needed to find Gamora. In order to find Gamora, he needed to be back him. This was the main problem.

He was thankful that he could get his nose healed. It looked good-as-new and still one of his best features.

Currently he was looking over the bakery goods. Brownies are classic, but the cupcakes look equally as good
st_igmatized: (Two cultures)
[personal profile] st_igmatized
Sunny made a point of staying out of Emma’s way during the mealtime rushes (unless her help was requested for whatever reason), but aside from that she liked spending time in the kitchens. Cooking was one of the ways she stayed connected to home and family while she was away. In London it had been half necessity since she’d needed to cook for herself. Here at the Madonna it was more meditation and mental health exercise. She didn't need to cook to eat, but she needed to cook to keep the homesickness at bay.

And since she’d gotten her Easter egg, she could do this right. Inside had lay some tainted peppers (good for magical recipes) and several mundane spices that the Madonna's kitchen just didn't have. She’d need to talk to Regina about planting the seeds at some point, but for right now, she was busy making herself some tainted pepper soup, a staple food as far as Leopard People were concerned. She was making it mild, though ‘mild’ for anything with tainted peppers was still pretty fiery (Sasha liked his hot because apparently he hated having taste buds, something even Chichi wasn’t stupid enough to agree with). Sugar Cream had taught her this recipe, and the act of cooking it always made Sunny think of her strict but loving mentor.

This was something she was going to do alone because the dish was rather demanding. Isong’s slim green book lay open on the counter, and her green knife beside, though she didn’t use it to chop. Still, this was a shared kitchen, between those who worked here regularly, those who came in to talk to them, and those who came in to make their own food.

“I wouldn’t touch that,” she said casually to the presence behind her. “That soup tends to explode if you’re sloppy with it.”
st_alksthroughwalls: (research frustration)
[personal profile] st_alksthroughwalls
The morning sun broke through leftover clouds, warming their backs as they ran. They'd been keeping up a running banter on the subject of Easter, Passover, and April Fool's Day, and what the Inn might do about any of them.

"Head first, obviously," Steph said, as they topped a rise.

"Totally. Feet first is just cruel," Kitty agreed, even though she was hardly an expert on the subject of chocolate Easter bunnies.

"Anyway, it's just not Easter without peep-jousting."

"Hey, it could happen." Kitty winced at the image of giant peeps having a medieval tournament on the main lawn and Ghostbusters-style marshmallow goo everywhere. An almost literal shudder passed over her at another thought, "Pray we don't get April Fool's versions of the Ten Plagues."

"That doesn't sound like comedy," Steph said.

"My point exactly." They hit the end of their route and turned to head back. "The Inn only thinks it's funny."

A few minutes passed in near silence as Kitty thought about all the ways this could go horribly wrong. Steph's, "Huh," broke her contemplation, and she followed the direction of Steph's pointing.

"Somehow," Steph said, "I didn't think an Easter egg hunt was even an option."

* * *
Whether Steph and Kitty were the first to discover the brightly colored eggs that didn't seem to want to open or not, they were definitely not the only ones. By the time they hauled a few eggs back to the cafe, showered and returned, the eggs were starting to pile up. So far, none of them were open, even though there were clearly items of varying weights inside.

"I really hope those aren't new arrivals," Kitty said to no one in particular, because there were just too many ways the Inn could play with death, dough, risen and rise.
st_raighttovampire: (Cheer)
[personal profile] st_raighttovampire
Caroline had been planning this dance for two months and two weeks, no thanks to the Inn deciding to suddenly open up a door to a space station right when she had originally scheduled the event. It was going to be perfect. The last week had been about decorating the ballroom properly, building on a fifties theme, even though most of the guests wouldn't get the reference.  She didn't really care if they did. It looked great no matter what.

Food was plentiful - provided by both guests working in the kitchens and the bakery to turn out fun, festival and cute finger foods and desserts. She'd set up the buffet tables herself, made sure the chafers had sternos to keep the hot dishes hot.  Drinks were provided at three locations around the room as well, with shifts divided between those who generally did the bartending.

Music was a mix of live and recorded and Caroline made sure that no one would end up playing too long if they didn't want to. Plus she wanted to be sure there were plenty of dance tracks and slow dances for the lovebirds in the crowd. Just because she was single didn't mean she couldn't appreciate love. 

 As she flipped on the stereo system, she had a nagging feeling like she was forgetting something, but she wasn't sure what. Oh well, at least people were starting to arrive.
st_oryinsilence: (gym days)
[personal profile] st_oryinsilence
There was a trope that in prison there wasn't much to do except work out or read. As colorful as Madonna Inn might be, it was still a prison. And look, somebody had put together a library.

Put fifty some people, many of them military, adventurers, vigilantes, or superheroes of one stripe or another, in a prison with none of the urgent missions or near-death experiences they were used to, the fitness center was going to be a popular place. Maybe almost as popular as the bar.

... Probably not quite that popular.

There were free weights and weight machines, treadmills and ellipticals, yoga mats and exercise balls. A room set aside for classes, if someone decided to lead. A large square had been taped over an area of the floor off to one side as a make-shift sparring space. Sports equipment had been brought back from Bonesville for those who preferred more organized games. And those who had been stuck here longest remembered there hadn't always been a salmon ladder.

In other words, something for just about everybody. And you could usually find someone in there if you were looking for a spotter, workout buddy, sparring partner, friendly competition too.
st_accato: (Default)
[personal profile] st_accato
Time always seemed to get away from Buffy, especially when days flowed into months and months flowed into a year. It didn’t seem possible that she had been in the Inn for a little over a year. A year without her friends. A year without her mom. A year without Giles. She wondered what they were all doing. She still missed them, a lot, but it was also a year of new friends. A year of Carlos.

The year had been eventful to put it mildly, but she wanted to do something special with Carlos. Buffy hadn’t wanted to do it Valentine’s Day, there was too much complex feels about that and the Cupid magical whammy of last year. The day after was perfect. It was like an anniversary of actual feels rather than of manufactured ones.

Because she liked Carlos, Buffy didn’t offer to cook and because he cooked, she didn’t want to go to the restaurant. It would be too much like a busman’s holiday for him. Instead, they’d agreed on a picnic under the stars. Nice, romantic and neither one had to cook. When she’d gone to get a bottle of wine for them, she’d heard the news that Wyatt had left, which only confirmed that life was short. Something Buffy and Carlos were well aware of in their lives back home. Carpe diem.

She shifted the basket to her other hand as she knocked on Carlos’ door. Buffy planned to seize the day or at least as many opportunities as possible before Fate stepped in and kicked her in the teeth like with Kitty and Wyatt.

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