strangetrip | Entries tagged with mildmay foxe

CW: severe alcoholism.

( But then, I'm gonna drink that, and then I'm gonna pass out. )

That was how Jackson ended up taking a rather radical route to understanding and memorization. Some markers, the clinic walls, and his books. Drawing anatomical schemes, outlining the steps in one surgery after another, listing drugs and their posology. Laying that information out, actively rephrasing and rearranging it in a way that would hopefully help it all stick with him.

He fully expected the Inn to do its thing and wipe the clinic walls clean during the night, but that wasn't an issue, on the contrary. It meant that he could start over in the morning. But for now, the clinic looked an awful lot like a madman's den, with Jackson ready to play the part, his hair mussed up, his clothes rumpled, and exhaustion darkening circles under his eyes. The smell of tobacco lingered in the air, and the ashtray on Jackson's desk overflowed with cigarette butts, when he was usually so good about stepping outside for a smoke. He hadn't wanted to step away today, and they so rarely got patients anyway.

st_ackeddeck

It didn't take any sort of precognitive abilities to predict some kind of shenanigans on the first of April. Many of the people stuck in the bubble world of the Madonna Inn were from times and places where April Fools' Day pranks were normal, expected... (in many cases) minor annoyances. And then there were the residents who remembered the strange egg hunt from a year ago, and the sometimes confusing explanations of the two holidays falling on the same day and how that related.

Also, life at the inn could be interminable. After a while, people started hoping for some kind of strangeness to happen, just to break up the monotony of being trapped in a kitschy no-snow globe.

So, no. You didn't have to be a mutant fortune teller to expect some kind of joke being pulled. But Emma was, and even she had no idea what was coming, other than it was going to be frustrating and topsy-turny, and the visions she'd been getting from the tarot – and way more reversals than was usual or healthy in her experience – were even less clear than usual.

She definitely didn't foresee waking up without the powers that were as much a part of her as her heart. Or just as suddenly having powers she had no idea how to control. But she did, and she had*, and she was far from the only one. The same thing was happening to people all around the inn.

(*Not to worry. The singe marks should be gone in a day or so. Right?)

[Powers swap GP! Tag in. Tag around. It's a time for out and about at the inn coping (or not) with powers gained (or lost).]

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_onecoldfox

Date: 26 december 2018

It was bad enough Winter Fever'd got Mildmay by the short hairs again, but then Kolkhis had to show up and take him and Corbie for bloody walk down memory lane.

[Here | rating (pg-13?) | status (completed) | murder]

Date: 16 january 2019

Corbie had held off while Mildmay was so sick, but once he was feeling more himself, they had to talk about what had happened with Kolkhis.

[Here | rating (pg-13?) | status (completed) | ]

st_rikingblueeyes

After Corbie offers Thor help with the warding and understanding of his dreams, she gets to lesson planning. And flailing.

November 19 Day before lesson she flails at Mildmay about her ability to teach anybody anything.

[ Here | rating pg? | status: completed | idek, language? ]

November 20 Day of first lesson she flails afterward at Jackson that maybe she has no idea how love works and she's going to die alone.

[ Here | rating pg? | status: completed | idek, language? ]

st_illfleshandblood

It was a generally accepted notion that anything at all was possible, when it came to the Madonna Inn. And yet Jackson had never thought that he might ever be faced with two Corbies (not even in his wildest dreams, which had now been upgraded). But more than that, he had never thought that he might ever find himself babysitting for one of them.

And yet here he was, lying on his back on one of the couches in the bar, the infant sitting on his stomach and playing with his stethoscope. She had taken a liking to it when he had showed her the clinic. A glass of whisky sat abandoned on the table that partially obscured Jackson from view; both of his hands were keeping the baby girl upright on his stomach, and thus much too busy to hold the glass.

"In the North Sea lived a whale," he was singing to the kid, the most innocent song he could think of, "Big in bone and large in tail. This whale used unduly To swagger and bully, And oh! and oh! The ladies loved him so... All went well until one day Came a strange fish in the bay. This fish was indeed, oh! A Woolwich Torpedo! But oh! but oh! The big whale did not know... 'Just you make tracks,' cried the whale, Then he lashed out with his tail. The fish being loaded, Then and there exploded, And oh! and oh! That whale was seen no mo'..."

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_rikingblueeyes

Date: 6/26/18

Following Jackson and River's bus stunt, Corbie finds out about it from the local news and starts to panic because of course she expected idiot, but not this much idiot. Luckily Mildmay's protectiveness means he can help her figure out how to handle this.

[Here | PG? | status (completed) | idek language I guess?]

st_huntermom

Mary was helping Caroline with providing the sweets for the party - cupcakes, cookies, Rice Krispies, and a bunch of other things. There was 'real food' provided by the restaurant. there were alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks all themed for the event of Halloween and there is even music to. Caroline's decorating skills where again proven as the entire space looked as if it had been turned into Halloweentown.

Mary's at the last tray of cupcakes that look like they had spiders on them down on the table and sighed. Her work for the party was done and now she can relax. She was already in costume with some blue and pink streaks in her hair and a t-shirt that hung up one shoulder that had a skull in the front. Her makeup was indicative of a punk rocker and she even had a fake nose ring on. Now all she had to hope was that Hathaway was going to keep up his end of the bargain or else she might look up at silly.

st_ubby

( secrets and thieves and things done in the septad-night )

~*~*~*~*~

( deliver the light of the Dawnfather )

st_oneswidow

The woodwinds in her collection were for noodling mostly, and the violin was for memory of her family, but when Curnen really wanted to play she turned again and again to her guitar. This would probably always be her best instrument. It was the first of the month, she’d been here over a year, and it was probably a check-in day. So she sat on the lawn with her instrument in her lap, sending out a subtle magic to call anyone stranded in their little world this way.

At one point, though, she set aside the guitar and turned her face to the sky. For just a few minutes she required a different kind of magic.

It had been a week now since Scanlan had vanished in the battle. And Pike, too, though Curnen honestly couldn’t have cared less about her going away if she tried. Still. The two of them were family to people very dear to her, people who missed them. And Scanlan had been her friend. You marked something like that with a song.

Of all the money that e'er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

It was a traditional Irish goodbye, a farewell to friends said with love, drinking, well wishes, and the hope of meeting again. She couldn’t think of a better one for the occasion. And as she sang she twined her magic into her voice in a new way, sending the song to any ears that needed it, ears of those who knew and missed the departed. Not all of them might understand it, not all of them knew what she was, but she didn’t particularly care about that right now. The song was more important than the hiding.

Once the last note had dissipated she picked up her guitar again and resumed her work. If there were anybody out there, they had to know where to go.

st_ratagem

That morning, Loki had finally gotten around to the piece of paper he'd been handed along with his room key, and... well, it was definitely interesting. Apparently not checking in for two weeks in favor of scouting the Inn as a kitten meant that he'd been involuntarily assigned to 'community service' in the infirmary.

It was ridiculous. He wasn't a healer. Oh, ~~his mother~~ ~~Frigga~~ his mother had tried to teach him healing magic, and the theory had been easy enough, but barring one or two minor successes healing his brother of minor injuries, the practical had always escaped him. Eventually his mother had removed healing from his lessons, and not long after that Loki himself had stopped trying.

It was ridiculous.

It didn't matter, though, where he did his reading and thinking, and at least waving vaguely in the direction of being productive would probably very slightly soothe the fears of anyone who thought he, for example, made a habit out of flinging people out of windows. (He'd only done that once. It wasn't a habit.)

Therefore he swung by the library, relieved it of all the medical texts a quick rummage presented, hauled the books to the clininc, and staked out a desk area more or less out of the way. As nearly as he could tell, anyway; regardless, a small wall made of books hopefully separated him nicely from anyone looking for help.

st_rikingblueeyes

When Sunny had arrived to take over in the library, she passed an envelope to Corbie explaining, "For you and Mildmay. I had these printed the last time we were let out."

Corbie had been confused of course, but she'd taken her surprise down with her to the cafe before she opened it. Immediately, the whole world just stopped. It felt like a star leaping in her belly. Like, at least just for that one moment, nothing would ever be wrong again. Because while most of the faces in the pictures she was looking at were unfamiliar--later she might realize that Coby was in the background of one, wearing a completely idiotic sweater--each picture had one person in common. A tall, thin man with long red curls and mismatched yellow and blue eyes, beautiful as daylight, proud as a peacock, and bearing a striking resemblance to Mildmay.

Felix.

She had talked about this with Coby before, but it had not truly seemed real, not at the time. Hell, it didn't seem real now. He was not... well, for lack of a better way to put it, he was not her Felix. This man was younger, of an age with Mildmay, whereas she knew the brothers had something like six or so years between them. There was also no white in his hair (and it was not as long), which she knew he'd gotten on his travels and he was less than proud of it. But that smile, that stance, that affected boredom, that teasing, that was Felix. That was Felix.

She had, she realized, been afraid. Been so very afraid of forgetting his face. And oh, the memories that rushed to her then, sitting together on that rickety cot for her first lessons, the light and almost breathless way he spoke, the way she felt like she'd had sunlight poured directly into her when he'd told her, 'You've made excellent progress. I'm proud of you.'

Her heart raced and her stomach fluttered and her hands shook and Corbie laughed and cried all at once. Her witchlights, little glowing purple chrysanthemums, bloomed all around her. She hardly took notice.

[ooc: So Corbie got photographs of an AU!Felix from another game because RP is weird. Her crush is showing.]

st_ormbreaker

Thor had a decent enough time in Europe. He's traversed many parts of Midgard before and even visited Jane briefly when she was doing her scientific research in London, but he never seemed to stay anywhere on Earth for very long. In hindsight, that was probably a contributing factor in their decision to break up. Their, Thor insists -- not her.

He quickly identified that this wasn't his Earth, though. As much as unpleasant as the circumstances on his Earth were, he needed to return to it and finish what he had failed to finish before.

Though his attempt to teleport back to Earth failed when he first arrived here, he was thoroughly convinced it was a fluke. With enough of an effort, he could live this place; he'd eventually overpower whatever dark magics possessed this place, no matter how powerful their captors were. If he could summon the power of the Bifrost, he rationalized, surely he could leave this place.

That, perhaps, is why Thor has been persistently trying to teleport, and his efforts only land him in one place in the hotel, and then another.

The rainbow light of the Bifrost appears only a second before he does, but once he arrives, he surveys his new surroundings with a frown and a critical eye.

"No, didn't work," he says to himself.

[OOC: Feel free to have Thor arrive wherever in the Inn. I'm willing to roll with whatever situation you want to throw him in.]

st_igmatized

Sunny like any albino did not have perfect eyes. Better than most, good enough that she could get by without any aid most of the time, but when she did something that involved a good deal of eye strain like extended reading or computer use, she wore glasses.

It was her time on shift in the library, and as usual—as all places in the inn—it was fairly quiet. Meaning Sunny was getting some work done, studying Hebrew and thinking where to go next with Kitty and Igbo. She spoke to herself in each of these languages in turn, translating words and phrases from one language into the other to help her cement, inspire, create, and flex her mental muscles.

“Hovercraft m juputara azu arira. Haraḥefet sheli mele'a betzlofaḥim.” She grinned at her computer. “My hovercraft is full of eels.”

She felt and heard more than saw someone approach the desk, looking up and lowering her glasses to see who it was. She expected it was probably someone wanting to check out or return a book.

“Wetin?” she asked, leaning hard into her most Nigerian accent. What is it? It was a word she sometimes whipped out when she was on duty and never translated. Everybody usually picked up the gist of it from the context.

st_igmatized

It was a musical day at the Madonna Inn, both inside and out. Curnen had taken her usual place up on the roof and was singing charms to the sky to keep any wanderers from getting lost (though that part of it was not immediately obvious). Unrelated to that, Sunny was on the dance floor in the bar, summoning songs of her own with her knife to keep her moving before she went to do her shift at the library later. It was one of those days where if she thought about it too hard she’d start thinking about that empty bed in her shitty room and the person she most wanted to be there.

This of course eventually seeped into her magic. She knew better. Maybe she’d even wanted that to happen.

Because just once, between different pop hits and dance beats came a rather unexpected French love song. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but the exasperation didn’t last. Before the lyrics started up she was waltzing. By herself and not caring how it might have looked. And for those three and a half minutes, she dared let herself hope for the slimmest chance that Orlu might come through that door.

She didn’t let herself hope too hard, though. There was admitting to feeling things and there was setting yourself up for certain disappointment. She’d lived too long with disappointment to do that to herself.

st_abby

The calendar of "Kahl-ee-Fornea" was very different to that of Tal'Dorei. But the spring dance had been a good reminder for the Exandrians (one of them, anyway) that the Renewal Festival would take place more or less this time of year, landing always on the thirteenth day of Dulahei. It seemed a fitting time to set the 'small family dinner' in celebration of the marriage of Vex and Percy.

...Yeah, but no. Because Vax'ildan didn't mind a bit of revenge for their having done the thing without so much as telling him for several weeks, and because his sister always deserved the best of everything anyway, the garden had a whopping lot more than that for the happy couple as they opened the doors onto what first looked like pitch blackness. Until the big, white-hot spotlight snapped abruptly on to glare down on top of the pair with blinding scrutiny.

A familiar voice sang out from beyond, his ever-charming booming and crooning amplified to fill the whole of the outdoors by something called a 'microphone,' Scanlan using all his singular panache to belt out a melodic tune:

"There she is, Mrs. De Rolo
There she is, your ideal
The dreams of a million boys and girls who want to find love in Emon City
For Vex may turn out to more than Baroness of the first house of Whitestone and Grand Mistress of the Hunt
There he is, Mr. De Rolo
There he is, your ideal
With so much brooding and tinkering he took the town by storm
With his all-Whitestone face and form
And there they are
Walking on air, he is
Fairest of the fair, she is
There they are - Mr. and Mrs. De Rolooooooooooo~"

A resounding wave of applause, murmuring, cheers, and laughter broke out all around the newlyweds - one such unbridled merry cackle absolutely coming from the bride's brother - and Scanlan's tone changed immediately to a much more vibrant, excited, sporting-event-enthusiasm style of announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen - it's the DE ROLO FAMILY!"

The strands of bulb lighting popped into yellow-soft brightness all at once, revealing the guests gathered around dozens of tables artfully set with dinner places enough for everyone at the Inn. Each table included flowers, linens, and garlands all matched in smart Whitestone-Blue, darker Owlbear-Blue, black and white with touches of gold accents, all thanks to Caroline's management. The outdoor area so far as one could see had been dressed in one of Lillith's illusions to mimic a beautiful forest clearing at purple-dusk with fireflies dancing, the shapes of buildings and foothills in the distance distinctly cast to look like the city and castle of Whitestone. Ignis and Emma stood by putting a few final touches on what they'd all started calling 'fancy barbecue,' an enormous buffet of haute cuisine smoked and grilled meats with artful sides, a table beside them holding up the massive layer cake Pike had tirelessly fussed into perfection. So many others had come together to help or to wish the de Rolos well - but there would be plenty of time over the evening for them to be thanked and recognized with food, drink, song - there was even an area marked out as a dance floor.

A freshly bathed Trinket in his very own bowtie lumbered up to Vex'ahlia to rumble and lick her face as the pair finally had a moment to react to the spectacle. At ground-level, a small disc-like device with a large serving spoon taped to it had been labeled with marker as Ensign Stubby, rolling its way between tables and chairs while balancing a large, many-times-stabbed basket of flower petals (with a handful left nestled in its giant spoon) on top of its flat surface like a drunken flower girl to finally bump into Vex and Percy's shoes. ...And possibly the best thing about their stunning surprise? That Peter boy had got the whole thing on VHS.

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.

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Strange Trip

December 2019

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Page Summary

st_illfleshandblood - OTA: First, I'm gonna drink this, and then I'm gonna throw up.
st_ackeddeck - GP: April Fools!
st_oriedqueen - Check-In Day: Around the Inn
st_onecoldfox - [link drop] Ghosts of Winter: Who I Used to Be (Mildmay & Corbie)
st_rikingblueeyes - [Linkdrop] Tiny wizard flail
st_illfleshandblood - Rock-a-bye sweet baby Bonnie (Open - Dec 23)
st_ratagem - [GP] SNOW DAY
st_rikingblueeyes - Corbie European Vacation Linkdrop
st_huntermom - [GP] Halloween Party
st_ubby - [OTA] Night and Day (Mildmay or Vex)
st_oneswidow - [GP/EP] Check-in Day
st_ratagem - [EP] Community service for some reason
st_rikingblueeyes - [EP] I feel the best and most precious part of me leap - OTA
st_ormbreaker - A Thor-ny Situation - Open
st_igmatized - [EP] My hovercraft is full of eels - OTA
st_igmatized - [GP/EP] Check-in Day
st_abby - [GP] The De Rolo Wedding Reception
st_alksthroughwalls - Check-In: Easter Fool's Day

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Strange Trip

You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave

Entries tagged with mildmay foxe

OTA: First, I'm gonna drink this, and then I'm gonna throw up.

GP: April Fools!

Check-In Day: Around the Inn

[link drop] Ghosts of Winter: Who I Used to Be (Mildmay & Corbie)

[Linkdrop] Tiny wizard flail

Rock-a-bye sweet baby Bonnie (Open - Dec 23)

[GP] SNOW DAY

Corbie European Vacation Linkdrop

[GP] Halloween Party

[OTA] Night and Day (Mildmay or Vex)

[GP/EP] Check-in Day

[EP] Community service for some reason

[EP] I feel the best and most precious part of me leap - OTA

A Thor-ny Situation - Open

[EP] My hovercraft is full of eels - OTA

[GP/EP] Check-in Day

[GP] The De Rolo Wedding Reception

Check-In: Easter Fool's Day

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December 2019

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