EVENT 01: Welcome to the Pentagon!

[unrequite]

WELCOME TO THE PENTAGON!

Picture a Las Vegas sized hotel, but with no casino. It's just very big. And there is no gift shop.

The Pentagon welcomes you...

You wake up from a doze seated in a firm lobby chair. Walked through a set of automatic sliding doors, bag in tow. Where did you get that bag? Listen, don't worry about it.

- All guests to the Pentagon arrived with a medium-sized standard rolling bag. It is filled with any items they would have brought with them if they had time to pack a standard rolling bag before they left. Weapons are okay!
- All guests may bring one living animal. The animal will retain any powers it may have as long as it is not worldbreaking.
- All guests will have their powers. They will not be allowed to use it to break the world. They may break other things, but they will be pulled aside by one of the receptionists for a Talking To. They may be barred from the hotel for the night and it gets cold outside the Pentagon!
- Guests are not limited to standard entry to the hotel. However, if they break hotel property upon entry, they will be expected to pay for repairs. Method of payment will come as soon as I'm not fuckballs tired.

Things to do:

- Check in! There is a handy dandy receptionist at the front desk ready to take your name and your reservation. Yes, you have a reservation! It's here, in this shared suite. You don't remember making that reservation? What a pity. Well, while we get you resituated in the system, I suppose you will have to make peace with your roommate. Please don't fuck up your relationship with your roommate, that would be so terribly awkward. If you would like to trade rooms, that is fine, but please notify the front desk with all involved parties with the details of the room change! Also, please allow one day for admin to catch up with bookings before you trade rooms! Try to be nice to your one night roomie okay okay

- Get breakfast! A free continental breakfast is served from 6 am to 10 am. Please come by for fresh food!

- Chill in the lobby! When it isn't doubling as the breakfast area, the lobby area functions as both a waiting room, a meeting place, and a chill seating area in case you don't want to eat your gas station hotdog at the gas station like a neanderthal. wow.

- Find your room!

Each suite has a:
- kitchenette (one pot, one pan, plastic silverware, paper plates and bowls. no food. that's at the gas station across the street.)
- microwave
- fridge (with drinks! you will have to pay for them if you take them. it's going to be Esspensive.)
- two beds (small, but very comfy)
- bathroom with bath and shower (with standard toiletries. if you need more, you can call the front desk! there are towels, but if you make a real mess, call the front desk for fresh ones.)
- toilet (no bidet)
- closet (3 hangers, one extra set of sheets, one extra comforter, two extra pillows, a small ironing board, an iron)
- shared side table (two drawer compartments, one for each bed; there are outlets for electronics)
- wardrobe (just one, but it's big! please share.)
- desk with rolling chair (just one! again, please share. also: a notepad with a cheap ballpoint pen, a phone, and a phone directory for standard hotel amenities)
- pullout bed couch (for more guests! this bed is far less comfy than the standard beds.)
- television (with standard cable and standard trash programming. nothing particular stands out about the programming.)

- book shop? ... There is a bookshop where the gift shop should be. Where did it come from? Perhaps it's always been there, in the same way the faceless staff of the Pentagon have always been there. There is currently caution tape over the front entrance. Although the entrance isn't locked, it is not advised to enter the bookshop early. Who knows what might happen (the people who were in the City knows what will happen no don't touch that—)

- gas station? across the street? The street stretches into the horizon. This place is flat. so very flat. but there's a gas station.

- fresh produce (limited, but good variety. may be slightly wilted.)
- standard basic groceries (including pet food for your Living Creatures)
- liquor section (we in the south now boyzzz)
- lotto ticket machine (?)
- chargers/small electronics
- wall o candy
- basic amenities and toiletries(fancier than hotel amenities but not by much)
- magazines!
- slushy machine
- coffee machine
- rolling hotdogs
- hot fast food
- car maintenance products. you know. for your car
- gas station guy. nice guy

How do you pay? the gas station guy will charge it to your room! Who's paying for your room? Erm. Tehe. pero

You can also go to the gas station guy and buy a bus ticket to Sin City for a vacay. Sin City is great! Lots to do in Sin City. Buses to Sin City leave every Wednesday evening — don't be late! However, after a month at maximum, you will be back in your room in the Pentagon. Guess the hotel likes you!

Other hotel amenities. This hotel isn't 5 star, but it isn't 3 star either! Standard fancy hotel amenities, such as a small gym, a pool and sauna, a well maintained laundry room, a small spa, and a business center with computers and print station also exist. The only amenity that does not exist is the standard fancy hotel restaurant. Make your food yourselves!!

welcome nerds. enjoy your stay!

OOC:
- I will make a receptionist thread. please feel free to add your character to the queue for a randomly selected room! if you would like to also have a conversation with one of our three randomly selected receptionists, please say so in your comment. thank. EDIT: room assignments are here! please add any new characters to any random rooms you like. if you change rooms, please be sure to update the spreadsheet. thank yoooou
- i'll make up how to make money and pay for stuff later. for now please don't starve just buy stuff it's Fine
- electricity works. there's local internet but search engines bring up very little about the area. gps does NOT work (for now)
- uh that's it i'm tired please tell me if i missed anything

Comments

[glazing]

[ like a cat that's been bitten once and is now twice shy for it. flins smiles, and lets illuga do as he will, before he beckons him to follow him into the dining area. ]

Well, if you are volunteering, Young Master, I would hardly be opposed to that either.

[oathlantern]

I'm not! [Illuga swats at Flins as he hurries past, him, more for the sake of hiding the red crawling up his face.

The food left out has been thoroughly picked through by this point, but there's still a selection and Illuga gravitates to what he cooked most recently with certainty it's still warm.]

[glazing]

[ there's a soft, felt laugh that follows illuga, as gentle as a laid flame. along the way, he picks up an empty plate for illuga, careful to tread only in his footfalls.

conversationally, as he picks out a still-fresh salad for his young charge: ] You have cooked for the men and women here what you would usually make for the Lightkeepers' victory banquets.

[oathlantern]

There's quite a few of us here if you were counting. Besides, I was covering lunch and dinner.

[And he's gonna get himself some soup, some stuffed bread rolls, some mashed potato...]

[glazing]

[ as he surreptitiously picks up some of the fish for illuga as well- ] Perhaps there is merit in setting up a rotating schedule for cooking? Surely you don't intend on cooking for everyone on a daily basis.

[oathlantern]

Well, most of this stuff can be stored for a few days so I can take a break for other things. But I have a lot of free time right now. [Too much free time. More than he knows what to do with.] And I don't get the chance to cook like this as often anymore.

[glazing]

[ it's true, flins thinks. they haven't had a chance to break for a meal in some time now; they've also never had this many people. not at all at once. not alive.

another slice of fish, and some stew. protein, he's been informed, is something that humans need. ]

In that case, perhaps a change of location may be in order. Have you heard of the 'buses' here?

[oathlantern]

I saw a ticket booth. [Once he has his plate fully loaded, Illuga moves to sit down.] The only place it goes is "Sin City". I don't know if you can get to Nod-Krai from there.

[Also, the name seems a bit... on the nose. Illuga's not sure if he wants to confirm his suspicions.]

[glazing]

[ it's only fitting, then, that flins sits across from illuga. the table is far fancier than perhaps illuga is used to; for flins, it's a far cry from the opulance of the belyi tsar's court. he sets his lantern upon the table, and the shadow of the blue flames dance across the pale surface.

the wavering light reminds him a little of home. ]

Perhaps, and perhaps not. But the same as you have not cooked for such a group in a long time, neither have you had a chance to explore, no? I still remember the days where you were still young, and still had the habit of pretending that you didn't want to see each corner of Nod-Krai as it presented itself to you in our travels.

[oathlantern]

A patrol route isn't really a time to sight-see. [And that's his excuse, though Illuga has always been full of curiosity. Perhaps too much so.] Nor does the Wild Hunt wait for us to be ready. But it sounds like you've already been exploring this place.

[glazing]

You are not on patrol now, and neither am I. Though I will admit, like yourself, old habits never really die. [ deciding, however, there is too much speaking on illuga's part and not enough eating, he filches illuga's spoon so that he can scoop up for him a bite of stew. ] However, this may be an opportune time to formulate new habits.

[oathlantern]

That isn't what I meant--[Hey, spoon. Illuga attempts to just take it back.] Aren't you worried about how things are back home?

[glazing]

[ ohhhh their fingers touch... flins, pleased as anything, continues that upward motion with illuga's hand in tow towards illuga's mouth. ]

Do I seem unworried?

[oathlantern]

[As long as Illuga has control of the spoon this counts as feeding himself... though he does try to tug it free after the bite.]

You often do, no matter how close to the danger you are. I've never seen you anything less than confident.

[glazing]

[ flins relinquishes illuga's spoon, satisfied that the first bite has been achieved. the rest ought to get easier from here. though that leaves him with another matter to contend with: the angle of which he ought to take when responding.

he considers this as he sits back, contemplative. ]

That brings an interesting point, Young Master. You see, one can say that confidence and worry go hand in hand. It is in fact that I know that I have worried enough about what there is to come that I can be confident when the time arrives. From another perspective, when the new recruits see you stand in the front lines with your lamp in hand before danger unforetold, do they not see that same confidence and wonder about it?

[oathlantern]

[It's a farce, he thinks with some bitterness. A lie he tells them because they need a captain to rely on, but Illuga's never quite believed it. That's why he has back-ups, prevention, and long hours insuring every i is dotted and t crossed as if he can make up for his weakness by being meticulous.]

It's just hard to see this as a vacation when I didn't decide to go on it.

[glazing]

[ with the dip of his lashes: ] Whoever said that this is a vacation?

[oathlantern]

What kind of job would it be? [It's a genuine question as he looks up at Flins. They don't seem to have any purpose here.]

[glazing]

[ flins smiles. ]

It's reconnaissance, Young Master Illuga. What manner of battles do they fight in this realm? How are they able to survive? And if they fight no battles - what manner of peace have they managed to cultivate? Are these not aspects of a new land worth researching and bringing back to Nod-Krai?

[oathlantern]

[Illuga, about thirty minutes into Sin City, will not in fact believe there are any lessons to take back to Nod-Krai.

But for now, his gaze drops as he considers Flins' words. After a moment he looks up and nods.] Right, that makes sense. Even if it isn't the Wild Hunt, there are still things we can learn from other places. Tactics, prevention... recovery.

[glazing]

[ flins, thirty minutes into sin city, happily taking notes: ]

Precisely. That you can see it so clearly shows not only your character, but the hope you place upon the future of Nod-Krai. You are becoming a wise leader, one who can see beyond just the fight before us to the future that comes after.

[oathlantern]

[Illuga sighs.] But I still have a long ways to go, and anyway that doesn't mean I'll be the one making any decisions about Nod-Krai's future. So much has happened just in the past few weeks, who knows where we'll be in another ten years.

[glazing]

Leading the men into the future needs not someone capable of seeing ten years into the future. It merely needs someone who can see into tomorrow. It would give the men hope that you have a plan for peace.

[oathlantern]

And there are people more experienced than me that already do that. [He's not so ignorant that he doesn't see Nikita may want Illuga to succeed him, but is he really capable of that? If something were to happen tomorrow, Illuga's not sure he could do the Lightkeeper's right leading them. He can't even keep his squad safe.] But information doesn't need to be something only I can use. I'll make sure I bring thorough notes back to pops.

[glazing]

My. We'll need a nice, thick notebook for your endeavors, then. [ says flins with a pleased laugh. ] And pens enough so that you will never run dry of ink. But it's a fine start.

We worry about the future, Young Master, not what the past may or may not be.