psltagon | EVENT 01: Welcome to the Pentagon!

Entry tags:

ic: events

EVENT 01: Welcome to the Pentagon!

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ the second impact never comes, to the disappointment of evangelion fans everywhere. this is because kaveh is an architect who understands the inherent limitations of small fire axes, which will take nearly five to six strikes to break down a regular-sized door of a certain width. kaveh didn't have five to six strikes. by the third strike, midnight could be cowering beneath the bed.

a dendro-reinforced claymore crashes through the door at the next strike. splinters splatter across the floor, illuminated by a shade of particularly angry neon green. the green is emanating from kaveh, who narrows his eyes at midnight, and then begins to march forward the way battering rams do. ]

Oh, don't you dare! Because I absolutely will jump out of the window with you! Midnight!

[ The Vision. Midnight remembers Kaveh mentioning it, speaking to Cyno about it in passing, but ah. That's what it's like.

The window is open, but Midnight is plastered against the wall next to it, Netzach's exhortations for him not to move, Yesod's reassurance that they are coming, still glowing on the screen. Midnight squeezes his eyes shut and trembles. ]

Don't be silly. I would survive the fall easily. You would twist an ankle at the very least. At least let me go first to break your fall.

Absolutely not! If you are at all considering such a stupid way of resolving this, then I will jump out of that window first! Won't you like to know what it's like to chase after someone for a change - [ thump-crack, says the claymore, as it embeds itself into the floorboards at a ninety-degree angle.

kaveh's hand reaches for midnight's collar. he proceeds to give him the kind of shake you give to particularly naughty cats. ] Why on Teyvat are your eyes closed? What's wrong with you?!

Netzach told me not to leave and Yesod did as well, so my eyes are closed as you commit my soul to join the ancestors. Fear, I suppose.

[ Wiggle. Wiggle. Midnight turns his face away, eyes still squeezed stubbornly shut. He prays that the end doesn't hurt too much.]

Your ancestors? Archons, I hardly want you out the window, why would I let you escape to your ancestors? Why would you ever deserve to be let off so easily? I won't accept a single argument to your benefit. As far as I'm concerned, your ancestors had better be watching this very moment as you get precisely what you deserve! [ kaveh's fist, wound in midnight's collar, begins to quiver: ] What was that nonsense about 'up together', Midnight? How can we be always together when we're in the same gaudy hotel and you won't even cross the hall to see me? You -

[ something like a sob, and then a second one. kaveh shoves midnight to the bed. the structure strains beneath the momentum of his grief. ] Midnight, when you weren't there out there with Netzach and Yesod, when you weren't there on that first day - I thought you were dead. I thought that was the only reason why you weren't there by their side. That you weren't there.

[ it had been a moment that had seemed like an eternity distilled into a single, heart-stopping question, one that kaveh could not voice until it had eaten him hollow. where is midnight? he hadn't been able to voice. he hadn't wanted to voice it for fear of the answer.

relief often feels like anger, when the world ceases to turn. ]

[ Midnight bounces on the bed as he collides with it. Kaveh has always been a coiled spring. Midnight wonders, briefly, what it would be like for Kaveh to focus his veritable tidal wave of strength directly through the cage of Midnight's chest. ]

Kaveh?

[ A man with no fears, a consummate coward. Only a liar could be both, and Midnight weaves himself in falsehood. In spite of himself, he reaches for Kaveh. The Sarkaz will never know the gentle paths of Laterano. Midnight just needs to know what it's like. Just once. ]

Kaveh.

[ It is a good thing Kaveh is so open with his emotions: not even Midnight can miss the knot of overwhelming tumult when Kaveh bears it like the cornerstone of his largest, most terrible palace yet. Ah. He's broken his promise again, hasn't he? ]

What? [ kaveh says, and he is crying. it's mortifying, not because kaveh has never sworn to cry again but because kaveh had sworn to never again cry about this. kaveh had made a promise. he had said he would be strong.

the tears that splatter artlessly against midnight's chest are bitter, and terrible. ] What are you going to say, Midnight? What have you not already said with your absence?

[ ... Well, this is familiar, at least. With nothing better to do with his hands, knowing that Kaveh would object terribly should he chop them off right now, he instead holds Kaveh to his chest and feels something click into place. Aha, his heart says, in a language he has yet to understand. ]

... I've done something terrible. Where do I begin to apologize, my heart...?

Nowhere. When did I ever ask for your apology? Does it seem like I am seeking an apology?

[ kaveh shakes midnight's collar, back and forth. not even that gesture is enough; the frustration of it not being enough curls his fingers, his lips. ] No, you may start by informing me that you have finally learned your lesson this time, and you will know better than to put a mere door up between us! And why is it that you are always running and hiding? What happened to all that bravado you spewed regarding what you can or can't do? How does a man of your stature and girth get away from acting like a baby spinocrocodile? In what crevice are you supposed to hide in that won't immediately give you away? You're ridiculous!

I have nowhere to hide from you, darling. You know me too well. I simply wished to run a bit longer. My cardio is very good, you know.

[ Wiggle, wiggle. Midnight holds Kaveh to his chest right where his heart should be. ]

I apologize. I've been rendered a coward, a fool, and a liar in ways even I find shockingly obscene. This is why, darling. That's all.

[ a single, pointed finger to midnight's diaphragm. it's not a friendly finger. ]

None of that is a proper explanation! Midnight, I've known you well enough to know that you only hide when you've done something, or you haven't done something, or there's something that you can't bring yourself to do! Which is it this time? Tell me!

[ ... Ah. He cannot lie when it really, truly matters. His first rule, his truest weakness. ]

I'm afraid I've treated Alhaitham poorly again.

[ This is about where Melanite pokes her head in properly. His eyes widen — right, of course she would — but with a few gentle hand gestures followed by a weak thumbs up, he manages to convey that he is not in any danger and Kaveh should not be shot in the head. All is well! ]

[ a single, distilled drop of eternity.

then, kaveh looks up. he rubs raw his eyes and blinks, uncomprehending. ]

Alhaitham... has already spoken to you? Here? What did you say? What did he do?

[ --- ]

[ ???? ]

And what are you gesturing behind me for? Is there someone there? [ as he cranes his head to look- ]

No, no. That's Miss Melanite. She's lovely. You're fine.

[ A sigh. Midnight lays his head back. ]

The Alhaitham of Sin City. Another Alhaitham.

[ An Alhaitham who deigned to speak to him. Who found him pleasing to speak to. An Alhaitham he had only needed to avoid entirely, and he'd somehow gotten that part completely wrong. ]

[ but who's miss melanite?

that question is quickly shuffled off from this mortal coil in record time at the second, bigger regelation. kaveh stills. ]

Another Alhaitham? [ ... ] The other Alhaitham?

[ A nod. A deep, cavernous sigh, the kind dogs let out while lying in their down beds with no particular reason why they'd sigh. It feels nice to have Kaveh's weight on top of him, the scent of his hair in his nose. ]

I was very foolish with him, I think. I've broken my promise, if only in spirit.

[ He mustn't bring harm to Alhaitham. Now that he thinks about it, he didn't even try. ]

[ kaveh is very, very still. ]

Did you... kill him?

[ A soft sound of surprise, but... of course. He's never given Kaveh a reason to believe that he wouldn't kill him. ]

No. I simply don't process rejection well enough to hide the less than beautiful parts from his all too keen eyes.

[ something in kaveh gives out. the relief leaves him boneless. his fist uncurls from midnight's collar as he breathes in, then out, and then makes a face like someone's just served him an entire lemon whole. ]

Ah, you didn't kill him. That's good. [ that's more than good. it's not the only way to hurt someone, and it's not the only thing that kaveh wouldn't forgive, but that's good. ] But in translation: what that means is, Alhaitham saw through you, and you reacted badly? Don't skimp on the details now. We've gotten so far. Tell me everything.

[ Because Midnight has no choice, because they've gotten this far, that's what he does: he briefly explains the nature of Sin City, the way he avoided speaking to Alhaitham at first, how the nature of the city and Alhaitham's own inquisitive nature made Midnight's attraction very obvious. How Midnight figured the kindest thing to do was to keep Alhaitham at a polite distance, as far as that was possible in the city, at least until he and Sin City's Kaveh worked things out.

He failed, obviously. He tries to explain why. ]

He saw through my efforts to stay distant, but couldn't fathom why I might do so. I'm... afraid that I may have given up the lead too quickly. Told him that he had to talk to Kaveh first before he continued things with me...

[ ... A weak shrug. ]

I shouldn't have let him apply pressure to me. He told me he could give me what I wanted... It was only after I told him what I wanted when he realized that he'd offered more than he could give.

[ kaveh listens. he does not interrupt, not this time. the words come slowly, haltingly, but he takes them in as they are offered, each one settling into place with a quiet inevitablilty.

somewhere in the telling, he understands.

this is what kaveh understands: that he should have fought tooth and nail against the sinducer for holding the three of them against their will in a land as twisted as sin city is. that he should have seen through the bravado midnight had put on during that one fated phone call across dimensions and put a stop to it. that he should have understood better what was it that alhaitham had wanted. the shape of this understanding is familiar. it's the same gravity pulling at the same fault lines, the same careful distance that had never truly been demarcated after all. kaveh sits on a crumbling continent of his own making. he had set the fault lines himself, and watched midnight bleed.

for a fleeting moment, something like pride touches kaveh. through it all, it was both sharp, and bright. alhaitham had seen through it. of course he had. alhaitham always did see through things eventually, once he decided they were worth examining, and he had offered kindness whereas a lesser man might have taken advantage. had been cruel. kaveh knew that about him. but that pride only lasts a faint heartbeat, because the thought can't bring comfort. kaveh won't allow it. beneath the pride is the realisation that midnight had wanted something. not a game, not a passing curiosity, not a cruel joke or a barbed taunt, but something real enough that he had risked it saying aloud. risked the mortification of being known just so that he could have a chance at something that kaveh had put out of his reach.

the sudden weight of it lands. his hand curls against midnight's chest without any conscious recognition of it, fingers tightening in the fabric there as the understanding settles deeper. pride gives way to a hollow stillness the kind that comes when the midn moves ahead of the heart and finds the place where blame waits.

midnight had only walked the path that kaveh himself had laid down, built the architecture that had caged him. for a moment, kaveh can't quite breathe. ]

Oh, Midnight. [ he says, slow and devastated.

'i did this, didn't i' are words that kaveh has no right to say. he has lost the right to do so the moment midnight walked into the distance that kaveh had built. a distance that that is only measured after someone tries to cross it. ] You were only trying to honour a promise I never made easy to keep. I'm sorry - I'm so, so sorry.

To think that you were avoiding me because you thought I would hurt you over this - I ought to have run from you in shame.

[ A beat. A soft snort. ]

There you are. Blaming yourself for something you could hardly control. I did say that I did very little to discourage him from getting closer, didn't I?

[ Midnight's hand comes up to stroke down Kaveh's spine. ]

Blame my relentless optimism, darling. I thought I could stay just far enough. That I could stay in his periphery, revealing nothing, being nothing but an admirer. To partake in occasional enjoyment in the company of that serious, all too earnest man. I'm not nearly strong enough to resist him, as it turns out.

[ Kaveh's hair and skin are warm, scented with jasmine and soap. Any bitterness, any indignation Midnight could feel about his situation seeps from his body, pressed out of him with Kaveh's weight. How could it not? He is loved and loves in return. ]

I only blame my ignorance. I did break my promise, after all, and I haven't much experience with what comes after a broken promise. I tend to keep them, you see... I apologize. I didn't know what kind of person you would be in light of my failed duty.

[ the hand on his back is midnight's kindness. it's meant to soothe. it moves with the steady patience of one might use for a restleass cat, or a nervous animal coaxed out of hiding, and kaveh wants badly to feel comforted. but comfort, like architecture, depends on its foundations, and kaveh has never trusted his own.

what kaveh's foundations have wrought: midnight should have been allowed optimism. it should have been allowed. admiration drifting into companionship, two men who loved books and loved learning sharing that same, cloistered space with their heads tilted into one another. and yes, both of them drove him absolutely up the wall, but there's a shared language there that kaveh had imagined for alhaitham and midnight a long time ago. nothing about that deserved the weight of vows and promises and invisible boundaries no one had thought to map.

if kaveh had not laid those foundations so poorly.

midnight should have been allowed to walk towards alhaitham without feeling as though the ground might colapse beneath him. to need to resist him-

...

the thought grounds to a delicate halt.

resist him?

kaveh lifts his head. he looks. ]

Midnight, [ the words come before kaveh has had a chance to think them through, which is not an unusual state of being for kaveh, ] do you love Alhaitham?

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a brief interlude:

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