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

Everyone come get your cookin'

[oathlantern]

[Had some time to settle in? Good. In that space of time Illuga has begun to metaphorically, but not yet literally, climb the walls. There's no monsters to fight. No clear way back to Nod-Krai. Everything is more luxury than he's used to which is a really, really low bar. He has to find some use for himself or he's going to pop.

Which is why he's commandeered the kitchen and begun cooking a five-course meal including the appetizers. It's a delightful spread of meats, breads, fruity desserts, and as people filter in he looks away from where he's grilling, chopping, or washing and gestures to whatever dishes are currently ready with a smile.]

Hey there! Feel free to take as much as you want. If anything runs out I can just make more.

[predominant]

How long have you been here — has it just been you in here? All day?

[ Vil looks at the spread, aghast. Not that he disapproves, necessarily — he was wondering if anyone was going to take charge in any way, and this is as good way as any — but if this sassy lost child is going to feed everyone himself, that is a very large number of meals. (Never mind that Illuga's probably older than Vil...) ]

[oathlantern]

[Illuga is absolutely older than Vil, but that's neither here nor there. He pauses for a moment to squint at the clock.]

Most of it, yeah. I started a little before lunch time and got a lot of the prep done first.

[If Vil deigns to take a closer look, he'll see nothing wrong with the food laid out. Everything is delicious and it's clear Illuga is an experienced hand around the kitchen.] I noticed this place only serves breakfast and thought: wouldn't it be nicer to have a warm meal all day?

[predominant]

Hm. Are you planning on serving lunch and dinner every day, then? And what happens to the leftovers? Are you planning on cleaning up every day as well?

[ Vil takes a piece of bread and some soup, taking a few sips and a bite and chewing thoughtfully as he looks at the rest of the offerings. There could maybe be more salad for fiber, but proteins and vitamins are otherwise covered. It's a lot to ask of for any one person, though... ]

[fussiest]

[ across the hotel and climbing that very same metaphorical wall is a kaveh, who had reached his threshold of having absolutely nothing to do on day two and was only quickly spiralling downwards from there. it had been something of a miracle, really. the accommodations here were so much better than that of the city that he had almost wanted to cry on the first day - but not long thereafter, he'd been introduced to the gas stations and that's when things had taken a different turn. the decor of the place was entirely uninspired.

there wasn't anything necessarily missing from the anemities - it was all just exceedingly mediocre and covered just the barest of daily necessities. and don't get him started on the food. aside from that very first awed moment of seeing more cooked food than he had in a very, very long time, kaveh had immediately started developing opinions about the bread and the eggs, and had taken it upon himself to cook breakfast for them from there on. them.

the four of them. well, then five of them, but midnight, the coward, was still squirreled away somewhere that kaveh can't quite reach, and kaveh thought of himself kind enough to give him a few days' headstart before he tore apart this hotel wall by wall to find him. perhaps it was a little selfish of kaveh to think of them as them, the rest of the hotel guests were also in the same predicament and with a lot less preparation to boot. but their little group had been through hell together, kaveh thought. that made it feel different, and there's a part of him that feels that pinch of guilt every time he thought of it that way.

it's why the moment he'd popped his head into the kitchen to see what all the hubbub was on a quiet afternoon, he'd immediately been assaulted with yet another wave of that same guilt. there's a young man toiling over the stove. he's never met him before, but just seeing the line of his back and the roll of his sleeves tells kaveh several crucial things about the young man, namely that not only is he apt in the kitchen, but he is used to a life where he cares for others. kaveh hasn't done any of that since arriving here. he wrings his hands, and then squares himself so that he can grab an apron from a hook nearby. that, he thinks, ought to change now. ]

Actually, I think the water pitchers are empty. [ he's already moving in that direction, picking up three as he looks over to where a filter must be. ] Do you mind if I helped refill them?

[oathlantern]

[The food itself is fine, really--or at least, Illuga is in no position to judge the quality. But there's something about a warm, recently cooked meal that fills the heart as much as the stomach. Maybe not everyone here is a soldier looking for a reprieve from rations, but surely a good meal is universal all the same.

When Illuga looks up, he's briefly taken aback by Kaveh with an apron already around him. But after a second and easy smile slips on his face.]

Not at all, thank you.

[fussiest]

[ the young man smiles at kaveh, and kaveh grins back, already feeling heartened. his hands luckily still remember how to put themselves to work. ]

Oh! And would you mind terribly much if I put a slice of lemon in one? I finds that it gives the water a pleasing flavour. Not that it's necessary by any means, but I think there might be people who've never had lemon water before around these parts and would find it interesting.

[glazing]

[ in contrast, this has been the most peaceful few days of flins' entire existence. he reminds him a little bit of sinking. the overcast sky is something that he'd spent a lot of time looking up at in nod-krai, when the spring rains began splitting apart the sky and just enough of it wet the tongue of those who parched below, dying, slowly, of a war that none of them knew they would live through. for years, it had seem that the sky was always overcast no matter where flins had looked. he had thought nod-krai hadn't been capable of sun.

he had been wrong, once. but only once.

the kitchen is the expected place to find illuga. it had started as a morbid curiosity; flins had arrived here without knowing how he did so, only that illuga was also here and hale, if not whole. decorum expected flins to announce his presence and assuage a little of illuga's worries. however, within thirty minutes of arriving here, flins had realised that he had always wondered what illuga would be like if the world were at peace. without an immediate enemy to fight and a cause to die for, flins had decided a few days' observation would be a suitable way to pass the time.

the fact that illuga immediately found himself climbing the proverbial wall, so to speak, is something that flins had seen coming - but had still broken flins' heart a little anyway. he hadn't realised at that point there was still anything to break. but watching illuga's hands fly across a pristine chopping board, one that was not yet chipped or stained with the blood of friends and fiends alike, he knows that peace wouldn't change illuga because he had never known it.

a pair of warm gloves slip over illuga's eyes from behind. flins looks down at his young charge, and smiles. ]

Young Master, you have outdone yourself. Your feast has drawn everyone from their rooms. I suspect that in this hotel, there only remains one person left now that has yet to be fed.

[oathlantern]

[Illuga's arm stops halfway to the downswing as he tenses up by the loss of his vision. His grip on the knife shifts and tightens into something less for chopping and more for--

Ah. He knows that voice.] Sir Flins! Don't surprise me like that, I almost stabbed you. Wait, when did you get here?

[He sets the knife down first before squirming around to try and face his fellow, terribly troublesome Lightkeeper.]

[glazing]

[ illuga's hand curves around his knife. flins has seen that particular stance before, but there's nary a flinch in the patient way he stands there, hands folded over illuga's eyes, as if awaiting the inevitable. illuga's surprised little lilt is pleasing. he allows illuga to turn, letting his hands fall from his eyes and shift behind his back.

illuga looks well. he suspects illuga would feel, if not better, at least far more purposeful if he had actually stabbed flins, or if flins had been someone he needed to stab, but he supposes everyone can always be better. ]

I wonder. [ flins says, non-committal, his lips curved into a pleased smile. ] Though if you had stabbed me just now, we may not know when I arrived, but we certainly will have the date and time I pass on.

[yyds]

Really? Wowee. [ says hong lu, who's merely happy to be here. he looks at the food on display with great interest. ] Why are you making food for everyone? Are you going to give a speech?

[oathlantern]

[Illuga laughs.] No no, no speeches here. But everyone's got to eat, right?

[yyds]

Mmm... I guess so. Oh, but I recently met a dragon. He said he didn't need to eat.

[ actually, what the dragon had said, after hong lu asked him if he would eat him, is that he didn't eat morons. which, hong lu supposed, amounted to the same thing. ]

[leicht]

[ she'd been in hiding the past few days. it wasn't that people were mean, necessarily, thought nill. in fact, there had been a whole lot less yelling, and screaming, and weapons being brandished than she had been expecting these initial few days. but she knew people. when people are taken prisoner, things go wrong. people get angry. just thinking about it had scared her, and so the closet in the room she had been assigned seemed like a far safer place to me.

it's only the grumbling of her stomach that eventually lures her out. every morning without fail, there's food in a buffet headed by faceless people, but she had been very scared of them, and so only filched food when she thought they weren't looking - taking whatever she could carry to squirrel away in her closet until the next time she can venture out for something to eat. however, there had been more faceless people than usual at the buffet, and she hadn't felt brave enough to try, and so she had spent most of the day skulking about in the shadows, trying to figure out if there was a safer place to be.

the fact that there's food near the kitchen isn't surprising; the fact that there's someone with a face standing there preparing it all is. after observing the gathered crowd for a few hours, nill finally plucks up her courage to look at the plates on offer. but before she can get very far, a voice addresses her - and her little wings flit up in silent alarm. nill whirls, and then, instinctively, ducks around a wall so that she can hide.

nooooOOOOoooOoOO!!! ]

[oathlantern]

[Oh, there she goes. Illuga almost breaks from the counter to check on her--but if she's that startled by him, approaching might not help her nerves. It takes just a moment to come up with a solution. Illuga taps his lantern to alert the glowing nightingale sleeping within.

With a whispered word he sends Aedon off to fly around the corner. The bird lands on the ground at Nill's feet and gives a soft chirp.]

[comunicar]

Oooh, whose birthday is it? Mine? I mean, if calendars mean anything here, my birthday isn't for another month, but I appreciate the attitude.

[ Scoop, chomp. Tall birdman here to sample the food... Huh. Kind of seems Ursine, now that he looks at it.!]

[oathlantern]

[Illuga laughs a little.] No one I know, but if it was I could whip up something special for them. I just thought we could all use a hot meal.

[He peeks over his shoulder, curious what Elysium seems to gravitate towards.]

[gitgvd]

[ After a very constipated look at all this fucking food, Taishin grabs a plate and scoots outside as quickly as possible. Horse trying to channel a cockroach...

... But when she comes back, she slips in and drops her dishes in the sink. Thinks about it. Gets a stool, climbs up, and washes her dish. Thinks about it more. Determinedly not looking at Illuga, she picks up another pot to clean. She has a job now. ]

[oathlantern]

[Illuga offers her a smile every time she slips in. It's probably around clean-up time, having made enough for some almost-thirty people and he's just putting away the leftovers for the next day.]

Thanks. [And then she keeps washing dishes. There's probably a dishwasher in this place but Illuga has no idea what that is.] Oh, let me put out a towel for you.

[Diverting to find a couple dish cloths that he can lay out, and then double-checking the cabinets for a drying rack...]

[testfire]

As much as I want?

[ Hey there, snek here. As per usual with Melanite, she has zero emotional reaction to what this strange guy in the kitchen says, just looks at the spread and ponders for a moment. ]

Who's paying you for the meals?

[oathlantern]

No one? [He's not sure if anyone's paying the front desk staff? The gas station guy just charges "to the room" so he's not sure any money is being used around this place at all. Well, trading favors isn't unheard of in Nod-Krai either.] And yeah, there's plenty to go around. Eat your fill.

[sunsbreath]

[ Unlike my other characters, Ephrim is much too apathetic to question the food, simply nods and takes his dish and shuffles off. This happens for a few days in a row. The day it's clear this guy Illuga isn't going anywhere, Ephrim gives him a strange look, as though Illuga's lost his mind, but he walks off again.

At the end of the week, Ephrim returns his plate for the nth time, pauses, and sighs. ]

The store will run out of food eventually. You're wasting resources.

[oathlantern]

[After a week Illuga's come to a better understanding of what foods seem to be preferred here, and steadily improved with the ingredients he's less familiar with. He's contemplating experimenting.

He gives Ephrim a greeting as he enters the kitchen, and then a double-take at the admonition.] Wasting--no no, I'm not throwing anything out!

[He points to the presumably industrial fridge and freezer situation.] There's leftovers in the ice box. I did have to reheat a lot of soups before, but I've got a pretty good idea how many people are here now so I can adjust the portions. Oh, but if there's anything you like the most you can tell me and I'll make it more often.

[wordchain]

[ Since Kaveh has taken it upon himself to ensure that they won't starve, and Yesod has been adjusting to the suite kitchenette and the ingredients available here to cook where he can as well, it isn't hunger that leads him to take a closer look at the hotel's kitchen. The scene he discovers surprises him — the young man bustling about there isn't faceless, for one. The number and variety of dishes already prepared is impressive.

Are they free to simply use this kitchen as they please...? Yesod's gaze wanders from dish to dish, following Illuga then. ]

...Thank you. [ He'll sample a little of everything soon, but there is something else to address first. ] Would you like any assistance?

[ The stranger seems intent on cooking for the entire hotel, and he clearly has managed it on his own, but Yesod won't take advantage of that. ]

[oathlantern]

You don't have to, but if there's something you want to use the kitchen for I won't get in your way. [He doesn't presume Yesod is as eager as Kaveh, it may just be an offer of politeness.]