psltagon | EVENT 01: Welcome to the Pentagon!

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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

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[ 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!!! ]

[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.]

[ she had been pondering which way to run when a little flicker of a light chirps at her feet. her pounding heart has her leap in fright - but a second examination right before her flight-or-flight (or flight!!!!) instincts kick in has her stop herself in her tracks.

it's a...

it must be a bird, she thinks, with sudden wonder. she has never seen one before. but the picture books that the old priest had often had them in it. little winged things, always flying up high in a sky as blue as the one that she had seen for the first time here.

she curls in on herself. nill holds out a tentative hand to the little bird. is... it going to bite? like a dog? ]

[Aedon simply stands there, waiting, until Nill holds out her hand. He hops closer, then up into the waiting palm where he settles in with another chirp. He doesn't feel quite like a normal bird, too smooth and inorganic, but he's still warm and soft to touch.]

[ the little bird's hop nearly startles nill out of her skin. but - it's warm. warm, and soft, like the way she thinks light must feel. she's never held a bird before, doesn't have the faintest idea if this is a real bird or some kind of a... thing that's the same as the faceless people here, but the bird is warm, and soft, and she doesn't think it means to harm her.

for a moment, she holds the little creature. then, deciding that animals usually aren't this tame, she begins to look around for the little bird's owner. peeking around the corner... bird in hand...

... is... that him...? ]

[Illuga continues prep and cooking, but when he hears another chirp from Aedon he looks over his shoulder to them and offers a smile.]

[ eye contact! nill ducks behind the wall again for a brief moment. it takes another moment of courage for her to peer around again, this time with the little bird outstretched in her hand.

after a moment, she musters up the courage to sidle up to the young man. he doesn't seem to have animal features. she misses taishin. she holds up the little bird to him. is the bird his friend? ]

[She's rather like a frightened bird herself, isn't she? Illuga lets her take her time, but he stills his hands and turns down the stove as she approaches.] That's Aedon, my companion. Do you like him? He's very comfortable with you.

[ after a beat, there's a small, tentative nod there. nill gently pets the top of the little bird's head with wonder. he's comfortable with her?

she thinks about this for a moment, then raises her hand again, as if offering the bird back to illuga. does he want his companion back? ]

Ah- [Illuga holds up a hand.] See, my hands are kind of full so I can't take him right now. But if you don't want to hold him anymore, you can set him on the counter.

[Aedom chirps, squishing further into Nill's hards.]

[ !!!!! aedon squishes himself into nill's hands, and nill squeaks a little silent squeak at it, her lips opening and closing with reflexive surprise. then, she laughs a soundless little laugh, and shakes her head.

she arranges her hand so that it's a little easier for aedon to rest. she doesn't know how to treat a little bird, but if he's comfortable with her, then she will try. tentatively, she shifts her fingers so that he can have a comfortable little spot to sit and breathe. and then...

... what do birds eat?

she peers at the foods the young man is preparing at the counter. after a hesitant moment, she begins to walk past each of the half-prepared dishes so that she can hold the little bird up to each of them. does he seem like he wants to eat any of these foods...? ]

[Oh, she's mute... Illuga's gaze drifts around and he mentally curses not having kept any paper on his person. That changes today! Just as soon as he's out of the kitchen.

Aedon looks, but doesn't seem interested in anything she offers. Instead he ruffles his wings and chirps to her, as if telling her to eat. Whether Nill speaks bird is up for debate.]

[ ??? nill does not, in fact, speak bird. but the chirping worries her. she wonders if the little bird is hurt, or if he is trying to tell her to do something... but she doesn't understand him.

she bites her lip. after a moment of indecision, she finally sidles back up to where the young man with the bright smile is. gingerly, she lifts the bird up to him again, and when the bird chirps, looks up to him in askance.

what is the bird saying? ]

[Illuga looks over to Nill, then at Aedon and the little chirpy dance he's doing and... oh. Oh.

He laughs, but it's a bit abashed.] Um, that's how he says that he thinks you should eat something.

[Which Illuga knows, because he's the one usually on the receiving end of it.] Are you hungry?

[ nill colours to the roots of her blond hair. the little bird continues to dance her palm for a long, heart-stopping moment, before finally, she lowers her head enough to nod.

just a little. she doesn't want to be ungrateful, or be rude, but she... really is quite hungry. ]

Okay. [He turns the stove down, wiping his hands on his apron before offering a small gesture for Nill to follow him to where the buffet is laid out nearby.]

Everything here is finished, so you can have whatever you like. [And he'll go ahead and point to each dish, the savory to the sweet, light to heavy, so that Nill has some idea what's what.]

[ nill should run, in all honesty. she doesn't know the young man. she doesn't know the place. and she doesn't know what will happen if she lets down her guard, in a place where she knows nobody has any obligation to provide her with safety.

but aedon is soft, and warm in the palm of her hand. after a moment, she picks up her heels and follows.

it turns out to have been a good thing that she did. the buffet spread is even grander than what the breakfast buffet had looked like in the mornings. nill's stomach growls again as she surveys the feast with wide, wide eyes, which only grow impossibly wider as the young man explains each dish to her and what it's made of. she hadn't realised you could make so many kinds of food. she thinks that if the children in the slums had food like this, nobody would have to go hungry for an entire week.

nill's head swivels as she quickly takes in what everyone else is doing. then, she gingerly picks up an empty plate from the end of the table, before looking to the young man in askance. is she doing this right? ]

[As Nill finally accepts the buffet, Aedon hops out of her hand and flies to perch onto her shoulder instead. Illuga offers her an encouraging nod.] Don't worry if anything runs out. I can always make more.

[ nill had been wondering how she ought to juggle a plate and aedon in each hand - the little bird flitting to her shoulder is a surprise, but a welcome one. she smiles with as much gratitude as she can impart to illuga, and then begins to gingerly pick out food for herself.

once in a while, her eyes stray. illuga isn't picking out food for himself, is he? ]

[At present, no. He makes sure she feels confident filling her plate before he returns to the kitchen with a warm smile and the assurance that she can come get him if she needs anything.]

[ which sits poorly with nill. she observes him for a moment, and then his retreating back as he makes his way back to the kitchen, then dips her gaze so she can share it with aedon. somehow, she badly wishes that she can communicate with the little bird somehow. something like: is your friend always helping others, but not helping himself?

two mute little birds look at one another. nill decides that she can at least try what's on her mind. she picks out a plateful of food for herself, and then, on her second pass, finds a second plate and begins to gingerly move down the line once more. there's a part of her that hopes that aedon can understand - she'll need his help, after all. the plan is as follows: three steps to the next plate of food, set down her full plate, set down the empty plate, and hold aedon up to the food. and if aedon seems happy with it... pluck some up for the empty plate. then picking up both plates, three more steps take her to the next plate of food, setting down the full one... holding aedon up to the next plate, and then...

well, it's a little unwieldy, and she's never done anything like this before. but slowly but surely, she hopes to put together a plate of food for the young man before all of it's gone. he did mention that he would make more, but nill knows better than anyone else how quickly free food can go when everyone's hungry, and how quickly ingredients can run out. after helping so many people, he doesn't deserve to starve. ]

[Aedon isn't much help, chirping the same way at basically every dish so the only direction Nill really gets is for the dishes that are warm. He certainly seems into the task though, occasionally hopping between the table and Nill's shoulder.

At least the lack of real specifications means there's more than enough to choose from for a full plate.]

[ after taking food from a few plates that aedon's chirped at, nill decides with a sinking heart that she can't quite figure out the pattern of what the young man must like or dislike. still, she gathers up the food the best she can, step by step, until the second plate is also full. then, gently, she coaxes aedon onto her shoulder, and sets for a table.

nill chooses a table further away from everyone else. in her experience, if you eat too close to other people, they may try to take your food. but, after a moment of thought, she positions herself so that she can see the kitchen clearly.

when illuga reappears, she stands up, and shyly waves for him to come over. ]

[He's bringing out another dish to set on the table when he catches Nill's waving hand. With a smile, he sets the food down among the buffet and then circles around to her.] Hey, everything good so far?

[ nill smiles appreciatively, and then bobs her head. she carefully looks around to ensure that nobody else was approaching with the intention of taking their food, then gently pats the seat next to her, where another full plate is waiting.

can he join her to eat? ]

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