strangetrip | [GP/EP] Check-In Day

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[GP/EP] Check-In Day

Why Caroline had needed her to help with Check-In Day she hadn't bothered to say. Just, "you said you'd help," and when Regina protested she wasn't good with people, "aren't you a Queen or a Mayor or something?" complete with shooing gestures. While Regina found Caroline more exasperating the terrifying, she did have a point.

So Regina suited up--literally, gathered her files and folders, coffee mug, pens and pocketed the wooden carving of Henry/Roland Robin had made for her, then headed for the cafe. If, polished and politic and patently Busy, she didn't offer newcomers the brightest or warmest smile when they arrived, it was nevertheless confident and quite possibly reassuring.

Caroline did friendly. Regina...did knowledgeable and polite. Dot and Ignis had been asked to provide finger food on catering trays. The still-grieving Miss Pryde had been tasked with samovars of tea and coffee and ice chest of soda and beer. Caroline's welcome baskets sat on the table beside Regina's for easy access. And though she didn't when she was alone in the office, Regina spent the magic to fix her eyesight so she didn't put glasses between her and new arrivals.

Madame Mayor was in.

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With Hawke gone the days started to blend together for Anders. He rose, fed the cat, brewed tea, wrote, argued with Justice, ate, fed the cat again then went to bed. For months before they'd been travelling around Thedas freeing circles and investigating red lyrium. There had always been something for them to do, even if it was just survive another day. Then Hawke got that letter from Varric. With news that Corypheus returned her smiles and jokes had vanished, she'd taken him to a tiny village in the middle of nowhere and left him with a kiss and a promise to return. It was a shaky promise and the joke she told him as she walked away didn't have her usual bite. He could tell that she wasn't sure she would make it back this time.

For the first week he hadn't gotten out of bed for much beyond tending to the cat. After that he'd had a burst of energy and he'd set to improving the little hut, making it more cat friendly before he felt compelled to write again and covered the interior of his hut with a rough draft of his next manifesto. He let it be for a week before shame and self-loathing compelled him to paint over it. That day he dressed, grabbed his staff, slipped the cat into his coat and headed off to the small market to purchase paint only for him to realize after a few feet that things didn't quite look right.

Anders started walking in the direction of the buildings not so far from him. Rivain was warm but this place was different. The air didn't smell like cinnamon, ginger and cloves, the Seer's house had become a tea room and the woman brewed it in such great quantities that one could tell how close they were to the village by how strong the smell was. Beyond that the buildings he approached looked like something from Orlais, not Rivain. Justice wasn't pleased, neither was Madam Fluffykins, both were complaining at him now but he didn't pause to quiet them. He patted his coat over where the kitten was and let Justice know he would keep his guard up as he reached the door and stepped inside, not at all prepared for the sight before him.

Edited 2017-06-02 02:17 (UTC)

Buffy was just on her way back from checking out the boutique - nothing new darn it - when she spotted a man in a cloak with a staff that looked a little confused. Since her only experience with a man in a cloak with a staff besides hottie elf in the movie with Golfbag (or whatever his name was) was Carlos, Buffy assumed this guy was a Wizard Warden from his world.

"Hi." She smiled wide on her approach, "welcome to the hotel. I know it's a little wonky at first and you're not where you were expecting to be but magic can be weird like that. I'm Buffy and this is a hotel that we're not sure where it is except not home." Her nose scrunched, "and yes everything is that pink."

She felt safe mentioning magic what with the cloak and staff, otherwise she would have gone with - no this isn't a dream welcome speech.

"Well, there are much worse colors than pink." Anders made himself smile though it was a bit of a nervous one as he looked around. As much as he would have loved to be somewhere that was magic friendly without the oppression of the Chantry he was a little cautious. Justice was no help. "There's that one yellow brown color. You know the one. Like mustard but worse. I think it has some green in it too."

Under his coat there was a soft mew and a lump moved until the face of a tiny ginger kitten popped up from inside his collar. She meowed a little louder and he reached up to pet her little head. "Uh, this is Madam Fluffy, or Fluffykins if you're feeling formal. I'm Anders. It's good to meet you."

Buffy knew exactly the color that he meant and he was right. It could have been worse. She was about to comment on that when a really cute kitten popped its head out. "Oh she's so cute and it's nice to meet you Anders. Do you know a wizard named Carlos? I only ask because there's a wizard here that has a cloak and a staff, too. Not like yours but kind of so I figured you might be from the same uh.... Wizard's Council."

She thought that was what they were called but she wasn't a hundred percent sure.

"Wizard's Council? I can't say I've heard of that though it sounds intriguing. Sadly I don't know anyone named Carlos, but if he has magic and a position of power I would very much like to meet him." He rubbed his kitten's head and she mewed before turning and trying to crawl over his high collar. "Is magic more tolerated here then? There's no threat of anyone bursting in and carrying away those with magic to some tower somewhere?"

He helped Madam Fluffy onto his shoulder before he continued. "That's what it's like through most of Thedas."

"Yeah, magic is cool here. Um, tolerated." Buffy tried not to throw too much of her vocabulary. Especially since she was suspecting that he wasn't from a world like hers.

"I mean, I'm not going to say that some people here might have a stick up their... um be very rigid about magic and not trust it, but on the whole you can practice openly if you want."

She glanced around the area, "and you really don't have to worry about being tossed anywhere. We don't have towers or dungeons or prisons of any kind." Buffy made a face, "well except for the whole place that we can't leave."

"We can't leave?" He almost said something about her not needing to tone down her language for him but he was struck by the last of it. "I- I suppose that means even with magic means as well, right? That's a little disconcerting."

As nice as the place looked he didn't like the idea of being trapped. Hawke would come for him eventually though. He was sure. She always came to save him. He would focus on that while he looked for his own ways to freedom. "Does that mean if I turned and walked from here I would just end up back here eventually?"

"Yeah." Buffy nodded and glanced around where they were standing and pointed toward the horizon. "I walk this most nights trying to find a weak spot or heck even figure out where people come through but I never see them arrive. I mean just suddenly appear. I've seen magical people try to get out but they can't so I don't know if all magic doesn't work. I say give it a try, if you want, it couldn't hurt."

"Knowing me, I would likely get lost." He genuinely smiled at the idea of him getting lost only a few feet from the Inn. His sense of direction wasn't terrible but his luck was. He reached up and gently scratched his cat under the chin, glad to hear her purr and know that she was still relatively fine despite the trip they apparently took.

He turned his eyes back to her. "So are we here for a reason or has it been decided we all just need some sort of holiday? Though if this is supposed to be a holiday I have to say the pinks aren't exactly soothing."

"I'm pretty sure that you'd be able to see the hotel from anywhere." Buffy teased him with a wrinkle of her nose. "Even space." Okay, it wasn't that bad! She enjoyed watching him with his cat, though it was probably helping him calm as much as helping the cat.

"And yeah, we haven't figured out if there is a reason we're all here. So far, we can't find a common denominator. People have left, but I have no idea if they've gone back home or not." She was sad for a moment and then shrugged it off mentally. Buffy was determined to see her mom again - and Giles and Willow and Xander.... not so much Anya.

"Sounds like it could be magic-related, this place and the way people appear and disappear." Also like something that he could be blamed for if anyone who knew found out about this place and his being there. With his luck all of Thedas would likely know when he got back. If he ever got back. That was a thought he didn't want to entertain. "So, Buffy. What are we supposed to be doing here, aside from admiring the consistency of the decor's theme?"

"Yeah that's about it." Buffy teased, "come on, I'll take you inside where they'll have a room for you. There are all kinds of projects going on by sciencey types." Which clearly Buffy was not one of those.

"But there are a lot of jobs that can be done around the hotel, besides trying to figure out what's going on and how to get out. There's no money here, well besides what you have on you. What I mean is when you volunteer/ work here, you won't get paid but the bonus is you don't have to buy things either."

"That's alright. I'm used to working for free." He nodded and motioned for her to lead him. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to his patients back at the clinic in Darktown. He hoped they were all safe and had moved on even though Kirkwall felt like a lifetime ago now. "I've got a few useful skills, I'm sure I'll find something. If nothing else I can lend the good Madam out as a comfort cat. She's quite good at that."

That brought out a laugh, "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you I promise. I just can't imagine a cat being a comfort cat." The only ones that she knew were kind of not at all accommodating unless they want to be. "The ones I know look at me like I'm crazy if I try to get them to do something."

"I never said she wouldn't do that as well. She's gotten very good at her 'I'm surrounded by crazy humans' look but while she's giving it she will sit on your lap or drape herself across your shoulders. She can be very calming, or if she's in a playful mood she can be a good distraction." He rubbed at Madam's cheek with an amused grin. "But yes, I have completely given up on trying to get her to be obedient. She knows she's in charge."

"Having a good distraction will be helpful here." Buffy had to admit. "It can kind of get same old, same old." Or it could be that she's so used to going against demons and vampires almost every night and she hadn't gone against one at all since her arrival.

She smiled, "and then we get new arrivals like you, which makes for a nice change."

Re: Anders - Assigned Threads

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Re: Anders - Assigned Threads

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Re: Anders - Assigned Threads

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Re: Anders - Assigned Threads

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The amount of the commotion in the Inn today was a bit overwhelming for Piotr. He'd gotten used to his days being relatively quiet and mostly solitary (with one notable exception). Per usual, he'd made his way down to the cafe with his sketchbook in hand, pencil behind his ear, he found his favorite seat taken. Slightly flustered, he turned around to leave and nearly ran into another guest.

"Oh! Извините! Excuse me. I should pay more attention."

There suddenly was a wall of muscle in front of him. Sure, there were clothes draped over this muscle but they were clearly there, it was almost as if Anders could sense them. The acres of muscle spoke in a language he didn't understand at first, causing him to look up at the face that was a little higher up than he expected. "Uh, no. It's quite alright. No damage done."

His cat mewed, trying to pull out one of the black feathers on his coat. He picked her up off his shoulder and held her in one arm before offering a hand to the giant. "I'm Anders."

He blinked for a moment while his mind caught up with the sudden social interaction. "It is pleasure to meet you, Anders. I am Piotr."

The clothes the other man was wearing were odd, but what really grabbed his attention was the small kitten. Bending down slightly, he cocked his head to the side and smiled. "And who is this?"

Edited 2017-06-16 17:11 (UTC)

Anders shifted and held up the cat a little so the giant could get a better look at her. She tolerated it, clearly still annoyed that she'd been pulled away from her feather hunt. "This is Madam Fluffykins. I believe the first, though when she came to me she didn't say much about her ancestry." He smirked a little at his own joke, "Anyway, would you like to pet her? She's a very social cat, enjoys meeting new people."

"I would, Thank you." Piotr slowly raised his hand to the kitten to let her get used to the smell of him. He'd always gotten along better with animals than he had with most people.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, as well, Madam Fluffykins. I hope you will enjoy your new home," he said gently, speaking in Russian. Experience had told him that animals could sense his awkwardness if he spoke to them in English.

Anders prided himself on his ability to spot a cat lover and this mountain of a man was decidedly a cat lover so he was not at all concerned when Piotr spoke in that language he didn't understand. Madam seemed to approve as well, even turning her head so he could rub her cheek while she softly began to purr. "I think she likes you."

"I am glad. She is precious." Piotr was happy to acquiesce to the kitten's request and gave her a good scratch under her chin. The way the little one pressed into the action pulled a more genuine smile from him than he'd given a human in days.

"Would you like to grab drink?" he offered, trying not to focus too much on the animal. "This place can be overwhelming at first...and vodka helps."

"I'm not entirely sure what vodka is but I am more than willing to try new things." He adjusted the cat in his arms, knowing she wanted to be put down. That could wait, he decided he would let her wander the bar a bit while they had a drink. It would give Piotr a chance to give her more attention, something Anders could see that he wanted. He understood it, he would be the same way when he met a new cat.

"Vodka is liquor made from potatoes." Piotr supplied, then added. "But it does not taste like potato. It tastes like burning water. Good vodka taste like nothing but heat."

Shifting his focus about to where he was going, the larger man started making his way over to one of the booths that would give the kitten some space to roam without going too far. "It is very popular drink in my home country."

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