[Midnight Hotel] August catch-all

[gistful]

Characters: Anyone, everyone.
Date: Month of August, 2015 (2016 in-game).
Location: The Midnight Hotel.
Situation: Catch-all post! Feel free to use this post for anything that happens within the Midnight Hotel during the month, using the subject header to label specific rooms or for specific people. See also the OOC note at the bottom.
Warnings/Rating: Mark your threads if content warnings become applicable, please!

After Erskine’s temporary promotion last month, Anton is back in charge with a vengeance. While he isn’t asking anything extra of his staff, and those who offered to help out in the interim receive a very nice thank-you note, there’s still a few things to catch up on. At least, Anton feels the need to catch up on them, with the result that it won’t be unusual in the first part of the month to see him persistently cleaning. Especially the dusting. While he's recovered, he might still need to be reminded not to push himself, and the observant may notice some persistent weakness in his grip as he carries things.

For much of the month Anton will also, without explanation, be wearing heels. They’re old-fashioned, very clearly actually old—several centuries old—and rather dandified, and he wears them as if he’s worn them every day of his life.

As the heat sets in, patrons will also notice a spider infestation at the Hotel. They’ll turn up mostly in corners, in closets, behind the fridges; places which are dark and cool and near the Hotel’s internal magical plumbing. Anton can be readily available for help in that regard, though he is just as likely to refer anyone having troubles to Erskine. The spiders are being dealt with -- one of those 'cleaning duties' Anton is trying to overcome -- but are being rather persistent, the little buggers.

Otherwise, much like the heatwave in August two years’ previous, the Hotel will be booked solid this month. The Hotel’s internal atmospheric wards will keep the Hotel at a comfortable temperature in spite of the highs outside, and many kedan are once again taking advantage. Like before, rooms are filled and double-booked, with spare linens offered for those who want to bunk down in the common areas. Anyone who isn’t a long-term resident, and is merely seeking a respite from the heat, has a limit of two days in which to stay before they must vacate the room for someone else.

That being said, the previous heatwave was when the Hotel was new, with gangs still testing the boundaries of the proprietor’s rules and kedan suspicious of the building. Before, there was some amount of tension. This year there is very much a feeling of camaraderie, with kedan quite willingly making room for families with small children, sharing food, shuffling around and taking the close quarters with good grace.

[ooc: The Midnight Hotel’s status page is available here, with the rules at the top and ongoing status at the bottom. PLEASE POST TO THE STATUS PAGE IF YOUR CHARACTER WOULD LIKE A ROOM, JOB OR AREA IN THE GARAGE, OR ARE MOVING OUT. Anton will manufacture means of payment until Foreigners are able to properly offer recompense or choose to move out.]

Comments

August 8th onward

[insertdadjoke]

Not a whole lot had changed, Cain noticed. The people, the attitudes, the city itself. Some things had turned over or shifted and had a different air but not a whole lot was different. The Midnight Hotel was much the same. It was much more bustling, much more welcoming than before, but there was something to be said for the solidity still present in the atmosphere around it. In a way, it was pretty comforting. Half a year had gone by with Cain completely unawares, but at least nothing too severe had changed in that time.

He didn't have anything overly specific to do at the Hotel. His main focus was finding somewhere to stay, gather some intel, maybe even get himself a job to keep afloat while he looked into what other options there were and what was better for long-term suitability.

Inversely, Cain himself wasn't much to look at. Just a young man, mid-twenties at most, in jeans, shirt and a jacket. Comfortable and not out of place, looking for all the world like he knew exactly where he belonged and what he needed to do. Probably because he did know all that.

[gistful]

The Hotel was touch-and-go as a place to stay these days. Most of the city residents didn't really have anything approaching a functioning temperature-control system, or at least not a consistent one, which meant the Hotel was filled to the brim with people looking to escape from the heat.

Which meant that Anton was busier than he should be, so soon after bed-rest, and while he would have asked Erskine for help there was only so much help Erskine could currently render.

The moment Cain walked in, Anton's keys vibrated with the doorway's alert. He came out with an armful of linens. "Hello again," he said, and put the linens into Cain's arms. "If you would be so kind--one of the dorms on the top floor needs some extra beds made up on the ground, and they need something with which to do so."

Meanwhile, there was laundry to do, some other sleeping-bags to pull out, some cleaning to be done ...

[insertdadjoke]

It wasn't the most sudden of reintroductions Cain had experienced, not even counting the time his brother had shot him upon seeing him for the first time since his own death. He took it in stride, shifting his grip to make sure not to drop the load Anton had given him and listened with brows raised. "Which room?" he asked before heading up as instructed with little fuss. If Anton needed help, he wasn't going to just turn him down for being abrupt about it. Getting it set up wasn't difficult even if a few kedan were giving him odd looks — probably because he hadn't been seen around before and was suddenly acting like he worked here — before he headed back down to locate the Hotel's owner.

"Was that all?" he asked. No reason to try and engage in some kind of heartfelt reunion because there wasn't much to it at all. He would rather get business out of the way first, anyway. "How long has it been busy like this?"

[gistful]

"About a week," said Anton, standing at one of the linen closets and pulling out sleeping bags. He handed some to Cain, and then pulled out some pillows and pillowcases too. "The heatwave, you see. The same thing happened last year as well; the kedan know the Hotel's internal temperature rarely varies."

It was cooler in there than in most places in the city. Not all, but most. "The common-room," he direct Cain, nodding for Cain to go before him. "I do now have a number of helpers, but only a couple live-in, and one of those doesn't do particularly well with crowds."

[insertdadjoke]

Moving with Anton easily, Cain took what was handed to him and started to follow whatever suit Anton put forward. Even if it meant leading the walking. He was used to routine like this, ancient memory and habits having been tempered and reinforced through more common ones. Working in the service industry was one of the more comfortable things for Cain to do, to content himself and not have to think while finishing tasks. Even for someone as hold as him, what Cain learned growing up were the hardest lessons to let go.

"That actually leads pretty well into what I came here for," he admitted. "I was looking for somewhere to stay and if you need hands on-site for a while until this passes...? How long was the last heatwave?"

[gistful]

"About a month," Anton estimated. "So if this follows the same course we have perhaps three weeks left. It may not, however. Back then, the turtle was swimming in a pattern. Now he isn't." There was really no telling where they were going, which meant the heatwave could well last for a while. Anton was preparing to bank on that. "That would be most helpful, thank you."

The common-room was as bustling as the lobby, but where the lobby was more a place to interact the common-room very much had the overtone of slumber party. This was the designated sleeping area, and even if some beds spilling into the dining-area and lobby, it was the common-room which felt the most regulated. Family groups kept to their areas and made sure their children didn't bother those around them; gang-members kept the peace and delineated the boundaries.

[insertdadjoke]

"Still aimless?" Despite hearing that the turtle was still alive in some capacity, that really didn't mean much for its state of being if it wasn't also conscious. Floating along an undetermined path through dangerous climate was probably one of the tamer things that could happen, but that didn't make it any less severe. If the Hotel remained one of the only safe spots, and water continued to dwindle down, then things would go from difficult to dire in no time flat.

Cain made the mental note of visiting the Metalworkers and wherever else he could locate that might be willing to work with a foreigner in alternative energy sources and water purification. It wasn't ever his area of expertise, but it was impossible to not pick some things up along the way, either through observation or long periods of boredom.

"Pretty peaceful in here for such a commodity," he noted. Somehow, Cain didn't think Anton was using threads of force or violence to keep the atmosphere stable. No one wanted to be kicked out of a safe haven like this. "How's the rations? General supplies?"

[gistful]

"Indeed." The sleeping bags and pillows were duly delivered to a family in a corner, but they shooed Erskine and Cain away to pull the pillowcases on themselves. Anton wasn't averse to that; there was so much to do. And he hadn't even cleaned the Hotel to his satisfaction, yet, despite Erskine's good job holding down the fort.

"It is," Anton agreed, glancing around with as much satisfaction as he allowed himself to feel. "Last year, it was significantly tenser. The kedan are more familiar with it now." It was a compliment, that so much in such close quarters could feel so relaxed.

Anton took Cain back to the desk and opened the ledger. "I have a staff-room still reversed," he said. "For now. It's small, however."

[insertdadjoke]

"Size isn't an issue," Cain said easily. It wouldn't be much more than a place to lay his head and collect a few things of his own. Home was where he made it regardless of how large it was, and you could make a lot of things part of your home without stuffing it into some room. He glanced at the ledger out of curiosity, a smile lighting his features regardless. "Thanks. How do you want me to help out around here?"

There were a lot of things Cain could do to aid in running a Hotel. Really, nothing but the magical nature of it should be beyond him and if Anton was overworked, there was something to be said for someone who could take over whatever was needed at any one moment. "Anything you need done, I could handle it."

[gistful]

For a moment Anton surveyed the crowd. "If you could be in charge of the downstairs bedding arrangements, that would be helpful," he said finally. "Most of the kedan buy and prepare their own food, but the linens need regular changing and the sleeping-bags need airing, and so forth. Usually this happens when patrons are rotated out to give new ones a chance for respite, but it's difficult keeping the books and organising fresh linens at once."

Anton had managed it alone, the other year; many things, he could handle alone if needed. But he didn't need to, and his health wasn't what it was.

[insertdadjoke]

Cain looked out over the crowd as well. He could see how there would be no room for cleaning between guests if it wasn't organized and sorted out. This was a busy time out of necessity, and those were the times where it made keeping to routine difficult because there was no real way to downsize the goings-on if the owner was a decent person. Cain could definitely respect that.

"I could probably figure something out to do that for all the floors," he said in consideration. It wouldn't be tough, just tricky finding the best rhythm for the place and how Anton wanted to do things. "Even if you're only using the first floor for keeping out of the heat, it would be good to keep the rotations up throughout the whole building." His head dipped to the side, and he added, "Unless you've already got that part covered."

[gistful]

"The rotations are building-wide," Anton confirmed. "Many of the dorms are housing extra people, and so are the spare twins. Those in singles have kept their privacy, but they are all I can spare to do so, and anyone who was checked-in long-term before this month will keep their rooms. Those rotating should run under the same bedding rotation system regardless of floor, as far as fresh linens are concerned."

If Cain thought he could handle the upstairs floors too, Anton wasn't going to object, and it did make some sense to keep those evenly divided. They would only have to make sure they communicated properly about the rotation.

[insertdadjoke]

Already, Cain was beginning to form a layout of the building in his mind. He hadn't really stuck around beyond the excursion into the Dreaming but he realized that he would need a more thorough walkaround to see what the facilities looked like and what sort of loads this would have to go in. It was almost kinda fun, head tilting while numbers rolled together and possible rhythms were presented.

"Not a problem," he said, not with cockiness but genuine confidence. He turned to Anton, curiosity in his expression. "Would I be able to get a look at the facilities and the ledger to get a headcount?" He would understand if the answer to that one was no, seeing as he was only offering temporary services and some would consider their guest list confidential information.

[gistful]

"The facilities, certainly," Anton said with a nod. "All of them are public areas, save during specific noted times when the Hotel needs the amenities for services--particularly the laundry. That's accessible through the common-room or the eatery."

Granted, the eatery was more of a slumber party these days, but those bedding there knew to rolled up their things and move them to the sides of the room during the day, so people could bring out the chairs.

"The ledger I would prefer to remain private," Anton went on, "but I can provide you with a head-count." He could, in fact, do so at that very moment, and did--giving Cain the number of those currently checked in. "That does not include those staying long-term," he added. "That is, those with actual beds. Many of them do their own laundry these days, but otherwise I change them weekly, unless sooner at request."

[insertdadjoke]

Sensible enough. Cain tucked the information away immediately, and resolved to get a better look at the place. If he was going to be something akin to staff, then he wouldn't have an issue getting familiar with the equipment and judging how large the loads would be and how frequent.

"Of course," Cain agreed. Privacy of one's tenants was tantamount, and Anton took that seriously. It wasn't anything worth pushing on. He tilted his head in acknowledgment to the exception. "Fair enough. If you end up needing me to do that, too, you'll know where to find me. Which... where will you be able to find me?"

[gistful]

"Here." Anton pointed to a small foldable map he regularly kept on the desk for reference, and the room in question. "Room Seven. It's one I hold for staff-members, but most of my staff live in Sky Sector nowadays. Thank you, Cain."

It wasn't a particularly long in the way of conversation, but there was too much to do. Anton lingered only long enough to make sure Cain knew what he was doing before moving off to continue.