[Midnight Hotel] July catch-alll

[gistful]

Characters: Anyone, everyone.
Date: Month of JULY, 2016.
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!

Though the attack on Anton and Jintou occurred outside of the Hotel, its effects can nevertheless be seen on the Hotel’s runnings during July. Jintou is absent, in the first place, though Anton keeps his room in the event he’s found.

For the last few days of June and the first couple days of July Anton is preoccupied with rebuilding the shops he damaged in his attempt to stop Jintou from being taken, and therefore a good deal of the Hotel’s daily running is in the hands of his staff and a handful of trusted ex-gang kedan.

Within the first few days of the month Anton’s health takes a nosedive. Though the chronic condition discovered by Raine and Tony wasn’t previously active, the poisoning attempt apparently changed that and for the rest of this month Anton is under enforced bed-rest—or if not bed-rest then an enforced holiday. For that reason, any and all offers to help out with maintenance, cleaning, cooking, accounting and other daily chores at the Hotel will be welcomed.

Provided, that is, that no one minds the Hotel proprietor hovering over their shoulders—when he isn’t being sat on by a giant wolf to make sure he doesn’t overtax himself.

Hotel rules are, obviously, still in effect.

[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

[redlightgreenlight]

Trust has little to do with it.

She sat, attempting to give him a disapproving look, but she couldn't. If he was feeling good enough to joke, then perhaps he wasn't as bad off as he seemed. Wishful thinking. Anton was tough, he wouldn't let anything get him down and he wouldn't let her know exactly how bad he was feeling. Not that she could do anything to help anyway. It was beyond frustrating. All she could do was hope that a hint about his attackers would come her way.

Do you remember anything about...what happened?

[gistful]

"I do," Anton agreed, pouring the water, very carefully, into the mug. "Is there anything in particular you're wondering about?" If Valdis wanted to be his protector, he minded that far less than her running out on a vengeance binge. The fact she hadn't already was a relief, but he didn't have many illusions about how long she could hold that grudge.

[redlightgreenlight]

It was times like this that she wished she could read minds, but she would have to do with surface thoughts and feelings.

Did you...

What was she supposed to ask? His senses weren't like hers, the things she would have looked for were different than what he would have noticed.

Sense anything...off?

[gistful]

"Before it happened?" Anton turned, cradling the mug carefully in both hands to take advantage of the heat. He sighed. "No. It was only a matter of time, perhaps. I was keeping watch on those near us, and the food we bought was made in front of us. There was very little opening."

But reflexes tired, and even Anton keeping careful watch was going to be degraded after having kept watch for weeks. "It's possible they tried and succeeded previously," said Anton. "The gist has a tendency to subvert that sort of tampering. Not this time."

[redlightgreenlight]

That's assuming that you ingested it, she pointed out, Did someone bump into you?

It was possible that, similar to that woman who had attacked Yuri, someone had injected Anton with the poison directly, that would explain why it was too potent for the gist. It was difficult to believe that someone could get to Anton like that, but it could have happened to any of them.

And did Raine find out what caused it?

Whatever the poison had been, it had hurt Anton and it was entirely possible that it was potent enough to affect her as well and that was bothersome.

[gistful]

"Not that I recall," said Anton, "but the streets did have a crowd. It's also possible any utensils I used had been doctored--or nearly anything I touched, the same." There were too many possibilities.

"I have not asked yet," he admitted. "Though I imagine she will tell me when she has. It's early yet." Barely a handful of days, since then.

[redlightgreenlight]

Her concern was growing, if a thin layer of the stuff on a utensil was enough to make him sick, or if it absorbed through the skin...there were indeed many possibilities. She could only hope that Raine would identify the substance quickly.

I suppose, she replied, trying to sound less worried than she felt.

[gistful]

It was always possible that attempts had been made and failed. The successful attempt could have only been the last in a long line of persistence, in which case, they had been bound to succeed eventually. Such was the nature of statistics, as Anton understood them.

But he didn't say that, because he heard the worry Valdis tried to reduce. He made sure he could hold his mug with one hand and turned away from the counter, and ran a hand lightly across Valdis's head. "Come now," he said gently. "Would you prefer to sleep inside my room than without it? At least then there won't be a door between, if anything should go amiss."

[redlightgreenlight]

He was so good at comforting others and his light touch soothed her nerves.

Yes. She replied softly, pushing her head gently against his hand again. She would help him back to his room if he needed it and then stay until Erskine was able to take over.