[Midnight Hotel] November catch-all

[gistful]

Characters: Anyone, everyone.
Date: Month of November, 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!

The Hotel’s processes are chugging along in November. Some absences due to Foreigners leaving means that the Hotel employees are fewer, and while nothing changes in terms of services, things are a little bit hectic. For this reason, some of the kedanese part-timers will be more prominent—particularly at the desk and in the lobby, and keeping the peace.

There’s also that incident with Ravel becoming a bunny rabbit, which puts a little extra strain on the staff, having lost one of their own … temporarily.

The kedan who know Anton well are tiptoeing around him a bit this month. Some of them witnessed him with China at the masquerade and there are some rumours going around the Hotel that the proprietor has a squeeze on the side. Those who actually mention it inside his hearing find out quickly not to do it again, and even on good days he’s tense and almost grumpy. The only times his mood lightens at all this month are when he has the care of the tiny white bunny Erskine’s become.

[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

[gistful]

Anton didn't see Skulduggery right away, which might give Skulduggery enough time and opportunity to assess Anton's state of being. For one thing, his stride was slightly clipped, as though he was prepared to shift his stance on a dime. His shoulders were drawn in, which was a warning only because it indicated Anton was trying to protect others by keeping the gist in.

His tone, when he spoke to others, tended toward short. He was aware of that, at least, because when he led off with being curt his tone consciously softened after.

When Anton did notice Skulduggery waiting there he turned the desk over to one of his kedanese helpers and went to meet Skulduggery. "Not here," he said tersely, and then took a breath. "Let's take a walk."

[skeletonenigma]

It wasn't Anton's bearing which was the biggest clue. It was the fact that he wanted to leave the Hotel. The last time he'd wanted to leave the Hotel, it was to punch Skulduggery and steal his hat, so Skulduggery was by necessity already on his guard. Given that he hadn't done anything lately, though, the only reason Anton would want to leave the Hotel was because he wanted to keep the Hotel a safe haven. Both for others, and for himself.

Skulduggery didn't think the issue was physical violence, despite Anton's hunched shoulders and curt tone. Anton was far too controlled for that. It probably had a lot more to do with Anton's state of mind - which was worrying all on its own.

He nodded and led the way out, then set the pace down the street outside, hat tilted on top of his skull and hands in his pockets. He all but started to whistle. Rather than whistling, though, Skulduggery turned his head toward Anton and prompted, "What is it?"

[gistful]

It wasn't in Anton's nature to shy away from things that had to be done. He appreciated the pace that Skulduggery had set. He wanted to appreciate the fact that Skulduggery didn't dance around the subject with small talk, but couldn't.

So he did what Anton did: answered bluntness with bluntness. "I'm slipping."

Even that admission annoyed him far more than it should. He took a moment to clasp his hands behind his back and focus on the path before them. "I've been slipping for a while. Something needs to be done."

His usual methods weren't working.

[skeletonenigma]

It was about what Skulduggery expected, but he still fell silent, considering the implications. Anton slipping in Keeliai. The Foreigners would never be trusted again, very likely hunted down in their homes to erase the threat they posed entirely. He was completely ignoring what Anton himself would do, but Skulduggery had considered the implications of that for centuries; there was no reason to rehash it.

"I see," he said eventually. "And by 'something', you mean...?"

[gistful]

"I don't know," Anton admitted, and his tone showed more with threads of anger than frustration. It was difficult to tell the difference these days. "I can't think of anything. I was hoping clear and ... experienced head ... would come up with something."

[skeletonenigma]

At the risk of becoming Anton's personal therapist, Skulduggery had to admit that he was an experienced head. He didn't hold with the idea of psychology, but he certainly held with the idea of offering advice.

"Do you know what caused this?" he asked. "Is it a latent effect from the poison, or is it China?"

[gistful]

"China--" Anton growled, then stopped and managed to modulate his voice. "China has ... exacerbated the issue, but it began with Bakura. I asked him for help with Erskine, but apparently I have done something to offend him since we last spoke to a significant degree and he demanded a price in return."

Anton took a deep breath. "I gave him one free dispensation from punishment if he should break the Hotel rules."

[skeletonenigma]

Of course China had exacerbated the issue. That was what China did. Sometimes, it seemed that was all she existed to do.

Skulduggery went quiet as they walked. For several moments, he couldn't force a thought beyond surprise and a certain amount of dread. Anton didn't break his rules for anyone. He'd knowingly sheltered a sociopath intent on releasing the Remnants, simply because handing him over to Skulduggery would have been breaking the Hotel's rules. Yet now... he'd not only agreed to break one, he'd made the agreement with Bakura. All to help Erskine.

Had Bakura kept up his end of the bargain? Most likely. If that wasn't the case, it would have been the first thing Anton mentioned. If the agreement had broken, Anton wouldn't be acting so uncharacteristically uncomposed.

So - first things first. "Does anyone else know?" Skulduggery asked. "Does Ravel?"

[gistful]

Though Anton knew that Skulduggery was rarely quiet for a reason other than to absorb information, the length of time neither spoke was enough to be awkward. More than awkward. The condemnation was all in Anton's head, and yet it sparked irritation. Defensiveness.

It was a relief when Skulduggery asked a question Anton could answer.

"Erskine doesn't," said Anton. "But I told Cain, and asked him to watch for Bakura. The agreement didn't preclude someone else getting in the way, or my staff interfering or seeking recompense--only me."

[skeletonenigma]

If Erskine didn't know, that was probably for the best. He and Skulduggery's newfound tolerance didn't stretch all the way to trust. Cain, Skulduggery didn't know nearly as well, but at least he was a friend. Someone Skulduggery had relied on in the past. Someone Bakura would, hopefully, overlook.

"Bakura doesn't seem the type to use a favour simply because it's there," Skulduggery mused. "It's more likely he wants the option just in case something goes wrong in the future. Are you telling me this because you need as many people as possible to be aware of it, or because you're hoping I have advice on how to handle yourself in the meantime?"

If it was the latter - and it certainly sounded like that was the case - then Anton might have to be disappointed. Despite the centuries of war and conflict, Skulduggery was hardly an expert.

[gistful]

"No. It's more likely the demand was a test." Not that Bakura wouldn't take advantage if he wanted it; he was a thief. Good thieves collected advantages.

Anton shook his head. "I won't deny the help of having someone else know, but no. What concerns me is ... what's come after." He stopped and faced Skulduggery. "I compromised myself to make that deal," he said quietly, "and I still think it was worth it--but China is the one who's taking advantage now. Someone needed to know about that."

Expert or not, Skulduggery still had experience with managing not to fall again.

[skeletonenigma]

A test. Hm. Did that mean Bakura would be more likely to take advantage of the favour in the future, or less? Skulduggery wasn't sure. It was, of course, always better to be safe than sorry, but he liked to think he was something of an optimist. A practical optimist, but an optimist nonetheless.

Skulduggery stopped alongside Anton. "Does China know about the deal?" he asked.

[gistful]

"Not as far as I know," Anton said grimly. "I imagine I would, if she did. No--the exchange with Bakura opened a crack China has unknowingly exploited."

Now Anton had to look away, studying the buildings across from him. "I went to her regarding her knowledge of you," he said quietly. "I made her understand what would happen if she used it against you. And she--she enthralled me, Skulduggery. She had me on my knees. ... She had the gist on our knees."

The worst part was the sensation of the gist raging almost free--save the tangles of China's magic.

[skeletonenigma]

They stood silent and still in the street, Skulduggery stiller than most - and not solely because of his lack of muscle. China. China Sorrows, the most beautiful woman in the world, a seductress, a manipulator, and a massive pain in the neck for anyone trying to deal with her.

She wasn't, however, stupid. Her self-preservation instinct was - usually - in full attendance. Gleefully enthralling someone she knew wasn't able to fight back was one thing, but she must have known Anton might tell Skulduggery. Had she become that complacent? Did Skulduggery's half-apology from when he was living take her guard down that far? Was she that sure she'd be able to get away with it?

Skulduggery forced himself to take a breath. Then another, and another one after that. Then, for good measure, a fourth. Only when the immediate red flare of rage had subsided did he bow his head.

"What did you tell her?" he asked, his voice quieter than it might otherwise have been in the midst of city bustle.

[gistful]

"I told her," said Anton with precise evenness, the sort he used just to make sure, "that if she used anything she knew against any Dead Man, ones here currently or in future, I'd kill her. And then I'd kill her again when she came back. She knows about Erskine, too."

He hesitated, and didn't quite duck his head but quite obviously didn't look Skulduggery's way. "I broke her wrist."

He'd threatened her. Hurt her. But he'd gotten his point across, and found out more than he'd expected.

[skeletonenigma]

Ordinarily the inability to die in Keeliai wasn't something Skulduggery thought about very often. After all, he couldn't die anyway - or at least not very easily - so something that leveled the playing field didn't matter very much in the grand scheme of things.

Right now, the idea that someone wouldn't actually die when killed irritated him.

"You broke her wrist," Skulduggery repeated. The thought mysteriously made him want to laugh, which was why he lingered on it. It helped. "What has she done since then?"

[gistful]

"She danced with me," said Anton, aware as he spoke how mundane it sounded. "She claimed she hadn't done anything--that she wasn't doing anything, at the time--but I could not tell whether her magic was in effect or not. And she--"

Kissed me.

Barely even a kiss. A taunt, more than anything else. For a moment Anton floundered, unsure even as he did why he should do so; but knowing that the words sounded indescribably petty compared to the actual event.