tushanshu_logs | [Midnight Hotel] March catch-all

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[Midnight Hotel] March catch-all

Characters: Anyone, everyone.
Date: Month of March, 2016 (2017 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 influx of patrons from Hatal has slowed somewhat as the novelty wears off and residents are assured they won’t miss anything by not visiting the quaint hotel right away. Most Tavimbians have got it through their heads that the proprietor takes his rules seriously, and have come to the usual conclusion that it’s not worth the effort of breaking them in minor ways.

Some of those assumptions might be questioned, given that those who live at the Hotel will have gotten the opportunity to witness said proprietor going out on the town with some friends.

Other changes this month involve the addition of a ramp function to the stairs leading from the lobby and common-area to the second floor. Like the escalator function, the ramp is controlled by buttons at the height and base of the stairs; when pressed, the steps fall flat against the floor into a ramp, and revert to their previous state only once there is no more weight on them.

These changes are to account for Bisi’s chair, but some kedanese children get in on the fun by using the ramp-stairs as a slide – though not too much, as their parents or guardians will shoo them off whenever they start getting in the way.

[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.]

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Valdis felt the presence of the Prince of Darkness the moment she entered the Hotel after a long day at the Dojo. She immediately bristled, her irises shiting to blood red within an instant as the Void hissed harsh warnings in her head. It was afraid, angry and suspicious and Valdis had to spend a few moments separating out her own feelings before she dared move deeper into the Hotel. She was displeased by this development, the Prince she had known had always been a pompus ass, but unlike the Archdemons, the Prince hadn't cared much about her species.

She slowly made her way up the stairs toward her room, pulling the string from her dark hair so that it could fall loose around her shoulders. Revelations glowed brightly with its holy light, the red gem in the hilt pulsing almost as if indignant that her haven had been intruded upon. Reaching the third floor, she saw him standing in the hallway and stopped, raising a brow, one hand moving to settle on the hilt of the angelic blade. He looked different, but there was no doubt in her mind of his identity.

"Lucifer..." She said, eyes narrowing.

He was, to be precise, currently considering how to reach what was obviously the pull cord for the stairs. It was undignified to jump up, though given his height he could probably reach it if he tried still; he'd been attempting to find another work around.

One hadn't presented itself, so jump it was going to have to be. Except, damn ... person.

Actually, nooooo. Not person. Not precisely. In fact, she practically glowed with immortality and the touch of both Heaven and Hell. Not his Heaven or his Hell but some of the markers were definitely ... universal.

Curious and more curious, he weighed his options and then smiled.

"Yes, good that saves us the introduction part of the conversation," he said in a quick and easy manner, before pointing a long finger towards where her hand had settled on the angelic blade.

"May I borrow that?" He asked, pointing up towards the stair latch. "Can't quite reach that latch up there and I'd like to nick up to the roof for a smoke."

Her eyes narrowed further and she moved her hand from the blade to cross her arms and cock a hip. Just as cocky as she remembered, and just as uncaring. The gall of him to ask to use her sword as a common stick, it was infuriating. She opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she thought of that, and then changed her mind. A brilliant smile spread across her face.

"Of course."

She drew the blade and it flashed brightly with holy light as she held it out to him, wondering just how much damage it would do to the ruler of Hell when it rejected him. Perhaps it would even turn him to dust, but that was wishful thinking and Anton probably wouldn't approve. At the very least it should burn him or give him a nasty shock, but he was the Prince of Darkness and she didn't know how his abilities worked.

As soon as the blade cleared it's sheath, he could sense it. The holy light didn't bother him, the way the stories said it should, if anything it was slightly intriguing and mildly irritating at the same time.

Peering at it, as if it were a curious sort of ant, he smiled at her and gently ticked his finger back and forth.

"It's impolite to lie," he admonished, giving the blade a dismissive wave of his hand and going back to sorting out how he was going to get that latch undone.

Hmmm.

Suddenly he turned and his smile widened.

"Got it! Why didn't I think of it before!" He exclaimed, as if they'd been in the middle of a conversation. Heading towards room number 22, Lucifer disappeared briefly, only to reappear with one of the low stools that sat at the foot of his bed. Setting it down, just in front of the clock, he dusted off his hands and climbed gracefully atop the cushion.

Ah, yes. Perfect. Latch achieved!

Unconcerned, though slightly disappointed, Valdis slid the sword back into its sheath. She didn't bother replying to his admonishment, she didn't answer to him, nor did she care what he thought. He had a brilliant smile though. Her eyes followed him, her exxpression unchanging as he went to the room next to hers and reemerged with a stool. She frowned, realizing that the Devil was now apparently her neighbor. She would have to have words with Anton about this.

Her frown shifted to amusment as he climbed up onto the stool to undo the latch. "Your counterpart in my world would never have lowered himself to such a display," she commented, "Balancing atop a stool like a circus animal performing a trick."

Her smile and tone said she was joking despite the apparent harshness. This Lucifer didn't seem concerned about acting the fool, but then again, she had only met her version once.

There had been a time, a few million or perhaps a billion or two years ago, when comments like Valdis' would have seen the full extent of his temper unleashed. He'd gone through that period of pride, when his hold on Hell had been iron clad and no one, not even Maze dared to speak out of turn.

He'd gotten over it.

A combination of time, so much time, becoming comfortable in his own power, that he didn't need to see that power reflected in the fear of others and also simply boredom. Everybody nodding their heads got boring after an eon or two. As he told Maze, he found the occasional snarky comment to be amusing, rather than threatening any more.

Undoing to latch, he leaned back slightly as he reached to catch the folding stairs.

"Depending upon how old I was/am in your world, I suppose that is probably true," he remarked, mildly as he guided the stairs to the floor and hopped off the stool.

Pushing it out of his way, he gave her a quick glance and that lightening fast grin.

"However, I'm retired and at the moment I just want a smoke."

Which would see him heading up the stairs to navigate the door to the roof. She was welcome to follow or go talk to Anton about their current 'neighbor' situation, the choice was her's.

Valdis tipped her head, saying nothing in reply despite her curiosity. The stairs creaked as he lowered them and the floorboards shifted slighty when he jumped off the stool. Her face twisted in honest confusion at his comment about retirement and she opened her mouth to respond a second too late, he was already headed toward the roof. She sighed, not moving, trying to fight the curiosity. A moment later she was following him up the stairs, leaving the stool in the hallway without a second thought.

"Does the Prince of Darkness get to retire?" She asked, emerging into the sunlight after him, "I wasn't aware that was an option."

She pulled her hair over one shoulder and crossed her arms, one brow raised in skepticisim.

"Was there much paperwork involved?"

Once he was out on the roof, Lucifer reached into the pocket of his trousers and withdrew his cigarette case. By the time Valdis had joined him, he had a cigarette out and was tapping it lightly on the case as he peered over the edge of the roof, taking in the view.

"Hmmm?" He remarked in a distracted tone, setting the cigarette to his lips but then drawing it back down as he focused on her question.

"Oh, well I didn't really care at the time," he said, as if it had been that simple and for him it had been. "Apparently, it's thrown the Silver City and my brother Amenadiel into a bit of a tizzy but I care even less about that."

That should answer the question about the paperwork, so he doesn't bother to respond to that question. Instead, the cigarette made it to his lips and was quickly lighted.

"You're the Devil," she replied, "Of course you didn't care. Better than certain other parties in Hell...or Heaven for that matter, always sticking their noses into other people's business."

The Archdemons were the most annoying of the lot and her Lucifer had left most of the ruling of Hell to them anyway, so Heaven getting bent out of shape over it was quite an amusing idea. This Lucifer seemed to be quite interesting and far less threatening in personality than most other demons. "I haven't heard of Amenadiel, I've only dealt with Gabriel, Ariel and Michael. Is he an archangel like they are?"

Drawing in a deep drag on his cigarette, he listened to her, agreeing with part of her comment regarding the Silver City. However, upon exhaling he shook his head slightly and moved to sit down casually on the ledge of the roof.

"Yes well, that first bit is kind of in debate at the moment," he said in a casual tone that belied the weight of his thoughts on the matter. "See, I spent some time thinking and realized that I'm the 'devil' because dear ole dad needed one for his Plan. Had nothing to do with me really, not as myself but just another tool in Dad's crayon creation map."

Taking another draw off his cigarette, he savored the smoke before continuing.

"I wasn't a fan of the whole predestination situation the first time and not any more taken with it now. So Dad can take his 'devil' label and pass it on to one of the others, doesn't matter to me."

There was a pause to ash (curious the ash didn't fall over the edge like he'd intended it too) before he quickly amended that last bit.

"Actually it already has; passed on, the label that is. Amenadiel has the job now and seems to absolutely loath it, quite fun actually. Guess he was the next 'favorite son' in line."

That ... might answer her question about Amenadiel's archangel status?

She watched the smoke with one eye as he breathed it in, reminded her a bit of that Constantine man, except Lucifer actually seemed to have manners. His philosophy even made sense, in a manner of speaking. Not having been a creation of the Father, Valdis had very little input on that matter. Her origins may have been of him, but she didn't remember any of that, so she didn't particularly care about it.

"Is that how the story went?" Valdis quipped, not wanting an answer. "I was under the impression that there was a challenge issued, ectera, cast out of heaven with his followers...."

She moved to sit a safe distance away, keeping her gaze on him despite having decided that he was no threat.

"Should have known it was all mortal gossip, but I'm surprised the Father let go so easily. You're lucky, I only get to retire when I'm dead." She sighed, " Life is so unfair."

Oh lovely, another one who had the propaganda spiel memorized.

Lucifer studied her with a level sort of neutrality as the smoke blew softly across his face. To be fair, perhaps that was how it had gone with her Lucifer, in her creation. An interesting thought and one he considered for a moment as she continued to talk.

When the silence had stretched out long enough to finally sink back into his conscious awareness, he looked over at Valdis and blinked.

"Sorry, wasn't listening." He offered, unabashedly honest. "Suppose this is where I ask the question," he paused and adjusted his tone to one of earnest focus. "'And you would be?'"

He had completely spaced and she took the time to simply watch when she had finished speaking, unconcerned by the fact that he had disappeared into his own head. By the time he came back to the real world, her legs were crossed and her chin rested on one hand, simply waiting. She lifted her head and laughed at his question.

"Do you actually care about my name? Or are you simply trying on human manners? Sometimes it's hard for me to tell."

Empathetic abilities aside that is.

"Simply trying on manners," he responded, without hesitation or even a sense of remorse.

"The machinations of the Silver City and it's inhabitants, and Hell and it's inhabitants are really no longer any of my concern," at least that's what he's been insisting for the past five years. Dear ole Dad and Amenadiel may have other ideas but they weren't here. "As such your affiliation either way doesn't much interest me."

Setting the cigarette to his lips, he drew in another deep drag, holding it and then letting it out before he continued.

"If, however, you'd like to speak to this whole situation," he made a sweeping gesture with his hand, to indicate the turtle and this world. "I'd be an attentive and appreciative audience."

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[Midnight Hotel] March catch-all

B-Anytime Later

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