[Midnight Hotel] May catch-all

[gistful]

Characters: Anyone, everyone.
Date: Month of MAY, 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 overtone in the Hotel this month is rather melancholy. Anton is back on full-time duty with his usual courtesy after the visitors have left, though he rarely smiles, unless looking at some particular pictures. There have been a few other notable changes.

For one thing, Anton will not wear his usual funeral-director’s suit this whole month. He will, in fact, wear colour. For the most part he wears a three-piece suit of understated purple, accompanied by various complementary shades in shirts and waistcoats. (It was a gift.) Occasionally he breaks out, grudgingly, a kedanese variant of a traditional three-piece suit, though admittedly still dark in tones.

For another thing, the tablet at the desk which habitually chimes with a perky voice is gone, but there are a multiple of photographs pinned to various places at reception (to say nothing of his private office). All of these photographs are of the same group of eight men—Anton included, as well as Erskine Ravel and Skulduggery Pleasant—in various states of handymanship, craftsmanship, and physical labour as they renovate a building (in various states of completion). None of the images are posed, and some of them have an air of wistful uncertainty, but others an air of unthinking camaraderie, where the laughter is free.

The third and possibly most noticeable change is that the resident janitorial cleaning faery, Erskine, has apparently moved out. It is for that reason that Anton is regularly not available in the late evenings, since someone has to check up on Erskine now he’s living on his own.

Other than that, the actual Hotel’s workings remain as normal. The restaurant begun in April is continuing with reasonable popularity, running a little more smoothly than it did in the beginning. There is slight tension in the kitchen, as some of the kedanese cooks work out the hierarchy, but it never reaches a point where Anton has to step in. Still, there are some jaundiced glares being thrown around the kitchen and dining hall.

Meanwhile, the sleeping-bags are packed up and stowed away, and the commons are returned to their usual states after having been appropriated for the giant slumber-party.

[ooc: The Midnight Hotel’s status page is available here, with the rules at the top. 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

[no_light]

Not a roommate then. Some of that tightly coiled fury within him calmed, the angrily churning waves returning to a state that remained tumultuous, but wasn't quite on the verge of overspilling. He could control this, he thought, or as much as he could ever control himself in times of upset.

Kylo's pacing didn't cease, though,for even with the prospect of a roommate being spared, he felt nearly as trapped as before. Ironically, a roommate might have been the problem easier solved, albeit it might have been an unpleasantly finite solution.

"Thank you for your understanding," he forced out between teeth that remained clenched. Thank you, these weren't words that passed his lips easily, but once in a different life he had been taught to use his manners, and he still could, if need be.

If only he were perceptive enough to see it, he would have realized that all the skills useful to him on the turtle were skills he had acquired in that old life.

"But there is nothing I can sell." He shook his head sharply. "I didn't bring anything but my clothes and..." His hand slid to his lightsaber. "It can't be sold, not for anything."

Kylo Ren abruptly stopped his pacing, turning to face Shudder. "I have marketable skills," he said, voice wry, "but they are of the violent sort. I don't suppose it would be easy to be hired as an assassin, or a torturer." He met the man's gaze right on. There it was. His challenge issued.

[gistful]

Anton revised his opinion again. Not unaware of the courtesies, grudging though they were, which meant Mr Ren had some sort of upbringing instead of being left to his own devices. The challenge, though--that was interesting. His tone suggested some aspect of self-awareness. Well-raised rich young man gone awry, perhaps; which was better than starting from a foundation of cruelty to begin with.

Anton held Mr Ren's gaze without a flinch. "It's always easy to be hired as an assassin or a torturer," he acknowledged in his usual even tones, "but I would not in good conscience send you to someone who would employ you for such matters."

Still, Mr Ren hadn't killed anything except the furniture, and that only needed paying from this point on. It was possible he would submit to some more honest work ... but the jobs Anton had which required least interaction with patrons was doing the laundry or washing dishes, and Anton couldn't imagine Mr Ren either stripping beds or handling crockery without breaking it.

"You're a fighter, though?" Anton asked to be sure, though given the man's stride he didn't feel the need to wait for an answer. "There is a dojo in the city, run by a Foreigner. He may accept teachers for his students."

And Bakura could handle idiocy, if it came to that.

[no_light]

If he tried, it was quite likely he would find a way to thoroughly botch stripping beds or scrubbing dishes, and cause quite the damage in the process. It was really better they didn't try, and of course anything requiring social skills would be an unmitigated disaster.

For quite possibly the first time in his life, Kylo Ren was becoming aware of these shortcomings himself.

In the First Order, he had taken pride in being difficult, and indeed looming menacingly had come with the job description. Something told him such jobs wold be in short supply around here.

"I suppose I could teach fighting," he agreed, though he couldn't help sounding dubious about it. Social skills... "I have trained my knights before. I'll look into it." That should, at least, get Shudder off his back. And if he had something to show for how he acquired his funds, he could just mind trick kedan to get more money. "I have never taught people who aren't Force sensitive, but it can't be all that difficult. What is the name of this man?"

[gistful]

Anton was rather dubious about it himself, though he didn't show it. Not that Anton made special efforts to be encouraging, usually, but it wasn't really his place to throw salt in a wound. Surely at the very least there would be something around the dojo a warrior would understand the merit of doing, even if it didn't involve teaching.

"His name is Bakura," Anton said, reaching for one of the maps he kept around the Hotel and filling in the route from Wood Sector's Hotel entrance to the Jade Dojo. "The dojo is in Wood Sector. I will check with him in a couple of weeks to see how you're progressing."

That is, to make sure Mr Ren is doing something about his situation.

Anton straightened and folded the map, and held it out. "Although I appreciate your foresight in putting yourself in a position where you are less likely to lose control," he said, "I feel obliged to remind you that it will not be the job of anyone else in the Hotel to ensure your control is kept. I am willing to extend leniency to the death of furniture, but Hotel rules regarding violence otherwise still stand."

His tone was matter-of-fact despite the words, though Anton doubted Mr Ren would take them well. At least Anton could say the man was still warned, if anything did happen.

[no_light]

His face tightened a bit at the oh so casual mention of concern. He would check how he was progressing. Sure. Well, this meant he had to visit the dojo, at the very least, and maybe make a token effort to earn some money.

It could be worse than a dojo, anyway, even if he was already dreading the memories of the Temple it would stir up.

He tapped his gloved fingers against his thigh in his agitation, it was better than pacing at least. "I understand the rules regarding violence, trust me," Kylo Ren said tightly, "I'm very aware of them... and they aren't always easy to keep when you house my enemies. But I haven't attacked anything other than wood and electronics."

In his opinion, sharing the building peacefully with Luke Skywalker should earn him a medal, but, well... It wasn't like he was keen to advertise how unusual this peacefulness was, either.

He straightened, meeting Shudder's eyes right on. "There will be no problems. Your guests," another sneer, "are perfectly safe with me."

gaah sorry for the late

[gistful]

"I also house theirs," Anton said simply. It was an equal exchange; all he expected of his patrons was control. Someone always had an enemy, and sometimes they were in the same area. Prioritising one enemy over another was unbalanced.

"Thank you," he said, giving Mr Ren the map and the bill. "Please feel free to come see me if you need any further assistance."

Though he doubted Mr Ren would. Too proud, too disinclined to be amenable to others.

[no_light]

Quite unlikely indeed that he would seek out help, but in a way he appreciated the offer anyway. It seemed genuine enough, not that this meant he trusted it. But people deserved some credit already for putting an effort into pretending.

"That is very kind of you, Mr Shudder." He nodded to the man, clutching the map and bill, and walked to the door of his office. "I'm certain we will speak again soon enough."

Most certainly sooner than Kylo Ren would wish.