TEST DRIVE MEME 003

[happyheartsstaff]

HAPPY HEARTS HOTEL

You wake up in a padded box. It rocks, gently, as though suspended in mid-air. You begin to stir, confusion or distress pushing you to try to sit up — and then the air begins to smell sweet, and you fall back asleep.

You wake up in a padded box. For a moment, you are beatifically calm. You don't know how you got here, or why, but that isn't really all that important. You don't need to know where you are. You're just... here. And here is a wonderful place to be.

But there is a niggling suspicion growing in the back of your mind. A suspicion that here is not somewhere you wanted to be. That it is not where you're supposed to be. You remember... chasing a white rabbit (or was it a person)? A mirror? Bright light, and green ivy crawling over your skin... Before you can worry too much, the box jolts, and then settles, and after a long moment the walls fall from around you to reveal —

A hotel lobby?

"Welcome to the Happy Hearts Hotel and Casino," says an attendant behind a desk. "We're so pleased you could join us. We have your room keys and Empathies here, please make an orderly line and we'll hand them out once we've confirmed identities. After that, feel free to explore the hotel! We highly recommend starting with the casino. Everyone's a winner here in Happy Hearts!"

Is this normal? It doesn't feel normal. And hey — you could swear you had shoes before!

I. SHALL WE DANCE, SHALL WE FLY

Those of you hoping to make use of The Pool of Tears today are in for a disappointment — it appears to have been shut down for the day to make room for a special event! Dozens of small vehicles that resemble pink flamingos are parked along the grounds by the pool, and others are being flown above it with varying levels of skill.

People wearing name tags identifying them as guest instructors mingle around the parked vehicles to offer lessons on how to fly the flamingos. They'll also allow the flamingos to be checked out to be used for recreation, regardless of whether the person checking them out has had flying lessons or not.

Why is this taking place in the pool area and not outdoors, you may ask? Why, because a crash landing in water is so much softer on the bones than on solid land, of course.

Or perhaps you were hoping to spend some time at the Caucus-Race, making use of the hotel's private gym. It seems that, too, had been taken over for an event — dance lessons! There are more guest instructors there to lead dances of all kinds, from groups to couples to private instruction. Even if you didn't intend to partake of them when you came here, you may find yourself bustled away and facing your partner for the lesson before you know it.

Still another handful of guest instructors have set up in the Mad Tea-Party, offering a variety of art lessons — from paintings to drawing to pottery to glassblowing! Have a glass of wine, or something stronger, and try your hand at one! Anyone who chooses to do so will get to keep whatever masterpiece they produce.

II. WE TRADE IN FAVORS

The guest instructors aren't the only ones visiting the hotel today. It seems some traveling merchants have come to pitch their wares, and they've set up shop in the hotel lobby. There's display cases of delicately crafted jewelry, all manner of glassware, bolts of fabric, boxes of precious stones and crystal.

Why come to them when you can get what you need for free from the hotel's boutique? There's just no comparison when it comes to exquisite craftsmanship, of course, or the quality of their raw materials. But should you need a reason beyond that — there's something a little magical about their wares. This necklace is spelled to ward off evil, that circuit will grant clear thought, anything made from this bolt of cloth will always keep the wearer perfectly warm or cool, carrying that crystal will give a boost of healing or luck.

They deal only in trade. Teas, if you have them, will fetch the highest price and get you the most unique items. If you don't happen to have a tea, you're not out of luck — they will also accept favors. Perhaps they will ask you to convince someone else to make a purchase as well, perhaps they will send you on a hunt for a specific item. Perhaps they will ask you for something more intangible, like the shape of a smile or the salt of tears. Not your own, of course, you must inspire them in someone else. Hopefully there's someone nearby who can help you with that.

III. SECRET MESSAGES

By your second or third pass around the hotel, after all the visitors have left, you may notice something that looks a little out of place. A loose rock in the otherwise solid structures of the pool area, a shimmer of green tucked in among all the white abstract sculptures in a hallway, an odd knot in the wood of a bench or chair somewhere in the hotel.

No members of the staff seem to have noticed it so far, but for that to remain the case you'll have to work quickly — and work together. Maybe the rock is up too high for one person to reach, maybe the sculptures are too heavy for one person to move, maybe someone needs to stand guard or distract the hotel staff while the other pries out the wood knot.

All those who succeed in retrieving the piece of heavy green paper hidden away will find the same message: a drawing of a caterpillar, accompanied by a series of numbers and the words call a friend.

IV. WELCOME HOME

Maybe you just want to be alone — well, that's what you have your room key for! Oysters room on the second and third floors of the hotel, one to a room. You were assured your room would be exactly what you'd always wished for — and for some, that's right! It's exactly as you would have decorated it yourself. But for others, their rooms are totally wrong. A grizzled cowboy can't have a pink room! Hotel staff are firm, though: every room is exactly as its owner wants it to be. Search your feelings, Oyster. You know it to be true.

On each bed are the Oysters' personal effects, minus weapons, as well as a towel folded in the shape of a heart, and a single foil-wrapped chocolate. If eaten, the chocolate is delicious, and incites a feeling of tender warmth in Oysters — not lust, but a desire for closeness. Why spend time in your room, when you could go find a new friend in the casino?

Anyone who participates in the second prompt will receive an item with a minor enchantment of their choosing! For players apping in this round, you can include it in your list of items. Current players can reply to the second comment on this page to receive approval of their enchanted item. Please direct any questions to the first comment on this page, and happy playing, Oysters!

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© tessisamess

Comments

[jinlingers]

Jin Ling rolls his eyes at the answer. He really doesn't know what to do with Wei Wuxian and he glares when he's referred to as frail.

"I'll find a way to stab you," he warns but there's no actual menace behind the threat. Getting food is certainly a new experience and he furrows his brows but he's not dim witted and he gets himself the food that looks best.

"This is a strang way to have a meal."

[sadflutenoises]

He wants to retort that the only thing good for stabbing in the area are the butter knives, and they'll take a decent amount of effort to get them through the skin, but instead he just grins in reply and dishes himself up with a couple of spicy entrees, grabbing the shaker of chili flakes for good measure.

"Maybe so," he concedes, "but at least you don't have to eat anything you don't want."

Something that both is and isn't good, he supposes, since he has a hard time forcing himself to eat anything bland or too many vegetables, though he really ought to.

It's a little early in the day for drinking, so he picks up a mug of hot water and drops in one of the tea packets to steep on his way to find a table. Luckily, there's plenty available, and he picks one that's in the middle of enough other chatter that it should be difficult to overhear them, should they have to talk in hushed tones. Once decided, he waves Jin Ling over, gesturing at the empty seat across from him, waiting til he's seated before he starts asking questions.

"Mm, so one at a time then. Think you can answer questions while we eat?" they weren't from the Lan clan, after all, "just to make it fair, you can ask me some in return."

I am so...sorry this is so late... ilu

[jinlingers]

Jin Ling frowns all the same. It's not as if he often got served things he didn't want to eat. He is actually a little spoiled in that regard perhaps and a few others. So various foods and he takes some tea as well before they finally are seated and he sets down the tray. It's probably a good thing to have a meal with Wei Wuxian, at least he had learned how this worked and he had been able to pick up cues from the way the other had gone about it.

"I can answer questions while we eat. Are you sure you can keep it to one at a time?"

It's teasing. He doesn't know if he will have a question in return each time. Honestly, it would be hard to be able to condense all his inner turmoil into viable questions but maybe he will surprise himself.

it's ok nephew, uncle loves you~~~

[sadflutenoises]

It's nostalgic, how much talking to Jin Ling reminds him of talking to his brother. What might seem like petty bickering, Wei Wuxian takes as familial bonding and playful banter.

"I'll be telling you that in about a minute," he sniffs, tapping his chopsticks restlessly on the edge of his bowl, "listen. This place dangerous, first of all. How else do you think they dragged you here, just out of the blue, hm?"

He raises an eyebrow, just for good measure. It's not that he doesn't trust Jin Ling to be able to fend for himself, but knowing about danger is the first step to being able to combat it properly.

"Second, and this is the harder one to wrap your head around, but the people running this place have brought in others from not just our home, but other worlds too. All you have to do is look around and see there's all sorts of strange looking people and clothes. And that's why."

[jinlingers]

Jin Ling idly picks at his food, not quite really eating despite the fact he is actually hungry. He frowns deeply at the warning and the question that feels uncomfortable. How could it be explained that they were dragged here? It's not as if any of them were powerless to defend themselves. He glances up at Wuxian briefly and then lowers his eyes to his food.

"How are there other worlds?"

[sadflutenoises]

"How?" he repeats, a little incredulous, "how doesn't matter, it just is so."

Shepard had explained a bit though, so he doesn't mind showing off some of his newfound knowledge about space and distant planets.

"Every star in the sky is part of some other set of worlds," he says, matter-of-fact, "the hard to understand part isn't how there are other worlds, it's how they gathered people from so many of them. Some are even so similar to the one we know that there are other Hanguang Juns or other Wei Wuxians!"

[jinlingers]

Jin Ling starts to say that he thinks it matters and it just is so isn't an adequate answer. But he does listen to the other's explanation at least without interruption. He frowns and he really doesn't think he's going to eat anything with all this information coming in.

"That's..." impossible?

Clearly not.

[sadflutenoises]

So much for a meal together, but then, he hadn't had high expectations from the start. He was still battling his happiness at seeing his nephew with his irritation that they'd dared bring more of his family here to this extravagant prison.

"It's a lot to hear at once, I told you!" he takes another bite before continuing, "you're allowed to ask questions. Or, have you met anyone else yet?"