ᴾᵉᵖᵖᵉʳᵐⁱⁿᵗ ᴰʳᵉᵃᵐˢ | Sol’s thoughts & ooc musings

Tale from the front desk-
As a night shift hotel worker, I have seen things that would baffle a normal, sane person. Tonight has been much the same.
It’s summer time, our busy season. I work at a relatively small hotel, however, and this summer has never really been super busy. The last week though, we’ve been sold out of every room each day that I’ve worked. Loads of laundry to do, and on top of it all both shitty guests and coworkers to deal with.

Since I clocked in at 11pm the phone has not stopped ringing. Our system is taking way longer than normal to undergo its nightly audit system, and I still have 2 check ins that won’t come in until 3 am. A guys dog had an accident on the second floor and asked me to clean up the mess. I have a weak stomach and don’t know what kind of “accident” this was; he didn’t bother to specify. If it was vomit, then I definitely can’t be around it or I will get sick too. (Sympathy pukers rise up?)

I’m about 2 seconds away from unplugging the goddamn phone and I still have 4 hours left on my shift. Lord have mercy on my soul. Thank god that tomorrow is my day off. I can’t wait to get the hell away from the hospitality industry forever.
 
Tales from your friendly neighborhood night shift hotel worker here-

Please do know that if you extend your stay that you will be subject to the next week’s rates. The employees at the hotel do not make these rates; we only tell you what the computer tells us is your new rate. Do not come to us and whine and cry about the price and say “I stayed at this same hotel in so and so city and it was never like this. The rates weren’t xyz amount of money then.” This is a busy city with competitive prices on hotel rooms that are correlated to how busy or sold out the hotel is for the week. The reason the rates were so cheap in that city is likely that it’s much smaller than this one.

As someone with a migraine, the more you yell at me, the less likely I am to bend over backwards to help you.

If there is a doorbell at the front desk, also please do not hit it more than once in quick succession. It annoys the absolute fuck out of me that some of you feel the need to press the button two, three, or even four times. I assure you that I am not far away from the desk and I heard it the first time. You can have some patience and wait for me to come out of the laundry room or break room.

Some people act like they’ve never stayed at a hotel before and lose all decorum. I swear. Be patient with service workers, folks. We’re people too, and we’re tired. Exhausted even.
 
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Living in Avalon since the death of her grandparents had been lonely. She'd had her brother as her ever present company, sure, but as young adults, she knew they both desired more from life. Since the two had inherited the estate, they’d agreed that the two needed to stay there until things settled down- which meant Ashe had had to give up on her apprenticeship in Oregon for the time being. The funeral for her grandparents had only been a week before, but even knowing they were gone, she still expected to hear the tapping sound of her grandmother’s cane on the stairs as the old woman made her way up to check on her granddaughter. She’d always liked to see what Ashe was doodling or scribbling while the two of them talked about life. The thought brought a smile to the girl’s lips as she set down her pen on the desk. Ashe had never been known to be a crier, but this week she was full of tears.

Her phone chimed nearby, and she was quick to pick up the device with slender digits to tap on the app notification that she used to communicate with their friends. It used preassigned usernames which they had all found surprisingly fitting for each of them, and were often how they referred to each other.
Honey: How are you both holding up?

Now she was smiling for a different reason. Dmitri was a sweet boy to take time out of his busy life to think enough about them to ask about them.
Wisteria: Well enough. I’m excited for you all to get here though. We’ve been needing an excuse to do anything but mope around the house. I have a whole spread of food for you all when you get here.
Honey: Hopefully, we all get to sample the world’s best cinnamon rolls.

Ashe looked up from her phone to look over at the small mountain of dishes in the sink. It was a disaster zone in the kitchen- not unlike the disaster of a woman that sat within it. She’d never truly been all that graceful in the kitchen despite her current occupation as a patisser. Often times, in culinary school, she’d gotten chided and marked down for how messy her work station was. It was all worth it in the end though as the smells that wafted through the big house were divine.

Nearby, the shrill sound of a timer went off and she was quick to silence it in order to pull the last bit of what she had started preparing early that morning out of the oven. Every part of the meal looked better than the last, and Ashe swore she’d outdone herself this time; there was almost enough of it to feed a small army. Or at least six hungry young adults who were coming all the way from Portland to this small podunk little town for a long visit. A waft of hot steam from the oven blew wisps of blue hair away from her face. Careful fingers plucked the biscuits from the hot tray and placed them on a plate next to everything else on the table.

Taking a glance down at herself, she noticed just how much of a mess that she’d made of herself as well as the kitchen. She was covered head to toe in flour and she likely looked like she’d been awake all night with enough caffeine to kill a normal human in her system. Sighing through her nose, she supposed it couldn’t be helped. Hopefully, the other half of her whole idiot hadn’t hogged all the hot water that morning. Taking the stairs two at a time, Ashe made her way back up and stopped right outside her brother’s door knocking loudly. “Hey shit-head you better be awake. If you’re not up by the time I’m done in the shower I’m gonna dump you in the pond.” These words were said with love, of course. The two were known to give each other shit on many an occasion. “And don’t eat anything yet. Wait for our friends.”

Ashe was quick to shower, and even quicker to put on a face full of makeup. It made her feel a bit more normal to appear as she normally would on any other day. She pulled on a pair of dark wash pants and a loose cardigan over her t-shirt.
Wisteria: Let us know when you get here. One of us can come pick you up from the train station. And uh- don’t mind the kitchen. I’ll bribe him to clean up after me later.​
 
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It had been barely a month since Dmitri officially stepped away entirely from his job at Verdigris where he'd worked as a host. Had barely been a month since he'd been released from the hospital after the events of the night that had kept him holed up in his apartment to recover. The whole thing had been an ordeal that the dark haired man had never envisioned himself being embroiled in. He had met clingy women before, but never had he met a woman like her. She’d spent so much time at the host club asking for him, and he’d been flattered for the attention at first, but as their relationship continued, he quickly realized how unhealthy her “love” for him truly was. He had closed himself off from his socials, his modeling gigs, and his friends in equal measure to keep her happy. Being so isolated had terrified him as he was a very social creature by nature. To say his relationship with Marina had ended badly would be the understatement of the century. He’d nearly died due to her overbearing love, and now he was paying the price in recovery while her simps tried to say that she was too pretty to be in jail.

Dmitri closed the news app on his phone. “Fucking unbelievable.” Part of him wanted her to stay there because at least she would be behind bars and not in his life. Another part of her felt bad that he might have accidentally led her on and encouraged her feelings when it was just because he didn’t know how to step away.

He leaned his head against the cool glass of the train window. Being so far from Portland now was a breath of fresh air, and it would only be a matter of time before the train reached Avalon where he could reconnect with the friends he missed dearly. Not even Wisteria or Saltwater knew what had happened to him, and the news coverage of the whole ordeal had been minimal. Not that they should concern themselves with his problems when they were grieving a loss of their own. He was just grateful for them both as he’d not known how to reach out.

The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up- exposing heavily tattooed arms and he stretched his arms over his head to loosen tight muscles from their previously rigid position.

A quiet chirp of a text caught him off guard and he flinched before realizing it was just a text message. He would have to stop flinching at the smallest of unexpected noises if he was going to be in a house full of his friends. Dmitri didn’t want them to worry about his well being; they were all there to support the twins with their grief and loneliness after losing family. Ashe was a strong woman, and he respected her resilience even though he knew she was hurting and had said as much before.

Honey: No need, Ashe. I’ll pick up the rest of the mystery gang and we’ll head over so you guys don’t have to worry about picking us up.
Wisteria: You are seriously the best. I’m still trying to get this moron out of bed. Love you lots. Ring the doorbell when you get here. Please give me a hug when you get here, Demi xoxo

Of course he would. Naturally a touchy person who enjoyed the warmth of other people around him, he would be more than happy to hug her and her brother if he wanted it.

NEW PRIVATE MESSAGE
A dark brow rose in curiosity. It was from Ashe.
Wisteria: Figured I’d ask you privately, but I noticed you haven’t posted your cosplays much lately. Are you and Marina okay?

He let out a soft groan and rubbed his temples with his fingers. Pretending he was fine was the easiest option than telling her the truth, but she deserved better than that.
Honey: Let’s have a drink about it and commiserate later. I don’t want to talk about it right now.
Wisteria: That bad, huh? I’ll make you something strong and you can cry on my shoulder if you need to. I knew that girl was bad news.

Dmitri had hovered his thumbs over the keyboard to respond, but thought better of it. The train jostled to a stop and he knew they were finally in Avalon.
Honey: The train finally arrived. Be there soon, Bluey xoxo

To the group chat, he did send one last message:
Honey: Hey guys, meet me outside the train station so we can hurry up and get over there before the food gets cold.
 
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Do not read this if you don’t want spoilers for colorless.

Ever since Technicolor had resurfaced, the tension had built in the undercity and the upper city both. Still, The Grey Hand had not called off the Christmas Gala that year even despite the protests in the city streets to stop the threat of the supposed terrorists. She felt a gentle touch against her shoulder and her tired, sleep deprived eyes drifted upwards to the tall, dark haired man at her side. She’d not slept in days- nearly four, but maybe it was five? She couldn’t recall just how long it’d been since she’d had a full night’s rest. “You need to rest, Queen Cinnabar,” Though his words were gentle, she still flinched under them.

“How can I rest when my people die around me? How can I call myself Queen when I can’t even keep you all safe?” Perhaps those that hated her amongst their ranks should have dethroned her by now. Though Romi clung stubbornly to the title of Queen as she thought she knew what was best for her people. “I can’t even tell them the truth that they deserve to know, Wren. They deserve better.” The tears that she had kept tightly inside now fell from her tired eyes. They had lost too many in these past few months all for a stupid cause that meant nothing in the long run.

The dark haired man smiled at her. She’d was the only one who used his nickname. It was rare to see Romi how she was now. A woman so guarded and careful with her secrets, so strong and unbroken now sat openly sobbing into her hands. It was true that they had lost many, and he too felt the pressure of the crown as he too shared the responsibility for these losses. But they had to remain strong, and Romi had always been their foundation that kept them grounded. “If you refuse to let me go alone, then please rest. I need you at your best tonight, and if you’re not at your full strength then we can do nothing.”

He was right. She needed to be ready for whatever was to come. Standing up at her rather unimpressive height, Romi stood slowly. For a few more days at least she could keep it from them all that she was dying. Whatever strength was left within her, she would use to protect what was hers.

—

(This is a WIP)​
 
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