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Post by Atlas on Nov 30, 2010 19:33:46 GMT -8
Another woman arrived on the scene to help Atlas on his quest for breakfast. She looked alot older, like she could be his grandmother. He assumed that this was the Polly Tamika was talking about. He'd seen her a couple times, but never talked to her.
She looked like a friendly individual, and seemed more like a grandmother to Tamika than a supervisor to Atlas. "You're lucky Tamika. Last time I had a job like yours, my supervisor threw things at me for reading on the job." he thought.
"Some trouble huh. Would it happen to involve Heath Ledger's half-sister wielding a shotgun moaning random stuff in a drug induced aggression?" He inquired. "No, probably not. Whatever it was, it looks like they got you good. You should take it easy today." he added, trying his best to be somewhat encouraging to Tamika.
He turned his attention to the older woman. "You must be the owner, Polly." Atlas said to her. "Nice to meet you. Atticus Lasseter, Attorney at Law. My friends call me Atlas."
((I'm aware Atlas isn't sensititve yet. It was a random guess.))
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Post by David Young Henning on Nov 30, 2010 19:37:08 GMT -8
[Henning has finally entered the building...]
Henning had agreed to meet Charlotte back at the Deer Yard, but he hadn't been expecting there to be so many people in the lobby. His mind worked to catalog them all before they scattered to the four winds; new faces needed labels, or they'd slip away given half the chance. He counted silently in his head:
1. Kaysen, the fat man in the coveralls. Sapling salesman. 2. Atticus, the lawyer. 3. A stockily attractive redhead behind the front desk, whose name he didn't know... 4. ...and Polly Oxford, hotel owner, who had just come in.
It seemed like everyone knew at least one other person in the room. A conversation was taking place, referring to events he hadn't witnessed. It reminded him of the parties he'd used to attend back in high school, where he was always the one standing in the corner with a barely touched drink in one hand, too intent on watching and listening to really participate in the drunken festivities. His girlfriend back then had called him "aloof". He called it "being observant". Right now, though, seventeen years later in an unfamiliar town, waiting for Charlotte to arrive in this room full of near strangers, he suddenly knew what she had meant.
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Polly
Junior Member
What's that? Oh dear, I'm afraid we're all out of pepper.
Posts: 88
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Post by Polly on Nov 30, 2010 19:42:46 GMT -8
Polly turned to Atticus when he started speaking. Heath Ledger's half sister? What on earth is he talking about? "That's right, I'm Polly. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Lasseter. If you've come for breakfast, you're in luck; it's just about ready." She gave a slight wave to David Henning when he came silently in, but she had other things on her mind.
Polly turned back to Tamika, alarmed. "You ran into trouble coming back from a bar? Were you attacked by someone? Should I call the police? Either way, you're in no shape to be working right now. Here, have a seat." Polly pulled the desk chair over to Tamika and debated either getting an ice pack or hauling the young woman bodily to a doctor.
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Post by Charlotte Jacobs on Nov 30, 2010 19:46:32 GMT -8
((And lo Charlotte did join him.))
Charlotte ducked into the lobby, blinking the rain from her eyes... and paused as she took in the crowd in the lobby. Including Tamika. All we need is the birdman and it’d be Graveyard Party Redux. She couldn’t help but laugh. This was getting ridiculous. She knew it wasn’t exactly a large town, but come on! The more... curious part of her wondered if there wasn’t a reason for it. Maybe there was a reason she kept running into the same set of people.
Stop it. It’s just a small town. That’s all.
Scanning the room for David, she found him off to one side, observing the other people in the lobby. He was cataloguing them, she just knew it. And it made her grin. Hands in her pockets, Charlotte made her way over to his side.
“See anything of interest?”
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Post by David Young Henning on Nov 30, 2010 20:01:25 GMT -8
It wasn't until he felt Charlotte's presence by his side that Henning felt himself relax. He wouldn't be so conspicuous if it looked like he was with someone, which would make it easier to watch the others... And then he immediately felt bad for the thought, because it had come from the manipulative part of his mind. The part that was simply impatient, hungry for information. DiMera was right; why couldn't he ever just lose himself in the moment? Lack of practice, he guessed. For the first time, he regretted following his instincts. There were too many distractions here, but it was too late to turn back now.
He nodded towards the group clustered around the front desk. "It's all interesting to me. I'm guessing we'll be joining the Breakfast Club over there? I've only met Polly so far. You've been staying at the hotel for a while; how's the dining hall?"
A pause. He added hastily, "I saw your name in the hotel register, in case you're wondering how I knew."
Again, it felt like he had said things in the wrong order. Again, lack of practice...
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Post by Tamika Weir on Nov 30, 2010 20:07:37 GMT -8
Tamika looked straight at Atticus. "Is he joking or does he know?" Meanwhile, Polly seemed to be having a heart attack. "Jeez, I just ran into to trouble. It's not like I said some axe-wielding maniac tried to cut me in half." "I'm fine," Tamika said, a bit more forcefully this time. "As for the trouble," she added with a wry smile,"Atticus is entirely right. It was Heath Ledger's vocabulary-deficient half-sister and a whole lot of Heath Ledger wannabes." She looked back at Atticus after saying this. "Well, Mr. Lasseter, have I just told a stupid joke or am I not the only one that has seen the shadows?"
Tamika thought she detected some movement by the door, but was too focused on the joking-or-serious Atticus and the overly worried Polly. "Most likely more guests. Polly will know where they go."
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Post by Charlotte Jacobs on Nov 30, 2010 20:19:02 GMT -8
Charlotte stood beside David, watching the goings-on in the rest of the lobby. He’d relaxed a little when she’d joined him... maybe he just didn’t like being alone in a crowd?
“We might as well. Unless you’d rather not. There’s plenty of space to sit down and eat separate from them. And the dining hall isn’t too bad.” She wasn’t entirely sure about joining the Breakfast Club, as he’d put it, to eat. Part of her... wanted to have a chance to catch up with David, just the two of them. There’s plenty of time for that, though. We’re not going anywhere.
She smiled up at him, putting a hand on his arm.
“I wasn’t. Promise.”
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Post by Atlas on Nov 30, 2010 20:20:30 GMT -8
"That's wonderful, Polly. I've heard that your breakfasts are amazing." Atlas replied.
He turned over to Tamika, who gave him a "what are you smoking" look. "Well, it was a lucky guess then." he responded. "Thank you for the assistance and I hope your wounds heal up soon." he added.
He briefly glanced at two figures that had entered. Charlotte Jacobs and the man in the suit Kaysen was interested in. "Is it just me, or am I suddenly turning into a redhead magnet?" he thought. First the graveyard, then the bar, and now here. "And I still need to figure out who hawk man and suit man are. Perhaps I could ask." he thought for a while. Should he walk up to the man, or wait for breakfast.
"On second thought, if he is who I think he is, I'll be seeing plenty of him. I'll just go to breakfast." he said as he walked towards the dining hall.
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Polly
Junior Member
What's that? Oh dear, I'm afraid we're all out of pepper.
Posts: 88
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Post by Polly on Nov 30, 2010 20:21:17 GMT -8
Polly regarded Tamika silently for a minute. "Well, if you're feeling well enough to joke about it, you're obviously all right," she said wryly. "I'll just say that a nice, hot bath now might stop you from being too stiff to move later on." She dropped the subject, even though she was still a little worried. The girl looked as though the bar had actually fallen on her last night.
She turned to her guests. "The dining room is this way, if you people are hungry. We have pancakes, sausage and bacon this morning, as well as tea and coffee." Polly started to lead the way, hesitated, and whispered to Tamika, "But really, no one's going to look sideways if you take it easy today. Please, go have some breakfast with everyone else." Polly patted Tamika on the arm (and hoped she wasn't hitting a bruise or a cut) and moved off toward the dining room to finish serving.
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Post by David Young Henning on Nov 30, 2010 20:39:15 GMT -8
Henning followed Polly into the dining room, still feeling Charlotte's hand on his arm. He looked around, awestruck. Were there any tables in here that didn't seat more then thirty people? He sat down at random, feeling lost in the huge expanse of white tablecloth before him. Glancing sideways at Charlotte, he smiled and said, "Looks like these tables weren't exactly built for privacy. When was the last time this place was filled, do you think?"
He had decided to let fate flip a coin for him. If nobody sat at their table, he'd be able to catch up with Charlotte. If someone did... Well, he'd have something new to pursue. He weighed the two options briefly in his mind. Sometimes it was hard to think of people as anything other than just that: Options. Possibilities. Pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses.
Maybe that was his problem.
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Post by Charlotte Jacobs on Nov 30, 2010 21:02:46 GMT -8
Charlotte followed David, who was following Polly into the dining hall. She grinned as David looked around the large room filled with long tables. This must have be the first time he’s seen it, she decided. He wouldn’t look so... awestruck, otherwise. He sat down at a table, and, for the moment, she remained standing.
She returned his smile. “Not exactly, no. Probably around the time the lumbermill was still in use, I would guess.”
Now Charlotte had a moment of panic. Where do I sit? Did she sit next to him... across from him.... at the opposite end of the table? What was proper in situations such as this? Was there a proper... protocol for the daughter of a murder victim sitting down for a bite to eat with the agent who had been assigned to the case? For fuck's sake, Charlie. It’s just a chair at a table.
She sat down across from him.
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Post by Tamika Weir on Nov 30, 2010 21:09:27 GMT -8
"Still kind of difficult to tell, but from Polly's reaction..." It sunk into Tamika that no one else knew about the shadows. "Great. That doesn't help matters at all." She felt disappointed and slightly alone at this discovery but tried to let it not be seen.
"I'll keep that in mind," Tamika responded to Polly's suggestion. Polly's kind words, while comforting, slightly upset Tamika. She couldn't understand why everyone was so concerned about her. "It's only a few bruises and a cut, not a broken arm. I admit that I should have cleaned up a little better, but still."
Tamika took a small second to glance back at the people who had come in while she was talking to Polly and Atticus. "Some guy in a suit and...Charlotte! Why is she here? Why is everyone from the graveyard coming here?" Following Polly to the dining room, Tamika decided that whatever she did today, it was going to be away from everyone else. "Gotta find somewhere these two won't follow me to. This is just getting creepy."
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Post by Wes Uccello on Nov 30, 2010 23:08:49 GMT -8
Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.
Wes was on the road, cursing the town planners as he journeyed to the hospital to get some kind of medical attention for the bite on his wrist. He was driving rather recklessly, with his left hand on the wheel, and the injured one on the transmission, which he was using as little as possible. One eye was on the road, and the other on the bandage, waiting to see what happened first; does he reach the hospital, or bleed all the way through his wrapping?
It was the latter, apparently, and he watched with some anxiety as the red overpowered the white on the bandage. God. At this rate, he'd have to stop off and get a fresh bandage before he got to the hospital. Why didn't he keep one in his car? He made a mental note of this. Maybe he should have just called 911 and gotten there a whole lot faster. But that meant talking to officials, and he wasn't a big fan of talking to officials. He drove past an abandoned truck on the side of the road and began deliberating when he reached a fork. The left path led to the "Great Deer Yard," according to the sign. Grumbling, he took the turn for fear of passing out before he reached this stupid, god-forsaken hospital.
After the longer-than-anticipated drive down, he took a parking space close to the door and sat for a minute in bewilderment of the huge building. Why on Earth would this town need such a big hotel? It could probably house the whole population, he figured. Still, they should at least have a first aid kit on hand. Feeling slightly woozy, he emerged from his car and made his way to the door.
He entered, already wet again from the short trip to the door, holding his wrist. The lobby was every bit as huge as he imagined from the outside, but also completely empty. Quite a few sets of wet footprints suggested that there was some kind of gathering past a past of double-doors down the wall, but he certainly hadn't come here for a gathering.
Using his left hand, he pounded repeatedly on the service bell at the desk. "Hey! Some help here! If I bleed on the carpet, it's your own fault!" His calls somehow sounded more like an angry threat than a request for help. He'd been in a pretty terrible mood since he woke up. And for good reason... right? He leaned against the counter for support.
(( I am assuming that Kaysen followed the rest into the dining hall. I know he'd a mod character and I'm a mod, but I'm also not playing him right now. ))
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Post by Forrest Kaysen on Dec 1, 2010 1:51:36 GMT -8
It had taken a little while, but Kaysen did finally emerge from his room - when he waddled in, now relatively dry and with a considerably-less-soaked Willie at his heels, he was both surprised and pleased to see how many people were there. Why, it was almost as if the hotel was getting busy again! So many people...so many NEW people.
So many new people who didn't know any better than to venture out into the rain.
Smiling, he ambled through the dining hall, seeking out Atticus in the little crowd of people. He looked over each of the people in the room in turn, slightly bemused and bewildered by the unusual number - he would have to take time out to chat with Polly, of course, but he would see if she would like to come over first. "Hey, son, sorry I took so long! Why, I was wetter than a drowning frog!" His voice was still loud, and it carried well in the room. He pulled out one of the chairs around one of the tables, seating himself promptly in it (it was a wonder it could hold him!) to rest for a moment.
"I smell bacon! Polly's breakfasts are just phenomenal, lemme tell ya. And y'know, I am a man who enjoys his breakfasts!" He laughed at himself, patting his belly a bit to punctuate his statement. "It usually isn't this busy, though. Wonder what's goin' on? Everyone get the same idea?" He scanned the crowd again...and there was Henning. He didn't let his smile so much as falter, though he turned his gaze away rather quickly.
Damn. Going to have to do something about him.
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Post by Tamika Weir on Dec 1, 2010 5:11:11 GMT -8
At the numerous dings of the service bell and the yelled threats, Tamika ran back toward the front desk. "Polly's going to be busy enough getting everyone breakfast. Besides, I have to see. I mean, it can't be him, right?" "I got it, Polly," Tamika called to the older woman.
Entering the lobby, Tamika was irritated and slightly amused to find that the man leaning on the counter was none other than him. "Raincloud. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Who else would yell threats while they're bleeding out?" Fortunately, the first aid kit was right behind the front desk. Tamika pulled it out and set it on the desk. "Hand me your wrist."
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