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Spider:With all the rest of the chaos going on, someone has to come up with a plausible cover story and keep this from getting on the evening news, right? The call went out for a cover-up team. Thankfully this isn't some sort of holiday weekend when people do a lot of traveling or anything, or this might be way worse!
The hotel is relatively quiet when people arrive, for, you know. The fact that a whole bunch of doors just opened to the Hedge on the third floor.
Jack Martingale: Jack arrives at the hotel in a suit. Well - specifically in dress pants (black) and a dress shirt (pale pink) buttoned to the collar, and a gray tie. The pocket square in the jacket he's got over his arm is gray, too, and with his hair slicked back and his attempt at a confident walk, he may just know what he's doing here.
The sketchy, fluttering lines around his face and hands might say differently, to any Lost in the area. At the very least, it projects his nervousness.
Asbolus: Asbolus was similarly dressed in black dress slacks, dark grey dress shirt and a black tie, walking beside Jack as they approached the hotel. He carried himself well, all told, keen eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.
Spider: Perhaps not surprisingly, there's someone at the front desk, talking on the phone. A broad-shouldered, middle-aged Black woman with her hair in neat, short twists, makeup on point, wearing the hotel's branded button-up. "No, ma'am, I do not think there are actually mermaids in the pool." A pause. "Well, maybe it's -- ma'am. Ma'am. Please just return to your room and someone will be up to assist you shortly. Ma'am, I don't have a good ETA." The phone continues to ring while she talks. "I do have your room number. All right ma'am. Have a blessed evening, now."
She pushes the button to hang up that line. "Philadelphia Airport Marriott, Leandra speaking, please hold." The hold button gets pressed sharply, and she turns her customer service smile toward the incoming duo. "Good evening, gentlemen. How may I assist you?"
Jack Martingale: "Mermaids in the pool?" Jack lets out a chuckle, and holds his hand out. "Leandra, 's nice to meet you. I'm Jack - someone called about some...'to-do' here? This's my associate..." Jack trails off to let Asbolus introduce himself.
Asbolus: "Alexander." Asbolus gave a polite nod, offering his hand in kind. "Pleasure."
Spider: The smile that slides across Leandra's face is the smile that all customer-facing employees get when someone from higher-up shows up unannounced: perfectly polite in every way. "Well! We're always glad to have help from Regional," Leandra answers, taking Jack's hand and shaking it. "Do you mind if I get this?" she asks, pointing toward the phone, and then looks down at it and frowns as the light has gone off. "Well, I guess it wasn't important then."
A wave of one hand. "Oh, I'm sure it's a bunch of people in costumes," she answers with diffident patience. "I've got to go start checking in on these rooms. Elevators are shut down right now, looks like most of the craziness is happening on the third floor, but... "
Jack Martingale: "Oh - naw they sent us over to the the boots on the ground. Bad luck for being on call tonight I guess, I was so ready to binge that new season of Chef's Table..." Jack shakes his head with a small sigh. "You wanna give me the room numbers and a keycard for the stairwell we can check on guests, and you can stay down here to assure them that someone will be up right away. And it won't have to be you." He gives her a conspiratorial smile here, the sort service workers give each other.
Asbolus: Asbolus stayed quiet for the moment, letting Jack take the lead and playing the part of the faithful second.
Spider: "That would be helpful," she agrees, and frowns, picking up a pad and starting to write down room numbers. "I need to check on Mrs. Anderson on 2, she's one of our long-term residents -- insurance claim -- and she gets easily confused with new people, but if you want to ride along, I can come back down here after that." Leandra picks up the portable phone from the desk, clips it to her belt, and puts the sign up on the front counter saying someone will return shortly. Ripping the list of five rooms off of the pad, she hands it over to Jack and then circles the front counter and heads for the stairs, comfortable black sneakers scuffing along the tiled floor.
Jack Martingale: "That's fine with me." Jack nods. His black and gray dress shoes click against the floor as he follows her. "So you think some people in costumes...?" He trails off to let Leandra finish the sentence, clearly interested personally as well as professionally.
Asbolus: "Little early for Halloween, in my opinion." The Darkling did look intrigued, however, curious about Leandra's response.
Spider: She shrugs her broad shoulders comfortably and dismissively as she leads the way to the stairs and pushes the door open, holding it for the two men behind her. "Cosplayers, kids doing drugs, gas leaks that cause people to hallucinate -- I mean, you know," she offers back at them with a little gesture of one hand. "We get the cosplayers here when the Wizard and PAX events come through, because we're cheaper than staying by the convention center, and honestly -- " She trudges up the stairs, keys jingling as they bounce against her hip. "Were you with us when we had the big Republican meeting in Dover couple years ago? Bunch of 'em stayed here and honestly, after you've seen a bunch of drunk white men in their drawers and ties, that's pretty much it for you."
Jack Martingale: Jack lets out a huff of amusement, and nods again. "I sure hope it's not a gas leak, makes all our jobs that much harder...people might just be trying to ring in fall with a little fun. Can't believe it's September, still feels like summer...got bets going on, what it ends up being. One of my coworkers was trying to convince me that someone's shooting an unauthorized movie with practical effects."
Asbolus: "...that's a lovely mental image." Asbolus shook his head, allowing himself a small smirk. "Definitely likely, in my opinion. Causing a bit of ruckus to cap off the season is something of a tradition."
Spider: "Werll," she answers drily, that extra 'r' in the wryly-spoken word distending the single syllable as she pulls open the door to the second floor and trundles down the quiet hallway toward room 210. "Wouldn't be the first time." Leandra knocks on the door. "Mrs. Anderson? It's Leandra from the front desk." Her tone changes, goes a little softer.
Jack Martingale: Jack's slight grimace could be seen as sympathy with Leandra, but the slightly odd scent of his cologne - it almost smells like rain, and...blood? gets stronger for a moment, and Asbolus sees his sketched silhouette turn solid, his skin a warm tan now. He waits a step behind Leandra, not wanting to scare Mrs. Anderson.
Asbolus: Seeing Jack solidify his mien led Asbolus to take the same step, if only just in case. That tell-tale sharpness and predatory air faded significantly, accompanied by a brief swirl of cold around them.
Spider: When there's no answer, she knocks again, and again, before pulling the master key that's on her badge pull and holding it up to the lock. "Mrs. Anderson?" Slowly, she pushes the door open:
Chaos. The room has been turned over, but there doesn't appear to be anyone here anymore. There's a heavy scent of flowers, oppressive, like someone doused the blankets in perfume and laid them over the air vents, and then there's an older woman apparently asleep on the bed, as if nothing has happened in here at all. She's got her hands folded across her stomach, and her housecoat is delicately arranged, like a princess gone to spinning-wheel-induced rest.
"Well, that's new -- " And as she walks into the room, both Asbolus and Jack see the same thing that she sees: Mrs. Anderson, in the mirror, blinking out at them. She turns and walks away at the same moment as Leandra shrieks at the top of her lungs and the door to the room slams closed behind Asbolus.
Then, and only then, does the little old lady begin to muzzily wake.
Jack Martingale: Jack freezes when he sees Mrs. Anderson in the mirror, his face going a little grey. He glances at Leandra and then...starts to move his arms. Like a slow windmill, or...a clock?
And then -
Leandra's just pulled the master key that's on her badge pull and holding it up to the lock outside the door, and asking after Mrs. Anderson again.
Jack puts a hand to the door. His left hand, with a glittery, opal engagement ring on. It catches the light in just a way, making him almost...glow. A spotlight, making him seem like someone to pay attention to. Someone whose words are worth listening to, whose opinion is worth trusting.
"Why don't you let us...? In case anyone decided to take this prank too far..."(edited)
Spider: Leandra starts to object -- she's obviously very protective of Mrs. Anderson -- and then she sighs, and holds the key up to the lock. When the green lights flash, she opens the door with one hand, and holds it, standing back.
The scene plays out exactly the same way it did a moment ago, in that time that didn't happen, except -- and only Jack knows this, because only Jack remembers that moment that didn't exactly happen -- there's no screaming, as she lags behind a few steps, and the door doesn't slam shut this time.(edited)
Jack Martingale: Jack swears quietly under his breath - not quite as horrified as he was the first time around. But only he knows that, anyway. He glances to Asbolus with a grimace and a small shake of his head, and then moves to the side to let Leandra tend to Mrs. Anderson's fetch.
Asbolus: The telltale gleam of the hedgespun ring caught Asbolus' attention, naturally, and when Leandra acquiesed he gave a nod and looked towards the room within when it was opened. His eyes widened as he saw the older woman's visage in the mirror, letting out a quiet breath before moving out of the way to allow Leandra inside.
Spider: "Oh my God, what the hell," Leandra swears, covering her nose with her hand and hurrying for the bedside. "I have never wished more that we could open the damn windows. Mrs. Anderson?"
The woman on the bed stirs, slowly opening her eyes, and yawns delicately. "Oh. Leandra. I'm sorry, I must have... Did you knock?"
Jack Martingale: "See if you can turn the AC on, A - lexander..." Jack catches himself before he says the wrong name. "I'll turn the fan on in the bathroom." His voice is quiet, like he's trying not to disturb the woman in the bed. Introductions can come after the room's been aired out.
Asbolus: "Of course." Asbolus moved to do just that, finding the unit and getting the air flow going to help clear out that heavy floral scent. He kept an eye on the mirror all the while, the gears quietly turning as he did so.
Spider: The air starts to move, at least -- it's going to be a while before the scent fully clears, but at least it doesn't feel like everyone's gagging in a perfume factory within a handful of moments. "Hey, yeah, I did. We had a couple of kids making noise and I just wanted to come and make sure that you hadn't been disturbed, and you didn't answer your door." Leandra sits down on the edge of the bed as the older woman pushes herself up to sitting: she's a tiny Black woman in that 'who knows how old she is, she might be sixty or ninety' bracket, wearing a red and gold house dress, her white hair a soft cloud around her head.
"Oh, no, I was just watching the news and then I fell asleep. Didn't hear a thing." Mrs. Anderson reaches for her glasses -- the gesture is very clear to anyone who's ever worn them or knows who has -- and then frowns. "Leandra, honey, I think I knocked my glasses down. Can you see if they're on the floor?"
Jack Martingale: "Leandra, might it be best to move Mrs. Anderson to another room, at least until we can air this one out?" Jack exits the bathroom after turning the fan on.
Asbolus: "Agreed. Happy to look for her glasses in the meantime and meet up with you after."
Spider: Leandra pauses for a moment, and frowns subtly. "You know, Mrs. Anderson, I agree with these nice gentlemen, we're going to move you to a new room for just a minute. Just hang on to my arm here, I'll walk you just up the hall to another room and then we'll find your glasses and bring you back here once we've aired your room out." There's professional, and then professional when you give a shit, and Mrs. Anderson clearly gets the latter from Leandra.
"We'll go to 214... " she says, offering her arm to the old lady, who purses her lips together and mutters, "Well, I don't like it, but ... " But Leandra is a good girl and trusted, apparently.
Jack Martingale: Jack gives Leandra an appreciative nod, and holds the door open for the two of them to leave.
When they've gone, he throws the deadbolt over before he lets the door close, effectively blocking it open. No more door slamming, here.
Asbolus: Asbolus smiled politely to the pair as they headed out, letting out a quiet sigh once they had left as he turned his attention back towards the mirror. "Make sure no one comes in for the moment. Let's see what the mirror says about what happened, hmm?"
And with that he moved towards said mirror, placing his hand alongside it and focusing on the reflection to rewind it to the point in time when the hedge gates had been thrown open by their errant associate.
Spider: Mrs. Anderson was, in fact, watching television when the doors flung open. The little old lady's room is swarmed by a wind, throwing the room into disarray, and she slowly nods and falls asleep, her glasses tumbling from her face and falling underneath the bed.
A tall, thin, creaking thing walks slowly into view in the mirror, looking like a black scratch across the face of the universe -- it almost gives a headache to look at. It darts its strange head side to side, and then falls onto all fours like a strange thin giraffe, scampering around the room. Its head keeps moving quickly, curiously, and after a minute of exploring the room it hops up on the dresser and stabs its skinny forearm at the mirror. A moment later, it pulls its forelimb back and skitters out of view.
Silence.
Jack Martingale: Jack watches the door while Asbolus watches the mirror.
Asbolus: Asbolus remained quiet as the vision rolled out before him, eyebrows shooting up at the unfamiliar creature that had passed through the door. The entire scene was etched into his memory for later reporting, a low whistle let loose as the mirror returned to its normal state. "The door opened with a heavy wind that blew everything around and she fell asleep, and then...something walked in and started swiftly moving around the room investigating things." He started off with, moving to the bed to retrive the fallen glasses. "When it was done it tested the mirror long enough to put an arm through it into the Realms beyond, pulled back and then skittered off once again. No sign of it causing any harm to Mrs. Anderson, at least."
Jack Martingale: "So the Thing...is still in here somewhere? Or it was in the mirror-room?" Jack frowns, glancing at the mirror and then Asbolus.
Asbolus: "It didn't pass through the mirror completely, so no." Asbolus frowned in kind, looking towards the door as he pocketed the glasses. "And since neither door is visible in the mirror I can't say for certain if it went back into the Hedge or out into the hotel proper."(edited)
Jack Martingale: "Well fuck. That's...not great, is it. Hope whoever's in charge of getting all that shit back through the Hedge finds it if it's still out there..."
Asbolus: "Agreed. It's not like anything I've seen before in the Hedge. Gave me a bit of a headache watching it move, honestly."
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