CHRIS FROM ORLANDO (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nightaudits) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hotelmultiverse2024-10-16 04:44 pm
nightaudits) wrote in hotelmultiverse2024-10-16 04:44 pm
YOU'VE JUST CROSSED OVER INTO -
   from HOTEL MULTIVERSE AT THE EDGE OF THE COSMOS BETWEEN CANONS™ Guests who find themselves partaking in the Hotel's amenities quickly find some tricks afoot. The decor is first, neon lights changing to autumnal oranges, garish greens, and ghoulish purples overnight. Those who peruse the shops will find them stocked with masks and costumes, and the ambient music which plays throughout the ship is punctured by blood-curdling sound effects such as screams and anxiety-inducing musical stingers. This is Halloween. Those who utilize the Hotel-provided devices will find an ad splashed across their screens. Similarly, TVs, phones connected to the network, and flyers posted will read: "FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT OF OUR GUESTS, HOTEL MULTIVERSE AT THE EDGE OF THE COSMOS BETWEEN CANONS™ IS HAPPY TO PROVIDE HALLOWEEN-THEMED ENTERTAINMENT." Staff members' uniforms change, with employees adding costume pieces to them as the weeks wear on. Guests are strongly encouraged to put together a costume with pieces from the shops, but those who opt out will instead find one of the standard options (listed at the bottom of this post) and chosen at random (by googling "rng 1-19") in their wardrobe. After dark (or, what would be dark), the ship transforms into a hotel of horrors, the following chaos breaking loose: TRICK-OR-TREATING Costumed guests are welcome to partake in trick-or-treating with the ship's staff, who can be found with carts of candy in common areas. Guests are also offered flags for their doorknobs to indicate that they have candy available in the rooms if they would like to partake as well. SCAREZONES Grab a map from the concierge or walk the halls at random, but don't be surprised if a staff member jumps at you from the shadows! HAUNTED HOUSE Guests using the hotel app will find numerous ads alerting them to a haunted house that's overtaken one of the hotel floors (and honestly, the ads are impressive, opening as an emergency alert to a runaway alien), and the hotel itself plasters the attraction across its screens and walls overnight as well. Obviously, a haunted house is a great thing to do after you've had a ton to drink, or a great way to meet fellow guests (whether or not you're reaching for their hand in fright). However, to ensure the safety of all team members and guests, do not make physical contact with any member of our cast. Remember: the actors' intention is to frighten you. HORROR MOVIE MARATHON Guests hoping to keep things a bit more low key might find what they're looking for in the hotel's movie theater and lounges, which offer 24/7 horror movie marathons ranging from the classic to the avant garde. A programming guide can be found outside of each respective screening or on the app. Film buffs will be delighted at the hotel's library, but don't be surprised if your niche fave is banished to a graveyard slot. MASQUERADE The hotel's ballrooms are open late for those guests interested in keeping the revelry going night after night. Just don't let the anonymity of your costumes take you too terribly far (or, I mean, do what you want, everyone has a room, after all). If you aren't able to purchase a costume or aren't feeling inspired, no problem! Our courteous staff have taken the liberty of providing you with a courtesy costume, free of charge, to allow you to participate in the event. You will receive one of the following at random: 01: Ghost 02: Alien 03: Devil 04: Superhero (Your Choice!) 05: Skeleton 06: Pumpkin 07: Zombie 08: Vampire 09: Clown 10: Mummy 11: Werewolf 12: Black Cat 13: Pirate 14: Frankenstein's Monster 15: Witch 16: Spider 17: Bunny 18: Bat 19: Angel |
III
At first he thinks about maybe teasing the guilty party about not being able to hold their drink, but when he spies what is undoubtedly a Child now that there's enough light to look at proportions something sharp yet altogether soft chokes the words out of his throat.
That's right. Hannah-Banana hates....stuff like this. Maybe it's projecting, assuming things about the kid. Maybe it's all for Josh's own bittersweet memories of siblings he no longer has when he settles down next to the kid on the bench.
Maybe, but he's still offering out his open box of chocolate-peanut butter candies, barely touched.]
Lookin' to raid the concession stand?
[Rather than touching on what might be fragile emotions, Josh chooses to deflect. He's very good at that at least.]
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He almost wishes he'd eaten more candy. Then, he could blame it for the sick feeling in his stomach and the pounding of his heart in his chest. He wouldn't be stuck here knowing it's because of that stupid, fake movie. Real people don't die like that. Boba knows. He's seen real people die before. That isn't how it happened. That isn't what happened to her—
A voice shakes him from his thoughts, and he looks up. He can see a person-shaped blob through the fabric of his hood, holding out a box of something that must be candy. Boba sits up a little straighter and tries to relax his grip on the bench beneath him. He doesn't want to seem weak in front of a stranger. ]
No, thanks, [ he says, voice tight. ] I'm not hungry.
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[Josh doesn't ask if the kid's okay. He doesn't leave, either. He relaxes on the bench and leaves the box sitting between them. He's rocking one heel where it rests on the floor, turning his foot this way and that while he hums a tune under his breath. His fingers drum along to the beat softly. Barely more than a tap against the seat they're on.
He glances down and to the side where the little skeleton sits and offers a tired smile. He tilts his head to the side, waggles his brows while he hums. If it doesn't get a reaction he's not above making faces to try and cheer the kid up, or at least prompt some kind of conversation. Josh isn't even totally sure the kid's upset or just sick from too much candy.
Seems to be here alone. Maybe he just needs a bit of fresh air and someone calm to ground him.]
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That means he notices when the man starts to hum—and when he starts doing something with his face. The black shroud of his hood means Boba can't quite make out what that something is, but he does see a lot of movement. Is he... dancing with his face?
It's enough to momentarily pull Boba from his misery and for a moment, he just squints at the man through the dark fabric, trying to figure out what he's seeing. When that proves too difficult, he finally gives in and reaches up to unzip his hood by a few inches—enough that the top of his head and eyes are exposed, while the bottom half of his face is still covered by the hood's skeletal grin.
He watches the man continue to hum and waggle his brows for a moment before speaking up: ]
What are you doing?
[ Even with his mouth hidden, it's possible to hear the slightest smile in Boba's words. ]
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[Josh lifts his hands and wiggles his fingers toward Boba but doesn't presume to touch without permission. He hums a bit louder, and this time he curls up his hands until he's jsut got his index and middle finger up on each hand, pointed downward like the rest of his curled fist is a body and the fingers are the legs he can move to dance along with the song.]
Spooky, scary, skeletons~ [He starts to sing, but when no recognition flashes across the kid's face, Josh looks down to the skeleton face on his own hoodie, then to the kid's attire.]
That's us, tonight, innit? Just a pair of skeletons....hanging around?
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At least he has a vague idea now why the man had approached him. They're both dressed with a similar theme, even if Boba's is more of a costume than his. ]
I guess so. Does that mean we're on the same team or something?
[ Boba doesn't know enough about this holiday to be sure. ]
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[Josh points out a few different costume types. The lady over there dressed like a space marine, that one guy all dolled up like an angel, and there's a couple of kids wandering by in honest-to-god bedsheet ghost costumes, their plastic buckets clattering with candy with every hurried step.]
Wouldn't want a fellow skull an' bones left out to dry on a night like this eh? We should make the most of the holiday. TP a lobby or something. Whatever you think sounds fun.
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Maybe we can play a game? [ he suggests, tentatively at first, but as the words leave his mouth, he realizes how much he'd like that. Zam had been the only one who still played games with him. His dad said he was too old for games, and Taun We's games were all what she called "cognitive and motor assessments," which were only occasionally fun. Boba dreads thinking about what life on Kamino will be like now that Zam is gone—but that's all the more reason to jump at the opportunity to have some fun now, right? ]
I have— [ A pause. ] I had a friend who knew a lot of games. Like there was one where one of us would hide something and the other person would have to find it before time ran out. Or, there was another one where I had to sneak up and steal her veil from her pocket without her tagging me. Things like that.
[ It makes him smile remembering those games, even though it makes him sad, too. ]
Does this holiday have any games like that?
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So Josh fishes out his phone and flicks on the flashlight app he can hold beneath his face to make his sharp cheekbones look even more skeletal. And he grins a crooked grin of a brother who just can't seem to stop spoiling his siblings.]
The little skeleton bro likes hide and seek eh? Orrrr...competing for points. Which would you rather do. Count to a hundred and then come find me? Or race me to see which of us can steal something we agree on first?
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[ As confident as Boba is in his seeking abilities, he doesn't have time to search the whole space station. Still, there's that smile in his voice again when he says it. He reaches up to cover his eyes—but then stops and looks back up at his new friend. ]
What's your name? [ he asks. ] In case I can't find you.
[ He's pretty sure that won't happen, but it'll be good to know just in case. ]
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[He'll stick around long enough to get the kid's name in return but then winks and mimes to Boba to turn around and start counting. The sharp of hearing will hear him scamper off after that.
Now, normally, Josh is pretty competitive. And with hide-and-seek the trick is to go up in his experience. But this kid isn't that tall and Josh is supposed to be cheering him up. He's got no idea how good the kid even is at this game. So Josh meanders off and considers supply closets he could slip into if need be. He'd rather find somewhere he could watch to see if the kid was okay wandering around though.
Eventually he finds a stack of Halloween decorations and a lightbulb goes off in his head. He takes the stuffed dummy of a classic slasher down and stuffs it as out of sight as he can behind a giant plastic pumpkin. Tosses his own hoodie atop it and pulls on the jumpsuit the dummy had been stuffed into. It's a bit big on him, but it should work. He pulls the mask it had been wearing on and settles into the plastic chair with an imitation of a little leaning slump to him. This way he can see the whole lobby And still be hidden!]