[ It's not like Sam is completely inexperienced with not being able to hear what's going on around him - there'd been plenty of times on missions when he'd been flying so high and fast that everything was muffled, and the only sound was the rush of wind. But that was in the sky, and he'd had his commlink then, someone else's voice in his ear - first Riley, then Steve and Nat, then the other Avengers.

Being grounded in the silence is a hell of a lot different.

Even without the tattoos that appeared on their skin, or the lack of shoes, he kind of gets the feeling it's easier than usual to figure out who isn't from wherever the hell they are. They're the only ones acting like anything strange is going on.

And it's not like Sam has any idea what's going on better than anyone else right now, but as far as he's concerned, being along is the last thing any of them need right now. Which means when he spots someone on their own, he can't help but head over.

He knows better than to get up in people's personal spaces without warning - especially when they might not see him coming - so even though he can't hear what he's saying, he tries speaking first. ]

You mind if I join you?

[ At first Sam thinks maybe it's some of his hypervigilance coming back out. It's the first place his mind goes to, when periods of quiet are interrupted by a perfectly normal noise that sounds far too loud in comparison. It takes him a little bit to realize he isn't hearing those noises louder than he should be - he's hearing other things much less than he should be. Or not at all, which happens in increasingly long stretches.

Even then, he's not sure - is it him, something wrong with his hearing, or has the place gone silent? Either one is unnerving as hell, but - all right, well, he ain't gonna find out what's going on in his room, so he steps out into the halls.

Still quiet.

What the fuck.

He moves closer to the first person he sees, holding a hand up to try to get her attention. ]

Can you hear anything?

[ The staff are officially of zero help. Really, Sam shouldn't be surprised - it's not like they were all that helpful to begin with, trying to figure out how they got here, but this new wave of fake compassion is taking it to another level.

He's... mostly managing to keep himself calm. Or at least the pretense of calm, though the set of his jaw and the tension in his shoulders probably gives his frustration away a little bit, to anyone who is in a space to notice.

Tense is a good way to describe this whole damn place right about now, and it doesn't surprise him a bit when he spots someone looking a little bit panicked. ]

Hey, man, can you hear me?

[ Wei Wuxian is - something of a familiar face. You know, as familiar as someone can be when you've only chatted over some kind of social media and met in person once, but hey, he'll take it.

It's probably clear that he's a little bit on edge - he's definitely scanning his surroundings more often than he did the last time they met, trying to compensate for his lack of hearing, and his breathing is slower and more measured than would really be natural, but otherwise, he sidles up next to Wei Wuxian like he would if they weren't all losing their senses and the hotel wasn't turning into the worst version of a shitty corn maze. ]

You busy?

[ Not that he's sure the guy can hear him, but his response'll probably tell him if this is gonna be a one or two sided game of charades. ]

[ If you want to play with the maze or aftermath prompts, or throw something else at me, I'm open to just about anything! You can hit me up here or over on plurk at brbsoulnomming if you want to plot/chat. ]