leave her behind with the kids —

[happyheartsstaff]

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

Does anything in this hotel ever stay put? Those who go looking for the gym, the hotel spa, or the nightclub are out of luck one day, as they're simply no longer there. The hallways themselves go topsy-turvy, only staying put when one looks directly at them. For those who've been here long enough to have seen the last time the hotel shifted like this and remember how unhelpful the hotel staff were — it seems little there has changed. The only difference is the manner in which they are useless. They will acknowledge the shifting hallways, of course, and even provide direction back to the lobby, but profess they are much too busy to provide an escort.

Eventually, the hallways settle. Gone are The Caucus-Race, the Pearls Within, and the Rabbit Hole in favor of new amenities. Where once there was a gym, there's now an indoor playground. The nightclub has been replaced with an arcade, and the spa is now a massive movie theater. Were there always quite so many kids items on the restaurant menus? When did This Elegant Thimble get such a large children's section?

If asked, the hotel staff will shrug. Some will insist things have been this way for as long as they've been working there. Others will state that, like their wonderful Queen, the hotel will always know what's needed for any occasion and make suitable preparations.

ARCADE

9/11 - 9/23

The arcade, if possible, seems even larger than the nightclub that once stood in its place. There are rows of pinball, action games, shooting games, driving games. An entire room of air hockey, and another of dancing games. Clusters of skee-ball, whack-a-mole, and claw machines. The floors seem to be eternally sticky with spilled soda, and the smell of pizza and sugar permeates the air. No matter how many patrons are within sight, the sound of laughter and excited shrieking somehow seems to echo throughout the arcade.

Token dispensers are scattered amongst the games. Hotel staff will be stationed at the snack bar and the prize counter, ready to hand out tokens or trade tickets won from the games for small prizes.

Occasionally, one of the games will spark and short out. If asked, hotel staff will say it's out of order and put up a sign proclaiming it so. They don't seem all that concerned about fixing it. Soon enough, it will seem to fix itself and switch back on. It will still spark every so often, and something about the music will seem off. Anyone who decides to play one of these games anyway will find themselves feeling slightly dizzy. Is the arcade spinning around them, or is that just them?

When the spinning stops, they will no longer be where they were before. They will find themselves in the middle of the game they had previously been playing, regardless of what it was. Welcome to the other side of the arcade — where the game play is more realistic than ever! Hopefully they had a partner brought in with them, or someone else comes along to try to play who can help them win the game to get back out.

MOVIE NIGHT

9/11 - 9/23

The entrance to the movie theater is lined with concession stands. Snacks and drinks of every kind can be picked up here before going into one of the theater's two auditoriums. Films will be playing round the clock in both, a different one on each screen. Oysters may find the same movies they would have seen on their own world, movies one might find on modern day Earth, or even movies about old folktales or traditional stories that might have been told where they were from. The only thing that will not be showing is any version of Alice in Wonderland, or any story set in Wonderland itself.

At times, particular showings may be billed as interactive. These will be of all genres: musicals, adventures, mysteries, romance, comedies, even horror. Oysters who attend these will be encouraged to dress up, and will even be shown to a dressing room with a selection of suitable clothes. It will only be after they've been seated and the film starts that what is meant by interactive will become clear.

The musicals will have sing alongs, with people from the audience being pulled up to participate in the dance numbers. The adventures and mysteries will have characters on the screen turn to the audience as though they are part of the story, inviting them along in the investigation or interrogating them as a suspect. Protagonists and antagonists alike will walk off the screen of horror movies, seeking help from or looking to torment the audience until their story is completed and they are sent back to their film world. Comedies and romances will find those in the audience being pulled up to act out parts of the story — and may find themselves transported into the setting until they do.

DAYCARE AND PLAYGROUND

9/11 - 9/23

The front of the daycare is small, with a place to check in and drop off or pick up kids. This is the only area that Oysters who are not either helping out at the daycare or being dropped off themselves will be able to easily access. Behind this are sectioned off areas for quieter activities, with materials such as books, art supplies, toys, etc. There's a small kitchen that will be off limits to the kids, and an area for snack time and nap time. Hotel staff are very present and interactive in these areas — reading to children, making crafts with them, telling stories, fixing snacks. Some will be taking a quiet break for themselves in the kitchen, and may be willing to talk to Oysters helping out at the daycare.

The back of the daycare is an expansive indoor playground. Here, the children are mostly left to their own devices. There are some hotel staff out there to keep an eye on the children as they play, but they tend to cluster together for conversation. Oysters helping out at the daycare will be somewhat warily included in this if they approach. These hotel staff will mostly be dismissive of any children coming to them unless they are injured or crying. There are multiple parts of the playground that can be used to sneak in and out to the hotel area at large, if one is looking carefully! Any children who are not supposed to be there have a low risk of being caught unless they draw attention to themselves or try to enter the other area of the daycare.

The other children in the daycare fall mostly between the ages of 6-11, with three or four outliers who appear to be toddlers or in the 12-13 age range. Astute Oysters likely to observe the behavior of the children will notice that there are clear social groups among them, as though they have known each other long enough to have friends they're accustomed to playing with. There are some who seem friendly and popular, some who seem to keep to themselves, some who seem to have good relationships with the hotel staff and others who seem determined to cause trouble, those who are bullies and those who are picked on. Their willingness to play with or answer questions from Oyster children or adults is equally as varied.

There will be a posted list of Oysters banned from helping out at the daycare. It will not be easily seen from the front of the daycare, but hotel staff will identify who is on it if asked. It will include the below names:

• Lan Wangji (novel)
• Wu Xie
• Wei Wuxian (novel)
• Crowley
• Commander Shepard
• Matthew Murdock
• Lan Wangji (TV)
• Sam Wilson

Characters on this list who have been de-aged will also find that hotel staff are reluctant to accept them into the daycare. They will be allowed only if someone not on the list vouches for them, and otherwise will have to sneak in through the playground.

If you have any questions, please leave them over here! For those interested in asking questions or interacting with the daycare staff, please reply to the first comment on this page, and the second comment for the other children!

PREMISE RULES FAQ TAKEN RESERVES APPLICATION MOD CONTACT HIATUS & DROPS WORLD INFO NPCS CALENDAR AC REWARDS PLAYER CONTACT

© tessisamess

Comments

[scaredofdogs]

"Eh? A different robe?" And his hair down...he doesn't even remember the last time he wore his hair down. There is just so much that it is easier to tie it all up. But what really gets him is the next part of the conversation.

"Why were the sects angry at me? What did I do? If they are all still mad at me for punching Jin Zixuan then they really need to move on."

Sect leaders sure knew how to hold a grudge...

[inquiryguqin]

He doesn't remember? That he killed a lot of cultivators? What about the Wen Sect? This is confusing even to him, but it seems he remembers that far when he was being punished for punching Jin Zixuan and tormenting an anthill much to his dismay and keep breaking the rules much to the ire of his uncle. "O-oh. No, it's nothing like that. You just keep breaking the rules too many times, that is all. So you must study the Lan rules again."

He wanted to tell the truth, but he was too tired, and by omission that wasn't entirely a lie...

[scaredofdogs]

"Ahhh..I'm not at Lan sect anymore! I don't have to study the rules. ANd you can't make me." He smiles and shoves another fist full of popcorn into his mouth. He chews it as he walks away from the theater and back into the hallway. He doesn't really have any destination in mind so he will wait outside for the older man and see if he intends to take him somewhere specific.

[inquiryguqin]

"Mn." He won't be enforcing rules on him, but he is reminding him of some. If anything, he's going to keep him company. Part of him hopes he can take him back home and return him back to Gusu.

"Eat in small bites." He reminds him as he keeps stuffing popcorn. He simply follows him, wherever he wishes to go. Eventually, they may end up in the casino area with their usual games or heading toward the arcade where the smell of pizza and sugar is in the air.

[scaredofdogs]

Wei Wuxian simply wanders around for awhile before finding himself in the arcade again. It's the only place that seems to be able to keep his attention for any stretch of time. He sets the popcorn down on the end of the skee-ball machine.

"Want to try a few games, Lan Zhan? We can go head to head and see who is better at each one."

[inquiryguqin]

Consider Lan Wangji surprised at the offer. Wei Wuxian is friendly to him. He didn't tell him to go away or push him away or tell him to get lost like the last time he remembered him. A part of him wondered what's going on...unless the hotel pulled him from a different time in his past.

He kept his expression stoic and calm to keep his feelings hidden and in check. "Okay, I'll play with you. How to play?" He eyes the machines and the balls.

[scaredofdogs]

"You take these balls and toss them into the rings up at the top by rolling them up this track. The person who gets the most points after eight balls is the winner!" Normally this is an individual game and they both will win tickets but with the two machines being side by side it is easy to turn this into a competitive sport.

He picks up one of the falls and rolls it up into the rings scoring forty points. "Just like that! The little ones in the corners are the hardest so they are 100 points. The lowest rings are 10 points. The scoreboard at the top keeps track so we don't have to."

[inquiryguqin]

He listened to him carefully and learned of the rules. "All right. You start on that machine. I'll take this one." He stood in front of the machine, and all the eight balls are lined up, ready to throw. "We'll count to three before we begin. The one with the highest score wins."

Lan Wangji picks up a few balls to get ready and set himself up. He inserts a coin to start the timer of the game.

"Ready...? 1...2...3!" And that's when he started shooting the balls into the hoops with the points written for each one.

[scaredofdogs]

He knows it isn't a race so he takes his time and aims for the highest scoring circles. He has gotten pretty good at this game and hitting the target with the ball is a lot like hitting it with an arrow. And everyone knows how good Wei Wuxian is with that. His scored climbs pretty high and once his eighth ball falls into the rings the tickets start to pour out as the machine flashes his score.

"Hm..350 isn't bad. Not my highest I have gotten since being here but decent enough." The tickets finally stop coming out and it tugs them off. As he holds them up to stick in his robes he looks over at the other man.

"How did you do?"

[inquiryguqin]

Lan Wangji is a skilled archer, so his arm and coordination shows he's good at aiming and at tossing balls into the scored hoops as well. When the score came out 400, Lan Wangji reaches for the tickets and pulls it off, keeping it to collect a reward at the prize corner to get a rabbit doll perhaps.

"Mn. It's not bad. I scored higher than you, but that means more dolls for me."

[scaredofdogs]

"You win this round, Lan Zhan! I've got so many stuffed animals in my room right now that I don't really need any more but maybe if we get enough tickets there will be something else fun I can get. You can pick the next game!"

He doesn't seem too bothered to have lost. There are plenty more games to play so he has time to redeem himself.

[inquiryguqin]

To see him so friendly and happy, he wondered what happened to his Wei Ying back home the way he remembered him. He was terrifying when he becomes the Yiling Patriarch. He remembers him being so warm like this...

Gathering the tickets in hand. "The next game? I don't know. I don't play games much back home other than studying and training with archery and sword. What do you recommend the next game?"

[scaredofdogs]

He looks around the room and then points to a game that involves tossing a ball through a hoop. "There is another one where we can play side by side. Do you want to try that one?"

He is already walking towards it as if already knowing the answer.

[inquiryguqin]

He sees the game machine and reads it outloud. "Basketball?" He reads the instruction, then inserts a coin in the machine to start up the score and timer.

"All right, let's go." He picks up the ball and starts throwing toward the hoop basket to score points. He throws ball after ball as quick and fast he can.

[scaredofdogs]

Wei Wuxian follows suit, easily sinking basket after basket and watching the score climb higher and higher with each one that goes inside. At one point he tries to get really creative and starts tossing two balls at once, one from each hand and watches as they sink into the net right after each other. He laughs as the experiment works and continues to play with the game to see just how fast he can send the balls through the net.

[inquiryguqin]

He nearly smiles, a laughter caught in his throat when he sees him get clever throwing the balls with two balls at once. He realized how much he misses him when he was like this when he's younger, but perhaps the Wei Ying in his time has changed. Does he wonder if he has feelings for him that grows in his heart and he becomes fonder of him?

When the game is finished and the results of the score came, and the ticket were printed, Lan Wangji collects the tickets to add to his pile. "You came out with a higher score this time, Wei Ying."

[scaredofdogs]

"The key is to find a way to trick the game." He grins as he collects his tickets and stuffs them away with the rest. He enjoys the games here even if the prizes are rather pointless.

"Are you sure you don't want to pick a game?"

[inquiryguqin]

"No. I think I had enough because I'm tired." Not all prizes are pointless. He spots one prize worthy, and with the tickets he earned, he makes an exchange over the front desk with the clerk.

For a prize, he hands Wei Ying a white rabbit doll keychain. "For you. A present."

[scaredofdogs]

"Oh?" He takes it and looks at it, then smiles brightly. At least this one won't take up much space and he can hang it off of something.

"Thanks Lan Zhan!" He hands the man all his tickets and selects a similar keychain only with a dark colored rabbit. He hands this one to Lan Wangji.

"Now we match."

[inquiryguqin]

He's pleased with the keychain of the black rabbit, that he managed a rare smile. With a nod, he placed his gift in his pocket to keep it safe and keep it as his treasure.

"You're welcome. And...thank you, Wei Ying. I'll treasure it."

[scaredofdogs]

He gives a nod and hooks the little keychain off his belt.

"Go get some sleep, Lan Zhan!" He's going to play for a bit longer. He has a few more games he wants to try before he goes back to his room.

[inquiryguqin]

Seeing he accepts his gift, while he doesn't want to part from him, his Lan body tells him is close to nine o'clock. "You should sleep as well." But...he decides not to apply that rule to him, because he figured it's not going to work, and neither did he want to.

"Good night, Wei Ying." A part of him wonders if he ever going to see him again, considering in his time, when he's becoming the Yiling Patriarch, their friendship becomes distant.

He looks at him with a lingering gaze, a longing, before he heads back to his room and calls it a day.