How many goodly creatures are there here! :: GAME OPENER

[synergismus]

Welcome to Baedal.

These are the first words newcomers hear when the door opens and they are invited into their new world. Some fuss, some fight, some need time before they have the courage to step outside. Others, shell-shocked or jaded, go quietly along with the proceedings.

They are given brief instructions; a repeat of what's described in the pamphlet and a door key.

Please stay in your room. There will be dinner soon.

It's been almost a day for some. For others, only an hour's wait. The latest newcomer is lead straight from the arrival room to the dining hall where candles and lanterns have been set out to compensate for failing electricity. (Those who have been here longer explain about rolling blackouts.) The food, however, is warm, varied and plentiful. Seating is open, and less conventional chair are available to those who need them.

There are many strange faces around the table, the majority of these recent arrivals. The proprietor of the Valhalla Inn is here, as is some of her staff. The Sheriff of Mog Hill is introduced, his function detailed. The reason for the dinner is explained:

It's a celebration. A new cohort has finally been officiated; CeidaryBlue523. Your cohort. Please. Introduce yourself. Mingle. Get to know your fellows, they will be your brothers and sisters for as long as you live in this city.


((OOC post for discussion and coordination.))

Comments

[truthsandlyres]

"Of course," Apollo said solemnly. "I'm always concerned for your safety. I'm also curious to see if you're going to kiss me at the door." Even in these circumstances, he couldn't help teasing her. Just a little bit.

"And I showed up with my lyre," he went on, right shoulder rising and falling in a little shrug.

Really, he couldn't think of anything else he would have cared to bring along with him.

[cassie_of_troy]

"Your lyre," she repeated, deciding to glaze off the kissing comments for the moment. "Did you have a lyre with you in Willaknapp?" She didn't know why, but that felt strange. Not that he might have had it, but that he had never mentioned it, never brought it out that she could recall.

And she felt a slight sentimental pang, remembering the last time she had heard him play it, when she was still very much in love with him.

Suddenly, she wanted very much to hear that lyre.

[truthsandlyres]

He nodded. "I pulled it out a few times. At that party that Damon had, for one thing. That time everyone got drunk and kissed everyone else." Frankly, he wished he'd stopped playing long enough to participate in the fun that day. It was one of the few days Willaknepp hadn't been completely terrible, really.

"I usually kept it in my room."

[cassie_of_troy]

"I didn't know that." But how could she have known? She refused to go anywhere near his room. Or spend a lot of time in a room with him. Except for the showers, of course. But just thinking of that sent a shiver up her spine and she had to push it aside.

All right. It sent shivers in other places too.

She covered it up, sighing in annoyance. "I'll have to find new clothes," she murmured in irritation. Everything that she had scraped, scavenged, made, borrowed, or stolen in Willaknapp was now, presumably, still there in Willaknapp. And as always, she was carried away wearing her Rowan clothing. The thought of starting that over again seemed daunting. But then she thought, "Perhaps I could find a loom here. That's another possibility besides working in a tavern." She glanced up at Apollo. "I know, we shouldn't worry about that yet. Still..."

[truthsandlyres]

He wouldn't correct her again. Not when she was clearly feeling this unhappy. "I'm sure we'll have time to find new clothes," he reassured her. "It doesn't look like anyone's walking around naked from what I see. There must be someone who makes clothing."

He briefly cast a glance over her. "Are you going to insist on continuing to wear those breeches of yours?"

He didn't like them. Added an extra step.

[cassie_of_troy]

Cassandra laughed. And it was actually a genuine laugh, perhaps one of her first. "Yes," she said, jutting her chin out slightly. "I'll wear breeches and I'll go where I please and I'll hunt with my bow like an Amazon. Maybe I'll even lop off one of my breasts while I'm at it." She was delighted by all those ideas. Except for the breast-lopping, of course, but the idea of it was funny. After all, Paris used to accuse her of being an Amazon and she had always denied it.

"And there is nothing you can do about it," she concluded with a bit of a smirk.

Yet, as quickly as it came, her mirth dissolved. She supposed it was only natural, considering how utterly overwhelmed she felt. "Or perhaps I'll take up the latest fashion of this world, whatever it may be."

[truthsandlyres]

"Perhaps everyone walks around naked," Apollo said, eyebrows waggling playfully. "If so, I highly suggest you partake in the current fashion."

He leaned in, lips dangerously close to her ear. "Because, Cassandra," he whispered huskily, "You look wonderful naked."

[cassie_of_troy]

With a light smirk, Cassandra leaned in, her lips now hovering over his ear. "Don't hold your breath for it," she replied. "I'm only willing to assimilate so far."

She pulled back, her eyes glimmering with the last traces of a smile. Apparently, she had retained something of Cris' flirting lessons after all. It came to her naturally, without even trying.

Cassandra was actually a bit grateful to Apollo. He had managed, however briefly, to take her mind off of their circumstances. She rewarded him with another smile.

[truthsandlyres]

"You could take me back to your room," she said, lightly touching a strand of her hair and wrapping it around his finger, admiring the gloss in it. He loved her hair, unkempt and wild.

"We could overcome the travesty of the situation together?"

[cassie_of_troy]

Oh, he was touching her. Cassandra felt a rush of sensation shiver its way through her body. This wasn't good. Not the time, not the place. It was no good.

Lightly, she reached out, taking her hair in the V between her thumb and first finger, wrapping her fingers around his. "The thing is," she said softly, "I would like to actually discuss the situation. And you want to pretend it isn't happening."

Gently, she pulled her hair out of his fingers. "I'll respect your wishes, of course."

[truthsandlyres]

If she respected his wishes, they'd be back in her room right now and definitely not talking.

Still, he hadn't really expecting much different of a reply. If anything, he'd expected her to kick him. "All right," he said politely, pulling away and looking at her.

"Go on. Discuss."

[cassie_of_troy]

"No, no," she said lightly. "You don't want to discuss it yet. And maybe you're right. Maybe we'll wake up tomorrow and find ourselves back on the caravan, chasing after ghost turkeys and sharing a communal shower with fifty other people." Stop mentioning the showers, she scolded herself. Stop thinking about them, for that matter.

The denial actually made sense. She had seen many of the new arrivals, particularly in Rowan, go through an extreme stage of denial before accepting the fact that they were stuck there for good. There had been other stages too. Sadness and anger and a host of others. Perhaps she would write a book on it, she mused. She was something of an expert, at this point.

She only hoped she wouldn't get even more first hand experience. Three was enough.

"I can wait." She leaned forward, kissing his cheek.

[truthsandlyres]

Well, it wasn't exactly the lookout repeated, but she was being affectionate. Voluntarily. That was, he had to admit, new. Of course, Apollo assumed it had more to do with her being lost and confused than any actual shift in her personality.

Cassandra was nothing if not stubborn.

Perhaps she thought the same thing of him.

"I hope there's not fifty other people in the shower," he responded lightly. "It would be terribly crowded."

[cassie_of_troy]

"At least we wouldn't have to worry about the water being hot," she replied gently.

She stepped back, lightly grazing her fingers against his arm. It was still so strange to be able to touch him like that, like he was just an ordinary man, a mortal.

"I don't want you to walk me to my room," she said honestly. Really, she needed to be alone. She needed to clear her head. And quite frankly, bringing Apollo with her would not be conducive to that.

"But, if you have no objections, I would like it very much if you called on me in the morning. Perhaps then, we'll be ready to discuss the situation for real."

[truthsandlyres]

"Call on you," Apollo repeated, glancing down at her fingers on his arm. Well, that had been an abrupt change. Just a moment ago, she'd practically castrated him for touching her.

"How formal," he mused. "But I accept. Maybe we could get breakfast together, if they have breakfast in this place."

Who knew? Maybe they would all be starved to death, or maybe in this world, nutrition was gathered through breathing.

[cassie_of_troy]

Breakfast seemed a lot safer than their disastrous (and yet delightful) dinner on the lookout. After all, people didn't do things like that first thing in the morning. Cassandra nodded, pulling her hand back because she still wasn't comfortable enough for extended skin to skin contact with him or anyone else right now.

"I'll talk to you in the morning."