Hotel of the Lost

[bookblather]

The hotel lobby is broad and open, a big circular room with a fountain in the center stocked with gold and orange koi. A large handprinted sign propped against the fountain's rim reads DO NOT FEED THE FISH, but it is the only touch of humanity in the gold-and-cream marble room. The fountain is surrounded by small tables and comfortable armchairs in greens and golds, sitting on a forest green rug patterned with small cream figures that spreads outward until it reaches a broad walkway of cream marble tiles around the circumference of the room. Potted plants stand at regular intervals along the walls; they are live trees, though from a distance they could well be assumed to be fake. Between them hang the usual forgettable pieces of hotel art.

Double glass doors open onto the outside world, with the concierge's cream marble desk to their right and the gold sign-in desk to their left. About a third of the way along the circle from the concierge's desk is a fancy restaurant done all in green and cream, currently empty, complete with a large bar stocked with at least thirty kinds of liquor. Across from the restaurant is a gift shop stocked with the usual kitschy touristy items and t-shirts emblazoned with Washington DC, also empty. Across from the double doors is an elevator bank leading up to the rooms, with a marked door to the staircase beside it.

The portals are shifting....

Comments

[bookblather]

"Riluke," Kayleigh repeated, and spared a moment to be glad she'd missed out on that name. It was pretty, though. She said so, and added, "Is she nice?"

[shadowsong26]

He nodded, and smiled. "Yeah, real nice. She took me in after...after my last caretaker died. No questions asked. Been stayin' with her since. How long've you been livin' with your...sister, I think you said?"

[bookblather]

"Half-sister technically," Kayleigh said, "but yeah, you know technicalities. Two years, since I was fourteen and my mom died." She shrugged. "Paige is awesome though, and she doesn't... So it's nice, you know?"

[shadowsong26]

He nodded. "Yeah, I do, I think." He could only imagine what his life would've been like if Ri hadn't found him when she did. None of what he came up with was very pleasant. "I'm sorry about your mom."

[bookblather]

"It was a long time ago," Kayleigh said, evasively. "Paige is great though. She's like my second mom. She's sixteen years older than me so it actually kinda works that way, you know? And my brother is ten years older but he acts two years younger so I can feel morally superior. Nice of him."

[shadowsong26]

Mel smiled, once again burying Kit deep beneath his thoughts--not so easy; since he and Kayleigh were kinda similar there. But Kit was eighteen years older and he'd been sixteen when his mom died. "I think Ri feels like that about me sometimes. Morally superior. I'm almost three years older'n her. But she's used to being The Oldest. Her cousins're all younger than her."

[bookblather]

"Ha," Kayleigh said, and smiled. "Must be fun. Does she have a lot of cousins, then? I only have four, on both sides. And I'm only allowed to talk to one."

[shadowsong26]

"Three," Mel answered. "Technically second cousins. Her dad's dad and their mom's mom were siblings. But they all grew up together. I've only met Nolani--she's the oldest, she's two years younger'n Ri--but there's also Isshiri and Kirana."

[bookblather]

"Meh, second cousins count as cousins," Kayleigh said. "I don't know anyone who actually keeps track of the proper names for things."

[shadowsong26]

"She calls their mom Aunt Kesshare, anyway," Mel said. "And she was basically raised by Ri's granddad, since her parents died when she was little. Ri's aunt's, I mean. So she basically is Ri's dad's sister, sort of. They all know how they're related, anyway, and I guess just pick the titles for whatever generation? Except Nolani calls Ri's granddad Uncle Amassa and I'm ramblin' I'm sorry."

[bookblather]

"It's cool," Kayleigh said, and waved a hand lazily. "It's pretty neat that she knows all her cousins, anyway. I mean, I know mine, but I don't know-know them. My aunt doesn't like them around me." She shrugged, trying to seem casual. "My dad's brother's got a kid, though, and I know him, he's nice."

[shadowsong26]

"Yeah?" Mel asked. He didn't ask about the aunt and her kids, that was probably a sore subject. "What's his name?"

[bookblather]

"Roy," Kayleigh said. "He's nice. His dad's a policeman like my brother, but Roy says he's not going to do that ever. He'll probably be like, a linguist. Or something."

[shadowsong26]

Cops in her family, and she still didn't pick up on what I am or ask for my ID. Lucky. "What about you? You plannin' on bein' a cop?"

[bookblather]

"No," Kayleigh said, and laughed bitterly. "Hell no. Not that cops aren't great and all, but that's one of the few things I know for sure." She shrugged. "Not that I've got any other ideas. Suggestions welcome."

[shadowsong26]

He relaxed marginally. "I work in a bookstore, I don't have much advice for you. What kinda stuff are you interested in?"

[bookblather]

She shrugged. "I dunno. Right now I'm just trying to survive high school, you know? But I don't want to be a cop, and I don't want to do what Paige does, and I don't want to do what my mom did--" home caregiver for old people who treated her like crap, just like her family did, so Kayleigh was all she had to turn to. "I dunno. Something where people don't talk down to me or treat me like a child."

[shadowsong26]

"You could try bein' a hermit?" he suggested, only half-joking. "I think pretty much anythin' you pick, people are gonna talk down to you, at least at the start."