Depends on the questions. If you're gonna ask me "how much do I get paid" - that's a non disclosure - or "why'd that movie thing not have any knives in it," --I don't know, it's not like it's my job to create movies, I just work here -- or "hey can I see behind your curtain" -- no, at least wine and dine me first -- then it gets kinda repetitive.
[There is an energy here that is kind of longingly familiar, and Jason actually considers legitimately hanging up. "Aquila" probably doesn't help. HE REALLY DOES THINK ABOUT HANGING UP.
So there is this awkwardly long pause before he clears his throat.]
I'm not so great at small talk actually. Most of the time, I put a gun in your face and tell you that you have three seconds to answer whatever question I ask next.
Well, good news is, you're on the phone, so you can't do that!
[ oh, they're definitely laughing now, but it's teasing, and very playful. ] Can pretend there's a gun in my face if you want? Oh, no, help. Someone, help. I'll do anything.
[ that last bit is delivered very dryly and flatly, and dissolves after, returning to something more normal and definitely amused. ]
In all seriousness, we can trade questions. Might make it easier.
[My GOD.] Oka-- Ok-- Okay, stop! First of all, I did not call a porn line, and also that is so far from any of my kinks. [He almost hangs up for a completely different reason this time.]
Fine. I have one business question first: do you know how long we're going to be here?
[please know this mod has been hoping you would tag aquila
who is just laughing openly this time, clearly very pleased with themselves. terrible. it's more teasing bully than anything else. ]
Oops. [ wow. ] To answer your question, some people've been in a situation like this for two weeks. Some people've been in it for eight. Then there's you, for just a week, and you've already been here longer than that. You could make an educated guess, probably?
Okay, you smarmy fuck. You talk real big over the phone. [He does not actually sound angry, though, just very exasperated.] I'm going to bank on eight weeks, maybe twelve because I don't trust your boss not to want us to be miserable for fun.
[He considers being mean and asking more useless and nosy questions to continue burning all of his bridges everywhere.]
[He sucks his teeth in the phone, but then when he says the next part, the phone is kind of away a bit like he's--what? Ranting to himself or something.] Stop dodging my questions, you jackasses! [It's fine. He's good. His voice comes back into the phone more.]
Why are you saying it like that? I like shooting bad guys.
Says the guy dodging my questions. [ aquila sounds endlessly amused. ] Shooting bad guys isn't a particularly bad thing to like, sure. I was thinking something that didn't involve a gun, but, hey, guess I can't be that surprised.
'sides, [ they will add, pleased: ] you're the one who agreed to trade questions back and forth! Stick to your agreements.
Now you can ask me a question, even if you think I'm a jackass.
What a surprise. [THIS IS THE MOST USELESS ANSWER. But he is not shocked.] That depends on whether or not I'm feeling like a paranoid cynic or and optimistic nihilist.
Truthfully? I'm questioning all of the dream motifs running around the place a little bit. And even with or without proof my hostage is legit, it could still be, I don't know, a dream. But mostly I think your boss probably has hostages from all of you too. Maybe. It's not a bad explanation why you'd sign an NDA. Otherwise, who cares? At least, that seems to be a reoccurring thing between all the hosts. You know, being taken, used, some of them don't even remember who they are.
But what do I know? I haven't talked to any of you really, and we've only been here a week. If you haven't noticed, I'm usually sitting on the paranoid cynic side of things.
Sad optimist version is I guess you're all sociopaths who are having a great time being employed at a hotel. I hope you're making more than eight dollars an hour, though.
[ they listen to all of this! these wild theories, occasionally making a little noise. and then, eventually: ]
Like I said. You can ask all the questions you'd like, but you may not like the answer - and you're gonna have to wait until you can get your hands on any more evidence before anything's just another rabbit hole to fall down, yeah?
As for us being sociopaths, well, you gotta get to know us before we dive that deep into our relationship. [ they laugh a bit. ] Maybe some of us are more than others. There's still four of us you haven't even gotten to meet in person - me included, after all.
And hey, if you think we're not being compensated fairly, could always leave us a tip or two.
Didn't you just tell Cetus you didn't want severed body parts? What is it with you and severed body parts? I'm gonna tell you right now if you give me that for a tip, I'm sending it back.
[ please get therapy.]
's fair, I think. You definitely didn't make yourself any friends, though. Gonna do anything about that, or leave it the way it is?
Okay, first of all, stop listening in on other people's conversations, you nosy bastard. Second of all, I don't want the body parts! You made it sound like you wanted them!
[He does not sound actually mad.]
Didn't come with friends, why make them now? [This sounds mostly sarcastic.] Probably a bad idea to make friends in a place like this. I already have to worry about one person. You think I want to worry about more?
If you were in my shoes, wouldn't you be listening in on people's conversations?
[ you can almost hear aquila's unsaid "you nosy bastard?"]
And I mean, I guess that's one way to go about it, yeah. 's not a bad point.
...Shame though, cause most of the people around you have people that came from their thing, huh? Might not be a bad thing to make allies, if you think you're bad at making friends. [he did not say that, aquila]
It's not your turn to ask a question, so I don't have to answer that.
[Listen.]
Allies? You think flimsy murder hotel allies won't shove you in shark-infested water if someone slipped them an ominous note about how their hostage was going to lose a limb if they didn't buck-up and get to the death entertainment? Sure.
Did you forget I said I was on the paranoid cynic side of things?
[they sound zero percent bothered by this cheekiness.
however, they listen to all of this, and then add, cheerfully:] I mean, I guess they might, yeah!
[ but then, more seriously. their tone levels out, something more reflective.] There are upsides and downsides to every decision you make, yeah? On the one hand, going it alone means you go it alone. No one can betray you that way, but it means you're really on your own. You gotta maintain that in the long term - this place's already longer than yours was.
On the other hand, sometimes, you might end up lucky to trust somebody who's worth trusting. 's not like you gotta decide on who those people might be today, but as far as I've seen, as far as you saw on Saturday, you're right. These sorta things tend to turn into witch hunts real fast. Sometimes a good ally's the difference between life and death.
Everything in these situations is about high risk. Up to you how you handle it, Mr. Paranoid Cynic.
Mm. Half of the people likely barely know what a gun is. [ this is a joke? it sounds like one. maybe. more seriously: ] People're hypocrites. You know how it goes.
[ after that there's a beat
and very primly, aquila says: ] My Staff Profile page says advising.
[He does snort now. His turn to laugh, thank you.]
Ohh. Not advising hotel operations, but advising guests. I see. Maybe you should have been in the naughty box with me last week instead of Cloud. You could advise me on more of my bad decisions.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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anyway, there's a sound like a laugh.]
Depends on the questions. If you're gonna ask me "how much do I get paid" - that's a non disclosure - or "why'd that movie thing not have any knives in it," --I don't know, it's not like it's my job to create movies, I just work here -- or "hey can I see behind your curtain" -- no, at least wine and dine me first -- then it gets kinda repetitive.
But, maybe you've got somethin' new for me?
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So there is this awkwardly long pause before he clears his throat.]
I'm not so great at small talk actually. Most of the time, I put a gun in your face and tell you that you have three seconds to answer whatever question I ask next.
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[ oh, they're definitely laughing now, but it's teasing, and very playful. ] Can pretend there's a gun in my face if you want? Oh, no, help. Someone, help. I'll do anything.
[ that last bit is delivered very dryly and flatly, and dissolves after, returning to something more normal and definitely amused. ]
In all seriousness, we can trade questions. Might make it easier.
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Fine. I have one business question first: do you know how long we're going to be here?
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who is just laughing openly this time, clearly very pleased with themselves. terrible. it's more teasing bully than anything else. ]
Oops. [ wow. ] To answer your question, some people've been in a situation like this for two weeks. Some people've been in it for eight. Then there's you, for just a week, and you've already been here longer than that. You could make an educated guess, probably?
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Okay, you smarmy fuck. You talk real big over the phone. [He does not actually sound angry, though, just very exasperated.] I'm going to bank on eight weeks, maybe twelve because I don't trust your boss not to want us to be miserable for fun.
[He considers being mean and asking more useless and nosy questions to continue burning all of his bridges everywhere.]
What made you want to work here?
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the grin remains in their voice, but they huff a bit. ] That isn't a bad assessment.
[ though, they don't specify which of those things they think is a good one... why would they. they click their tongue. ]
My turn to ask a question, yeah? You're bad at small talk. [ he already said that ] Tell me about yourself. Something you like doing.
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Why are you saying it like that? I like shooting bad guys.
[He's bad at small talk.]
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Says the guy dodging my questions. [ aquila sounds endlessly amused. ] Shooting bad guys isn't a particularly bad thing to like, sure. I was thinking something that didn't involve a gun, but, hey, guess I can't be that surprised.
'sides, [ they will add, pleased: ] you're the one who agreed to trade questions back and forth! Stick to your agreements.
Now you can ask me a question, even if you think I'm a jackass.
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[Shooting bad guys. Blowing up things. Please help him, I'm begging. He's so stupid.]
Hey, I didn't agree to anything unless it's in writing. My question still stands. Why did you want to work here?
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[ this is the most useless answer ever and they
clearly know it. you can just feel it over the phone. it is an Aura.
however: ] Lemme counter you one. Why do you think I would have taken this job?
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Truthfully? I'm questioning all of the dream motifs running around the place a little bit. And even with or without proof my hostage is legit, it could still be, I don't know, a dream. But mostly I think your boss probably has hostages from all of you too. Maybe. It's not a bad explanation why you'd sign an NDA. Otherwise, who cares? At least, that seems to be a reoccurring thing between all the hosts. You know, being taken, used, some of them don't even remember who they are.
But what do I know? I haven't talked to any of you really, and we've only been here a week. If you haven't noticed, I'm usually sitting on the paranoid cynic side of things.
Sad optimist version is I guess you're all sociopaths who are having a great time being employed at a hotel. I hope you're making more than eight dollars an hour, though.
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Like I said. You can ask all the questions you'd like, but you may not like the answer - and you're gonna have to wait until you can get your hands on any more evidence before anything's just another rabbit hole to fall down, yeah?
As for us being sociopaths, well, you gotta get to know us before we dive that deep into our relationship. [ they laugh a bit. ] Maybe some of us are more than others. There's still four of us you haven't even gotten to meet in person - me included, after all.
And hey, if you think we're not being compensated fairly, could always leave us a tip or two.
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[He huffs.]
How long do you think it's going to take for the others to toss me on the stake and burn me?
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[do they know what the federal reserve is? a mystery.] More than one way to skin a cat, isn't there? Not everything has to be about currency.
[ aquila makes a thoughtful noise on the other end.]
Hmmm. Iunno. Are you sorry for doing it?
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[He is quiet for a second.]
Not really. I mean, I said I was sorry for the gun. Not exactly sorry for standing my ground when someone tried to jump me.
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Didn't you just tell Cetus you didn't want severed body parts? What is it with you and severed body parts? I'm gonna tell you right now if you give me that for a tip, I'm sending it back.
[ please get therapy.]
's fair, I think. You definitely didn't make yourself any friends, though. Gonna do anything about that, or leave it the way it is?
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[He does not sound actually mad.]
Didn't come with friends, why make them now? [This sounds mostly sarcastic.] Probably a bad idea to make friends in a place like this. I already have to worry about one person. You think I want to worry about more?
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[ you can almost hear aquila's unsaid "you nosy bastard?"]
And I mean, I guess that's one way to go about it, yeah. 's not a bad point.
...Shame though, cause most of the people around you have people that came from their thing, huh? Might not be a bad thing to make allies, if you think you're bad at making friends. [he did not say that, aquila]
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[Listen.]
Allies? You think flimsy murder hotel allies won't shove you in shark-infested water if someone slipped them an ominous note about how their hostage was going to lose a limb if they didn't buck-up and get to the death entertainment? Sure.
Did you forget I said I was on the paranoid cynic side of things?
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[they sound zero percent bothered by this cheekiness.
however, they listen to all of this, and then add, cheerfully:] I mean, I guess they might, yeah!
[ but then, more seriously. their tone levels out, something more reflective.] There are upsides and downsides to every decision you make, yeah? On the one hand, going it alone means you go it alone. No one can betray you that way, but it means you're really on your own. You gotta maintain that in the long term - this place's already longer than yours was.
On the other hand, sometimes, you might end up lucky to trust somebody who's worth trusting. 's not like you gotta decide on who those people might be today, but as far as I've seen, as far as you saw on Saturday, you're right. These sorta things tend to turn into witch hunts real fast. Sometimes a good ally's the difference between life and death.
Everything in these situations is about high risk. Up to you how you handle it, Mr. Paranoid Cynic.
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Apparently, the way to handle it is don't use a gun when you're being attacked, but it's fine if you have a sword.
[He will be petty and sarcastic at least a little, or he's ooc.]
I thought you were hotel operations, not hotel counseling. Why do you want to give me advice so bad?
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Mm. Half of the people likely barely know what a gun is. [ this is a joke? it sounds like one. maybe. more seriously: ] People're hypocrites. You know how it goes.
[ after that there's a beat
and very primly, aquila says: ] My Staff Profile page says advising.
[ smartass ]
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Ohh. Not advising hotel operations, but advising guests. I see. Maybe you should have been in the naughty box with me last week instead of Cloud. You could advise me on more of my bad decisions.
[He is SELF AWARE which makes this WORSE.]
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but also: ]
The naughty box?
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