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[demigoth]

Display Name: Nico di Angelo
Profile Photo: Viria art is blessed by the author
Notes: CW: the briefest mention of malnutrition
[ A teenaged boy is standing in front of the Diadem Hotel. He's wearing black skinny jeans that only have one hole in them, and a black t-shirt with a graphic of skeletal pegasus. The bomber jacket that he's insisting on wearing despite the heat covers up some of the words, and so the shirt reads P HALFBL above the image and BIN 1 below.

Nico is pale, and while there's a sheen to his skin, it's not summer sweat. He looks... clammy. His eyes are deep set and dark lashed, but the darkness around them is more than that. If it's eyeshadow, you need to know his brand because it's holding up great for July. But it looks genuine - lack of sleep, not enough iron, teenaged growth spurts. Whatever it is, he looks like a Hallmark movie about fans of the Cure.

Except for the annoyed expression. That's not very Hallmark.

The Diadem Hotel sign can be scene in the background over his shoulder. Nico is standing in the middle of the drop-off zone. ]

I don't care what the guilds say - I'm not staying in another magic hotel. I' I tried to go home, it's not there. I tried to go back to camp - it's not there.

[ He's gesticulating as he talks and doesn't always remember to limit it to the hand that isn't holding the camera. Enjoy the free motion sickness. It makes harder to see how Nico himself is swaying a little. ]

And I can't leave or - what? The hordes of heroes are gonna find me and put me in foster care if I don't find somebody to be a foster parent? Foster care with one of their heroes that I don't even know? Then I have to go to some school in the sky in a couple of weeks?

How do you find a foster home? Like one that don't care where you are because you're fine.

Comments

audio - @knightflynn

[thelaw]

Admittedly, I am not well-versed in this world...

[That's an understatement.]

But if your intent is to be left alone, the inn- ah, hotel- does seem to be a good place to stay until you find a more suitable living situation.

video because Nico can't figure out audio only

[demigoth]

[ He still looks dead set against it. ]

The beds are magic to mess with how you sleep. I'm not staying in a magic hotel that is enchanted to affect me. What if that's not the only spell they've got on it?

[thelaw]

I'm not certain I understand. I always feel well rested after I sleep at an inn?

[VIDEO GAME MECHANIC...]

These are enchanted? Regardless, we aren't the first to arrive here. Wouldn't someone else have noticed if there were additional spells placed on it?

[demigoth]

So maybe you like hotels. Maybe you've never had a bad experience with one. I don't know, but yeah. It's on the pamphlet I got about it, right before they start bragging about the thread-count of the sheets.

[ Who has the time to count threads? Honestly, it sounds like one of those stupid tasks you have to do before some lesser god will tell you what you need to know. "Count all the threads in these sheets that I got in Egypt." Ugh. ]

No? If the magic is good, no one will ever notice.

[thelaw]

I have the feeling that even if we found an experienced mage, you still wouldn't trust the magic beds...

[So no point in arguing it further.]

What is foster care? Why is it something you need to have?

[demigoth]

It's when they get adults who don't care about you to let you live with them. Like a permanent babysitter. And they want me to have them because they think I'm too young to take care of myself.

[ It might have something to do with the fact that he's just gotten here and he's publicly saying he has no intention of going to school. ]

[thelaw]

How old are you?

[demigoth]

The legal age.

[ He’s 15 and looks it. ]

[thelaw]

That's a vague answer. I can't be very helpful to you if I don't have some honesty in return.

[When you know 14 year old who's actually at least 40, you don't assume these things anymore.]

[demigoth]

Then I guess you can’t help me. I’ve been taking care of myself for years and even I can’t say sure how old I am.

[ Technically speaking, he was born in 1932 and it was 2022 back home. ]

[thelaw]

Then allow me to guess. Thirteen? Twelve?

[Definitely getting 'teenager' vibes from this attitude, but if he guesses low enough, maybe Nico will correct him.]

[demigoth]

I’m older than that! I know I look older than that.

[ Nico looks aggravated. ]

You’re probably one of the guild members checking up on me.

[thelaw]

Oh? Maybe I'm bad at judging appearances. Less than seventeen though, I would imagine.

[It sounds like there's a patient smile in his tone.]

I'm not. I'm new here, just like you are. Though, I have been considering joining. I'm not sure I see why it would be such an issue to do so.

[demigoth]

Why are you trying to make me sound like I’m younger? If you don’t want to help me, that’s fine.

But don’t give them more reason to put me in a home.

[thelaw]

... I apologize. I am trying to help. I was perhaps around your age when I joined the Knights. In my world, that's certainly an old enough age to support oneself. I don't know what is expected or not, in this world.

If a "home" is what you are trying to avoid, then it would be best to not advertise even looking for one. I am under the impression this "network" is visible to all.

Perhaps finding someone to stay with would not be so bad? A roommate.

[demigoth]

They made it sound like I don't have a choice, unless I'm just going to walk off into a crowded festival and get lost.

And they might be able to find me even if I do that. I thought if I find someone that meets the minimum requirements, that might be better? They're happy. I'm happy.

What are the Knights?

video, un: Stephen Strange

[rehandle]

[ Yikes, somebody is not having a good time. ]

Breathe, kid. You're okay.

[demigoth]

[ There are old men on this? ]

I'm okay. I woke up underwater, and something like sirens took me to Atlantis, and now all of -

[ Nico waves a hand in circles. The hotel, the school. ]

I tried to go home, but it's not there.

[rehandle]

No, it's not. And that's hard. Depriving yourself of a free month in the Diadem to get your feet under you isn't going to make that any easier.

[demigoth]

There are other free places to stay.

[ Parks and such. He should know better than expect anyone to understand. ]

You can’t trust enchanted hotels and casinos.

[rehandle]

[ Oh, boy. He's heard this one before. ]

Look, I get it. And I'm sure you have your own reasons to feel that way. But magic is pretty much my entire deal and I stayed in that place for as long as the free ride lasted. I can promise you they're just trying to make sure their usual clientele get a good enough night's sleep to not take their business elsewhere.

[demigoth]

Magic hotels don’t like you taking your business elsewhere, so they make it so you never, ever want to leave. I’ve stayed in one before, and I don’t want to take your word for it.

Magic might be your thing, but you’re not Hecate.

[rehandle]

[ Another god kid? Great, good. Even better. ]

It's not a magic hotel. It's a hotel that occasionally uses enchantments to enhance the experience for its guests, who pay a lot of money to stay there. You don't have to be Hecate to figure out that they're not doing it so a penniless teenager will stick around after the guild has stopped paying your way.

[demigoth]

[ Oh, Nico wishes that his sister were here to deck them out in jewels just to win this argument against another nosy adult who only wants him to stay in the hotel like a good boy. ]

I wouldn't be penniless. There are two groups willing to sign on demi- what do they call us?

[ Nico hurriedly pulls out of pamphlets from the pocket of his jacket and fumbles at them. ]

Starfallen. They pay for the hotel, they give us credit cards, so that we sign up for their Legion and fight for them. They say they'll pay us and give us a permanent place. So heroes with powers have value here.

[ Nico is walking away from the hotel now, and turning down a shadowy blind alley. ]

Why would the casino do it? I don't know - why did the Lotus-eaters eat the lotus? When things seem too good to be true, they are.

[rehandle]

[ Starfallen? Is that what they are now? God, he should start paying more attention to public opinion.

Which isn't the point of the current conversation, and it's becoming increasingly obvious that arguing over the probability of the Diadem being out to steal a soul or seal him into some kind of eternal contract isn't working out... and Stephen can't deny that he has approximately the same level of doubt about the guilds themselves. So. ]

Fine. Sure. And yet you're still going to have to go to school, and find somewhere to live that isn't under a bench or in a poorly secured parking garage.