fandomtownies | The Arms Hotel Lobby, Tuesday

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The Arms Hotel Lobby, Tuesday

The fruit bowl at the front desk was filled with dog biscuits today. One of the housekeepers had found a Newfoundland puppy unattended in a guest room, so Mary was keeping the puppy with her at the front desk. She appreciated the company. Also, the puppy seemed to be pretty handy at keeping Gunther in line.

Welcome to the Arms Hotel
Today's Specials
Grilled Shrimp with Chile, Cilantro and Lime
Black Barley, Fennel and Radish Salad
Strawberry Tarts with Ginger-Nut Crusts

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Who might be feeding dog biscuits to the Newfoundland every time it chases Gunther out of the lobby.

Prof Tomoe headed through the Arms lobby on his way back from teaching class. The students in his class were annoyingly heroic. There had to be some way to push past that personality flaw.

He paused in the lobby. An adorable puppy. How cloying. But if one could somehow harness that sort of boundless energy...

"Is that yours?" he asked Mary.

"I guess he is for now," said Mary, giving the puppy a pat on the head. "Of course, on this island, there's a pretty good chance that he's someone who got transformed into an animal. I figured that I might as well keep an eye on him until he transforms back."

That comment piqued his interest. He reached out to pet the puppy, and see if it reacted just like a normal dog.

"Really?" he asked Mary. "Is that a typical phenomena here? You'd think there'd be some kind of inciting action to produce a dramatic transformative effect."

Like daimon eggs, which were excellent at turning things into monsters. He really needed to get a decent lab set up here.

The puppy was holding still for now. He wasn't sure yet about this person, but he liked being petted. Of course, if Gunther came back out from the kitchen, he was running off to chase him around again.

"It's been known to happen from time to time. Last fall, I spent about two weeks as a bird with blue feet," said Mary. "But it's not the only kind of transformation I've seen. There are weekends where everyone wakes up as kids, for example. Or we all become ponies with crazy manes and tails. It certainly keeps life interesting."

Oh yes, tell the crazy, evil geneticist about all the transformation weirdness that goes on in Fandom. That probably won't have any consequences.

"Really?" Prof Tomoe asked again, this time starting to grin. "And is are there any noticeable signs of an impending transformation? Any lasting physical or mental consequences of having been forced into another form?"

It was always good to compare notes on these things. His minions back in Japan just complained anytime he tried to run experiments on with them.

Poor Mary. She couldn't spot evil until it had her stuffed in a trunk and taken to the airport. Growing up in Las Vegas had kind of dulled her senses for that kind of thing.

"You mean besides the embarrassment of people talking about how you were a clumsy bird for two weeks?" asked Mary. "I still trip over things from time to time, but I don't think there were any lasting consequences. There aren't any warning signs either. Or, at least none that I noticed."

"Fascinating," Prof Tomoe said, breaking into a full ~~evil~~ grin. "I think I'll have to research this further. Hopefully without turning into a bird or some kind of pony in the process."

He gave the cute puppy another look over, before getting back to a previous thought.

"You know, I'm a scientist by trade. One of the things I miss most about being here in Fandom is not having access to my laboratory. You don't suppose there's a spare room here at the Arms where I can set up some ... minor scientific equipment to continue my research work. Or perhaps a place nearby by with some extra room for rent?"

"There are plenty of extra rooms available here at the hotel, and it would be more convenient for you, I suppose," suggested Mary.

There was also the abandoned warehouse district if someone really wanted a lot of room and didn't care for the environment, but Mary couldn't understand why anyone would set up there. The hotel was much more comfortable.

The abandoned warehouse district would have been excellent for big projects, but a spare room at the hotel was decent enough for small work. Easier to keep an eye on too, from his own room at the Arms.

"Oh, significantly more convenient. You could add it to my room rental charge here. Most of my scientific work involves study in the realms of either genetics or Morris-Thorne theorems, I promise you don't need to worry about any explosions inside your hotel."

Well, not big explosions, anyway.

He tapped a hand against his chin. "What sort of security is there here in the hotel? Are there cameras in the rooms, or just the hallways? I just like to make sure that my equipment is safe." And that no one clued into him practising mad science in the middle of town.

"I should hope not," said Mary with an involuntary shudder. There had been a large explosion at her hotel in Las Vegas the night she fled town.

"And you can be assured that there's no cameras in any private areas such as rooms or even the public restrooms in the lobby," said Mary. "Otherwise, though, there's camera coverage just about everywhere else. I have some friends in the casino industry and they helped me set up a security system."

Prof Tomoe noticed Mary shudder but ignored it. Whatever issues she had with explosions were of no real concern to him. Maybe worth noting for later, but nothing of immediate importance.

"I'm very pleased to hear that," Prof Tomoe said. "You run an excellent hotel here, Ms Connell. And your fuzzy friend." He eyed the puppy, but didn't reach out to touch it again. "I'll let you know if I'm expecting any shipments of scientific equipment here."

He finally noticed the scent of the daily shrimp and chile special. "And whatever that is smells delightful."

"Thank you," said Mary, pleased. "I'm always happy to hold any packages for you at the front desk so you can be sure that your equipment is safe. Would you like to try today's special? There's seating available in the lobby, or if you'd prefer, I could have room service take it to your room."

Prof Tomoe considered the options. There were lists to be made, and he needed time to think about which experiments he could work on here, and which were better left in Tokyo.

"I would love to try today's special. I think room service would probably be the best. Lots of things to do this afternoon"

Of course, you can skip the puppy antics at the front desk.

Random factoid: apparently a Newfoundland dog saved Napoleon Bonaparte's life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_%28dog%29) during his escape from Elba.

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The Arms Hotel Lobby, Tuesday

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OOC