support group one: no one left behind

[hearnospeakno]

When: Friday 6:00 p.m.
Where: Attic Observatory
What: Community Support Group

As Nick promised on his open advertisements, there are chairs and coffee in the Attic Observatory. There's even a table laden with what food products Nick and co could round up.

The process of setting up for a group meeting felt enough like Boulder that Nick took a short break to lean, palms first, against a wall. It was a short, easily displaced moment, and he has no intention of lingering on it.

This is about everyone, one way or another. For all the people stuck here, and everyone new, and all those in-between. Nick left the purpose of the group intentionally vague. In the future, he assumes it'll have to be narrowed down and split up for the sake of different needs, but for this first coming together of the displaced in any non-official capacity he wants it to be open for everyone. It wouldn't be right, otherwise.

So all newcomers will find Nick by the attic observatory door, nursing a cup of black coffee next to a clearly printed sign:

Hi, I'm Nick. Welcome to the first Nexus Hotel Support Group. Whatever your problem, we'll listen. Help yourself to coffee and food.

Underneath the words, Nick has drawn and crossed out a mouth and ear, leaving an arrow pointed at himself. His pad of paper and pen are obvious on his lap.

Comments

[legendthatwas]

Martha's gaze was sympathetic, but not pitying--she didn't really do pity much anymore, she'd found, and in this case... Well. In this case, it was a bit close to home to be abstract. "It's good that you had people, got a community together," she said. "Humans are meant to work together, it's part of the blueprints, I guess. We don't do very well, alone."

Actually, most beings didn't, even if they pretended otherwise. But she supposed you could trust yourself, and you couldn't always trust other people, even under fire. It was something she'd learned to adapt for, crosses and double crosses.

[digyourman]

"That's definitely true," Larry agreed, focus drifting first to his shoes and then back out to the murmuring group occupying the rest of the room. What better example than a group of people who just couldn't cope with life in a luxury hotel?

"You know, your turn was a lot more fun than mine," he added after a moment, and smiled back at Martha. "Who came up with this taking turns thing? Oh right, that was me." His smile quirked, self-deprecating but amused, and he leaned back in his chair.

"So now that I've been a sufficient downer, tell me something good," he said.

[legendthatwas]

"It was probably generally more fun," said Martha, "though not all of it was like the Bard, live in London. There was a lot of running for one's life. Also a pretty dull stint in 1969, which was not as fun a year as everyone implies. And...well. Worse stuff, but that's another story."

She put on a slightly hopeful half-smile and cleared her throat. "So, taking a good turn. Uh, well. I...I might have inspired a Shakespearian sonnet. Or two. He was taken with me, a little. Also with Harry Potter."

[digyourman]

"I can believe that," Larry replied, of the sonnets. He knew well enough that he himself was only a mediocre poet at best, but he could still recognize easy inspiration when he saw it. Martha was just that sort of woman.

"Harry Potter is a friend of yours?"

[legendthatwas]

"I still can't believe it myself, to be honest." Martha appraised Larry at his latter comment, then realised he and Nick could very well be from a universe without Hogwarts. "And no, not a friend--a character in a very famous book series," she explained. "Where and when I'm from. My friend and I recounted it to the Bard, a little; it seemed appropriate given the situation we were in at the time."

She still wasn't sure how the hell it wasn't a paradox.