WHO: Teddy Lawson and Max Kingman WHEN: August 8th, 2019. Mid-morning? I think? WHERE: Hotel lobby. SUMMARY: Teddy and Max meet up before trying to make contact with a hotel attendant. As expected, it does not go well. WARNINGS: None, unless you count Max's desperate denial.
Max had left Jeremiah in search of snacks. The hotel wasn’t serving breakfast by the time he made it inside. The doors kept closing on him and he had to wait patiently for someone to open them as he stood to the side, rocking forward onto his toes and then back onto his heels, watching people pass by. There were a few times people seemed to walk very close to him, but he backed out of their way, giving enough space for them to fit.
When he finally made it into the dining room, there wasn’t much left. He managed to find what he assumed was a blueberry muffin. He picked it up and carried it with him, giving it a good sniff before he waited again to leave the room, following an older woman out as she dragging a pack of whiny grandchildren behind her.
The first bite of the muffin was bland and disappointing.
He sighed. This had been the case the day before. Maybe the chef wasn’t good with making muffins anymore. They’d been super great the first few days of the trip, but who knew? Things changed. As he walked, he headed toward the lobby, stopping near a grouping of chairs to rest for a moment with that lingering disappointment. He was briefly depressed at the idea of those muffins being terrible. What a shame.
But still, a muffin was a muffin, right? He lifted his hand to take a bite and instead watched it fade and disappear. Huh. Weird. Oh well. Worse things had happened in dreams than disappearing food or doors that wouldn’t open.
Doors were weird. Or at least it seemed like they were probably weird. Maybe it was some weird security thing. He needed a key card or something. They had gotten something like that, right? Yes. It seemed like a thing for hotels. Key cards. He didn’t know why they needed them for the entrance though. It was an island.
Maybe he could find breakfast. It seemed like he hadn’t eaten that. Probably. He didn’t remember eating breakfast, even though he didn’t particularly feel hungry. Still it was the most important meal of the day. He headed back down towards the lobby and then smiled bright when he saw a familiar face.
“Hey there!” Teddy crossed to his friend’s side. “What’s with the gloomy gus face?”
Max was distracted from his dilemma at the sound of Teddy’s voice. He glanced up and offered a grin. “Oh, it’s not a big deal. They changed the muffins or something.” He shrugged before giving his friend a once-over. “Looks like you’re feeling a little better? Do you feel better?”
That was a question. The easy lie was on the tip of Teddy’s tongue but instead he just shrugged, the smile pulling rueful instead. “I don’t feel worse?”
He considered the answer for a moment, that smile fading for just a second, before he shrugged, too. “We haven’t found Cassidy,” he explained now. “It’s weird she hasn’t been around two days in a row. I’m wondering if they replaced her without saying something. But they wouldn’t do that, right? Probably not. Well, not unless she did something bad. Or if she wanted to leave. Maybe we annoyed her with our treasure questions.”
“We can be pretty annoying.” Teddy agreed, even if that didn’t sit right with him. Sure Cassidy hadn’t seemed thrilled with them but could they have really drove her off? “So. Just muffins for you?”
The idea made Max laugh and he shrugged again, moving to stand at the mention of muffins. “The blueberry are terrible. They put away breakfast, but we can’t be too far off of lunch. My wallet’s not here or I’d buy snacks, but I couldn’t get into the room last night, so I’m kinda stuck.” He smiled. “Have you eaten yet?”
“Yeah I couldn’t find my key either.” Teddy frowned slightly as he looked out at the lobby. One of them should have had it. They might need to get a new one. Shaking his head slightly he looked back and put the smile back in place. “And nah, weird like I’m not hungry? But I should eat.”
“We can ask at the front desk if the chef would be able to throw something together for you,” Max said, gesturing to his right. “It’s kind of hit or miss with them today, though. They don’t always answer.”
“It’s been weird.” Teddy agreed, hands finding his hips. “I mean I like to think I’m pretty noticeable! But that is apparently not the case.”
He nodded before laughing. “Unless we’re all secretly shunned. We just have to get someone to unshun us,” he offered, miming the action as he took several steps toward the desk. “Maybe we can get them to let us into the room, too. I want to put on more sunscreen before I roast to death. Mom’ll do that ‘I told you so!’ routine and sun poisoning is no joke, Teddy. No joke.”
Teddy’s mouth dropped open as if Max had just said something so incredibly insightful that he could barely believe it himself. “We are being shunned.” he gave a mock gasp. “We need to figure out who is doing the shunning and then, I don’t know, nice them to death. And I know, you burn, like a pale little baby. We can’t have that.”
Humming in thought, Max tapped his chin with his fingers. What followed was a squeaky: “Shun the nonbeliever, shuuunnnn.” He trotted his way to the desk and waited patiently for the attendant to notice him. Oddly, he wasn’t burned at all, he realized, as he studied his arms. His sunblock was good, but probably not that good. Oh well. When the attendant looked in his direction, but not at him, he shuffled a little and cleared his throat. “Uh, hello!” he offered brightly. And yet, still nothing.
Teddy stood behind Max, waving his arms about attempting to get the attendant’s attention. But apparently this attendant was very inattentive with their attention. Teddy snorted slightly to himself at the pun. “Max, I will give you five dollars if you hop the counter.” he offered, wondering if that would get their attention.
Oh, he loved a good dare. Grinning, Max followed through, jumping up onto the counter where he crouched for a moment before he walked the length and dropped onto the other side, standing directly next to the attendant. With her lack of awareness, Max decided to take it one step further, reaching out to gently touch her arm. When he passed right through her, he climbed the desk again to land next to his friend. “It’s a dream, Teddy. See if you can fly.”
It was stunning in a way that Teddy couldn’t describe. There was no way she couldn’t see Max, not with everything he had just done. She had to have seen him. But instead she didn’t, it was like they weren’t even there.
“Well this is the realest dream I’ve ever been in.” Teddy answered, his face screwed in contemplation before he reached out to pinch Max’s arm.
“Ouch!” Max spun to look at his friend, arching an eyebrow. “I know that works. It’s just other people.”
Teddy took this into consideration. “So are we sleeping or are they sleeping?”
A shrug. “I’m not sure. I think I’m sleeping because the elevator doesn’t work for me, but it does for other people.”
“Yeah but if you’re dreaming then what am I?” he blinked, trying to puzzle through this. “Like. The collective unconscious is just a theory, people can’t share dreams.”
“You’re a mirage,” Max offered. “I really don’t know. Are you dreaming? Am I dreaming? I know you well enough to construct your side of a conversation. But I don’t think I’ve ever questioned myself in a dream before. So it must be yours.”
“I mean. I feel real. And you feel real.” a frown turned his lips downward. “You’re real, right?”
Max sighed, really thinking for a moment. He felt real. Realer than any dream he’d had before. But if people weren’t talking to him and doors wouldn’t open and his clothes were different.. Oh! “Maybe we’re hallucinating!”
A hallucination was possible. “So like. We’re still on the beach just wandering in circles?” there was a brief moment of a smile. “You’re going to be so burnt.”
“I really hope I’m wandering around one of those dark caves instead. Or maybe we found the cursed treasure and we’ve been transported to another dimension.” There were many options to consider.
“I didn’t think it was that kind of curse.” Teddy looked at the lobby again. “So. Should we try to find any of the others?”
Max nodded and glanced toward the doors. “I don’t remember seeing anyone else besides you and Jer, so sure! Want to head back to the beach?”
“Guess we'll wait till someone opens the doors for us then.” Teddy resigned himself, feeling there was something not quite within reach.