Holly Peaks Day 1

[hollypeaks]

[The chilled March air of Maine cannot blow through the red brick that makes up Holly Peaks Retirement Home, but the sun is shining this morning, and the residents are waking up for another day as they whittle away at the twilit years of their lives. The staff, of course, has been up and about much earlier, but regardless of WHEN you wake up, here you are. Is there a creak in your bones that you can’t remember before? Is it strangely familiar to you? Regardless, this is at once your home and playground, and you’d be mad to try and leave when the remote wilds of Maine are all that lie beyond.

Or, perhaps, you are still very much yourself, but all you have to wear are embarrassing scrubs with your name monogrammed on the pocket? You’re going to have to work hard, because you’ll be taking care of quite a few colorful characters, and regardless of how chill the lady with the afro who SAYS she’s your boss is, you’ll find yourself doing SOMEthing. Whether or not it is working is up for debate.

You are free to participate in any of the day's activities, or you can explore on your own. After all, for now this is your home!]

[Craft Room/Cafeteria/The Grounds/Nurse’s Station]

Comments

CRAFT ROOM

[hollypeaks]

[A set of double-doors has been left open on the first floor, and if you pass by you’ll see several round tables surrounded by folding chairs upholstered with cheap velvet. On each table there is a pile of yarn balls, along with odds and ends that you would expect to find in an elementary school art room. The shades have been furled up, and the room is filled with sunshine, which does sort of give it a nice feel, even if the suggested activity is pretty corny and the Head Nurse is giving you irritated looks behind your back.]

CAFETERIA

[hollypeaks]

[Another set of double doors has been propped open, probably because most of you don’t have the strength to open them yourselves! Here you can see long tables with attached benches made of that fake plastic-y wood that you find in public schools, and in the back is a long counter, behind which you can see the kitchen. Behind the counter one of the more talkative nurses is singing to himself as he prepares what can only be, as the chalkboard on the kitchen door claims, MEATLOAF AND MASHED POTATOES WITH A SIDE OF GREEN JELLO.

You suddenly get a strange feeling that you’ll be eating a lot of that jello.

This, of course, won’t be ready until dinner, so if you are a resident and stop in before, you’ll find a plate with your name on it on the counter with a lukewarm cup of decaf coffee, a slice of sugar free coffee cake, and a little plastic cup of pills. Make sure you take those, and don’t mix them up with everyone else’s! You might be able to get a snack sans pills if you’re staff – just ask!]

OUTDOORS DAY - THE GROUNDS

[hollypeaks]

[There are obnoxious posters everywhere advertising “Outdoors Day” on the grounds. There is even one in your room. Outdoors Day is today, and it can’t hurt to see what it’s about, right?

If you go through the front door, you will find yourself on the grounds of Holly Peaks Retirement Home. The building itself is three floors high and rather extensive, in order to hold all its residents and nurses, and as such the grounds sprawl out beyond it. There are winding paths and ancient trees and patches of ground where flowers would probably spring up, but nothing is too strenuous for a stroll. Eventually, though, you will hit the perimeter wall. For a wall, it’s not that high, perhaps about six feet tall? But if you’re old and want to make a break for it, you’re not getting over that wall. And if you’re staff? It’s not very likely you’ll get far with the Director of the home on your heels. She may be out to be chummy with the residents, but by gum she will ensure you do your job.]

NURSE'S STATION

[hollypeaks]

[Placed by the stairwell on the second floor, the Nurse’s Station is part office, part kitchenette, and part lounge. All staff are welcome here, and there is always a mindless odd job to do if you need to get away from the elderly for a while. Residents are strictly prohibited.

For now, it’s pretty empty. You could probably get away with most anything in here.]

Action

[cyan_maid]

[At one of the tables by the windows sits an elderly woman. There is a pad of paper and a pen in front of her, but the paper is blank and her head is nodding. Whatever she intended to do, she's obviously too tired to do it. Or is she?

Do you approach?]

[protosshaze]

[Sophie is in the nurse's station, gathering baskets of flowers. She spent a lot of time on these and intends to give them out to the residents. She looks over at the other workers, wondering if any of them would be willing to help her]

[therealrisette]

[An energetic nurse in twintails, somewhat paradoxically slacking on her duties a bit at the moment, unintentionally sneaks up behind the purple-haired young woman.]

Hey! What'cha up to?

[The name monogrammed on her outfit is "Risette", but Sophie might recognize her voice from the journals.]

Action

[patching_up]

[An especially small form crawls up onto the tabletop, wheezing a bit from the strain of the effort. He is tattered and frayed and looks like he could fall apart at any given moment, but he nevertheless shuffles over to blink his one eye up at the dozing woman with his characteristically timid smile.]

Jane...? Were you going to draw something?

[5 moves slowly over to the pen, hefting it up with a bit of difficulty to offer it to her, though after a moment he sets it down again.]

Oh-- I can let you nap if you'd rather.

[protosshaze]

[Sophie is putting on her namebadge, so now Rise will see who she is. She offers her fellow nurse a smile]

I thought everyone would enjoy fresh flowers in their rooms. Would you like to help me pass them around?

[kungfuwitch]

[Aaaah fresh air. Phoebe's out for a nice stroll today. She might not be moving as fast as she used to but she'll be damned if she lets a little arthritis keep from her from enjoying the trees.

She smiles and takes a deep breath, reaching out to put her hand against one of the trees for balance. She can feel the hint of a premonition touching at the edge of her mind but it's been a few years since she's had a proper one so she's not worried. She simply looks up at the tree, gives it a friendly pat and continues on her way.]

[eat_me_beat_me]

[Yarn? Are those Popsicle sticks? Oh fuck this. Like hell is Nora going to stick around and play "What can you make out of macaroni today?"

She looks around to make sure the Nurse isn't watching before creeping over to the cabinet where all the GOOD art is kept. She cracks it open (picking the lock if there was one) and quickly stuffs a bunch of paint and brushes into her purse.

Doot dee doot nothing to see here. Just a harmless old lady leaving the craft room to go, uh, take a walk.]

[waterproofed]

[Percy keeps staring at the food as if looking at it long enough will make the food more appealing. It's not helping. But he does try to subtly stash the jello.

The decaf coffee makes him cringe]

Decaf? Are they out of their minds?

[spongetastic]

[Peter stays close to her. He's been with her all these years, even taking a job here so they could be together. He tries not to hover too much]

Do you need to sit down?

[therealrisette]

[Oh, that's a familiar voice... and name! But she looks a bit older than Rise was expecting.]

Oh, Sophie-chan! I didn't realize it was you!

[Weird. She could have sworn Sophie said she was fourteen, but she looks about Rise's own age right now. If not older. Rise hasn't realized yet that she looks a bit older, too.

But setting that aside for the moment, Rise smiles at Sophie's kind gesture.]

Sure, I'd love to help!

[And maybe they could talk about this place while they're at it?]

[protosshaze]

Yes, this is me. I know I look a bit more grown up than you expected. I changed because of someone I met back home. It's a long story...

[she hands Rise a basket of flowers] That's why I decided to work here: I made a promise to watch over the people I love.

[courageous_wit]

[Hermione is busy knitting. She's not really knitting anything in particular; she's just trying to keep her hands busy]

[therealrisette]

[Huh? That's weird. Sophie's making perfect sense... well, not necessarily about being more grown up than Rise expected, but about working here at least. Rise's not so sure about herself.]

That's, uh, really nice.

[As she takes the basket of flowers, she looks a bit introspective.]

I'm not really sure why I decided to work here, to be honest...

[More like not sure if she decided in the first place. But that's silly. How else would she have ended up here? And on friendly terms with quite a few of the residents and other nurses, no less!]

[protosshaze]

Maybe you're just a kind soul. You seem like that sort of person.

[she walks down the hall, lost in her own introspection. It is a bit sad to see her friends going older while she stays the same, but she also gets a sense of peace being with them so long]

Action

[whistles_the_blues]

[Protoman had pulled a chair away from the craft table and closer to a window where he could quietly knit a yellow scarf by himself. The joints in his rusted heads screeched in protest every minute or so. He kept a careful eye on his work though, watching through the cracked visor of his battered helmet.]

[protosshaze]

[Sophie is making the rounds when she sees him. She makes her way over to him and greets him with a smile. It doesn't sem so long ago that the two of them were making a friendship pact, but in truth it's been years]

That scarf looks lovely.

[therealrisette]

[Rise's smile brightens at the compliment.]

Aw, thanks! You're really sweet.

[Sophie really does seem to belong here as far as Rise is concerned. Who else would bring flowers around to the residents but a nurse who loves her job? So maybe Sophie's right about her too!]

There sure are a lot of people here, though! It can be tough keeping track of them all.

[therealrisette]

[At some point during the day, Rise - or, as her uniform obstinately identifies her, "Risette" - makes her way through the craft room and sees a resident she definitely doesn't recognize. A robot, though most definitely an aged one, knitting a scarf of all things!

She can't help but comment on it.]

Hey, that's pretty nice! Is it a gift for someone?

[protosshaze]

If you need help remembering their names, I'll be happy to help you. I've been working here for a long time. [or so it seems to her]

[whistles_the_blues]

[in truth, he can't even remember the time they made that pact, the drives that make up his memory are old and fragmented. He only remembers bits of pieces of his life, it's hard to say for sure whether he had actually been at Paradisa or not. There's a creak as his head turns to look to Sophie.]

Thanks. I've been... Practicing.

[protosshaze]

[but it's okay if he doesn't remember. She's the one who remembers for other people, after all]

Do you need more yarn?