The Neverywhere Inn

A/NShow

even if I don't use a suggestion for the prompt it was intended, you can bet I'm filing away them deets for later ;0

Skulk by the corner and look for something bloody on the snacks table

...help themselves to something edible. They approach a long, collapsible table set up by the vending machines and search the plates for fresh meat.

NAME never told the Innkeeper what they like. There are a few racks of raw, bloody ribs laid out anyway. No-one but the Innkeeper knows what those ribs belonged to, but NAME's hunger doesn't discriminate, and they tear into them with gusto.

Read Posters, Reminders and the general mood of the room, Then Acquaint yourself with all of the beings in it. Make sure to grant Dakn all due reverence.

NAME turns to the closest of many memos present.

Hmmm....Show

It's a reminder not to shake the vending machines when they jam.

The other notes are similarly instructive: Wash your hands (or equivalent appendages) before handling the communal tableware; turn off the lights if you're the last person leaving a room; kindly refrain from scent-marking the breakroom couches, Inn furnishings belong to everyone; opening rifts in spacetime on Neverywhere Inn premises is forbidden and punishable by termination...

Boring.

NAME figures they should become acquainted with their new colleagues, starting with... ah. The turtle child is closest by. NAME taps them on the shoulder with a single claw.

Socialization en cours...Show

MAU
Wah!
Oh, h-hello. You startled me. Umm...
You have something on your chin.

NAME touches their chin, and their claw comes away bloody. Hm! They clear it away with a swipe of their forked, black tongue.

MAU
That's better. Um, it's nice to meet you.

MAU rises on their tiptoes and squints at NAME's name tag. They blink in surprise.

MAU
Is that your real name? I'm Mau.

And NAME replies...