open ✋ 𝓪𝓾𝓰𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓬𝓱-𝓪𝓵𝓵

[ She is in the market of making money, and the only way to make it is by being nice. Which is her favorite thing to do! Lottie can be seen being generally helpful around the city — maybe, even helping YOU!!). Giving directions, returning bikes, recommending restaurants and spitballing tours because for some reason, that works, too. In between acts of kindness, she'll shoot friends a message: ]

help! lol
so bored

𝖘𝖜𝖎𝖒𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖑𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖘

[ Lottie's no expert in swimming, but she knows Enough™ to help out anyone who wants a tip or two. In fact, she seems to be flourishing in the environment, a group of about ten or so people listening with rapt attention to her explanation of doing THE STARFISH. And NO, SHE CANNOT SHOW THEM.

And if you're trying to learn how to swim? Lottie's trying to figure out how to help. She'll smile at you, knee deep in the water as everyone else practices the DOGGY PADDLE (it's free play time, and this one seems to be a big hit amongst the citizens swimming for the first time). ]

Having fun? [ The water is kind of cold, but it's refreshing amidst the heat. ] It's not so bad.

[ Or if you're just a GUY also enjoying the beach, once she's free of her civic swimming duties, she'll join, too. Approach with a towel wherever it is you're lounging and wave softly. ]

It's cool if I sit here, right?

𝖒𝖎𝖗𝖆𝖌𝖊

[ She's being totally healthy about this. Does it look healthy, watching her be weird about a specific synth who looks like her ex inside the Mirage? Whenever they move stages, Lottie is there, not too far away with a glass in hand. Staring. If they aren't out, she lingers by the wall — pensive, but pretending like she's just here for a night out.

Or she might be lingering outside the building when it first opens, looking through the only window pane available to try and see if her favorite droid is there. ]

[ Cabbage green hair catches his eye under the vibrant neon lights. Logan watches from his perch on top of the roof, Lottie's face pressed to the window of the Mirage like she's been left out on the cold on Christmas Eve. She stays there for a bit, then seems to perk up and steps inside.

Is it any of his business? Absolutely fucking not. But he knows Lottie now, and he's never been good at keeping his nose out once his attention's been reeled in.

He finishes his cigar before dropping down to the street below. He keeps to the back of the club, gaze flicking with only mild interest to the girls swinging on the poles. Maybe to somebody else, the illusion's plenty; for Logan, the synthetics are too obvious: no heartbeat, no sweat, the smell of plastic and copper and metal clinging to their artificial bodies.

Instead, he's got an eye on Lottie. She keeps moving, shuffling from one stage to another. Doesn't take a whole lot to notice the reason. It just...isn't the reason he might've expected from Lottie.

No way. Is she...? (Wait, what happened to Cassian? She give up on him or what?)

Without warning, Logan's arm drapes over the back of Lottie's booth. ] Don't tell me you got a crush on one of these tin men.

Edited 2026-08-13 18:25 (UTC)

[ Cassian is somewhere, always lingering in the back of her mind. A pleasant tether that she tugs on, every so often. They're good now, arguably the best they've been in a long time. The fact he gave her head one time definitely helps, but it's not enough to quiet the loud and unhealthy part of her brain that sees 𝒞𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒.

She looks nearly the same, but this one smiles. It's so realistic she might be here, you know? But she would've said something by now, right? Probably not. Maybe?

Lottie leans in a little too intently in thought, not even noticing Logan. Or him watching her. Just his frame and the quiet puff of air the booth cushion makes when his weight is nestled on it — she jostles up, looks like she's been caught red-handed doing .. Nothing that is technically illegal. But definitely weird. ]

Hahaha!

[ Does he think she sounds weird? It came out kinda natural, her laugh.. She crane her neck up to look at him. ]

Nooo, I'm here to help with tourism.. Silly! What would ever make you think that?

[ Everything Lottie does strikes him as weird, which might work to her advantage here.

Her explanation, not as much. Tourism, his ass.

His eyebrow lifts. He points at said androids: specifically, the pair who's been going from stage to stage that she's following. At least one of 'em has her attention. Jury's out on if it's the burly redhead or the lithe brunette. ]

You sure about that? [ There's a glint in his eye. ] 'Cause most people at this kinda joint don't change seats like it's fucking musical chairs.

[ He's just saying. Come on, let him in. She already spilled her heart out about Cassian and burst into tears first time they met. What's she worried about after all that? ]

Edited 2026-08-14 04:18 (UTC)

[ His eyebrows lift and Lottie pretends like she isn't hyper analyzing every shift of his face. Like she even understands the nuances of him, like it'd help. But he points and she knows well enough to simply glance, focus most of her attention on him and the drink she's been nursing this whole time. ]

..Have you been watching me??

[ It's an easy pivot. Easier than mentioning anything about Caroline because she's a tightly kept jewel. A treat she takes out every few months or so to stew over, to wonder how she's doing. If there was anything there. It was easy to do that and put it back in her neat little box but now that she sees her, it's hard.

Some part of her hopes Logan can't see how hard that is, the impulse to look (not at the red-head). Another part of her is dying to just yap. Because does it matter? Will it matter? Should it? ]

If you wanted to hang out with me, all you had to do was say so.

[ She scoots over into the booth, makes room for him. ]

Yup. [ Comes the unabashed reply. He has been watching her. He's grown intrigued by her, half because she's so goddamn inexplicable to him and half because she's got this connection to Cassian, who's got a connection to Karen, and in some ways, that's enough to pull her into Logan's subconscious circle of individuals.

The other simpler side of it is, he just knows her now. He knows her name. He's helped her out a couple times. And as far as he can tell, she's just a girl trying to keep herself in one piece.

He doesn't want anything happening to her.

A pause. Logan slides into the booth next to her, belt buckle scraping against the underside of the low table. ]

Wanted to see how you were. [ After, you know. Bugs, a lot of folks dropping dead, whatever the fuck is going on in Acreage. He waves a hand vaguely. ] You end up out there that night?

[ If he even mentioned an iota of that, a part of Lottie's weird little walls would crumble. Trickle down into the small pile of intrigue and questions that is Bikerguy (previously, Bikerdude — then Hairman, briefly, when she forgot his nickname she made before). A brick, at least, loosens when he so brazenly admits to watching.

She laughs surprised. Holy shit? For how long? No wonder he's pressing her. He slides into the booth and she decides to ignore the thought, hones in on the sound of his buckles at the same time she re-crosses her legs. Feels her bare skin skim that same wood. ]

Yeah?

[ Lottie has no idea what night he's talking about, because that night could mean any nightmare night here. But she wagers a guess— ]

I saw it. The sky.. Looked like some kind of nightmare sci-fi movie.. [ Eyes look to his for some kind of reassurance they're on the same topic, here. ] I've been mostly here, since. The drive was kinda scary but it's the first time I've felt.. Normal? You know?

[ He nods. That's right. The sky. Guess it's good she wasn't there to see the carnage. He'd driven to the endless void after, peered into it like everybody else, and a part of him had wondered: what would happen if he jumped inside? Where would nothingness begin and end for him?

Ah, he needs a drink. ]

Yeah. [ Hand up, he waves over the waitress for two doubles. ] Closer to how you used to live?

[ For him? It's a little of both. The Synths make him uneasy 'cause he can smell them. Panorama's bloody and violent on a good day, but at least it's real. The people are real, the shitty grocery stores are real. But he won't pretend it isn't nice to be able to walk into a diner and know if they've got eggs on the menu, you're probably gonna get some decent eggs and not a fifty-fifty shot of something made outta artificial powder. ]

[ It's hard not to look at the waitress who comes to take his order, Lottie nosy and kind of curious how lifelike these things are up close. Sure, she's been stalking one all day, but that doesn't mean she's had the balls to actually approach her target. Just watch.. Weirdly from afar. Now with Logan, looking expectantly at her (not really, she's just imagining that). ]

Maybe..

[ Her eyes draw back distantly to where her object of obsession should be, but she's gone. She tries a normal amount to not care. ]

If I had my phone working, it might be. But even then there's differences. Everybody is fake — in a real way, not in a I'm at a party and I hate these people way. The beach is nice, though. I'd visit Huntington with my family sometimes, during the summer..

[ Lottie didn't particularly like the beach, either (surprise! The homebody not liking much of anything—), but she'd adore the way her skin would tan during her time there. Even if she spent most of it hiding beneath an umbrella, sat atop a towel. ]

[ Most of the folks he meets here, they're not that out of place. Their world's gone to pieces, fought dragons, battled aliens, whatever. Others have just been here so goddamn long, they're right at home again. But on occasion, there's, well, a Lottie. Meeting her has been like finding a Pomeranian in the middle of the Alaskan wilds.

He's always wondered what she thinks of him. Doubt he's the kinda guy she'd sit with back home but here they are.

Still, the weirdness of this place gives them one thing in common that suddenly means something: she can say Huntington and he knows what she's talking about. ]

Oh, yeah. [ He props his chin up on a hand and tosses back his whiskey. ] Took a gig on an offshore rig out there once, way back.

[ Way back—before she was born, probably. ]

Edited 2026-09-02 13:40 (UTC)

[ oh, that's a familiar sight.

tifa watches as lottie looks through the window like a potential stalker. she isn't sure at first if she should approach or mind her business, but it seems a little rude to not say hi to someone she's met before considering how hard it is to bump into people here.

so tifa approaches. ]

See anything interesting in there?

[ she hasn't actually gone in herself, so she isn't sure what's being peeked at. ]

[ Oh, no? Tifa has no context as to why Lottie is being weird, in front of this establishment, but Lottie reacts like she does anyway. Stiffening up in surprise and then looking at her pretty (because even months later, she is) reflection in the window she stares at with an expression that screams caught. ]

Nothing! Nothing at all..

[ Well. That would be a lie. And she can't sell a lie because she's so bad at it, and she doesn't want to seem insane or weird so she turns. Settles down a bit as she acts natural. ]

Just wondering if it's even open — some of the synths told me the food here was sooo good. You know?

[ okay. well. if tifa didn't think this was suspicious, she definitely would now. she glances from lottie to the window again, taking a step closer to it so that she, too, can look through and try to figure out what's on the other side. ]

It looks like there's people there?

[ which took her approximately five seconds to figure out. she turns back to lottie. ]

Are you being shy?

[ Mmmm. That very normal observation is definitely something she can work with — she didn't even have to deploy the I don't have my glasses back-up plan (Lottie has no idea how she'd work that out from there, but she's feeling relieved, regardless). But then, ]

Shy?

[ Her? This is. Accurate, in a way, but not to her image. The green haired hottie in a crop top?! Shy? ]

I'm not shy. I'm just [ ..Shy? Does she really look that.. She pauses, laughs. Why is she so hung up on that?? Isn't this a good thing, than her knowing the obvious?! ] curious! Aren't you?

[ oh, she seems very surprised by the shy comment. tifa makes a mental note to maybe not bring that up again, before going back to trying to squint through the window to see what's going on. ]

Should we try going inside then?

[ they could just take a peek and leave if it doesn't seem worth it. and from her point of view, it definitely seems much preferable than just standing out here where people might get the wrong idea of poor, sweet lottie... ]

[ Hi, random number Lottie just texted! Or, maybe, person she exchanged numbers with who is also staying at the same diffusion zone'd inn. Say hello to: ]

is that u out there???
quit it

open ✋ 𝓪𝓾𝓰𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓬𝓱-𝓪𝓵𝓵

solaria ☀️ OPEN

mirage.

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room service | OPEN