Chapter 31c: Sleeping in a Star

Would you like to sleep in a star?



"Here's the place Babe! The Starburst Motel!"

Welcome to the third half of this chapter, and you're right Kasson. That is a classic Las Simgas landmark. It was the place for the rich and famous to stay, back in its day, though I hear it's fallen on hard times now.

"It certainly didn't seem that way when we were there. As the manager explained to us, they're now offering 'limited exclusive lodgings to discerning travellers.' They also advertise a honeymoon suite that hearkens back to the 'heyday of the Simgas Strip'. Don't look at me like that! It's what their brochure says!"

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Well, you guys are there, so I guess we'll find out shortly exactly what the Starburst is like now.

"The limo took us on a nice tour of the Strip, but after a while we just wanted to get to the Starburst so we could relax finally."

Relax? Uh huh. Sure.

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"This is the foyer."

It looks like your luggage made the trip over from the church...

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Hmmm... and that looks like an awful lot of luggage for two people.

"Well..."

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"We weren't the only ones staying at the Starburst that night."

So the Captain and company made it over to the Starburst as well.

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"We were greeted by Alice. She's the hotel manager. She gave us the run down of the hotel, all the amenities..."

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"And introduced us to the bell hop, Adrian. He'd be showing us to our rooms."

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[Gratutious close up of Adrian. *smirk*]

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"Adrian gave us a tour of the Starburst and then showed us around the honeymoon suite."

He gave you a tour of the honeymoon suite? It couldn't have been that large.

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"No, only the bed was."

I see... I guess that explains the look on your faces in the previous picture.

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"At that point I was seriously wondering if Kasson had been on another bubble blower bender when he booked this place."

"I like haven't touched a bubble blower in ages. I told her she just had to lemme finish tipping the dude there..."

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"...and I would show her why I got us this place."

Ah... while you do that... why don't we go see what the other hotel guests are up to?

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"Alice offered to give the Captain and company a tour of the Starburst, or explained they would wait till Adrian returned. They always give honeymoon couples the tour first."

"'Cept she so wasn't interested in waitin around till the bell dude got back."

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"She figured it couldn't be too hard ta find their room."

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"After all, it was like where the bell dude took their luggage earlier"

I see the Captain and company travel light.

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"The Captain and November got the ground floor Star Suite. It's very posh. There's a couple pictures of their suite among the tour pictures coming up. We asked for the tour again during the day, so we could grab some pictures of the place."

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"Captain A realized there was a camera in the room right after this shot. Housekeeping found it in pieces when they were in to clean later. Luckily the film wasn't ruined."

"Someone totally forgot to explain that the cameras were like for our album, and not some creepy dude spyin on 'em, right babe?"

"Er..."

Let's give the Captain some privacy there. Are there any... ah... decent pictures of you two in that big old bed?

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"Well... yeah... there are a few, before I turned the camera off. There are some things I just didn't want recorded for posterity."

"I still think ya should've left it on babe."

"Kasson!"

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"And don't tell me you so think about it for half a second."

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"Kasson Holldum! Gods you're incorrigible!"

"Heh. Like, hand the pictures to the Mom-babe and follow me upstairs. I'll totally show you how incorrigible I am."

*facepalm*

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Before you two get carried away here... there... or wherever... you mentioned some tour pictures?

"Yeah. Just a quick look around"

How about we take a look at those, since it looks like these pictures are going to start getting a bit personal, and you said you wanted privacy.

"Sure." *flips through the pictures*

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Ah, back to another shot of the outside of the Starburst, eh?

"It was considered a marvel of architecture in its day."

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"Once again, this is Alice. She's the manager of the Starburst. She also handles the front desk, reservations, check in, check out, arranges tours and calls taxis for guests, and mixes a mean drink."

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"And this is Adrian again. He's the bell hop. He schleps the bags, handles room service, prepares a light breakfast/lunch/dinner for those guests who choose to eat in, and acts as the pool boy when he has the time available."

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"The Starburst has a casual sitting room with TV and books, for when you want to relax but still want to be seen."

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"There's also a small kitchenette where guests can get snacks and where Adrian prepares some light meals during the day for the staff and guests."

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"There's a lounge too, complete with bar and music. It's not terribly large, but it's got a cozy, friendly feel. Adrian makes a mean martini and rocks at all those bartender tricks, but Alice is really the Queen of the Cocktail."

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"She's not too bad a juggler either"

I can think of a few things I'd be interested in Adrian juggling. *chuckle*

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"Here's the foyer, with all our luggage piled up and waiting for the taxi."

Why do I suspect most of the luggage is yours?

"Um... "

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"There are non-suite rooms at the Starburst, and even they have names. This is from the Desert Room."

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"And this is a shot from the Wicker Room."

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"Along with a standard bathroom, all the rooms have seating and bookcases, as well as the ubiquitous television set."

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"All the rooms also open out to the pool in the back of the hotel, so guests can take a quick dip whenever they feel like it. Bathing suite are required. Kasson already tried that one."

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"Closer to the main back entrance is the hot tub and the grill, for when Adrian feels like cooking something special for the guests at the Starburst. His barbecue ribs are supposed to be to die for."

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"Now we get a chance to see some shots of the Star Suite. It's the spiky bits on the ground floor in the picture of the exterior. It's decorated in velvets, lace, and satins in shades of deep red, russet browns, and black."

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"Here's the great baroque bed in the Star Suite. On the opposite side of that wall is the bathroom, but it was too difficult to get a good shot of it. That doorway there to the left? In that alcove is a set of stairs there that leads to the upstairs patio."

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"The exclusive, private patio accessible only from the two suites: the Star Suite and the Honeymoon Suite. Hot tub, cool drinks, the works. The Honeymoon Suite is the star shaped room on the top floor. Let's take a quick peek at what the rest of the suite looks like."

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"As you either come up the stairs or come in from the patio, there's a couch and a chest of drawers to greet you. The room is furnished with lace, satin, and other plush fabrics in colors of warm reds and deep golds, giving it a luxurious feel."

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"There's no tv in the room, but there is a stereo. There's also a bookcase, just out of the picture to the left, and more couches and chairs as you can see. Through the doorway is the bathroom, done in white and ivory tile, with fixtures and mirrors in silver. It's really a nicely done room... if it weren't for that bed."

"I like the bed babe, and I didn't hear you like many any complaints bout it while we busy using it."

"Er..."

I think maybe it's time we leave the tour and get back to the rest of the goings on at the Starburst...

"That sounds like a good idea to me."

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Hey! When'd the party move to the hot tub?

"Well, it seems that after Ange found the camera, she was more than a little annoyed..."

"If you'd like told her it was there..."

"...and too peeved to... ah... 'hang around' in their room, so she and November decided to try out the hot tub. We joined them a little bit later."

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The Captain looks a lot more relaxed and definitely a lot less annoyed.

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"After a while I was enjoying the hot tub myself."

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Kasson, however, just looks confused.

"Dude! There's a dude in the hot tub with me. A huge dude!"

"Yeah, and poor November was starting to feel a bit weirded out because we all kept staring at him. I had a picture of him in the tub too, but it got lost somewhere."

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"After we'd been in the tub a bit, we decided to give the regular pool a try. That's when Kasson found out about the 'Bathing Suits Required' rule."

"Dude! Cannonball!"

"Show off."

"Heh."

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"November, however, wasn't quite as confident in his diving skills."

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"Turns out he preferred the slide more. The Captain said she would see about getting one installed at the compound."

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"We tried a little Timle Tourneau, but Ange was really lousy at being 'it'. It took forever before she finally tagged someone else."


[Seriously Captain, you were it for a long long time before you tagged SK. She immediately tagged Kasson, who tagged you not too much later. The title of "it" came back to you every other time after that (November, captain, SK, captain, Kasson, captain, SK, captain... you get the idea) ]

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"Oh, and I just had to get a picture of this. I knew the MBiBs were mysterious, but the power to walk on water? Or at least walk on when spouting pink little hearts."

"Whoa."

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"So there you go Texas, right up to the point where we left to come back to Strangetown."

"Hmm... I suppose that does done make up fer ya EE-loping on me and ruinin all mah plans fer yer wedding. I do miss seein Raul's mari-hootchie band though."

"Mom-babe, are you like done? Cause its like... and we wanna..."

"Oh git upstairs you two. Y'all don't think I ain't knowin what's on yer minds?"

Yeah, I need to be going here too... but before I do, don't get too comfortable there you two.

"What? Why?"

Because Bon Voyage just came out and you two can take a real honeymoon now. I think Kasson might like Twikkii Island.

"Dude!!"

And now, I really must dash...

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It seems I owe somebody an apology.

I still can't believe she asked Orrin to Bibby-sit.

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