Snippet #2683358

"Ooh, thanks," James said, taking one of the thick paper cups and putting it on the sofa beside him. Just the smell was filling him with warm energy. "She... er... went to the bathroom. She'll be back in a minute." Rosemary's black shoes were still on the floor beside James.

"Yes," James said, "I wasn't sure exactly what we needed today, but I spent last night working on some preliminary ideas. I wondered about a hotel? Somewhere Whelan would be used to and comfortable with." He opened the file to the first of his sketches, the exterior of a hotel with The Grand on its front. "The name can change of course, but there was something in the file about Whelan having stayed at a place called The Grand." He turned to the next image. It was a basic sketch of a lobby, with the standard features of sofas and flowers. James provided the basics, but Whelan's mind would automatically fill in the smaller details, the things he expected to see there. There was a key rack behind the desk and each key had a blank label above it. "I thought the key rack might be useful if it were something that Whelan felt he had a level of control over. Choosing which keys he could pick up, which could be given out. We could label the keys with things we want him to reveal, like marking which rooms we want him to hide things in. Of course, he wouldn't just dump information there without feeling like those places were secure, but it would help us know where to look." James blurted and looked up at Ben, trying to gauge from his expression whether his idea was good or not. He had almost no experience with this whatsoever. He'd only been in the dreamscapes a couple of times, so his understanding of how it all worked was minimal; he needed as much guidance from Ben as he could get. "If that's a bad idea, it obviously doesn't need to be there." James added, knowing he was revealing his own lack of confidence, but also wanting to show he was ready to learn. He handed the file to Ben, allowing him to look through the sketches and blueprints.